This is retrofeather's Purple Wedding!

Aren't they pretty? I'm uber excited that these awesome ladies have agreed to stand next to me at my wedding.

Now that my ring is back from getting the stone reset (only cost $30, and I could not rave more about Nancy over at Jan Dee Jewelry in Chicago), I thought I'd post some photos of the wonderful purple ring that I'm proud to be sporting.

I feel a lot better than I did yesterday about venues. Eric trekked himself up to Lincoln Square in the subzero weather and met up with one of the co-owners of the closed-for-remodeling pub who gave us the go head to use the pub as a reception site. It should be re-opening this fall. Plenty of time for our May 2010 wedding. The parks district is still a hassle since we can't put in a bid for the location till next January, but the lady I've been emailing with has been incredibly understanding and helpful. As long as we get our bid in for the location ASAP next year and we don't mind a little flexibility with our time/location we should be able to get a great Chicago Park in May bloom.

Wedding planning is such a slow process, and as a theatre girl, I'm used to a faster paced world of event planning.

I think I'm just going to make my own. I could buy one I love, but it would cost an arm and a leg.

I'm thinking sweetheart neckline, tea length, volume, and movement.

I'm thinking a mix of Grace Kelly, Jackie Kennedy, and Melissa Sweet.

I've got plenty of time to think it over, but this is my starting inspiration.

Engagements are overwhelming! It's easy to see why people go through post-wedding depression. I'm been wedding obsessed (as has he) since that day. My handmade Christmas presents (El Train shaped cat toys) are FAR from done, and I leave Sunday for Texas.

Luckily, my partner wants to take a very active role in wedding planning. This great help also comes with a great burden. It's like we are co-directing this wedding, and anyone who has every co-directed a play knows how while the extra mind is helpful for creating, organizing, etc... it can also be a pain in the ass when the ideas conflict. But we are pretty good with the melding of ideas, I'm thinking it won't be a big deal.

We're thinking of setting a date sometime in May of 2010. He's on the "let's take five and a half years to finish all my undergrad degrees" plan, so he'll be done in mid-March of 2010. If we move cities, it will be before Fall of 2010 so he/me/we can start grad school. Our lease is up in May 09, and we are hoping to move into a place and get a 14 month lease so we can move after the wedding.

Also, we want to keep it in Chicago. All our friends are here, and our families would be more willing to travel. My family is small. It'll be my parents and maybe my maternal grandparents (as long as they don't get in the hospital or something before then...) who would come. He's family is slightly bigger, but his paternal family mostly live in the Chicago area.

We know his mom will make our cake. She's a great baker. We are thinking of renting out the Lincoln Park flower garden thing from the Chicago Parks District for the ceremony as a possibility. We are hoping to reception at the Red Lion, an awesome pub here in Lincoln Park that HOPEFULLY will renovate and reopen soon. Then we can talk wedding with them.

He lists fashion as the most important thing for the wedding, I vote photography. I'm thinking about making my own dress. I'm way curvy and short-waisted, I'll never find anything off the rack, and I don't have the money to get a custom dress or lots of alterations. Plus I'll like it better. I'm thinking tea-length and flowing with a sweetheart neck line (Boobs. I have them.) We like a rich, royal purple as one of our colors, and Chucks. Lots of chucks. I'm thinking me in white ones, him in his 4 horsemen of the apocalypse ones, and the male & female attendants in purple ones.

I am in LOVE with the Jeromy Lawson photography, but I think there is NO WAY I can afford him. See, as an avid photographer myself, I won't be able to pay someone 1,000 dollars for photos I could have taken. I've got to get a good photographer (and pay for it) or get a friend who can do it as good as me, but for cheap/free.

Unfortunately, or budget is about...$0. We have no money, and we haven't exactly approached the subject with our families, but I don't think they're going to pitch in much. I come for a family of elopers (both my parents and grandparents) and they'd rather give me money to buy a house or something I'm sure. He's still in school and has loans to pay for rent and books, I'm just out and have been unable to find a nice paying job in this lovely economy! We are making it, but we aren't putting any money away, and I don't want to spend my savings account money on a wedding, or on anything. I wouldn't feel safe without that buffer money (about 4 months rent for me - only 2 months if it were for the both of us.) So I don't know were we are going to get money from. We are thinking no more than $5,000 for EVERYTHING.

I'm going to have to join a temp agency in the new year if I don't get that last just I just applied for. I've got about $300 a month in college loans that I need to start paying back starting in January. This sucks!!!!!

I wish money wasn't an issue, but it always is. Oh, why did I chose to become a theatre education professional?

Oh yeah, because of the awesome kids who change how I view the world.

Yeah, and I need to get my engagement ring slightly resized smaller. It fits my right hand ring finger, but not the left....which is apparently wear you are supposed to wear it. My mom used to work in jewelry, and I'm hoping she can take it in for me when we go there for Christmas and he'll do it for her for free. (She did help him get his greencard back in the 80s.)