Our Wedding by the Sea

Fi and I are going to Country Bride & Gents to hopefully find the tuxes tomorrow.  Country Bride is where I went for my first appointment, where Veronica got her dress, where we went for our BM's dresses, and where they're getting the tuxes for their weddings.  Chris found a tux he really likes when he was there for their appointment.  So hopefully that still works and we can check tuxes off of our list!

I also just ordered my reception shoes, and I'm really hoping they work out.  I'd previously ordered ivory satin flip flops from Dessy, but when they came they weren't the quality I was expecting.  They just seemed a little cheap to me, so I'm sending them back.  I ordered a pair of flats this time around and they are SO stinkin' cute.  I am known in my circle of friends as the "queen of flats," so had to uphold the name.  Hopefully they come soon so I can make sure they'll work :)

We finally met with the restaurant that will potentially be catering at our wedding.

The food was delicious.  We tasted the prime rib, stuffed chicken, grilled chicken breast with red pepper and spinach, and the cheese ravioli with lobster cream sauce.  The sides we tried were sauteed veggies and tri-colour potatoes, as well as Caesar salad with their own homemade dressing.  The food was delicious and if we go with them, we'll probably do the Caesar salad (as opposed to a garden salad).  We really liked the prime rib and the cheese ravioli with lobster cream sauce for the entree choices, and the tri-colour potatoes for the side.

We loved everything and the chef (owner) was super nice and very helpful.  The only thing that makes me nervous is that the person in charge of catering is not very good at communicating and I have a hard time getting her to respond to emails and phone calls.  I'm going to express my concern to her and hopefully we can resolve it so we can book them.  The last thing I want is to be worried a week before my wedding because I'm not sure what's going on with our food.

On another (very exciting) note, I tried on my wedding dress this morning.  We were at my fiance's parent's house (where my dress currently lives) and I couldn't resist.  It's too big!  I can hold a solid fist full of fabric behind me!  All my hard work is paying off- it's super fabulous and I feel fantastic!

Everything is really coming together.  The last big checks we have are catering, rentals, and tuxes.  After that, it's basically just small stuff.  A huuuuuge weight will be off my shoulders soon!!

Good thing, too, because we're creeping ever closer to the Big Day (or Doomsday, as I lovingly refer to it sometimes haha)- only 146 days left!  I can't believe that I was once counting

First thing's first.  We *still* have no caterer.  5 months out and still no food.  Can we say STRESSED!?  However, I've been talking to the catering manager at a restaurant in Ocean City (just north of Stone Harbor) and it looks like we'll probably go with them.  We're trying to schedule a tasting with them- hopefully for this Sunday- and really really hoping it works out so we can sign a contract and let out a HUGE sigh of relief.  Keep your eyes open for more info on that!

Second line of business: Tuxes.  We ordered ties & pocket squares back in March when I ordered the bridesmaid's dresses.  Since my dresses are Alfred Sung (and therefore part of Dessy), ties were available in the exact same colour & fabric as the dresses, so we just ordered at the same time.  However, we have yet to book suit/tux rentals.  Chris and I are both looking for the same thing, so thank goodness we don't have to argue about it.  Honestly though, if he wanted to wear something other than the idea I have in my head, I'd be cool with it.  As it is, we're hoping for tan coloured suits/tuxes.  We have an appointment this coming Tuesday at the first store I went to to try on dresses.  Chris and I are both in a wedding 2 weeks before our own, and the bride got her dress there.  The groom and groomsmen are also getting their tuxes there, so Chris has already interacted with their sales team and stuff when he went to get fitted for that wedding.  He said he found a suit there that he liked for our wedding, so hopefully that will be "the one" and we can sort out tuxes, too.  Then it's just a matter of having the groomsmen & ushers fitted, and Chris' will be free!  Luckily, his best man is the groom from the wedding we're in before ours, so the store already has HIS measurements AND we share a common groomsman who currently lives in Texas, so they have his measurements already, too.  We just need to have the other groomsman (currently living in Georgia) get measured, and have Chris' brothers (our ushers) get measured as well.  We need to find the two of them ties, too.  But at least there's an end in sight!

Finally, invitations.  I have really begun the assembly line.  About 15 envelopes are addressed.  It's labor-intensive and takes a long time, but I'm slowly working through them.  I ordered an address stamper from Vistaprint for the return address, so at least that's going quickly haha.  I'm pretty sure I'll be printing the return address on the RSVP envelopes though.  All of the invitation mats are marked so I know where to mount the invites.  The panel pockets are also nearly all marked so I can mount the mats onto them.  I'll probably start actually gluing the mats to the pockets this weekend.  I haven't printed the invitations yet because a) our printer keeps freezing in the middle of the page every single time I try to print them and b) we want to wait until we have a caterer booked so we can put meal choices on the RSVPs.  Fun fun.  But at least I'm making progress and getting finished with what I can.

Last (but not least), we have confirmed centerpieces!  I don't have my wedding jump drive so I can't post the inspiration picture right now, but I'll post it when I get home from work tonight.  It's going to be 3 cylinder vases with floating candles, the tallest of which will have 1-2 submerged purple calla lilies.  We're going to put either marbles or sand on the bottom of the vases.  I ordered the flowers (30 real touch callas) from Save-On-Crafts yesterday, as well as 36 cylinder vases, 144 votive holders, 36 ivory floating candles, 72 ivory votives, and 72 light blue votives.  They should be here Monday already so I can make some mockups and make sure that the colour on the flowers isn't going to bleed.

149 days to go!  Ahhhh!!!

As of today, we are officially booked.  We can rest easily knowing that everything that needs to be booked, is.

We have flights to and from San Juan and ended up finding a great deal just by leaving through Newark instead of Philly.  We saved over $400 by doing that.

We have a rental car for our week in Puerto Rico, with unlimited mileage which will support our two days in Vieques.  We'll be driving to Fajardo and then taking the ferry to Vieques.  We got a Jeep- necessary for the craptastic (and super exciting) roads in Vieques.

We have our casita in Vieques, which I finally found pictures of and adore.  It's right on the Malecon and about a half a block from the beach.  Close to a lot of the places that have been recommended to us for eating.

We have our condo in San Juan.  We'll be staying in a privately owned condo right on the beach.  The back wall is entirely floor-to-ceiling windows that slide open and face the beach.

And finally, our cruise is booked.  It was the first thing we booked, so I'm glad everything else is finally worked out.  We got a discount because we booked Early Saver.  There was a sale for the Leap Year and I got our price reduced to the sale price.  I watch that site like a hawk.  We'll be staying in an ocean view cabin on the aft in a corner room, which includes an extra closet and more wiggle room than standard cabins.

It feels SO GOOD to know that everything is booked.  Now we just need to worry about excursions: biobay tour in Vieques, swimming with the sea turtles in Barbados, etc. etc. etc. but that's not nearly as pressing as booking a flight.  So yay, us!  We're officially going on a honeymoon!  165 days till paradise <3