Sun Moon Stars Girl )-(

Welcome to my little place to vent…

These numbers are: 5 & 78.

Well, my mom was the only person to guess what the numbers were, very early on. It was a lot of fun with her quick emails soon after the invitations were sent, and then little notes around the house when we came out to the east coast in May. After about three or four tries, she had the answer. The only other person to wonder was the woman (Rosemary) who helped us book our honeymoon at Enchanted Honeymoons.

So what the heck was up with these numbers anyway? Early on in planning, my mom made a great suggestion to number the back of the RSVP cards - just in case people forgot to write their names when they sent the cards back to us. Kris and I really wanted to save people the trouble, and I found a fun silver pen I wanted to use - so we wrote everyone’s names on the cards. We also numbered the cards, which was a great idea because we could tell at a quick glance who still hadn’t RSVPed by saying such and such a number was missing from the pile. They were just numbered alphabetically, and I really wonder if anyone even noticed this lightly penciled number on the upper left back corner of that response card?

Today’s “un”lucky numbers are not really unlucky. The only thing different about these is that we never heard any response (either way) from these people - whether actually getting their cards back, a phone call, or email. At this point we can only assume they are not coming.

Well, Kris and I both thought it would be fun to record when we received each card by posting a very simple thing like “today’s lucky numbers.” If you are curious as to what your number was - leave me a comment!

Updated 8/3/07 - As we received #10 in the mail!

Yesterday my mom told me my grandma had a simple request for a new tradition. Grandma would like me to wear her garter, then pass it along to my cousin (who is getting married next year), who will then pass it along to my sister. While I am honestly a little weirded out by the thought of wearing such a personal item from anyone else besides myself, I thought the tradition idea is pretty cool. I had finally gotten my “something borrowed” from my sister when she said I could use some of her silvery starred bobby pins she’d worn at the prom - but the really the “something borrowed” is supposed to represent “borrowed happiness” to fulfill your new marriage, and come from an older married couple. Obviously with something from my sister it wouldn’t truly represent this tradition, and yet anything from my grandmother would.

My something old is a PERFECT handkerchief that I found in my old bedroom when visiting to check out possible reception sites. I wasn’t sure where it had come from, but the lacy design and light blue embroidered flowers made it the perfect wedding item. When I questioned my mom about it later, she told me it was my dad’s mom’s (she has already passed). This news made the hanky even more perfect - as my “something old.”

There’s too many “new” items I’ll be wearing to pick just one, but this is usually represented by the wedding gown, unless it’s one you got from your mom, grandma, or someone else - then it might be considered “borrowed” or “old.” I am going to use my wedding gown (and my shoes and my…so many other things…) as my “something new.”

The bobby pins and garter will be the “something borrowed.”

As for “something blue” - there are the lovely blue flowers on the hanky, as well as the periwinkle earrings I will be wearing (depending on whether you’d consider them blue or purple) and the aquamarine blue anklet bracelet I have. In addition (trying not to give too much away), the garter I’d already bought new and some of my undergarments have blue accents as well.

As far as the garter from my grandma - the only real concerns are its current shape (Will it fit me? Is the elastic too old?) and the possibility that it won’t get much further down the grandkids line other then to maybe one of my guy cousins if it is accidentally removed instead of the “tossing garter” during that fabulous time at the reception. Regardless, I will do my best to respect this simple request from my grandma whom I cherish, and my part to pass it down the line when the time comes. I hope it will be waiting for me in my old bedroom when we get to NJ in a week!!!

First, I would like to once again thank Andrew & Sabrina for their suggestion and example for our wedding map! The new link is off to the left, and also available on our wedding webpage. We still suggest using the directions we originally provided with the invitations to get to the church or the reception, as Google maps does not account for the divided barrier on Rt. 22 and NJ law prohibiting U-turns - if you are from out-of-state you will need to utilize what are known as “jughandles” to turn across Rt. 22. However, this map gives a great overview of NJ and the relative location of where all our wedding activities will be taking place.

The rehearsal dinner invitations have been sent out! Kris and I received our “tickets” on Friday. Kris’s parents got pretty creative with these invitations. We were both pretty excited to see them when they told us they’d “done something different” because we really had no idea what to expect. The best part is that they had no idea what we were doing for the place cards for the reception, and I think the similar theme will tie in nicely. (Sorry, no pictures or other hints yet - but we will have them up in just a few short weeks!)

We’re working on the table arrangements and seating chart. This is a huge pain in the butt to do when you don’t have 100% of the responses. It’s all speculation - if this person comes, then they can sit at this table, but if this other person comes, then these people have to be moved over here… We started working on the place cards, which we will also be using to hold one of the favors - but those can’t be finished until the seating is worked out.

We decided on the readings and finished “customizing” the ceremony, so we were able to finish the ceremony program wording. We’re looking forward to the mock-up from Kris’s parents (since they are awesome and printing them for us!). I’m sure they will be just as fabulous as the invitations and save-the-date cards.

More to come in these next few weeks!

The lucky numbers today are: 24, 51, 61, 69, 77, 82, 83, & 86!
These are the last of the lucky numbers.
Doesn’t anyone want to guess what they were???

The lucky numbers today are: 1, 65, 97, 100, & 105!

The lucky numbers today are: 21, 80, & 85!

The lucky numbers today are: 11, 42, 101, & 103!

Ah, yes, the Emotional Rollercoaster - my least favorite of the rollercoaster family. Yesterday was a huge up-and-down day for me. I had about five minutes of actually emotional reprieve to feel like everything was settled and taken care of. To feel like everything was going as scheduled, as planned, and on time. It was a good five minutes.

The good news: The bridesmaid dresses came in! Happily, they arrived earlier than anticipated (July 2nd instead of July 7th or 10th). After I had left a message with the bridal shop to check in with the Dessy company to make sure there wouldn’t be any further delays, she called to tell me the dresses were in her shop. It was so unexpected that I was a little bewildered - but I told her I would be down there right away to check them out. I called my friend Renee to see if she might be able to come with me - I knew I would need the emotional support if there was still a problem. She had a meeting, but would have happily joined me. So I called Kris, hoping he was either home, or at the garage (which is close to the bridal shop), or where he was on the highway. Luckily, he was on the highway, just entering San Clemente. He said he would stop at the bridal shop and take a look - and that we could go from there. About ten minutes later he calls me, at the bridal shop and says, “When she opened the box, I thought there was only one dress in there.” I knew there was no problem with the color of the dresses at that point. Finally! The good news gets better - the shop owner agreed to ship the dresses separately to my bridesmaids, so they could have as much time as possible to go get their alterations done. I think she even shipped the dresses overnight, but either way, it was so nice of her to do. I didn’t have to go down there at all, and I was able to go back to work where I called and emailed everyone to let them know the update and excellent news.

The bad news: After sending out that email, I get an email from the new Social Sales Manager at the hotel! I’m upset that no one informed me or my parents (the clients who have a current contract the the place!) that the person they’ve been making all their arrangements with is no longer there. I’m also worried that all of the things we’d worked out with the previous manager will no longer be accepted, and that all our planning went down the drain. It’s obvious from her second email to me that a lot of those details have gotten lost (she asked if we were having a DJ or band, and in the first email she responded to, I had said we were having a DJ…). With the holiday tomorrow, and the time difference between CA and NJ, it’s going to be difficult to get in touch with her over the phone to go over everything. But I am going to do that ASAP. I’m hoping they will comp us SOMETHING for this last-minute change, or at the very least, give us the same deals and discounts we already had laid out - but were not necessarily in our contract. I’m also VERY worried because I have absolutely no opportunity to meet this new manager in person until just a few days before the actual wedding. I’m hoping my parents might have some time to go meet with her. I also hope that this wasn’t a whole ‘change in staff’ thing - because the hotel was sold earlier this year and is now part of a chain. That would mean a change in the chef who cooked the food for the tasting, who was so willing to accommodate our vegetarian and vegan friends. It could also mean a change in the Maitre` D, the only other person we’d met and were excited about working with.

Of course I also have a tendency to assume the worst, thinking now “What else can go wrong?” and bring up all the other stupid little things that have “gone wrong.” I won’t list them all again now, but at least I know they are stupid little things and not, for example, the hotel burning down and having to find a new place at the last minute (which ironically my parents had to do…). I’m just upset because I thought all this stuff was taken care of, and now I have to go over all these details again, either through email, or over the phone, but basically instead of in person, like we already did!

The lucky numbers today are: 30, 34, & 58!

A whole bunch of people have been asking me if I’ve seen this show. While it’s not on my TiVo to-do list, I was interested to see how crazy people actually get about planning their weddings, and more so, on their actual wedding day. You hear stories, you know, of so-and-so’s friend’s cousin’s college sorority sister or something, but no one I’ve known I would actually qualify as having been a Bridezilla. I also wanted to compare to see if I was anything like these girls, or if I was actually being pretty reasonable (as I feel I have been).

Anyway, so I actually did catch the show the other evening while Kris was busy on his computer and all the TiVo’ed shows were ones we wanted to watch together. I would have to say, although my viewing of the show was limited and I don’t like to make stereotypes, that most of the bridezilla/brides-to-be were under-educated or very superficial. For example, one girl had bought boxes for her favors from ebay, and the price for them was listed in GBP (Great Britain Pounds). When she got her bill, she was pissed because the price had “changed” from 14 GBP to $65. She said she wrote to the seller about it, “Great British Pounds are great, but this is America, and I want my money back.” Clearly she had no idea about the difference in currency and exchange rates. Obviously she is not going to get a refund.

Another girl, who was not exactly in shape herself, was mad at how all the groomsmen looked in their tuxedos, and basically mandated that all of them go on diets until the wedding. Especially her groom-to-be! Then, on the car ride home, he said he was hungry…well, she pulled over and got herself fries and a milkshake, but doesn’t get anything for him - or share!

The last girl I wanted to mention did actually have a valid reason to be upset/thing to be worried about. Her entrance to the ceremony was going to be in a horse-drawn carriage (this was an outdoor ceremony) right up to the aisle. To match, her father had made a very cute little wagon-carriage for the very young flower girl to ride in. During the rehearsal, one of the wheels broke off the little wagon-carriage. The Bridezilla was freaking out that it was going to break during the actual ceremony, and that the flower girl would go tumbling and get hurt. I could definitely appreciate her concern. However, this was the same girl who made her bridesmaids redo their hairstyles literally five times and kept telling them things like, “Don’t spill anything on your dresses” while she herself was splashing champagne all over the place.