Cindy – Sounds like you’re down the last few details, I hope I am as on o\top of things when it gets down the final weeks.

Missmess – Let us know how those napkins look. Personalized anything always adds a nice touch, especially for only $20!

I finally went dress shopping at David’s Bridal yesterday. The sales staff was pretty underwhelming, inattentive and a bit unprofessional, but at least they weren’t obnoxious. I knew what styles I wanted to try on and was able to take care of business pretty quickly. I only tried on a couple of dresses in addition to the one’s I’d listed. I forgot my camera so I’ll have to take pix when I try them on again after I shop around a little more. I rather liked these two.

http://www.davidsbridal.com/images/f.../F05_T8615.jpg

http://www.davidsbridal.com/images/f.../F05_T8612.jpg

Amanda – I ended up trying on both of the Galina collection dresses you and Sara wore. I liked the V-neck on the one dress but I really don’t want a train and there’s no way you could remove the train on that dress, and I really liked the skirt on the dress you wore but the straight line strapless was so much less flattering on me than the sweetheart and V necklines I tried on. If only I could splice the top of the v-neck dress to the skirt of the other!

I’m hoping I can get my shopping done and order my dress within the next month or so. Then I just need to meet with my florist and I think I’ll have all the big things out of the way. Next on the list would be cake tasting I guess. :devil:

Missmess - glad you liked Claudine! She is just such a sweetie.

Hehehehe on trying on the Sarah/Amanda dresses. Don't forget that you can take a David's dress to alterations people and make some design changes (though not whole bodice splicing, lol)...because the David's dresses are a little more affordable, you can save some budget to customize the dress, ensuring it is one of a kind and totally you. On my dress, for example, I had my seamstress completely re-do the back (from a zipper to a ribbon-tied corset...yummy). You could also always wear the dress bustled...eliminating the train completely.

Second on the Maggie Sottero - my sister wore one of her dresses at her wedding in July and it was soooo gorgeous.

Missmess - what eBay vendor are you getting the napkins from? One of my issues is with color choice - as my colors are cinnamon and gold, most of those guys don't really have a color that works for me. foryourparty.com does have more color choices and more emblem choices, but you pay for it - 100 napkins are $28. So, still trying to decide on that one...

I got the cutest silver pens from Wilton yesterday - they have a scroll design on them and you can tie a ribbon around it near the writing tip. I may use for guest book and will definitely use for wish jar - I just liked them so much that I had to have them. Regularly $10 for 6, but I had a 40%-off coupon. Found at AC Moore - JoAnn's and Michaels didn't have these!

Also found a good contrast picture of the scroll design I want on my cake so the bakery will be able to duplicate - the original photo had cream on white, and they couldn't see it well. Now I can get my cake ordered finally!

Are any of you planning on doing groom's cakes? We want to do one so there will be more cake available, but I'm struggling with what to do for decorating it. DF shoots down all my ideas like Yankees, or golf, or his classic car,.... Any thoughts? We are planning carrot cake for this, so the base icing will be white (as opposed to chocolate, which works well for a tuxedo design).
Cindy

Hi

No Groom's Cake for us... but we do have one main cake, then cupcakes to supplement. Our main cake is lime with white chocolate filling, then the cupcakes are half chocolate with strawberry frosting, the other half almond sour cream cake. Mmmmmm... I am getting so excited about that cake!

We are just doing plain white napkins, which works in our case, with our colors being pink, gold, and it turns out a lot of white.

The big bummer now is the awful heat wave. Humid, nasty, heat advisory weather + outdoor ceremony? They have already told us if it doesn't cool down by Sunday, our rain backup plan will become a heat backup plan. Oh well! The food will be fabulous and we will be happy!

Mmmm… all this talk of cake. :drool:

I just need to rant about David's Bridal for a moment. I went there on Sunday and then back last night to try on a couple dresses again and also to buy a corset that I'll need one for the bridesmaid dress I'll be wearing in a few weeks. Both times I had to wait more than 15 minutes past my scheduled appointment time, both times the staff were helping other customers at the same time, and they were generally inattentive and didn't really seem to know what they were doing.

The girl I was working with yesterday (seemed even less competent and attentive then the previous one) tried to get me to put a poofy slip on even when I said I don't want a lot of volume in the skirt, then she gave me a flimsy bra/slip undergarment, when I mentioned that they had put me in different undergarments last time I tried on dresses, she did not bother to ask what I preferred. One of the dresses didn't even zip on me (it had 2 days prior with a boned corset), and the other 2 dresses did not fit as well with the bra/slip. Unfortunately this was the trip I took pictures on, I think the dresses looked better on me with the corset. Then I had to ask her to bring me 4 different corsets to find the right size, it was pretty obvious I needed to go up a cup size from the one she originally put me in, but I wasn't sure about the band size so I ended up trying on a bunch. At no time did she offer to measure and fit me with the right size, and I had to call her away from the other customer she was helping to get hooked in each time. :mad: I think she got a commission on the $60 corset I bought. She didn't deserve it.

OK /rant. I think I have it down to two options from David's, both would need alterations though. The sweetheart neckline dress with the wide straps I would want to remove the train from, and the “Amanda” dress (hope you don’t mind me calling it that Amanda) I also like but I want to see if it could be altered to make a sweetheart neckline and I might want to add some straps. Anyway, after I get done looking at a few other places I’ll probably only have to go back to David’s one more time if I decide I want one of those 2 dresses. Their customer service is so unbelievably bad!

missmess - Glad your napkins turned out so well! Sounds like they were a really good deal.

I'm considering this dress and this dress.

I'm hoping I can get to an 80% off sample sale this weekend. At that discount, I might be able to get some fancy designer gown. We'll see what they have.

Shananigans- I'm sorry they were so neglectful! I have heard that while the selection is great, you have to dig dig dig and *maybe* you will find something.

The Future Mrs. Hansen- When did you ever think you would be tickled over napkins? Glad they came back fabulous!

Christine- Wow! A heat advisory back-up plan? Just make sure everyone stays hydrated! Is your reception outside as well?

Well, we move fast. The hotel is holding the date pending our deposit for August 23, 2008. It's the same hotel where he proposed and the ceremony will be in the garden/courtyard.

Once the deposit goes in, I'm going to need a breather. We've been talking about getting married and how we are going to do it for a while so there aren't a whole lot of surprises, but beyond checking out some dresses and reserving the space, I can't think about much more for a while. I made the mistake of submitting a request for vendor info in the area where I'm getting married on a webiste and I've recieved several phone calls from DJ's and florists. I won't do that ever again! These people act like I'm getting married next week!

Jen

I went to one bridal show, and I have been getting so many calls ever since, with these great "Free" trips and prizes, they are very annoying.

We had planned on outside ceremony and a reception that had outdoor and indoor seating. Now it's looking like we may keep the ceremony outside- it's at 10:30AM, in a wooded, shady place. Then we will bump the reception to being all inside. Otherwise, our wedding will always be the most miserable, hot wedding of all time, and people will leave early. I'd actually like to have my guests enjoy themselves... so....

4 days to go!

Well this weekend we'll be at the 6-week mark, and I'm starting to panic a bit... there is still SO much left to do.

This past week I went on a bit of a monogram frenzy - decided I needed one for the front of my programs, then spent 2 days last weekend designing my own in PowerPoint. Now I need to order oval labels for them. My cake, which was going to be topper-less, is now having a monogram topper - maybe just the last initial, but I ordered all three, along with the display box to keep them in at the end!

I'm getting really detail crazy - I need to stop looking at Knottie bios - I keep finding more and more "cool" stuff that I must do. Like a bathroom basket and the photo CD thing. But both not a lot of effort, just a bit of $$ and time.

I've decided to do a "camp" theme on my grooms cake, and it will be a surprise for him. We call cottages on the lake in the Adirondacks a "camp", so the cake will feature the outline of the lakes, the camp and an Adirondack chair. I think it will be great. Camp is really his true passion - much more so than sports, although thanks for the great ideas missmess!

Programs are definitely to be done this weekend - I got the final review from the church gal, so just have to make one slight modification then I'll print and assemble them. Ribbon binding will take some time - all that paper-punching!

I should get to work on my OOT bags as well - decorating them at least.

Oh, and I got the cutest idea for my rehearsal dinner invites - find a vintage postcard of your town and make copies at Staples, Kinkos,... and use as the front cover of you invite. A lot of the knotties use Vistaprint.com to do printing of stuff like that - I actually used their free postcard promotion to do welcome cards for my OOT bags.

Can you tell that I am all wrapped up in all of this? Needless to say, work and fitness are falling a bit back in terms of priorities.... I'm in maintain mode food/workout wise, but I'd like to thin my face out a bit for photos. If I would just follow my normal plan that would happen, but I keep staying up too late doing things, and then I can't get up in the am in time to workout!

Christine - I'm sure you're on your honeymoon now, but congratulations, and please do let us know how things went.

Cindy

Cindy - Bathroom baskets really DO get used. Both mine and my sisters were used quite a bit by the end of the evening, and they really don't take too long. I am a big fan.

The rehearsal dinner invites sound so adorable! We ran out of time and used evite.

Cindy – You’re making my head spin! :dizzy: I’m sure the final weeks are the busiest by far.

I think bathroom baskets are a grand idea. What do you put in them for the guys bathroom? Guys seem to be relatively low maintenance.

We’ve got our bachelorette party plans all set for the Thursday before our friends wedding, 2 weeks from today. Where is the time going? Took my bridesmaid dress in for alterations, going shopping for shoes this weekend. We’re putting together a scrapbook/memories book for the bridal shower, I printed up a few pages of photos and just need to go the scrapbooking store for supplies now. Plan on working on that with the MOH this weekend too. It’s going to be a crazy wedding weekend, I don’t think I’ve ever hosted so many out-of-towners but I know them all pretty well and it should be a great time.

Christine – Hope everything was perfect, can’t wait to hear all about it.

I dropped another 2 pounds, woo hoo!

My guys baskets had:

-Hand Lotion
-Hand Sanitizer
-Tylenol
-Benadryl
-A mini first aid kit
-Wrinkle Releaser
-Stain Remover Wipes
-Q-tips
-Mints and Gum
-Antacids
-For outdoor wedding (my sister's), bug repellant wipes

Other people suggested putting Axe deodorant body spray in there, but I didn't. Also, depending on your crowd, moral values, and general sense of whats going to be going on, you may want to tuck some condoms discreetly in the back (at my sisters wedding, there were at least 3 random hookups and these definitely got used).

For the girls, I kept the same basic kit and added hairspray, bobby pins, and tampons. I also added extra bandaids, because girls use them for shoe blisters, and blotting papers.

Hi ladies! I am not engaged, but I do have a question about a wedding (seems I can turn to this site for about anything!) I had never received a formal invitation for a wedding until now and have a response (RSVP) card to send in. It has a line for my name, then a line for the number of guests, I am curious if I am supposed to count myself on the second line or just the person I am bringing...? It's a dumb question, but I kinda want to get it right. ;)

It should reflect the total number attending, so 2 if it's you and a guest.
HTH
Cindy

So I'm braving the Saturday morning crowds (like a shmuck) and am off to find a wedding dress! I need to check out a bridesmaids dress I saw on the David's Bridal website and since NONE of the bridemaids lives in Denver, I have to snatch up the opportunity since one IS in town at the moment.

Silly qustion, but is there anything in particular I need to bring? Apropriate undergarments? I'm assuming my Oscar The Grouch underwear is a no-no :)

If you are going to David's you probably will want to bring the right undergarments, like a strapless bra. Otherwise they are going to push you hard to buy theirs!

Hello lovely ladies!

The wedding was wonderful. A few things did not go as planned, but it's all good. No pictures yet, which is why I have hesitated to post, but I'm happy to let you see them when I get them!

Snacks at the end of the evening?
 

I've been thinking that I'd like to have something for people to munch on at the reception around 10:00 - 10:30. Something I would provide myself - stuff that could just be tucked under the head table and brought out to the tables for people. Any ideas? I was thinking some sort of cheesy-breadsticks, my mom is thinking Chex mix. Anything that could be made in advance - either homemade or store bought. I do know that I definitely don't want anything sweet - there will have been enough of that already!

Cindy

Cindy - I would go with some sort of salty mix with nuts. That's what I'm in the mood to eat after a hard night of partying. Plus the fat in the nuts helps slow down the alcohol absorbtion.

Christine - Lookiong forward to those pix and a recap!

My house is about to become wedding central, the bride and groom arrive next Tuesday with most of the rest of the party arriving by Thursday. I'm so excited. We went to the party store and the "adult" store for bachelorette supplies, I hope the bride lets loose and lets us embarass her a little. Perhaps we will have to ply her with some Franzia first. ;)

Got my shoes, dark brown (to match the dress) ballet type flats with a little bow. I have big flat feet and should wear heels to make them more attractive, but my feet are going to be comfortable and that matters the most to me. :lol:

I changed my mind. I don't wanna get married! :(

Ok, the wedding is definitely still on, but it certainly isn't the "everything's falling into place and going smoothly" affair I thought it would be. All we have to do over the next few months is pick out a dress and put down the deposit to hold the date. A) We (and by "we", I mean the other half of this operation) are having a difficult time parting with the deposit money as "we" are a little tight with money (normally, this is a good thing and we balance eachother out very well in this regard, but not now!) and B) Dress shopping was a nightmare! A very close friend and bridesmaid with an excellent sense of style (and a mother who is a designer!) was NO help whatsoever.

Also, trying on dresses brought out the wonderful distorted body image feature that appears every so often. I'm at a normal, healthy weight, but all I could see in those dresses was the obese girl I was before, never comfortable and never feeling quite right in the clothes I so desired to wear. I just felt like a total fake in those dresses, with my size 6/8 top and size 12(!) bottom. And that's another thing: I also felt completely disproportioned after the "sizing"! It just kills me to be back to that place where I just want to hide myself.

Ugh. Thanks for letting me spill all over the thread for a moment. I'm going again this Saturday to some different places with some different people and *hopefully* a new attititude.

oh junebug! :hug:

Sorry things are in a rough patch right now. Dress shopping can be a nightmare, I myself am having a really hard time coming to terms with my back fat right now. Just take some deep breaths and remind yourself of all the wonderful progress you've made and know that all these wedding details will come together.

I am slacking on the dress shopping. I am just not that into it, I just want the perfect dress without having to go hunt it down, you know? Is that too much to ask? :lol:

Hey everyone! Sorry I've been absent... I went in to the hospital for emergency surgery last week. Ovarian cysts burst... HOLY HURT! I also had endometriosis and fibroid tumors so all kinds of neat stuff had to be removed. I am now recovering for the next 4-6 weeks out of work. I guess it's nice to have the time to make wedding phone calls, etc., but I sure wish I felt better! The good news: Since the surgery, I have lost 14 POUNDS!!! Now I know why I could be good and still gain weight. It's nice to know it wasn't my weakness for cake samples!

I hear ya about DB's and finding the right dress. I will have to run right up to the wire to get a good fit. I expect to lose another 20 pounds and, since swelling is certainly an issue, I think it will pay to wait and save on the alterations. Plus, the idea of trying on dresses right now is too painful to contemplate. I am hanging out in my fiance's sweats.

I think I have decided to try a regular bridal store. All of my DB's experiences have been so miserable, I just can't bear to give them my money. Unfortunately, their clover color is the exact shade of my mom's bridesmaids' dresses back in 1972 so I will probably stick with them for the bridesmaids' dresses.

I wish you all luck with dresses... there is a dress out there for everyone. I just know it!

Thank you ladies so much! :)

Today went MUCH better. I started at David's Bridal. I had an appointment and the lady I had was HORRIBLE! We've figured out that I can try on 10's and 12's and she was bringing 2's, 6's, 18's..... just utterly clueless. And very rude. We found a couple more that I liked and moved on to a smaller boutique. I finally had someone tell me that the simple, form fitting, straight lined dresses that I was trying on just weren't going to work with my long legs and short torso. All I needed was for someone to tell me what was going to work and what would look like crap! Anyway, I think I found the dress, a Maggie Sottero... Whoever said this was the fun part must've been out of their mind...

Wonderful Jen! Congratulations on finding not only a dress but also a helpful dress opinion!

I also have a short torso but I have short legs, too. At 5'4", I am on the fence between petite and regular. I learned it is impossible to shorten the torso of a dress so you have to get the right fit to start.

What style are you looking at?

http://www.maggiesottero.com/dress.a...=8&style=J1102

here is one... I would have never picked it out by myself and my seamstress will be adding some accents and details to make it pop a bit more, but it fit just beautifully. I couldn't find a bad angle on it for the life of me.

Edit: I know what you meana bout having it fit from the start. Also, these designers somehow assume that I have the boobs to fill this thing out!

OMG! I just saw the part about your cyst! I've had that happen and you are right- OUCH! Hope you feel better soon.

Beautiful dress! That style with the shirred waist is flattering on everyone, I swear! That's very similar to the bridesmaids' dresses my girls picked out. I tried on a dress in that style and I looked like my stomach was totally flat... it may be a miracle cut!

I'm already feeling better than I did before I went in to the hospital. Thanks for the get well soon wish!

Lafayette - What an ordeal! Glad you're feeling a bit better, wishing you a speedy recovery.

I love the coset backs on the Maggie dresses. I've been poking around on the website and found a few dresses I'd like to try on whenever I get time to go dress shopping again. I really like this one.

Oh, my God! That dress is gorgeous!

I've been geeking out over style #2189 from Eden Bridals (maybe without the sash). It's a lot like the Ann Taylor Elizabeth dress I love but it has a longer train. I wanted simple and elegant (since I am short and petite- though lumpy- even a little lace looks way too Dolly Parton on my build) and this fits the bill. Plus, I live two houses away from a sweet little bridal store that sells Eden Bridals so my non-driving life just got easier!

I also really like that it has a matching bridesmaids' dress style (#7063). I just have to get up the energy to walk over there and see if the green will work. The sash makes the dress very flattering and it's also very comfortable.

Wish me luck! I can't try anything on yet because my tummy is still pretty sore. I'm hoping they can accomodate my timeline since I will have to cut the ordering period short or risk major tailoring down the road. Man, I wish I could do a few sit-ups to hedge my bets!!!

So, what do you think?

I got up the energy after being excited while writing that last post! WooHoo! I walked outside with no support! Obviously, it's the little things... Sadly, the greens were all either too dark or too yellow but I'll keep hunting. The wedding dress? GORGEOUS!!! Now, I just have to get the body to go with it!

Lafayette- when are you getting married again? I'm having the same problem with the "greens", especially since we are having a garden/courtyard wedding. I don't want the bridesmaids to be mistaken for the shrubery! I also don't want them to look like a neon sign... Glad you are feeling better! When I was healing from that, just being able to stand up completely straight was a big to-do.

Shananigans- LOVE the dress! I would give anything to look good in a sweetheart cut. Very elegant!

Here's a pic of me in the dress. I wish the details on the dress were a little more clear, but it was a camera phone. After all the misery of dress shopping, I put this one on and felt just fabulous.... finally! And I want to have the bust adjusted because I don't have nearly that much and it will make my torso look a little longer (well, at least I can dream...)
http://www.t-mobilepictures.com/phot...1i0lfjj23cua53

Not sure if this helps any of you green-searchers, but this is what Alfred Angelo "Clover" looks like on actual bodies...which is funny, because it looks like this on the sample squares on their website: http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y12...n82/clover.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y12...55831-8444.jpg

Lesson: make sure you see actual dresses, not just color samples, before picking your greens!

Jen - that dress makes your collarbones look fantastic! You look seriously small in it - and the detailing is gorgeous!

I picked the clover from David's Bridal- I'm getting married March 29, 2008- because it is the same color as my mom's bridesmaids' dresses in 1973. It's a blue-based green and looks very flattering on my wild Irish bridesmaids. Our wedding will be formal and I wanted a way to have a cheerful spring color without losing the formality.

BUT... I keep coming back to the Ann Taylor Celebrations Tulip Jacquard Strapless Dress Style # 209892 in meadow green. My mom also had jacquard and, while this green is a little more sage, I know AT will give great service as compared to the David's Bridal horror stories I keep hearing.

Jen, thanks for letting me know I'm not the only one! Sitting up straight is much more of a challenge than standing up straight and doing anything for any length of time is pure ****. This Thursday, it will be two weeks since the surgery. I am surprised to be looking forward to two more weeks of recovery time. You look incredible in that dress! I think you've found the one!

Hi gals - checking in from the craziness! Just one month to go! I wasn't going to do chargers on the table, but then I got caught up in all the frenzy about them on the knot, and now I have gold chargers! $$ I wasn't planning on spending, but they will look so nice!. Got mine at BigLots - they have silver and gold; Hobby Lobby also has red, black and antique gold in addition to those 2.

Programs are done, this weekend is place cards and boxing up candy favors and adding bows. Oh, and cake table letters and finalizing signs for memory table, bathroom basket, wish jar and bar menus. Oh, and I really should finalize my table names/numbers - then I can get all that stuff printed at the same time at Staples.

A tip for you all - Vistaprint dot com! A number of people get invitations from them, I'm doing two different post cards for my OOT bags and my RD invites. All for "free", meaning I'm just paying the shipping. Sign up at the site, and you'll get emails with lots of free promotions. I'm recommending this site to all my friends, even for things like birthday parties, holiday parties, ...

That dress looks great on you Jen!

Mandalinn - hope your surgery goes well!

Yes, David's Bridal has a terrible reputation, but they were the only store open on the one Sunday I had for my girls to be together to look. So, that's where we went - no other choice! Luckily things worked out ok for us - dresses are in hand and there were no hidden charges or anything. Mine is from David's but I bought secondhand, so I didn't have to deal with them.

You gals have a great weekend!
Cindy

Cindy, I checked out Vistaprint... didn't see any great deals though... I'll wait and see what shows up in my inbox.

I just have to share- I'm sitting home alone watching What Not to Wear on this lovely Friday evening and I just had a wonderful moment. I feel confident that I can lose the weight before the wedding!!! After months of dieting and gaining weight from the medical madness, I know that, if I can just eat healthy and work my way back to working out, I can do this! Size 6, here I come!!!

Mandalinn, I'm not gonna lie... surgery recovery is a beast! On the upside, when you feel better, it will be the best you've felt in a long time (even before the surgery)! You can do it! Your success to date is great proof!

To ward off the recovery blues, I have been focused on healthy eating, avoiding boredom eating (easy since I can't go shopping or even go to the kitchen), and keeping motivating pictures, etc., around me. I'm even searching for a recovery work out buddy- someone who's been through a recovery and understands both the ouch and the need.

Lafayette – Glad recovery is going well, you seem to be in good spirits. Keep it up! That Eden Bridals gown is very nice, I want something relatively simple as well. Lots of beading and stuff just doesn’t look right on me.

Jen – You look so amazing in that dress, and quite slender! It will look even better once you get it fitted.

I am so exhausted. Last Wednesday on seems like a big blur to me, it’s so weird to be back here at work. I must say my friends and everyone involved did an awesome job and their wedding was really special, it was such an honor to be a part of it. I will post pictures when I get a chance.

I’m using celadon green (along with cornflower blue) from Alfred Angelo, it looks like this on the online swatch

http://www.alfredangelo.com/images/c...8407172d24.jpg

and like the attached picture on a person. Totally impossible to tell from that little color swatch. Well, now that I’ve got this wedding behind me I’m feeling a little more inclined to focus on my own. I hope I can live up to the same standard, it’s gonna be a hard act to follow!

Pictures!

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g1...dding/tosh.jpg
The bride

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g1...wedding/BT.jpg
Under the chuppah

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g1...ing/bridal.jpg
The bridal party

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g1...ing/grooms.jpg
Groom with groomsmen (he sewed all those ties himself!)

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g1...edding/meJ.jpg
My fiance (the best man) and me.

I'm sure your wedding will be fabulous, Shan! The Menona Terrace is a pretty class act and I'm sure people will be thrilled to celebrate your wedding with you!

Any good ideas from the other wedding? I must say the hand-sewn ties goes well beyond anything I can imagine my fiance (much less myself) doing...

Ooh, I HAVE to share this... several of my soon-to-be family members have recommended a wedding band through a company called Resonance Productions. Do yourselves a favor- check out their website and listen to their sample songs. I've always thought the whole "rolling on the floor laughing my a off" routine was overused... and then I literally was!

Lafayette- I wish I had a site like that to pick my musicians from. What's the band's name? I know a lot of couples just do not care about what music goes into the ceremony and reception, but a little goes a long way in taste when you express even a little preference! I have played tons and tons of ceremonies (it's how I supported myself my first couple years of college as a music major) so the music is a very big deal to me. I feel sorry for our DJ. Both of us are music freaks and will nit pick everything. Even the ceremony musicians are going to have special arrangements. Eh, at least we'll pay well ;)

Shananigans- love those colors! They did a really nice job of picking bold colors that aren't overstated. I don't know about those ties, though :lol: Now the real work begins for you!

BFL: My gosh, you are a busy woman! Thanks for the site referral!

Thank you for all the compliments on the dress! I feel lucky to have found something I love so much and feel fabulous in early on, even if I find something I love even more down the road.

We went to my hometown to meet with the hotel coordinator. They just got new catering management, one person from the Stanley Hotel (from "The Shining") and one from the Hotel Jerome in Aspen. To us, this translates to "Hurry up and pick your menu and put down the deposits before we charge you double". I can't believe we're deciding on this stuff so early on, but this has been the wedding location since I was a little girl, so it's not really subject to change.

Gigmasters was great for finding our ceremony musicians.

http://www.gigmasters.com/

You can enter the details of your event, and different musicians that do what you are looking for will bid to do your event.

Thats how we found our ceremony guitarist! I got a ton of responses, too. Maybe that was because I'm in the SF bay area, though.

As for the surgery, I have had it before (other knee, when I was 16). Whats killing me now is the WAIT - I'm in some serious pain here, and it isn't going to be in any way relieved until at least a week after the surgery, so I've got at least another 2 weeks of serious pain. And its irritating not to do cardio.