Making a List and Checking it Twice

Yesterday afternoon Carlos and I completed our second wedding registry! I have decided that I absolutely love this process. I mean, when else can you go shopping for anything and everything that you want without consideration of prices?! True, you can't take any of the stuff home with you on that trip, but there is the chance of it finding its way to your doorstep at some point down the road! In our case, that would be approximately 8.75 months down the road . . .

Yikes! 8.75 months??? That's all we have until the leaves are back on the trees and the flowers in full bloom and we're standing in front of all those witnesses saying our vows??? How can that be when the leaves just started to turn color and I kicked on the furnace for the first time this season (which fascinated my four month-old cats who have yet to experience their first winter, btw)?

I'd say it's time to check the wedding to-do list to make sure I'm still on task and to bring you all up to speed on what's been done to this point! I'll tell ya that I've been doing lots of Internet browsing and idea-generating, so although not everything has been set in stone, I have a good idea of what I want for much of The Big Day. Okay, here we go, off to Weddingplanner.com, which insists on sending me weekly updates (see my post about creating a separate email address for wedding-related stuff) about what I've done and what I should be doing up to this point in the planning timeline.

Alrighty, let's start with the "Past Due" items that apparently need to get done during the 10-12 month phase (oops)!

1. Visit and book your ceremony location, including rehearsal time. Done! This was a no-brainer. Carlos and I attend the same church I've been going to my whole life. This community is like family to me and fortunately, there wasn't a lot of competition for wedding dates since we booked out a year and four months and the community is fairly small. They even waived the fee for us (although we'll still probably make an additional contribution that month).
2. Visit and book reception site and arrange for parking. As soon as my mom tossed out the idea of Mt. Mary College, we were hooked. Again, this was a relatively quick and painless decision, since not many people in the area think of this as a reception site despite the absolutely gorgeous natural landscape and gothic architecture! Carlos and I rode our bikes past the college on June 27th, the 12 month marker, and I can't wait to be there on the same day taking pictures and celebrating with our loved ones! What a beautiful place! Oh, and there's plenty of parking!
3. Start thinking about where you want to honeymoon. We've been thinking about this since before we were engaged! I'm a traveler at heart and Spain is first on our list. But, for several practical reasons, it looks like we'll be staying in the country and saving our international trip for sometime down the road. In that case, San Francisco, here we come! Neither of us have been there, and we've heard great things about that whole California coastal area. Not to mention, my parents suggested we make use of their timeshare which offers some beautiful resort options at a minimal cost!
4. Send your engagement photo to the local paper. We decided against this for a couple of reasons. For one thing, we still have yet to take engagement photos - this summer was far too busy with moving into a new house, traveling to Peru/Bolivia (me), and getting married (our civil ceremony)! Also, I see this as an added, unnecessary expense, since everyone we know is already well-aware that we're getting married.
5. Create a wedding website to share your engagement. I was all over this one, as I detailed in one of my first posts!
6. Compare calendars and select a tentative date. We literally pointed at the calendar and said "This looks good," for the sole purpose of having a response for the question of when we were getting married. We adjusted the date when we booked our reception site. Check this one off the list - easy!
7. Create and track your guest list with our easy-to-use tool. Okay, this one I really am past due on. I have the guest list made up, but need to get contact info and finalize it (I can't help that I keep discovering new friends to add to it)! I guess I oughtta check out their "easy-to-use" tool pronto!
8. Find out who pays for what and create a budget. We decided right off the bat that we want to pay for as much as we can on our own since we've both been completely spoiled up to this point in our lives. What better way to assert our independence as we enter into life together? As for the budgeting thing, this sort of came naturally as we moved in together after our civil wedding. We're quickly realizing how many expenses come with marriage, but I like to think we're handling this with finesse. Things will be tight for a good couple of years, and we might just have to dip into that financial offering my parents made available for the wedding, but we'll try to avoid it if at all possible. In my opinion, that will make this wedding more creative as we find inexpensive alternatives to some of the traditional expenses, and it will better reflect us as a couple without breaking the bank. Who wants to start off their wedded life with a ton of debt????

Alright! So, despite Wedding Channel thinking that I'm way past due on this whole planning thing, I'm actually pretty well on task! In fact, as I continue into the current list, I think I'll find that I'm actually ahead of the game in some areas! Not sure how that happened, given that I'm a naturally disorganized person, but I think the secret is to have fun with this whole process and remember to keep it true to you. If you do that, then things fall into place relatively easily without a whole lot of stress. Sure, there are moments of stress when planning any major function. But, for my wedding, I have two major goals:

1. Keep it a celebration of what's really important: Love. Namely, our love for each other and our family and friends. In other words, our day needs to be a reflection of us and our relationship and values. This goal is critically important and, when adhered to, helps the decision-making process go much more smoothly.
2. Make sure to eat that yummy food (that we're paying for)! I refuse to be one of those brides who looks back and realizes that the whole event was a whirlwind. When my day comes, I want to soak up every minute of it. And that includes eating the food! When I travel, I find that some of my best memories of a country or an experience are associated with something I ate. Why wouldn't I eat at my own wedding when I know that the smell or taste of something similar will catapult me back to that happy night at some point in the future? Not to mention, if I don't eat, I'll lose energy and won't be able to dance. And I wanna dance my heart out! I'm getting married, after all!

So, I guess it's time to continue working my way down the planning checklist. Scanning the 6-9 month section, we're looking pretty good. We're well on our way to checking off the following:

1. Start thinking about your gift registry options. Woohoo! Kohl's and Home Depot (that's right, we're registered for power tools and whatnot!) have been completed! I'm working my way through Williams-Sonoma, and I think we'll call it a day!
2. Choose your officiant and discuss ceremony ideas. This pretty much came with the church. Fr. Jack, our parish priest, was a no-brainer. We also got ahold of Fr. Joe, who's been a family friend my entire life and presided over my baptism. It will be really special to have both him and Fr. Jack con-celebrating as witnesses to the most significant moments of my life so far.
3. Finalize contracts with your photographer and videographer. We'll be doing old-fashioned home videography, so that's done. And, from my previous post, you all know that Sarah's a done deal and we're very happy with her as our choice. She and I finally set friendship aside for a sec and got some business done (signed a contract, drew up an outline of the big day) when other brides started clamoring for her services on the same day as me! Good thing I met her in January and got engaged in February!
4. Sign a caterer. This came with the reception site and we met with them as soon as we booked. Woohoo, easy decision-making there!
5. Book your honeymoon. Ooh, I am so taking care of this one this week! :)
6. Shop for and select bridesmaid dresses. This was a hard one, but I think I had a breakthrough and found a designer that I really like who offers a variety of dresses that match the style of my wedding and will give my bridesmaids a lot of options. The next step is talking to the girls to see what they think.
7. Find a bridal salon and begin trying on gowns and veils. I've gone dress shopping twice and have begun to narrow down my options and learn what style I'm looking for! I'm excited to go again (this coming weekend??) with my mom to get her input and start making some decisions! I can feel myself getting ever-closer to The Dress . . . I can't wait to see it!
8. Alert out-of-town guests of wedding date and/or send a FREE save-the-date email. Most people coming from out of town have a general idea of when to be here, I think. I've already designed do-it-yourself save-the-date postcards on a card-making software program that Carlos has. Now, I've just got to solidify that guest list and get all the contact info, and we should be golden!
9. Finalize flower and decor ideas, and select a florist. I had a conversation with a good friend of mine who did her own flowers for her wedding, and she recommended Sam's Club, of all places! I checked this out, and sure enough, they have a great deal on Calla Lilies (and other flowers). Best of all, the Calla Lillies are Fair Trade Certified, meaning that the producers of these flowers are getting paid a fair wage! I'm a big Fair Trade supporter, so I'll probably be going this route, since my grow-them-yourself idea didn't go as planned (I'll have to write about that, soon).
10. Get in shape for your gown! Start an exercise routine. Okay, let me make this clear: I hate this bridal tip/mentality. Yes, I believe in exercising and good health. But I think that doing this for the sole purpose of fitting in your gown is ridiculous. Why order a gown that doesn't fit and then stress myself out trying to get into it? I love my body and have been very happy with the way I've looked in all the gowns I've tried on so far. I actually do want to exercise more, so I might use my wedding as a little added motivation, but the gown that I purchase will be designed to fit my body as is and I refuse to work my butt off (literally) to fit into it, only to put the weight back on when I go on my honeymoon the next week! There, my venting session is done. That being said, Carlos and I have talked about putting together a joint exercise routine. Hopefully this will be a fun bonding opportunity, and we'll both look fabulous on our big day!

There, I've checked off a nice chunk of that pesky to-do list without breaking a sweat! It looks like the main things I have to focus on for the moment are

1. Picking my wedding gown and finalizing the bridesmaid dress selection. Woohoo! I love playing dress up and this will give me an excuse to hang out with my closest girls (not that I need an excuse), so fun times await us all!
2. Researching and selecting a band/DJ. I've compiled a fair amount of info, and have thought about this quite a bit, so now it's just about taking action, making some phone calls, and making a decision. Hopefully this will be a smooth process. I'll keep you posted.
3. Reserve bridal suite and hotel rooms for out-of-town guests. Again, a fairly simple decision (I think/hope), since I'm familiar with our options and just need to obtain basic pricing info and make a decision.
4. Work on decorations/invitations. I added this one myself, since I'm trying to be as do-it-yourself as possible. Carlos' mom is actually doing the invitations by hand, so I'll have lots more to report on that moving forward. I've been brainstorming centerpieces and wedding favors recently, so stay tuned as I begin to act on my ideas!

So, all in all, I think we're in pretty good shape despite the current lack of a formalized exercise routine! Haha, okay, I know, that was a laaaaaaaaame joke. How could I resist? In any case, that brings everybody (including me) up to speed on where Carlos and I are at in the wedding-planning process. There's still plenty to do, but it seems there's plenty of time to do it. And from what I can tell, plenty of fun to have while we check things off our list!

Have a great week, everyone!