Honeymoon Booked!

It was James's job to book the honeymoon and I was starting to get a bit antsy that it hadn't been done yet...BUT today was the day!  James booked the trip!  He found a trip that is beyond my dreams and expectations.  We are going on a cruise in the Adriatic Sea - starting in Venice and island hopping around the Greek island and to a few stops in Turkey - even Dubrovnik, Croatia!  We'll be traveling for 12 days and I couldn't be more excited...what a great celebration and kick off of our marriage!  The itinerary is:

Seriously - he done good.  Now we just need that new camera we registered for...  ;-)

Hotel Issues!

I found out today that the hotel we booked our wedding black at has been sold - to the College of William and Mary to be turned into dorms - opening fall 2013.  Apparently, the deal will close at the end of May and the hotel will cease operations on June 1.  This means our block for the weekend of the 29th will not exist...  The 9 couples/families who have already booked their accommodations will have to re-book at a new hotel (not a huge deal but annoying...)  SO with 3 months and a few days before the wedding, I am now re-shopping for hotels for our guests.  I hope we can find a hotel with block availability at that time (summer in a tourist town) and affordable rates.  I do NOT want our guests to pay an arm and a leg to travel in for our wedding...well, no more than absolutely necessary!  Not only that, the location of the Hospitality House was incredibly convenient - literally across the street from the chapel where our wedding will take place and from the site of the rehearsal dinner.  Do we now need to figure out guest transportation for these events as well?  Oh - and I was planning on getting ready at the hotel with the bridesmaids...now that we won't be right across the street, we'll need transportation to the chapel before the ceremony, there isn't a bridal room there.  UGH!  An issue that I thought we had resolved months ago is again at the top of our to-do list.  Update on this HOPEFULLY very soon... 

Invite Update and Wedding Bands

As I mentioned, I have been frustrated by invitation shopping.  My sister and I had been toying with designing our own invite based on what I like, finding paper that is what I want, and DIYing the invites.  So Laura, who is a whiz with designing and photo editing, started at the project.  She did a great job - and then we realized that some printing websites allow you to upload your own image and they'll print them on whatever paper you choose - a perfect solution!  We are almost finished with invites...RSVP wording left but that's about it!  I am really hoping that this ends up working...

Wedding bands - James and I went back to the jeweler that he got my engagement ring from to buy our wedding bands.  The store is in Falls Church, right outside of DC - so it's not very close to Williamsburg.  Because James worked with the jeweler to custom design my ring I couldn't find any bands in store that really worked with my ring.  I want the rings to fit together like a set.  So after trying on a number of options, we decided to have the wedding band custom made as well.  We ordered the ring about a month ago and James went to pick up the finished rings yesterday.  (They had to keep my engagement ring to match it, so I've been without it that whole time - it sucked!)  He went to DC himself and brought them back today.  I was SO EXCITED to see the set together...  When he got home we checked out both his and my bands...and mine is wrong.  The design and idea of it are right - it matches the band of my engagement ring perfectly, but the prongs of my engagement ring are on the outside of the band so there are supposed to be notches in the wedding band for it to sit flush with the engagement ring.  There aren't.  The rings don't sit flush on my finger.  It may seem minor, but that was part of the reason I wanted to have the wedding band custom made - so it looked like a set.  We paid way too much money for it to be wrong.  I don't like to feel like I am complaining, but I feel that this should be right, what they said they'd make.  I may be being picky right now but the feeling of disappointment in my stomach and the feeling like I am going to cry is enough to tell me that they need to fix this.  I will wear these for the rest of my life, so I should get what we paid for.  They aren't open today, so I wil call tomorrow and see what they say - stay tuned for an update. 

 

Invites - I Want to Give Up

I've officially become frustrated and can't make a decision about the wedding invitations.  I can't find one that I like.  I suppose I am being picky because I want a certain look AND feel for the invitations.  I can't find the one that has both qualities as I want them.  Then I start playing with the wording and font - forget it!  I can't win.  There are too many choices and I am too much of a perfectionist.  **sigh**

Parents Visited to Get Some Things Done!

My parents came to visit James and I last weekend to help finalize/plan a few wedding related items.  On my list of things to complete - invitations, food tasting, and dress fitting.  2 out of 3 ain't bad, I guess.  Here's how it went:

• Invitations - we were able to narrow down about 7 options to two.  My parents like one of them, James likes the other, and, of course, I like them both.  I haven't made a final decision - and I just ordered two more samples, so I may be confusing things were more!  I like the design of one but the paper/feel of the other...trying to find "the one" that also fits into the budget...
• Food tasting - James and I met with both sets of parents to taste food for the reception.  It went surprisingly well!  We agreed on what entrees we wanted and only had slight disagreements on the sides.  Colonial Heritage was amazing to work with and very flexible - the answer to most of our questions was "we can do whatever you want".  Definite plus:  the food was delicious!  I don't think people will be disappointed at all.
• Dress fitting - my dress hadn't arrived while my parents were here, so we couldn't do the first fitting.  It was supposed to have shipped from CA on the 15th, but it wasn't here when they were.  In fact, I haven't received word that the dress has arrived, even now.  I am hoping it comes in soon, I am anxious to try it on again!

Other items I am working on - guest bags for the hotel guests and jazzing up my shoes.  What to include in the guest bags?!  I have a few items and a few on the list to include but I want to get a few creative and fun items in there too.  My latest idea: cookies shaped like VA and WI with a heart candy over our home cities.  Regarding the shoes, I had to return my ideal shoes and so I got a great back up but they're just not what I had my heart set on.  I am working to get them closer.

I am also starting to read through readings for the ceremony.  We don't meet with Fr. Prince again until early April, so I have time to read and see what really speaks to us.  We also need to choose another reader or two.  So far, my sister-in-law Tracey is the only person lined up to read.

I'm sure I'm working on more, I just can't think of them all at the moment.  I really don't feel stressed or pressured - yet.  There are a number of things I can't do until we get closer - place cards, seating chart (AHHH!) and programs, re-confirming with vendors - but I am feeling pretty good right now!  (Knock on wood!)