Save the Date! (No, Really, Save It!)

So I'm happy to report that our crazy date saga has come to a resolution! We are pleased and sooo excited to announce that our wedding will be taking place on Sunday, August 9th, 2009.

Our lovely photographer, Kara, who has been with us since the beginning, has saved us the date. I will be meeting with our prospective florist, Kristen with Kio Kreations, on Monday to discuss options and sign the contract. Our ceremony will be held at a lovely park/garden/conservatory in Elmhurst, IL, called Wilder Park. We will be hosting a brunch reception to follow at the always delicious and sophisticated Maggiano's.

We are also extremely excited to announce that one of Tom's good friends from school has agreed to marry us! We have the utmost faith in him to write and officiate a fabulous ceremony that will be tailored to us.

So while we have the big things out of the way, we still have a few more things to check off the list, including:

• Purchase wedding rings (I've been eyeing a few, just haven't jumped yet!)
• Finalize brunch menu
• Choose ceremony music and figure out logistics
• Choose and create reception playlist
• Choose & book rehearsal dinner location (we're leaning towards a good old-fashioned BBQ at our apartment, or possibly a fab "crosstown classic" themed dinner @ Harry Caray's)
• Register!!
• Take engagement photos
• Reserve convertible for the wedding day (one of Tom's friends works at a rental place, so he was more than eager to take this task on!)
• Decide on favors. (Do we bother?)
• Design invitations, programs and menus.
• Print invitations, programs and menus.
• Assemble invitations, programs and menus. (I think you get the picture!)
• Research and book honeymoon! (We're deciding between a Mediterranean cruise or a land excursion of Scotland, London & maybe Paris!)
• Apply for marriage license
• Buy ties & pocket squares for the groom, groomsmen and fathers
• Assemble the bases for the flowergirl flower wands (PS - Congrats to Becca and fam -- we're officially adding little Charlotte Joanne to our wedding party in May!)
• Create seating chart and have it printed at Kinko

I can't really seem to think of anything more, though I'm sure there's plenty I'm forgetting! Anybody else have any suggestions about what I've forgotten so far?

A Logistical Nightmare (Sort of!)

In light of the wedding move, Tom and I have had a fairly frenzied approach to planning. Our motto? Get it done!

Even though I had put hours of thought, research and effort into the '10 wedding, planning this one is more time-consuming than either of us had thought. Since we are so very in love with our photographer, finding a date which worked for her became a priority. We had more date issues with some family obligations, most of which are turning out to be immovable. We were hoping to have a June wedding, but have pushed back to August. With Tom starting school in late August, our choice of dates are significantly narrowed. Add in a few graduation parties, birthdays, medical issues, cousins returning to college, and we have a bona fide mess.

So, our approach to the date has become this: We're not going to please everyone, so we might as well figure out when our vendors are available and take the winning date. I'll let you know how that one goes.

Our other major issue is the guest list. (Who doesn't have problems with the guest list??). The ceremony site we're attempting to book holds 130 guests. If we really squish everyone together, we're up to 150. With our current list inching close to almost 220 people, we're facing some serious chopping. People keep mentioning that not everyone will attend, but the fact is, the majority will, especially since more than half the guests are family. It's unfortunate that we can't make any decisions in regards to dates or ceremony sites until we have this list finalized, since that will take at least another week.

I'm very much looking forward to taking care of the logistics, so I can spend much, much more time in the future planning the details.

Happy 100th Blog Post (& a Very BIG Announcement!)

So today's post marks an important milestone for every blogger -- 100 posts. I knew this post was coming soon, so I will admit that I waited until I had some exciting news to share before posting. I certainly didn't want to use this post to discuss linen colors.

Before the announcement, let me just quickly say that I very much appreciate you readers, from the ones who happened to stumble upon my blog accidentally to those family members who were threatened with the silent treatment if they didn't leave valid comments. I have a lot of fun writing this, and it definitely is sweeter knowing there are people who actually read it!

On to the big announcement:

We're moving the wedding to this summer!!

Those of you who have been around since the beginning may recall my purgatory post. With 18 months to go before the wedding, both Tom and I were continuing feeling a significant amount of angst. The idea of eloping was thrown out, semi-seriously, but was nixed on account of all the family and friends we're so excited to share this day with. We've taken a few weeks to think, discuss, and decide upon our options, which explains my lack of enthusiasm towards the end of December. With so much up in the air, we couldn't, in good faith, continue to plan a wedding which neither one of us wanted.

This isn't to say the wedding we were planning wasn't spectacular, just that it wasn't worth waiting for. As the days pass, I'll begin to reveal more clues about our upcoming nuptials. Since we have significantly reduced our planning time, most of this is coming together rather quickly, so stay tuned! :)

True Story.

So those of you who know us will know this, and those of you who haven't known me for more than, say, 10 blog posts, probably won't.

Originally, Tom and I had planned on getting married in the fall. Late September, to be exact.

This was the plan as late as March of this year. There were several factors in deciding to move the wedding to summer, including the fact that Tom will be a teacher once he graduates. Getting married at the beginning of the school year didn't seem like such a great plan.

And now that we're in full summer wedding planning mode, I couldn't be happier.

And then, I stumble upon pictures like this that make me regret that we changed the date.



Doesn't this look delicious??????

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes!

The first step to dealing with an addiction is admitting you have a problem, right? Well, I have a problem. Everytime I turn around, I'm seeing ideas/projects for the wedding...I can't make it stop!

This weekend was no exception to that, either. Let's begin with Friday, shall we? A simple, innocent trip to Michael's has become the start of a super-crazy-hairbrained idea. I've decided to make the invitations myself. I know, I know, crazy. I'm not a big fan of DIY kits, mainly because they never turn out the way you envision, and they all have the same format/design. But while browsing through the cardstock aisle, I came across a line of paper/cardstock/envelopes that looks like it's targeted towards smaller parties and papercrafters, as opposed to weddings. All of the colors are bright and bold, no pasty whites or ecrus. The cost? $3 for 10 invites & envelopes. Response cards are $2 for 20. My grand total? $40. The price for the invites I linked to in the last post? $300. I have some experience in graphic design, and even if I decide I can't make these, I have enough contacts from work/school with graphic designers that I can get something simple done fairly inexpensively. Even if I take these to Kinko's and have the printing done semi-professionally, I'll still be spending under $100. Unheard of. Oh, and I also purchased 15 yards of apple green ribbon. Hey, it was only $3.

On Sunday we were able to check into the date snafu, and we're sure lucky we did. It turns out that the 12th is the Saturday of the carnival, so we'll move the wedding a week to the 19th. I should change the URL to the blog to match that, but that would probably create confusion and whatnot, so I'll probably just keep it...

I've also had lots more thoughts on music, decorations, beverages, and whatnot. But if I explain them now, what will I have to post later this week?!? I know the suspense is killing you...

- B

PS - I didn't realize that the links to the bouquets don't work, so I'll be reposting those later today...Whoops!

Change the Date???

So we're what, 2 weeks into planning mode and we've already hit a significant road block??

Awesome.

So in discussions with my parents last night about the earliest we can get the wedding down on "the books" at church, I inquired about the date of the annual carnival that is hosted on the church grounds. It always begins the 1st Wednesday of June, which would be June 2nd, 2010. If this is the actual start date of the carnival, then we're good --- everything will be packed up/cleaned by the time the 12th rolls around. There is always the possibility that the carnival would begin on the 9th, making our wedding date smack-dab in the middle of the festivities. Not only would we have to get married over the wail of the Himalaya and the screams of over-excited children on the tilt-a-wheel, but we would have to combat parking issues...

Originally we were debating between the 12th and the 19th, so it wouldn't be a big deal to push it back, it's just annoying since I have the 12th firmly cemented in my head. Or, this could just be a blessing in disguise to get all the obstacles/nonsense out of the way before any major planning begins...

Oh well...it only takes one phone call to figure this all out anyway!