Finished ...

No, not the invitations. Just me at midnight Sunday night (my Internet connection was being flaky so I couldn't post last night).

Don't know if it comes through in this picture but my fingers were covered in black ink from folding hundreds of inserts. It looked like I worked for a newspaper or something. Oh, wait ...

This Weekend: 9 weeks to go

These people in Oregon I found online look like they're doing a great job. Think they'd like to help me?

INVITATIONS
1. Go to office supply store. Buy paper. And labels.
2. Create maps to church and reception.
3. Create lists of things to do the weekend of the wedding.
4. Have John add the missing addresses/info to the invitee list.
5 Confirm that names on spreadsheet are all in the correct style. Correct those that aren't.
6. Fold invitations
7. Fold more invitations.
8. Print out all that needs to be printed out.
8b. Say bad words. Go buy new ink cartridge. (just a guess?)
9. Print more.
10. Address invitations (w/ labels? Or print on envelopes? We'll see ...)
11. Stuff invitations
12. Stamp invitations.
13. Realize I forgot something. More bad words.
14. Fix it.
15. Pray real hard that everything is right.
16. Seal 'em up.

They'll go to the post office next week. If we get all the invitations ready by the end of the day Sunday, it will be a miracle. I just hope the majority are finished.

And this order is just approximate. I probably forgot something. I've never done this before. I'll put the actual order on once it's finished. Maybe with times. That'll be fun!

The Shower

I can't believe it's Friday already! I had planned to get this posted much, much sooner!

So our first shower, a couples shower thrown by four of my parents' friends, was quite awesome. (Thanks Carole, Jeanne, Beth and Peggy!)

It started out with drinks and appetizers (always a great way to start an event). It was the first time my Dad met John's two siblings who were able to come, his sister-in-law and his niece and nephew. My sister had not met any of John's family either. And John's parents had not met any of my parents' friends. (There were about 30-some people there. It was a BIG shower!) Everyone seemed to get along swimmingly and enjoy their wine, crackers, dips and vegetables. (Well, 2-year-old Maria seemed to be most into the chips, which she could juuuust see were on the counter out of reach!)

Following that, we all enjoyed a delicious variety of lasagnas, tasty garlic bread and salad seated all over Carole and David's beautiful house. As guests of honor, John and I dined in the upstairs dining room. Others were in the kitchen, on the deck, in the living room, and it two rooms in the basement. No sooner had I cleaned my plate than the fabulous hostesses came around with coffee and TWO kinds of dessert, plus chocolate-covered strawberries (did someone tell them that chocolate-covered strawberries are my favorite food? because they are. YUM!) I should've gotten some pictures of the food, but I was so enjoying the moment that I didn't remember.

Following dinner, John and I got to open gifts from the most generous of people. I couldn't believe what we got. So many dishes, towels, appliances, our duvet cover ... and much more. We have so many people to thank.

This shower was so much more fun than many showers I have been to. There were no embarrassing games (Thank goodness!) At one of my sister's showers, all of the attendees had to give them marriage advice, so I thought we might have that, but that didn't even happen. It was more like a big party - with gifts for us.

I just feel so blessed to have all these people in my life, and I hope that everyone enjoyed it as much as John and I did.

When I get around to uploading them, there will be more pictures here.

The Tasting

Tastings are fun! It's like a mini buffet for four. We tried a few different things. Since we are having a buffet, we got to pick three entrees and three sides. It was a pretty unanimous opinion (well, I don't eat beef, so I let John and my parents decide if they liked that).

We are having:

Entrees
Chicken Cordon Bleu
Beef Wellington
Grilled Salmon

Sides
Green beans with almonds
Roasted red-skin potatoes
Wild rice

We also get a salad bar. And we'll be having a cocktail hour with appetizers - including mini quiches and crab cakes. (Not that John and I will get to eat those, of course.)

Glad to have that decision made! Yay!

We also met with the new coordinator and discussed multiple other reception wants/needs. We struggled a little with what colors to use for the tablecloths and overlays. The darker purple was different enough that it clashed with the dresses. I originally wanted silver. Finally, we decided on a lighter purple overlay and sash over white tablecloths and chair covers. I think it will look nice - I hope. We also talked about table decorations and the room arrangement and so much more.

The hotel, which has been undergoing a remodeling, looks quite nice. There's still work to be done, but I'm confident it will be finished by the time our wedding comes around. The coordinator said there was a wedding this weekend, and she was worried the honeymoon suite wouldn't be finished ... if it wasn't, she was going to drive the bride and groom to another location's honeymoon suite. Now, that's service!

Next up: The super fun shower #1

Shower Pictures

I'll give a full recap of Saturday's fun later. But for now enjoy a few pictures from the shower and Elizabeth's gallery. I've got some more pictures at home, and I'll try to set up a gallery later or post a few more.

We may be the only people in the world to own this item.

My sister, Sarah, my matron of honor. You can't tell in this picture, but - unbeknownst to each other - we both went out and bought the same pants (different colors) within 24 hours before the shower!

More photos here. Thanks for the link, Elizabeth!

A Wedding Planner Fairy Tale

Once upon a time, we decided to have our reception at "Royal Palace" hotel, after we took a tour with a woman I'll call ... Sno Wite. Sno Wite gave us a great tour, explained the pricing, showed us an upgraded room. A few days later I called Sno Wite and she sent a contract.

My mom had a question when we were getting ready to send in the contract, so she called Sno Wite. A few days later, she got a call from ... "Sindarella." Sindarella said Sno Wite was no longer with Royal Palace, and Sindarella would be coordinating with us.

Several weeks following that, I was ready to set aside a block of rooms, and I wanted to touch base with Sindarella, so I called. And called. And called. Sindarella finally called back and left a message when I was unavailable. Again, I tried to reach her with no luck. Eventually I talked with another Royal Palace employee who we'll call Sleepin Bewty. Only Sleepin Bewty gave different prices than Sno Wite had told us. After several tense days, Sleepin Bewty said we could get the original price Sno Wite had said. Score one for us!

Fast forward another month and a half, and I again call Sindarella, because I wanted to find out about scheduling our tasting. Luckily, this time I get in touch with Sindarella quickly. She tells me that she can schedule my tasting, but that she was just doing this in the interim since Sno Wite was no longer there. And, after several months, Royal Palace had just hired someone to replace Sno Wite. Her name was Arrial, and she was going to start the following week.

As we scheduled the tasting for a month from that conversation, three weeks later, I thought I should call Arrial to confirm. But the day I was going to call, I got a phone call from ... Jazmine, saying she wanted to know what we wanted to taste. Since I had never heard of Jazmine before, I asked what happened to Arrial, who I thought was now coordinating things. Jazmine said Arrial didn't work out. And Jazmine promised to be around for the last 2 1/2 months.

Well, we'll see... Have you ever heard of so much chaos in one position in a 4 1/2 month time frame? Will more characters become a part of this story? Luckily, I have my prince and know we'll live happily ever after. I just hope the reception will be a dream come true as well.

To be continued ...

Tomorrow is the tasting and our first shower!

BrideBlog's new friend

BrideBlog is super excited today about a new friend at CiN Weekly ...

Gina: writer extraordinaire, hobby quitter and newly engaged CiN Staffer!

CONGRATS!

BrideBlog and I are so happy for you and Paul.

Maybe we will provide updates on Gina and Paul's wedding plans if there's a lull in what's going on with my wedding. (If plans beyond "maybe Fall 2008" get made in the next 73 days.)

If you see Gina, wish her congrats. And ask her about the cats.

75 Days Left *

So I had virtually no luck on my Sunday shopping excursion. I couldn't find a dress for the rehearsal dinner that fit that cost under $200 (yeah ... NO, not for my rehearsal dinner). I found a cute dress with a sash sold separately, and the sash was $48. No joke. $48 for a 3-inch wide piece of fabric that wraps around your waist. Try again.

And shoes. Why, why are all the white "bridal" shoes covered in sequins? Seriously - sequins? Is this the prom? I just want white, simple minimally strappy heels. No sequins, no cork, no 4" platforms, no shiny, no streetwalker-esque. I really thought shoes would not be hard. I'm beginning to understand how the bride in Mad Bride felt.

I did find something to wear under my wedding dress. I will be keeping that description to myself! (Well my friend Rachel knows; she was there.) But I'm sure many of you have had similar "ohmygod, what do I wear under my dress?" experiences. Suffice it to say I will NOT be taking the advice of the bizarrely unhelpful sales clerk who suggested I wear "nothing." Under white? In a church? Is she insane? Isn't it her job to SELL that kinda stuff? Crazy.

Anyway, I didn't write the thank you notes, didn't do much work on updating the list (the work that did happen was in desperation about 11 p.m. Sunday), didn't get the check re-cashed. It was a super-busy weekend, but it ended again with me frantically trying to get things squared away. Wasn't to be - better luck next week, I guess.

Today, I've just got other things on my mind too. The shootings in Virginia were horrific and tragic. And there are some health issues going on with some family members, so if you're the praying sort, all prayers appreciated. Hopefully there will be good news soon!

I do have some more crazy stories about the reception saga. Tune in tomorrow!

* It's now 74, but I didn't have time to post yesterday!

This weekend: 11 weeks to go

Don't have a whole lot planned wedding-wise this weekend. Next weekend is a whole different story already, though.

I do plan to shop Sunday for wedding-related clothing and shoes. And there's still those thank you notes to write. I also learned (maybe I'm just stupid here) that if someone writes a check to two people, BOTH of them have to sign it, even if it's just being deposited. I thought it was only if you were trying to cash it. Yeah, I got a check returned that was given to us for our wedding. So I guess I'll be heading back to the bank to (again) deposit it, now that John has signed it.

We'll also be tackling updates on the invitation list. Several people have moved, and we were missing a few addresses when we "finalized" the guest list.

The next two weekends we will probably be compiling, stuffing, labeling the invitations, etc. Yes, I know it's probably bad etiquette, but we are using labels. I wish I had the time to hand calligraphy the invitations, but that would cut into the sleep that I am already sorely lacking. If people want to judge me for that, well, they need a hobby!

We are going to include the directions in the invitations. (Unfortunately, all the map programs I tried do not route to the correct location for the church.) We'll also probably include some recommended ideas for what else to do in Cincinnati that weekend - conveniently my job pretty much forces me to know what is going on!

The trivia question is, with the extra add-ins, how much will we have to pay for stamps? Postage is going up May 14 so we HAVE to get them in the mail before then (probably would be anyway). Unfortunately, we'll have to put the new postage rate stamps on the reply card envelopes.

Lastly: Just so I remember this summer isn't ALL about our wedding (that's a joke), I'm going to a bridal shower for someone else tomorrow!

Real Ring is Back!

So much for the 2 1/2 week ordeal. I got my real ring back yesterday, and it's all shiny and polished and everything!

Turns out, the jeweler in California was going to charge too much, so it was less expensive for the jeweler here to use my family channel cut diamonds in a standard-order ring AND add a few more new diamonds. So no need to match it to my engagement ring. (It won't match perfectly, but that's OK.) And I gleefully picked it up yesterday on my way to the gym. Upon telling the jeweler I was off to swim, he got a look of horror on his face and said that I should NOT swim - or go in a hot tub - in the ring because the chemicals could eat away at it. He said a customer kept coming in because her diamond was loose and when he looked at the ring under a magnifying glass, the ring was just being eaten away. He asked if she'd been working with chemicals or what, and she'd said she'd just gotten a new hot tub ...

I know to some people a wedding/engagement ring is so sacred that they NEVER take it off to shower or swim or do dishes or anything. Any thoughts on this? I hate sleeping in jewelry. And I usually take the ring (and other jewelry) off to do all of the aforementioned activities. Is this bad? I sorta roll my eyes when I see someone's quote that "I got married on Jan. 1, 1999, and the ring has never left my finger." Really? Never? Apparently these women haven't been finger painting or throwing pots or kneading dough ... All things that I just wouldn't want to do while wearing a ring.

I'm interested in what married women think. How often does your ring leave your finger?

It was a busy Easter weekend

Here is my update, as promised.

1. Start shopping for bridal shoes and rehearsal dinner dress. (Didn't happen. But I have plans for Sunday to shop with a friend.)

2. Pick up bridesmaids' dresses. CHECK

3. Pick up invitations (they came in yesterday!) CHECK

4. Start looking for bridal party gifts (can't say what; they might read this!) (Sort of? I looked online. Got some info.)

5. Pick out rings (tomorrow, when John's off work). CHECK (see yesterday's post)

6. Write thank you notes for several gifts that have already arrived. (Still didn't happen)

7. Make several phone calls related to the wedding. CHECK

8. Take care of several non-wedding related tasks and errands, including a few that are Easter related (time to make the bunny cake!) CHECK (it was adorable!)

9. Regular household chores, of course. How does my house end up a pigsty at the end of every week? Right now there's a mixer in my living room, dishes in the sink, and papers and mail have migrated everywhere! CHECK (I'm pretty much in a constant state of cleaning and reorganizing these days.)

10. The other stuff that I'm sure I'm forgetting. CHECK (Sure, why not?)

I guess I passed, with a C, maybe? Yeah, I'm going to say a C+!

In addition we:
- Procured a limo. (Thanks for calling 9 places before you found an available limo, John!)
- Now have a few more friends and family members who have agreed to participate in our wedding as readers, gift bearers and our adorable "honorary" flower girl. (Thanks!)
- Decorated a beautiful purple-dyed Easter egg with a rather poor drawing of wedding bands and the date of our marriage. (It will probably be turned into dinner this week, but, hey, Mom gave us a dozen eggs to decorate, and I was running out of ideas ...)

The Katie egg, the wedding egg, the John egg

My Fake Ring aka Yes, I am being ridiculous

I had to give up my ring - temporarily, I mean.

We're getting our wedding bands made, and I wanted to use some channel cut diamonds from a family heirloom in my band. So the nice jeweler said the wedding band would match my engagement ring much better if he could take the engagement ring and send it off so that the custom jewelry creator - in California - could see it. For about 2 1/2 weeks.

I, of course, was sad. I did not want to part with my engagement ring. For 2 1/2 weeks.

I decided my finger would feel empty. For 2 1/2 weeks. I also had a ridiculous-sort of fear: I didn't want anyone to think we'd called off the wedding or something. I know, that's stupid. But, you know how rumors get started ... Someone sees me in a bad mood, notices I'm not wearing a ring, and decides something terrible happened. 6 hours later I get a call from my maid of honor in Illinois wanting to know why she's the last to know.

OK, far fetched scenario. More realistic? Yeah, no one notices. I'm too self-centered.

Regardless. Check out the faux rock on my finger! I'm calling it SIR (stand-in ring). It was a whopping 7 bucks at a 24-hour mega-store known for its "higher standards, lower prices." It's two sizes too big. (Bonus: I can reuse it if I ever get swollen hands during a pregnancy!)

So call me a dork. Call me silly. Whatever. Just don't call me suddenly single. For 2 1/2 weeks.

This weekend's to do list: 12 weeks to go

Ah, it's a Good Friday to be off work. There's lots I can get done (I hope God will understand! I'm going to church too!)

In no particular order, the top 10 things I plan/hope/want/need/pray to accomplish this weekend:

1. Start shopping for bridal shoes and rehearsal dinner dress.
2. Pick up bridesmaids' dresses.
3. Pick up invitations (they came in yesterday!)
4. Start looking for bridal party gifts (can't say what; they might read this!)
5. Pick out rings (tomorrow, when John's off work).
6. Write thank you notes for several gifts that have already arrived.
7. Make several phone calls related to the wedding.
8. Take care of several non-wedding related tasks and errands, including a few that are Easter related (time to make the bunny cake!)
9. Regular household chores, of course. How does my house end up a pigsty at the end of every week? Right now there's a mixer in my living room, dishes in the sink, and papers and mail have migrated everywhere!
10. The other stuff that I'm sure I'm forgetting.

Wish me luck :) I'll update as I can.

Two milestones!

Last night was our first meeting with the priest who is presiding at our wedding. (He is not, he said, "marrying us." We are marrying each other!)

Everything went quite well. He had "the report" from the FOCCUS couple we met with a few months ago, and it sounds like they gave us a "passing grade." Yay!

One neat thing he gave us is copies of our vows. He asked us to say them out loud every day until our wedding, and by then, we should know them (mostly) by heart. We might get nervous and forget, but at least the words will be familiar, he said. We also have to answer even more questions and take the answers back when we meet with him again.

And that is in about 5 weeks, when we will also go over the Mass, readings, songs, etc. He said we could get the book with the options then, but I didn't want to wait. I want to pick the readings out NOW:) So a copy of the book is supposed to be waiting for me in a mailbox at the church tonight!

The other exciting news is that the bridesmaids' dresses are in!! I can't wait to pick them up. I'm taking the day off Friday so I hope to pick them up then; one bridesmaid still owes money however, so I will have to wait and see. I wish my dress were in though. I ordered that several weeks before the bridesmaids' dresses were ordered!

I am afraid I've over-planned this Good Friday off work already with various wedding-related (and some non-related) tasks I want to accomplish. We'll see how that goes. I have been very bad lately at putting things off by saying "Oh, I'm off Friday. I'll do it then." This semi-mythical Friday needs about 40 hours in it at this point. I'll have to post the list later and have the blog hold me accountable!

Purple, it's so ... not in this year in bedding

We registered at a third place this weekend. Originally, I thought two stores would be enough. But after we registered at two places, there were two things we still hadn't been able to find.

One was just not available at either store: storage containers for leftovers. I am ready to throw out all the mismatched hand-me-down reused containers that originally held lunchmeat and pasta sauce. They currently live in one of those cabinets that goes deeper than you can reach. I can find a lid but not a bottom, or vice versa. Every time I open the door, things fall out.

I want new, pretty matching organized containers. I want them to stay neatly in the cabinet. I want lids and containers easily accessible and easily matchable. You know those infomercials where the containers live on a swiveling lazy susan? That's what I want. And at place #3, I found them. Yay!

But the main reason we registered at a third place is bedding. I want a pretty bed. Remember that movie with Jennifer Aniston and Ben Stiller, where there's a place to keep all the pillows at night? I want that! I want everything to match. I want a duvet, not a comforter that gets all lumpy after you wash it four times because when you were on a mission trip a bird got into your house, birdpooped all over your bed and then died right next to it ... Yeah, a duvet. And I want plump pillows for the shams, not pillows that had a better decade in the '70s and , well, no one would want to actually sleep on them, so let's stuff them in the shams. I want a matching bedskirt, and little mini pillows, and curtains and everything. I want it all, but I don't want it "in a bag." I'm through with "bed in a bag." I want high thread count, matching sheets and I want it all to be pretty and tranquil.

I also wanted it to be purple. Right now the walls in my room are painted purple. Since John is moving in when we get married, I wanted to register for new bedding to match the room - because he said he didn't want to paint. And I said I wanted everything to MATCH. So, we have looked and looked for something in the purple family (with manly gray, er, platinum accents.) No such luck. The only one we found we sorta liked was only available online, and I didn't want to register for it sight unseen. Because what you see (online) isn't always what you get. I mean it could've been a pinkish tone, and that wouldn't have been good.

So I gave up on purple. We're going to paint. We registered for a lovely ice blue and platinum duvet cover, several pillows and several shams. The pretty picture of the tranquil looking bedroom was very serene. I wanted to make my bed look just like it. But where was the bedskirt, and where were the pretty matching sheets? and curtains? Well, we asked the nice employee and he looked up the bedskirt for us. The local stores of this chain don't carry the bedskirt, but, nationally there were 41, I think. I don't understand. Why would a store carry all the cute little pillows but not the bedskirt? Is everyone in Cincinnati who likes ice blue and platinum super neat so they want people to see under their bed? Doesn't a bed look unfinished without a bedskirt? Yes. It does. So we registered for it, and hope that someone in Texas or Alabama will go to their local store and buy it for us (though, it might be available online. it's sorta hard to tell). But the sheets: I think they were faked for the pretty picture. I have googled everywhere looking for perfectly matching sheets of the same brand. They do not appear to exist. And curtains? Yeah, no luck on that either. So sad. I'm tempted to remove it all and start over with different bedding.

But John, I think he is sick of me and the "pretty bedding." He'll be happy if there are sheets on the bed. Apparently, pretty bedding is mostly a girl thing. Sigh.