Good News! I found my wedding dress and put a deposit down to get it ordered! Yay!

The funny part is, in my recent post, I talked about how I knew which one was “the dress” and guess what? That actually wasn’t the dress I ended up picking out! When I first decided to go dress shopping, it was literally the week after MGB and I got engaged. I went just for “fun” to kind of see what was out there, while still keeping in mind I had a little bit of time before I needed to order a dress. At that time we also had not nailed down the venue, even though we had an idea of where we wanted to have it.

The dress I picked was actually on my top 3 list, but it was kind of hanging in the background and I kept looking at the pictures from the first time around and it was growing on me more and more. I tried all the dresses on in order from last to first based on the last time I was there and when I got to my number one, the feeling just wasn’t there anymore. I saw the dress differently and it didn’t bring out the emotions it did last time. The consultant made a point that it was probably the emotions of that day that made me cry when I tried the dress on, especially since the one that made me cry was the very last one I tried on. I have to say that I loved the place I got my dress at because they laid everything out on the table, including the designer and the price of the dress without the haggling. Other than David’s Bridal, it was the only place that let me take pictures (let’s not get started on my opinion of places that don’t!) and it was just an overall great experience.

So my advice to newly engaged ladies is this, take your time! Make sure you go to a few different places first, take lots of pictures (if they allow you!) and don’t be afraid to try on the same dresses a few times. There is nothing wrong with getting emotional about a dress, but my advice is to sit on it and then come back later to make sure it’s the dress that you are actually emotional about and not the overall “OMG I am getting MARRIED!” feeling. At the end of the day, this is a BIG purchase because this is what your FH, photographer and all of your guests will be focusing on!

The venue that Morning Glory Bear (MGB as I will put him for short) and I picked to have our ceremony and reception is a nice waterfront venue tucked back in a neighborhood. It actually used to be a crappy little restaurant/bar and the catering company bought it and completely gutted and remodeled the place. I love the view and it will make for some great photo ops, but I’m worried about the lack of variety and creativity available for pictures after the ceremony. Since 75% of the venue is physically on the water (see below for picture) it’s literally just the docks for pictures. There’s no beach or really anywhere to go on-site to make for different pictures.

Copyright Cesar Chavez Photography

So, basically MGB and I talked about going offsite after the ceremony to take our bridal party/family pictures. Luckily, there is a nice park about 5 minutes away with a beach, pavilion and another dock to take pictures at. I was worried about finding somewhere that was close enough to not take time away from the reception time and was pretty enough to allow the photographer some creative leeway. In my nervousness to make sure everything goes according to plan, I don’t want this to end up being chaotic! I still want to do pictures at the venue on the docks, especially something like this at the end of the night.

Copyright Theresa Choi Photography

Are you doing offsite pictures after your ceremony? If you already did, how did it go?

Recently a family member contacted me saying something along the lines of “Heard you were worried our weddings would clash, but they won’t so don’t fret.”  This reminded me of the movie Bride Wars!

Immediately I thought, what is he talking about? He recently proposed to his girlfriend and apparently something I had said to another family member was misinterpreted as me being worried that our dates would be too close together. (Also making me sound like a Bridezilla) Now, that’s not the case, but it leads me to this post. This seems to be a common theme with some, almost a “territorial” issue. Some women (and men as well) can take you getting engaged or having your wedding date too close to theirs as an attack. You are moving in on their territory and they feel threatened that you got engaged first, or they feel as though your wedding date being anywhere close to theirs will take away from their special day. I’ve personally known a few of these people and let me be honest; they are completely obnoxious and insecure about something.

My attitude is that this is our day. We are not working around other people’s schedules, nor are we in any sort of competition. If it just so happens a friend or family member books their date the weekend after ours and we are on our honeymoon, then so be it. I am not going to hoot and holler until you change the date to accommodate my own needs. This is YOUR day because you are getting married, not them! It happens a lot more than you think.

Luckily, I have not had to deal with anything of this nature (yet), but even if something does occur Morning Glory Bear and I have a very lax attitude and don’t feel a need to stress about it (because I’m sure we will stress enough during our own wedding planning).

Have you ever dealt with wedding envy or competitive couples? How did you deal?

We are married!  Hooray!  I always thought being a Mrs. would feel different. To be honest, it doesn’t.  And really, nothing has changed.

Yes, it’s true, we both felt different the night of the wedding, but I think that is because we were just surrounded by so much love and happiness!  The morning after we woke up and said, “Good morning wife!” “Good morning husband!” just to test the new words but then we went right back to calling each other our regular nicknames.

The weirdest part of being married is calling Poinsettia Dude my husband!  It seems so strange! Another weird part is when he introduces me and says, “this is my wife!” I crack up every.single.time! It is getting so embarrassing! What is wrong with me?

I also had all these illusions that once I was a wife, I would know how to cook, bake, sew, reupholster furniture and do all the other things a 1960’s housewife knows how to do, i.e. Mad Men! Clearly I watch way too much television because I don’t know how to do any of those things and being a wife doesn’t change that!

I also thought I would have the “post-wedding blues” but to be honest, I can’t stop thinking about our wedding night and reliving every single moment! It was so spectacular!

In the end, being married is not much different than being engaged, except for the fact that I know I have an amazing teammate for life! Oh, and the fact that we are legally bound to each other!:)

Our wedding on September 17, 2011 was the most amazing day of my entire life. Now that it is over, I have been trying to recap the weekend but I just can’t seem to find the right words!

Our wedding was absolutely fabulous! Thanks to amazing wedding vendors and supportive friends and family, every detail turned out better than I could have ever imagined!

What people say is true!

A) Relax, it goes by so fast!

B) Don’t forget to eat small meals throughout the day!

C) Drink a lot of water!

D) Forget about eating and drinking at the reception, you will be talking to guests!

E) Have tips prepared in labeled envelopes!

F) Things will go wrong! Although, some of them will turn out better than expected.

What people don’t tell you!

A) You won’t have an appetite on the day of so you will have to be forcefed!

B) You will be on Cloud 9 and have an out of body experience! (It’s odd but amazing!)

C) You will lose your brain - You won’t be able to think or make decisions right before, during, or after your wedding!

D) One of the most amazing feelings is when you can feel the love of everyone in the room!

E) No matter what, write your own vows! It is such a special moment!

F) Be nice to your wedding vendors! You will spend ALL day with them and you want it to be a fun time for everyone! Plus, when you are nice, they may give you free stuff, like a touch up kit or an extra lip gloss!

Hello there garden! I’m one of the newest bloggers here on BridalBuds and I’m so excited to document my experience and trade ideas with you guys. Let’s start off with just a little bit about me and my fiance:

Mr. Lion and I!

(not the best photo, but the only one I could find on this computer!)

Well Mr. Lion and I will have been together for five years next month!  I was 16 and he was 19 when we met, and we are now 21 and 25 respectively. For the bulk of our relationship it’s been semi-long distance, since we attended different high schools and colleges. Mr. Lion graduated with an accounting degree and now works in the accounts payable department of a third-party logistics company (yeah, I don’t really know what that means either…). I’m currently in my senior year of college, studying art and set to graduate in December 2012. I’m a photographer, running my own portraiture and wedding photography business (www.rachelkathrynphotography.com). Mr. Lion is a self-taught guitar player and pretty incredible, if I do say so myself!

We’re having a long engagement. And I mean long. Two and a half years to be precise. This month will be our “one year engagement” anniversary, and we’re planning the wedding for April 2013. This caused a lot of raised eyebrows and comments about how you’re SUPPOSED to do things, but its just what works for us. Since the beginning we knew our education came first and so it was really important to us that I earn my degree before we got hitched. While I would give anything to go ahead and be married tomorrow, I’ve definitely enjoyed the perks of a long engagement. One of which is getting to just relax and enjoy being engaged for awhile! Now that we are a year and a half away from the wedding, we are really starting the process of planning and it’s been both fun and nerve-wracking.

Mr. Lion and I are on a tight budget. What with our student loans, we don’t want to start our lives together more in debt than we need to be. Our budget is set at $6,000. Now, I’ve seen beautiful weddings that cost more and less than this, so I know it is more than possible. I’m trying to look at it as a challenge; “Champagne taste on a beer budget” is a motto of sorts for me. We don’t have a lot of money to spend so we’re just going to have to spend it wisely!

That’s enough rambling on my end. Looking forward to reading and posting!

Anyone else with a long engagement? Why did you decide to have a long engagement?

I currently live in Texas but Mr. Cherry and I will be tying the knot in Media, Pennsylvania. We are so excited to be getting married where all of our family can be present. However, it has been very tough to plan things with out seeing them! I have been so blessed to have AN AMAZING Mother-In-Law (MIL) to-be! She has been so wonderful. The first task we had when planning the wedding was choosing where to hold our reception. With her help we selected the Townehouse in Media, Pennsylvania. (I plan on doing a post about how wonderful they are VERY soon! Amy at the Townehouse is fantastic!!) My MIL went to the venue and took great pictures for us to decide. When I tell people that I chose my venue without seeing it they are shocked! I probably would not have done this but I was lucky to have someone who knew me so well! My MIL knows exactly what I look for in things! (She did help him pick out my engagement ring as well!!)

One huge inconvenience I have had is that I am one hour behind all the places that I want to use for my wedding. This means when I finish work every place is closed! I find it hard to get in touch with people sometimes and have been continuously playing phone tag with a few vendors. I do not mind this at all- and understand the issue. However- just be prepared if you are planning a wedding where you will not have the luxury to go in person to meet your vendors. Most will have appointments around the time you call and you will mostly be emailing. I have had a few wonderful wedding party members make calls for me to save me some of the hassle!

The last issue that I have found is pricing. I have had some issues deciding if the pricing I am getting over the phone is good for the area. I have my photographer, florist and hopefully my hairdresser booked! I went on friends and families suggestions- and all did some research. It is just hard to be sure that you are getting the best price for your money. I think this is a struggle for any bride, no matter where they are getting married! What I have done to relive some of the worry is ask my self two simple questions “Do I feel I am getting the level of service for my money? Do I feel that that will do a fantastic job?” I can say yes to both of these questions without worrying about a thing.

I am sure I will run into more tips and such about planning a wedding cross country!! What tips do you have for me? What were your experiences?

By now, you’ve probably seen a brooch bouquet or twelve! What used to be a unique alternative to your bridal bouquet is becoming a bit overdone in the wedding world! Hey, it isn’t the brooch bouquets fault it’s so darn cute!

To get back the uniqueness of the bouquet, check out this cool twist!  A heart-shaped brooch bouquet!

Picture courtesy of McAvoy Photography via Ok, now what? BRIDE Blog

With a month left to go until my wedding, my mother and my groom’s mother are without a dress for the occasion.  In fact, they are in exact opposite situations.

My mother (who has only worn a dress once in her life) hasn’t even started looking while my future mother in law has six dresses, in which she can’t decide amongst them.

To give my mom a jump start on her dress search, I suggested this cute little number from Nordstrom.com ($138).

Let me give you some background information: attending a black tie optional wedding by candlelight, age is mid 40s, shy personality, size 10.

What do you think of this pick?

What kind of dress is your mom wearing to your wedding? What about the groom’s mother? Do you approve?

So Mr. Peach and I are about 13 months out to the big day and have begun making our guest list.  Next big thing on the list-save the dates.  So everyone has different opinions about these little guys-send them out early or not? Do a magnet, no a postcard. Include the hotel info, no just the date…etc.  So with everyone’s input and the plethora of options out in cyber land to choose from, our hunt began for the perfect save the date.

Photo: blog.belfiorebridal.com

As with every other detail of our wedding, I want to make sure its perfect and thus have started putting a lot of effort into finding the perfect save the date.  We’re leading towards doing a magnet so people dont have to worry about misplacing a card.  And we are also trying to stay away from postcards as we’ve heard several bad stories about post office handling of post cards.  We’re only sending our save the dates to the A+++ list, so we can afford to spend a little more to get the magnet because we are not sending out as many.  So since it will be a magnet and hopefully be on all of our loved ones fridge’s for over a year, I want it to be something eye catching, and not tacky, pretty yet functionally informative.

I’m currently looking at magnets that we can put 1 picture of us on (the ones that have multiple pictures I tend to think look very busy), plus obviously our names and of course, THE DATE!  We will also be including the link to our wedding website that has the information about our hotel block, the venue and our registries.

So when is the right time to send out save the dates?  Right now I’m aiming for 11-12 months out.  Some may think this is early, but here is my reasoning.  First of all, who cares?  If I have the time to work on this now, what’s the big deal if they arrive a little earlier than average?  Second, our wedding is in September, which at least for my friends right now seems like a popular month to get married in, so I want our closest family and friends and know our date early.  Lastly, it falls right after the Jewish holidays.  A lot of our guests, as well as me, am Jewish, and especially for our out of town guests I want to give them ample notice to plan their travel and holiday plans accordingly, in an attempt to make our wedding part of their fall plans.

So when is it appropriate to ask your guests to SAVE THE DATE?!

When a bride gets to the point in her planning process where she picks out the music in her ceremony, it can be a daunting task. Please use this as a guideline for the six (6) major parts of the wedding ceremony music.

1. Prelude

• Song(s) played as guests are seated
• Choose a cheerful, yet subdued music
• Begins 15-20 minutes before ceremony

2. Wedding Party’s Processional

• Song played as wedding party walks down the aisle
• Choose a slow but flowing song
• Marks the official beginning of the ceremony

3. Bride’s Processional

• Song played as bride walks down the aisle
• Choose a very meaningful song to you
• Traditional choice is “Here Comes the Bride”

4. Interlude

• Music played during moments of reflection, unity candle lighting, etc.
• Choose soft music to reflect mood

5. Recessional

• Song played as bride and groom walk down the aisle as husband & wife
• Choose an upbeat, fun song
• The chosen song should scream, “Let’s Celebrate!”

6. Postlude

• Song(s) played as guests leave the ceremony
• Can last 10 – 30 minutes
• Choose upbeat tunes

I found the idea of picking wedding songs to be very challenging. Mr. Cherry is very into Punk and metal music. He is not really into the mushy wedding songs. Even though we have been dating for 9 years we still have had a very hard time choosing the music for our wedding. I wanted to share my experience with you of what has made this relaxing and fun.

One evening Mr. Cherry and I kept going back and forth on how he did not like my wedding song selections. He is a musician and this is a very important part of the wedding to him. I suggested Elton John’s “Your Song” because he is a very big fan of his Live in Australia album. I was shot down. Then I suggested, “Stand by Me” and this was too cliché. My frustration was starting to grow.  I even told him just to pick it and surprise me. I was done thinking of options! Mr. Cherry then made a great suggestion. We got his IPod and a bottle of wine. We decided to lie down on the floor and spent the rest of the evening listening to songs. It was such a fantastic night. It was perfect. We looked up the lyrics to each song and realized how many songs were wrong for us. They did not describe us at all. It was very surprising how many songs we didn’t really know the words too! It was a great night of laughing and just enjoying each other’s company.

We think we found a song- but who knows it might change. We still have 9 months until the wedding! The important part was that I had a great evening with Mr. Cherry and a wonderful memory! Our first song is very important to both of us and I was surprised how stressful it felt. So take a deep breath and grab your IPOD and just have fun. You’ll be surprised what will happen. Plus- there is so much more to stress over then the song! Did you do anything to help chose a song? Let me know!

-Cherry Bud

…that you never wear white to someone’s wedding. (Unless you’re a bridesmaid in a British wedding then that’s traditional.)

Rumor spread to me that a wedding guest who will be sitting on the groom’s side of the church, fully intends to re-wear a very expensive WHITE dress to our wedding. It upset me so much, that I nearly cried. (The guest is not British, nor in the wedding party)

A beautiful dress to wear somewhere other than a wedding {Image from: lafemmefashion.com}

It really should go without saying that the bride is the only person in white on her wedding day. And I’ll be devastated if a guest shows up in a very expensive white dress, especially since my wedding dress was in the same price range. Forgive me if I start sounding like bridezilla, but this is like a huge slap in the face that this girl is already planning to wear white to my wedding.

Help me garden, what is a bride to do when a wedding guest goes rogue and makes it look like there are two brides in the house?

If a picture says a thousand words, why are we all writing long invitations? Can’t I just post card everyone a photo and just leave it at that? Sounds like a good plan to me.

Engagement photos can say a lot, especially if you’re including them with invitations and on wedding blogs/websites. It’s more than just a documentation of how you looked on that day. Just as the style of the invitation may say lot about the wedding so can the photo. When the invitation arrives in the mail the invite is the first peek that the guests have at the theme and style of the wedding. Is it going to be formal, causal? Beach style, Vintage, dress-up, casual, a BBQ or picnic? If that invite can convey that much, even before reading the details, then a photo included can say even more. What does your photo say about you? What does your photo say about your wedding?

The number one thing for me would be for the friends/relatives that know us well to look at the photo and say, “that’s so Daisy Bud and Mr. Daisy.” I spent a long time debating if we were going to include engagement photos in our invitations, we decided to do it because the only decent picture of us together was one taken on a cell phone 3 years ago. (it really is a pretty cute picture), But, we thought it would be good to have something a bit nicer. The hard thing about photos for us in general is that Mr. Daisy is a photographer and so we almost never get in a photo together.

We have a great Wedding Photographer, Vanessa Menendez. She primarily does editorials, headshots and pageant photography. Fortunately she’s a good friend and we were able to snag her for the wedding, engagement photos, and a session of head shots for me.  We met up in a sweet location about 20 minutes away from where I live and we took my headshots (of which I was in desperate need) and then headed off to the park to do the engagement photos we’re hoping to include in our invites.

For headshots it’s generally recommended to bring 2-3+ outfits, or at least tops, for the shoot so you can change and take a few different shots, have different looks. I think this is a great piece of advice for engagement photos as well. I told Mr. Daisy that he should bring more than one hat to the shoot (Mr. Daisy is a hat man…) to which he promptly asked if he could bring his pirate/three musketeers style hat with LARGE red feather. To which I responded–”of course, it means I’m bringing my 1920s/30s flapper hat with feathers.” [No, we did not choose hats to copy the royals.] So we brought our hats.

We started out with our hats in our more casual outfits. We had a fun time just goofing around and attempting to be ourselves. Then we took some more traditional shots and changed outfits. I changed in to a casual dress and Mr. Daisy added a nicer shirt over his t-shirt. And switched to a more “normal” hat. And took some fun photos in the park. We ended the park photo shoot by rolling down the hill. We aren’t sure if any of the shots were worth anything but it was really fun.

Recommendations for what to bring to a photo shoot:

• more than one set of clothing and shoes to match.
• Multiple choices of jewelry–to match obviously.
• More than one color of lipstick, hopefully your photographer will have a good sense of what will read with the back ground and your attire in the entire composed shot.
• Make up for touch-ups
• Downy Wrinkle Release (or a homemade wrinkle release, Try 50/50 water and rubbing alcohol with a dash of any liquid fabric softener, or even just 50/50 water and alcohol.– But, any water will get out a bad wrinkle if you try hard enough, misted-sprayed of course)
• a hair brush. especially if it could be windy.
• Extra bobby pins/hair pins.

What do before the shoot:

• Get a good night’s sleep! No one wants to look tired.
• Be hydrated, wrinkles will show up less if you’re hydrated, and make up takes better to hydrated skin than dry skin.
• plan for a bit of extra time before/after, you may need to work out contract stuff or the photographer may need to move locations to get the photo that they know you’ll love.
• IRON YOUR CLOTHING– and maybe his too unless you think he’ll do a good enough job of it. Don’t wear things that will wrinkle a lot on the way to the studio/location (button down shirts wrinkle fast, especially when tucked in, throw a t-shirt on and change)

If you’re sending a photo with your Announcement/Invitation keep the color palate in mind.  Your clothing color choices don’t need to match, but do you want them to coordinate? Do you want them in the same world/style as the invite? Where else are you going to use the photos? Grandma’s mantle piece? Website? On the wall of your first place together?

We had a great time with our shoot, here’s the photographer’s top pick.

I’m having a destination wedding that will have (likely) over 100 guests. Everyone is traveling so I’m torn between doing Welcome Bags for them.  I understand they traditionally are done for out of town guests but since everyone is traveling from afar (Cymbie Dude and I have the longest drive), do we save the money and skip them?

http://blog.myweddingfavors.com/index.php/2008/08/25/wedding-welcome-bags-they-cant-wait-to-open/

[For those wanting a quick and easy DIY on welcome bags, one can be found on The Knot's website here.] Here’s a little back story on “hospitality bags” that I found interesting as well.

Let’s be honest! It is expensive to be a bridesmaid or a groomsman in a wedding! Because of the cost & the stressful moments our wedding party will endure, I want to make sure we get them the best gifts ever!

Poinsettia Dude & I have thought long and hard and we finally have the gifts for half of the wedding party figured out.    We plan on getting the guys some items to finish off their wedding day look – 1. skinny black tie 2. Black watch  & 3. Black Chuck Taylors

The Perfect Gift: Groomsmen by wiredbride featuring black flat shoes

Converse black flat shoes
$45 - footnotesonline.com

What do you think of these gifts? What are you getting your wedding party?

Thank you notes are extremely important and as a bride who attempts to be organized, I have failed in getting my shower thank yous out in good time.

But in my defense, I’m trying to finish my senior year of college without pulling out my hair (since that is very important for the wedding). But alas, I have written all of my thank you notes and they will be mailed quite soon.

Thank you notes made for my by my wonderful MOH

It is sometimes hard to thank someone for towels or knives or basically anything else aside from saying, “thank you for ____.” But it is possible to approach thank you notes differently. When I wrote my shower notes I kept it short. For example:

Dear Family Member,

Thank you for (kitchen item), Lilac Dude and I look forward to using it in our new home. We hope to make some delicious food in our kitchen thanks to your generosity.

Also, thank you for making the trip out for my bridal shower, it was lovely having family there. We look forward to seeing you soon at our wedding.

Love,

Lilac Bud

Thanking someone you don’t know for sending cash is quite hard! A friend of my soon to be in-laws sent a card with money but couldn’t attend my shower. But after some internet browsing I attacked the thank you note this way:

Dear Friend,

Thank you very much for your generous gift. We plan to use it toward a security deposit for our first home.

I am sorry that you could not be at my bridal shower. But I appreciate you sending such a beautiful card.

Thank you again,

Lilac Bud

Ok, so I’m attempting to not rant about RSVPs before I actually send out invitations (which is soon!) so instead, here is the letter that I will not be sending to our guests, but wish they knew.

Dear friends and family,

We have invited you to our wedding and reception and we sincerely want you to be there. With that being said, there is a dollar sign attached to your head. We are will to pay for you, which is obvious because we invited you.

We have no desire to overpay for a wedding reception if we don’t have to, I’m sure you can understand wanting to get the best price and not wasting money. So please, as soon as you know if you are able to attend, please use one of the three RSVP options to let us know. We don’t want to pay for you and have an empty chair where you should be sitting.

Please pass inform me of your attendance status before May 5th, because if I call you, I want to be calling you to chat, not to find out whether or not you’re attending my wedding.

Thank you,

The Bride

I got a sneak peek of RSVP rates for my bridal shower and let me tell you, it was not promising. When my sister got married, our family was not good with the RSVP thing so I am not hopeful. In fact, one guest who did RSVP to her wedding did so on our mother’s Facebook wall… I don’t understand it.

I’m sure this won’t be my last blog about RSVP.

Is it just me or do you find it extremely annoying when you get bombarded by vendors you’ve never inquired from?  For those of you who just got engaged or have not yet, this post will help you save countless voice mails, emails, and phone calls from bombarding vendors.

When I first started wedding planning, I would give out my information to vendors like no other through bridal shows and websites that had listings for music wedding bands.  I thought, why not..it doesn’t hurt right?  Yea, it doesn’t hurt, but you’ll just end up getting annoyed by so many vendors trying to contact you to get your business.  A lot of times, they won’t just contact you once and hope for you to call back…they’ll call you at least 3-4 or more times until you call them back.

How to Avoid:
It’s a pretty simple solution, just don’t give out your information to any vendors at bridal shows, websites, etc.  Not even The Knot.  Once I signed up for the knot, I started getting a lot of bridal advertisements in the mail right away.  This was before getting engaged too!  I know at Bridal Shows it’s tempting to give out a lot of your info, but most of the time you’ll end up forgetting 95% of who you talked to.  So when they call you back, your response may be, “Who is this?”  If you’re interested in a vendor at a Bridal Show, get their business card and don’t give them anything else. If you are truly interested in a vendor, then you can call them. If all possible, contact the vendor directly…not through another website.  For example, I went through Gig Masters (site that lists wedding bands in your area) to look for a wedding band and I inquired through their website.  BIG MISTAKE.  I got so many calls from bands I’ve never even heard of…and they would call me until I picked up my phone!  In this situation, I would look for the wedding bands direct email address or phone number and contact them directly.  In that way, you won’t have to deal with the hassle of other vendors getting your information.

As I said in a previous post I’m the MOH in my best friend’s wedding, which is taking place this September, so I’m currently working on more stuff for her wedding than mine, mine isn’t until October 2012 so we have plenty of time. On my to do list is her bridal shower and bachelorette party which are taking place in June in Florida. For the shower we will be having lunch at Carraba’s. Since they don’t open until 4pm we’ll have the restaurant to ourselves so that will be nice. We will be decorating with flowers on the tables and balloons around our area. Her wedding colors are pink and black so I’m trying to incorporate those colors into the shower and bachelorette party as well.

I’m working on the guest book, place cards, games, and favors. I have help from her Mom and the other BM’s but I’m trying to come up with the concepts. For the guest book I plan on doing a guest book picture frame but I’m open to other ideas if anyone has any. I thought this would be something they could put in the house afterward. I really like being able to reuse items that are bought for weddings and wedding related events.

I’m debating on the place cards, have you all used place cards at your showers? I could go either way on this but if I find something I like I might end up doing them to add a little more decoration. If you have any cute ideas that would be great.

Games, I think games are the dreaded subject when planning a shower. I’m making “advice for the bride” cards, if they come out good that is. Otherwise I will be purchasing some at Party City. I just bought all of the supplies, on sale at Michael’s yesterday, so hopefully my little DIY project will come out good and you’ll see pictures here in the near future. Other than the cards another BM will be putting everything together for a bingo game. Anyone have any other ideas for a successful game you had at your shower or you played at someone’s shower?

Finally we need to figure out a favor for the shower. Her Mom bought little boxes but we don’t have anything to put in them yet. I’m thinking candy but that’s pretty usual so if anyone has any creative ideas I’m all ears.

I can’t wait to hear all of your creative ideas, since this is the first bridal shower I’ve planned I’m really open to everything you all have to say.

We’ve gotten down the point in our planning where we need to solidify certain choices, like where we’re going to register and how/what is going on the invitation/announcements.

One of our big “discussions” involved trying to figure out where and what to register for (which we haven’t yet done). I guess one of my questions would be should we A) figure out where to register and then add stuff, or B) figure out what we want, in general, then figure out where to register?

Right now, all I know that we’ve really got our eyes on is: Towels, NICE towels; the “chaise” to go with our sofa-from Ikea, Nice knifes, and new Scuba Suits… maybe we need another set of sheets.

#1: We’re pretty well stocked on your average “household” goods, superficially in the kitchen.  So much so that we sent my brother off to college with a few extra things between the two of us.

#2: the stuff we do need is random, all from different places, and a bit unconventional: LIKE, new Scuba Suits.

#3: We’d like cash, but aren’t a big fan of any of the “cash deposit websites”. Mr Daisy is scheptical of most of the websites and I think that just using PayPal looks tack, and is vauge…

• One thing I’ve learned from fund raising a few big things the past few years is that people are more willing to donate/give if they know EXACTLY what and why they’re giving, and what the goal is… so for fund raising, if you announce we’re raising 10,000 dollars for, whatever, rather than just saying “we’ve got a long way to go” people are willing to give you more money;  100 bucks, rather than 20 or 50. So, for a wedding, if you can specifically say we need 200 to go to a Scuba suit, rather than just saying we want money, inevitably, you’ll probably end up with more in the end (Rather greedy, I know).
• Mr. Daisy also thinks that people like to hand you something, I don’t disagree… maybe we shouldn’t register for these OR promote PayPal… but just put down our “honeymoon dreams” on our own website.

#4: We’re really not sure how tech savy everyone on our list is. I have to imagine that if they aren’t tech savy, like my grandma, then they also aren’t going to be driving themselves to the store anyway, like my grandma.  And probably have someone that would help them look on the internet or take them to the store, like my aunt or mom.

#5: We want big ticket items, It’s not that we’re greedy, but if we need a new spatula, we’ll go buy it-now. I want new knives, they’re not that high on the expenses list for personal purchases.

~ SO ~

Our current plan is to register at:

• Macy’s? (for a few things, towels, china–mainly because my grandma MUST buy us this, I’m not sure how I feel about having only 2 or 3 place settings bought for us, seems silly…
• Amazon.com or Some other Universal type list, we started with one called MyRegistry.com but honestly, It seems to be a pain, so I’m investigating Amazon’s new Wedding Registry.
• A cash website like depositagift.com, because come January next year, we’re hoping to take a trip to somewhere WARM and SUNNY for SCUBA and to get away from the Utah Winter, Mr. Daisy loves snow, I could See it one day a year and be happy, I only want it for Christmas… NOT my birthday (It’s still snowing here, in April, and it’s a week till my birthday. lame) (or like i mentioned, not doing this at all, and possibly just describing our dreams, so that they get the hint.)

Rather than listing all these places on our invites/announcements, we’re directing them to our “wedding” website which will eventually become our “US” website/blog. [Which is run through wordpress, where you can make more than one user, so two or more people can blog on the same site (the buds know this, but maybe others don't) It's an awesome way for two people to blog together to share their side of the wedding planning experience with the family and friends or who ever has found you on the tubes.]

We registered for a domain that is Daisyandmr.daisy.US instead of .COM (no it’s not actually daisy… our real names). I’ve always felt weird about including a registry in our invites to begin with (I’m not one to advertise things like “if you love me you’ll bring me cookies for my birthday all over facebook), but this points them to our website where they’ll eventually be able to see additional pictures of us, read our story, find directions to the wedding, maps and accommodation information.

Where are you registered? Any recommendations/reviews on the universal registries or cash deposit type websites?

So, We’ve been planning our wedding since about December for late August. I am the first to get married on my dad’s side, and the third on my moms… or so I thought… While I was at my parent’s last weekend, I found out that a cousin on my dad’s side has just gotten engaged and they’re getting married at the beginning of August. Lame. I suppose it should go with some explanation that the Utah tradition is less than 6mos of dating before engagement and less than 6 mos of engagement before the wedding, yes it’s a gross generalization. However, far too popular a trend. I just can’t imagine not dating someone for a long time before getting married. My Dad’s mom was so excited for her oldest grandchild to get married, and for it to be the first grandchild wedding. Guess Not anymore.

I know it really doesn’t matter, but I can’t help but feel trumped, and I doubt I’ll even be around for the wedding because of my summer job.

I guess that’s another +1 to add to the list.

I was recently having a conversation with a good friend about the wedding and she announced that she was bringing a mutual acquaintance as her date to the wedding.I was quite alarmed because we’re about 6 weeks away from sending the invitations out and she’s already picked a +1. It’s a problem because we have a tight budget and our venue has a maximum capacity of 150, which we’re at about 146. The person she’s planning to invite is someone I wouldn’t invite to the wedding–and it’s not someone she’s been dating, it’s a friend of hers that we both went to school with. I hope that when she gets the message when when we send the announcements. But with our budget and venue restrictions, I’m worried I’ll have to make it more clear. Not to mention I’m not sure I really want to have the “plus one” there anyway.

Any suggestions on how to make it clear to our guests that a plus one isn’t necessarily acceptable, and  how to let my friend down easy?

I’m like almost every other girl… I’ve been looking forward to my wedding my entire life.  Really, I have.

I’ve always thought about the details, the food, the colors, my bridesmaids.  You name it, I’ve considered it.  Even now, we’re not officially engaged, but planning… and hell, I’ve got the whole damn thing figured out.  I’m so Type A.

There are a couple things, though, that I really didn’t expect to feel.

1. First, I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I’ve considered just going to the JoP and getting this over with.  While a wedding will be a blast, I really just want to be married. A couple times I’ve even said it out loud {GASP}… Mr. Man simply responds with “soon, babe.  soon.”  I guess that’ll do.  Soon may not be quite soon enough, but whatever.  As tempting as a courthouse wedding seems presently, I’m pretty sure that I’d regret it down the road.
2. You know that one little detail? The one that makes your wedding day all about you? Well, it’s making me downright uncomfortable.  I’ve performed on stage in front of hundreds of people.  Spoken publicly.  Man, I even cooked with Emeril Lagasse and was on TV for it.  I’ve never, ever had stage fright.  So why now, self!?  The more I think about, and plan, my outfit, accessories etc.; the more uncomfortable I get.  I was talking to one of my BMs the other day saying something along the lines of “you guys will wear bla bla bla and I’ll have bla bla bla.”  What’s with me that already I don’t like the idea of standing out?  Odd.  SO not like me.
3. Lastly, I’m obsessing about what my pictures are going to look like.  I’m pleased to announce that I’ll have the best photographer ever (I told Mr. Man that if she doesn’t take our pictures, I’m not getting married.  It’s that serious.) and I’m not worried about the pictures.  Work with me here, I’m aware this makes no sense… In the back of my mind, my OCD-ness is wondering if my real wedding pictures are going to stand up to what I’ve envisioned in my head my whole life.  I guess that the groom was always just a generic stand-in made up shadow of a person; and now it’s a real person.  What I’ve wanted for my wedding has changed 100 times over the years; I guess I’m just hoping that the pictures reflect us.  I’m hoping that I execute this wedding in a way that will make me proud 20 years from now.

I know I’m a babbling mess.  I apologize.

Just figured I’d put this out there to see if anyone has felt the same stuff?

Bueller?