The tears finally flowed

I am not usually the type of girl who pats herself on the back for a job well done, but there I was reading yet another Bridal Guide article on flowers or favors or something for "the big day" and I couldn't help but think that I have been doing pretty good on the freak-out front. I have now been engaged for over a year (February 14 - happy anniversary to us!!!) and I have yet to have a big emotional break down. Granted, the planning is going slowly so that definitely helps. But I can get very stressed out about what I am going to wear on any given day, so surely I must need to stress about something as gi-normous (gigantic-enormous for those of you not up on this lingo) as my wedding. Well as I was saying, patting myself on the back one day, crying my eyes out over flowers the next.

Apparently, decorating an entire castle for a wedding can get a little pricey! Shock! I know, right? Who would have thought? Well during our first meeting with a florist, I got a tad overwhelmed and freaked out just a little bit. I didn't have a clear enough picture of what I wanted in terms of my bouquet/reception table centerpieces/lobby of castle/etc. It was clear very early on in the meeting that I was not going to stay cool, calm and collected as I would have hoped. Charlie, the very nice guy who helped us that morning, seemed to understand my stress and helped me get through it. But as soon as I walked out that door - waterworks. Now I must take a moment to add that we were heading directly to another florist appointment, and after the 30 minutes I just had, I was not about to do that without getting some of the frustration out. Graig, being the calm, wonderful guy that he is, remained relaxed throughout all of this, including trying to calm me down. He was willing to drive me home and take on the next appointment solo (probably because he didn't want to introduce this sobbing, red-faced mess as his fiancee to anyone.)

After a bit, I got myself together and we headed to the next place. There, we saw sample centerpieces and created a better idea of what we liked, of what was uniquely us. I know our flowers will be beautiful and I can't wait to see everything set up in the ball room!

I'm ready for my close up

The wedding photographer. This is probably one of the most important people you will ever hire. The pictures are what we have after the wedding is over and we don't remember anything that happened that day. We need those pictures as keepsakes of the most important day of our lives. Without great pictures, how will we look back on that day and see what we may have missed; someone getting weepy during the ceremony, group shots at the bar, a drunk family member on the dance floor. These are precious moments, people!

Do you even realize how much these camera-wielding people cost? Well what's one arm and one leg when you have a fantastic wedding album on your coffee table? Yeah, its expensive. A few days ago, Graig and I met with a photographer to discuss our big day. This was a really nice studio and came highly recommended. They did beautiful work, but a little too pricey for us. Then last night we met with a second photographer. Slightly lower price tag and his work was just as beautiful. We have appointments with three more photographers after which we will hopefully feel confident enough to choose someone. Like I said, very important decision.

I think I should start keeping track of how many (wo)man hours I am spending on this wedding. It will be interesting to look back and see the time that has been invested. Is there some sort of counter I can add to this blog? Anyone have a suggestion?

Bride to be/Maid of Honor

So I am going take a break from discussing my wedding plans and talk about my awesome friend, Jenece, and her wedding plans. She apparently likes a challenge because she has given me the privilege of being one of her maids of honor! I say this is a challenge because her other maid of honor, Carolyn, lives in California. So we get the hopefully not-so-difficult task of planning the bachelorette party together from opposite sides of the country. We have a phone date this very evening, in fact. And we are thinking Palm Springs spa weekend.

I am very excited about being Jenece's maid of honor. Other than standing up with my mom at her second wedding when I was 9, I have never been a bridesmaid or a maid of honor. As soon as I accepted this post, visions of 27 Dresses danced in my head and the horror of wearing something less than flattering was starting to make me nervous. However, I thought to myself, I trust Jenece's fashion sense and she wouldn't dare make us wear something hideous, would she? Then I got an email from her with the link to the dresses she was considering. Not very hideous at all! I think I can handle these. After a few suggestions from me about color and style, I think she will make a good decision and let us maids look fabulous! And I, of course, will do the same thing for my bridesmaids.

I understand the idea of wanting to outshine everyone else on your wedding day, but why make your friends, your devoted besties who are standing up there with you and in support of you, wear something hideous and potentially ruin the pictures. I will be wearing a long white dress and a megawatt smile. There's no way anyone could outshine me on that day, even if the girls do look fab!