Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Wedding Wednesday ~ the seating chart

So much has been done!  I going to try and remember it all.  So if this post is a little (or a lot) random and  crazy, no worries, hopefully it'll all make sense next FRIDAY!

Pictures above is our color coded seating chart.  I saw this recommendation on some wedding website, and it made total sense to me.  We got a large poster board, with little sticky's in different colors and made each group a different color. 
If I remember correctly the colors are as follows:
yellow = vendor
pink = brides friends
purple = brides family
orange = brides coworkers
light blue = grooms friends
dark blue = grooms family
green = grooms coworkers

The seating arrangement has been a huge headache.  With lots of stress, Chris making a phone call to my dad, and my dad apologizing to me (I'm pretty sure hell froze over at that moment), the seating chart was finalized about a week ago.

Right now we have a head count of 124.  We had to give our final count (and pay for overage) to the reception place this past Friday.  And our final count to the caterer is due tomorrow. 

It's crazy how you can plan what seems like everything, but with time down to only a week and a couple of days I've spent time doing wedding stuff what seems like everyday.

Last week I had a final sit down with the florist, and I'm super excited for our flowers and the usage of them.  Some will serve double duty with being on display at both the ceremony and the reception.  All along I had originally thought we would have two centerpieces, we will now have three. 

I've gotten a good head start on the Welcome Bags.  All bags are marked and ready to go with a tag.  And I have two out of three of the items that'll be placed in the bag. 

The alcohol is purchased and set to be delivered.  I've made signs for the bar that'll display what's available to drink.

Day of schedules are finalized and delivered.

The wedding programs are all printed and folded.  And the escort cards are also all printed and folded and alphabetized, and ready to go!

I have things labeled and ready to go to take to the Westin and to review with my day of coordinator.

I had my final dress fitting over the weekend.  Yesterday I got a haircut and highlight.

Still to do:
Write Welcome Letters
Follow up with DJ
Follow up with cake person
Change time on one of the limo's
Put Welcome Bags together

By this time next week my mom will be here, and majority of the wedding party will be en route to Colorado! 

9 days until I say I DO!

As the day gets closer things are still blurry, but with each passing day I can see a clearer picture of how things will come together.  And when I truly envision the day I get super duper excited!  I really can't wait to see it all!  It's gonna be an awesome once in a lifetime party!, party of LOVE!!!

Today is extra special, as it's my husband to be's birthday, so a very special shout out to him!
Happy Birthday to my Baby!  Thank you, for living so calmly over the past few weeks while things are super stressful in the world of wedding planning!  I love you.

Monday, September 24, 2012

Engagement Bliss

Chris and I have been your normal busy engaged couple about to get married.  But while the day nears we're still have fun and keeping busy with "normal" life.  We had a super busy and fun weekend.  
Saturday evening we attended my friend Andrea's wedding(pictures later), and we had a blast!  It was great to look at her wedding moment by moment, as I felt like I knew majority of the details, since Andrea and I have been planning our weddings together pretty much detail by detail over the past 6 months.  
Their wedding was the the Four Seasons downtown, and to totally get away and enjoy ourselves I got us a room!  We danced the night away and truly had a great time.  I could tell Chris was also observing, as he definitely had some input on how he wants our night to go. 

#18 Peyton Manning in action
 Sunday morning we slept in and then headed to the Bronco game!  Chris is a big Bronco fan, and has never been to a home game, so I thought I would start his birthday week off (his bday is Wednesday) with something totally non-wedding related, and take him to his first game!  The weather was wicked hot, and we were right in the sun through the first half, but we had a great time.  The second half was much more entertaining that the first, and we didn't pull off a win, but it was still loads of fun.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Wedding Wednesday ~ something blue

I've known for a long time that when/if I were to ever get married I would want blue as one of my main wedding colors.  I feel blue represents me in so many different ways, and it is my favorite color.  Blue will definitely be seen in 23 days!  It's not matchy matchy and different shades will be seen throughout the day.  Blue is also the one common element that is seen throughout all wedding aspects.  From the "Save the Dates" to some of the small details, and even a few surprises! 
And of course the shoes!  I have blue shoes.  And I think they rock! I'm pretty sure I'm more in love with my shoes than my dress.  These shoes are of course, for later in the evening...for dancing.  My "formal" shoes are just as cute.  And ridiculously comfortable as well, but these are a good back up!  My something blue is officially taken care of! 

In other wedding news and the ride of emotions that has come with planning this wedding today is a good day.  I feel accomplished even though I have a long list of things to get through.  We had our final walk thru at the Chateaux last night.  Which added to my list, but the deadline for most things is 9/21, and although that seems like it might be far away (I wish) that's next Friday, and I'm definitely happy knowing that I'll have two weeks to clear my "wedding brain" to get recharged and relaxed for the official wedding day!  It's difficult focusing on the end result: that at the end of the day I'll be married to my love, and that is what truly matters.  Of course that is the whole point to the celebration and bringing all of these people together, and it's stressful because in the interim of all that people are tugging at you and your emotions in every which direction.  You want to please everybody, and other people are easy distractions to what should be my main priority: myself, my future husband, and our love filled union.  Things get scattered, and it's just hard.  So I'm relieved in knowing that after 9/21 the headcount/the seating arrangements will be set in stone and I can go back and focus on the love around me and being excited for the day rather than getting stressed about the day.   
The wedding program is just about finalized.  Next will be making a super long list for the escort cards. 
We have an order of how things will go once cocktail hour is over and people enter the reception space. 
I need to go to the liquor store and finalize the alcohol for the party.
Lastly, I need to put together our Welcome Bags for out of town guests.  I have ordered the actual bags, just need to get them, and fill them!

Holy cow I'm getting married!!!  Sometimes it still seems surreal!

Thursday, September 6, 2012

~all kinds of crazy~

did i mention that our room at the Four Seasons had a
TV
in the mirror?!

********

i'm ready for fall,
but so not ready for socks.

********

do you remember when facebook
used to be full of things that you said.
rather than  bunch of quotes and pictures from other people?
i sorta miss that.

********

i bought
Pop Tarts on Tuesday.

********

are you ready for some
i know i am.

********

i have these jarred cherries that i need to do something with.
i really want to attempt a cherry pie,
but i'm scared.
any ideas?

********

my calendar for september is booked!

********

i love how my feet look as i'm walking just as i'm about
to place my foot back on the ground.
it looks really slender and boney.

********

while shopping last weekend i found
the dress (this put shade of purple) i'm gonna wear for my
rehearsal and rehearsal dinner.
it's super cute,
and it' from the limited.
and it was on sale:
$25.86!
score!

********


Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Wedding Wednesday ~ 30 days!

How quickly has time gone?!  I'll be a Mrs. in a mere 30 days.  I was thinking about what to write about because truly I don't really have anything to update or share, but then I realized this is more for me and my memory, and I knew it would be important for me to write something. 
I have lots on my mind and lots going on.  I have stress related issues coming from both sides of the family and it has created a lot of worry on my end.  Nothing major and nothing horrible, just issues that I don't want to deal with.  Chris is so great and always says the right things.  He said something to me yesterday that really stuck with me that I want to try and prioritize in my thought process over the next 30 days.  He said something to the effect of: If you spend your time worrying, then you aren't spending your time enjoying this time.  And that's so true.  I know that when I look back on my time as an engaged person planning a wedding, I don't want to remember the time I spent worrying.  I want to remember how much fun I had, how supportive my family was, and how fantastic my bridal party worked at making every aspect of the pre-wedding festivities so special and memorable. 
I know everything will work out fine, it's just a lot, and it's overwhelming.  I have a unrealistic need to do everything and make sure it goes perfectly.  I know this isn't good for me, and I'm working on letting go, and coming to the realization that not everything will go as planned.
Onto the real stuff:
I realize it is still the beginning of the month, but truly I don't think I could have planned it any better.  I knew all along I would want September to be low key with no major projects to do, and that's exactly what has happened!  I'm so happy that both DIY projects are done: wedding favors (ornaments) and table numbers/guest book (journals).  My goals this month are to organize, follow up with vendors and relax.  I purposefully didn't plan any wedding related meetings over this past weekend so that Chris and I could have a full three day non-wedding related weekend.  We relaxed, shopped, and ate good food.  We did discuss some wedding items, but nothing major.  The next four weekends won't be so calm.  I have a meeting set up next week with our florist, to discuss our centerpieces and finalize everything.  Yesterday I got the call from the Chateaux wanting to schedule our final walk through.  That should be accomplished today and most likely scheduled for next week.   
All of the gifts that'll be given at the rehearsal dinner are wrapped and ready to go along with a signed card.  I've started working on Thank You cards.  And all-in-all I'm pretty ready.