EnCOUNTERing Wedding Checks

Getting things done! That's how I feel right now at least.

I finished addressing, stamping and stuffing invitations and I am putting them in the mail TOMORROW. Soooo exciting! 

One of Rob's co-workers daughters is a professional make up artist and he gave me her contact information. She seems amazing! It'll end up being the same cost as the girl I have booked form Canandaigua, but she can do airbrushing and fake eyelashes, both of which I wanted. I scheduled a trial with for April 6th first thing in the morning. That's the day of my shower so I figure I can go all done up and all my girls and my mom and Rob's mom can see it and decide if they want their make up done too so I can give her a head count. 

The bridesmaids dresses are in! They came in last week, so tomorrow I'm going to Syracuse in the afternoon. My mom is going to look for a dress for herself and hopefully Emily and Annie will meet us there so I can see the dresses. I'm also going to try my dress on with all the various jewelry pieces I bought a make me final decision there. So I' pretty excited to try my dress on again, find something for my mom, and see my girls in their dresses. 

Then Thursday I fly to Las Vegas. Rob is there for a conference now and I'm meeting him there. While we're there we're going to look at rings and hopefully buy them. Then, when we get back I'm going to make all our final vendor meetings. Which means we'll have to finalize all our music selections, a must have photo list, and all our details we still need to work out. 

Annnnd, on the non wedding front, I resurfaced our kitchen counters. And they came out pretty well. It's a surprise for Rob for when he gets home next week (unless he reads this, but I don't think he does. But if so, no surprise for him, haha)

Some before and afters. I use Rust Oleum Countertop Coating paint. It's specifically made for resurfacing laminate countertops. I won't put things on it or use it probably until Tuesday since it has to cure for a few days, but it's supposed to be a wonder resurfacer and last for years. So here's to hoping he likes it. It also makes the blue floors more subdued since they aren't as blindingly obvious against the dark gray. 

Anywho. 90 days left. That's it! That's 2 months, 4 weeks, and 1 day!

Double Digit Countdown, Commence

Once again, it's been awhile since I posted last. That seems to have become my typical opener, but I haven't been very good at keeping up. We've been in a bit of a lull lately, believe it or not, considering how little time is left!

A lot of what has been happening but a lot of it is "out of my control" type of stuff. Sharon started working on our bridesmaids and groomsmen's flowers and they are looking wonderful.

Rob and I are both happy with how those are coming along. Myself, Rob, and our parents are getting real flowers. Sharon is also going to decorate the arch for us, aside from two real floral arrangements, and made us decorations for our aisle chairs.

So those will line the aisle, so it should be a pretty affair. Sharon is also going to do our centerpieces too, so those are next on her docket. Everything is getting done and making it feel more and more real. 

Rob, Andy, and I went to Men's Warehouse today too and picked out the tuxes. He and Andy got measured and the deposits for everything in regards to tux rentals is placed. I'm going to be making final jewelry selections next week, so hopefully I can convince myself to stop buying jewelry finally. On Wednesday my mom and I are going to New York Bride and Groom so she can hopefully pick a dress and I can try mine on with all my jewelry and finally decide and stop wasting money. Also, Rob's cousin's daughters who are our flower girls, their dresses are figured out by the looks of it too. So that's great!

We're currently trying to figure out ring bearer, ceremony, wedding rings (still), final meetings with vendors... I don't know. I have a lengthy list, but at the same time it's not too long. More checks and then open, gaping blanks next to most things. So that's good. 

My goal is to have nothing to do the week of except get my nails done and relax. And as of right now, we are on the mark to make that a reality. As much as it felt like sometimes we had so much to do and sometimes so little, it's all come together perfectly so far. I can't believe it. 

Bridal shower invitations went out. Actual invitations are going out in one week. I plan to have them in the mail the first week in March. Hopefully we'll come home from our mini vacation to Las Vegas to a mailbox full of "yes" RSVP's.   

Finally, only 96 days left. Yup, 96. Double Digits. We started at 531 days total and now we're down to 96 days. That's 3 months and 1 week to go. 

Tireless Details

So it's been a while since my last post. I've been pretty busy with life lately. 

I just spent a week in DC on a conference trip for work as well as being gone the weekend before and after. I got back late Sunday and had an 11 hour work day yesterday. Needless to say, I am pooped and very much so looking forward to a three day weekend.

On the wedding front, things are progressing, but not too much at the same time. Rob and his guys were supposed to go together to get fitted Saturday on their way back from their boys weekend in Potsdam, but they were a few minutes late to the store and couldn't get fitted. So when that gets done is up in the air now. 

We changed directions on centerpieces, again, and I have now committed by buying materials to make them. I need to purchase some more tiger lilies, but it looks like we have the idea nailed down by now. And speaking of centerpieces, I need to email our coordinator about votive candles. I don't remember if they provide them or not. 

My mom ordered us a bunch of stuff too. Favor bags, tulle, and some other decorations type things. We plan to order the favors soon too. And another thing I need my momma's help with will be steaming all the creases and wrinkles out of the linens then rerolling them so they won't crease back up. I also bought different jewelry. I found stuff I liked better for less money so I'm hoping I can maybe sell the jewelry on the Knot classifieds or something. 

Invitations are the next project. We hand delivered a few so far, like to our parents and a few of our attendants. I'm going to make putting together, stuffing and addressing invitations my project for next week so I can have them in the mail during the first week in March. 

But otherwise I think that's about it. Once we hit the three month mark I'll start making final meeting with all our vendors which will be really exciting.

Anyways, as of today there are only 109 days left. Getting dangerously close to the double digit count down now. That's three months, 2 weeks and 6 days left. 

An Invitation to a Shiny New Kitchen

I have house and wedding updates today!

House first I guess. As you may or may not know, our house was built in 1931 and the same couple lived there for 60 of it's 81 years of life. They grew old and passed on there which is evident by the lack of updating over the decades. So this week Rob and I decided we should start tackling some stuff in the house to make it more "presentable" for when people come in June for the wedding. Last night we started off simple by buying and beginning to add new hardware to the cabinets. It already makes a huge difference. 

That was all last nights efforts. Today I went home for lunch to find Rob on the floor installing the last two handles. Pictures from that will come when I get home from work. 

**Here it is!

Our net step is the floor. Hopefully we can go right over the existing vinyl with new roll on. Church's sells fiber glass roll similar to vinyl that floats, so we might go that direction. We're still deciding if putting it in ourselves is doable or if we need to bring in my parents floor guy who works for cheap under the table. Our main concern is the radiator feet, the huge plug bolted to the floor for the stove and the hole we run our lovely extension cord through for the fridge. Cause we're classy folk like that. But no, sometimes you have to make the best out of whatcha got. 

As for the wedding... our invitations showed up in the mail on Saturday! They came out wonderful and holding them makes it feel insanely real that we're getting married soon. 

Aren't they pretty! Tonight I might work on divvying them up and assembling them as well as stamping our return address onto all the various envelops. Addressing them will be for when I get back from DC in two weeks. 

Anyhoo, I think that's about it. Everything I've ordered as late, like my accessories, my garter set, the rock candy, it's all showed up. We still have A TON left to do and I'm starting to stress a bit about how much of it is left compared to the time left. But I'm sure it'll all work out in the end. 

We're down to only 124 days left. That's 4 months and 4 days to go!

Engaging Wedding Checks

I don't know what I've done since my last post. My brain is soo jumbled with wedding garbble right now.

The most exciting wedding related news is that Andy (Rob's best man) proposed to Emily (my maid of honor) on Friday and they are engaged! I'm so pumped about it and I can't wait to see Emily in two weeks for our girls weekend. 

On the side of my own wedding, we've been mostly productive. Friday we met with Dana form DTO's about catering our rehearsal dinner. Rob's mom is taking the lead on that. But we picked a menu out and I'm very excited. Our rehearsal dinner is going to be laid back and outside in the park for a good, fun time. And everyone is invited, so it's like weekend long wedding festivities abound. 

Trying to think, trying to think. Urrrmmm. Yeah, that's my brain. I bought a bunch of stuff.  I purchased four pounds of loose rock candy in our colors to bring to Lori to decorate our cake with. I have no idea what four pounds of rock candy looks like or how much that really is, but hopefully it's more than enough. I bought my own accessories  I want one more thing then I think my attire will be all taken care of. 

I had one of my fellow June 2013 brides from TK design our invitations. I wanted the ones that match our save the dates but it would cost me like $600 to get them through Wedding Paper Divas. She, in her infinite awesomeness, recreated them and made them even cuter than the WPD ones and only charged me $35 for the invitation, all the information typically found on a separate card on the back, and two rsvps (one for the rehearsal dinner and one for the wedding). I bought a Vista Print groupon and all said and done I probably saved like $500-ish. So I'm pumped about that and those should show up in about two weeks. 

I feel like there's more, but I honestly don't know what. All I know is there's still a ton left to do and we're very quickly running low on time to do it all in. 

There's only 130 days left. That's 4 months, 1 week and 3 days to go. 

Accomplishments Abound

Holy cow, we're getting a lot done lately!

We had a menu tasting and details meeting on Friday at our venue. Our new coordinator is awesome. She's young and full of ideas and caught right on to our sense of humor and what we wanted out of our wedding. 

We set our menu. We're going all out with the plated dinner and I think people are going to be very happy with the choices. Everything tasted amazing and I can't wait. We bought some extra appetizers too so people should be nice and well fed. 

Our hotel is booking up fast! I had to beg for them to set 10 more rooms aside. I also booked a suite for me and all my girls for Friday night since all the guys are staying at our house. 

I ordered place cards that match our save the dates. A girl from the June 2013 board on TK is designing our invitations to match as well for a fraction of the cost from what the website wants, so I'm pumped about that. She sent me a first round of drafts to pick from last night and I'm excited to hopefully order those next week. 

My dress came in! It came in last week, so I went last night to try it on. It looks great in white as opposed to the ivory of the sample gown. I also bought cute dangley earrings to wear and we ordered me a veil last night too. So that'll be come in in about a month or two. But my dress is too big, which I knew was going to happen. I knew I should have ordered the sample size. But it is what it is and in April I'll have them take it in for me. 

Friday Rob's mom is coming to see us and we're going over to DTO's to pick out our catering menu for the rehearsal dinner. 

Rob's cousins said they think they've found potential flower girl dresses. All my bridesmaids have ordered their dresses. Rob and his guys are going to start looking at suits the second weekend in February. 

Emily and my girls seem to have my shower pretty underway and invitations for that are apparently going out at the end of the month. Glad we got all our registering out of the way two weeks ago. 

Ahhh, things are moving right along. It's amazing. It feels so close and soooo far away at the same time. 

We only have 136 days left! That's 4 months, 2 weeks and 2 days to go. I can't believe it!

Engagement Ring Revamp

Sooooo, wedding rings. A debacle we've been torn on since we first got engaged over a year ago. I think Rob has finally decided he definitely wants a meteorite ring. I think he should get one. He needs to love whatever he gets because he's the one wearing it forever. 

For me, it's been more difficult then yes or no to one ring. It's been, do I just wear my current ring since it's technically two? Do I switch it to my other hand then wear only a wedding ring on my left hand? Do I find something or have something made that fits around it? Or do I have the guard taken off? After a lot of debating and "deciding" on every decision possible at some point or another. But we decided to have the guard taken off so I can wear a wedding ring and my engagement ring all on one finger. I got the engagement ring back today and it looks sooooo different with the guard off. But I love it. It looks really pretty and perfect.

So there it is. Shiny and lovely. And now I can officially find a wedding ring.

Also, tomorrow morning we're meeting up with my mom to go register. So that should be fun. Then a week from today is our menu tasting and details meeting at our venue. And I found someone to recreate the Wedding Paper Divas invitations I want for a fraction of the cost. Then I can print them from Vista Print and save a crap ton of money. Score. So much to do still, it's crazy!

Only 148 days left. That four months and four weeks to go!