Happy Easter!

Mom, Dad and I drove up to Topeka to celebrate Easter this weekend. It was so much fun to talk about wedding plans with Skye, who recently became engaged to Steven! (I’m jealous, she already has so many wedding ideas!) She is planning to use red accents, so I offered to give her the eiffel tower vases we bought for the center pieces after we’re finished with them. They are red, so hopefully she will find a use for them. She seemed very excited to receive anything I could share with her. Our color schemes overlap enough that hopefully she can use some of my silk flowers also. It sounds like her wedding is going to be beautiful.

Skye saw a picture of mom in her wedding dress last November in one of the scrapbooks Debi had put together for Grandma Eleanor’s 80th birthday. She loved the style of the dress (it’s a beautiful hippie dress, with a flowery material that’s split down the front with lace accents and no train in an ivory color). It’s a beautiful dress, and now that she’s engaged she asked mom if she could wear the dress (or at least incorporate some of the material into a dress) for her wedding.

Mom asked me to try it on last night, to be sure I didn’t want it. It’s not exactly my style, but it is beautiful, so I was happy to try it on. It’s a little too short for me, and a little too small. It’s not a flattering style on me (mom had such a tiny waist!), but I’m sure Skye will look beautiful in it.

I do love how flowy and natural the style and material of the dress feel. I thought it was so nice that mom wanted me to try it on, and I’m glad that I did. (It would have been the first weekend in a month that I hadn’t tried on wedding dresses if I hadn’t tried her’s on!) Afterward mom, grandma and I looked through wedding and honeymoon pictures with mom in the dress. Grandma Eleanor is staying with mom and dad all week, so we’re going to have a lot of fun. We’ll be able to send the wedding dress back with grandma for Skye to use, along with the wedding magazines I forgot to pass on to her at Easter. It’s really great to be engaged at the same time she is.

We celebrated Tim’s actual birthday and surprised Debi by celebrating her upcoming 50th birthday on Saturday. Between the b-day cakes, the Easter candy and the desserts Skye and I brought, we had plenty of treats!

On the way back to Lincoln, we stopped to eat lunch at our favorite Nebraska City restaurant, The Avenue Grill, which will soon be holding a bridal fair. There were a few manikins in wedding dresses and tuxes. Dad couldn’t resist replacing the missing manikin head with my own.

Dresses, Jazz and Tuna

I found even more dresses I love at David’s Bridal on Saturday! My bridal consultant at David’s, Felicia, pointed out two new dresses that they have gotten in stock since I was last in. They both looked great and beat out some dresses I had on my previous favorites list.

Dad was kind enough to bring Grandma Leona along to watch me try on some dresses (and there were a few open chairs, believe it or not)! This way they were able to stay for quite awhile. Mom, Debi, Elly, Emily and Steve came along also, and Emily picked out a dress toward the end that I adore! It’s a little more elegant than I was envisioning, but she looked stunning in it and it comes in Apple and Persimmon, which match my wedding colors beautifully. There were several she tired that I really liked, and I kept many on the list so that I can go back with Liz sometime and reexamine them. I’d love to choose those elegant dresses and have Liz in one color and Emily in the other.

I tried on some shorter veils this time, and I like them much better in that length than any other I have tried on before. They have a more informal feeling. I’m still leaning toward a flower in my hair or a headband with jewels or pearls. Especially when I saw Elly try on the veil. It looked so nice on her (like a veil is supposed to look!) and I realized that maybe veils were just not meant for me.

That evening mom, dad, Andrew and I went to see Sarabande Jazz play at the Meadowlark Coffee House. Wow. It was more incredible than I could have imagined. I booked them on the spot. I don’t want to give too many details away, but even Andrew really liked them, and he’s not a big jazz fan. It’s going to be an amazing reception. I can’t wait. We’re all wishing that the wedding date would come more quickly!

Oh, I can’t forget to mention Tuna! Emily, Steve and I went out after dress shopping to get a goldfish to keep at work. She’s a very beautiful, playful fishy. Tuna is adapting well to her new environment. We got her a tank with a lot of natural elements, a real plant for her to eat, some pieces of petrified wood and river rock for the bottom of the tank. (And we couldn’t resist getting her a little bling, so over the river rock are some plastic amber and clear jewels, which really go very nice with the rest of her surroundings.) Welcome to the Image Setting department, Tuna.

Sarabande Music

We found one very good lead on a jazz ensemble. My friend Michelle mentioned that her friends were in a band that could play as a string quartet, jazz ensemble or provide DJ services for wedding receptions. They also play around town. She gave me their phone number, and I spoke with one of the band members last night.

It sounds like they are willing to work with couples no matter their music budget and we don’t have to commit to how many hours we’d like for them to play until the night of the reception. They can do dance jazz, listening jazz, pop jazz or a combo. We can also have as few a three instruments or up to six. They have an electric violin player, which is intriguing to Andrew, who loves violin music.

They have a lot of gigs scheduled around town in the next few weeks. This Saturday they will be playing at the Meadowlark Coffee House from 8-11 PM, so I think I might go check them out that night. It sounds like I’m welcome to talk with the band leader while they’re on break and let him know that I’m interested in hiring him to play my wedding reception. I’ve really got a good feeling about this band so far!

Another member of another band I called last night was really snippy. Apparently I was bothering him during dinner (at 4:55 PM...opps). I apologized and offered to call back another time. He asked me what my date was. Upon hearing the answer he told me that I was asking way to far in advance and that he might not be able to help me just because I wanted to get things in order in advance. So, I really don’t feel comfortable working with him based on our first conversation.

I am excited to hear the Sarabande jazz group play, and I have a few other bands we’re still checking into, so I’m not too worried that my other phone conversation didn’t go that well. I’m would still love to get more recommendations if anyone knows any other jazz ensembles here in town.

Looking for Jazz Ensembles

If anyone knows a good jazz group that plays dance music for weddings, I would happily take their information. The Nebraska Jazz Orchestra is fairly inexpensive compared to others I’ve looked into, but they do not perform dance music. They only play as a background music for dinners and the cocktail hour. I was very disappointed to find this out, as I have enjoyed their music for many years.

There is one group from Omaha that I really like, but they are a little on the pricey side. I am checking into the possibility of a UNL student jazz band, but so far I haven’t gotten any response from anyone in the music department. A friend of mine knows a group that can perform as either a string quartet or a jazz group, so I think that is who I will contact next.

I really like the idea of having a live band at the reception. It was quite a compromise for Andrew, who wanted a string quartet. Since he has been kind enough to agree to a jazz group, I’d like to find one that is really good so that he doesn’t feel like it was a bad decision.

Bridesmaids Dress Shopping

In addition to modeling
wedding dresses for the group (this week, Pam, Jordan, Lynnette, mom and Steve were in attendance), Emily and Liz were kind enough to start trying on bridesmaid dresses.

They both look nice in so many styles that I think it’s going to be a really fun decision to make. We want to make the final decision after I choose my dress, so we don’t end up with full-length bridesmaid dresses while I’m in something that’s short and summery.

The first dress Liz picked out when she got there was the exact dress mom and I were admiring that last time we were in the store. It’s a satin dress with a colorful lace overlay. It’s short, and springy and beautiful. It comes with a swatch book full of color choices, including the orange-red color I love. It also comes in a lighter orange and a deep red, and 4 color-combinations of lace.

The only problem is the price tag. I can’t ask the girls to spend that much. I asked about swapping out the satin for another fabric, but I guess satin is as affordable as it gets.

However, the silver lining is that at J’Maries, all bridesmaid gowns are $99 all the time if the bride purchases her dress at regular price. So, you never know. That may work out just fine.


We’ve only just begun to look, so I’m not set on this dress. It’s just my favorite so far. The only thing that looked better than the dresses on the girls was Steve in a tiara!

Invitation Designs

Andrew and I decided to hire Heidi for our ceremony and reception. I’m going to sign the contract tonight and send it to her tomorrow. I’m really glad that Andrew likes the harp music as much as I do.

I just wish my contact to reserve the ceremony site would get back to me. She said she would pencil us in and get back to me with answers about whether or not we can have a trolley and/or a carriage bicycle on East Campus, but so far I’ve heard nothing. I contacted her again and asked her to send me a written confirmation of the reservation. I’d really like to hear back from her. I guess I’ll just have to be patient.

I have been collecting some images and creating some rough drafts of the ceremony invitations, RSVP cards, Save the Date cards and reception invitations. I got a few samples together and sent them to the copy center here at work to print out on recycled paper. I’m designing everything myself, and I’d really like to print everything here at work to save money. We've got a really nice color copier in the copy center, and so many choices of recycled stock that I think we can come up with something really classy. There is one linen-type paper with a beautiful grain, called Raspberry Ice. I think it's my favorite so far.

I showed the samples to mom, dad and Andrew last night. We all went out to dinner at Magnolia (which was a fabulous restaurant, I highly recommend it) to celebrate their 26th wedding anniversary.

I’m trying to incorporate natural elements into all of the designs I’m doing, since the ceremony will be outdoors and Andrew and I love nature so much. I’m going for a centralized style and color theme, so that the actual subject of each image still looks cohesive when you put all the different printed pieces together. I like the results I’ve gotten so far.

Next up is to begin designing the programs. I already have a lot of ideas.

Harp

We braved the icy roads last night to hear Heidi, the harpist we’re thinking of hiring, play a few songs. Mom, Lynnette and Andrew came with me, and everyone seemed to enjoy it as much as I did.

Andrew and I have been talking about me walking down the aisle to Canon in D (Pachabell’s Canon, as we call it) from day one. When she played that song, mom and Lynnette were both on the verge of crying. I think we’ve really found a great musician. We’re also planning to have Heidi play at the reception for the first 2 hours, while people arrive and during dinner. She’s got quite a selection of songs, and everything she played for us last night sounded amazing. She has a mix of classical, jazzy and popular songs, and everything sounds so majestic coming from a harp. The perfect effect for a wedding.

I am going to let Andrew make the ultimate decision about whether or not to hire her. Since she does a lot of classical music, she will be representing his taste in music much more than the jazz band we’re thinking of having for the dance. I love both kinds of music...so I’m really happy. I asked Heidi to play Moonlight Sonata (one of Andrew’s favorites) and he was really impressed, so I have a very good feeling about this.

I liked the idea of having a harpist at the ceremony after I heard Heidi play at the wedding fair, and realized that it would be a good option for an outdoor wedding. Since Heidi is friends with Emily and Steve, I got a chance to meet her at Emily’s b-day party. It was really only a matter of time until I contacted her to see if she had our wedding date open. Emily got the ball rolling when I mentioned to her how interested I was is hiring Heidi.

So, Andrew and I will talk about it tonight and make a decision. I’m starting to get really excited about wedding dress shopping this weekend!

Cake Tastings are a Myth

Cake tastings are a myth. Emily and I were discussing this after I made an embarrassing phone call to a bakery in town about scheduling a cake tasting and thoroughly confused the man on the other end of the line.

They show people doing them on TV and in movies. I’ve even read about it being done in books. I really should haven taken more advantage of the cakes available to sample at the bridal fair in January. There were so many cakes and other food samples that I stopped eating things after the 3rd vendor or so.

I’m going to let mom make the call about what kind of cake to get. I don’t care for frosting and Andrew doesn’t even like cake. (His grooms cake is going to be a cheesecake...yum!) We’ve heard rumors about fondant not being the tastiest frosting in the world (but since neither of us care for butter cream or whipped cream frosting, maybe fondant would be a good alternative).

Mom and I went to scope out some wedding dress shops in town on Saturday. We’d never been to Ellynnes, so we took the trip across town to check it out. The place was busy, and we hadn’t made an appointment (but to this point, we haven’t made appointments anywhere) and we were totally ignored. Not a single sales person even acknowledged our existence. We were there for 15 minutes or so, looking through the dresses on the racks. Slowly we discovered that almost every dress in the store was size 8 or 10. I saw a few size 6 dresses every now and then, I ran into one size 12 dress. But basically, very few sizes I could have squeezed into. Very disappointing visit, especially for how pricey the dresses were. So, we won’t be stopping back there again.

We stopped into J’Maries also, to make an appointment for next weekend and to pick out a few dresses for me to try on. They were very busy, but it didn’t stop the employees from acknowledging our presence. In fact, the lady dropped what she was doing to help us, and scheduled our appointment. Then, when she finished with her other customers, she gave us a tour of the store. The best part, they have dresses in my size for me to try on! I described what I was looking for, and I was brought a dress that was almost exactly what I was picturing. I’m really excited to go back next weekend.

Also, mom and I found some eiffel tower vases for the center pieces at Michael’s on clearance. Lynnette mentioned that we should look for red items for the center pieces after Valentine’s Day, but since we were in Topeka that weekend, we didn’t have a chance to shop for that kind of thing. Luckily, Michael’s still had a lot of their Valentines items out. We were thinking of renting the clear eiffel tower vases for $10 a piece (that was the best price we could find), but they ended up costing more like $1.50 each, and they were red...perfect! (I only wish they had more. We got all 13, but we will probably have more like 15-20 tables. I’m sure we will be able to find something else for the other tables...perhaps something a little more special for the head table and parent’s tables.)

I showed them to Andrew, and we’re thinking about having him create some wire art to wrap around the vases and the flowers that will be in them. That would be really special. He showed us some wire samples this weekend that I think would work beautifully. I’m sure they will look spectacular, knowing how talented and artistic Andrew is.

Fairy Tale Wedding Dress Shopping

Back to real life today.

Wedding dress shopping on Saturday was like a fairy tale. The first little, family owned bridal shop we visited is where I wish I could buy my dress. (If only it weren’t in Topeka, KS!) Their prices were very reasonable, they had an incredible selection and the employees were very friendly, encouraging and full of creative touches and ideas.

Debi, Elly, and Cyndi were not only patient while the dresses had to be laced up the back and squeezed into, but incredibly helpful finding me dresses in the exact styles I love and the sizes I need. I cannot wait to do more dress shopping here in Lincoln.

The statistic that wedding dresses are made for women 5’9” in height must be accurate. Practically every dress I tried on fell in place like it was made for me. That being said, Mom and I would like to focus on finding a dress that would need little to no alteration. I tried on many that fall into this category. Compared to any other clothes shopping I’ve ever done for myself, I really feel like I have my pick of almost anything I want. The A-line cut is my favorite, but some princess silouttes and even some closer fitting, simple style dresses looked nice on me. The only styles I really need to stay away from are the sheath and mermaid silouttes.

My goal is to find a dress that has a sweetheart neckline, ivory in color, covered in lace (and maybe a little bead work) with no train. The women at the bridal shop mentioned that white dresses tend to clash with a fair complexion, and we saw exactly what they meant the first time I tried on an ivory dress. It just looked more my style. (I rarely wear white....maybe that’s why!)

We’ve also added new family members and friends to our bridal party. Andrew asked his friend Patrick to be a groomsman, Debi and Elly are going to help with the guest book, Cyndi is going to be my personal attendant (to be at my beck and call on my wedding day “Cinderelli, Cinderelli!”) and Caleb, my God child, is going to be the ring bearer. It was so cute when we were explaining to Caleb what he would do in the wedding. He seemed excited, he agreed to do it and then we hugged. I spoke with Cyndi later that evening and she said that Caleb was already asking about his job. He would ask her “Tomorrow?” (Not quite, kiddo.)

Wedding Dress Shopping

Oh, I’m so excited for this weekend! I am going wedding dress shopping for the first time!

Mom and I are driving down and picking up my aunt Debi and cousin Elly. We’re going to drive down to Topeka, KS tonight and stay in a hotel suite with them and my aunt Cyndi. Poor Cyndi has 4 boys, and I know how much she loves to go shopping with girls. What could be a better girly shopping experience than wedding dress shopping?!

Today I booked my photographer and I am beginning to look into ceremony musicians. What I need next is to start compiling the address lists for the save the date cards. I should e-mail Liz and see if she can start putting one together for Andrew’s friends and family members.

Happy Valentines Day

Well, I've been quite busy with wedding plans (and working a lot of overtime in the last couple of weeks). However, I'm getting quite a bit accomplished.

On Tuesday we booked the Great Plains Room of the East Campus Union for our reception. After seeing the prices of the other sites, it was a no-brainer what place was right for us. Some places were going to nickel and dime us, while others were costly with no service. The Union staff is very friendly, there are lots of options as far as food, linens, audio/video equipment and lighting. They also offer a lot of services included in the price of the room that most of the other venues would either not provide or charge additional for.

They have spot lighting with red and orange filters that I'm excited to see set up. Mom had the idea of creating a filter with our initials to shine in the middle of the dance floor (how cool would that be?!) They will also set up the tables and center pieces to our specifications if we bring in our decorations. I'm planning on having them set up with black table cloths with red and black alternating napkins. We're thinking of renting table runners for each table, a red silk one and an orange translucent one, placing an eiffel tower vase at the center of each table with a single (silk) gerbera daisy in each, with some celophane squished down in each vase and maybe a red or orange LED light shining through each one.

We're looking into renting the ceremony space now, and I have set up a date (April 26th) to take outdoor engagement pictures. I've been checking into different photographers, and for the photojournalistic style I love, I can't seem to find anyone in town better suited for our wedding for the price. Everyone else either has very amateur or outdated looking portfolio examples (and practically charge as much) or they charge much more for similar quality work.

I feel like we've come a long way, even since my last entry. Mom, Dad and Andrew came with me on all the site tours, which I really appreciated. Liz and Lynnette came to several as well. It's always nice to get a feel for how others liked the places we've seen.

Reception Sites

I think one of the first decisions I need to make is where we will hold the reception. Things are already filling up (I thought I had months to decide...I’m glad I started checking into things)! The dilemma I have is that I would love to hold it at the Quilt Museum, which isn’t opening until March 30th. Mom has contacted someone from the Quilt Studies Center on campus, but though they know that they will be equipped to hold a wedding reception, they do not have any of the details worked out yet. We’re planning to attend their open house on the 30th of March, but I’m worried that they may still not have the details completely worked out at that time.

I would love to go ahead and book something so that we can choose a date and reserve an outdoor space for the ceremony. I want to be sure our date will work for Liz and Debi, who both have conflicts that time of year. Also, I would like to give our officiant as much notice as possible. The sooner I can send out save-the-date cards, the better.

We do have an appointment to see the Ridnour Room on Thursday after work. I really like that we can bring in our own caterer and save some money at this location. Plus, it's in the Haymarket which is quite a romantic setting. (I wonder if the event center construction will be going on at that point? I think I heard something on the news to that affect.)

I'm still waiting to hear back from Jamie, my contact with the UNL Champions Club and Wick Alumni Center. Hopefully we can tour these spots soon as well as the East Campus Union.

Get Rec'd

Liz and Emily (maid of honor and bridesmaid) met by happy coincidence today at "Get Rec'ed," a free lunch, free giveaway open house held at UNL Campus Recreation.

The whole place was packed, but there was UNL Dairy Store Bavarian Mint ice cream (served by none other than my friend Hiro! It was nice to see him also.)

I'm not planning to do a lot of wedding stuff this weekend. It's supposed to finally be nice out this weekend, so we'll probably do some work on the house instead. (We're just waiting for the new programmable thermostat to arrive, and we'll have completed our NeighborWorks renovations!)

1-24-08 Welcome

Welcome to my wedding planning blog!

This may not be the most cohesive blog you've ever read, but I'm hoping to use it as a wedding journal and a virtual catch-all for my wedding ideas and plans.

Last weekend I was determined to get a few members of my bridal party secured. A dinner at Wilderness Ridge to celebrate Emily's birthday seemed like a perfect opportunity to ask her to be my bridesmaid, and to ask Steve to act as an usher. But, as it turned out, Steve had some plans of his own for Emily's b-day, so Andrew and I asked them to be part of our special day at Risky's, where we held Emily's surprise b-day party. (Steve still owes Emily and I a dinner double-date at Wilderness Ridge.)

Steve and Emily both happily accepted, and Steve even announced the news to the crowd at Emily's party. So, one down.

The next day we really didn't have any more luck meeting at our venue of choice. Andrew and I invited Liz to meet us for lunch, and she suggested the Green Gateau. We would have eaten there, if only they weren't hosting a holiday party shortly after the time we had planned to meet. We decided to meet in the Haymarket and look for an open restaurant. (It was not as easy as I'd hoped.)

We eventually found that Buzzard Billy's was open. Hallelujah. Liz happily accepted the proposal to be my Maid of Honor, so now I feel like at least a few things are starting to fall into place.

Neither Emily nor Liz seemed excited about the prospect of just wearing a semi-formal black dress that they already owned to the wedding. So, I'm starting to consider other options. Emily actually seems the most excited about the prospect of wearing an orange dress, so that make me happy.

She suggested using gerbera daisies in our bouquets, since they come in deep red and orange (our wedding colors) and are not a very expensive or hard to find flower. I love gerbera dasies, so I want to remember this suggestion.

I read an article on RealSimple.com about buying flowers at a local grocery store before the wedding and making your own bouquets with floral wire and tape to secure the stems and ribbons tied around to mask the tape and tie it all together. I'd like to consider this. Andrew's mom gave me some beautiful ribbon she found at Ben Franklin that is red on one side and orange on the other. Perhaps I can incorporate this into the bouquets.

Emily also told me that if I want a veil, I should have her and her mother make it. They spent about $11 (? something like that) by making it themselves, rather than paying $125 at a bridal shop. I love the money saving ideas! (Dad is really involved, which I love, but he also looks really frightened whenever he sees the prices of things like photography and dresses.)

The others we have chosen to involve in the wedding include Jackson, who will be Andrew's best man, and Richard Hargesheimer, who will be out officiant.

I will keep posting my thoughts and planning progress here. Thanks to Debi and Elly, who gave me the most wonderful gift a bride-to-be could ask for, a wedding planner. I love it!