This is maria2009's Black Wedding!

Well everything went so well. I had one issue with my hair during the ceremony. The ribbons on my mask got tangled in my hair as I was trying to take it off. But other then that everything was perfect. The food was great, everyone was dancing and having a great time...I think we could have used a bigger dance floor with as many people that were dancing. There were so many people taking photos and the ones I've seen so far are great. I can't wait to see all the others. Here is one.

So things are coming together nicely. We've got just about all the RSVP's back. I got my corset in the mail last week. The measurements for the tuxs are turned in. I know what my flowers will look like. I know where I'm ordering the roses from. I know who's paying for them. I know where the table overlays are being ordered from. The rings will be in next week. We've talked with the cater and will have our estimate sometime this week. Just got to figure out how I'm paying for all the food. I still need to get my dress taken up a bit and decide if I want new shoes or not. Dance class starts next week. I know what I want to do for the table numbers and place cards, now I just need to do it. Grooms gift has arrived. Gotten gifts for mothers. Have got a list of who will be setting up the reception. Have talked with the photographers, we have 3...at least. For all that I'm prepared I still feel like I'm missing something...oh yeah, I have no clue what kind of music to play before the ceremony or what I want to walk down the aisle to. I know I want something different, but have no clue what. Any suggestions?

My dress came in a few weeks ago and its perfect. Even better them the picture. I'm so very happy. I can't wait to wear it. I order the masks for the wedding as well. They should arrive next week. The mask shown is the one my FH will be wearing except for in silver. My computer is having trouble loading the other pics. We got the wedding favor masks in last week and they look good. Everything is slowly coming together.

Okay computer finally worked...The first pic is FH mask, but will be silver. The second is mine, it will be black. The third is for the MH(my sister) and BM(his brother). The forth is for the rest of the wedding party.

So after surfin' the net late one night I changed my mind about the dress I want. I came across this great dress site. They have wonderful dresses and you can custom build your own for a great price. Mine will be a silver dress with the hot pink accent and the black embroidery. I'm just waiting on my corset to come in so I can take my measurements and get it ordered.

I've started ordering a few things for the wedding. Candle holders for the tables, mask for decorations and favors and chocolate molds. The candle holders are great, there are hot pink and I'm going to to some etching to them. Not sure of the design yet but I'll figure some thing out. I'm kind of wanting a rose. I got a great deal on them, about 50 cent each holder. I also got in some sample masks. Not as happy with these but I'm going to play around and see if I can make them work. They will be fine as favors and decorations, but as for the wedding party I feel that they might be to big. I'll do one up and see if it works or not. This morning I placed an order for some chocolate molds. One is the letter B (his Last name) and the other is a rose. I'm going to use them on top of the cupcakes.
We went to a food tasting at the Terrace last week. The food was fabulous. I'm so excited to be having the wedding there. It will be really beautiful. The staff is very friendly and willing to work with us.
One of my bridesmaids found this neat website for dresses, Lightinthebox.com. Its got some really great dresses and the prices are reasonable. Has anyone ever ordered from there? Can you give me your opinion on the site? Was the dress worth the price? How long did it take to get to you? Are there better sites out there?
The invitations are almost done. Just have to finish the response card and menu insert then they will be ready for addressing and sending. I'm very happy with them so far. I still want to order some rose stickers to seal them, but over all I'm very happy with the way they have turned out.
I'm getting ready to leave for Texas in 3 weeks. I'll be there for 2 months then I move on to Colorado for another 2 months. Then its up to Michigan for 2 more months then home to finish the final planning for the wedding. I'm going to be working at the Renaissance Fair in each state. I've got so much to do both for the Fair and the Wedding. I'm sure that it shouldn't be to difficult, but you never know what can happen.

So I've decided to go with cupcakes. It's different and also convenient for those who don't want to eat it at the wedding they can easily take it home. I've also found these very cool wrappers to go around them. My biggest probable with them is the price, mush more then I was wanting to spend. But I might have also come up with an idea of making them myself out of lace ribbon. It would be a little bit of work on my end but it could be very cool and different. I've posted a picture of the paper ones that inspired the whole idea. It would be the black wrapper, a silver cake liner, silver frosting and a hot pink cake. Not sure about flavor just yet. Also thought about putting a little chocolate letter "B" on top of each cake.

Last Friday one of my bridesmaids, Sam, went with me to try on gowns. I have decided to make my dress but wanted to make sure that the style I was looking at would actually look right on me. Lucky for me it does, so now it's just finding a pattern, but I think I might have found one. McCalls pattern M5321. It's a simple pattern but i can dress is up with beads or gems. As for color of the dress I'm going with something very different. I want it to be silver with a hot pink underlay. A white or ivory dress is just not my style. While we were trying on dresses for me we found a good style for Sam as well. I've put a picture up that sort of gives you the idea, just imagine it in black and with out straps.
I've finished designing the invitations and have even found the place to order paper. It's a great company based out of CA. I order some samples from them and was very pleased with the price and quality. I'll be ordering all the paper in the next week or so. I'm going to have them printed here locally which saves us a bunch of money. We've decided to go with a pocket folder for the invites sense we have so much additional info to give the guests. I'm excited to get them assembled.
I'm haven't picked a baker for the cake yet, but I'm hoping to be able to do so on Friday. If I'm not working I'm going to set up a tasting and maybe even get Ron to come with me. He's not a cake guy so he could really care less what kind of cake with have. I'm still debating if I want the traditional cake or if I want to do something different, like cupcakes or petit fors. If I do an actually cake I have found the cake that I like (pictured.) I like the shape of it, but not the design on it. I think I'd like less flowers and more scroll work. I've even found a cake topper I like. I just with it was a shinier silver or black. Maybe I'll have to do some painting.

Here's a little bit that I wrote about the proposal the night after the fact.

Ron and I've got plans to take some close friends to Our favorite restaurant, Inka Heritage. We go and of course the food is great and the company even better. We sit talking and eating for a good 2 hours. We practically close the place down. We decide that we are having way to much fun and want to go out to a bar. The Cellar at Portia Bello's. I've never been but the others really like the place...but I've jumped ahead. So we're walking back to the cars trying to decide where to go and we stop in front of Ron's old apartment. The one that he was living in when we first started dating. The one I first kissed him in. And as I'm rambling on about his cat he interrupts me to kiss me. Than with a nervous grin he quickly drops to a knee then because of the snow he slides down on to the other, pushes a box into the air and says "Will you marry me." After a few stunned moments I recover, say yes and kiss him. The ring is beautiful and custom designed. I really love it...not as much as I love Ron, but pretty darn close.

I've also added some photos of the ring. The jeweler (a friend of ours) sent Ron photos as it was being made.

We've set the date 10.31.09. Halloween. Our favorite holiday. We've also decided on a location for both ceremony and reception. The Monona Terrace in downtown Madison. We were a bit worried that it would be to far out of our price range, but as it turns out its not to bad. Here is the wedsite if you want to see pictures. www.mononaterrace.com

It's going to be a masquerade ball. This is something I've always wanted to do and Ron is very excited as well. And talking with my friends they seem just as excited as us.

Now on to the drama of my dress......