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#61

mandalinn82 , 03-22-2007 01:23 PM

Your shower is on my wedding day! Welcome!

I would probably not send registry information out with the invites to the shower, but would instruct the people who are taking RSVPs for the shower to give out the registry information when people call to RSVP. Everyone is going to have to RSVP anyway, so the info should get to everyone.

Your colors and dresses sound so pretty!!
#62

nelie , 03-22-2007 01:47 PM

Mandalinn,

You have less than a month to go! I wish you the best of luck. I know I was a bit stressed about a month before my wedding. Once you get to the day though it is smooth sailing. Actually our initial wedding dates are coming up. We had planned to get married at the end of April or early May but then DH wanted to accelerate the plans so we did. I'm actually pretty glad it was quick between engagement and the wedding, just because it was a lot less time to stress and think about the entire wedding. Especially now that I'm in the process of writing a 60 page paper for my last class in my Masters program.

I really enjoy reading your guys stories and such.

I also remembered something today. When I was looking for invitations to my wedding, I got frustrated because they were so expensive and I was having a small wedding and didn't want to spend tons of money on just invitations. I borrowed a laser printer from my inlaws and bought blank invitations at Walmart. It cost me $19.99. I had also thought of various things like using postcards for response cards and such.

It is amazing how little things can stress you sometimes too.
#63

mandalinn82 , 03-22-2007 08:26 PM

How many calories does panicking about the seating plan burn? How about 5 hours assembling lucky bamboo plants for favors?
#64

nickname , 03-23-2007 01:51 AM

Jilly Bean 720

hahahahaha...i said the exact same thing, when i was looking at the rings. Everytime someone asked me what I liked, i told them what i DIDN'T like, and your list sounds like mine, no yellow gold, no solitaire ( i thought the stone looked lonely, I'm insane I know), no marquis cut, no princess cut.... I'm with you with the not too formal wedding, if people want to come in jeans, fine whatever, if they want to wear a ball gown, fine whatever. AND i don't want a church wedding, but i feel that greatly limits my options...
I have no clue what I'm doing. However, there is a doughnut place (VooDoo Doughnuts) in Portland, Ore. that will marry you for $175, and they provide coffee and doughnuts for up to 10 people. It's sounding better and better everyday.

Nelie,

I went to Boone and Sons. Though that computer thing sounds like fun, but I'm so bad with technology I'm liable to break it.

Have fun shopping for the honeymoon Mandalinn!
I heard that the most expensive thing in a reception is an open bar. Is that true?
#65

jillybean720 , 03-23-2007 04:34 AM

Angel--do you guys have a wedding website? My sister's invitations and the ones for a wedding coming up in May (well, the shower invitations for their weddings) just included a link to their website on the invite, and their registry info was on their site. That way, it's more like you're just showing off your wedding site and those registries just happen to be there

mandalin--ooh, bamboo plants..excellent favors! I love bamboo. If we do favors, I may have to steal that idea

nickname--I don't think not having a big church wedding limits you at all. Quite the opposite--you have the freedom to have the ceremony ANYWHERE! Indoors, outdoors, gazebo, garden, pavillion, tent, zoo, arcade--where ever a JOP can stand with you, you can have the ceremony! I'm not having a church wedding, either. I won't get into my personal religious views here, but I will say that I've seen others go through the process of joining a church JUST to get married there, and then never go again, and I am absolutely against that.
As for reception costs, I don't think the open bar was the most expensive aspect for my sister's wedding last spring. I suppose it really depends on the number of guests, the types of alcohol you decide to serve, and how formal/expensive the other aspects of your reception are. My sister paid an arm and a leg for the photographer they wanted--definitely the single most expensive piece of their pie

nelie--I'm pretty sure we'll be printing our own invitations. We have a color printer, and we know how to get to Staples I do a little designing for work (designing graphics for documents, layouts, formatting, proposal covers, etc.), and Jeff does some creative drawing on the computer (his latest thing is to make "scary" looking creatures--I have an email folder at work of things he's sent me that includes goblins, evil clowns, sea creatures, etc.), so I'm sure we can come up with something that is completely unique and incorporates some true "us."

Still working on my ring...Jeff is going to call his friend's jeweler today to see if he is working at all over the weekend. The place he works is in Rockville, MD, so not exactly close enough for us to just stop by without knowing for sure if he will be there (we live in Alexandria, VA--in some areas, that wouldn't be a big distance, but as some of you know, with the traffic around here... ).
#66

mandalinn82 , 03-23-2007 11:30 AM

Jilly - we found glass pots for them at Wal-Mart, as well as little river stones to fill the pots with. This lucky bamboo supplier is MEGA cheap -
http://www.kaptivaimports.com/c_62_34_40.html

We are doing one straight stalk inside a spiral stalk. I love these things, and they are coming out to about $3 per person, which is totally in the right range for a favor.
#67

BfL_Cat , 03-25-2007 09:52 AM

Good morning gals. Now I'm really thinking about the table cloth idea - not necessarily different ones, but maybe something like a table topper to dress up the plain white that my reception place has. I'm thinking of maybe something I could make or buy dirt cheap - but it would be nice to do a sheer fabric with some sort of fall leaf motif on it. Yes, I know I'm dreaming.... LOL

Last night we went to a banquet so I got a chance to sit at an 8-seat round table - much bigger than I remembered. Each of these toppers would end up being pretty big - maybe a 70" square would work? I really need to find out the actual table dimensions before I really think about trying to do this.
Thoughts?
Cindy
#68

jillybean720 , 03-25-2007 10:49 AM

bfl cat, can you just call the reception site and ask them the table size? Maybe instead of trying to find the perfect sheer fabric, you could find fall-colored solid fabrics to overlay on the white and then just do cut-outs of fall leaves to scatter on the table tops? I used to work in a fabric store, so I know patterned sheers are much more expensive than solid fabrics, plus they tend to typically come in 60-inch lengths, so you would have to have a seam across the middle to make them big enough, whereas other types of material are easier to find in 60-inch widths. 60 may still not be as big as you want, but if you're using a square pieces, I think it might look neat to not have it cover the entire surface and allow some of the round white parts to be seen on the edges (if you can picture a white cirle with a colored square overlapping). Another suggestion I would have for really wide fabric is to find some cheap fabric shower curtains and just cut and hem the end with the shower ring holes. Just kind of thinking as I go here, so fel free to ignore me

Well, Jeff and I went to see his friend's jeweler yesterday, and we described the ring I like. He said they would be able to custom make it for me, but it might not be 100% exactly the same, and it wouldn't be much less expensive, so we went ahead and ordered the band from Jared and will just get the center diamond from this jeweler. They explained (and showed us lots of examples) that even though we may get the same carat size diamond for the same price at both the jeweler and at Jared, the jeweler would be able to give us a higher quality stone for the same price. It did make us feel better to hear a jeweler tell us that the price of the band at Jared was actually a good price, so even if we're not getting it any cheaper, we have a little more peace of mind in spending the money. And so, we ordered the band from Jared yesterday, and they said it would be in in 9 days. Can't wait!!! Oh, and the service plan at Jared (which is only like 85 bucks) covers the band forever. They will tighten any loose stones, re-dip it whenever necessary (since white gold can become brassy over time), repair the prongs if needed, and do any resizing as long as I have the ring. I am LOVIN' that plan! They will also cover any damaged or fallen out stones for the life of the ring, which is a relief since I even tried the style on at Kay, and one of the small channel-set diamonds on the band was missing The only "catch" is that I have to bring the ring in to Jared (any location) every 6 months--that way, they can tighten settings to avoid losing stones rather than have me call up every few years about a lost stone. I can handle going in twice a year to protect our investment
#69

britomart , 03-25-2007 08:06 PM

Jill -- that's an awesome service plan deal! It's kind of like car maintenance... gotta change the oil every 3000 miles You've talked so much about this ring, you better post a photo when it's finished!!

I tried on my wedding dress really for the first time since I got it today. I've had it since the fall, as I ordered it in June of LAST year (we were originally having a fall wedding... long story)... when I weighed less! So what was big on me then fits perfectly right now. Not that that's a good thing. I was planning on having to have it taken in. Now that I have a clear image of what I look like in the dress, I'll have to make it help me get a few pounds off before the wedding. 10 would help me feel a LOT more comfortable in that thing (especially if those 10 come off my back!).

It is a beautiful dress, though! I couldn't be happier with my choice.
#70

jillybean720 , 03-26-2007 06:20 AM

Quote:
Originally Posted by britomart
Jill -- You've talked so much about this ring, you better post a photo when it's finished!!
ha, I talk about it because it's the ONLY wedding-ish thing I am actually certain about Other then my engagement ring, we don't know where, when, or how we want to get marries--we don't know how many guests, we don't know what type of ceremony, we don't know what season, we don't know indoor or outdoor, we don't know local or destination...and so, I can only talk about the ring

But speakig of posting photos, you'd better post some of your gown! Even if you may have gained a bit back since you last tried on the dress, at least it still fits so you don't have to stress yourself out about having to lose weight or not be able to fit into the dress at all! I have seen some crazy brides order their dresses a size or 2 smaller with the intent of losing weight and, of course, they never lose quite enough (and who could lose much weight right before a wedding with all the planning and running around and stress...?)
#71

looking4better , 03-26-2007 10:42 AM

Hi Guys!
Hey guys I stumbled across your site and I too am a bride to be looking to lose weight before the big day. I have a lot to lose but a lot of time so I guess that is good. Our date is July 5, 2008 and actually the wedding stuff is pretty much done we just have to come up with a way to pay for it! Hopefully I can convince my fiance to cut back on the guest list a bit! As all i do is worry about the cost. I look foward to sharing this journey with you guys. Stephanie
#72

jillybean720 , 03-26-2007 10:59 AM

looking4better--welcome! I see you're in NOVA--me too! Lord knows that in this area, you pretty much HAVE to be worried about the cost or it will very quickly and easily go out of control Can you share some of your big day details with us? I love hearing everyone else's plans (so I can steal some of them when we're ready to start making firm plans )!

OH, and bfl cat, another suggestion for wide fabric that wouldn't require a seam down the middle--queen/king size bedsheets. We've frequently bought sheets to make window curtains because they can be much cheaper than buying the equivalent amount of yardage of bolt fabric.
#73

mandalinn82 , 03-26-2007 11:57 AM

Looking4better....welcome! Not a ton of time at the moment, but wanted to say hi...so great that you have so much of your planning done.

Jilly - its ridiculous trying to lose weight with all of the planning. The parties...the many, many parties...are murder, and all of the days out running errands...not to mention the tastings and etc. Its insane.

Yes, sheets! You can often get them for cheap at places like overstock.com. Also, look for fabric wholesalers - lots of them sell big wide bolts.

Finally, it might add a bit of expense, but where we are you can rent "overlays" for your tables from a party rental company. Locally, they do have the autumn/leaf motif overlays, and I think renting them costs something along the lines of 8-10 dollars per table. Now, thats a lot when you consider that are only RENTING, and won't end up with them afterward...but honestly, do you have use for that many huge tablecloths post-wedding anyway?
#74

looking4better , 03-26-2007 12:02 PM

So the whole wedding thing has been kinda of funny as he is very traditional and I am not. But we have come to some agreements.
The first compromise was the ring. I didn't want a diamond ring per se. I do not wear a lot of jewelry so if I am going to wear a ring I wanted it to be different. So I got a pink sapphire ring that has diamonds down the sides of the band and then the wedding ban will also have diamonds.

As for the ceremony, we are going to have it in his church but no communion and shortened down on the bible readings. His friends will do 2 bible versus and mine will read 2 poems. And the whole thing has to be shorter than 45 mins- (I'm aiming for 30 mins)because I hate long weddings! They are soooo boring! I wanted a fall wedding so that I could have dark rich colors, but he coaches football so fall doesn't work so well. So we decided to go with an evening wedding. My colors are wine and silver.

As for the reception we decided on the newly remodeled VFW hall. We were going to have it at quantico marine base-but dates wouldn't work. but the vfw does the catering and prices are good so I can't complain. As for favors we ordered shot glasses that on one side read "take a shot we tied the knot" and on the other side have our names and wedding date- We are debating as to use these for the toast or just put candy in them and put them on the tables. We're still thinking about something else small to give as well.

Because our wedding is a holiday weekend we decided we are going to send out Save the Date cards, but instead of cards we ordered magnets that have our picture on them with the message- they are really cute!

Actually for as far away as the wedding is I have a lot lined up already. We have the place/catering, the DJ, the wedding singer/organist, and the photographer all arranged. As for my dress I sent a picture of one that I really liked with my measurements to this man in china- a little bit of a risk but if it turns out it will be a huge reward! and I guess if i hate it i will find something around here.

We still have to do all the fine tune planning- flowers, actual guest lists, cake but we are well on our way.
#75

NewDay4MeToo , 03-26-2007 07:10 PM

I traveled to North Carolina this weekend with Micah to check out UNC's computer graphics grad program. The school looks great, so we may end up there. It's very exciting but also overwhelming! The area is really pretty, but more expensive than Indiana. (Not surprising- Indiana may be about as cheap as it gets.)

So, on top of wedding stuff, I'm thinking house stuff and trying to find a job. Ack! I'm going crazy!

I am really excited because the dress I want for my bridesmaids is on sale. I don't think I've posted it yet:

http://www.chadwicks.com/product.asp...id=1&ViewAll=1

I also found a 30% off code, so I think they will ship for $35 each. I am THRILLED with this. I have put out so much money for bridesmaid dresses before, so that price is great. Plus, I can afford to buy the dress for any girls for whom money may be an issue.

The dress is a lot more casual than many of the dresses being advertised now, and that is fine by me. I want more of a casual feel anyway, and I think they're cute. Plus, I like the fact that they're not strapless. Oh- We will order them in pink.

All for now, take care gals.

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