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!