This is terabyte01's Blue Wedding!

The main reason I haven't been posting is that we've been busy searching for a house, mortgage, closing, moving etc! We've been busy!
These are the photos from the listing. I'll post some more later. We're finally 100% moved and I've started to decorate.

All in all we had a lovely wedding.

I did have a few regrets. I wanted to share them (& the good parts too!) so that you might not make the same mistakes at your wedding.

I didn't create a must have photo list with my photographer and that we didn't take more pictures with just the two of us. I missed a few shots... and the photographer ended up covering some things in a lot more detail than I would have wanted. I mean who wants 50+ shots of me & my husband getting down on the dance floor? In hind sight.... not the most flattering for a bride. I missed the group shot of my college friends and wanted some more just me and my husband shots. I have a wonderful photographer and she got a lot of great shots, but how would have she known that I wanted more shots with my family at the reception & with my college friends.

Also, I should have had some discussions directly with our caterer about some special requests instead of delegating that. I wanted the caterer to box up two dinners for us to take with us at the end of the night. Somehow this got miscommunicated and we got left with only the 50+ leftover crab cakes that had been sitting out all night. We devoured these and ended up sick the next morning. Too much seafood & champagne. Or just get your limo driver to stop by and get some fast food, because room service will not be open when u get back to the hotel and you're starving.

Lastly, know how to bustle your dress. Especially if you've worked for 2 months on learning the argentine tango and memorizing an artful & beautiful first dance only to not do half your steps due to kicking the dress out from underneath your feet! Very frustrating! And try not to mouth the count, everyone will see that you're counting your steps! I should have just done what I wanted from the beginning and bought another dress for the reception. I listened too much to ppl telling me... "oh, you'll never get another chance to wear the big beautiful ball gown again, i never wanted to take mine off... " etc.. i had no attachment to my dress. Yes, it was beautiful, but I was sooo hot and it was sooo heavy! i couldn't wait to get it off! i really wished that i had bought the second, shorter and more modern bridal dress for the reception. Even at $400, it would have been worth the extra cost.

As far as good things....

Spend a little extra money and hire the right DJ/reception entertainment, it really made the party!

Get good tasting cake! I am actually looking forward to tasting it again in a year and I will certainly use her again.

I'm glad I didn't do chair covers. Didn't need them. Glad I didn't spend a fortune on linens. I just used the club's ivory linens and brought in the blue color with a square organza overlay that my mom and I made on the cheap.

Flowers! loved them! We spent a fair amount, but they really made the decor! They also brought in the blue color that I wanted beautifully!

It was small details that I think of now. Like using the crystal toasting flutes. Now we can use them again for anniversaries. It was worth the expense because they're invaluable now because they were used at the wedding. We'll probably have them engraved with our date now.

And the toast... wouldn't ever regret letting anyone and everyone toast us at the wedding. Can't wait to see some of my friends' video! So hilarious!

Oh no videographer, we just had as many friends and family members as we could get taking video. Our photographer help setup the placement of the two at the front and my uncle did the video from the back of the church. We've watched the ones that our friends and families made. It captured the moments just perfectly and I doubt that we'll watch them over and over again. Plus our photo album will probably really be the keepsake that we'll look at over and over.

Our honeymoon was fabulous and under budget! We went to Munich, Vienna & Prague for 10 nights for $4200! That included everything: airfare, hotel, food, transportation, tours, and even souvenirs. Our only souvenirs were 2 $100 czech crystal candlesticks and a HB beer stein. I planned it all because it's my favorite thing to do. Anyone needing help planning a budget European honeymoon, email me. I'm already planning our next trip!

So unexpected things....

I was too nervous to eat at the rehearsal dinner. We had great BBQ and I had no reason to be nervous. My husband and I had been dating for over 5 years, but still i couldn't eat more than one rib and some bites of potato salad. I did manage a few bites of the blackberry cobbler that I split with my husband. I almost threw up in the car on the way home. After a glass of wine and a cigarette (quit 2 yrs ago) I was better.

I was nauseous the next morning too. Only had 1 glass of wine the night before.... the massage was a great help though. Highly recommend it even if you think you're the coolest, laid-back bride ever. It really helped me get into the best mood for the day. I wasn't demading, that I know of. The only thing I insisted on was deodorant after the picutres were finished. I borrwed the church coordinator's (which had been sitting in her kit for like 20 years) and it was terrible! I wouldn't go into the reception until mine was found. Despite my mother's insisting that it was ok. I wasn't going to stink like old deodorant at my wedding!

I didn't even let it bother me (just on that day) that my husband's father was drunk before the wedding even started and changed into a t-shirt and jeans as soon as he got to the reception. He continued to drink and almost embarrassed us during the toast. Thank you to the best man for cutting him off and passing the mic to someone else. I did make my aunt find him a ride home and we haven't talked to him since. We will eventually, but I'll let him know that I wasn't happy about it.

Anyways... just wanted to share my lessons learned. I hope it helps at least one of you have a slightly more perfect wedding. Happy planning!

Here's a link to a video that my photographer made of all the photo highlights. I love it! It will be so hard to pick ones for the album!

http://animoto.com/play/gces6stoE5y4Dr7aQBk1EQ

I have the following remaining left do to and then, i think, i hope, i'll have everything ready to go!

Photo coaster favors/placecards
Confirm with DJ
Make bathroom basket
Make fortunes for toss bouquets
Assign all wedding day tasks to the willing
Finish tablecloth overlays
Plan Bridesmaid Luncheon
Confirm details of table arrangements with reception event coordinator
Create seating chart
Get music to organist
Buy stuff for honeymoon
Confirm reservations for honeymoon suite and honeymoon travel plans

Yay! My photographer and I did bridal protraits last Friday and she's finally posted the proofs online. We had a lot of fun that day. I especially love the photos in the bluebonnets.

My FH and I worked on the ceremony programs this weekend. Over the past week my mother and I have been gathering the supplies. I wanted a 4 sided insert with a card stock wrapper bound together with a ribbon. I will post more pictures later, the pictures to the left are of the insert. I did the insert using Microsoft publisher. If anyone needs a copy for a template, I can email it to them. It's a modified template of what they had to download from the Microsoft Office website.

My mom and I found a program that had the picture and the poem on the front and she fell in love with it. Once I put it all together, I'm glad she did because it looks great! It's very sweet, very personal and adds such a special touch. I also tried to keep the program simple on the inside. I didn't include any of the music selections on purpose, to keep things looking clean and simple. The Wedding Participants page did get a bit cluttered, but there were so many names to list!

I'll post pictures of the final product soon! I'm really proud of them!

I have solved a couple issues at once. My photographer suggested that I try Salon 505 here in Austin. She did a wedding last weekend and everyone's hair & makeup looked great.

I had previously ruled them out because I thought they would be too expensive, but their prices are reasonable. I called yesterday and they had available appointments for all of us from 12pm to 3pm. Perfect! And I can get a massage there too!

I've been to the salon before and they are a really nice place. A salon and spa combination. I've only been for massages and my mom's been for a haircut, but neither of us have been there in years. The location is close to where were having the wedding and to where a lot of my girls from out of town will be staying.

I had done a trial updo with a hairstylist already, but I wasn't very happy. My mom also was skeptical of the other hairstylist that would do her and some of the other bridesmaids. So we're ditching them and going to Salon 505 for everything. Yay! I'm so happy this problem is solved!

So I thought that I had already found a makeup artist for my portraits and wedding, but now she's flaked out on me. Apparently she's busy the day of my bridals and wanted to do a morning makeup application the day of my wedding even though it's not until 6pm! I'm annoyed. The makeup artist was recommended to me by my photographer. The pickings are slim now due to it being so close to me date, all the good ones are gone. I really hope not. I've sent a few more emails and I'm going to make a few phone calls tonight.

If anyone knows of a makeup artist in the Austin, Texas area that's free on March 20th & April 18th, please let me know!! THANKS!

I'm hoping everything else goes smoothly. If this is the only hiccup, that's not too bad. I could do my own makeup after all, but I'd really prefer not to!

So we've got 6 weeks left! I feel the pressure now. We've got the following left to do:

Ceremony programs
Photo coaster favors/placecards
Confirm cake
Confirm with DJ
Bridal portraits (scheduled)
Find a makeup artist who can do both my portraits and my wedding
Meet with church wedding coordinator & finalize wedding details
Make bathroom basket
Make fortunes for toss bouquets
Buy candy for candy buffet
Paint letters for candy buffet (they spell out "Love is Sweet")
Assign all wedding day tasks to the willing
Finish tablecloth overlays
Plan Bridesmaid Luncheon
Confirm details of table arrangements with reception event coordinator
Create seating chart
Get music to organist
Schedule rehearsal for organist and trumpet player
Buy stuff for honeymoon
Confirm reservations for honeymoon suite and honeymoon travel plans


aahh... feels a little bit better to have it all written down... now hopefully I won't forget one of these things!

We had our last meeting with our florist and we finalized all the details. We added a second arrangement for the ceremony. We also discussed placement of the flowers in the reception venue. I love our florist. She's so sweet and I think she will do a great job. The pictures to the right are of exactly what I want for the centerpieces. We have the votive candles bought, so it should look exactly the same with the exception of the table number. Ours will be a bit plainer with no flowers.

DJ and I had our private dance lessons on Friday night. We've decided to do the Argentine tango for our first dance. At Last by Etta James is a slow song and our instructor suggested we do the tango for the steps. He did give us an easier option, but DJ and I think we are up for the challenge. We also did a country waltz class on Sunday. That was a lot of fun. We both agreed that we will continue that class too.

The final fitting went well. The dress makes my waist look sooo tiny! I have a new pair of shoes from the previous fitting, so the hem needs to be altered up a little bit more. Unfortunately they're going to make me pay $80 in addition to the $400+ that I've already paid for the alterations. I'm a little annoyed by that. I would have brought the first set of shoes to the second fitting if I had known that.

My mom and I also finalized our ceremony program ideas. We found this great ribbon hole punch at the scrap booking store that will let us weave the ribbon through the program to make the binding. We I have our first mock up, I will post pictures. We also ordered stickers with a monogram on them to put on the front of the program. We have yet to get the ribbon or the inside paper, or the cardstock. I found the inside paper though at OfficeDepot. It's a pearlized paper, but it's silver and $6 for 50 sheets! Yay! Just need some navy cardstock now.