Let’s Celebrate! (The Wedding Reception)

(In case you missed the wedding wrap-ups, here they are: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3)

Our main goal for our wedding and reception was that we wanted it to reflect us–we didn’t want the usual cookie-cutter events. That’s why I wrote the entire ceremony, we asked my brother-in-law to be the officiant (so he went online to get ordained), the dogs were our ring bearers, and almost everything was DIY. I didn’t want the usual arch for the “altar,” so I came up with the idea of the picket fence. I chose the music for the ceremony.

So for our reception, we wanted everyone to be able to enjoy themselves. We borrowed a couple of   games from my sister and a co-worker and set up a   area that was well-lit. I also borrowed a big coffee maker so we could have a hot chocolate and hot apple cider bar, which was placed next to our fire pit, which we brought for a s’mores bar. Yes, that’s right…we had a s’mores and hot chocolate/hot apple cider bar.

M chose a local BBQ joint to cater the dinner, which was delicious (yes, I actually did have a little bit of food). We had smoked turkey, pulled pork, beef brisket, macaroni & cheese, baked beans, salad, corn bread, and a bunch of veggies, etc. One of the groomsmen is a home beer brewer (he’s won quite a few contests), so their wedding gift to us was a craft beer bar–watermelon beer, cream beer, and a hibiscus wit. Plus we had some of our favorite beer (Yuengling) and non-alcoholic options.

My cake was made by one of my very good friends from college’s mom. Adrienne (who was one of my bridesmaids) and her mom have been very close to me since college. “Momma D” has always treated me like another daughter. She drove all the way from Massachusetts to bake our cake and cupcakes. We did it simple–red velvet cake with cream cheese filling (the fondant was white and I made a burlap with ribbon ribbon to be pinned around the bottom and my mom made a small bouquet to mimic my bouquet for the topper). The cupcakes were vanilla with buttercream icing, spice cake with cream cheese icing, and chocolate with bourbon buttercream icing. Momma D also made little flags to put on the cupcakes that said different things like “Mr. & Mrs.”, “Joy”, “I do”, and “M&M”.

My yummy cake and cupcakes made by Momma D. I decorated the cupcake stands and made the burlap ribbon for the cake to match the stands.

And for those wondering, when we cut the cake, I  let M feed me the cake first….he was a gentleman. Of course, I had to have some fun, and I fed the cake to him like a lady…then proceeded to smash it in his face (and into his eye…oops).

Our DJ was absolutely awesome–he was so helpful with me planning the wedding, reassuring me that everything will come together, etc. He worked with us in so many ways–I definitely recommend Mike Graves, if you’re in the Lexington area. The music was awesome and it was a lot of fun to see my cousins and their children dancing it up all night.

Not only did I get to dance with my husband and my dad, but also my pups. This was LaMesa taking a turn with mom.

All in all it was a great night–I wish I had had the time to talk more with friends. There were some that I hadn’t seen in years, or that I only get to see every so often. I didn’t even really get to drink much of our beer or enjoy our cupcakes, but I’m OK with that. I danced a lot with my new husband, laughed at friends’ antics on the dance floor, and just tried to take everything in. I danced with friends, danced with my dogs (who got to run around the place after dinner was packed up), and of course danced with my daddy.

I said earlier that my first dance with M was “God Gave Me You” by Blake Shelton. It was romantic (or at least as romantic as M and I can get) and it was nice to be able to catch up and chat a little about things and take it all in that we were indeed married now.

I danced with my dad to “My Wish” by Rascal Flatts, and it’s a time I won’t forget. I tried my hardest not to cry, and I think my dad was, too. After a while, he started asking me a series of questions about things to take both of our minds’ off the matter, which made me laugh. I had to dodge his cowboy hat if I wanted to put my head on his shoulder because he’s that much shorter than me now.

I absolutely loved seeing my parents dance during the Generation Dance and then enjoy their time together. When I saw this pic from my sister, I had tears in my eyes–I love them so much.

I didn’t want the night to end, but, alas, it did. We had great friends stay behind and help us pack up some stuff and clean up the major stuff before we headed to the hotel for the night. The next day we would finish packing up things and tearing everything down in preparation for the rental company to come back and get the tables, chairs, and tent.

All in all, while it was stressful putting together our own wedding, and the months leading up to the wedding was one full of frustration, tears, and concern, it was a very special day and one I hope to remember my entire lifetime. I just wish we could have afforded a videographer to help us remember, but I can’t wait to get all of the photos from the photographers.

I’m Married!!! Part 3

In case you missed it… Part 1 & Part 2

We arrived at the farm while the guys were finishing up their photos, so I had to hang out in my truck for a while until they were sure M couldn’t see me. Then it was our turn to strike a pose in front of the camera, and I was surprised at how much fun we had, even without doing the cheesy photos (I am not a fan of the whole bridal party jumping up–sorry). I was nervous leading as we headed back to my truck to wait for guests to arrive. My bridesmaids hung out around the truck, making sure I was calm and staying warm.

Then it was time.

I heard my music begin for the mothers to walk down the aisle–my brother-in-law (who was also our officiant) was walking my mom down while M walked his mom down to meet his groomsmen. I had a lot of fun (but also was pretty stressed) choosing all the music for the ceremony. You see, this was truly a “do-it-yourself” wedding because I wrote the entire ceremony (minus M’s vows, but including the prayer his grandfather said) and chose all the music for our non-traditional wedding. For the mothers’ walk I chose the Vitamin String Quartet’s version of “Just The Way You Are” by Bruno Mars. Then I had my bridesmaids walk down to another string version of Train’s “Marry Me“, and our recessional was the Vitamin String Quartet’s version of “Viva La Vida“.

The song I walked down the aisle with my father was Brad Paisley’s “Then.” Matt has always said that was “our song”, but when it came time to choose songs for the ceremony and our first dance, we had to choose between that and “God Gave Me You” by Blake Shelton. M and I have gone through a lot this year, particularly the past few months (hence my absence for a while), and I felt that Blake Shelton’s song hit me hard for the first dance, while “Then” was perfect for a walk down the aisle.

Walking down the aisle with my dad was so surreal–I never even dreamed about my wedding growing up.

My heart was in my throat as I walked towards my dad, who was waiting for me a good ways away–I totally missed Adrienne’s trip (and almost fall) while she was walking. When the first chords of our song started to play, I immediately started tearing up–this was really, truly happening! I told dad to take our time walking down the aisle–I wanted to soak in the moment (not to mention I wanted a good part of this wonderful song to be played). True to my dad’s form, he started trying to make me laugh as I was fighting back the tears (so that’s where I get it from), and I know he was trying to fight back his tears as well. It helped to have our dogs waiting at the back row–they always make me smile. I’d look up at M and see him wiping away tears, which immediately made me have to wipe away mine. He’d take a deep breath, and so would I. The moment was surreal.

The girls were standing at attention watching and waiting for mom to walk down the aisle. Soon it would be their turn.

The rest of the ceremony was everything I expected it to be–Jerry did a great job as our officiant and it meant a lot to have M’s grandfather do the prayer. M had me say my vows first, which was hard because I was shaking from the cold (and maybe the nerves) so much. My vows were serious, for the most part, and his were light-hearted to make us laugh–as should have been expected. And when Jerry asked, “May I have the rings, please?” The “dog wrangler” released Dally and LaMesa, and they ran down the aisle “carrying the rings” (the real rings were in the best man’s pocket). The only negative part of the ceremony was actually a highlight in most people’s eye–Dally put her “stamp of approval” by going behind the officiant and pooping, drawing everyone’s attention as she started kicking up the leaves. Everyone had a good chuckle about it.

Listening to M’s personally-written vows…

Then the big moment of our kiss, which we had joked about what we were going to do the days leading up to the wedding, but let me tell you…it was one awesome kiss and I didn’t feel the least bit concerned about having an audience! My brother-in-law had us turn around and he pronounced us Mr. and Mrs.! Yay! We walked down the aisle with huge grins and the two pups followed along, streaking behind us.

I admit it, I asked M if the hand he offered me for his ring was the correct hand–I totally blanked on “left” and “right”! LOL

After everyone was excused, we took more photos with family and the bridal party, then we got to walk around the farm on our own for some photos. (I’ll post some sneak peek photos from the photographer on a later post.) I just couldn’t wait until we were ready to join everyone for the big party…err, I mean reception…

(Special thanks to my friends Jodi and Camille for these photos)

I’m Married!!! Part 2

Part 1

Saturday morning (Oct. 6) I woke up 10 minutes before my alarm and instantly looked at my weather app and the radar–clear skies and cool temperatures!! I was so relieved! Sure it was going to be a chilly evening, but I was OK with that!

I packed up my last-minute items (including my dress) and the pups (oh you knew they were going to be in the wedding, come on now!) into my truck (and you knew I’d be driving my truck to my wedding) and drove the 30 minutes up to Georgetown to the hotel my family was staying. I dropped Dally and LaMesa at my parents’ room and picked up my mom, sister, and bridesmaids for breakfast. After a longer-than-planned, but very filling, breakfast, we swung by Starbucks for some warm drinks and headed to the farm to start setting up. The plan was for the girls to get some things started–set the first few chairs up for the ceremony so the guys know how we want them, set up the tables and do the decorations how I wanted them, and finalize any other things we didn’t do the previous night. Then the boys would show up while we were getting our hair and make-up done and finish everything up.

My groom sent me this photo to make sure the ceremony site was set up the way I wanted it (that’s one of his groomsmen in the middle). Perfect!

The setup was a breeze with all my helpful ladies–my bridesmaids did not disappoint when it came to support! Even my friend from college’s mom chipped in before she had her own big project to complete. See, Adrienne’s mom, whom I call “Momma D”, drove all the way from Massachusetts to Kentucky to bake my wedding cake and cupcakes! (How awesome is that!?)

Anyway, we completed our parts on the farm, then headed back to the hotel to start getting ready and, hopefully, relax. I had a friend from volleyball who is a hair stylist come do my and my sister’s hair, while Adrienne had a friend do hers. Mollie and I had a couple of sessions with my hair, trying to find out exactly what type of curl would hold, etc. I found my hair inspiration from Pinterest and a few hair pins with crystals on the end–no veil (unfortunately I don’t have a photo of the back of my hair right now, but definitely will as I get more wedding photos).

Bridesmaid Adrienne doubled as the make-up artist for me!

We were pretty relaxed while getting ready. I think part of it had to do with Merinda picking up a couple of bottles of Moscato wine!

I did my best to just take in the whole day and the laughter with my friends. On top of my bridesmaids being in the room, my friend from work came to take photos of us getting ready, and another friend from college (whom I hadn’t seen in quite some time) drove in from a horse show to get ready with us. I don’t think it really hit me that I was getting married that day until I went into the bathroom after putting on my dress, cowboy boots, necklace that my mom made me, and had my makeup done. I looked in the mirror and literally my first thought was: “Holy sh*t, I’m getting married today.” I seriously said that out loud.

Putting the final piece to the puzzle: My sister (MOH) helped me with my necklace. My mom made the necklace for my wedding day with an antique broach purchased from a friend’s shop and multiple colors/sizes of pearls. I love it!

After Merinda had walked the pups (who were also all dressed up for the occasion), we all piled into our different cars (my sister and I rode in my truck with Adrienne) and headed to the farm for the big night!

 

I’m Married!!! Part 1

Life has calmed down immensely for me, which means I can get back to blogging hopefully more regularly than I have been lately. Part of that craziness that has been my life lately has been planning my wedding. Well, October 6 came and M and I are now husband and wife!!

The week leading up to the wedding was uber stressful for me. The forecast was calling for 60% chance of rain and cold temperatures. Our wedding and reception was outside, but we had a tent for the reception, but I was still concerned about the logistics of parking, myself getting rained on, etc. But as the days continued, the chances for rain got smaller and smaller. When I woke up Saturday morning of my wedding, the first thing I did was check the radar–not a single rain cell in sight! Of course it was still chilly (lower 60s), but people could dress warmly, so I wasn’t too concerned about that.

M did his best to liven the mood when we were stressed a couple days before the wedding.

Friday was the big day of setup. M and I were very lucky to have a great core group of friends and family who showed up to help with the tent and table setup. The boys and my dad hung the lights and we tentatively set up the tables to see how we wanted everything laid out. Then we headed back to the host hotel to scarf down some “country cookin’” of Cracker Barrel at our rehearsal dinner. (The comfort food of chicken and dumplins, mac and cheese, biscuits, etc., was perfect to help soothe my nerves.)

Then it was time to say goodbye to my fiance for the last time–he was staying at the hotel and I was driving back, with the pups, to sleep at our house. I went home to finish up some last minute things: a memorial for M’s best friend who was killed in action in Afganistan, putting the homemade “Peanut Butter Puppers” I baked for our favors (we are dog people and knew most of our guests have dogs), gathering my overnight bag, etc. It was hard to wind down to go to sleep at a decent hour, so I moved to the bedroom with the last of the thank you cards to write in bed in hopes I’d fall asleep.

I just knew I wanted to be able to take in everything about my wedding day–I had so many tell me their wedding day went by so quickly and to enjoy it…

The initial setup of the ceremony site (this was actually on Saturday morning, but just a tease of the setup).

Wedding Planning Update: Less Than 4 Months!

With there being less than four months to go until the Big Day, I realize there hasn’t been much of an update about how things are going:

My sister’s MOH dress (don’t mind her silly face, she wasn’t aware I was taking her photo…oops!), only this will be in an apple red.

I finally was able to go with my sister (Matron of Honor) to look at bridesmaid dresses. She was concerned that she wouldn’t look good in the dresses that my other two bridesmaids picked out, but I wanted her to give it a try anyway. We chose a few long dresses, as well, for her to try on for a look more in her comfort and style. I have to say, it was a lot of fun trying on dresses with her because it was almost a mini-celebration of her weight loss journey herself. See, she and her husband started on a health journey January 2011 to eat better and get more active. After a year, Jerry had lost at least 100 pounds and Erin had lost at least 40 or so. They celebrated the first year of their journey by completing a 5K together—I was so proud of them and wished I could have come home that weekend!

Anyway, I digress…so now with her weight loss of 45+ pounds, I think she was enjoying discovering her new body. We ended up trying on a dress that is very similar to the bridesmaids’, but longer.

Heritage Horse Farm–location of our wedding

In May my parents came into town and we took them up to my friend’s farm where we’re having the wedding and introduced them to Chad. We walked around the property and discussed where we could set up the reception tent, have everyone park, and where to hold the ceremony. I constantly worry that this will be more of a pain for Chad and his wife, since they are also running a boarding barn on their property. I worry that having a tent constructed on Friday, a big shindig on Saturday, and then the tent deconstruction on Sunday might disrupt too much and spook the horses.

We also took Matt’s mom there to see the place and get her approval. She seemed to really like the place, which was reassuring.

I’m meeting with a friend who is also a graphic artist to design our invitations this week. I had met with a printer my dad has used for 30+ years back home, but I didn’t feel like I would be able to show our individual personality with their offerings. I was excited to see Camille’s design she did for her daughter’s wedding because it was simple and no fuss—exactly how I want our wedding to be. I’m looking at some places that can print exactly what I want and how I want around Lexington. I’m lucky to work in the publishing industry and have a few tips of places to try.

Once I get the invitations ordered, my next goal will be to tackle a list of what I need to do myself—spray paint the centerpieces, order burlap, and start figuring out the table runners, etc. I’m also looking at where to order a photo guestbook–we don’t want the usual boring book that won’t ever been seen again. Dad, meanwhile, has the list of what stuff we need from the rental company and will be calling them to reserve the tent, chairs, and tables.

I hope I’m on the right track…

Related articles

• Saying Yes to the Bridesmaid Dress (planetmarsz.wordpress.com)

Wedding Planning Update: We Will Have Music!

After a relaxing Sunday (still recovering from my 12 mile run on Saturday), M and I met with a potential DJ for our wedding at a nearby Starbucks. I went into the meeting unsure of what to expect. I knew the guy had a lot of experience (he’s a radio DJ and has more than 25 years of experience DJing weddings), but I was worried about his price.

We’re working with a very limited budget and relying on a lot of help when it comes to DIY projects and such to make-up for what we can’t afford to hire out. But I know a DJ is one place where we didn’t want to have to worry about skimping on because we know that a DJ can make or break a wedding reception. And since I don’t have anyone acting as a wedding coordinator or bridal consultant, I would rather have someone who knows how things are supposed to run to alleviate my stress the day-of (let’s face it…I’ll still be stressed until the whole darn thing is over).

The meeting went very well–he seemed really at ease with us and M really liked him. The guy was funny and said he was very flexible with genres of music, etc. He could even help us out during the reception with music, which was another big concern of mine. Plus, he was willing to bring down his price to work with us–SOLD! We shook hands and are expecting the contract in the mail soon.

We had a goal of hiring a DJ by the end of April and we made that deadline by one week–good for us! So that’s one more thing to cross off of our to-do list, which helps me relax a little more going into this crazy week I have. (More on that later.)

Now it’s time to focus on the “little things”: wedding invites, settling on the bridesmaid dresses (got to get my sister to a David’s Bridal to try on the girls’ choice!), choosing the men’s outfits (M believes he should be able to wear jeans and a shirt….nope! Sorry buddy!), and the music homework Mike gave us (decide what songs we’d like played for certain things, list favorite genres and perhaps specific songs we want played during the reception, etc.). This kind-of stuff can hopefully be squeezed in a little bit at a time here and there, as my (jam-packed) schedule allows it. And M’s been kicked into high gear to plan our honeymoon, so I hopefully won’t have to worry about that for very much longer.

So…I think we’re doing alright…right?

Wedding Planning: 6 Months To Go

Wedding planning isn't all hearts and candy...

Brides-to-be are used to getting emails from TheKnot.com and other wedding planning websites counting down how many days or months are left until the big W-day. Some may relish each email, but for me, I dread them…a lot.

Friday was the 6-month mark for our wedding…talk about nerves!! We haven’t been the most proactive when it comes to planning our wedding because it just brings up concerns about money, which can often lead to some unhappy times in the house. Money = Stress That’s the way life is for many people. If we don’t talk money, we can’t argue…right?

So what did we have for the wedding at the 6-month mark? The location, photographer, bridal party, and my dress… Nothing else has been set in stone. Not good.

Luckily we were driving up to my parents’ this weekend for the Easter holiday, and just to be with family after the loss of my grandmother (she died March 28, before I left for Reno). Saturday M and I sat down with my mom and dad to talk about what we were going to rent for the ceremony/reception. I had put my dad in charge of talking with rental companies because he rented a tent, etc., for my sister’s wedding and has an idea about measurements, etc. So we sat down and started crunching numbers…we decided on the tent size, what size tables we needed for what, and then whatever else we needed to rent.

M and I had taken a trip to Sam’s Club a while ago and looked at some things that we could purchase there, rather than rent or purchase elsewhere, like using plastic table covers instead of buying linen tablecloths, etc. Our day is going to be laid back and on a farm–we don’t need to be extremely fancy with cotton tablecloths when plastic works just as well, and we’ll have decorations to make the tables look nicely.

While we were doing this, I was working on the guest list and trying to add whatever addresses I didn’t have already from my parents’ side. My parents had asked me to add a couple more family friends to the list, which started worry me about the guest list size. Originally we had hoped to keep the numbers close to 100, and we were at 130. However, my mom explained that the majority of their friends wouldn’t come to an out-of-state wedding, but they’d be upset if they didn’t receive an invitation. So I sat down and put notes by each of those so I could relax a little about the numbers. I know they say that usually 30% of those you invite don’t come, but we had whittled down our list to those we were 80% sure would come.

At M’s grandparents’ Easter dinner, he asked for addresses of family so we could try to finish up the guest list. I think the list is pretty much set, with a few question marks here and there that I’m sure I have a month or two before we have to finalize the list…right? We just need the list 90% set so we have the number for a caterer, table/chair count, etc.

Also at Easter brunch with my family, we asked my brother-in-law to be the officiant for our wedding. We don’t belong to a church in the Lexington area, and we don’t have any other connections for someone to marry us. We could go the route of using a Justice of the Peace or pay almost $300 for a minister from a local church. Either way, that person would be a stranger, and neither of us wanted to have a stranger marry us–it’s not very personal. I love my BIL and he’s been a big part of my family since he and my sister met. He’s also been close with M, giving him advice and hanging out. We wanted my BIL to be a part of our day in some special way, and as our officiant seemed like a perfect fit. Of course he’s already nervous about it, but promised he’d look into it. I figure we can craft together the ceremony in advance so he has time to practice everything and become a little more comfortable with it.

So, now we have an officiant, a guest list, and a better idea about the rental situation. Not bad for a 48-hour turnaround, huh?

The Decision: Who’s In Your Bridal Party?

One of the toughest things I’ve had to do so far for wedding planning has been deciding who was in my bridal party. I put a lot of pressure on myself to choose the right people, but then I worried about if I made the right decision or not (and I still do, quite honestly).

The latest wedding I've been in (second from the right), which was pretty fun.

For me, I worry a lot about my friends and their feelings. I always have. I’ve never been one to have a core group of friends that’s followed me throughout my life. Instead I have multiple circles of friends–some who have been around a couple of years and some that are newer, some that are involved with dog agility and some involved in horses, etc. I’ve had very close friends for a couple of years that have slid back to someone you occasionally chat with about random things–I blame this on how much I’ve moved around and the different directions my life has taken me in the past ten years or so.

Plus, I’ve been in so many weddings–there was no way I could follow the rule of “If you were in her wedding, you have to invite her to be in yours…” (Does anyone really follow that rule?) It’s not that I’m not grateful for being in their wedding–it was a great experience and I was privileged to be such an important part of their big day–but I just couldn’t do it.

My best friend from high school's wedding, which I was proud to be MOH in 2007 (to the right of bride).

We want to have a small wedding–large bridal parties and small weddings just don’t work well. Plus, I knew that Matt would have a problem getting enough groomsmen to even out the numbers because most of his close friends are spread out all over the country, with families, which makes it hard to get them to Lexington without it being too expensive for them. So that was my saving grace to have just a couple of girls in my party. But then the hard part came to choose those two girls (my sister as matron-of-honor was a no-brainer), and this is where I stressed, and maybe had some tears, the most (so far…).

Basically what it boiled down for me was who has shown the most support and the most excitement for my engagement, because that’s going to be the person who will continue to have a lot of excitement (you hope) throughout the wedding process. My friend AD, that I’ve known for 11 years now, has been the most excited about the wedding–pushing me to look at dresses and sharing her fashionable sense with me as I chose dresses or talked colors (I have no fashion sense…).

Another wedding in 2008 (far left), but I unfortunately don't talk with the bride any more.

Then I chose my friend M from agility because she has been such a supportive friend with everything–my relationship with Matt, helping me train the dogs, etc. Plus, she’s always a pleasure to be around and we always laugh about something. (It doesn’t hurt that she’s a big crafts person, too, so that should come in handy with all the DIY stuff we have going on for the wedding.)

Did I leave out some people that I would have loved to be in the wedding? Of course! There were friends that I had been very close to, but for some reason or another, some distance has gotten between us. Other friends I knew had too much on their plate already with school and their families, that I felt selfish to ask them to give up some of their precious free time to help me with the wedding. There are friends that live farther than two hours away that I knew I’d have a blast having in my bridal party, but I also knew it was hard to be part of something so far away.

So I made the decision I made, and I’m happy with my choice. Sure, in the back of my mind I’m going to worry about if I’ve hurt anyone’s feelings all the way up until the wedding and beyond. But I know the girls that are going to be standing by me at the altar will have my back for years to come, and I hope they know the same is true for me.

Related articles

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Wedding Planning: Start then Stop, Start then Stop

I had an incredibly relaxing weekend this past weekend. It was colder than what we’re used to (it’s been a rather mild winter this year so far, anyone else?), so we spent the majority of the weekend inside. I have to say it was pretty refreshing to not have to do much, which is very rare for me.

So a good part of Sunday, for me, was spent watching my “girly shows” that include “Say Yes to the Dress” and “My Fair Wedding.” I never watched these shows until I got engaged–true story! Now, I can sit and watch episode after episode. Anyone else feel the same? But I can’t help but wonder if I’ll continue to watch these types of shows after my wedding day? Who knows, but until then, I’ll accept this as one of my guilty pleasures.

So when you watch “My Fair Wedding,” you see David Tutera help overwhelmed brides and bringing them the wedding of their dreams. Of course, you know they go from DIY budgets of maybe $10,000 to a crazy budget of who knows how much (my guess–$100,000) of gifted dresses, catering, decorations, venues, etc. (Of course, as my dad always says, “I can’t wait to see the taxes they’ll have to pay on those “gifts.”)

It leaves me thinking about my own wedding planning. Now, granted, I haven’t done that much–which upsets me and I start to feel more overwhelmed than anyone will ever know. I think the reason why I haven’t really done much planning is because I don’t really know where to start. I know it’s important to get the vendors scheduled, and we’re slowly working on that (I do have a photographer now, remember?), but there has to be more, right?

I’m trying to get my bridesmaids organized, but it’s hard when my sister (matron-of-honor) has such a tough schedule working third-shift (9pm-6am) as a 911 dispatcher five nights a week and then works as a reserve K9 officer for the local police department one day a week. That leaves her with one day to relax and get things done that she can’t get done in the few hours before her shift throughout the week. So, it’s hard to try to organize a day (or weekend) to get everyone together to try on dresses and just hang out. So that worries/stresses me some already.

I’m trying to figure out the decor for the reception, but it’s been hard to know how much is enough or too much. I had thought I’d be able to purchase my linens from a friend’s daughter who was married last year, complete with the burlap runners I have been talking up for a while, but I found out last week she sold everything already. So, I’m out of luck with those and now I need to decide if I should purchase linens or rent them? Also, now I need to find bulk burlap and see if I can talk someone into helping me make table runners with it.

Then there’s the thought of…what else can I do with burlap? I found a tutorial for burlap flowers that I thought about using for my bouquet, but I’ve since changed my mind. Maybe make small burlap bags for the favors (homemade chocolate chip cookies from my mom and homemade brownies made by Matt’s mom–our two favorite treats)? Use burlap as “ribbons” to intertwine around for decoration? Anyone have any other ideas?

I had found some very cute, very me wrought iron candle votive holders with Texas stars at Tractor Supply Company before Christmas and I thought keeping an eye on them for after Christmas sales would work. Well, I was wrong. They were all gone when I went to try to purchase them. I had thought to use those as candle centerpieces, so now I’m back to square one with that as well.

So, it seems like right when I feel like we’re getting things rolling with the wedding planning, it stops. Then we start talking more about it…then it stops. It’s a frustrating and overwhelming for me, which doesn’t make it fun.

I wish I could afford a wedding planner…or that David Tutera would stray from his California weddings and come to Lexington to do mine. What do ya say, David??

Is A Wedding Too Much?

So it’s not unusual for couples who are planning their weddings to utter the words, “Why don’t we just elope?” True, the stress of planning is not what you dream about when your dream wedding is on your mind. (If you were that type of girl growing up. I can honestly say that I never dream about, nor pretended, my wedding when I was growing up. I never thought about my wedding until Matt put that ring on my finger.)

Well…is it sad that Matt and I are already at that point? Well, I’m not but Matt is. This weekend, while at an agility trial in Nashville, some friends were trying to talk me into just eloping, or just getting married while I’m in Reno for the AKC National Agility Championships. Now granted, I know they were just giving me a hard time, but still, it gets you thinking: “Is it really asking too much to celebrate the start of your marriage with family and friends in a ceremony and reception?”

I can understand why some people go on and make the occasion about them–I had some friends get married in Mexico because she knew it would be too crazy to try to get her divorced parents and family together for the occasion. There’s nothing wrong with that in the slightest. But it’s not me.

I’m not the kind of girl who is always looking for the spotlight and to be the center of attention. And while I never did dream about my wedding, I am now. OK, ok, so maybe the dreams are more like minor nightmares, but it does show that I’m at least a little excited about the upcoming wedding, right?

And it’s not like I’m asking to spend thousands of dollars on the event. I’m all for doing as many DIY projects as needed and calling in as many favors as needed. I’m not asking to have a bling-tastic wedding band or a five-star band to play at the reception. I’m all good with a DJ that is at least a decent MC and I’m OK with just using my engagement ring as the ring for now (until we can afford a band that will actually match up with my ring).

I just want a day that I can feel beautiful, have all of my family and friends together in one place, and have a big party and celebrate the start of the rest of my life with Matt. Is a wedding too much to ask to accomplish these needs?