This is mandmstay's Green Wedding!

Less than 3 months to the wedding and it feels like I should be doing something for the wedding. This weekend I spent some time on the net doing a little shopping for bridal party gifts. I definately have a few great ideas for the whole party. But I know a few of them read my blog...so I don't want to ruin the surprise. Let's just say I got all the girls something to wear, and they are all specalized...so I'm excited about that one to give them at the rehersal dinner. As far as everyone else. I usually stear clear of those magazines that try to sell you everything that's engraved to give out as gifts. I think they are all a little hokey, and aren't really all that special. But as far as the flower girls go...they are truly girly girls...so I found on exclusively weddings catalog, this cute pink and purple purse that you can have their name stitched on there, and it comes with a ballerina doll! Super cute, and I think that Lily and Braelyn will love them! Jennifer and LeeRoy, my aunt and uncle who are doing the readings, will be given the Viking trolls. I think they will LOVE these too, as they are collectors of such cool things! I've got about 8 rows left on the blanket I am crocheting for my parents as their gift....I've been working on this one over 4 months! As far as the bridal party goes. I've picked out all the girls jewelry to give them, as well as a nice bottle of wine. The guys, including the ushers will be getting a new pair of black socks and a bottle of their favorite booze. I'm stuck on ideas for the junior groomsmen and the ring bearer right now....but I think I'll just go a little shopping when I go home in a few weeks! Something they can play with the night before will be perfect....better than something that they get to wear, or put on their dresser as a nicknack! Still have to figure out Brandon's gift...as I want to get him something really special....we'll see what comes to me in a dream! I've still been having a lot of them lately!

My inital thought was that if we were going to have a registry, that we would do it at an upper end department store, so we could ask for things like a set of china, and pots and pans and alllll that good stuff that you drool over when you walk around those stores and wish you could have. So I tried signing up with at Macy's. They had a pretty poor website and they were going through a transition period and we ran into a lot of complications and then they actually sent me an email saying that if I didn't update my account that they would drop me. Well...let's just say, I don't like people telling me what I can, and what I can't do. So I dropped them like a bad habit and went onto phase 2. Target.com it is. Such a great website. Very userfriendly, and free shipping if you buy things online....which is key for us, considering I'm trying to let my guests know that if they can ship gifts, that it would be great, considering we have no way to get our gifts home. With the wedding being held in MN and our home being in NC...how the heck would we get everything home??? It's not like airlines are a good option considering every bag you check now costs you extra $! So, with my invites that are going out in a few weeks...i put a little note in there explaining that we were registered at Target, but please consider shipping gifts to our current address in NC.
The other problem that we're running into, is that Brandon and I have been living in our house now for almost 3 years. In those 3 years we have purchased almost everything we need to live. I feel guilty almost asking for new things, especially when we already have them! I've decided against a pretty set of china, since I would love to have my Mom's someday! A new set of pots and pans are a must, along with more silverware, more dishes that we currently have....and I guess we're just embelishing things that we've always wished we had. I really doubt that someone is going to purchase the $500 patio set that I registered for last night....but I guess you never know! In the end...I'm hoping that a lot of people think that shipping gifts might be a little too much work, and would rather give us a card with a little somethin somethin inside in which we could decide what we want to do with it....if you get my drift!!!
In the meantime...getting Brandon to sit down at the computer and try to help me figure out what we really need, is going to be a struggle...but we want to get the brunt of it done before the invites go out. With the weather being as nice as it is this spring, and with us working crazy hours....it's going to be a stuggle. Wish us luck!!!

David Gray: 1st dance
Cake: Garter Toss
Bachman-Turner Overdrive: Bouquet Toss
Bob Marley: Father/Daughter Dance
Michael Franti and Spearhead: Bridal Party Dance
Al Green: Parent's dance
The Cure: Cake cutting
Right Said Fred: BRANDON'S SONG!

Things just got a bit more scary...less than 100 days until the wedding!!! Priorities need to be listed and I'm not really sure where to start. I've got one last trip home before the wedding and that's not until the end of April. I guess here's the beginning of the "to do" list to get done when I'm home.
#1: Get the marriage license, #1 priority!!! This is going to be a big run-around since they won't give me the actual license without both of us there, I have to get a piece of paper for Brandon to sign and get notorized down here, mail it back, where they send me the real one after the waiting period, then I have to mail it to our pastor so he can finalize things....AHHH.
#2: Meet with Craig and Monica about catering and nail down all last minute questions!
#3: Meet with Cindy to discuss wedding ceremony music.
#4: Meet with Geyer Rental to finalize ALL rentals!
#5: 2nd dress fitting with Nancy. It better fit better this time around!
#6: Set up cake tasting with Anna's Cakes.
#7: Plant hanging baskets and window boxes with annuals.
#8: Shop with Mom for wedding day outfit for her.

Finally #9: Enjoy my bridal shower/bachelorette party!!!!

I know I didn't fall asleep last night thinking about the wedding, but I did fall asleep right after talking to Mom on the phone. Turns out that I had a horrible dream about a tornado on the farm. I remember standing in the middle of the yard when we could start seeing the funnels develop north of the chicken coop. So I remember trying to run as fast as I could out to the barn, but it's one of those dreams where your legs just don't move fast enough! My brother was yelling at me to hurry up when I finally got to the door, opened it up and the cows were missing, not sure where they were. But anyhow, the first 6 cows have collars and get buckled into their stalls, so we buckled ourselves to the stall by our beltbuckles and laid down in the stall. All the glass broke out of the windows and the wind was crazy, but gone seconds later. We walked outside and shingles were everywhere....but I remember noticing that the Elm tree that we are getting married under was perfectly fine...and phewww for that. What a stupid thing to worry about . I hate dreaming about things going wrong up there...it's silly to even think about. I'm beyond the point of thinking that everything is going to go perfectly smooth for the wedding....so hopefully no more bad dreams!

It seems so darn official now. Everything is in writing!!! Times, dates, names...the whole shabang! The blog says 106 days to go....I'm assuming this spring is going to fly by like no tomorrow. A bit on the scary side, since my wedding funds are a bit tight right now. I'm still doing good with the budget though. Everything is paid for in full, minus the rentals and the food. Not too shabby if you ask me! Too bad they are the most expensive items left on the table! Tighten up those purse strings Michelle!!!!

We'll start with the airfare. I've been banking a lot of time off at work over the past year. I didn't go home for xmas last year, which killed me, but it's paying off in the end. I started looking for airfare to get home for the wedding. An average price to get home is usually around $300, for a roundtrip, nonstop flight. Since I have to buy my ticket, Brandon's ticket, and a ticket for his mom, this is gonna add up quick! I've been checking Delta everyday now for the past 2 months, since I've finally nailed down the days that I can take off...$395 was the lowest I've been finding for weeks now!!! I can't afford this stuff. I mean, how's the budget gonna look after spending this, just to get to my own wedding!!!! Grrrr. So last Thursday I had to come into work early to get the Tea Pavilion set up for a ceremony, when I snuck inside quick to check emails and whatnot. I decided that I would check delta real quick to see what the daily price was....OMG...$270!!! So I snactched up those tickets, without even calling Brandon about it because I've never ever ever flown home for less than that! It's awesome...so now I can stop freaking out about spending $1200 to get us all there, and relax with saving a killing!
Dates I'm going home....I'm headed there on the 17th of June, that's what, 10 days before the big day. I hope that's enough time to get some stuff done around the house and help out as much as I can. I guess I have to rely more on mom for getting a lot of the little stuff done. Brandon and his mom are flying in on the Wed. night before. This gives him some time to unwind and relax before the big day. Then Treva's flying out the day after the wedding, and we're sticking around until the 4th of July with a small honeymoon in northern MN...check the previous posting about the honeymoon spot! That's a total of 18 days at home for my wedding....oh man...and 18 days away from the heat and humidity of the south!!!!!

The day of transportation....all of the girls will start off the morning already at the farm, so we won't need any rides. Brandon and all the guys will be at the hotel in St. Cloud getting ready. I've booked a guy called The Fun Van to pick them all up at 11:30 and he's booked for 2 hours for only $150! It's a better option than having my brothers truck covered in sheetrock to get them in their tuxes! The van will stop at a park for some pics and then hit up Rolly's for one drink before they head on out to the farm. If they are there by 1:30, that's plenty of time for some pics of them on the farm...hopefully the girls will be done by then. There is no way that I'm seeing Brandon before the ceremony....so that's not an option! Now, things are really starting to sink in and start feeling real. Oh man....110 days to go!

I made the decision last week to finally go ahead and buy a cake topper. Since my mom is buying me my wedding cake as a gift from her for our wedding, I decided that spending a little bit on the cake wouldn't be a big deal. Logged on to my favoritest website in the world, etsy.com, to find a woman in Washington State who makes cake toppers look exactly like the couple. She sculpts them out of clay and then paints them. Considering that I'm having two receptions I thought it would be a neat idea to use it and then always have as a keepsake. The thought of cheesiness came across my mind a few times in the process....but hell, I am chessy. I sent her a few photographs of the two of us, with Brandon's famous tuxedo tshirt that he wears to EVERY wedding reception that we are invited to, and sent her pics of his tattoos that I want showing. I picked a few props...he's holding a wrench, I'm holding a gardening trowel and a bouquet with flowers that will be painted to match my actual bouquet. I even sent her detailed pics of my dress, and she's going to do a great job. So anyhooo...here is a pic of her initial sketch of what our topper is going to look like. I can totally see Brandon in it...it's going to be awesome! Another thanks to etsy.com!

So I have some of the most talented cousins in the world...ranging from construction to mechanics to you name it. I was talking to my cousin Nick at my sisters wedding when I was mentioning a few things that were still on my to-do list for my wedding. The building of an arbor came up in the convo and he said that he would be more than happy to build me an arbor, one that could be made into a swing for mom and be left on the farm. Turns out that he called me today and said that he finished it last weekend. It only took him 6 hours to constuct the very thing that we'll be married under in less than 120 days!!! I'm so excited to see it. He'll have it in place when I go home in April so Mom and I can paint it white and then plant the flowers around it and get a few hanging baskets for the sides of the arbor. Thanks a bazillion Nick! I love it.

Sooooo...this deal was too good to be true. Brandon was working in the garage one night when one of our neighbors (whom we never met before) popped his head into the garage and was curious about Brandon's hot rod. Turns out that he invited Brandon over to his place to see what he had in his garage. It's a freakin C-10 Shortbed, 1967...THE truck I've always wanted...ok...so i was really lookin for a 68...but damn it's close. Anyhoo...so this guy Chad, really nice guy, wants to sell his truck because his daughter needs braces. Brandon came home with this silly ass grin on his face saying that he wants me to come and see it. Well...when all is said and done, I bought the truck. It's in need of some good old TLC and a paint job and a few odds and ends under the hood...but it's truly a solid truck. I'm glad I bought it...it's a good investment for me. Really good deal, but the wedding budget will be feeling it the next few months when most of my big payments are left to pay.
As for the plans for the wedding. So some couples have one of their engagment shots blown up and they have it at their ceremony for guests to sign...I always thought that would be a little weird to have a pic. of us hanging above our fireplace. So...what I want to do is have Ashley (our photographer) over to our place in May, when Brandon has the body of his chevelle done, and we have pose by it, and my new truck. Guests can sign a blown up pic of us by our chevy's and then we can hang it in the garage....so I won't be too weirded out by that. Sounds like a plan to me!