Watch Your Mailboxes!

It is official! At about 9:20 am a very large quantity of invitations got dropped off at the local post office near my house. I am hoping that a majority of them make it to the intended recipients, but after the wedding shower invitation fiasco... who knows!

I was very nervous dropping them off. I have read and re-read these things hoping that I got them all right! I didn't see any misspellings or inaccuracies, but that doesn't mean they are there. I also had to purchase just a few more stamps because I was about 10 short for the response cards! Those will go out tomorrow - or Saturday because it is late and I am tired!

So the shower is in just 10 or so days! I cannot believe that time is moving so quickly! Greg and I are excited to get many of you together to meet and chat and enjoy a nice lunch!

See you all very soon!

We Get To Have Our Cake And Eat It Too!

We tackled yet another big one on the list this weekend! We finally ordered our cake!

I think it is safe to say that Greg and I were a little more than annoyed and suprised by the cost of a piece of cake. Never mind the tackiness of some examples and the horrible taste of others... We didn't really know what we wanted to do because we refused to pay so much money for something we were not impressed with!

After flipping through many wedding magazines and cake books we thought out all of our options. Do we want to go all out? Do we want a fake cake with a sheet cake in the back? Do we want to just forget the cake and have a dessert table? Yikes!

This weekend we had another appointment with a woman who makes cakes. We spoke on the phone a few times, I explained how we just wanted simple and it felt like no one could just do simple anymore!! She agreed and promised she could and would do simple.

Greg and I met up with her, after about 10 minutes we had our cake design picked out and she had our color samples cut from my little samples of fabric that I have. We paid her and left with the little mini cake that she made us.

Yeah.. yeah... we bought the cake from her before we even tasted it! That is because we could tell by the little cake she made us that it was the right frosting!

For less that one third the cost of a cake from out here in the city we got exactly what we wanted. Once we got home and tasted the cake... we were soooo pleased with our decision! I don't think I have ever seen Greg so enthused with cake in my life. There is hardly any left from the sample one! We may have to call her sometime in the next 110 days to get another one! LOL!

One Down, Two to Go!

Greg and I have a small list of things left that we need to investigate for our wedding. We need a limo, tuxedo place and a cake.

This past weekend we finally took care of the limo portion of the wedding and it felt pretty good to check one more thing off of our "to-do" list! After calling many places within quite a large radius... we decided to go with a very local place with a wide variety of cars.

Of course, I really wanted the 1956 Cadillac limo. We couldn't get it because it didn't hold enough people. We ended up getting a pretty nice limo at a very affordable price.

We did start the cake hunting. A little bit of tasting and getting ideas on what we like and don't like from some local places. Of course that was a yummy task to take care of!!

Tasting Our Dinner

Greg and I finally had a tasting at the reception location. As a consumer, I found it so strange that venues will not let you taste the dinner you may or may not be eating until you book the hall! We had trust in the Mabry Center that the food would be just fine... but like anyone else spending a lot of money on a reception, we wanted to be sure.

Finally a date worked out that Greg and I could make it to the hall. It ended up being Saturday, February 2nd. I also timed it to have one of the chair cover vendors come to the hall. I was able to have my chair covers chosen before the tasting - which was one more thing that I didn't have to worry about!

Once the tasting started it was pretty straight forward. Get up, get food, taste it, if you like it have more... or not. Try the fondue machine, drool over and step away slowly and carefully! Like most of the other gals there, we used the excuse that there was fruit under that yummy chocolate that made it OK to eat! LOL!

In the end, Greg and I discovered a few things that we didn't like a few things we liked and even more things we loved. I am very glad that we had the opportunity to try some of the food before having to choose a menu in just a few months! I think three to be exact!

I Love Suprises

I got to put a deposit on something today that will be tons of fun for the guest at our wedding and of course for Greg and I!

It will be during the reception and will provide a great source of fun for everyone sober and tipsy!

You'll Hate David's Bridal...

With only 159 days until Greg and I are married, the gals and I finally were able to go out dress shopping today. I had no plans really for exactly what kind of dress I wanted them to wear. I was hoping for one of many outcomes.

What happened today wasn't really something I had even considered, but it turned out just fine! :)

Beth came by the house early and we grabbed some coffee. We headed over to David's for our noon appointment with a sales woman there. I was in no way prepared for the amount of females hormones that we were about to encounter. I had an appointment and you would never guess it. The sales woman was of absolutely no help to us. The gals and I stumbled across a cute tea length dress. It was not only cute, but had this thing that went underneath for a hint of complimentary color and also a matching sash for that "other" color. After lots of trying on and discussing... We decided to go with a emerald green and lilac color. I love the combo. The green is so happy and Irish looking.

The sales people at David's were not helpful to us at all. In fact, they were actually pretty rude. When the girls were paying, the sales person barely acknowledged us. She was so snotty when asked simple questions it was ridiculous. I shouldn't have let the girls even get their dresses there, but I didn't want to put them through another shopping day! Yikes!

Unfortunately, I did not want Terri in the same dress as the gals because I don't feel it is flattering for her. We were not successful in finding her a dress, but we are going on Tuesday after work for that.

We headed to the mall later in the day today and my mom was able to find a great deal on a dress too. So she is set as well... after her alterations are made.

Now.... Greg needs to worry about those tuxedos!

Reserve Your Room Online!

We all know two things for sure about me...

1. I am an organizational freak!
2. I love to save myself and anyone else I can ... money $$$

That being said, I know it is early, but I was very excited when the manager at the reception hall told me about a nice hotel nearby that offers free shuttle service to and from the wedding reception. Not only does that mean no cab fare, but also no drunk driving from our inebriated friends and family! That is really important to me, so I hope this whole plan works out!

Here is the deal...

Currently, there are 10 rooms on hold for the night of June 26, 2008 and 15 rooms on hold for the night of June 27, 2008 at the Courtyard by Marriott at 30190 Van Dyke Ave Warren, Michigan 48093.

All reservations at the discounted rate and in our reserved block must be made by June 1, 2008! Just mention the Wilson Hall Wedding to get your discount or use the handy links below to reserve a room online!

If we get at least 10 bookings at this hotel, there will be free shuttle service to and from the reception. The rates for the room will be discounted and breakfast the morning of June 28th may also be discounted! (We will find out later!)

There are two styles of rooms to choose from. To receive the discounted rate
on the web, you must use the links below! Book now and lock in the rate!

• A room with 1 king bed.
• Or a room with 2 queen beds.

Don't forget to mention the Wilson Hall Wedding to get your discount! You may also call: (586) 751-5777 or (800) 321-2211. Click here for more details about this hotel and a map!

Of course Greg and I hope to see everyone get rooms and not drink and drive, but we know that cannot happen! But, we can do our best to help everyone out!

Finally Booked It!

I cannot believe we have been engaged for a year and two months already... Do you know what that means? In 10 months we will be married! I think it is about time we finally booked our hall in writing right? We should have done that a few months ago!

Originally we wanted to have our wedding reception at my work in one of the halls there. Once I priced out the dinner with our catering company I quickly realized the reality of it all. The catering company at my work charges way too much for food!! It is not my work that charges too much money, it is the catering company that works out of there that is a rip off!

Anyhow, quite a long time ago Greg found this hall called the Mabry Center. It is very close to the church and close to local hotels and expressways. The venue is only 4 years old and is not out dated like the other places in the area that we could afford.

It took a while to find a number to contact someone at. When I finally got ahold of them we set up a meeting and checked it out. The prices were awesome, the menu was great and from what we met of the staff - they all seemed just fine! We put our name down for our date and the sales rep told me she would call if anyone wanted our date.

We kept in touch here and there, but with time moving so quickly I wanted to just get hall finalized for us on our date. Just yesterday, I finally put down the deposit on the hall! It was a reassuring feeling to know that we can check that off the list officially and that I can tell work that I won't be having my reception there.

Things are very slowly coming together... Now... about the dress...

Exactly One Year

I guess it is ok to start counting down now? I have counted down everything else from graduating school to a cool band coming to my work. Now that there are officially 365 days and 1 hour left until we get married... I think it is safe to say we can begin the official countdown. Thats 365 days I have left to worry if I picked or will pick the right flowers, or the right DJ or the right photographer. So fun!

Wow. I cannot believe that Greg and I have been engaged for one year already! It doesn't seem like it was that long ago that we were up north at the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore enjoying peace and quiet and nature. I wish we had the time and the money to do that again this summer - everyone needs quiet time like that!

We have officially signed the contract with the DJ company Jammin' DJ's. I am excited about that because their price is unbeatable and they are just cool! And just so all of you know now, Greg and I have agreed there will be no chicken dance, hokey pokey or macarena at the reception. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news folks...

Next on my list of things to do is start looking at flowers. I have no idea what anything is called, I just have an idea of what they look like. My cousin will be helping me with that part. She has a trustworthy person that I might be working with. Hopefully she will be OK with my tiny budget and able to work magic with the ideas I have!

We Found a DJ!

On Sunday, Greg and I went to see a DJ in Clawson. Oddly enough Clawson is where the photographer is also... Thanks to a co-worker of mine I was able to get in contact with Jammin' DJs. The owner of the company has been very prompt and good with emails and with answering all of my questions I have had for him.

A side note about Jammin' DJs is that the owner of the company is also the lead singer of the Mega 80s. The M80s are a local band who do awesome cover songs and are very energetic with their shows. To see the owner / lead singer without his outfits on and in normal street clothes was quite suprising!

I finally scheduled a time that was good for all three of us to meet at his office. We got there around 3 pm and I think Greg immediately fell in love with the guys office! There were video arcade games lining both of the walls and it smelled like vanilla in there. I fell in love with the 2 Mac computers he had and all of the editing equipment in the back of the office.

We talked to him for about a half an hour about all of the options we had and what the benefits were to using them. One thing I really liked about him was that he didn't speak in terms of "When you hire us we will do..." rather than "When you hire a DJ you should look for this..." So even if we didn't go with his company, we would have plenty of knowledge to make an educated decision about all of this!

We didn't sign a contract with him, but when we left his office, Greg and I pretty much agreed with dug his company. The price was right, they had tons of options and a great back up system. I will probably be getting ahold of him within the next week to make a deposit and sign the contract!

Are we going to actually spend money?

Greg and I still haven't actually spent any money on the wedding aside from the rings that he purchased over a year ago! We have decided that we want to put money down on the reception hall so we can start getting rid of that big expense, but the hall is waiting for their 2007 menu to come out so we can get the contract situated and signed. I do have an appointment scheduled for next Friday where I hope to get a contract and give a deposit!

We might also have our photographer picked out! I was a little worried about being able to find someone who was willing to hand over the images that we get taken in good quality digital form... For those of you wondering what that means, reprints will have a cost of where ever the images are printed!

I met with a photographer from AKA O'Mara studios. Anna is the photographer and I got a great vibe from her! Her pictures online were good and her printed images were even better in person. I think (and I hope) that I asked all the right questions. I know I probably missed some, but.. what can I do?

Now - in the next week or so, we may be putting money down or a photographer and signing a contract with her! That seems like an awful lot of things taken care of!