I've neglected this blog terribly, but I have a happy reason: I've just moved in with my fiancé! All the packing, moving, labeling and hauling take up an awful lot of time & energy.
I'll admit, it's quite an adjustment for me. I'm used to having my own space & my own stuff. After all, I've been on my own for almost half my life! My fiancé has been married before and is much more relaxed about the transition.
In addition, we now have four cats. FH has three, and I have one little cat. They are adjusting MUCH better than we thought they would. My cat, despite being a scaredy cat her entire life, is excited and very interested in her new brothers & sister. She wants to play with them! FH's cats aren't quite there yet.
But the hardest lesson for me was totally unexpected. In the process of packing & moving, I've aggravated a back injury. Over the past year I've had some increasing back pain & general weakness. I always shrugged it off, but the pain has made it impossible.
I'm not totally incapacitated, but moving, bending, lifting & unpacking are totally out of the question for me, for at least another few weeks. Not to mention I feel like I've been hit by a car... AGAIN. This means my poor FH is doing ALL the work. Normally, I'm the type to have everything unpacked into a new place within days. Not this time! I'm forced to be patient, because there's no way I can rearrange anything now.
I'm forced to depend on my fiancé for so many things I would prefer to do by myself, and he's been wonderful about it. My doctor says I should be grateful for not having to do too much... apparently it's usually the other way around, right? But suddenly when I'm forced to quit doing stuff, it's not nearly as much fun as it should be.
I'm inclined to believe this is an early lesson on give & take in a marriage. I just wish it came with less pain!
Friday, July 17, 2009
Ta-da! We have a venue! We now have an *official* wedding date!
We've been engaged for several months now, and it's so nice to feel like we've done something. Now, it's time for me to get started on... everything else. Oh, no...
Well, that didn't last long, did it? But it's great to finally have a place in mind and start creating a vision for the wedding.
We didn't go with the "loft" place, but we did end up with a place that wasn't a "typical Ballroom," either. It's got some traditional elements but has a modern sort of decor, and the room is beautiful - full of windows for lots of light.
Also, the price was excellent! I was starting to panic at the idea of having to provide all the extra decor and supplies for the loft wedding. We'd even have to buy napkins & silverware (cheaper than renting), and the idea of buying/renting things and then having to worry about setting everything up... no, thank you. I feel very peaceful about our choice!
We've been engaged for several months now, and it's so nice to feel like we've done something. Now, it's time for me to get started on... everything else. Oh, no...
Well, that didn't last long, did it? But it's great to finally have a place in mind and start creating a vision for the wedding.
We didn't go with the "loft" place, but we did end up with a place that wasn't a "typical Ballroom," either. It's got some traditional elements but has a modern sort of decor, and the room is beautiful - full of windows for lots of light.
Also, the price was excellent! I was starting to panic at the idea of having to provide all the extra decor and supplies for the loft wedding. We'd even have to buy napkins & silverware (cheaper than renting), and the idea of buying/renting things and then having to worry about setting everything up... no, thank you. I feel very peaceful about our choice!
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Friday, July 10, 2009
An uncomfortable issue, for sure, but one worth talking about: wedding insurance.
The quickest way to get me to have a panic attack is to show me the wedding budget, and compare it to what's actually in our accounts. Sure, we have plans to save up (a whole schedule, in fact), and we aren't going into debt for our wedding (hooray!), and we have it all planned out. But you know what they say - God laughs when you make plans!
So, now that we're about to put down some hefty deposits (therefore committing to pay large amounts), we hope God is not laughing too hard. I'm thinking about wedding insurance.
I first found the idea from our interest in the loft/standalone venues, which require liability insurance. But I started looking into cancelation/postponement insurance. I've heard so many horror stories -- family tragedies, injuries, accidents, freak tornadoes, job losses, etc... I just hate thinking about it! And on top of that, people are forced to cancel and lose their money?! Most of the time in these situations, it's up to the sympathy of the vendor whether you get your money back or can use it towards a postponement. I thought it would be worth it to buy a little peace of mind.
Photo by Marie Labbancz.
The quickest way to get me to have a panic attack is to show me the wedding budget, and compare it to what's actually in our accounts. Sure, we have plans to save up (a whole schedule, in fact), and we aren't going into debt for our wedding (hooray!), and we have it all planned out. But you know what they say - God laughs when you make plans!So, now that we're about to put down some hefty deposits (therefore committing to pay large amounts), we hope God is not laughing too hard. I'm thinking about wedding insurance.
I first found the idea from our interest in the loft/standalone venues, which require liability insurance. But I started looking into cancelation/postponement insurance. I've heard so many horror stories -- family tragedies, injuries, accidents, freak tornadoes, job losses, etc... I just hate thinking about it! And on top of that, people are forced to cancel and lose their money?! Most of the time in these situations, it's up to the sympathy of the vendor whether you get your money back or can use it towards a postponement. I thought it would be worth it to buy a little peace of mind.
Photo by Marie Labbancz.
comments: 0
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
My fiancé thinks it's funny how, every time I see a well done wedding video, I want to burst into tears! I've gotten a little tired of the usual wedding inspiration (too many outdoor weddings! When will the wedding blogs start featuring something else??) and wanted to watch some videos. These are great for putting things into perspective and focusing on what's really important -- the emotion of the day! And yes, I cry every time I see these! Here are some favorites from Still Motion.
link + ngoc's sde // san jose california from StillMotion on Vimeo.
Lisa + Jeff's SDE from StillMotion on Vimeo.
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Monday, July 6, 2009
My fiancé sweetly pointed out that our "one-year" date is coming up pretty soon! I am *so lucky* to have a guy who's so unabashedly excited that we're going to get married. And I'm thrilled, too! But oh, wow... a year! I've already been engaged for six months. What have I done?
We've created our:
- budget,
- guest list,
- wedding website,
- store registries,
- timeline
We have chosen the following vendors (we haven't booked them yet):
- Invitations
- Florist
- DJ
- photographer
- hair/makeup artist
- wedding planner
And we've selected a honeymoon destination.
The last vendors to select: a cake baker, an officiant, and musicians (ceremony & cocktail hour).
What's holding us up? Well, we're currently working on the most important vendor of all: a venue! Once we find that, we'll be able to book the other vendors in no time! I won't even choose a dress until we have the venue in place.
In the meantime, I'm packing up to move to my fiancé's house, preparing for an upcoming photoshoot, and hanging out with my friends & enjoying my days off!
One year to go!
We've created our:
- budget,
- guest list,
- wedding website,
- store registries,
- timeline
We have chosen the following vendors (we haven't booked them yet):
- Invitations
- Florist
- DJ
- photographer
- hair/makeup artist
- wedding planner
And we've selected a honeymoon destination.
The last vendors to select: a cake baker, an officiant, and musicians (ceremony & cocktail hour).
What's holding us up? Well, we're currently working on the most important vendor of all: a venue! Once we find that, we'll be able to book the other vendors in no time! I won't even choose a dress until we have the venue in place.
In the meantime, I'm packing up to move to my fiancé's house, preparing for an upcoming photoshoot, and hanging out with my friends & enjoying my days off!
One year to go!
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Wednesday, July 1, 2009
When I started out with this whole wedding planning thing, there are some things I didn't allow myself to dream about. I spent today's wedding planning session actively considering two of them: professional lighting and videography.
I grew up looking at my mom's wedding pictures, and ever since I was little, I always marveled at how beautiful she looked and how young she was. My mom looks great at any age, but she just looked so bridal. It's amazing! The photos are even more important now since my father passed away.
It sounds far reaching, but often when I think of my wedding I think of how it will look in 30 years, when my husband & I can barely remember trying to choose a dress or a venue or a shade of pink, when our kids are grown and showing these photos to our grandchildren. "Look at those weird clothes!" the kids will say. "Look how young they look!" And we will look at each other and wonder how on earth we were ever so young! And look how naïve we were, taking those vows! So optimistic! So unblemished!
Thinking of my wedding in these terms makes me acutely aware of the moments we're creating, and how fleeting they are. So of course, I'm in the perfect position to be suckered by a Super8 video.
This one seems particularly poignant; I can imagine them treasuring for years the sound of their voices as they take their vows and then walk back down the aisle. They sound so young! Their choice of song is especially effective.
I grew up looking at my mom's wedding pictures, and ever since I was little, I always marveled at how beautiful she looked and how young she was. My mom looks great at any age, but she just looked so bridal. It's amazing! The photos are even more important now since my father passed away.
It sounds far reaching, but often when I think of my wedding I think of how it will look in 30 years, when my husband & I can barely remember trying to choose a dress or a venue or a shade of pink, when our kids are grown and showing these photos to our grandchildren. "Look at those weird clothes!" the kids will say. "Look how young they look!" And we will look at each other and wonder how on earth we were ever so young! And look how naïve we were, taking those vows! So optimistic! So unblemished!
Thinking of my wedding in these terms makes me acutely aware of the moments we're creating, and how fleeting they are. So of course, I'm in the perfect position to be suckered by a Super8 video.
This one seems particularly poignant; I can imagine them treasuring for years the sound of their voices as they take their vows and then walk back down the aisle. They sound so young! Their choice of song is especially effective.
I don't know that I can work this into my budget, which makes me a little sad. I do plan to put together a musical slideshow of my favorite wedding photos. Will it have the same effect? Hm.
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Michelle, author
I love pink, and I'm jumping the broom! I'm a teacher by day, photographer by weekend. And now, a bride, too! Follow me on my adventures in wedding planning, and find & share ideas for your wedding day!
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