Wedding Officiant

After searching for a while and talking to several people, we finally chose our wedding officiant. She seems super sweet and we loved her sample ceremonies. She always e-mails me back immediately, which is really important to me. She has been a wedding planner for 6 years and just got ordained. We meet with her in the next couple weeks to go over everything. I am so excited! Another BIG thing checked off our list of things to do! =)

Seriously?!

As I contact a wedding officiant, I always ask how much they charge and if they could send me a sample of their ceremony. Everyone has always been willing to give me a price and send me samples almost immediately. I came across a gentleman a few months ago whose ceremony was OK but, we would want to tweak it a bit to meet our standards. He was very adament about NOT changing any part of his ceremony because "people ask me to marry them because my ceremony is so good." What a joke. I thought THAT was ridiculous until I contacted a gentleman yesterday.

I asked him how much he was and for him to send me a sample of his ceremony. He responded with:

"As far as letting you see or read my ceremony, I normally do not do that. Trust me....it is a very fine ceremony. I will also let someone in your wedding party or your Mom and Dad hear the ceremony prior. It is very rare that the bride does not have a tear roll down her cheek."

First off, I don't CARE if it makes brides cry. SECOND, it is about NATHAN and I. It's NOT about if my Mom and Dad like it. It's about what WE want it to say and WE have the right to review it before it is spoken at our wedding. Some people boggle my mind.

Oh, he also said he accepts tips up to 10 grand. Wow...what a winner!

220 days AND counting!

So, we have a little over 7 months to go until the big day! Where did the time go? Seriously?

We got our engagement photos done two weeks ago. It was a lot of fun. Can't wait to see how they turned out!

Save The Dates went out yesterday! That is a HUGE thing off my list. They have been sitting there staring at me for months. It was such a relief to finally get them out the door. I hope everyone loves them as much as we do. They are so cute!

We found a place for our rehearsal dinner. It's a nice, homey restaurant 3 miles from our hotel. I think it will work out great and the staff seemed really nice. That is a definite plus. We can choose whatever food we want and they will make sure to have it. That helps as well.

We went to yet ANOTHER place for flowers. I think we are going to go with The Flower Gallery. They were the best price, are a great company and a lot of people I know, love them. Nathan's parents are also fine with the quote they gave us and that is what was important. Another thing getting marked off the list and it feels GREAT.

I have been trying to find someone to marry us since the 'one year until the wedding mark'. Everyone told me it was too soon to book that far away. I started calling around yesterday and people were STILL telling me how far away it was to book. I like planning FAR in ahead - what is so wrong with that? I want to know everything is taken care of when the week before the wedding comes. Silly me for being a planner! But, I do have a few people e-mailing me sample ceremonies. Hopefully, we can book someone soon :)

Lots to do and the time keeps on passing us by. Now, we just need to pay everyone off!

DJ & Rehearsal Dinner

In two days, it will be 8 months until the wedding. I cannot believe how fast the time has gone by!

What has been happening? I have finally booked a DJ through a recommendation of a friend. He got good reviews for the weddings he has djed, e-mailed me back right away and answered all my questions. He was very reasonably priced so, I submitted our deposit and contract today! Another thing marked off our list of things to do!

We have been working to get a location for our rehearsal dinner taken care of. The restaurant that is hooked on to the hotel we are staying at will not take a reservation for a party over 18 and our rehearsal dinner guest count comes to about 30 people. They said since our party has over 18 people, we would have to get a banquet room IN the hotel. It sucks because we really wanted to hold our rehearsal dinner inside the restaurant. My fabulous Matron of Honor and I, along with Nathan have an appointment with the hotel to check out their banquet room JUST INCASE we do like it. In the end, it will be up to Nathan's parents but, we are doing the work and getting the prices together for them now. We want to give them choices to pick from. We also have a restaurant we want to check out that is near the hotel that can hold our rehearsal dinner as well. It would be ideal though to have our rehearsal dinner AT the hotel since we will be staying there the night of the rehearsal dinner anyway.

Why can't things be simple?!

Videographer and Rings

I have been contemplating getting a videographer for the wedding. I know when we first started planning, I contacted a few and they were well over $1,000. It boggled my mind so, I stopped searching. Now, I have come across a few companies and contacted them. One guy said he would charge me $400 and that includes 6 hours of coverage and 3 edited DVDs. Sounds good to me. After reviewing his references and some of his work, I will consider. I would really love to have our wedding recorded so, we can watch it anytime we like to relive the memories.

On another note, Nathan and I looked over all the mens wedding bands online last night. They definitely have way more online than they did at the store. He found a lot he liked. So, we should be purchasing them soon! Very excited about that. That will be another thing checked off the list.

Tomorrow will be 9 months until the wedding. Where did the time go?!

Easing my mind!

My friend (and Bridesmaid) Brittani really put things into perspective for me over the weekend. While sitting down for a nice afternoon lunch, we talked about my upcoming wedding and her wedding that was back in May. I told her that sometimes while thinking about my wedding day, it makes me nervous. I have always loved being the center of attention. (being an only child, I loved the attention from everyone! all eyes were on me!) But, knowing that all eyes will be on me the day of my wedding, is so nerve-wracking. What if I trip and fall? What do I do with everyone staring at me as I am walking down to my future husband? She said, the only person she saw as she walked down the aisle was her husband, Ed. She said she didn't look at anyone else and in that moment, she knew everything was right. All the worrying about "is stuff being taken care of" went away. It really helped put my mind at ease. I am not going to worry about anyone else but, him. As I walk down to Nathan, my future husband, all will fall perfectly into place.

9 months and 1 week to go

Well, we are 9 months and 1 week away (Thanks Jaci!) until the big day. I feel we have accomplished a lot more than I thought we would. There is still so much to do but, we have great family and friends that will help us if we need it!

At 9 months and 1 week until the big day, we have the venue booked, wedding dress bought, colors picked, bridesmaid dresses bought, bridal shower venue booked, save the dates bought but, not sent out, wedding cake booked, photographer booked and almost paid off, linens booked and that is about it! I need to make arrangements to call the DJ we are interested in. I have talked to several officiants and need to call around to a few more. We visited 5 florists and have yet to choose one. We will figure it out!

In October we have two photoshoots taking place for our engagement photos. Our photographer is going to take us to a beautiful Manor House to take our photos. And, my friend Brittani who is trying to make it into the photography field is going to take our pictures in this beautiful garden. I am really excited. That will be amazing! We are both looking forward to it.

- Sarah