Our Wedding by the Sea

I've finally found a salon within my budget who has availability on my date.  Yay!!  The person with whom I've been in contact has been super nice & helpful and I can't wait to book.

I'm just waiting to hear back from my mum, matron of honour, and one of my bridesmaids to see if they want appointments, too.  One of my bridesmaids & my FMIL are interested, so that's great.  I'll be putting down a deposit hopefully next week and then that's one less thing to worry about.

Hooray!!

PS- I think it's safe to say that I'm back in the swing of things wedding-planning-wise.  Thank God, because this thing ain't gonna plan itself!

With a mere 240 days left until the wedding, all I can think about is shoes.  I am a very picky person when it comes to shoes.  I love shoes, but I have a hard time finding ones that meet my standards.  I own exactly two pairs of basic shoes that work with many outifts.  Nearly all of my shoes are embellished in some way- glittered, sequined, flowered, beaded, etc. etc. etc.  And nearly all of my shoes are flats.  I am a creature of comfort, and being a kindergarten teacher I have little use for pumps, stilettos, or platforms.  In fact, I have been called "the queen of flats" by more than one person.

I am not wearing shoes for my ceremony.  We're getting married on the beach and I want to feel the sand between my toes.  I'm still debating on barefoot sandals, but I'm leaning toward the naked feet option at the moment.  I do, however, need a cute pair of shoes for the big day.  For some pictures, for the reception, for going from one place to another (ie- hotel, photo op places, etc.).  This is proving to be a difficult endeavor.

My Qualifications
-Must be flats
-Peep toe
-I prefer white/ivory so I can dye my crinoline blue, but if I find some nice light blue ones, I can leave my crinoline white

This gem pair is my inspiration.  I hope to recreate them (on white flats) with my magic magicness:

I haven't been able to find cute, plain peep toe flats that I like yet, but these are some contenders.  I am hoping to remove the existing embellishments and add my own.

This isn't a very good (or very interesting) blog post, but I need to put this information somewhere that I won't lose it.  Since I use many different computers and always seem to lose my jump drive, this seems to be a good option.

I'm currently researching vaccinations for our honeymoon.  Here's what's recommended:

Visit doctor 4-8 weeks before departure
Hepatitis A
Measles, Mumps, Rubella (if haven't had them already)
Tetanus

I'm pretty sure I've had all of these, but it's good to know.  I'll have to double-check my shot records & Fi's.  I'll make our pre-honeymoon doctor's appointment while I'm ther.  Yay for one more thing to check off the list!

So finding a caterer is proving to be a headache.  Whenever vendor hunting gets hard like this, I find myself withing that weddings just came pre-planned with vendors, and you could just make a bunch of cute things and have a wedding.  I guess I could have had that, had I used a traditional venue.   should have started trying to find a caterer sooner.  I found a great one with awesome prices, but they are already double-booked on my wedding day, so they were a no-go.  Now I'm back to the drawing board.  Everyone I've contacted other than that place has been over-budget or booked.

I found one who is $21something pp for a buffet, but he didn't give me many more details than that.  He didn't seem too personable/excited for business and hasn't replied to my follow-up email.  I also emailed a few more places today based on the recommendations of other people, and there is one place that I'm really excited about and crossing my fingers for.  Hopefully I can check the caterer off ASAP since I have NO interest in this aspect of my wedding.  I just want there to be good food.  It doesn't have to be the best food ever or even better than most.  Just average or better.  I'm not really a food person haha.  If it's delicious, that's just a bonus.  Hopefully I'll have something to report shortly!

Chris and I are hoping to find a place or 2 to have a tasting at in February.  We'll be in Stone Harbor anyway for my first race on February 11.  So it would be great if we could set up a tasting that weekend.

Okay moving along...

I just got an email from our photographer.  She's won the "Bride's Choice Awards" for 2012 from WeddingWire.  Super exciting- for both she and I!  I am so excited for her.  I knew she was amazing, and now it's great to see that others are seeing it too & she's being acknowledged for her fabulosity.  Yay Inna!

Also, Chris finally asked his last groomsmen!  So now we officially have our bridal party: Morgan (MOH), Britta, Jen, Kyle (BM), Andy, & Duck!  Yay!!

And finally, onto wedding nightmares.

I guess my planning hiatus took a toll on my subconscious, because the other night I dreamed that the day before my wedding I realized I was getting married the next day and just forgot to plan the rest of the event.  I showed up and wore my dress too long (I never got it altered) and my veil was wrinkled.  I got dressed in front of strangers in a back room of the venue where we got married.  We got married in a church, not at the beach.  I also never made/sent wedding invites, so I made a FB event and hoped some people would show up....  We also asked for baby name recommendations at the wedding (??) and my dad suggested we name our first daughter Hickory Pine.  Really!?  And so now I'm all ready to get back on board and plan this thing so I don't end up with a train wreck wedding like that one...