Costliness

The second round at David's Bridal went incredibly well. I tried on bridesmaid dresses, too, to see how they'd look. The verdict is pretty great. So long as Barrie can keep her heaving bosom under control in her strapless dress. Took Megan in to try on the blue one. Unfortunately, she's a miniature person and is already nearly 17, so unlikely to do much growing in the next year. The alterations to make the size two top even smaller and hem the skirt are going to end up costing nearly as much as the outfit itself. But it's pretty cute.

I feel almost bad because I wound up buying a dress that the first neglectful lady had me try on, but I'd much rather the new lady get the commission for it. Now I just need to decide what I'm going to do with my hair. Trying desperately to grow it out and it's gotten easier to resist the urge to chop it all off now that I can pull it away from my face and neck in pigtails, but these bangs are going to be the death of me.

Christ called the caterer today and they quoted us about half of our budget for the sushi and pasta stations. But he said he made sure that included tables, chairs, linens, dinnerware, drinks, and EVERYTHING. Plus this is where we expected to spend the most money, so I guess it's not -too- bad. I still have no idea whatsoever what we're going to do in the way of decor, but we are nearly completely committed to Edible Arrangements as centerpieces. Just have to verify with my spacey venue connection that it's kosher.

Oh, and the caterer doesn't include the cake/cupcakes, so we need to figure out what we're going to do about that. Step ever-so-graciously agreed to do our pictures for us. I'm searching fervently in short bursts for favors for the wedding party. Considering getting mother's rings for our moms, but my mom doesn't really wear jewelry and I don't know his mom's style, plus I don't know how odd it would be to give that at a wedding as opposed to on Mother's Day or at the birth of a child or something.

Updating from work

It's been a while since I wrote here, so I figured I'd do a recap of the last six months. Christ bought a ring, a black pearl, then decided he didn't like it; thought it looked too cheap. We went to the Charleston Aquarium and decided to change the venue to there since we were too poor for the Georgia one. Haven't confirmed a date with them yet, as we keep going back and forth between getting a memorable date like 11-11-11 or 9-10-11 or something and booking for a Sunday, which would save us a little over a grand. Also it would make rehearsal dinner easier for people who work Monday-Friday.

Went to Elegant Bridals near the apartment to look at dresses and the lady gave me pause in my headstrong determination to have the kind I wanted when she put me in a dropped waist tight little number that actually looked good with a birdcage veil. But it was about eight or nine hundred dollars. Woe.

Went to Windsor Jewelers to begin the exhausting search for a ring without a single hint of diamond. Discovered the gorgeousness of blue topaz. The guy suggested just a solitaire on a plain band, but it seemed...I dunno, supercilious of the stone, all lording it over the band, whose sole purpose is to support the stone. Yes, I know. Anyway, so I found a neat twisty band, but it was positively crawling with crusty tiny diamonds. The guy said he could have it specially made for me without them for two grand. I thanked him and left. Then we went to Jared's and found a simple twisty one. But they couldn't order blue topaz. They assured me that aquamarine looked very similar and said that if we opened an account and ordered the band, they could order the stone and if we didn't like it when it came in, they'd send it back free of charge. So Christ whipped out his card and applied. And gloated for the rest of the month over how much he was approved for.

Three weeks later, he called them about it and they said it wouldn't be ready until 12/27, three months after our initial trip, when we'd been told 3-5 weeks. So I called and talked to the manager about it. He said they'd order the aquamarine -and- blue topaz and it'd be in in less than a week. They called a few days later and we went down to approve the stones. The blue topaz looked sososo much better and was almost half the price. Also! They would be able to have it mounted in the store, so we didn't have to wait until December for the band.

Went to David's Bridal with Barrie yesterday afternoon and it was TOTALLY different than my previous outings to try things on. Our lady had Barrie help me in and out of the dresses, she only brought us one or two and then sent us out to wander the store in one of them while she flitted about with other people. It wasn't even as though it was busy or anything; I dunno what she was doing. Anyway, she sent us over to the section that had my size and told us to pull whatever we wanted. When I pointed our other dresses on mannequins or in the catalog, she said that she'd show me something 'similar in [my] size', which were never very similar. She wouldn't let me try on anything else (using those handy little clamps they have) and when I asked about removing details or changing necklines and things, she just kind of dismissed it with a maybe. Didn't offer any suggestions or...anything. I mean, I don't expect to be waited on hand and foot, but seriously? When we were leaving, she suggested I look online at their website. Bluh. I bitched about it to Beth, who called the manager and complained. So I'm supposed to go back Tuesday to try again with someone else.

Christ also picked up the ring yesterday and won't let me see it. He keeps gushing about how awesome it is and showing everyone else, though. Jerk. I think I've settled on bridesmaid dresses and colors, so that's good. And flowers, too, maybe? I like tiger lillies, amaryllis, and hibiscus with blue delphiniums, maybe? I dunno, something little that's bright blue.

Woo!

Deposit for the venue taken care of. Gotta call and find out the room dimensions to see if all the tables will adequately fit.

ETA: Also, I told Mom. She volunteered $5000. Since we're definitely not going to need all the money we've been saving plus that, we should be able to take a pretty awesome honeymoon.

Update

So I've confirmed the venue for 10/1/11 and I'm supposed to go down and pay the deposit within ten days. The rest isn't due until the month of. Now I'm just looking for someone to make my dress since I dunno how long that's gonna take. We're not doing flowers or booze and the venue provides chairs and a few tables. So we just have to confirm what we're going to do, food-wise, and find a caterer, extra tables (maybe from Christ's church), and linens, make a final decision on centerpieces, pick someone to do the cake (well in the future), and figure out what we're going to do about music. Oh, and figure out seating stuff. Still, though, I'm patting myself on the back for being on top of things.

Telling my parents next week sometime.

Date

10.01.11

Venue

We're going to check out Julian Smith Casino tomorrow to see if it'll work. And then Beth and I are going to attempt bouquets. Christ was talking to his mom about the guest list and it still didn't seem like she was opposed. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. But for now I'm so so so happy.

=D!

So we may have found a place. Cheeeap. Kinda dull. But! That means that we can afford to find fun stuff to decorate with and personalize. I really think that that was the difficult portion and the rest will be fun.

...why do I get the feeling that I'll look back at this and laaaaugh?


Also, Christ told his mom. And she didn't flip out. She might actually be excited? I -think- I'm going to hold out for the ring to tell my parents. But I also thought that I wouldn't tell anyone until then, so maybe not. Either way, no more stress!

=(

Already stressed about this wedding thing. I just want a treehouse. That's all. It shouldn't be -that- hard, should it?