No, seriously.

I ordered my wedding dress on Saturday. Big item off the to-do list of DOOOM. So that's a relief.

The woman asked if I wanted to try a veil. I am always willing to try them, although I lean a little away from them at least in idea because of the nature of the history of what they stand for. Also, I have lain with a man, so there's that.

I can't deny that they make me look like a Capital-B-Bride, though. The effect is instant and amazing and makes me catch my breath. Which is kind of the point of not telling my sweet man anything about the dress - I make my grand entrance, and the awesome hotness of my beauty gallops forth to slaughter his heart, and he's mine FOR EV AR.

But the thing cost $195. For something I would wear for a half an hour, that I'm not totally committed to wearing. At that price, I would feel really badly if I changed my mind.

Then I contacted the sweet and wonderful Princess Aurora and told her of my woes. And she gave me, as she is wont to do, awesome advice and concrete help. I am so so glad she is going first! The website she gave me had the same veil - plain tulle with a ribbon edging - for a much cheaper price.

How much cheaper, you ask? Can you guess?

IT IS SEVEN DOLLARS. SEVEN. SEVEN OF THEM. SEVEN DOLLAR BILLS. TWENTY-EIGHT QUARTERS.

My mind, she boggles. I know there's the whole wedding industry, and all of that, but COME ON.

I am amazed.

Less than 2 months!

Less than 2 months to go and things are a bit nutty, but controlled due to my fairly well planned schedule.  Invitations are out and being received, we've even got 2 RSVPs back! Our wedding offically has 7 guests.  

Still left to do:

-Drop deposit at bakery

-Arrange all final meetings for details

-Write the ceremony

-Get Donald a ring!

-Monitor hotel block

-Write a lot of checks

-Dress fittings (only 1! My dress fits well and my seamstress is a godess)

-Order 1 final bridesmaids dress tonight

-Other detaily crap

Its truely insane.  I can't wait to be married to my wonderful man though.

Checklists and milestones

Things I have done:

- found a DJ (who I LOVE)
- found a photographer
- chosen my dress (in my head)
- ordered part of the Save the Dates, to be assembled at home
- chosen the wedding dreads colors
- talked to Jessie about helping me do a prelim install of the wedding dreads to make sure it's what I want

Things I need to do:
- send the contracts and deposits to the DJ and photographer
- make an appointment to actually put money down and get the dress
- finalize addresses on the invitation list
- finalize the invite list
- assembled the Save the Dates and send them out
- order the wedding dreads

Stuff I am freaking out about that I know I need to do:
- figure out what the kids can do (two 12 year old cousins on one side, one 13 year old cousin on the other, my 8 year old nephew and 1 year old niece)
- find out where to get appropriately colored pashminas / large wraps for my sister and Mike's sister
- figure out what to do about invitations and where to get them from and if I'm going to design them or let someone else do it
- do something about flowers (my favorite suggestion so far: grocery store ordering)
- talk to the place about rehearsal times
- find a rehearsal dinner place
- figure out cheaper hotel options for family who want to stay longer

I think we're going to go incognito as already-married people to the hotel that is further down the street than the one that we've already spoken to. I want to tell them I'm having a party (so they won't see $$ when we say "wedding") and that the hotel up the street offered me this rate, and if they can beat it, I'll bring my business to them.

I'm at five months, ten days now. Yikes.

Dress!

Today Mom & I went shopping and I ordered my dress! I know its crazy early, but we figured why not get it now since I already know what I want. So I have a dress! well, I'll have it in 4-6 months, but still. Dress! Whee! :D

We have a plan!

... and we're waffling like there's no tomorrow.

I've decided its time to really sit down and figure out the "meat & potatoes" of what our wedding is gonna be. The fun stuff (decorations, dresses, favors, etc) is basically all picked out, now to figure out what we're doing and when we're doing it.

So I've sat the dear fiancee down and we've had chats. They're always short as he gets very frustrated about it all, primarily because of all the 'rules' and limitations and exceptions and all the crap we've gone through that has nothing to do with us. Nearly everything we've considered was because of someone else, catering to their wants, making others happy. And it sucks. It takes the fun out of what should be a kick-ass awesome day.

But we have a plan. Its a bit funky, but its a plan all the same. And I think we can do it at a reasonable price.

Now to just figure out venues. We keep finding places, and then changing our mind. and finding something else, but realizing it has 3-hour time limits or the reason it seems so inexpensive is it doesn't include tables & chairs. < sigh> sometimes I would just love to hire a planner so I don't have to do the searching. I'm all about making things, but I loathe all the searching.

But we have a plan! At least we have a plan :)

Loose ends and details

Unlike Wisp, I am tying up loose ends right now. Most of my major vendors are booked, including the most recent:

-Florist: I love my florist, he took my 'vision' (read: inexensive, simple, and bold colors) and is making it come true, with the focus on 'inexpensive'. I hate the idea of spending much on something that will die in days.
-Chair covers: Prince's parents decided that the hall needed chair covers, so I found a vendor to come and put them on for a very reasonable price. The burgundy satin sash matches my bridesmaids dresses perfectly.
-Centerpieces: All items are collected except for 22 12" mirrors. These things are STUPIDLY expensive.
-HONEYMOON: We will be spending 12 glorious days in Punta Cana, in the Dominican Republic. I seriously can't wait. Details of the location and the travel agent who helped me figure things out and get an seriously sick price... contact me.

Major things left:
-Cake: Prince is in charge. Poke him.
-Tuxes: Pick out Prince's tux to buy, choose rental tux for GM.

The list of minor things is terrifyingly long... its 6 typed pages. Highlights include:
-Nagging bridesmaids to order their dresses
-Finalizing and sending out invites!

140 days left. OMG WHAT?

*dies*

(Also, I had to change my blog name to Loki for my newly formed food blog, to be launched shortly).

-Aurora/Loki

A flurry of action

I feel like I'm in the thick of things now.

- We put a deposit down on the location (NW DC)
- We talked to the hotel that's nearby for their rates, and are going to contact another shortly
- We're meeting with a photographer that came highly recommended (thanks, Devin and Beth!)
- I've started filling out the budgeting tools on theknot.com (don't love the community, but the tools and resources are pretty awesome)
- We're talking about ceremony musicians
- I designed some Save the Date cards (but I'm not sure if I love them yet)

This week:

- See if printing the Save the Dates ourselves looks cute or chintzy
- Design an outer card and get the materials to print them, if we're going that way
- Meeting with said photographer on Saturday morning
- Work out whether or not we want a photobooth (I vote yes!)
- Get more addresses from my parents

It seems like so much, especially when I think about all the OTHER things we have to do (contact the caterer, figure out something with flowers, find a tux shop, get my mom down to VA to the dress shop to see the dress I love, and, uh, EVERYTHING ELSE) but I'm trying not to freak out.

Oh, and we're closing for our house on August 5th. I think we've both lost it. (That is, incidentally, why we didn't get married this summer - we didn't want to be moving and planning a wedding all at the same time so urgently.)

Whew.

PS: A couple of things I forgot! I have the wedding website started, and have added the wedding party and some pictures and stuff to it.

And we've got 251 days to go! Yikes.