fans

Looking for inexpensive paper fans to include with the programs at the ceremony, the cheapest place I could fine them was here. 100 programs, with 100 fans. Doo doo doo.

Aaaand I may have found a cheaper place for lanterns here. Or here.

It all comes down to shipping costs. And whether I can find them at a lower price locally, like the dollar store.

I'm thinking way in advance here, but I was looking for possible wedding party gifts and ways to package them. I created (or am creating. Clearly it's a work in progress) a list of ideas for gifts for each party member, and I think when it comes time to purchase and "wrap" each gift I'm going to create gift baskets for each of them.

The key then will be finding baskets that are smaller and inexpensive. And I totally found some.

I can't decide what to get for the guys. Maybe mini bottles of liquor (which I can also find at a liquor store) and shot glasses. I don't know.

Whatever, I am so awesome.

And I emailed my mom asking her to get some family addresses for me. Darren's mom is working on doing the same. I need to email various friends for theirs as well... and find out what Eric needs from me so we can get the Save the Dates designed and printed before mid-January.

dresses

Bridesmaid dress? Marsha, if you see this, let me know what you think. PS, will you be in my wedding? :)

I like this dress (in ivory) for me. I'm kind of considering something shorter and/or slightly less formal, but... it's just so pretty. I do like this one if I deceide on going less poofy. And by the time I need to actually purchase a dress, I'll probably actualy look good in it. Or this one if I decide I'm okay with a short dress.

I'm sick of looking at flowers

Flowers, again.

My bouquet.

Groomsmen.

Darren. I think I'd also add some leftovers from the groomsmen to make it extra awesome.

Dads

Moms

Centerpieces

Bridesmaids

Ushers & Personal attendants.

Petals for scattering on food tables, etc.

If we have some sort of altar area/table, we can put bouquets on either side. Like these ones, in some vases.

I can also buy these paper flower heads to make decorative garlands!

Blurgh. Flowers are hard.

If we decide to go with real flowers, Stephanie recommended flowerbud.com (and then googling for a coupon code). If we did that, I think I'd get a box of greenery and the harvest garden box. Although I do also like this bouquet and the daisies, of course.

lights and such

So if we get married on the farm, our reception would be in a tent, and we'd have to consider lighting it.

BAM. We could put these lights inside these lanterns (and these ones). Those plus white Christmas lights draped over the ceiling would probably do the trick- the less we have to worry about extension cords, the better. These lanterns even have build in LED lights.

Unrelated: I like these for centerpieces. But I also think I'd want something brighter... like perhaps these, or this guy.

We could put small bouquets in mason jars- they're super cheap at this site. I think they'd be cute and definitely fit if we had a farm wedding. :) Tie some ribbon around the top... heck yeah.

We need to start making decisions. Darren will start a discussion, like "I think we should get married in September," but the conversation dies before we actually, you know, decide anything. I feel bad trying to force him into actually planning stuff, but it's going to have to be done at some point. Blurgh.

color

I'm currently looking at this Pantone chart to choose the perfect shades of green to use on our printed materials. I like the brighter ones in the 360 range.

...nerdy.

Favors

My current plan for wedding favors is to have some kind of treat in a little bag. Like mayhaps these almonds. Of course, some people are allergic to nuts. But other people don't like chocolate, and, well, no matter what I choose, I probably won't be able to please everyone. It's just a wedding favor, for crying out loud. I could put them in these little bags. Easy peasy.

I also thought about making the little bags myself and filling them with, like, the different flavored tootsie rolls. You know, something delicious.

Reception stuff

Bubbles! Bubbles for our exit or entrance and an awesome wedding favor!

We could also get cameras, maybe one on every other table, and people can take pictures during the reception and leave the cameras on the table at the end of the night, then we can get the photos developed and it will be awesome.

Notes to self

Note 1:
Go here for postcard printing for Save the Dates.

Note 2:
Pick a date.

Note 3:
WHen it comes time to find a wedding band, this one is an excellent example.

BAM.

Hello, wedding blog.

I decided to start an all new wedding blog so people can read it if they want, but I won't have to fill up my regular blog with wedding nonsense.

Right-o. So. Where are we at right now?

The ring was paid for today; it should be arriving next week. Hopefully. I'm not sure what the turnaround time is. It's being made by an artist I found on Etsy. Her studio can be viewed here.

I'm maybe getting a tiny bit ahead of myself with the blog and wedding website I set up at mywedding.com, because people don't even know about the engagement yet. Well, a couple people do. I told one person because I can't even keep my own secrets, and Darren told some people at work yesterday (the 29th) that he's going to propose today (it's our 2 year anniversary). He actually proposed on Monday (the 28th), but whatevs.

I'm going to hop over to Barnes & Noble today to check out their wedding planning books. I feel like I'm going to need something physical to keep track of things, as opposed to just spreadsheets and stuff on a computer.

I am already utilizing The Knot a bit though (in addition to MyWedding). They're just so handy!

We need to pick a date as soon as we can. All I know right now is that it can't be in the last week of August 2010, because that's when Steve and Scancy's wedding is, and I need to find out when Heather's wedding is so we don't schedule too close to theirs.

Ideally it would be sometime when Stephanie and Andy are visiting from Turkey, which is in I think September (2010). But I don't know how long they'll be here or what their schedule is going to be like. Boo hoo.

Whatever. This is a step-by-step process and we haven't even completed step 1: tell people.

So maybe I'll just concentrate on that first.