Our Wedding by the Sea

I don't know how much I've posted here about my god-awful DJ search, but I believe it might finally have come to an end.

I have been contacting DJ's left and right.  Making appointments, rescheduling, dealing with sketchy or unprofessional people who just don't work for me.  It's been terrible and stressful.

All I want to do is stinkin dance!

So I'm browsing the South Jersey board on TK, basically reading every single thread about DJ recommendations.  Contact a few and finally strike gold.

This guy is solid.  I mean it.  He really knows what he's doing.  Wanna know how I know?  He sent me samples of his mixes/blends.  He provided a voice demo so I could hear him announce a bridal party.  He made me feel 100% confident about his skill/knowledge as a DJ on the phone tonight.

Am I booking him?  Probably.  I can't make that decision without Fi, and he won't be home from work until around 9:00 tonight.  But I can tell you that I feel SO much better to know that this guy exists, and that not all DJs are creeps!

Also, on an unrelated note...

My wedding dress & veil are in!!  I can't wait to go pick them up and put them back on again!!

I'm currently at the tail-end of a homework marathon, but this wedding nightmare from last night keeps popping up in my head.

I was at my wedding, which for some reason I let my mother plan.  Not that I don't love her, I'm just an OCD control freak and I'd never let her (or anyone for that matter) have complete reign over my wedding.  Anyway, all the stuff I've already done was in the dream, so it's like I just handed over control from now, forward.  I had my dress (but for some reason, my veil was missing- I mentioned it in my dream, but someone said I'd lost it).  My mum changed our venue to one that doesn't really exist but that I could walk to in my dream from my house.  It was actually really pretty- outside and in a garden- but not at all what I wanted for my wedding.

Everyone was late, but that was okay because I was too (which in reality, I'm always early to everything).  People were sitting on benches, watching me get ready outside.  It was so weird and I was so embarrassed.

Finally I started walking down the aisle and searched for Chris, who wasn't at the other end.  I have been looking forward to walking down the aisle for months.  I can't wait to see him waiting there for me.  In my dream, I walked to the end of the aisle, and then he walked down the aisle and met me there.

Someone had decided that instead of just flowers, we should have flowers AND balloons.  Colourful ones.  My bouquet was a combination of carnations in a lot of different colours and calla lilies (which were also multi-coloured) and balloons with helium in them so they floated above the bouquet and kept hitting me in the face.  Chris even held some flowers and a balloon-we basket.  I actually laughed and threw it on the ground when he met me at the end of the aisle, because I hated it.

Afterward, we just went home.  There was no reception or celebration of any kind.  We climbed into the back of a minivan with my mom-mom, who smokes and was chain smoking on our way home.  I just kept thinking about how bad my dress was going to smell, and then I woke up.

I'm so tired of wedding nightmares, and they've only just begun.  At this point, I just want this thing to be planned so I can enjoy my honeymoon!!

Today my mum told me she and my step-dad were going to pay for everything I bought at David's the other night.  That means they are covering not only my dress, but my slip, "long bra," veil, and dress preservation box/service.  I am so beyond thrilled and over-the-top thankful.  Now I just need to pay for alterations, and I am so happy to be saving the money.

This week I received my cake topper, garter, and garter charms.  I also bought totes for my bridesmaids that were on clearance at Target for $4.24 (marked down from $16.99- sweet), as well as beach-themed potpourri for the bathrooms.  I know, that's a kind of pointless purchase, but it'll be a nice touch I think.

I am going absolutely crazy with DJ shopping.  My top three priorities for our wedding are as follows:

1. It's at the beach (check!)
2. We have a fantastic photographer (check check!)
3. That we & our guests dance all night long

That last one seems to be the one I'm having the most problem with.  Every DJ I have contacted is either above our price range or leaves me feeling uncomfortable or with a bad taste in my mouth.  I am feeling so- blah.  I just want the major vendors to be booked so I can relax!  This is making me crazy.

My co-worker, Carrie, recommended her DJ from her wedding in April and I contacted him yesterday.  He has been amazing so far and so communicative.  He's from a town very close to mine, but his in-laws live in Stone Harbor so he said there would be no travel fee for him to do our wedding (yay!).

I just hope we can stinkin' afford him.  We were at Chris' mom's 50th birthday party last night and they had a DJ that everyone kept saying we should book.  He wasn't that impressive though, and almost everyone at the party was 50 or over, and the music was definitely their style... NOT mine.  So we nodded politely and said, "maybe..." but won't be looking into that one.  However, it did get Chris and I talking about how we were willing to adjust the budget and do without some things so we can maybe spend some more money on our DJ.  Ahhh!  I just want this part over with so I can have fun with little details!!

Oh- another interesting part of the party last night is that Lailah, Chris' cousin- was there.  She is about 7 or 8 years old and was sending us major signs that she wants to be our flower girl.  She kept asking about the wedding.  She kept staring at me, pointing at her dress, and walking away.  She wore a white dress.  Her mother told me she wore a white dress because she knows that's what colour flower girls wear.  How am I supposed to tell her/them that we aren't having kids at our wedding??  Now I feel bad, but I am NOT budging on that one...

My mum and I went to David's Bridal tonight and I found "the one!"  I cried and everything.  Actually, she cried too... and so did my consultant!  It is everything I wanted.  Classic yet modern, fun and romantic.  I love love love it.  Here's a picture- it does NOT do it justice!!  Please ignore my funny face!!

I ordered my veil, too, but for some reason Weebly won't let me upload any more pictures right now?  So for now you just have to imagine its scalloped edges and beaded flower detailing.  It's fingertip length and I just love the whole thing.

So I just ordered some of the little details online, and wanted to share because I think the little details are probably the most fun part of wedding planning so far.

Last night, we hit a deer.  We were on our way to meet Kyle & Veronica at the gym.  It was dark, but it was also a pretty busy highway with cars going in both directions.  It was so sudden and unexpected.  I mean, we grew up in this area and are well aware of the deer & the potential of hitting them.  But it just came completely out of nowhere.  Chris & I are talking, I see a flash of a deer, and BAM! the car stops dead and air bags are inflating.  I'm not gonna lie- I screamed.  I was so freaking scared.  We are both okay, but I can't say the same for the deer- whose blood and feces are smeared all over Chris' dash board and windshield :(  The car even has only minor damage, which his insurance will cover (after he meets his $500 deductible of course).  He is so lucky that he just changed his coverage, too- his old provider had a $1,000 deductible and no rental plan.  Now rental is included and he only needs to come up with $500.  So, while it was very scary and still kind of has my nerves all twisted up, it is nice to be alive :)

On other news, I ordered my save the dates 2 nights ago.  We are going with post cards from VP (they were free to order- I paid shipping only).  I'm still not sure how I want to send them.  I could send them as post cards, or I could put them in an envelope and send them that way.  Post cards are cheaper to ship, but we run the risk of our cards getting messed up pretty badly in the mail.  On the flip side, envelopes would be an extra cost (but not shipping, since we have 100 forever stamps that didn't cost us anything) and our STD's would arrive in better shape.  And we could include a return address easier that way, which is a plus since we recently moved and most of our guests don't have our new address yet.  Oh the decisions :p

Another decision we're currently trying to make is the male attire for our wedding.  We originally were planning to keep it simple (linen pants & a button down shirt), but now we're thinking we might want suits.  We were at Kyle's house the other day and Kyle had a tux/suit booklet thing from the place Veronica bought her gown, and Chris was looking at it.  I think he's leaning toward sand-coloured suits with light blue ties.  I really don't care what Fi decides.  It's entirely up to him and I'll be happy either way.  However, I'm kind of excited that he wants to wear a suit.  Everyone was telling me that I couldn't get this dress or that dress because I shouldn't be a lot more dressier than the groom.  So if he goes with a suit, then I can tell everyone to shove it and get what I want, haha.

Hm.  What else?  Oh yeah.  I was supposed to go dress shopping again tonight, but I rescheduled for next Wednesday.  We had back to school night at work tonight from 6:15 to 7:00, but then I was told I didn't need to be there.  So that was kind of lame :(  But I had more time to clean and stuff tonight, so it worked out.

And finally (most importantly, too!): MORGAN IS COMING TOMORROW!!!  I am so ridiculously excited.  She's never been anywhere near this area.  She's Georgia born and bred and she has NO idea what she's getting herself into.  I am taking her to NYC on Saturday (and- it's a surprise- but we're going to take her to see Wicked on broadway-- SO excited for that, too!)  I cannot wait to see her!  The last time I saw her was on her wedding day and we have so much to catch up on.  Ahhhh!!

There are definitely some keepers!  Now I just have to figure out which ones I want to use on our STD's!!  Ahhhh!!

Click here to see my favorites :)