This is probably going to be my last post as a singleton. Much madness in the past few days & hours. Wish I had time to write about it all. This is what I'd like to cover when I get the chance:
- getting marriage license
- program printing (totally asinine experienceS with Kinko's -- yes, that's plural b/c we had to visit that place on more than one occasion), assembly, etc. (not my best work, so prepare to be disappointed at the end result)
- housing situation
- placecards & table stuff
- rehearsal & rehearsal dinner
- vendor review (and downgrade!)
- flowers
Showing posts with label the countdown. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the countdown. Show all posts
Friday, October 6, 2006
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Friday, August 25, 2006
Preliminary timeline
We sorta hammered out our timeline for the actual wedding day. A major complication is how far out in Brooklyn I live, and how all the vendors and locations are in lower Manhattan. If I stayed in Brooklyn the night before, the schedule would be a lot tighter (it's pretty tight staying in Manhattan too). So, assuming we (meaning, me, BMs, and my parents) stay in a hotel downtown the night before, the timeline would be something like:
8:30 wake up
9:30 - 10:00 Bride & 1 BM leave to go to hair salon, while rest of BMs stay at hotel to get makeup done
10:00 - 11:00 Bride & 1 BM get hair done
11:00 - 11:30 Bride & BM return to hotel to get makeup done while other two BMs go to hair salon
11:30 - 12:30 Bride's makeup
12:30 - 1:30 everyone get dressed
1:00 photographer show up at hotel to take some getting ready pictures
1:30 cab picks up bride at hotel, w/ parents & photographer to church
1:30 trio/quartet begins playing prelude stuff
2:00 ceremony begins (we're thinking of Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring for the processional and Canon in D for bride's entrance)
2:30 ceremony ends
2:30 - 3:00 brief picture time at church for those who are interested
3:00 - 5:30 pictures throughout lower Manhattan and Brooklyn (still have to decide where to take pics)
5:30 - 6:00 travel to restaurant (may have to get additional car to bring us since cab's rate is for 4 hours)
6:00 - 7:00 tea ceremony during cocktail hour
7:00 banquet begins (and I mean 7pm on the dot, not any later!) -- bride and groom introduced
7:15 first dance
11:00 banquet ends
Still have to work out time of dress changes, cake cutting, speeches, table toasts....
8:30 wake up
9:30 - 10:00 Bride & 1 BM leave to go to hair salon, while rest of BMs stay at hotel to get makeup done
10:00 - 11:00 Bride & 1 BM get hair done
11:00 - 11:30 Bride & BM return to hotel to get makeup done while other two BMs go to hair salon
11:30 - 12:30 Bride's makeup
12:30 - 1:30 everyone get dressed
1:00 photographer show up at hotel to take some getting ready pictures
1:30 cab picks up bride at hotel, w/ parents & photographer to church
1:30 trio/quartet begins playing prelude stuff
2:00 ceremony begins (we're thinking of Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring for the processional and Canon in D for bride's entrance)
2:30 ceremony ends
2:30 - 3:00 brief picture time at church for those who are interested
3:00 - 5:30 pictures throughout lower Manhattan and Brooklyn (still have to decide where to take pics)
5:30 - 6:00 travel to restaurant (may have to get additional car to bring us since cab's rate is for 4 hours)
6:00 - 7:00 tea ceremony during cocktail hour
7:00 banquet begins (and I mean 7pm on the dot, not any later!) -- bride and groom introduced
7:15 first dance
11:00 banquet ends
Still have to work out time of dress changes, cake cutting, speeches, table toasts....
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Nightmares, awake and not
I have mild interest in hearing/reading about other ppl's dreams (they're usually too obtuse, boring, and meaningless to me) so indulge me for this entry as I have to report that this past week I had my first wedding-related nightmare. I think this is important b/c it seems to me that ppl start to have these nightmares as the day draws close, as it is for me.
So my dream was basically about not having a dress (though that seems to be more realistic than ever before). I showed up at the church and the dress was supposed to be delivered there but instead the morons decided to deliver it to the restaurant (even though I had never given them that address). It turns out to be too late to retrieve it from the restaurant and everyone decides that I'll just attend the ceremony in my regular clothes and change into the dress at the reception. So I get married in jeans, sneakers, and a blazer (odd b/c I don't own a blazer).
Thankfully I've forgotten all the other details to the dream. But onto real-life nightmares: I walked past the restaurant today and it was still boarded shut. This time the disco-style overhang was completely ripped off. And the guest list continues to grow, like a bad cancer.
So my dream was basically about not having a dress (though that seems to be more realistic than ever before). I showed up at the church and the dress was supposed to be delivered there but instead the morons decided to deliver it to the restaurant (even though I had never given them that address). It turns out to be too late to retrieve it from the restaurant and everyone decides that I'll just attend the ceremony in my regular clothes and change into the dress at the reception. So I get married in jeans, sneakers, and a blazer (odd b/c I don't own a blazer).
Thankfully I've forgotten all the other details to the dream. But onto real-life nightmares: I walked past the restaurant today and it was still boarded shut. This time the disco-style overhang was completely ripped off. And the guest list continues to grow, like a bad cancer.
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Frivoloties
Find your wedding fragrance.
Learn how to choose a signature scent.
This, apparently is on my list of reminders from WeddingChannel.com. Since when did planning a wedding become this huge to-do when ppl can lose all reason and have an excuse to spend tons of money on the tiniest (and often useless) details? I understand some people rely more on their olfactory senses and may want to remember their special day through smells and fragrances but really, this is not something for everyone and I hate that the wedding industry is trying to convince us all otherwise. People/marketers hear 'wedding' and out comes the list of things that must be done (i.e. expenses that must happen). It starts with the diamond (before DeBeers made all women covet this particular type of carbon, sapphires and other gemstones were commonly given), then the dress (why does it have to be upwards of $1000 for a bunch of fabric that happens to be white or some close shade of it?), and then the plethora of things that magazines and websites encourage you to take part in (bathroom baskets, fancy flowers, second dress for the reception, etc.) so that your event stands out but it doesn't b/c everyone else is doing it and then you have to do it so that you can keep up with everyone else. But, after visiting a store that sells bridesmaid dresses, I'd have to say that this is the biggest ripoff. These are nothing but evening gowns or cocktail dresses (if you're going for the shorter length) yet there's this huge industry of being measured months in advance so that a dress can be specially made for you ("custom-ordered" is the phrase, I believe) in the chosen color and style. Yet, upon closer inspection, the one store I visited explained that dresses are not custom-made but the company's dress size that is closest to your actual measurements will be ordered for you and you will have to get the necessary alterations. Hmm... some lapses in logic:
- Why not just buy off the rack if things aren't specially made for your body?
- I believe the actual dress is not made until you put the order in. That seems a bit inefficient to me. I'd be happy with fewer style and color choices if that means there'd be stock pieces readily available that you can buy off the rack (with the probable exception of looking for sizes very far from the norm). What is up with that?
- Why can't the BM dress companies be like every other industry where you make a whole bunch of stuff, store it in a warehouse, keep some in stores for ppl to see in person, try on, or buy, and when you run out (or need a less popular size) have it shipped in from the warehouse? And if it's an out of the ordinary order, have it specially made then. You could even do this all online -- lots of ppl shop online, why not for BM dresses? Show all the styles and colors available and anyone can order from anywhere in the world. Saves the bridal party from the headache of getting together to be measured, picking out the dress, etc. (Sites like CoCo Myles are jumpstarting this trend but not fast enough.)
But what pisses me off supremely about this is why the need for all those measurements if things are not custom-made but just ordered to the closest size? Just provide the regular sizing chart that is made known for clothing catalogs and websites. Why the secrecy? Are we too dumb to match up measurements to a company's size specifications? Oh wait, how else can they justify charging you $200 per dress when a very similar dress can be bought off the rack for $80? And BM dresses are usually a pretty simple silhouette and design (minimal beading and other detail work) so it's not like it's even justified to charge so much (unlike wedding gowns).
All this to say I am hoping to buy something off the rack for my BMs (yes, that part should have been taken care of months ago but it's hanging in limbo b/c of intense drama that I really don't want to go into). We'll see how it all goes.
Learn how to choose a signature scent.
This, apparently is on my list of reminders from WeddingChannel.com. Since when did planning a wedding become this huge to-do when ppl can lose all reason and have an excuse to spend tons of money on the tiniest (and often useless) details? I understand some people rely more on their olfactory senses and may want to remember their special day through smells and fragrances but really, this is not something for everyone and I hate that the wedding industry is trying to convince us all otherwise. People/marketers hear 'wedding' and out comes the list of things that must be done (i.e. expenses that must happen). It starts with the diamond (before DeBeers made all women covet this particular type of carbon, sapphires and other gemstones were commonly given), then the dress (why does it have to be upwards of $1000 for a bunch of fabric that happens to be white or some close shade of it?), and then the plethora of things that magazines and websites encourage you to take part in (bathroom baskets, fancy flowers, second dress for the reception, etc.) so that your event stands out but it doesn't b/c everyone else is doing it and then you have to do it so that you can keep up with everyone else. But, after visiting a store that sells bridesmaid dresses, I'd have to say that this is the biggest ripoff. These are nothing but evening gowns or cocktail dresses (if you're going for the shorter length) yet there's this huge industry of being measured months in advance so that a dress can be specially made for you ("custom-ordered" is the phrase, I believe) in the chosen color and style. Yet, upon closer inspection, the one store I visited explained that dresses are not custom-made but the company's dress size that is closest to your actual measurements will be ordered for you and you will have to get the necessary alterations. Hmm... some lapses in logic:
- Why not just buy off the rack if things aren't specially made for your body?
- I believe the actual dress is not made until you put the order in. That seems a bit inefficient to me. I'd be happy with fewer style and color choices if that means there'd be stock pieces readily available that you can buy off the rack (with the probable exception of looking for sizes very far from the norm). What is up with that?
- Why can't the BM dress companies be like every other industry where you make a whole bunch of stuff, store it in a warehouse, keep some in stores for ppl to see in person, try on, or buy, and when you run out (or need a less popular size) have it shipped in from the warehouse? And if it's an out of the ordinary order, have it specially made then. You could even do this all online -- lots of ppl shop online, why not for BM dresses? Show all the styles and colors available and anyone can order from anywhere in the world. Saves the bridal party from the headache of getting together to be measured, picking out the dress, etc. (Sites like CoCo Myles are jumpstarting this trend but not fast enough.)
But what pisses me off supremely about this is why the need for all those measurements if things are not custom-made but just ordered to the closest size? Just provide the regular sizing chart that is made known for clothing catalogs and websites. Why the secrecy? Are we too dumb to match up measurements to a company's size specifications? Oh wait, how else can they justify charging you $200 per dress when a very similar dress can be bought off the rack for $80? And BM dresses are usually a pretty simple silhouette and design (minimal beading and other detail work) so it's not like it's even justified to charge so much (unlike wedding gowns).
All this to say I am hoping to buy something off the rack for my BMs (yes, that part should have been taken care of months ago but it's hanging in limbo b/c of intense drama that I really don't want to go into). We'll see how it all goes.
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