Information overload

This weekend has been quite eventful. It started out on Friday with the 'Big To Do' event sponsored by Target's Club Wedd at Cipriani, which is a close walk from work for me. They had decorated the place as if it were a fancy wedding, complete with a greeter in a top hat outside. Inside huge flower displays greeted us, along with the signature light blue banners advertising the event. A bunch of ppl gave us a program, a small spiral notepad and a pen to take notes. So we walked around and viewed their displays. There were table settings, kitchen stuff, bedding, patio furniture, vacuums and other stuff you'd want to add to your registry. They set up laptops and other stations where you could set up your registry right then and there. As we walked around admiring stuff there were ppl who'd stop us and encourage us to start a registry (which was somewhat annoying). There was also a section that showcased cakes and another for flowers. A person from The Knot started off the events with some general wedding tips. As the evening went on, experts in the field of interior design, vintage style, hairdressing (Umberto), design (Issac Mizrahi), outdoor design, flowers (David Stark, I think), makeup (Sonia Kashuk) shared their ideas. Most of these ppl also happen to be associated with Target and so, they pushed their products. I think the most helpful stations were the flower guy, the vintage dude, and the hairdresser. The flower guy showed us the right way to hold the bouquet: with two hands, down low, don't want to cover your waist or your chest, and slightly tipped forward to cover your hands (unless you have a cascade bouquet or one of those long ones -- you want to hold those at a slight angle to the side). He said that you want to showcase your waist (by bending your elbows slightly so that your arms sort of frame your waist) so you shouldn't get a huge thing, especially if you're petite. He said you would hold the flowers with two hands and your father's arm would loop through your arm. I think that I would want both my parents to walk me down the aisle so his suggestion was to have them each hold your elbow. He also gave other tips like incorporating your stories into your flowers, like a guy who always gave the girl a single white rose every Friday while he was courting her and on their wedding day she walked down the aisle with a single white rose and gave it to him. He also said for those ppl who think they're not really the flower-holding type, then you could go real simple with 3 flowers or something. In the end, his new book was part of the goody bag. Looking through the book, I saw a nifty idea of holding a Bible with your flowers (one way is tucked inside the Bible, like a bookmark). I think I will steal this idea, especially since the first 'non-gift' fiance gave me was a little (maybe not so little) blue Bible (also covers the 'something blue' element). I think this look only works with a couple of flowers so I've got some thinking to do. I'm also trying to remember the first flowers that fiance gave me (we were walking past one of those flower stands and he tricked me by asking 'What kind of flowers do you think my mother would like?' and after he bought them, he gave them to me and I was kinda mad b/c we weren't really on a date). Anyway, the vintage dude was helpful b/c he said you can get stuff sewn into dresses by good tailors so that you don't necessarily need a special bra or other special undergarments. This is especially important b/c a camera flash will expose stuff underneath the white. He also said to skip the tiara (I guess b/c it's not a 'cool' vintage look) and then the hair guy afterwards said to definitely have a tiara, and a big one, haha. The hair guy was helpful also in saying it's better to have a 'soft' look, not with all that hairspray and stuff. That way you can also let down your hair for the reception and you've got another great look. This was a pretty interesting event to be at. They also passed yummy h'odeuvres (sp?) like a lobster paste in a phyllo dough shell, smoked salmon on brioche, asparagus wrapped in proscuitto, and two cakes. One was okay but the other was to die for: chocolate cake with strawberry mouse in between and whipped cream frosting with bits of toffee on top and caramelized sugar so that there were hints of creme brulee. The goody bag was also pretty cool: a light blue canvas bag stuffed with the flower book, a shampoo set from Umberto (and sold at Target), a Target silicone pad, a set of blue Post-Its, and a lip gloss compact from Sonia Kashuk, which is cool b/c on one side there is a slot to hold your ID and credit card.

On Saturday I went to Pinpoint Tailoring on the Upper East Side (it was raining, of course) where the woman was extremely helpful and encouraging. She showed how the bustle would be like (it would actually cover the rip), how the ripped strap would be pulled up, how she would sew in cups so that I wouldn't have to buy a special bra. She also assured me that the rip on the side would be covered up with beading that she'd remove from the train. All this for $425 she said. She was very friendly too. Since I was in the area, I also went to Madame Paulette, which seems to be a chain. The seamstresses that came out didn't seem to be that assuring (they pondered a bit and brought out someone else) but they came to the conclusion of using this lace that she had. It was the same color as the dress and she cut out two flowers out of it to match. It looked decent and she said they'd add some extra beading to make it fit in. In the end, she assured me that it wouldn't be a problem but it'd cost $650. I said that I'd have to think about it and she said it's fine but bring it back about 3 months before I need it. So I am feeling better about this darned dress....

That evening, we finally got one item completely done! Tai Pan Bakery is having a sale on their 'bing' ('cake', or 'cookie') cards. These cards are tucked into the invitations of the bride's side -- not sure why. We got 150 cards in total. It was freaky to have to withdraw that kind of money from the ATM, count it, then walk over and buy it. The woman selling it to us was very serious and set up everything for us step by step. She handled FFIL's questions without much conversation but with automated answers (ignoring his humor). After she counted out all the cards, she put everything on the counter for us to count. She was like a well-oiled machine, plopping down things very calculatedly, including a f'ugly digital watch as a gift for purchasing so many.

Despite completing this task, I'm starting to feel the pressure now. We still have a LOT to do and our available weekends are slowly being eaten up. With all the tips and ideas I garnered from the tailors and other experts this weekend, I've also been looking through a huge stack of magazines that a friend who recently got married gave me. So much to absorb and think about (so many great ideas to sift through!) I'm feeling quite overwhelmed. Some of the stuff we've started on but reading this new stuff is making me wonder if I should've done things differently. And I'm still wondering if we have an overarching theme or something that can help us narrow things down. And I think we need to start delegating tasks to ppl to prepare them to help us, but still have to come up with that list of tasks! Can I get an 'aiya!'?