This is aymekae's Red Wedding!

Okay, we've done a lot of changing of plans in the last few weeks. I finally decided to compromise on the BBQ wedding. I decided that we could have a great casual wedding in his parent's backyard for 1/3 of the cost. Even from there, we have changed it further. I think we're going to go back to Persian food catered, but still have a casual wedding. This means no caterer, coordinator, servers, or bar. We'll have nice plastic tableware and provide the alcohol and other beverages ourselves. I'm getting really excited.

After talking to my sister (and randomly finding the perfect dress) I am back on track to do my planning.

We may have changed the date of our wedding though. This weekend has reached 111 degrees here (that I know of) and it's been miserable. Any weekend next summer could have the same problem, and since we are set on having an outdoor wedding/reception, this weighed heavily on our minds. We were also talking about moving our honeymoon from July to September or October because of cheaper prices and better weather. The more we talked about it, the better a September wedding sounded. I like this for several reasons. I have 2 more months to plan and save money. It will be cooler weather (with perhaps a slight chance of rain.) Honeymoon will be cheaper, and the theme parks less crowded. Then I got to thinking about future anniversary vacations. What is the best time of year to go on most vacations? Definitely not summer. Maybe spring, but spring 2008 is too soon, and spring 2009 is too far away. So September 20 may be our new date. I won't change it till it's official. Since we're having it almost for sure in his parent's backyard, we can choose any damn day we please.

My sister also got me thinking about flowers. I want red roses. I don't want expensive, elaborate floral decorations all over the place that guests barely notice and appreciate, and that die within a day or two. I'm hoping to decorate without flowers. So it would just be bridal bouquet, bridesmaid bouquet, boutonnières for 4, corsages for 3. I think that's it. So I don't think roses will kill my budget for that little amount. Plus, she talked about using cheaper, white flowers for everyone besides me. I liked that, till I thought of Lesley (my only bridesmaid) having a red dress and cream roses. Mmmm. I'm excited. Anyway, flower planning doesn't really come till a lot later. And now that we're moving back the date (possibly) and have pretty much ruled out places that charge just to be there for a few hours, I'm stressing less about the big stuff, and I'm getting really excited about all the little stuff.

This main photo is me... my 2 sisters spent close to 2 hours individually curling (and might I add frying) each of those curls for my high school graduation over 4 years ago. This is probably the best hair day I've ever had, and it lasted not only through graduation, but a bus ride to Grad Nite at Disneyland, and 6 hours of dancing. It still looked good enough the next morning.

Anyway, my point is, I hate my straight hair, and I never expend the effort to make it look very good. I love my hair curly with ringlets. I'm pretty sure I'll have an updo, loosely based on the other examples I have. (And take a close look at that last one... wow!)

I was planning on getting it professionally done along with my make-up, but my sister offered to do it for me. She not only created the look on the left, she has done my hair for other occasions as well. I think I'll try it out.

I'll still get my face done professionally, though. I'm horrible at it, and I don't know anyone I trust enough to do it. I've always wanted the salon make-over (blame it on TLC's A Makeover Story, lol.)

I found it tonight! I was perusing some message boards, trying to get feel for renting a dress, when one user mentioned that Bari Jay bridesmaids dresses come in white, too, and some make perfectly lovely wedding dresses. That was fine with me, since I have no desire to have a big poofy dress with a train (and it doesn't have to be very big to be considered poofy to me).

Anyway, I was clicking on thumbnails, and when I saw this one, I said, "Oooh" out loud. The gathered material at the top is exactly what I've been looking for, and for some reason I haven't been able to find. The small sash is perfect, and I can make it any two colors I want. I'm thinking red and cream, though I'm not sure. I continued going through the dresses and found the similar tea-length dress I may use as my maid of honor's dress. I don't know though... how can I spend the same amount on both dresses? Hehe.

Luckily, there is a store not two blocks from my apartment that carries Bari Jay dresses, so hopefully they'll have a dress in my size to try on. I found it online somewhere for $133, so I can try it on in person, then order it where ever it's cheapest.

This has been a good day for wedding planning.

Within 3 days of getting engaged, I already had my honeymoon in mind. I've thought about it for years, but it wasn't until the wedding became a reality that I realized my mind is made up, and it wasn't even a consideration before.
First, we talked about going on a Caribbean cruise, and flying to Florida. Since I have never even been to the east coast, I was getting really excited just to be going there. I said, "We can't fly all the way to Floriday and not do anything." So we started talking about spending a few days at Walt Disney World (WDW). The more we talked about it, the more excited I got, and realized we can't just spend two days there. Always budget-conscious, we realized we could only do one: the cruise or WDW. The cruise was crossed out quickly enough, because of the size of the rooms, and a few other details. I became fixated on Florida, then, and researched the website like crazy.

I am now convinced that this is where we are going. I am planning a vacation that is around a 6 night stay, in either a moderate or deluxe resort (according to their designations) with 5 days park hopper tickets including the water parks and more, and hopefully a few extra indulgences. I have also discovered Disney World Honeymoon Registry. We can pick what we want (including hotel and tickets) and guests can choose what they help pay for in manageable increments. This means we can get the vacation I've always dreamed of at a fraction of the price to us. Who needs another toaster anyway?

Update: The honeymoon is officially planned for September 11-19. We'll be staying at the Wilderness Lodge Resort for 6 nights, and then renting a car and driving to Cape Canaveral to visit the Kennedy Space Center for 2 nights. Because we're waiting 2 months, we're also going to Disneyland for 2 days right after the wedding, and staying at Park Vue Inn (directly across from the park entrance) and I splurged on a jacuzzi room!

So we found out a few weeks ago that we could get a cat in our apartment. We soon found an adorable gray and white tabby at the Pasadena Humane Society, but we had to wait several days to get her. Unbeknownst to me, Ben had decided this would be the perfect time to propose. So he very slyly confirmed the type of ring I wanted, and bought it. He had an appointment to pick it up at 2:00 on Saturday, August 11. He also told me we couldn't pick up our cat until 3:00. His "appointment" was to meet with a coworker about how to help her while she was out of town. I had no idea, of course. Anyway, he asked if he could sit in the backseat while I drove home so that he could hold our kitten. I agreed, even though I thought it was odd. He explained that there was more room back there. Anyway, while I drove, he attached the ring to a pink ribbon, and loosely tied it around her neck. We got home, and he took her out of the box. "Amelia Kae West, will you marry me?" as he handed our kitten to me. Stupidly, my first words were, "Are you joking?" I had not seen the ring at that point. So he showed me that around her neck was a white gold, princess-cut diamond ring. He claims that I just stood there looking at it for a few seconds. Then I said, "Oh, yes!" I was thinking, "What do you do when you just get engaged?" So I tried to lean over and kiss him, but forgot that we had a slightly scared new kitty in our arms between us, so it was kind of awkward. We set her down, and then kissed properly. One of the next things I stupidly uttered was, "I haven't even showered today!" Lol. It was perfect, though, and a complete surprise to me.