Aww, Mandalinn, I'm sorry. I hope for the best in your situation.
About registering, we are really saving in order to buy a house. We would prefer money, but there are some things that we need. We have both lived on our own, so we are going to prioritize with some of the things we really want (nice knife set, kitchenaid, matching towels...) then hope when those run out people will give money.
Okay, opinions about a dress, anyone? I am trying to save money wherever I can, and I have been looking at dresses for what feels like a long time, 4 months. I have a pretty good idea of what looks good on my body, and I found one on Ebay that I really like, for only $100. Here comes the big question: It is about a size and a half too small. 4 months to go. Should I chance it? It would require me losing about 2 inches off my bust and 2 inches off my waist. To me that sounds doable, but I don't want to drive myself crazy. What would you do?
Oh, don't chance it. There is enough stress without knowing you have a dress to fit into and you have to lose X amt of pounds. It may cost a little extra money, but the piece of mind is WORTH IT to know you have a dress that needs to be taken in or fits perfectly.
I agree with mandalinn...I have witnessed firsthand women who order a dress in a smaller size assuming they will be able to lose the weight in time, and then, lo and behold, they aren't small enough for the big day, and there is an innevitable emotional meltdown. There's enough stress around planning a wedding and the excitement of becoming a wife--no need to add to the long list of things to worry about.
Update on the mom situation - its all up in the air. She and Sarah talked yesterday and things appear to have calmed slightly, she may not come to the rehearsal dinner if she does the pictures, but Sar made it clear to her how important it was that she be there for the photos, so we're hoping that'll sink in. Everything calmed down a little bit, which is good.
On the negative side, this is how I spent my evening...
Jilly, you said you might steal the lucky bamboo idea, so here is a pic of how they turned out - we got the stalks (1 straight and 1 spiral per favor) from: http://www.kaptivaimports.com. Total cost for the whole shipment of 100 stalks of each was about $250.00, then the glassware and river rocks at Wal-mart (99 cents for a bag of rocks that is enough to do 3 favors, 99 cents per glassware piece). Total cost per favor was about $4, which we think is reasonable considering its just a touch more than "standard" favors of candy, etc. once you add in packaging, ribbons, monogramming, and what have you and we like it a lot better.
mandalinn, those look awesome!! For my small wedding of maybe 50 people (probably less), I'm sure it would be a snap (especially when I recruit my mother and sister to help me put things together ). Definitely worth a slightly higher per-piece cost than candy or something, IMO.
NewDay, I'm not going to torture myself by clicking on that link since we still can't find a Wii around here The wii-seeker website doesn't even get updated anymore (not that I can just go hang out in line in front of a store for opening time even if I knew they were getting some since I work at 7am). If I were impatient, I'd pay the $350 going rate on ebay, but I'd rather save my $100 and pay the normal retail price when they're actually more widely available. I keep hoping Jeff's mother will be able to get us one since she lives out in the middle of nowhere.
Well, those little ballerina bows are taking a long time for Sarah to do, but a regular bow on them would work just fine...Sarah is just a perfectionist because its a flower-related item and she is OCD about the flowers. It took me about 3-4 hours total (just one person working) to assemble all 75 of them - which includes unpacking the bamboo, arranging it in the bunches of 2, putting them in the glassware and holding them there while pouring in the rocks to hold them in place, and adding water (plus boxing them up for transport). So not too bad - maybe 25 favors per hour per person, and they are easy to do with no floral arranging experience. Added bonus - apparently two stalks of lucky bamboo symbolizes luck in love, which we did totally on accident but is a nice touch. Sarah's bows, however, take considerably longer - she'll spend probably 6-8 hours or so tying them (although she says she is going to teach me how, which will reduce the time somewhat, but not much as I am -not- crafty. When we were tying ribbon around the invites she got so frustrated that she just did them all herself...heeheehee). Even easier than tying a ribbon bow would be using silver twist-ties to hold the two stalks together, which is how most people do it - you need two twist-ties per arrangement.
We also had them ship us some extra bunches of bamboo, and arranged those into one big arrangement in a $4 glass dish garden container for a nice big buffet table arrangement. I think it will look really nice, and the added cost was minimal because they were already shipping us the bamboo and the container/rocks for it only cost about 8 dollars. We just grouped the bamboo in bunches of 5-6 stalks, tied them together, and put those in the large round container. Not only will it look nice and contemporary on the table, but its a nice arrangement for someone to take home, or in your own home after the ceremony is done - lucky bamboo does really well in bathrooms and other dark spaces because it hates direct sunlight, and its a fairly hard plant to kill.
Honeymoon shopping is done, which is nice...we also have dresses picked for all of the pre-wedding events. We have a couple more items that are shipping and should get here next week, and then we'll be ready to pack everything up. I am a little worried about my rehearsal dinner dress because it is strapless and I've shrunk a bit since I bought it, but hopefully I'll be able to wear it without worrying about wardrobe malfunctions.
I'll have to try to get pictures of the arch my dad is building for us this weekend if he lets me see it - it is quite an endeavor!
Oh, and if any of you have handy dads or dads that build things, we found the cutest father of the bride gift for mine! Just to give you background on my dad, he suggested he wear a tool belt instead of a cummerbund with his tux, because he has to assemble this giant arch that he custom welded. So for his FOB-gift, we bought him...working level cufflinks! On the card we wrote something to the effect of "we would never ask you to wear a tux without at least giving you a new tool to play with".
They have them in all kinds of colors to match many wedding themes, so if any of you have the type of dad more comfortable in a toolbelt than a suit, you might want to check them out.
Hope everyone is doing well and the planning is moving along!
Mandalinn – Those cufflinks are a hoot, I love them! If I had known about those I would have gotten a pair from my brother in law. He’s quite the craftsman, he built the bench that he proposed to my sister on in his woodshop (so sweet!).
I love your bamboo favors, those bows may take some time but they sure do look nice.
I’m going to see my family for the first time since the engagement this weekend. Can’t wait to show off my ring.
Hey all....haven't been able to read everything and I am joining the game a little late, but I am a groom to be in just a little more than 3 months. I've got quite a ways to go in terms of my goal weight for the wedding, but at the same time I am looking at the bigger picture of losing weight for life and not just for the big day.
Anyways, if any of you have some wedding advice or want a man's perspective, I am going to be popping into the discussion if you don't mind.
Ballznpucks! Welcome! I'm trying to focus on the bigger picture too, which is why I'm OK with not being quite at goal for the wedding. I'm in this for life, not to look a certain way on that day (it is a nice bonus, but not what I'm here for).
Give us details on the big day! 3 months is SO SOON, it goes so incredibly quickly (says the girl who has under 2 weeks left).
I realise you all are on page 8 (and now I am as well) but add me to the list
While I don't want to lose weight just because I want to look da*m fine on my wedding day, I also don't want to be a chunky bride (and I mean no offense by that, it's just I, *myself* am not comfortable at this weight and I don't want to get married this way either).
We're looking at October 2008. Destination wedding. Just me, my guy and his kids (*my* kids - love them!). Probably Croatia or Greece. No idea yet about anything else! I don't even have my bling yet!
). Definitely worth a slightly higher per-piece cost than candy or something, IMO.
The wii-seeker website doesn't even get updated anymore (not that I can just go hang out in line in front of a store for opening time even if I knew they were getting some since I work at 7am). If I were impatient, I'd pay the $350 going rate on ebay, but I'd rather save my $100 and pay the normal retail price when they're actually more widely available. I keep hoping Jeff's mother will be able to get us one since she lives out in the middle of nowhere.
