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.