This is autumnp's Chocolate Wedding!

If didn't know on April 10th, ironically good friday, a tornado hit our town. It was only 2.5 miles away from our house and destroyed the neighbor across from us; J was at work when it hit, he was walking back into work with he heard it looked down the street while it destroyed businesses just 5 doors down. We've been so lucky; Several of our friends and co-workers have lost everything. All school were out that day so many children were left by themselves, unfortunately 2 people lost their lives that day, a mother and her 3 month old daughter.

Things are beginning to look up, houses repaired, lives put back together; however all of this would not be possible if it were not for our community. People opened their homes (and even the embassy suites) for those who lost their homes. An RV company allowed for families to stay in RVs for free on their own properties, while many..many... people helped with clean up and emotional support for everyone. Contractors are doing work for free as well. A benefit concert was held for the mother and daughter as well as a fund set up to help the husband/father pay for expenses that occured from his own i.c.u. stay, and funeral for the his family. Please keep him and others in your prayers....

This is a video done by a MTSU student, the gas station that is shown in the video is only 2 doors down from J's work----

This last semester in school was busy, and now that it is over i'm back to planning our wedding. But where the hell did my time go?? It seems like just yesterday I had a little over 100 days left, now i'm under a month, ek!

I bought our "guest book" today. I kept meaning to make a photo guest book, then ran out of time because it takes 3-4 wks to process and ship. So I bought a platter.... Where people can sign their names and best wishes to us. You guys do not want to know the price, but at least I can keep it forever on display and it won't ever go into a box.

After a long wait I finally have my dress here. Sorry there are once again no pics of me in it because the camera batteries were dead, and we didnt notice until it was time to take pictures of the dress. But i'm glad it is safely tucked away in my brother's closet, and that it is TOO big! woohoo. it being too big was a huge relief for me. I will not go and get it sized until the middle of may, it gives me a couple of more weeks to size down a bit more, or at least tone my arms up more.

We have the program fans, and so far I have included--

Our monogram, date, time, names, location on first "flap".

Second "flap" - included the ceremony events

Third "flap" -put names of the offciant, mother(s), father(s), MOH (s), BM(s), GM(s), etc...

Now I need to figure out what to put on the fourth "flap" of the fans.

What will/ did you put on your programs?

I've got my fingers crossed that it will all come through, and we get to move in in just 3 weeks!

My Dress is Finally here! The bridal store called today and said it was ready to pick up! Ahhhhh...
I ordered my dress back in September and after a long wait, I am relieved for it to finally be here! Another thing not to worry about, whew.

My mom's friend (who's daughter is getting married the week before me) bought us our first wedding gift. I was so surprised. It's our shower curtain and hooks from target. woohoo!

Whew! Another thing done; the first of our invitations were sent out on Friday, part will be sent out today, and the others (which is only about 20 more..) will be sent out on probably wednesday.
I can not wait until we get our first RSVP back. I will be thrilled!


Only 66 more days!

So, J has decided to help me deal with all the wedding things since he is no longer in school, and I am swamped with homework. SO i gave him of list of thing to be done and he asked if I had heard anything from the wedding planner and I said no. He took it upon his self to take care of that. And to my surprise today, he called me and said he had gotten in contact with her....(!!) I asked what she said and this is what he read off to me:

W,
My fiance, Autumn, and I are wondering when you will be in
touch with us regarding our wedding. We have rarely heard from you,
and we are down to almost two months to our wedding. I understand that you may be busy, but we do not want to wait till the last minute
getting this wedding ready. I believe we have discussed a few ideas
that you can do in terms of decorations, but to my knowledge, nothing
has been finalized and we are concerned that everything will not be as we planned. I am not sure the timeframe you begin to contact/ meet
your clients to discuss any final preparations and decisions, but as I
said, we are down to approx. two months to our day and we have yet to hear from you. We are beginning to believe that your have forgotten
about us. Please contact either Autumn or me, so that we can get
everything going for our wedding at your earliest convenience. Thank
you.


Her Reply Was...

Autumn has chosen not to do the all-in-one package with us..
She will only be using us for decorations.
She did come to us a few months ago( I came in a year ago this month) and finalize those. (I don't remember ever finalizing) There is nothing
else to discuss at this point until
Your 30 days before point.. At that time you can take away or add to.

We will not be helping with cake.. Catering.. Bouquets..Etc.. Because
you chose not to do that with us..
We will help coordinate your rehearsal and day of wedding if you like.. (We've already had this stated in our contract that we had coordination )
But we will not be in charge of contacting or setting up meeting with
any other vendors..

Of course we have not forgotten, Your invoice is ready and set we are
only waiting for it to get here.

The finalization is 30 prior to wedding date.. If you want to change
anything at that time you are welcome to..

You seem a little upset in the email.. there really is no need to be.
If you feel we cannot do a good job for you and you are not satisfied,
you are
Welcome to use someone else.. (this comes after our $2000 non-refundable deposit)

We are set and fine here..as it stands.
If you need to know anything décor wise or have questions about décor...
I will be here to answer you.

Please contact us through email..
That way you will have a record of all
our responses.

Just let me know what your concerns are...
If your only wondering if we
forgot.. We have most certainly not..
Sometimes clients just get a little anxious
when they are waiting for so
long for the wedding to get here..
And if you do not have an all-in-one package with us.. It will get a
little more stressful because you are
Having to deal with those "other" things yourself..

Would you like a copy of your invoice and statement with us?

W

My dress has been M.I.A. since Jan. but my mom called this week and they said that it was going to the wrong address the whole time because they switched, managers. lol not stores, but managers. They were trying to tell her that it was "shipping" still, and my mom just said, "we've heard that it has been shipping since Jan. 28th", and the lady said "oh, let me call you back..." and that is it. It was going to the old shipping address (under the old manager (???)) As a bridal place you would think they would know something was up if they didn't get any body's wedding(!) dresses in....
whew... one thing less to worry about...yay

As of Tuesday of last week Jeremy's grooms gift is being processed. I'm not so sure that it was the greatest of "fun" but they are done, and will hopefully turn out really good. I had to travel to Atlanta to have them taken, and on the way down there I hit a few road blocks. One the interstate was shut down for 10 miles to one lane, uh. This put me almost 15 mins behind then there was a accident as I entered into Georgia (this is not a surprise to me) then the off ramp was blocked by a stalled car. This put me about 30-45 mins behind. So the time i had set to get makeup done was gone, and i had to get to the photographer's quick, then.. another accident. I was 20 minutes late getting to the studio.
I don't think she was very happy about this, but i did what i could. At first it was extremely uncomfortable, she was very quiet and shy, so i found myself trying to comfort myself by trying to get her to talk. Then we began to run out of time, and she hurried me through the last couple of outfits (the ones i really...loved) but I hope it turns out for the best.
I think i was let down by the whole experience though. Thought it would be more glam, but nah..

We are headed for the north for a well needed week vacation. We were orginallly planning to go to Wisconsin because his family wanted to throw us a wedding shower however his mom could not go. So we decided to just go to Chicago instead. I'll see ya'll when we get back!


less than 3 months now!!

It's been a while since i got to post because my laptop has been gone. but The DIY Harry Potter garter is done! I'm quite excited about it because I didn't think I would be able to do something like this, however it turn out well. My dress is so lacey and elegant and J loves harry potter so it should be fun to see his face when he sees this. I'm in the process of making the pepsi (yes, pepsi, the drink) garter. This is an inside joke and is quite meaningful for it to be the "toss away" garter.

If anyone out there needs one made or needs directions on how to make one yourself email me, i'm happy to share.

I was sitting in my Intercultural Communications class yesterday, and they brought up weddings! ohhh man...I couldn't stop myself from talking about weddings, my wedding.

The topic then switched to how other cultures do not put a limit on their wedding guests; the entire town can come. This then started down the ugly path of what us on here call Budget. Of course we can not have every baby's mommas come to our weddings to fed them alone would cost a ton! Then on top of that the venuees have restrictions here because of fire codes, etc.

So, I could not shut up. I do not get to talk about the wedding much to people, because they really don't care. And the people that are suppose to care, I really don't want to talk to them because they already know pretty much everything. Lol it's a catch 22, what can i say. ha!

am i being a baby????

Today i went to the tanning bed, and low and behold i see no one other than my long...lost wedding planner. As soon as i saw her i said, "hi, how's it going? It about time to start planning my wedding don't you think?" ( kidding, but serious on the other hand) and she response, " am i planning your wedding? [giggles] what's your name?" and from there i just turned and walked away.

I've paid her a lot of money not for her to forget my name, and other than that my wedding! I understand that she see a lot of people, and probably does quite a few weddings. but uh... you shouldnt respond to a client that way, at least fake that you know them!
Yet if you are new to this story read the blogs below to find out more.

bitchy-ness a side.... It's almost in the double digits and yet no word from:

The Bridal Gallery where i purchased my dress at.
And apparently no word from the wedding planner/ cor-od....

Is this a omen of things to come??

On a bright side- I did get a fabulous tan today. And I have a wonderful working relationship with the photographers, caterers, wedding venue planner, and the florist! ***sigh***

Hey girls- I have been missing for about a week now due to the fact that my laptop decided to quit working. Luckily, it had just been recalled for that same problem and is in the process of getting fixed! yay! I working off of my school's computers at the moment and man... do i miss my own computer! Anyways...

I still have not received my gown yet; i'm going to give it a few more days before i start getting upset about it.

I sent in the last check to pay off the caterer. woohoo.

We are also in the process of switching the honeymoon down to Mexico. It's a bit more cost-friendly right now.

I have Still not heard from our wedding planner!!! I emailed her and call, no word. grrr.

But the upside, We're almost in the double digits!! awhahah..so exciting. That's it ladies; not much but.. ya know

A few days ago, my grandmother's behaviors began to become strange. To make a long story short, my grandfather tried to wake her on tuesday and could not wake her. He called 911 and she was taken to the hospital. They have ran test and concluded that she has a UTI and they would keep her for a few days. I went to visit her last night and she didn't even know i was in the room. She began to mumble about my younger cousin, fusing at her dog and cat. Then she laid back down drifted off for a moment and then woke back up and she was normal....a little sickly but she was making sense. She got up and came sat next to me and talked. Then she drifted again and said she was sleepy. She began to mumble...and the weird behavior began all over again. I have to mention that she was not drugged at these moments! There is no explainantion of why she has began to act like this, but the doctors are calling it a UTI?!?!? eh..no. I don't think enough test have been ran to say that it is just a UTI.

I am just beside myself. She is the only grandma that i have. and i need her to make it through this. Please keep her and my grandpa in your prayers and thoughts. Thanks girls!


*******UPDATE: My grandmother is doing much better. Not everything is resolved however, she went home on Friday afternoon. The doctors discovered that her potassium had nose-dived causing her electrolytes to mess up, the problem is that can not figure out why her body is burning through that much potassium. Thanks you all you ladies who cared and kept my family in your thoughts! ***********

This past week i got in my favor boxes and the bracelet.

First, the boxes are the perfect size. I was a little worried that they may have been too small (2X2X2) and even as i pulled them out of the box i was still apprehensive. I folded and put them together and..perfect.


Secondly, I am in LOVE with my bracelet. omg. thank you again futuremrsniemann.

I ordered more outfits for the boudoir shots. I must admit, i'm a bit obsessed with these boudoir pictures. I just can't wait, and even with them just a little over a month away i'm still nervous of how they might turn out. But at least I will have enough outfits to change into!

If you need ideas for outfits check out this blog:

http://frankufotoslingerie.blogspot.com/2007/11/gemma-atkinsons-amazing-architecture.html

I think we all are very excited to see her day come. She has been such a great help and inspiration to us all here on WBC. I'm hoping that everything worked out perfectly for her in Mexico, and can not wait for her return so we can see the pictures and hear all about it.

This dress can be worn so.. many different ways. Its pricey($198- 239), but it's something that is flattering for curvy or thin women (fits 0 to 16). And- they can wear it over and over again! Thought it was a cool dress but the only down fall is..the price.

http://www.butterbynadia.com/care.html

Check out 1928 jewelry.

You can find it in several places: ebay, craigslist, amazon, etsy, and 1928.com

You can also find it in stores like JCpenney, Target, and Dillards, etc.

It's beautiful jewelry at an alright price. They even have bridal jewelry.

Thanks ladies for your input on the jewelry. I've decided to go with silver (or white gold) jewelry for my dress.


I found this bracelet on ebay, a huge Thank You to futuremrsniemann!! Thank you again.

i've bought some silver earring for my dress. however i keep thinking there is something better out there. My dress is champange and ivory, Would you where silver(or white gold) or gold (yellow gold) with a dress this color?

i was suppose to go to my first fitting on the 29th of January, when i got to the store however my dress was not there!!!

I about had a bridezilla moment, my first ever.

I've paid my money, they set up the fitting date (the 29th), and i showed up to get fitted. So where is my dress??

Still getting made.

They couldn't call? save me some trouble of driving 45 minutes just to turn around and go home empty handed?

They told me that the dress is to ship out on the 10th of february, and it will take 7 days to get to tennessee. so we're look at the 27th of february until i get my dress, almost an entire month..after they set up my fitting appointment!

If this doesn't sound like a mother yelling at her kids i don't know what. Thanks Senator Claire, couldn't have spun a better guilt trip myself!! lol

For me the planning process was a small wake up call. Reality of costs attached, (1) like the venues. It cost more money to hold an outdoor wedding than an indoor wedding. (2) wedding planning is never like the movies; meaning not everyone is excited as you want them to be about Your wedding.

I have learned many things from WBC: birdcage veils, DAMASK (ha!), buck and doe(s), the beauty of monograms, and many DIY projects shared by b2b on this website. OH and to never..ever..order BM dresses online from lightinthebox.com, lol!

So what are some things that you didn't know about before you began planning? Lessons Learned?

Found a deal on papermart.com. I bought 150 favor boxes for $40. Now we just need ribbons (which i think i have) and tags. I'm going to order j's (sour patch kids) and my (chocolate covered gummi bears) favorite candies and put them in the boxes. His will have a different colored tag or ribbon from mine. I ordered enough boxes for everybody to have more than one if they want.

I knew a few songs that i wanted played during the ceremony and few for the reception, but 4 hours worth of songs? no. So what i did was, i added a song request card to my rsvps! Here is what it says:

"We want our reception to be a celebration of us and the people we love and are sharing the day with, please request a song or two that may remind you of us, or one that you would like to hear!"

Hopefully our guest will have fun with this and we'll get a big response!