Changes, changes.

Hm. We are considering changing the wedding date. I really liked it because it was on the third anniversary of the day we met, but it's a MONDAY (a holiday Monday, but still). Ick. *sigh* So - maybe push it back a day to Sunday - and actually we will save a little money doing that as you get a cheaper rate for rentals (the full weekend) when it's done on a weekend.
Hm. Don't know. Nothing has been booked yet, so I guess this is the right time to think about it, eh? I just realized I am going to put the deposit down on the site on Friday, Sept 13. *cue ominous music* Hm.
I've found some discounted stuff that I plan on taking full advantage of - for my guests...since all of his live less than 2 hours away.

Airlines
American Airlines,wedding fares,800-221-2255
Continental Airlines, 800-468-7022, www.continental.com
Delta Air Lines,domestic group fares,800-337-4777, www.delta.com
Northwest Airlines, 800-328-2216, www.nwa.com
Southwest Airlines, 800-433-5368, www.southwest.com
United Airlines, 800-426-1122
US Airways, 877-874-7687, www.usairways.com

Hotels
Hilton, 800-321-3232, www.hiltondirect.comMarriott, 800-831-4004, www.marriott.com

Cars
Avis, 800-525-7537, www.avis.comHertz, 800-544-0058, www.hertz.com

The only thing is that for the airlines, I know you have to have a minimum of 10 people booked on it, so I might only pick two airlines. I don't know how it works for the hotels or the cars. But... I'll find out.

*SIGH*

*yawn*

Must decide. Flip a coin? *LOL* I'm so sick. It's gona be Sunday. Now to run this past Corey....but something tells me he won't mind. Gah. The only thing he has minded about thus far has been the food and the officiant. But I'm thinking that might be more than usual. :)

jasmyn

The Dress Dilemna

Something just crossed my mind - what is it that is so darn special about a wedding dress that demands 50 trillion alterations? It's (when you come right down to it) a white or ivory or whatever colored evening/formal gown. In other words - a really dressy dress. I know that most women can stroll into their neighborhood Saks and pick up a dress off the rack that FITS - no major bust/waist/hip/length alterations needed. Why is it then, the second you step into a bridal salon, you are almost EXPECTED to have five or six fittings?? Come on - I can understand that for a custom made dress, but when you are working off of a basic pattern? Is there something right fishy here or is it just me missing something? If everyone in my high school class who wanted to go could find something off the rack to wear (and we varied widely in sizes) why the devil can't bridal manaufacturers do the same thing?? I think they PURPOSELY make the dress shaped 'wrong'. It doesn't cost the designer anything extra as they can custom make ONE for their model - and the dress shops get a HEALTHY boost in their income because women come back to them for alterations. Just think - the worse fitting the original gown is - the more alterations you need. If one designer made rather wonky dresses, giving the bridal shop more alteration money, maybe the bridal shop will buy more of his or her dresses - perpetuating a cycle that only the designer and the bridal shop benefit from.

*shakes head* I really don't know what I'm going to do as far as my dress goes. I don't want to even try ONE on right now because I expect to be a nice bit smaller before the wedding - and what may look good on me now, my not look good on me then, and vice versa. Besides - I don't want to deal with bridal shops AT all. Everytime I walk into one I hear this huge sucking sound. And I might be a WEE bit oversensetive - but I swear the level of customer service has been down right nasty in every bridal shop I have entered. I've gone to about 4 now (2 David's *shudder* and 2 little boutiqey ones) and neither of them gave me a warm and fuzzy - oh I want to give this business 400.00 for one dress for one day kind of feeling. And I don't have the smallest engagement ring - so any observant clerk would have guessed that I was REALLY there shopping. Maybe it's because I either came alone or with Corey - they figured that unless I had an older woman or two or three friends in tow I wasn't serious.
Eh.
I was flipping through Harper's Bazaar a few nights ago - and realized that I really dug some of the gowns they had in there. While the magazine itself is irratating as all get out (who ARE all those people - and are they the dirty rich that aren't famous? Maybe I don't like it cuz it makes me jealous. I wanna be RICH!!! and what's up with the sexy starvation look??) I for some possesed reason used my soon to expire airmiles on a free subscription. At this point, I'm starting to appreciate more though because it is giving me more ideas as to what I could wear. If a style/color is good enough for the Oscars - I'm thinking it will be fancy enough for a wedding, eh?

I bet they only need one or two fittings too.

jasmyn.

Liars!

ARgh. So, I was right the FIRST time - you can't book the Hideaway until the Monday AFTER Labor Day. *sigh* *pout* Anyhow - I wouldn't have wanted to book it now anyhow, as you have to put down half the deposit within ten days, and I don't think the wedding fund (or either of our pockets) is quite ready for that. *Pouts* I want to schedule another time to go out there so that I can take some pictures and get a general idea of how to decorate the place.

The centerpieces have been bugging me. It's not really a 'fall' wedding - and the theme is not really one that lends itself to a centerpiece, and since the wedding is in the afternoon and the rooms that will have the tables set up in have either one or two walls of NOTHING but windows I think candles would look kinda silly. So - being the crafty little bugger that I am (and doing a little more unpacking) I came across my container of glass etcher and had the BRIGHTEST idea. I would get a bunch of the old school glass pitchers from thrift stores, etch them with the symbol (randomly three or four times), color the etched bit with either burgandy or gold glass paint, and then fill them with sangria or apple cider (the apple cider would go in the burgandy etched pitchers and the sangria in the gold etched ones)and put one of each on a table. Then - we could give them away to anyone who wanted one, or keep them. Thus - something colorful, something useful, something kinda cheap, and something that we can re-use afterwards.

What else going on wedding related? Ah! I went to David's Bridal this weekend (just to wander through) and I repeat - YEECCCHHH!! This time, it wasn't even the style of dress that bugged the be-jesus out of me, it was the fabric! The fabric feels like the absolute CHEAPEST polyester that they could find - with the crunciest chiffon. *gag* So - I see that I shall NOT be getting my dress from there. I came home and rummaged through my closet for the prom dress that my mother made me - and oh mercy! THe fabric is PERFECT. It's rich and soft and dense and just lovely. And I know that the dress cost no more than 80 bucks to make - and we used some expensive fabric. I really night have to twist her arm and get her to make me my dress. :) That can be her gift and her oly contribution (money or time wise) to the wedding.

jasmyn

Calming Thoughts.

 Buckethead's note on my last entry really helped me center myself. For a second there I was getting sucked into the madness - the search and total obsession with perfection.

What I will remember - what I will MAKE myself remember - no matter what kind of obstacles, stupid mistakes, money problems, bratty families, or dilly vendors I run into - what I will ALWAYS remember is - no matter what happens (unless the officiant keels over 5 minutes before the ceremony) is that - when Sept. 1, 2003 is all over, said and done - I will be married. I will have joined into an amazing covenent with the man I love and who is my heart. No matter if I spill a pitcher of sangria down the front of my dress or if all the tuxes are a size too small - we will be married. Even if hal the food gets burnt - and the cake is nasty - we will be married. Even if the photgrapher shows up drunk, and the CD's are all scratched - we WILL be married.

And when it really comes down to it - that's all that matters.

Jasmyn

Curiouser and Curiouser

I know I'm odd - I know my wedding is going to be odd. So why do I get so exasperated when I ask questions and get back cookie cutter replies? *deep breath*

So far - there looks like I have about three choices for a photgrapher.
1) Hire a Fine Arts Student (one of my coworkers at LB is actually a photog major - she may know someone)
2) Hire someone from a newpaper to do it (that way I will get more photojoural look and less mushy frou-frou)
3) Beg my Man of Honor to do it (really don't want to do that - I want him to relax)

I figure it's bad enough we most likely won't have many pictures of the reception - though I'm bringing my camera and I plan on taking plenty of pictures - but we reallllly want to take nice pictures of the ceremony. I need to make a list of what pictures we really want.

Addendum:

Okay - I just saw a website that has the EXACT style of photography I'm looking for - and I'm just mad at this point because I knoooowwww it's expensive. Those pictures are just GORGEOUS - and so my style. Most of the photos that I take are in that - catching little moments and tiny details and still managing to give a nod to the big picture kind of style. In a perfect world - I would clone myself and take my own bloody pictures. Gr. So now (as I'm guessing he is in Aspen) I'm looking for a photographer here that might do something similar. *LOL* Oh mercy!! I'm going to have a photographer like ole girl from Diary of a Mad Bride - bouncing around like he is doging bullets. *LOL*


bllleeghhhhhhhhhh.....

jasmyn

Excuse the Dust

*brushes off the last bits*

Well - thus completes the total revamping of my diary - from "My wonderful Life" to "Our Wonderful Wedding".

:)

All else I want to do is find a good, free countdown clock to count down the days to the wedding.

jasmyn

Oh!

It's so PRETTY!! - the paper that is - I've decided which ones I'm goig to use - originally I was going to go with one color for the mailer for the Save the Date, and another color for everything else....but in the paper I chose, I only LIKE one color. So... now I have to figure out how to do this blasted mailer. Hmm... maybe I can use the heavyweight vellum for the mailer - that would be nice, something a little sheer. Yeah - I should be able to find that at a paper store around here....esp. considering as of right now I ONLY need 12 sheets.

*grins* and the envelopes are gonna be soooo pretty too. I'm using this really rich copper color with black writing on it...*wiggles* I'm soooo excited.

Also - reading The Knot and the like - I realized that I had seriously over-estimated how much the flatware and plates and stuff would cost - so that makes me feel a little better. Not a lot - just a little. :)

*wiggles* I do realize that by the time I'm done collecting stuff a little it at a time, it's not going to cost NEARLY as much as I expect it will. Like I plan on buying most of the paper next month. Also, I'll be collecting the paperware, and the centerpieces right after the fall stuff goes on sale and.... well - it's nice to have a year to gather stuff AND save money. :)

We gonna have a NICE honeymoon - yes sir we are.

jasmyn

WHA, Wha, whhhhaaaaaaaaaa???

Okay - I'm addig up stuff and I SWEAR I'm being as penny pinching as I can be - without food we're already up to 2650.00. HUH?? How the hell did THAT happen??? Though I have to admit - our site plus all the doodads (extra chairs, tablecloths, the help, eating stuff (which I guessed the price at so I might be over compensating) and decorations) is about half of that. The stationary, flowers and other random crap takes up the rest. *sigh* And no, no photography has been included yet. Or my dress. Or the suit/tux. or...well you get the idea.

I got my paper samples yesterday (okay, actually I got the little notice saying they are waiting for me in the apt. office)- so I'm going to check those out, then bring one or two in to work tommorow and see if I can print these bloody things myself. That will most likely save about 200.00. *weep* The flowers we're doing (calla lillies for the bouquets and orchids for the corsages/boutonnaires) - the centerpieces I haven't decided on - I can't think of anywhere else to trim cuz I AM KEEPING MY SITE DAMMIT. *blinks* That felt nice.

Oh course - if I wasn't fighting with all my might to INSURE that me and the Boy go on a 7 day honeymoon this would be a lot easier. :) Heh. But dammit - I am. Okay. and of course - I'm hoping and praying there will be a nice fat lil sale going on like the one they have now when it's time for us to go. I figure we will book the honeymoon in May - so we shall see.

I read "Diary of a Mad Bride" last night - such a funny book. I had many sighs over the fact that she HAD an office of her own where she could get away with making wedding related calls at work. I swear - if it wasn't for the internet I would be SCREWED as far as planning this thing goes.
And naturally, I have utterly no intention of having my mother or his grandmother (heaven protect us!) helping us at all. Esp. with money from his grandmother. There would be waaaayyyy too many strings attatched to THAT little package. *grins* In fact - no one has any clue that we are THIS far along in the planning...and I plan on keeping it that way until at least late January - then I can spring it on them all suprising like. I think I'll start looking for a dress then too. I should have lost a good bit of weight by then.


MWA-AH-AH-AH-Ahhhhhh............

AHHHH!!! It's the Attack of the Mad Planner

I lay all this almost toally at the feet of 'That Bride'. *LOL* I've been planning (and budgeting) up a storm over the last few weeks. I'm trying to figure out how to throw a nice elegant yet laid back (cuz we are two of the MOST relaxed people ever) shindig or about 100 people. Maybe. Argh! See this is the hardest part - trying to create a realistic budget when you're not QUITE sure how many people may be coming. I mean if EVERYONE we are going to invite comes - that will most likely run to about 150-160 people (EEKK) but if only the people who I really expect to come come, then that will put me more around the 100 mark.
I have always wondered how in good gracious NAME women have wedding where 300 to 500 people show up. Do they really KNOW that many people? I might KNOW 400 people - but dear god, I'm not going to invite them to my wedding! Maybe it's a side effect of having a brokn family. I don't know my father's side of the family, or for that matter my grandfathers side - so that chops the potential guest list almost in half just for family. I don't have a crap load of friends - so that whittles it down even more.

I'm seriously considering turning this diary into the Wedding Journal - as I have the personal journal on the website and I have the weight loss journal over there too. I purposely didn't create a journal on the wedding website (folx don't need to know THAT much info) so here would be a perfect place. I can't STAND UW enough to use their journaling system - and The Knot (which drives me batty too) doesn't have one.
Ah! I love it when an idea comes together. :)

 Jasmyn

Hard Work

Whhoo.... I've worked hard today. *LOL* I've set up the complete budget for the custom/handmade stationary (invitations, RSVP postcards, thank you notes, STD magnets, and announcements), have come up with a rough menu (of course it has to be vetted by Corey Love), come up with a SMASHING idea for the cakes (it's a mini-meal, so why not have mini-cakes??) and pulled together a rough concept of the beverages. Last night I started working on a playlist - I have over a hundred songs, and assuming a 3 minute average length ( and I know that several of these songs are closer to 7 minutes) that would provide 5 hours worth of music (well over the reception time). There won't be a DJ - so we will have to rent speakers and buy then burn lots of CD's - but *grins* we will get to keep all the CD's afterwards. The only thing that is up in the air right now (in our minds)is the photographer. We want NICE pictures - but GOOD LORD - starting at 1500.00?? *shakes head* I will most likely hire someone from the LLYCamera Club (i've seen some of their wedding pictures and they are great) or a senior student photographer for IU or Purdue or something.

*sighs* I have the dollar figures for the paper stuff - but not for anything else. There has to be someplace where you can get figures for how much beer, wine, and champange costs.

We're aiming for a 3500.00 wedding for 100ish people, and we think *crossing fingers* we can pull it off. Even if we go up to 4500 (we are going to have at least 7000 to use altogether, but dammit I want to spend at LEAST 5 days at Couples Ocho Rios) I would still be happy.

I'm actually starting to get excited - I'm seeing in my minds eye a plan actually STARTING to come together. Have I mentioned how much I LOVE my site? I love it. I haven't actually gotten it yet - but I have been keeping an eye on the local boards and no one has even MENTIONED this place. Ohhhh I'm so excited - two more weeks until I can book it. And I love Excel too... :) it's EXCELLENT... I have my guest list set up there, and linked it to the number of invitations and the amount of food so that as my guest list goes up and down, the food and stationary costs reflect that WITHOUT any work on my part. Thanks Bill....

*grins*

This is going to be an interesting wedding. We want to try to do as much as possible ourselves - that is REALLY the only way you can be sure that you are getting EXACTLY what you want. Of course - sometimes that brings the prices down (as I expect it will with the food) and sometimes it hikes the price up (as I know it is with the invitations) but this is going to be a very unique and individualistic wedding - and for that I'm thrilled.

*grins & starts humming that damn Jagged Edge song*

Also - We've determined that we are going to do this wedding. And by that we mean that WE (me and Corey and no bloody body else) are the sole planners and concievers of this shindig. We respectfully listen to our parents, grandparents, and friends - but the final decision is all on us. :) To me a wedding shouldn't be the last thing parents do for their children - it should be the first MAJOR thing a couple does for themselves.

I'm terrified that I will either burst out laughing or crying on my way down the aisle - depending on the music and the way Corey looks/at me. During my graduation from Spelman all you could really see of me were my eyes and my teeth *LOL* and this - whooo - this is SO much bigger and better than graduation.

I'm considering when I change my name on the marriage cert (yes, I've decided I'm changing it - keeping my full name, but adding his but not USING mine - it's the principle of the matter) I'm also going to add Jasmyn. :) It's one of the names that has become MOST mine - and besides when I become a famouns author and want to write under another name - or just USE another name for whatever reason - I will have a couple of legal ones.

jasmyn