Much needed help

Yesterday Kerry called me and accepted my invitation to be a bridesmaid. So now I have a full bridal party - I think. I have not been able to get a hold of my brother. If I don't hear from him soon, I am going to assume, he's not going to be in the wedding. He can't even call me back? or email me back? or anything? ugh.

Anyways, so I was talking to Kerry and she was talking about all the stuff that the bridesmaids help with - like addressing invites and stuff. It just makes me happy because my family hasn't had time or want to really help with anything.

So now I have help and thats what I needed and wanted.. I'm so excited. :)

Yarn

A picture of my Little "Angels"

William and Harry playing with yarn.. check out Harrys face! Priceless.

dress hunting

So I was looking on the website today to get the style number for the dress I like. I figure if i could call around and see if anyone could give it to me for cheaper.

Well its no longer on their website anymore, which makes me wonder if its just gone? or what the deal is with that?

http://www.venusbridal.com/cgi-bin/description.asp?dress=K003W&dressline=VenusWoman

Soo..

While clicking through pictures looking for the dress, I found this one:





Its oh so pretty. :)

Happy Anniversary

Happy 4 year anniversary to me and Aaron. Today is the anniversary of our first date.

:)

We went out to dinner on a rainy December night (and its raining right now too), I was running late of course. Then we watched Bruce Almighty.

maybe not

I sent Aaron how much the dress would cost, and he said he has to "think" about it. He said he would pay the difference between what Jenn would pay and I hope he doesn't back out.

Dress decision

I sent my sister all the information and I think I'm going to get this dress.





I'm worried about a couple of things though -
1. What if going up a size doesn't fix the whole cleavage thing? Do I really want that much cleavage on my wedding day. Its much worse in person
2. I don't really like the butt ruffles.

I think the dress looks nice on me though :)

Bridal party - check!

How I chose the remaining bridesmaids. I didnt really do it by who I've seen the most or who I've been friends with longest. I chose the remaining two by who was most excited and happy. I do not regret this decision because I need some people around me at my wedding and in the planning that is excited and happy for me! I asked Kerry and Rachel who went dress shopping with me on Saturday. Kerry has gone several times already, and Rachel was really excited about going and now is super excited to be in the wedding. I forgot to give Kerry her card when she left on Saturday, so I mailed it to her. I didn't want to give it to them when I was with them, so that they didn't feel pressured to say yes. Especially with other people around. So I gave Rachel her card when we dropped her off and I meant to give Kerry hers when she dropped me off, but I forgot because we were running late and etc. So I mailed it to her. So as of right now I have 4.. and hopefully Kerry will be the fifth one.

Right now I have:
Maya - Best Friend who is making my life hell by insisting on Black Dresses.
Jenn - Sister who lives in New York, so she can't help with anything
Donna - Cousin with a new baby - almost a year, so she has no time at all
Rachel - My next door neighbor in the dorms and friend who is genuinely excited for me
and hopefully Kerry.

I went back and forth about asking Kerry, because I was friends with her friend Chrissie first, but honestly, I haven't seen Chrissie as much as Kerry lately. I know Chrissie has a daughter in 3rd grade and she never has any money, but I know she'd would still be a bridesmaid if I asked her... So I didn't know if I should ask Kerry, but I did. So hopefully Chrissie isn't upset with me. I could do the processional this way and have an extra bridesmaid:

Jenn and Mitch
Donna and Tom
Chrissie and Andy
Kerry and Shaun
Rachel and Dave
Maya and Isabella

or Isabella (flower girl) walks in alone
and Maya walks in after her.

It might be a good idea to leave that option available if Maya needs to walk Bella in.

Then again Dave (Aaron's Dad) could walk in with Aaron and we'd still have a bridesmaid left to walk alone in the processional?

I think the girls should buy their dresses in February. The lady at the shop said it takes 3 months for their dresses to come in, This way, they would get them in May and have all summer to figure out where to get them altered. They would also have a good leeway to make sure that if something happens to the dresses, like what happened to mine for my sisters wedding (it had to be sent back and fixed), they would have ample time to get it fixed, not be rushing last minute - like I was with my sisters wedding.

Checks!

7 months down - 10 more to go...

I think we've done a lot in the last 7 months. Can you believe that it has been 7 months already?!?!?

I think a lot of what we have accomplished has been in the last month. Mostly it is just finalizing things. We have been shopping around for this stuff for months.

Here is our list of things we have finalized.

Most recently:

Caterer - Medittereanean / Greek Food
Cake - 3 tiered round cake with 1 layer of white and 2 layers of chocolate with various fillings.
Dress - I found one I like, I still have to order it though... I'm waiting to hear back from my sister about the cost. The total with tax and everything is a little over her budget, so I'm kind of anticipating that Aaron might have to pitch in some.
Attendants - I finally have all 5 of my bridesmaids to match all 5 of Aarons.. I think. I sent out little cards to people and we'll see if they all respond favorably.


Also done:

Venue - Charming Vineyard with a garden and gazebo
Bar - The venue provides an open bar for 4 hours
DJ - We have a DJ that works with the iPod to provide an affordable option for music
Minister - We booked a Pastor from a local community church. He's non-denominational and won't make the ceremony religious.

Done but not booked:
Florist

Left to Do:
Decide on Ceremony Musicians
Photographer
Decide on a cake design
Decide on a floral design
Decide on Bridesmaid Dresses
Decide on colors
etc, etc...

Bridesmaid Dress shopping

Pictures from today of my friends trying on Bridesmaids dresses.

Kerry
1


2

3

4

5

6

7


Rachel:
8


Rachel and Kerry:
9 and 10

11 and 12

Dress shopping in San Jose

Pictures of wedding dresses from today at Bay Area Bridal

Dress #1 - Mori Lee




Dress #2 - Venus