Why do we register?

Ok...so after my loving fiance and I got engaged and set our wedding date one of the things we were told to do was go and register. I thought it was still early to go and register since we weren't getting married for a year but some of my friends said we should register before our engagement party. So we did.

Now since we registered forever ago I occasionally check to see if anything has been purchased and a few times when I have gone to look at things I have found that items we registered for are no longer available. Yesterday I was checking out the one website and I was really bummed to find that the bedding we picked out was "no longer part of their assortment." I quickly became frustrated because we recently (maybe September)added this bedding to our registry and I never gave a second thought to it not being available. Fortunately, I was able to find the same bedding at the other store where we registered but now I have to find time to actually get to the store so I can add pieces that weren't available to add online.

After all this I was feeling somewhat stressed because keeping up with an accurate registry was the furthest thing from my mind. I just assumed (I know stupid to do) that once I did that we'd be good to go...but that's just not true, so I will just add that to the list of things to stay on top of.

Anyone else run into that problem?

Just another Monday

Not too much has happened this week on the wedding front. Last week I was feeling a lot of stress about a few wedding details but this week I've decided to let time happen and I will take care of things as they come. I guess the most important thing was to talk with Bresner Studios about the time they wanted to start with pictures. Now that that is set I can move on to the other details, like how long it will take for the girls to get their hair done and the time we need to get that started.

On a more fun note...I was sent a few pictures of Martini Luges (see below) to pick from for our Martini Bar. Of the ones that were sent, I'm liking Martini Glass Luge ice sculpture the best.

Monday's adventure at the Rittenhouse

On Monday my mom and I had a meeting with the event coordinator at the Rittenhouse. It was such a great time. We talked about a potential menu, where to have pictures taken, how we are going to set up the Martini Luge, the kinds of desserts we can have, a floor plan, the cocktail hour. The list seems endless.

My favorite thing was talking about the menu because I want to do something different. Something that will make people go "wow...that is a unique idea!" As we were talking about food the event coordinator had mentioned that a prominent figure's daughter had her reception there and they did boneless ribs, a side of truffled macaroni and cheese, and asparagus wrapped in carrots. This is supposedly a very popular thing in the Los Angels area. The LA thing doesn't matter so much to me as much as how different would it be to serve ribs at a wedding? Ohh...and for all the vegetarians out there, I will have a fish choice. I am not a fan of fish so I will go with whatever everyone else suggests and likes.

I also got to see the bridal suite; which was very cool. But this is when my stress really started to kick in. As we were walking around the room and discussing all the different things that could be done in terms of removing furniture in order to make room to bring in light snacks for everyone while having hair and make up done, my anxiety levels went through the roof. All of a sudden I began thinking of the 16 people who potentially would need to be getting ready. I was thinking of the 1pm ceremony time and how early are we going to have to start with hair. What time will everyone need to get to the hotel? I was nothing short of going into a slight panic.

Now I am also being given two other rooms that can be used for changing, hair, make up or whatever but I'm a freak about there being enough room for people to be comfortable and feel unrushed. So I guess I need to speak with the photographer so she can set a time for us to be ready, and then talk to the people doing hair to see how much time they are going to need in order to get everyone done by the photographers set time. The other thing that has me stressed is that I'm so aware of privacy, because I hate having an audience when I'm getting ready, that I hope there is enough room to get the number of people ready (hair, make-up) that is needed and still have space for everyone to get dressed with some privacy. I know this will all fall into place but these are the small details that will cause me to loose sleep.

Anyway, my poor fiance has had to deal with me being a bit on edge about this detail (yes we are still 5 months out)but he really has been great. I don't tell him that enough. He is so good about letting me vent and not taking things personally when I get fired up. In fact his craziness loves that about me...go figure! LOL.

Dresses and Veils

I'm at home and pretty bored right now (although listening/watching A Charlie Brown Christmas is getting me into the holiday spirit) so I decided to try and figure more of this blog thing out and play around a bit.

I've added a few "gadgets" about dresses and veils. I love Reem Acra dresses. They are beautiful, elegant, classic, well made and have intricate detail. After trying some on I made my decision but that won't be unveiled until the big day. I would love to talk more about my dress because I absolutely love it; but my fiance amuses me and reads this blog from time to time and I can't give away his surprise. I'm pretty sure Reem Acra means nothing to him! LOL.

I do want to share with you my experience in picking out my veil. I had gone to a few salons trying on dresses and I was at Suky when they put this absolutely gorgeous veil on me. I immediately fell in love it. I asked who designed the veil and my consultant told me it was made by HOMA. She also informed me that they were going to have a HOMA trunk show coming up and I would have an opportunity to pick out from a variety of veils. With that I asked to be put on the list for the trunk show.

The day of the trunk show my mom and I went and as luck would have it the designer herself was there. I picked out the veil I loved and she had me try on 3 other veils. She then designed a veil from the 3 different ones I tried on. It was such a neat experience to have a designer look at me in my dress, and just start designing a veil. It was overwhelming yet VERY fun! Veil is due to arrive in January...I can't wait to see it! My hope is that it can become a family heirloom!

HOMA was so nice and wonderful to work with. She makes beautiful veils and also has a gorgeous line of jewelry. If you are looking for a veil or bridal jewelry check out her stuff...it's gorgeous.

Invitations

Saturday was a fun day. I drug my wonderful fiance out AGAIN to go look at invitations. Last time we had gone looking it was a family outting, which with my family is always interesting, and we found something we liked but had to wait for a price quote. I finally got the quote on Friday and it was in the area of $4000. Yes, $4000...totally ridiculous! I absolutely refuse to spend that kind of money on an invitation that is only going to wind up in the trash. So we went back to the store on Saturday and created a similar invitation for more than less than 1/2 the price of the orginal quote.

I actually liked this process of creating an invitation much better. We got to look at a bunch of different papers and put together a very elegant looking invitation that resembles the much more expensive one I loved. I also liked this because it allowed for some creativeness and added one more unique touch to the wedding. Plus I get to brag about designing them! lol!

If you need a place to go for invitations, I highly recommend Open Dialog. The guy in there is awesome. We had gone to a few places in the city and no one came close to being as helpful as this guy. He took the time and was VERY patient with us. AWESOME!

Crazy Wedding Dream

This morning I woke up at 6am to a stressful wedding dream...

I dreamt that it was the day of the wedding and my family, my fiance and I were all preparing things at the church when I realized at 10 minutes before the ceremony start time that I was still in my sweats and needed to get back to the hotel so I could shower and get ready for the wedding. My brother was put in charge of getting me back to the hotel and we could not find one cab in the city so we decided to run from the church to the hotel.Once I got back to the hotel I hurried to my room and began getting my dress and accessories together when I found that I was missing my jewelry. However, I was missing my jewelry because I never bought any. I continue to scan the room wondering where my hairdresser and make up artsit could be. NO ONE could be found. At this point I was panicing as I knew my dad, the grand poopah, was going to be pissed because he can't stand when I'm late for things and to say I was going to be late was a gross understandment as I hadn't even gotten in the shower yet. With me not being ready I was wondering if my bridesmaids were ready. I frantically started looking for them and I found that some were ready and some were not. But overall the majority of us looked completely unprepared for what was suppose to be an elegant affair. At this point I began crying and getting upset with myself because all I could think of was how much of a disaster I was turning this day into.

Thankfully this was just a dream and I was able to laugh about it. After sharing this with some of my friends I have to wonder is this about the right time for wedding stress to kick in? How many more of these crazy dreams must I subject myself and my fiance too? lol.

New world of blogging

OK, this whole blog thing is new to me so please be patient as "this is my first time." lol. I know a few people who blog, some regularly and some occassionally and they seem to enjoy it so I figured I'd give it a try.

I'm not really one for putting my business out there for the world to see but I will enjoy sharing with you the tales of my upcoming wedding; which I'm soooo excited about...NATURALLY.

I will start by telling you that it all began almost two years ago when I moved into Center City Philadelphia. It was totally on a whim. I came home from work one day and decided I wanted to challenge myself, reach outside my own limits and become a "city girl." I always loved the city but never had the guts to actually move into the city. So I decided one random afternoon that this was something I needed to do and off I went looking for an apartment.

Once I found a place to live and signed my lease I was extremely excited about this new phase of my life. I was anxiously awaiting the endless possibilities of own personal growth. So I moved into Philadelphia not knowing a soul but relying on a few friends who were "regulars" to downtown life. Once I got settled I started going out to different bars and met a great circle of friends. It was within this circle that I met the love of my life.

I immediately noticed him and commented to my friend about his status which was unknown at the time. However as luck had it...every time we were all out together he was never "with" anyone so chances of him being single were looking better and better. Months went on and our group went from 8 people to about 4-5 and we naturally became a bit closer. As all of this was going on we began talking more and more and he finally asked me out. Our relationship bloomed quickly and it has been a whirlwind romance with ups and downs but more than anything great opportunities to grow together. The love we share is something I could only have imagined and I feel so blessed to have him in my life.

With that being said we were engaged within a year of dating each other and are now planning our May wedding.

The planning process has been fun and a bit stressful but not like I was expecting. I'm a total planner and like to have things lined up and done. Therefore the big things are done and now it's a matter of details.

I do have to get back to work; but to keep in with the title of this blog I will be posting more details about the "ChicUrbanWedding" later.

PS...I know this blog is boring right now but with some help I promise to make it better, hint hint.