Wedding Planning!

Talk about anything under the sun or stars - but keep it civil. This is where we really get to know each other. Everyone is welcome, and invited!
powerfulcheese04
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Wedding Planning!

Postby powerfulcheese04 » Tue Aug 24, 2010 3:36 pm

There are 3 of us pweb ladies who are currently engaged, and in various stages of wedding planning! (Kirsten is muuuuuch closer to her wedding than I am! I'm not sure when Helen's wedding is.)

So, ladies, share your wedding details! And for those of you who are already married, and those of you who are in the just-dreaming (hey, we've all been there... it's fun!) share what you did or want to do!

I'll start posting my own after this post!
-Kim

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Postby powerfulcheese04 » Tue Aug 24, 2010 3:43 pm

We have a date set- Sept 17, 2011- that was mostly set by vet school. We wanted September 24, 2011, which would be our 3 year anniversary of dating.

We have our reception venue, though we're still working on picking a church. (We were thinking about doing them at the same place, but the guest list has gotten too big for that to work.)
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My Uncle Paul is going to officiate. It turns out he's an ordained minister already, so I can stop worrying about the bizarre Texas laws.

Our "colors" are going to be dark blue and yellow. There will be sunflowers in the boquets and other decorations.

We've picked and booked a photographer.

I bought a dress!
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We're going to do a barbeque buffet for food. It's our one homage to Texas.

We are going to serve alcohol, but not much. I really don't want people getting smashed at my wedding... and I don't really trust the Best Man not to.

On that note, we've mostly picked our wedding parties. I'm still hemming and hawing a little about my 3rd bridesmaid.


It's going really well! I tried to get a lot done so I could put it on the back burner during school.
-Kim

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Postby Claire » Tue Aug 24, 2010 4:01 pm

Wow Kim, beautiful!!

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Postby thoughtreader » Tue Aug 24, 2010 4:12 pm

Kimmie you dress is so beautiful!!!

My Uncle Paul is going to officiate. It turns out he's an ordained minister already, so I can stop worrying about the bizarre Texas laws.
Laws???

When Chris and I got married we went the simple (affordable) way. A very nice local judge officiated our ceremony in his court room. I close friend took out wedding photos and did a beautiful job. a friend mad our wedding cake with its Zombie cake topper :D. After the ceremony we went to a nice restaurant and had dinner and cut the cake.

PS Kimmie I set you a PM

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Postby starlooker » Tue Aug 24, 2010 4:56 pm

GORGEOUS dress! I'm excited for you!

You are much more together than I am, Kimmie.

I am in desperate need of a photographer and DJ.

Colors -- basically, claret (a deepish shade of red), with gold and ivory trimmings. Fall colors. Groomsmen are wearing black tuxes with claret vest/tie, father has a "latte" vest/tie, and groom has ivory vest/tie.

Need to get my bouquet picked out and my aunts say the rest of the flowers will follow naturally from there.

We're probably going to do a pot-luck style rehearsal dinner. As we made the mistake of having our wedding coincide with homecoming weekend. This basically means that every restaurant in Grand Forks will be overflowing with drunk people, and the streets will be overflowing with cops. So, the laid-back, non-alcohol rehearsal is a nice way of avoiding potential problems with either of those things.

I am probably going to defend my dissertation the week before. People who have never defended think I'm insane, people who have defended say it's do-able as the defense was not nearly as big a deal as they thought it would be.

Three bridesmaids, four groomsmen (including the maid of honor and best man). Two flower girls (they are cousins who are also very good friends and I couldn't have one without the other) and my maid of honor's son is the ring bearer. He is going to be SO cute. Oh my gosh.

Goals for this week: 1. Get a photographer, 2. Get a DJ, 3. Get a florist, 4. Get a defense date, 5., let maid of honor know what to do for the shower/bachelorette party.

Our invitations are going out late, but everyone who needs to come in from out of town knows the date and has flights booked, thankfully. At this point, the invitations are my mother's fault/problem :-D

A very dear friend is playing the piano, and my brother is doing double duty as a groomsman and as the soloist during the unity candle ceremony.

We're also working on picking vows and Bible readings. 1 Corinthians 13 is a must, but otherwise not sure.

And my dress is kind of like yours, Kimmie! Ruched top, A-line skirt. It has a satin belt with some sparkly beading in the middle.

Veil is going to be plain elbow-length single tier with very narrow satin trim.

Plan is to drive back here a day or two after the wedding, and if we have the cash, hop on a plane to Vegas. If we don't, we'll probably meander our way through the midwest for a few days instead of coming straight home.
There's another home somewhere,
There's another glimpse of sky...
There's another way to lean
into the wind, unafraid.
There's another life out there...

~~Mary Chapin Carpenter

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Postby steph » Tue Aug 24, 2010 9:46 pm

Oh my gosh! That venue is gorgeous! As is the dress.

We went pretty simple when we got married. We were only engaged for 2 months, so there wasn't much time. (I know, Mormons are crazy like that!) There are some things that I would have liked to be different, but we didn't have and didn't want to spend a lot of money. Even still, I was pretty happy with the result and I would recommend our schedule to anyone (and I do!).

We got married at the Denver Temple (beautiful and free!) on a friday in december at 5 pm. We woke up that morning, had breakfast with my family, I got my hair done (free, since I worked at a salon. My boss also made my bouquet, so that was free for me, too!), we met some friends and Brian's brother for lunch at Chili's near the Temple. Then we went to get dressed and took pictures before the ceremony, since it was dark by the time the ceremony started! My sister took the pictures for us. (Free!)

After the ceremony, everyone who joined us at the Temple followed us to an Italian Restaurant for a yummy dinner (which Brian's dad paid for, since we didn't have a rehearsal dinner, which is normally the groom's family's responsibility). It was fun playing hostess in my wedding dress without any real responsibility for anything, since it was a restaurant! (Our siblings still make jokes about feeling outcast at the "kids" table on the other side of the wall from the "adults," but we really wished we could have been over with them, instead of with the "old" people.)

After dinner, my sisters/s-i-l's went to set up candles and flower petals and such at our new apartment, where we went after that. The next morning, we left for our honeymoon in Pagosa Springs, which Brian's dad paid for as our wedding gift.

After a week, we came home and had an open house at Brian's mom's house. (I got to wear my dress again!) 2 weeks after that was our reception. We had it 3 weeks after the wedding, because it was right after Christmas, so more people would be able to come. We had it at the church building (free), it was cold and winter so our moms and grandmas made soup, a dear friend made our wedding cake as her gift to me (free!) and my brother DJed (also free!).

My parent's bought my wedding dress, which was $600, which I got to wear 3 times! That's only $200 a wear! I wore my mom's veil, that my dad's mom (who passed away when I was in elementary school) had made for her when they got married. She would have made my wedding dress for me. :( My step-m-i-l made my brides maids skirts. The groomsmen already had tuxes, cuz their nerds like that! So, we spent money on some decorations for the church building, stuff to serve food on and that's about it! (Since Mormons don't drink alcohol, that saved a TON of money, there!)

Although not for everyone, I really like spreading things out! I got to wear my dress multiple times and I wasn't stressed during the ceremony about the reception being ready to go and on the day of the reception, I could focus on just that and not be distracted by other things! It was really nice!

Things I would have changed, had we had more money: A different venue than the church for the reception. Maybe a live swing band? An italian soda bar. (I could have pulled that one off, but I forgot!!! I was sad when I remembered about a year and a half later that it had always been my plan and I forgot.) But, really, that's about it! It was a wonderful month, and I'm happy that it's been 6 1/2 years!

I'm SO happy for you girls! Please, keep filling us in on all the details! They are NOT mundane to me, I promise!
"When I look back on my ordinary, ordinary life,
I see so much magic, though I missed it at the time." - Jamie Cullum

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Postby Gravity Defier » Wed Aug 25, 2010 10:48 am

Kim, beautiful dress. You look stunning, just like that.


Kirsten, is the wedding in October? That sticks out in my head as being the month but I'm not sure. Also, where is our Pweb ambassador?! Honestly, getting married without a Pwebber to witness it? tsk tsk.
cuz their nerds like that!
Is that what the kids are calling it these days? I suppose as long as their nerds like it, it's cool.

(I had to say something to that)
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Postby Jayelle » Wed Aug 25, 2010 11:33 am

Wow, Kim you really are a together girl - over a year to go and you already have a ton planned! I love the dress. I like that both of you have straps - no offense to anyone who had a strapless dress, but I am always so nervous for those girls! And the unflatteringness of the "yank to stay up" thing. I wore a strapless bridesmaid dress once upon a time and it just made me on edge the whole wedding.
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Postby steph » Wed Aug 25, 2010 11:34 am

You can't judge me by my late-night-not-enough-sleep-too-much-to-do typing. Seriously!
"When I look back on my ordinary, ordinary life,
I see so much magic, though I missed it at the time." - Jamie Cullum

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Postby Gravity Defier » Wed Aug 25, 2010 12:24 pm

There is no judging; only warm, loving teasing. And a chuckle. :D
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Postby starlooker » Thu Aug 26, 2010 11:41 am

I like that both of you have straps - no offense to anyone who had a strapless dress, but I am always so nervous for those girls! And the unflatteringness of the "yank to stay up" thing.
*gulp*

Guilty.

Oh, I have a jacket which gives me sleeves. But the dress itself only has spaghetti straps which are likely going to be so damned uncomfortable that I will only use them as a last resort.

*sighs*

The one aspect of my Magical Dress Fitting that was problematic was the bust. The saleswomen kept reassuring me that the seamstress could put in bra cups and we would be just fine and dandy, no worries. I kind of doubted them, but what do I know about alterations? And, frankly, it turns out the saleswomen have kind of this touching faith in the miracles alterations can work, as they have seen her do so many things that seem amazing. So, she asks me if I'm wearing a bra, and I say that they told me not to, since the plan was for bra cups. She takes one look at me and immediately goes, "no, we can't do that, you're too busty."

The story of my life. And she also tries something where she folds over some fabric at top but thinks that will make me pooch out unflatteringly, advises me to buy one of those long bustier-style bras for the most support.

So, the fitting goes on for awhile, and we bond a bit, and then I ask her (probably a little bit pleadingly) if she has any recommendations for where I could find a bra like that in my size, as I have a difficult enough time finding regular bras, much less anything specialty. Apparently Dallas has an amazing bra store, but I'd rather not have to travel that far. She looks at me with pity, and starts playing with the material, looks at me critically, and informs me that I look like I'm held up well in the dress, notes that the long bra would be hot and uncomfortable and hard to find, purses her lips, and decides that she can put darts in the bust that won't show due to the ruching and chiffon overlay and she thinks that will work without the pooching issue.

But now I'm VERY nervous about the yanking-the-dress-up issue. So I'm going to see if I can manage to find a bra, anyways, but that won't necessarily help with the issue of holding the dress up. Possibly if it starts to feel unsecure during the dance, I will attach the optional spaghetti straps. Or, maybe when I come back for alterations next time, I'll ask her if she can attach optional straps out of some material that won't show too obviously under the jacket, but will hold me up if need be and not dig in like spaghetti straps.

I love the fact that I have an hourglass figure. I've grown accustomed enough to my bust size that I no longer daydream about the day I'll get a breast reduction (although, eventually I probably will for the back pain issue, but probably not till after I have kids as I really want to breast feed and don't want to take chances of anything getting in the way of that). But this is yet another reason that I really get annoyed that most dresses are sleeveless/strapless.

~~~~

In other news, we have my bachelorette party and wedding shower scheduled! My MOH rocks my socks.

So, the plan is to drive up either Friday Oct 1 or Saturday Oct 2. Party like mad Saturday night. I have been informed that, while we don't have to be extremely wild and crazy, I will be wearing a penis necklace and condoms and so I have to just deal with that in advance. In considering this to be a modern spin on an old rite of passage and/or fertility blessings, I have reconciled myself to this. Shots of tequila will probably help, though.

Then the plan is to spend Sunday morning recovering from a massive and ugly hangover so that I can be presentable at a wedding shower late Sunday afternoon.

I'm hoping to schedule my dissertation defense for Tuesday or Wednesday so that I'll have some time on Monday to focus on that.

Also, on Thursday, my old college friends are coming in and I'm thinking of maybe crashing a night in their hotel room and having our own mini bachelorette party. This one will probably consist mainly of playing Cranium and maybe nursing a couple of drinks. Which, frankly, is more my style.

My MOH's husband, who is also a groomsman and who has appointed himself coordinator of the bachelor party, is apparently planning on coming to our town some weekend in the very near future and kidnapping my fiance. I was not supposed to know about this, and I was not supposed to tell him about it. HAHAHAHA. Yeah, right. Hello, people, it's a great sounding plan except for two things. 1) Fiance does not always have weekends off of work, and 2) I cannot lie worth a s*** in order to keep him home, and 3) didn't really feel that motivated to try to lie, as I really don't actually like surprises that much. So, basically, fiance has sworn to pretend convincingly to be surprised. Maybe I'll schedule the massage I've been meaning to get for that weekend.

~~

In other news, we may have a DJ. *fingers crossed*
There's another home somewhere,
There's another glimpse of sky...
There's another way to lean
into the wind, unafraid.
There's another life out there...

~~Mary Chapin Carpenter

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Postby Young Val » Thu Aug 26, 2010 11:56 am

I love hearing about all the wedding planning!

Kimmie, I join the masses in saying that your dress is quite lovely, and you look lovely in it.

Kirsten, I have been saying for years that there shall be a zero-tolerance penis paraphenalia policy at my bachelorette. I also recognize the unlikelihood that said policy will be respected. I suppose I'll have to put your fertility spin on it in order to get through!



For any brides who feel like sharing, I love hearing proposal stories!
you snooze, you lose
well I have snozzed and lost
I'm pushing through
I'll disregard the cost
I hear the bells
so fascinating and
I'll slug it out
I'm sick of waiting
and I can
hear the bells are
ringing joyful and triumphant

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Postby Eaquae Legit » Thu Aug 26, 2010 1:38 pm

Our wedding seems so confusing, looking back. Let me see if I can remember any details. :)

Our invitations were based on the illuminations in a 14thC manuscript I once worked with and still had photos of on my computer. Rei's sister, who is a graphic designer, designed them, and since his mother works at a print shop, we got them done there for free. She also made the menus, programs, and thank you cards with the same design. Apparently some people were confused by the front cover of the invitations, where we had written "Gaudete Nobiscum", because we're both Latin geeks and so are many (most?) of our friends. I still contend that understanding it or not is irrelevant, since it's the front of a wedding invitation and those sometimes come with just a picture, so who cares? Pretend it's a picture of a manuscript or something!

My dress was a complete accident. I, too, was worried about the whole strapless thing, and I originally wanted a dress with clean lines, straps at the least, and no train whatsoever. I ended up with a floofy skirt, a small train, and strapless - because when I tried it on on a whim, the dress was just that awesome. The bridal shop owner was also awesome and let me take the dress out of her salon and go down the street to the dressmaker to see if it could be altered (it could). We took out the zipper and put in a panel and lacing because a) it was a bit too tight, and b) a zipper? really?

We had a small wedding in our (luckily) very small church. It meant a lot to us to have it there, and we were blessed with a very, very talented musician in-house. The church is actually lop-sided, so the traditional "bride's side vs. groom's side" thing ended up a bit silly. We didn't care where people sat, but apparently they did, but since there was no room on one side, everybody but my family (except my mom and dad, who got confused somehow and sat with Brent's family) sat on the other side.

We had three bridesmaids and two groomspeople. My bridesmaids came with me to the salon to pick a dress, and I basically said "whatever you want, you're the ones who have to pay for it". They narrowed it down to two and then picked the cheaper. I chose the colour. Shoes, accessories, etc. were left up to them. We'd planned to all get our hair done together for the fun of it, but with the murder that didn't really happen. Brent had a girl groomsperson, and we gave her the option of a dress or a tux, and she went with the tux. And she looked pretty great in it, too!

Originally we wanted to have the reception in Toronto where the ceremony was, because getting everyone to travel would be a pain. 80% of the people there were either out of province or carless. But the expense of a Toronto reception kind of killed that. We managed to get the best kept secret in my hometown - the Polish Hall! Insanely cheap to rent, and the food is all handmade by Polish grannies. Unless you have your very own Eastern European granny, you will never have better perogies. Trust me, this is food you will hear talked about for years to come. It's a very pretty space, lots of room for a huge wedding and a dance floor. My dad DJed; he used to have his own DJ business, and he's very good at it, and he really wanted to do it as a gift to us. It was pretty funny, really, since he swung right into "Professional Mode" and we had to convince him that our personal knowledge of our very small guestlist overrode his "averaged" knowledge. Nobody wants a polka, dad, trust us.

It was a good day. We made sure to include things that were meaningful to us throughout the day, so no matter how chaotic it got, we always had something to ground us.

But MAN were we glad when it was over!
"Only for today, I will devote 10 minutes of my time to some good reading, remembering that just as food is necessary to the life of the body, so good reading is necessary to the life of the soul." -- Pope John XXIII

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Postby Eaquae Legit » Thu Aug 26, 2010 1:59 pm

Kirsten, I have been saying for years that there shall be a zero-tolerance penis paraphenalia policy at my bachelorette. I also recognize the unlikelihood that said policy will be respected. I suppose I'll have to put your fertility spin on it in order to get through!
I solved this issue by putting my quietest bridesmaid in charge. I knew that she wouldn't do anything too humiliating to me, mainly because she wouldn't want to be around it. Also, she was someone I could trust to listen to my requests and/or come up with the bachelorette activity I'd most enjoy. And she was GREAT. *waves in case she's lurking*

For any brides who feel like sharing, I love hearing proposal stories!
Same friend got in on this one. We've known each other for a long time, and she has been up to the family campsite with my family a bunch of times. This is the place I've been to almost every year since I was 3 - it has a very special place in my heart and I love it there so much, and she's grown to love it, too. So shortly after I arrived in England, she contacted me and said she'd love to go up there when I was home in May for the big conference. Well, it's still super-cold up there at that time (heavy snow is still possible) but we could rent one of the little cabins. Of course I said yes! There would be no other chance of getting up there all the way from England. Brent and a couple other close friends were invited too, since they've been up as well before.

Brent and I had talked about getting engaged for a while, so I was about 99% sure he would propose while I was home for the conference. I figured the cabin would be a great place for him to propose, and hoped he would think of it! But a few days passed, and he didn't. On Sunday, we were in town for church and nibbles when I got a horrific migraine. It was just awful, and someone else had to drive us back to the campsite while I curled up in the back seat whimpering (thank goodness other people knew the way). Brent put me to bed and sat beside me because I was scared to be alone, while everyone else made lunch. After a while it started going away, and I crept out to have some soup. Really, when I get a proper migraine, I'm all but helpless. Brent really took care of me.

Later in the afternoon, I felt better enough that we decided to go walk one of the trails around the lake. Brent and I headed off together, and we only got about 1/4 of the way along before I decided to express how happy I was feeling by saying "This is just perfect!" or something along those lines. I admit, somewhere in my head I was thinking "... but you could make it even more perfect..." - so he did. He knelt down, and he MUST have said something about marrying him, but I was already crying and it's really a lot of a blur. I remember moving over to sit on a nearby boulder and crying for a while, even though I didn't expect to and wouldn't have predicted it.

Then we made our way back to the cabin to hunt people down and show off my shiny ring (opal! so pretty!), and that's when it came out that the whole trip was planned from the start to get me up to that very special campsite so Brent could propose somewhere meaningful. It was very sweet.
"Only for today, I will devote 10 minutes of my time to some good reading, remembering that just as food is necessary to the life of the body, so good reading is necessary to the life of the soul." -- Pope John XXIII

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Postby Syphon the Sun » Thu Aug 26, 2010 4:32 pm

Adam: I live up the mountain; I've got a farm up there. A good farm. ... The only thing it ain't got, it ain't got a woman. How 'bout it?

Millie: How about what?

Adam: I just told you. How 'bout marrying me?
Step softly; a dream lies buried here.

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Postby powerfulcheese04 » Thu Aug 26, 2010 4:43 pm

Nate and I had talked about the possibility of getting married a couple times before. And then he started dropping some hints that just really felt like an impending proposal. Though, it's hard to say exactly how they were hint-y... I just, had a feeling. And we were scheduled to go visit his family in Rhode Island at the end of July, for a week including my birthday. I thought that seemed like a great place for him to propose because it would be a way for him to make a place that's special to him special to us.

So, we went to RI and stayed at his grandparents' beach house (acutally, we stayed in the RV with his parents in the yard of his grandparents' 2 room beach house.) On our first night there, we went on a walk around the point (mostly, the neighborhood.) It's a really beautiful walk and we admired the houses and looked at the water. He made an excuse for us to go back to the house and he went inside while I waited for him outside. Then we continued our walk by going down to the part of the beach right in front of their house that's covered during high tide. We sat on a big rock to watch the sun set. He got down on one knee and proposed! Of course, I said yes. We spent several minutes talking and hugging and kissing. As we were getting up to go inside and tell his parents (who knew he was going to propose on this trip, but were expecting him to do it the next day when he had planned for us to go on the Newport Cliff Walk- it's this path along a cliff behind the GIANT mansions owned by the people who are too ritzy for the Hamptons.) and grandparents (who were not expecting it), the 2 swans that live in the cove swam around the corner and swam around in front of us for a few minutes. We decided that's an excellent omen from nature.
-Kim

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Postby starlooker » Fri Aug 27, 2010 10:13 am

Just for the record, I'm not entirely opposed to the penis paraphenalia. I was at my MoH's bachelorette party, it's the only bachelorette party I've ever been to, and therefore, it really does feel like a tradition. And we're probably going to have Bachelorette Parties Parts 1 and 2. Part 1 will be a bit more tame, a comedy show or something, with several more prim and proper folks along. Part 2 will be the bacchanalia.

Here is what I have discovered about myself in planning my wedding. Be prepared for a long, Bob-style post. It just started typing itself.

My entire life, I have defined myself as being someone who is on the outside looking in. I was always the weirdo in school, I always stood up for the underdog, I always had quirkier tastes, I was different from other people and that became a part of my identity that I cherished. I prided myself on being able to be alone, in being sufficient unto myself, and I am more comfortable when people are a little off-balance around me.

And, yet, I've always had a part of me that yearns for tradition. This is why I came back to liturgical churches. This is why I like reading classical stories. One of the best experiences in my life was going to St. Petersburg, Russia at the age of 15 on a mission trip and attending a Lutheran service spoken in Russion. What was awesome was that I was able to know what was being said around me, the Apostle's Creed, the Lord's Prayer without knowing the language just by its placement in the service and the rhythm of the speaking. I felt connected to the thousands and thousands and thousands of other people who have said it in the past, to all the people who were saying it that morning across the world.

I am an outsider, a determined outsider, misfit, loner, who loves and yearns for and appreciates connection the way someone who cannot play an instrument might have an exquisite ear for it and love it.

And this experience, this wedding experience, is a chance for me to step inside of the mainstream. To connect to the things I never thought that I would do in my life. And so the things that appeal to me are the things that are older, that are cliche, that are popular. Once upon a time in my life, I would have wanted the engagement ring that looked like no one else's with the uncommon cut. But what I loved was the round brilliant solitaire. Once upon a time, I would have wanted to get married in a place no one else had ever been. And now I want it to be in a space just dedicated to people performing sacred acts, including marriage.

When it comes right down to it, once in my life, I would never have thought enough people loved or cared about me for a wedding to be possible or to matter to anyone but me. And the outpouring of love and support and happiness from my family and friends has been overwhelming.

When I was 18, I assumed I would probably kill myself before I turned 30. This wasn't really even morbid, it wasn't a threat, I just knew how depressed and miserable I was and just did not think there was a chance I would be able to stand it for twelve more years.

And now I am 30 and I have love and I have family who cares, and I am still sometimes a person who likes to hang around the edges of the group, but there's a river rushing by of all the loves and hates and common experiences of life and I am exhilirated by the thought of joining it.

And if part of that river includes penis necklaces, that's okay by me. The fact that people are giving me a party, are celebrating my life and my love and my commitment like they do for other people, the fact that I'm not the girl picked last in gym class or that no one will sit with at lunch but someone people want to celebrate with and for transcends the corniness and the cliches in the parties and showers and dresses and songs. Because I love taking steps that make me part of history, part of the river, part of the plan.

As terrifying as it is to let go of my single self, my awkward outsider self.

This has been D's gift to me. From the very beginning. Moving out of a faux relationship where me and the other person kept each other at the periphery into a relationship where someone is so proud of being seen with me he could burst, where he wanted from the beginning for me to be a part of his circle of friends, to know the people at his job, to meet his family members and for them to meet me. Not at the periphery, but in the middle, important, useful, valued, cherished.
There's another home somewhere,
There's another glimpse of sky...
There's another way to lean
into the wind, unafraid.
There's another life out there...

~~Mary Chapin Carpenter

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Postby Petra456 » Fri Aug 27, 2010 12:24 pm

I swear, hearing wedding details is like crack to me! I seriously want to know every single detail! This is putting me into overdrive too, because i'm not even engaged yet, but feel like I want to be planning.

Kimmie, you look gorgeous in that dress : ) Are you planning on wearing your hair up or down?
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Postby Jayelle » Fri Aug 27, 2010 1:24 pm

I'm sure I shared our engagement story back when it happened, but that was 7 years ago and has been lost to the sands of time (aka the Crash of Pweb II).

So... I will pull it from my memory :)

Paul and I had been talking about getting married for awhile, so it's not like an engagement was going to be a total shock. We had shopped for rings together and found one that I absolutely LOVED, so I pretty much knew he was going to propose sometime in the near future.

We went out for our one year dating anniversary, kinda recreating our first date. We started at a coffee shop where Paul had arranged two things - one was for a CD of some significant songs of our relationship to be played and the other was that he planted a book of love poems in with the bookshelves that they had there. Inside the book was a love poem he'd written to me.
This was all under the guise of just being for our anniversary - so it wasn't there that the proposal happened. We went out for dinner and then for a walk in a park. We stopped and sat on this bench under a bridge and that's where he got down on one knee and proposed. We sat for a bit and enjoyed the moment, but then we were so excited to tell all our friends that we ran back to the dorms (where Paul was living) to tell everyone there. That night is kind of a blur of running around trying to find everyone and call our families.
We also announced it on pweb that night. I wish I could find that thread. Pweb Archivist-types? Any chance you could find it on Wayback? My attempts have been unsuccessful - it happened on Sept. 23 2003.
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Postby Gravity Defier » Fri Aug 27, 2010 8:22 pm

No luck so far. I've tried two approaches and have been able to narrow down the thread number somewhat (should be between TID3595-3672) but one approach yields me everything before August 26 and after October 6 in Milagre and the other approach is getting me threads in that thread number range and closer in date -September 20- but not the one.

I'll keep poking around but I think it's one of the Gone for Good threads. :(
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Postby Gravity Defier » Sat Aug 28, 2010 1:33 pm

Double-double.

Ever since this thread showed up, I've had a dream about living with and getting engaged to a Pwebber (two separate dreams, the same guy in both). When he picked out my ring -one I'd actually wear in reality and similar to this- we were in Chicago. It was disturbing but the ring and Chicago aspect were cool.

Since I blame this on the women of this thread: thanks, Kimmie and Kirsten. :P
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Postby Rei » Sat Aug 28, 2010 5:03 pm

My sister is now married! Hurrah!
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Postby starlooker » Sun Aug 29, 2010 6:09 am

Awww! My heart is all kinds of warmed by this!

Alright, as I mentioned before, I have two flower girls, about age 7. They're pretty well inseparable as cousins, and it would have been impossible for me to invite one without the other. (Also, I have no younger female cousins, and the ring-bearer is only 4, so I figured one REALLY young member of the wedding party is enough. Fortunately, his grandmother will be in the congregation if he gets squirrely, as his mother is my MoH, and his father is a groomsman.)

Anyhow, back to my flower girls. They are inseparable and somewhat similar in looks -- both blond-haired blue-eyed dolls. One of them is a natural performer. Takes dance classes and loves to be on stage and you can tell she is going to be a total knock-out when she gets older. Before she could really talk, her favorite thing to do at family gatherings was to get a pretend microphone and find an audience and tell her versions of knock-knock jokes.

And then there's the other one. She's also pretty and sweet and fun, but has always been incredibly shy. At a wedding three years ago, when the two of them were flower girls, she did not make it down the aisle, despite her best efforts. However, she's really been blossoming from the sounds of it. She ran for class president last year and asked her mom (who is very musical) to start taking violin lessons. I tell you, the pictures of her lovingly holding her violin are something to behold. Anyhow, I got a facebook message from her mother saying she, my shy little stage-fright filled cousin, has offerred to maybe play a violin-piano duet with her mother for the wedding!

I'm SO proud of her!!! Little Miss Stage Fright herself! I'm really, really touched.

So, of course I said yes. Now, since she's a flower girl, I figure the best thing will be to do it before the prelude as that's a less formal time and will still gve her a chance to get in line and focus on being a flower girl without worrying about the upcoming performance :) We'll also have her practice during the rehearsal, and I suggested her mother try to see if the church will let her practice there a couple of times beforehand just to make sure she's really famliar with the place and what will happen.

The only problem now is trying to figure out something special her spotlight loving cousin can do to avoid any feelings of jealousy/favoritism.

Again, awwww!

*flashbacks to showing off what I was learning in piano lessons at various family gatherings over the years*
There's another home somewhere,
There's another glimpse of sky...
There's another way to lean
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There's another life out there...

~~Mary Chapin Carpenter

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Postby starlooker » Sun Aug 29, 2010 7:12 am

Alright, I have pictures of clothing for those of you who are curious!

First of all, this link will take you to the Alfred Angelo homepage. At the bottom of every page, you can enter a particular Style Number. I shall tell you what style numbers are what :) http://www.alfredangelo.com/Company/HomePage.aspx

Alright, the flower girls' dresses are 6630. Ivory on top, claret skirts. Now, if you go over on the web page to the color tab, you can click on claret to give you an idea. However, on my computer, it looks absolutely nothing like claret, it looks like fuschia. So, in reality, it's less pink/purple, more dark red. The girls and their mothers picked them out and were excited 1) for the fun of it and 2) this gives them great outfits to wear to Christmas recitals and the like.

The bridesmaids' dresses are, on the same website, number 7050. Also in claret. These met with universal approval insofar as 1) not entirely strapless and 2) ruching on the tummy for my two bridesmaids who are trying to get rid of baby belly. Same issue as above if you're trying to view it in claret.

Okay, don't close that website yet. But first, I have decided now that my dress is bought and paid for that I am going to go ahead and post the pictures of me shopping for it. Things to bear in mind:

1) It's the sample, which means it's darker and doesn't fit quite as well as my real dress,
2) The belt in reality will be tied more firmly and be more centered about the middle,
3) Mine has scattered crystals on the bodice.
4) The jacket in the picture is NOT the one I will be actually wearing. In order to see that jacket, go back to the Alfred Angelo website and search for style 1741.

First, a distance picture of the front of the dress.

Image

Second, a decent picture of the train.

Image

Finally, the picture that my friend caught of me just about ready to cry. Not the prettiest picture, but, you know, meaningful.

Image

Hope you wedding detailers are enjoying :)
There's another home somewhere,
There's another glimpse of sky...
There's another way to lean
into the wind, unafraid.
There's another life out there...

~~Mary Chapin Carpenter

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Postby Eaquae Legit » Sun Aug 29, 2010 6:12 pm

Yay, so pretty!
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Postby Jayelle » Sun Aug 29, 2010 6:18 pm

SO pretty! I take back my stupid comments. I like it so much. I think I'm coloured by one bad experience with strapless. :)
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Postby Rei » Sun Aug 29, 2010 7:27 pm

Yay! Very lovely :)
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Postby Petra456 » Sun Aug 29, 2010 7:38 pm

I know i've said it before, but very pretty!!!
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Postby steph » Tue Aug 31, 2010 9:30 pm

For any brides who feel like sharing, I love hearing proposal stories!
Brian and I were taking a trip to Vegas to visit my friends. He said he had to work a half day before we left and then several times on the drive he said things like "I need to sell my truck so I can afford your ring." "What's your ring size again?" Big Liar. He had my ring in his pocket the whole time. He went to pick it up from being sized that morning we left, and I believed his lies!

One evening, he was trying to decide how to get me to the Venetian when I said "Hey, I was thinking we could go to the Venetian and have a nice dinner tonight and then watch the fountains at Bellagio. What do you think?" I had no idea that my plans were exactly what he wanted. We had an incredibly yummy dinner and then he was going to take me on a gondola. He didn't know that on Homecoming weekend, it's a zoo with highschool students and you have to get tickets earlier in the day. Instead, he took me on one of the bridges over the canal in the square. He sang to me in Italian and then knelt down. He still makes fun of me that I said "yeah" instead of "yes." After that, we went to Bellagio to watch the fountains and swing danced on the sidewalk. It was a fun night!
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Postby starlooker » Wed Sep 01, 2010 7:53 pm

Thanks, everyone!

Tomorrow, we begin premarital counseling. I'm actually kind of looking forward to it.
There's another home somewhere,
There's another glimpse of sky...
There's another way to lean
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There's another life out there...

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Postby starlooker » Thu Sep 02, 2010 1:05 pm

*double post*

Today was the first day of premarital "care" (he is careful not to call it counseling, as he's not a licensed counselor). It was actually pretty enjoyable, and both of us like the pastor a lot. Today was fun. Mainly, we told a lot of stories about our relationship and things that had happened in it. Talked about strengths/growing edges in the relationship. Have an assignment to go on a "hot date" this week.

Pastor's also put D in touch with someone who needs some help moving and is willing to pay. (D's response: I wouldn't want to be paid for that, but I'm sure glad to help. My response: "How much? We'd accept with thanks.")

I'm feeling really good about this.
There's another home somewhere,
There's another glimpse of sky...
There's another way to lean
into the wind, unafraid.
There's another life out there...

~~Mary Chapin Carpenter

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Postby Jayelle » Thu Sep 02, 2010 1:18 pm

My advice about premarital counselling: make them listen to your concerns!!

I'm still mad that they laughed at one of my questions/concerns at our premarital counselling.
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Postby starlooker » Thu Sep 02, 2010 4:02 pm

What happened? (If you don't mind me asking.)
There's another home somewhere,
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There's another way to lean
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There's another life out there...

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Postby Jayelle » Thu Sep 02, 2010 4:08 pm

Well, first of all it was group counselling, so that was probably a mistake to begin with.
Beforehand, they made us write down what we thought were potential problems and I wrote "If anything, we're too much alike".
They read it in the session and kinda laughed and said "Well, you think you're so much alike now, but you'll find out soon enough that you have lots of differences to work out..." It was kinda laughed off as a "cute problem".
I really wished I had spoken out because what I meant was that we have the same WEAKNESSES! It's something we deal with again and again in our marriage. Both Paul and I struggle with laziness and lack of motivation and since it's both of us, it can lead to bad downward spirals.
Basically, I really wish I had spoken up and said what I really meant and maybe gotten some advice before we got married.

It still grates on me that they laughed.
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Postby Rei » Thu Sep 02, 2010 4:21 pm

Yeesh, yeah. I'm glad ours was just us and the counselors (they were an octogenarian couple who were awesome).
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