Weddings on the Brain!

I've worked like the dickens all week at work and managed NOT to get side-tracked by wedding stuff. I was REALLY distracted by wedding planning stuff since probably the day Ryan put this ring on my finger and I think it came back to bite me in the ass because this week all these deadlines crept up on me. I was not at all happy with myself! It's also my 6-month self-assessment time at work so all this could not have come at a worse time. Oh, and I had some 'feminine issues' going on as well. So here Friday is tomorrow and the new Harry Potter book comes out, yeay! We're also going to Shane and Tammy's wedding down in Blacksburg and I can't wait. We have another wedding in two weeks we're going to as well. So that is why I have weddings on the brain. It was actually sorta nice to not have to think about my wedding for a week, not that I DIDN'T think about it but it was the first time in a while that I didn't feel CONSUMED by it. But I really need to get my act together I think.

So last weekend when we went home, I got a lot of "color" things done for the wedding. I went to David's Bridal and got a shoe-dye swatch of the plum. The plum looks a bit darker on satin material than on the other material so it looks really dark when I show it to people. I also picked up a bunch of paint swatches from Home Depot. I picked some up from the Ralph Lauren display because it was the closest thing to me and chose a few. The ones Ryan and I decided on were Hunter Orange, Nairobi Dusk, and British Racing Green. The colors on the website look nothing like the swatches so it's not even worth posting.

I also went to the Garden Ridge back home and visited their MASSIVE silk florals section. I came home with these beautiful orange gerber daisies and some flowers I THOUGHT were purple at the store but when I took them home they had a bit more of a red tint to them. I was disappointed but happy to find the orange. My dad even thought they were real and urged me to put them in water. Hee hee!

I also went and tried on some more dresses. I'm pretty much sold on a champagne-colored dress. I'll have a whole separate post/blog section just for my dress search so don't you fret!

Extreme Makeover Anyone?

So, um, I found this e-mail in my mailbox stating:

"Hello there! ... Sorry for busting in like this, but hear me out...I am a producer with a popular prime time Network reality show and we are looking for engaged couples getting married in 2006. In searching for candidates, I ran into your blog and discovered that you are getting married and would love to have a dream wedding at no cost to you. Sounds like you might be a match! In reading your blog, I also found that you are a very deserving person, which is high on the list of what we expect from our cast members. Email me and I'll fill you in on the scoop. Basically, you and your fiance might have a chance at a fairy tale dream wedding, all expenses paid! Key here is that both of you would have to undergo a makeover before walking down the aisle. Email me at _____@exmcasting if you're interested in hearing more about this opportunity. FYI - I have no clue if you or your fiance could use a makeover, but it is a popular 'to do' item on many brides' 'to do' list!"

So after reading this incredulously to Ryan I decided to research. The 'popular prime time Network' is ABC and the 'reality show' is Extreme Makeover. (Yes, they do Extreme Home Makeover, too). It even states on their website that they are looking for an engaged couple getting married in 2006.

Ok, a makeover is nice and all but SURGERY!?!?! I don't want to have plastic surgery done! It's a nice idea and all but a lot of the people they've had on their show look COMPLETELY different. Check it out for yourself! http://abc.go.com/primetime/extrememakeover/

Sure, I'd love to have permanent hair removal so that I don't ever have to shave ever again and some dermatology treatment would be nice but I don't want to look like a completely different person. I'm quite happy with the way that I look. Sure, I could use some improvement but I don't want to look completely different! I told my mom all this and she's like, "Ask them if they can do Moms, too!"

I think it's crazy that they solicited me via e-mail! For one thing, they found me on my anonymous blog and left me a message since basically that's the only way to get in touch with me on that blog. It's just so freakin' crazy!

Onward! ... Kinda

Well, Ryan and I met with the lady at the Contemporary Art Center of Va this afternoon. Yes, we were just here Monday but Ryan really wanted to meet with her pretty quickly. We have had to change our date from the 16th to the 30th to accomodate both the church and both of our potential reception sites. More time to plan!

The lady, Irene, was really nice! She really had a lot to say about anything and everything. She was a sweet, German lady who has coordinated a lot of events at the CACV. She had a good idea of who was a good caterer to have based on what other brides and even people who work the events at CACV told her. While we were meeting with her they were setting up a ceremony and reception for later that evening. Black Angus was the caterer for that reception as well as for the reception that we peeked in at on July 2nd. They are definitely a contender!

Ryan's concern about CACV is that there is no holding room for the bridal party. To me that is not such a big deal but to him it is. I really am glad that he is playing a pretty active role in all this because I know he has a certain standard that he wants met and I think he is best and picking and choosing what it is that he wants. He thinks I'm indecisive about things but generally I am not. It's just that when it comes to things that concern him too I have to take extra consideration and even second guess because he likes/wants things a certain way. There's no fault at wanting perfection . . . at least at this stage in the game. Talk to me in about a year and see if I'm still this cheery.

But we're pretty much set on CACV. We're holding the 30th right now at both CACV and the Chrysler Museum in Norfolk. As beautiful as Chrysler is we think that the CACV is a bit more 'us'.

Since at both places we get to provide our own alcohol I stopped at the liquor store at the Norfolk Naval base to check on prices since I was having lunch with Joy on the base anyway. You gotta love cheap, tax-free alcohol! There should be more than enough for everyone.

I also stopped at David's Bridal to get a swatch on their plum color since I will be using that for the bridesmaid dresses. I'm just going to let them choose their own but it has to be in THAT color at David's Bridal. The other colors for the wedding are going to be a hunter/forest green and orange for things like the flowers and leaves. We are also going for an Autumn motif so I've been having a lot of fun looking at things for that. I can't wait for all the Fall decoration stuff to go on sale!!!

Ryan and I have also been crunching numbers behind the scenes but we're both really excited for everyone to join in our special day . . . more updates to come!