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!