Wedding Planning Repost 05/31

I must say that of all of the things Im glad that I did.  Im proud of myself for sticking to my guns about one main aspect of my wedding.  If I didnt know you or hadnt kept in touch within the past year, you werent invited to my wedding.  Not because I didnt want to GET to know you, and not because I held anything personally againt you, but because I wanted my wedding to be intimate and personal.  I basically wanted people at my wedding that Id invite over for dinner.  I have been to weddings that were large and managed to keep that feeling, but I knew it wouldnt work for me.  Especially when it was so far away for so many people to travel to.  I was forced to keep this promise to myself by booking the worlds smallest chapel.  It only held about 90 people comfortably.  (If I remember right, I had about 75-80 people at my wedding in the end.)

So, without further ado, here's wedding repost #2.  (That rhymed... hehe.)

05/31 - The Planning Progresses

Who knew that there are crazy brides out there who book these things YEARS in advance!  This planning process's stumbling blocks have all been because some crazy woman before me booked her wedding/reception site over 18 months in advance!  I had to beg to get my reception site at the Ritz Charles on May 2, 2009 since theyre already almost booked through June '09.  I was going to use their chapel, but its already booked (and overpriced for being so bland).  Im so glad it is though, because I found the CUTEST little white chapel down the road which has so much more character.  It's over 200 years old and is the oldest church in the region.  The nicest pastor owns it and is willing to let us decorate however we would like and use our officiant (my friend and coworker from Alabama who happens to be a Baptist Pastor!)  The only thing is that with the charm of the place, theres a couple of drawbacks.  It only has about 15-20 parking spaces, but theres a park across the street called the Watering Hole that has a lot of parking (and its a beautiful little park), and there is no covering at the front door for my entrance (or everyone's, for that matter).  When you open the front door, there's the aisle!  I dont want to put a covering on the front of the church because I think itll lose some of its charm.  Lets hope for beautiful weather, or a freakishly big umbrella. W's ring has come in, but my engagement ring is still at the jeweler and my wedding band isnt done being made yet.  I totally pulled diva mode on this one (which I think Ive talked about before), but I really think the set will be amazing!  Things just seem to take forever in the wedding planning process! Kelli (my maid of honor and best friend since high school) came out this weekend and helped me organize and pick things out.  Im trying to keep this thing as simple, small, but elegant as possible, but its so tempting to go big sometimes!  I was anti- guest favors, but shes so for them shes going to design and put them together herself! My dad has already offered to put together some gift baskets for me, and W is in charge of the honeymoon and ties for the guys (theyre wearing black suits instead of tuxedos... again, simple.) Delegation is key to this mess and there are some things I really just dont care about.  I mean, honestly, why do I care about the filling of the cake?  Actually, on second thought, I do because itll likely be smeared all over my face.  Im going with white cake and white cream frosting.  Boring, but easy to wash.  Decision made.  :) Things are coming along... now I just need to book the photographer, the florist and the band/DJ.  (Sounds like the good, the bad, and the ugly... hopefully no ugly, though)  So much to do.