The countdown has begun! 64 Days until the big event! When Tory and I got engaged last March I gave myself a rather stern lecture about bridezilla behavior. I promised myself from the very beginning that any of that behavior would just be absurd, rediculous, and totally uncalled for. In the last 11 months I have managed to stick to that promise (at least I hope so)- sometimes to the detriment of timely wedding planning. In fact, there was a point in the fall that I dubbed myself "The Antibride" -or AB- for short when I realized that another bride-to-be who was getting hitched a whole 5 months after us had more planned and arranged for than I did. After a few kicks in the butt and threats of weekly "wedding wednesday" emails to remind me to get my butt in gear- I did just that.... and a-planning I have been ever since...
I have chosen colors (finally):
chosen bridesmaid dresses, booked a florist, ordered a cake (www.theicingcakes.com/index.htm), ordered Save the Dates AND Invitations (www.weddingpaperdivas.com), obtained membership at a local tanning salon (don't want to be white in an ivory dress), visited my dermatologist to get my complexion under control, PURCHASED OUR WEDDING BANDS, BOOKED OUR HONEYMOON:
ordered FOUR fabulous pairs of wedding shoes, scheduled my first fitting, AND consulted with my fav hairstylist about hair and makeup on the big day.
Basically just a few loose ends left to tie up (which includes paying all of our vendors-ugggh) and we are SET TO GO. I can't believe how completely and utterly seamless the whole process has been. With the exception of a few rough experiences along the way (i.e. florist and cake bakery)- all of the decision making has been so easy and I have come to the conclusion that we have 3 things to thank for this...
#1. Our googledoc spread sheet- complete with guest list, budget (total and to-date), important musical selections, and color-coded to do list. This little piece of technology has played a huge role in making wedding planning fun for Tory and organized for me. Hours logged well into the night with the 2 of us gazing at the glowing screens our laptop were made so much easier thanks to google and Tory's tech-saviness.
#2. Our budget- which I consider to be moderate but TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY REASONABLE. Living in the neighborhood of Washington, D.C. it is really easy to overspend on things simply due to location. Even groceries literally cost DOUBLE what they did in my sweet little college town of Harrisonburg, VA (I actually calculated this). While we encountered numerous great and affordable options- our moderate budget has significantly limited what has been available to us, particularly in the areas of venue, food, flowers, and cake. For me this has been a blessing. Too many choices= a very overwhelmed, over stimulated, freaked-out Amanda. While I would have loved to give my bridesmaids cascading bouquets of ranunculas and hydrengeas to carry down the aisle and feed my guests filet mignon or even just BEEF- it has been nice to walk into a vendor's office and say "here's what I can pay you, what've you got?" To my surprise, all but one of our vendors (ahemtheicingcakesahem) had multiple fabulous things to offer us and we walked away all but once feeling like we were getting something fabulous for the cash we were forking over. Our budget has helped to keep things simple and simple is real good for me.
#3. Our overall mentality. From day one Tory and I refused to be caught up in the day and have worked hard to always remember that what we are giving to eachother on April 30 is a marraige and not a wedding. Even a week after the celebration it just isn't going to matter what flowers I had or even what food we served. All that matters is that we are making the decision to commit ourselves to eachother and a life together forever. And THAT.KICKS.ASS. It's really easy to keep yourself grounded if you try to keep this one fact in mind. The quality of our marraige is not going to be measured by the quality of my wedding dress or the cake or even the weather on our wedding day.
Tory and I recently recieved the ceremony booklets from the reverend who will marry us at Rock Hill Plantation House:
Reading over our options of vows, readings, wording, etc... filled me with so much joy in knowing that Tory and I have chosen to make this commitment to each other forever. The ceremony booklets really brought home the biggest lesson I have learned in this adventure called "wedding planning"- there are a million different ways and details to demonstrate, celebrate, and express your unique love for each other. All of the little details aside though- a wedding always means 2 things: love and commitment. As long as those 2 details are included in your celebration- you're good to go. :)
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