Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Done with David's Bridal

The final two sashes arrived today. I picked up all four of them this afternoon, and am now done with David's Bridal!

Thankfully there is not that big of a color difference between the sashes that they shipped separately but were promised to be from the same dye lot. Now, I say that as I am trying not to go Bridezilla and throw a fit about sashes, that will never be touching side by side for more than a moment, being a slightly different shade.

I evaluated all four sashes right there on the front desk that abruptly stopped me as I entered the store. And well of course there is a difference in color, but really the difference is so small that no one will know. Ha, well no one except all of you.

Maybe you will be concentrating so hard on my Bride's Maids' sashes that you will not notice when my make-up starts to run from me crying, or if I stumble as I walk down the isle, or if Thom messes up on the vows, or if we sneak in one extra kiss after we say I Do. :)

Song Options

To fulfill my part of the bargained in the search for "Our Song" I have been putting together a list of songs. This is going to be a lot harder than I thought!

I went through my iTunes play list and even did some searching on-line. You would not believe how may different websites their are with wedding song lists.

There is a wide variety of songs out there, so I am trying to have all of the options included in the list. I am even finding songs that I would not want to be "Our Song", but that I would like to be included in the wedding reception. This list is growing from a search for "Our Song" to a list of songs to be played at the reception.

So if all of you out there have a request for songs to be included in the reception post your requests now!

Attempt Two For A Linen Vendor

I visited a second linen vendor on Monday after work. I meet with Colleen, one of the owners of Affordable Elegance Chair Covers and Linens, and she showed me some "table scapes." This company was referred to us by Glen Oaks, our reception site.

She had a lot more options of what we are looking for, and was very helpful. They have everything from your standard issue polyester table cloth to extreme patterns and materials. And she showed me only the ones I was interested in, she didn't try to up sell. I checked and their napkins were a lot more user friendly then the silly ones at the first linen company I visited.

Colleen knew all about the tables and chairs at Glen Oaks, as well as some of the linen options they offered. She showed me all of the options they had at Affordable Elegance and then explained how their options could be mixed in with some of the linens offered by Glen Oaks.

I was reading the Affordable Elegance Blog - these blogs things are crazy :) and found out that the two owners of Affordable Elegance attended Central MI University. And they have just hired an intern who will graduate from the same program at CMU. One of the students in my DAPCEP (Detroit Area Pre College Engineering Program) class last semester was interested in fashion, and had just emailed me and the other program director her resume to review. I asked Colleen at Affordable Elegance about the CMU program and she had a lot of good things to say about it, and sent me the web link for the CMU classes and a summer program they have for High School students.

As I am sure you can tell, I was very happy with the options at Affordable Elegance, and now have a soft spot for them since they have helped me help one of my students! The next thing will be to set up a demonstration at Glen Oaks. I would like to see how the options look at our reception site, and it will help us figure out what we can get away with mixing between Affordable Elegance and the linens provided by Glen Oaks.

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Our Song

Thom and I do not have a song...yet! I know we have some time (actually less than 6 months now), but I don't want our first dance as husband and wife to be to some song we picked out a week before the wedding because we keep putting it off.

Thom and I joked when we were dating about not having a song. As we have been planning the wedding we have suggested a few ridiculous songs that we have heard on the radio. But we still do not have "Our Song."

For some reason Thom is not too happy about picking out a song. He claims the problem is that we listen to songs differently, he listens to the music and I listen to the words. Which I must admit is probably true.

We talked about it last night while we were out to eat, and again today, and have come up with a solution. I am going to make a list of songs, and he is going to choose from those songs. He said he would not know where to start if he made a list too, so he is OK with just picking one from my list.

We were joking last night that it would have been so much easier if there just would have been a song playing when we had our first kiss... on the tailgate of his truck at the race track. :)

Waiting on the Wedding Ring

We didn't pick up my wedding ring yet, because our jeweler is on vacation. She left Thom a message earlier this week saying she would be on vacation for a week, and was hoping we could wait to pick up my ring until she got back.

She is a cool lady, very calm around Thom, but then she gets excited when she see the ring on my finger. We really are not in a hurry to pick up the wedding band, and she would know better than us if the ring was OK, so we figured we would wait until she got back.

72 Questions with Father Fred

Thom and I have been seeing Father Fred every few weeks for our Pre Cana Classes. We meet with him yesterday to answer the 72 Questions. We are not sure why he referred to them as the 72 Questions, especially since we probably only answered 40 questions.

The questions covered a variety of topics to ensure we were compatible, kind of like e-Harmony and their levels of compatibility :). They even threw in a trick questions, to keep us on our toes. If I remember right, the trick question was about avoiding disagreements so we don't fight about them. Father Fred got excited when we answered the trick question "correctly".

Father Fred scheduled an appointment to see us after we have our 2 day marriage class. We are signed up to take the class at the end of May, so we will not have another meeting with Father Fred until June. He retires at the end of June, and wanted to be sure to see us one last time before he left.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Ceremony Band

Another thing we got to do this weekend down in Youngstown, was formally ask the "folk group" Thom's Dad plays with, to play the music at our wedding ceremony.

They were all excited when we asked and happy to play for the ceremony. Dad-Godward will be a little busy with Father of the Groom activities, so the group will have to function as a quartet. But they got some practice when they played beautifully as a quartet at Chris and Christie's wedding last spring.

As Thom and I plan the ceremony with Uncle Eddy we will have to figure out what music we want to incorporate.

But that is all of the details you are going to get about the ceremony band. We want to keep some things a surprise.

Wedding Rings

Thom got a call last week, from our jeweler. My wedding band is in!!!

We are going to swing by the jeweler this week to pick it up. Is it bad luck to pick up the ring this soon? Blame my softball days for the superstitions :)

Hopefully it fits great, and we can take it home that day.


Thom is planning on machining his own wedding band out of titanium. He is working out the details of just how he will whip that up, but I am sure it will turn out sweet!

Expanding Cookie List

Our Cookie List is quickly expanding!

After the shower plans were set, Thom's Aunts went into cookie mode.

Aunt Ellen, Aunt Martha, and Aunt Mary (Godward) all claimed their cookies. Mom-Godward also put a claim in for Aunt Sharron. Don't worry Christie, Thom and I told everyone you claimed the snickerdoodles.

From my side, Mom-Ross and my cousin Kim have claimed cookies.

After each Baker has claimed their cookie, they always ask how many cookies they need to make. We need to figure out how many Bakers we will have, before we will know how many cookies they each need to bake.

Just in case you are too busy dancing to sample all of the cookies, I think we are going to have little to-go baggies for everyone to take cookies home from the reception.

Yum Yum!

Godward Bridal Shower Plans

While we were visiting Thom's Parents in Youngstown this weekend, they hosted an awesome cook out. The whole family came over to enjoy the great weather, and yummy foods. We missed Chris and Christie, but we will see them in a few weeks!

While everyone was over we set a date for the Godward Shower, Saturday September 12th. Aunt Ellen has been researching restaurants for the shower, and brought a menu for one of the restaurants. All of the options sounded great, she is going to check on one of the menu items (to make sure its what we think it is) before we make any decisions :).

All of the Aunt were excited to set the date, and also excited to have Christie and Julia take over and handle the shower decorations. The Aunts have planed enough showers, its time to hand over the torch to the next generation of ladies. Christie's shower was great last year, so I know whatever her and Julia come up with will be wonderful.

Silly David's Bridal

I got has voicemail on Friday from (Silly) David's Bridal saying that, "the two ribbons I ordered were in, and ready for me to pick up."

Problem 1: I ordered "sashes" not "ribbons"! They do sell ribbons at David's Bridal, not sure why any one would buy them there when you can get the whole spool of ribbon at the craft store for half the cost. I had actually brought a ribbon with the blue color I wanted up to the register when I placed my order, because they did not have a sash in stock in the blue I wanted. Did the chick mess up my order?

Problem 2: I ordered 4 not 2! Did they really only order two? If they did order four, why would they ship them separate? Are they going to be from the same dye lot?

I took a deep breath and called David's Bridal back. I spook with the same sales associate who left the message. When I questioned her about the first problem she unenthusiastically looked the order up on the computer and said, "oh, no its says sashes." Then I questioned her about the second issue. She assured me that the order was for 4, but only 2 were in yet. When I asked about the dye lot she ignorantly told me, "Oh, they'll be from the same dye lot. I don't know why they would ship separate but the other two should be in soon."

Yeah I felt really reassured after talking to this chick...

When the other two sashes arrive, I'll be sure to check all of them under a microscope before I walk out of the store.

I called Jax after dealing with the "super helpful sales chick" and told her about the ordeal. The only thing she could say was, "Good thing we didn't order any of our dresses there." It makes us appreciate Larry and Kray Chic all that much more.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Attempt One for a Linen Vendor

I did some searching on-line and called around to all of the linen rental companies in the area, and of course added to our huge awesome tracking spread sheet.

It is kind of weird how they seem to work things. Not every company offers all of the basic linens. One company may only have table cloths and chair covers but not carry napkins, then they will sub-rent the napkins from the one company in the area that does provide them and of course up charge you.

I narrowed down the search by prioritizing companies that carry at least all three of the basic linens (table cloths, napkins, and chair covers). Believe it or not, that really narrowed thing down quick.

Jax and I had Monday off work so we stopped in at one of the linen company's showroom. This place was kind of high class. They didn't carry a Cotton or Polyester solid color table cloth, all of the table cloths were either satin or crushed or patterned. The only napkin they carried in the color we wanted was satin. I don't think that satin would really be absorbent enough to qualify for a napkin. Yeah it only took us a few minutes to realize we were out of our league.

I have a few other linen companies to check out this month, including the company our reception site referred us to.

Easter With The Fam

Thom stayed up in MI for Easter, and got to meet some of my family, from the Grand Rapids, MI area, for the first time over the weekend. He happily participated in some of our traditions, including taking a picture in front of the Chapel door. We have pics of us kids in front of this door since we were way young. The original group has expanded, from my cousins Nicki, and Michael with Devin and I, to include Kyle (Nicki's Hubby) and their son Bradon, and now Thom!
Kyle, Nicki, Bradon, Michael, Me, Thom, Devin

We even helped with the Easter egg hunt for Bradon out in Aunt Wendy's back yard. We must have hid the eggs really well, because the poor little guy was cashed out after dinner. He was sleeping so he was not in this pic.


But to make up for missing the holiday (and Dad-Godward's birthday), we are headed down to Youngstown this weekend.

Bride's Maid Dresses are In

My buddy Larry at Kray Chic left me a message this afternoon...The Bride's Maid Dresses are In!

It didn't seem to take long at all for their dresses to come in. Larry knew we had lots of time, but he just wanted to call and let me know they had arrived. He is going to hold the dresses for the girls until we have everything else ready.

The sashes should be in sometime next month. Once we have everything together we can plan to stop in at Kray Chic to see the dress with the sash and with the jewelry.

Monday, April 6, 2009

Remaining Vendors

Thom and I are working on lining up our remaining vendors. He is going to research transportation, and I am going to find our linen vendor. Then I think all we will have left is the Tux rental. Heck yeah we are moving right along!

We want to get some form of transportation to take us and the bridal part from the church to the reception site. No telling what mode of transportation he will come up with, I have seen some crazy lifted trucks, trolley cars, buses, and of course the super stretch limos. However, a graceful entrance and exit in a dress is a requirement.

I have a few linen companies that other friends have used, but I think I'll still look for all the possible options. We shouldn't need too much from the linen company, some table cloths and napkins should do the trick. But I think I will ask the final company to meet me at the reception site just so we can see the table-scape at the location.

We have got plenty of time for the Tux rental…so not fair that they can rent with a few months notice while I had to order my dress nearly a year out.

Logo




Now that you all have your Save The Date cards with our awesome logo, can you see the hidden touches that Devin added?



Hint: There is a little part for Thom and a little part for Me.




Usher

We have introduced you to all of our wedding party except our Usher, Chris Green. Chris is Thom’s new brother-in-law. Chris and Christie (Thom’s older sister) got married last May, and Thom was one of the Ushers in their wedding. So now they are swapping roles. We are also making Joey, Thom’s younger brother, do double time and be a Groom’s Man and an Usher, to keep Chris company.

Christie was up in Michigan this weekend so we got to visit with her in Ann Arbor, while The Spartans were on their way to the “Big Dance!” Go Green, Go White!!!. Better not talk any more about MSU, since this post is about Chris (silly Ohio Nut). Anyways, it was nice to see Christie while she was here to celebrate her friend’s Birthday. Unfortunately, Chris was away at a Bachelor party ('Tis the wedding season) in Nashville, but he was there in spirit and in text messages.

Thom and I are planning to go visit Chris and Christie down in Columbus in May.

Jewelry Find

I have been keeping my eyes open for some chic jewelry for the bride’s maids. Now that spring is here, well at least in the world of fashion since there it just snowed in Michigan, all of the colorful jewelry is out. After peeking at the jewelry in several stores, one section of the Kohl’s jewelry department totally drew me in. They had some cool jewelry sets that match the girls’ dresses, and the best part…they were on sale!


I have two options for the jewelry, but that is all of the detail you are going to get. Even though it will be part of my gift to the girls, I am going to let them pick which option they want. Lacey had a great suggestion, the girls can pick which option they like, by trying the jewelry on when they try their dresses on for their fittings.


In the mean time I will still keep an eye out for other jewelry options, and anything else that we might need for the festivities. I feel like if I see something in the right color I need to buy then and there, before its gone forever.

Hot Bridal Party!

Lacey's Mom, Mama Cat, made a guest appearance at the Bridal Planning Lunch I hosted last month. And she brought her new digital camera. After figuring out how to use her new camera, she passed along the photo to me. Thanks Mama Cat!

Here they are, my Hot Bridal Party!!! From right to left; Dev, Me, Jax, Linds, and Lacey.


Flower Girl

We have a Flower Girl! Madeline Weiss, Thom’s God-daughter, and Andy’s (the Best Man) daughter, is going to be our Flower Girl. Maddy will be 3 years old in October.

Maddy was in town with her Daddy this weekend, so we got to visit with her at Grandma and Grandpa’s house. She is really getting big!

Thom and I brought her a little Easter basket, with different types of candy inside those colored plastic eggs. She was excited to get a gift, but totally freaked out when she opened the first egg and saw the Peep inside. She didn’t know what to do with the bright yellow squishy chick. We tried to get her to eat it, and she apprehensively took the smallest bite possible, and then buried her face in Daddy’s arms. Thom tired again later, with the same results, so he helped Maddy out and ate the Peep himself. Thankfully the Jellybeans, Snickers, and Peanut butter cup in the other eggs were a success. The Sleeping Beauty Princess bubbles were also a hit.

Speaking of Easter goodies, I took advantage of the season and found a great dress for Maddy to wear in the wedding among all of the racks of little girl dresses. The dress is super cute and matches the wedding colors perfectly. I got her a little bigger size so she can grow into it for the wedding. While we were visiting, Maddy tried it on and modeled for all of us. Once we taught her to “twirl” she did not want to take the dress off. If (or more like when) she starts to lose interest during the wedding you may be so lucky to see a few “twirls” yourself.