Making some headway

We narrowed some things down this week, not the least of which are honeymoon cruise choices and some possible actual wedding dates! Phew. So we've been saying August, but now we're looking at the first two weekends in September. I think Labor Day weekend is our first choice--Friday or Saturday night, depending on which cruise we finally decide on. We still have to visit the chapel and find out availability there, and Matt has an old family friend who pastors a church in Dallas who he wants to ask to officiate, if he's available and can make it up here.

Matt's been pretty busy in his own right, too. He secured his best men (he can't choose between his two best friends any more than I can choose between my sister and my oldest friend, so everybody gets to share honors--and split duties, so they've got that going for them) and drafted up his guest list, finally. I think we're going to try to keep it to 60 people. Maybe even try paring it down to 50. Of course, most of the cuts will have to come from my side, and as I type this I sit here thinking of people I should add, not subtract. So maybe we'll just stick with 60.

Still on the to do list for this month:

Check out the chapel and decide once and for all when and where to hold the wedding and BOOK IT, wherever IT turns out to be.

Contact the family friend pastor and if he's not available, book our local pastor.

Decide which cruise we want/can afford and make the reservations.

Visit tux shops so Matt can get a solid idea of what he wants to wear and we can finally settle the color scheme debate.

Go yarn shopping for the bridesmaid's shawls.

Call up lesser known local photography studios and ask for brochures and quotes. Between the cruise and the chapel rental we'll probably have to budget less for photography than I'd hoped, so we probably won't be able to go with the more established photographers around town. Hrmm.

And while I'm at it I might as well call up some bakeries and get quotes on wedding cakes, too.

Again I say: Phew! I think that's enough to worry about for one month. Meanwhile, I'll focus on not stressing myself into a paralyzing stupor. I did that earlier this month, and it was no fun. This whole thing should be at least a little fun, right? It might be time to pull the wedding dress out of the closet and put it on and twirl in front of the mirror. That part's always fun.

I wanted to title this "Diary of a Virgin Bride..."

...but there are too many older relatives who will be stopping by who'll consider that both crass and TMI. Gotta keep the family happy, donchaknow.

So this is it: the one-stop shop to see how the wedding plans are coming, find out where we're registered (once we get around to doing that), RSVP online, watch me squee with giddy girlish delight over being a bride, or watch me melt down when things turn out to be anything less than what I envision, whichever way the wind's blowing that day.

I have a real live, old fashioned hardcover journal for the personal stuff, so don't expect too much of that here. It's part journal, part scrapbook, and I hope some day to show it to our kids when they're ready to plan their own weddings, to help give them a little perspective. Or maybe just to give them (more) fodder to laugh at the 'rents. Knowing Matt and I, though, they'll have plenty of that without me having to write any of it down for them.

Things are still fairly up in the air at this point--we're in the process of finding out when everyone is available and making up our minds whether to hold the wedding at our church or to rent out a chapel, and also figuring out the guest list. Speaking of, if you've found your way here and you didn't make the guest list, please oh please know that we're doing this on an extremely tiny budget, which pretty much narrows our list down for us. Believe me, deciding on a guest list when you're on a thousand dollar budget and both of your dads had nine siblings each? Not a task I'd wish on most couples.

At any rate, if you need info on our wedding, or if you just want to follow the adventures of Matt & Jean, amateur budget wedding planners and spouses-to-be, this is the place. And if you've already been through this and have any advice to offer, we'll be most happy to hear it.