Tuxedos

Last night we went to look at tuxedos.

And I didn't realize how much groom/groomsman wear has become like bridal wear. Can't you just say black tux. white shirt. No-I-do-not-want-the-groomsmen-to-match-the-bridesmaids-it'll-look-like-prom?

No. You can't.

There are jackets. How many buttons do we want on the jacket? I don't know, but not the one that looks like a waiter. Or the one that looks like it belongs on a mafia member. No, not tails.

And ties. My fiance wants a tie that he can tie, not one that's pre-tied. Well, there's only one option (in several colors) with that. But who knew all those weddings I've been to the ties were most likely pre-tied - it makes me think of those tie-on-an-elastic-band that 3-year-olds get!

And pants. Unlined? Lined? Lined to the knee? Do any of the groomsmen have a wool sensitivity? I have no idea. And if John knew that about his groomsmen, I might be worried. I just don't see it as locker room talk.
"So, Jim, how 'bout them Reds?"
"I think it'll be a great season ... If it weren't for this wool sensitivity I have."

And shirts. The wedding's in June. We need to think about sweat-factor. One shirt is heavier. One is breathable. One is softer. I'm suddenly picturing five sweaty groomsmen cursing us because we picked the wrong shirt.

And shoes. There are the free ones. But if we want more-pointy - or less pointy, I can't remember - it'll be more money. Why? Do points cost more to make? Ridiculous. As long as the groomsmen don't show up in flip-flops or basketball shoes, one black shoe on men is the same as another.

And vests. Groom in white? Groomsmen in black? What about dads? Patterns? What about silver? Platinum? No-not-purple-it-looks-like-PROM.

We didn't get anything. My fiance wants to make sure he's not getting ripped off. He wants to check another store. Fine, but do it quick I said. We need to Act Now Because The Special Ends In 19 Days. And if we miss the special, the guys might have to wear roundy shoes. Or purple.

(Tux picture from www.anytimecostumes.com)

Double Proof

In case the church doesn't come through with my baptismal certificate, I'm ready with proof that I was, in fact, baptized. See, the priest is ACTUALLY pouring the water on my head in this picture as my Grandma holds me. And see this certificate that my mom so lovingly taped into my baby book (note the '70s-esque bunny, bear and chick)? That's proof. Double proof.

So I thought I'd share.

Things that should be easy

To get married (as a Catholic) in a Catholic Church, you need a baptismal certificate. And not just a photocopy of the one from the baby book - a NEW certificate.

So even, though I was baptized way back on the day of the first Hail Mary Pass (who knew? I just looked it up because I knew I was baptized the Sunday after Christmas), I need an original from the church.

And since I was baptized where my mom grew up (and I never lived), this is a bit more challenging. (Side note, my baptism, First Communion, Confirmation and wedding will be in four different churches, though I never switched parishes growing up!)

But I still thought it would be easy enough. I called the church of my baptism in mid-December, spoke to a woman, and she said she would send it. In January, my church still hadn't received it, so I called again. Again, the same woman said she'd send it. Just today the person from my church called, and said she had called about getting the baptismal certificate too, but it was still not here. Driving 2 hours away to pick up a piece of paper is not in my plans, so hopefully it will arrive soon. I can't get too threatening with a church employee!!

So just a word of warning to any Catholic brides-to-be out there. It's never too soon to start calling about that baptismal certificate!

Catching up

It's been over a week since I last blogged. Sorry. I'll blame it on the weather! Wedding plans are chugging along.

The latest issues have involved money. And math. And I've even gotten a little feisty. It's definitely been the moments least passable for "laid-back bride."

First, there was trying to block the hotel rooms. Our reception is at a hotel. That hotel happens to be changing names in April. We knew this when we booked the reception. The wedding coordinator at the time said she didn't know exactly how much the room rate would be (because of the new name) but gave us a number it "wouldn't be over." We were OK with that. Fast forward... First, that wedding coordinator has left the hotel. The new wedding coordinator has proven impossible to get ahold of. I have left 4 messages with her beginning on about 2/9. She called last Thursday sometime between 7 and 9 p.m. while I was doing the FOCCUS stuff. I called her the next day but still haven't heard back. Anyway, so I talked to the sales manager about the rates. She said the rate was $10 more than the original "top" number, which I wasn't happy with but didn't fight at first. Then she sent the contract and it was even higher than she said on the phone - by another $10. So I got feisty and called and said that wedding coordinator No. 1 had said the rate wouldn't be higher than $x, and this number was $20 over that, and I wanted the original rate. She said she probably couldn't get it, but she would ask ... The next day she calls back and I got the original rate! SCORE! (Well, for our guests. Our suite is free!)

The second money "problem" has been the flight for the honeymoon. We want to go to Maui and Kauai. The Largest Airline That Has A Monopoly In Cincinnati doesn't fly to Kauai. So fine. We can leave CVG the day after our wedding and fly to Maui (by way of LA), spend a few days in Maui, then fly that Hawaiian Airline That Means Hello to Kauai. It's getting back to Cinci that is a problem.

The travel Web sites want to take us from Kauai to Honolulu to Seattle to Minneapolis to CVG or something like that - for multiple thousands of dollars. Why can't we just fly from Kauai to Maui and then switch airlines to go to LA and on to CVG? Well, because HATMH and TLATHAMIC do not have some sort of rights, so you can't book directly through THLATHAMIC's Web site for all the flights. We can fly that route, but we must book the legs separately. Well, it's not that we MUST, but to save money we need to.

See to book separately, the flights are $A and $B. But if you try to book them together (say by manipulating a certain travel web site with a sing-song theme song) the price is $A + $B + $54.61. Why??? So, it looks like to save $100 together, we will most likely have to make our return flight from Kauai to Maui, pick up our luggage from HATMH, recheck our luggage with TLATHAMIC and re-go through security. "Unless," said the helpful travel agent I spoke to who wanted to charge me an additional $30 pp to book the already more expensive 'combined' flight, "You get a really nice gate agent. Show them all your tickets, and maybe they'll book you all the way through to Cincinnati."

Here's hoping the gate agents in Kauai are super nice. And that the rates don't go up before we can get the tickets actually purchased, of course.

Post Bridalrama and more

Hope everyone is staying warm tonight! There's a large tree on my shed, but what can I do right now? It's too icy.

But I digress. Here's our bridesmaid dress, which I was requested to post. The color in real life is bluer and darker. It's called concord. And the girls will not be wearing gloves. Straps on the dress are optional.

Bridalrama was an interesting experience. There were SO many people there. I think it was beneficial because I was able to pick up some business cards and talk to a few vendors. Now I just have to pick a few (limo and invitations are what I mostly was looking for). I should've taken a camera and then I could've put some pictures on here. Oh well! The fashion show was a sight to be seen. There was a crazy dress that looked sort of like the barrels that cartoon characters wear when they somehow lose their clothes. I'll have to see if I can find a similar picture. Most of the rest were beautiful.

I'm also struggling with finding someone to do alterations. The ladies recommended by friends have both been booked or unavailable during June. So it's back to the drawing board for that.

We did get our save the dates mailed and some people have received them. That was a weight off.

And Sunday we met with the couple from church to go over the FOCCUS results. Well, half the results. We need to go back to do the rest. It's actually pretty interesting, but sometimes seems a little out there. Somehow one of the conversations ended up involving me pregnant with octuplets. Hmmm. No.

Upcoming I'll be trying to find the alterations person, finishing up the FOCCUS meetings and deciding on limos and invitations. As always, I'll keep you posted!

Oh where oh where has our registry gone?

It's not online, that's for sure.

You know how, sometimes, you think "I'll grab a quick lunch and then get some of these phone calls made that are easier to make during business hours." That's what I thought before I spent 29 minutes and 20 seconds (thanks phone clock!) being shuffled around to find out the answer to my simple question: Why is our registry not appearing online? When we registered Sunday, we were told it would be "up to 72 hours" before it appeared. It's now been 119 hours, which is more than 72 - by a lot. Still no right Katie Kelley registries. (No, I'm not marrying Bob, Kevin, Robert or Donny, but congrats to those Katie Kelleys as well!)

So yesterday I emailed the store and got a form reply that I needed to wait 72 hours or to call a number. Which I did today. First after hitting numerous buttons (and trying to do the "for all other options stay on the line," which ended up just repeating the same list again), I end up with a woman who can find our registry but doesn't know why it's not online ("let me ask bridal" she says. Wait. Why am I not already talking to 'bridal'?). After I fill out a form and sign up for what is supposed to allow me to see our registry, I find out I now have a wedding Web site. Which I didn't want. Still no registry. So she puts me back in voice mail madness and I somehow end up talking to someone who could SELL me something off a registry but not actually get our registry online. When I told her what I wanted, she said "Oh, that's option 3. What did you push?" At that point I'd pushed about 10 buttons. I don't even remember getting option 3, which she claimed was technical assistance. So even though she says she's not allowed to transfer me to technical assistance ("that's outside" ??) she does. More Muzak, before I finally talk to a guy in technical assistance who says that when we registered they probably didn't check the box to have our registry appear online. To which I answered "but they told me 4 or 5 times that our registry would be up in 72 hours. yep, 'go online in 72 hours and you can change your registry.' " So he says he has to transfer me back to the store (I have no idea where I am in this maze). He finally gets 'Tiffany' on the phone, who sounds like she's talking to me through a sweater from about 4,000 miles away. After I say "what, I can't understand you?" about 12 times, she tells me that, yep the box wasn't checked, and I should be able to see our registry -- in 24 hours. When I asked what number I could call if it wasn't there by 2 p.m. tomorrow, she had to put me on hold before giving me the number (it's probably some number they give to pesky callers). I will be watching. Please join me!

Speaking of joining me, who's going to Bridalrama this weekend? I will be there midday tomorrow, trying to look at invitations and limos at least, since I have neither of those yet. I'd love to talk to anyone about their weddings and plans. Find me, and I'll even give you a CiN Weekly pen (quantities limited!).

Oh, and I had a request to post my bridesmaids dress. I'll do that in the next post. I've got to get back to the work of putting out the Feb. 14 CiN. Vroom, vroom!

Registering

So this past Sunday, pre-Super Bowl, John and I headed to a large national department store (rhymes with Caseys) to start "our registry."

Now, I've been looking forward to this part. As I looked around my kitchen recently, I realized that most of the stuff in it came from three places.

1. There's the stuff I got for super cheap at the garage sale a former coworker of my father held after the death of her mother (yep, I'm using a dead woman's pans and '70s pyrex).

2. There are the things that my parents have given me in the vein of "So, do you want our old pots/dishes/containers that refrigerated sauce came in? Or should we give them away?" Most of this stuff is from THEIR wedding (that was 1971, if you're interested).

3. And then there are my outlet mall purchases. I got four dinner plates and four salad plates for $1 apiece at the Pfaltzgraff outlet mall store in 1999. And they're only slightly irregular. You wouldn't really notice the blemishes at all, really, unless you looked at them. And those nifty caps you put on wine after it's open? Only $1.59 at the outlet mall!!

So, I'm totally looking forward to getting stuff for free that is actually new - and not slightly damaged. What I wasn't prepared for were the decisions.

So, 113 choices for formal China. Yikes. I wanted something plain, but not too plain. And an accent color, but not a color that would clash with anything. I want these plates to look right at Christmas AND Easter. I think I was driving John crazy. And then the silverware. He liked modern, I liked traditional. We finally found a set we agreed upon, only to realize it was $90 for a 5-piece set. $90?? For forks and knives (not silver)? So then we had to find one we liked that was a little less expensive.

We tried to find a few other things, but we're not enamored with any of the dishes or bedding we found. I did register for a panini maker AND an immersion blender. Gotta get some fun stuff!

All in all, we spent less than 2 hours but we will need to add more. And although I'm excited about the process, I can't help but feeling somewhat guilty. I mean, I will be grateful for anything anyone gives us. It seems so petty to argue about $127 serving platters and $20 glasses. But I guess I should just be happy that we are this lucky!

Anybody else have similar feelings over registering for gifts? Anyone have suggestions of where else we should register?