Invitations are out-Fridge is in!

Andrew took most of the wedding invitations to the post office yesterday! There were a couple of addresses that needed tweaking, but for the most part my address list was good to go.

I hope everyone likes them. I think they're beautiful, but I'm biased.

It was so nice to be able to print them through the copy center at work. (Just don't look too hard for the misspelling on the map. It's my fault. We caught it before they went out, but I'd already had all the invites stuffed and I didn't want to pay to re-do them and re-stuff them. Once a misspeller always a misspeller, I guess. At least they're informative and pretty!)

Moving on...our first wedding gift (the refrigerator from mom and dad) was delivered yesterday and it's beautiful! Andrew has already organized the food inside, and last night I put all the magnets, take-out menus and artwork back up for display (it looked too weird to have nothing on the fridge).

It's roomier than our last fridge and all the shelves and drawers are clear and adjustable (I think Andrew enjoyed placing and organizing the ones in the door)!

Our old fridge is stowed in the hall/living room for now. Sometime this week, Andrew and his friend Brian will take it to mom and dad's garage and the process will be complete. Yay!

Sarabande Didn't Show...Uh-oh.

Dad found a listing on the Journal Star website that Sarabande Jazz would be playing at Meadowlark Coffee on Saturday night. I haven't gotten an updated schedule from Sarabande via e-mail this month, so I was very excited that dad found out where they were playing.

The next day, dad found a listing in the Ground Zero that confirmed that Sarabande would be there, so we decided to go see them, and invite Andrew's parents to join us.

We got there a little early and grabbed the cozy couch spot in the corner. Andrew and Lynnette joined us right on time, but the band still hadn't showed...

So, we waited, and waited and waited. Andrew checked with one of the employees to see if there had been a change of plans, since the band hadn't arrived as scheduled. She replied "It's happened before."

Yikes.

Needless to say, this stresses dad and I out. We've gone to see them around town at least seven or eight times before, and the band is always there. I guess we don't know what the circumstances are...maybe I shouldn't worry to much about it (not that I can rationally control my worrying).

It was embarrassing to have invited others to see the band and to have it turn out like this. However, we got to talk to Lynnette about the wedding plans quite a bit, so it turned out really fun anyway. I'm so glad she came (I think she distracted Dad and I from getting too worried at the time).

Dad mentioned that he might call the venue that Sarabande is supposed to be playing at on Wednesday night, just to be sure they are really playing as scheduled. It would make me feel better to think that this doesn't happen very often.

Barrettes for Rylee

Last night, Lynnette brought over the barrettes she created for our flower girl, Rylee, to wear on the wedding day.

Unless Kristine or LaJean (Rylee's mom and grandma) wanted to have Rylee's hair done professionally for the wedding, I was happy with a simple hairstyle for her that could be done at home. When we were all out shopping for Rylee's dress, Lynnette offered to make barrettes for Rylee, using the same flowers that will be incorporated into my hair style for the wedding.

I popped a few stems of the flowers off my arrangement and gave them to Lynnette right then. It seemed like such a great idea.

Now that I've seen them, I'm so happy with how they look. Rylee's hair is going to be adorable!

Thank you so much, Lynnette.

Dress Shopping for Em...again!

My congratulations go out to Emily and Steve. They are going to be parents!

A few weeks ago, Emily and Steve announced to me that they were expecting. The announcement was followed by a lot of excitement and hugging. Emily has a wonderful, two year-old daughter already, so I know they will be great parents to their new arrival. 

A few minutes after the announcement, Emily started talking about what she should do about her bridesmaids dress. Most likely, at over three-months along, she will not be able to fit into the bridesmaids dress she's already purchased. So, we decided to go back to Sarah's Bridal Shoppe and see if maybe we could order her a new dress, in the same material. Possibly something with an empire waist...something with more room for the baby. I want her to be comfortable at the wedding...it will be an awfully long day if she has to be squeezed into a tight, satin dress the whole time.

Unfortunately, when we arrived at Sarah's, we didn't have a lot of options. Upon walking in, the proprietor, Sarah, made me feel very at ease. She said "Oh, we'll figure something out. This isn't the first time we've seen this."

We seemed lucky, the line of dresses we'd ordered from could get us a new dress in time for the wedding (all the other lines they carried would not arrive in time). However, they did not have any appropriate styles with an empire waist. The only maternity dress they had was a close enough red to get away with, but the material and style were completely different. I was okay with this one, if Emily liked it, but the price was almost twice the original dress we'd chosen! There had to be another option.

Mom suggested that we try a few more shops before making a final decision. The first on her list was J'Maries Off-the-Rack (our one-stop shop for all of our bridal party outfitting needs). Believe it or not we found a few different ensembles for her to try on, including one red satin maternity dress that almost completely matches the original bridesmaids dress-in her size! All for the low, low price of $29.99!!!!

It's style is different, obviously. It has thicker straps, and it's a two piece. I'm just so happy it matches the dress Liz will be wearing, and that we can still add the orange, satin sash to Emily's dress. Emily didn't seem thrilled that the dress was so big (I'm sure it's made for someone who could be 8 months along as well as someone like her, just a few months along.) Em's mother, Susan, has offered to do Emily's alterations to this dress, to make it fit closer to the day of the wedding (when we have a better idea of how it will fit).

Susan is also going to create the sashes for Emily, Liz and Rylee! I love her. We all hugged her when she agreed to do this (it is such a load off for mom and I-one less thing!) I'm so glad mom and Susan came with us to pick out the dress. Emily is so considerate, and she would probably buy and/or wear anything I asked her to. It's great to have a few more ideas/opinions for a decision like this. I don't think we could have gotten any luckier.

Emily admitted, afterward, that she didn't think we'd have any luck at the off-the-rack shop, but I'm so glad we did. It would have been awful if we'd settled for the maternity dress at Sarah's, considering that would have put Emily's total spending for her dress above what we've spent on my own!

Our First Wedding Gift!

Andrew and I got quite a surprise yesterday from mom and dad.

The extra fridge in my parent's garage finally bit the bullet. (I'm not surprised...I think it's practically as old as I am.) Mom and I were doing some shopping last weekend, so we decided to stop into Sears to look at new refrigerators, and hopefully find something cheap to replace the one that broke. I guess that's easier said than done. Nothing that was a comparable size was that cheap.

But, I had another idea. Andrew and I have been meaning to replace the stove and fridge in our house, we just haven't had the money to do so yet. There were some really nice fridges at Sears that weren't too expensive, so I thought maybe Andrew and I could buy a new fridge and use some of the wedding money we get later to pay it off. We could sell our old one to mom and dad for much less money than them buying a new one, and they'd have a new outdoor, extra fridge. Brilliant, right?

Mom and I were ready to take Andrew to the store to check out the floor model, and dad asked if he could come along. Dad, volunteering to take a trip with us to the mall...well, I thought that was a little odd, but I was happy he was going to join us, so I didn't complain.

While he got ready to go, I started asking mom a lot of questions (worried about how I was going to pay for this), like "Do you think it's okay to use the wedding money we get later to pay off the fridge? Is it a faux pas to thank our guests for an appliance that will be in our home before the wedding?"

I just didn't want to pass up the opportunity, since mom and dad need a new fridge soon, rather than waiting until after the wedding. Mom couldn't answer my questions, so I said "Opps, it must be a faux pas. I think of another way to pay for it..."

Mom called dad into the room and said "We can't wait any longer to tell her. She keeps asking me all these questions I can't answer!"

Then, they announced that the new fridge would be their wedding gift to Andrew and I! So, we went as one, big, happy family to Sears to pick it out. It will be delivered a week from Monday. It's black (our color of choice for new appliances!), it has a divider shelf in the freezer. It's bigger than the one we have now. It has pull-out bins in the door and clear crisper, meat and dairy drawers. I can't wait until it arrives!

Thanks, mom and dad.

Program Design

I've been working on the ceremony programs quite a bit lately. I'm really happy with all the suggestions and ideas mom, dad and Andrew have offered. We've gone through several drafts already, and each time it comes out better and better.

I have designed the 8-page programs in a complementary style to the invitations and other printed material for the wedding.

I'm starting to get really excited about the wedding. I can believe how close it's getting. I can't seem to watch enough wedding shows (thanks to mom for taping them for me from WE). I'm quite the happy bride-to-be at the moment.

Sarabande Meets Flat Stanley

Last week I received a Flat Stanley in the mail from my cousin Blaine. I'm taking Flat Stanley around Nebraska with me for the next month or so, and I decided to bring him along to see Sarabande Jazz play at the Blend last Friday night.

It's been way too long since we went to see them perform live. They played "What a Wonderful World", the song that we plan to use for the Father-Daughter, Mother-Son Dance. Later, they played "I'm Glad There is You" which is our first dance song. They've added quite a few tunes to their repertoire, including some great Disney ones, like "Under the Sea." They performed that one for us as their final song of the evening.

I've got a photo of them above. They were kind enough to pose with Flat Stanley. It was great to go see them again. We're planning to schedule a meeting with Tim, the band leader, mid-April to discuss the details of the wedding music selections. Meanwhile, we'll just have to keep practicing our dance moves.