Updates Updates! 3 months away!

With less then 3 months to go its crunch time!

My to do list is growing and I'm only slightly beginning to freak out lol.
My invites I designed are finally in from India and I couldn't be happier to see a part of my vision come together :) Good news is they don't "smell" like India like my friends invites did thank god, the bad news is there are about 500-600 to put together! Yikes this may take a while.

I'm almost done working on my DIY bling wedding shoes that have taken me months to complete. Here's a sneak peek ;)

I still have 1 bridesmaids bouquet to finish as well as my own. These are going to take a LONG while because I have hand sewn every single fabric flower that will be on them. These are the flowers ill be using.

I may take on 1 more DIY project time permitting of course.

My dress has arrived early and I'm still in love with it so that's always good. Still waiting on the BM dresses we ordered on Netbride.com to come in, but they told us middle of Sept so it should be soon.

My first bridal shower is in 2 weeks and Im excited to say I found my dress on a recent trip to San Diego thanks to BCBG! Its white... not a color I normally do but I figure I'm a bride so why not!

Also in 2 weeks is both of our engagement shoots YIKES. This scares me to no end, I'm a makeup artist and usually stay behind the scenes so it will be interesting to be in front of the lense.  Our first shoot will be by the water and I'm guessing more of the lovey dovey stuff but with a twist! The second will be sort of a vintage style with 70's vintage cars and carefully styled hair and makeup. Let's see if we can pull this off and look good doing it lol.

Off to go assemble invites... wish me luck!

Parents Finally Meeting Parents and Update

This weekend will be the first time FI's parents meet my parents. We decided on having both sets over  for a nice dinner at our place Saturday night and although I'm sure it will go great I will admit I'm a bit nervous. Ive just learned to expect the unexpected since so many things have happened and the last thing I need is any added stress.

We hired and fired our contractor because he made our living room ceiling leak (long story) and have been living with a gutted master bathroom since we moved in 2 months ago. Due to the dust and future renos we haven't been able to sleep or use our master bedroom so for now the guest bedroom is our temp sleeping quarters.

I'm SO ready for this washroom to be done and have had one contractor come in to quote us on finishing the job and another is coming by today. Wish us luck we need our bedroom and house back!!

Since finding the dress Ive dabbled with the idea of ordering a replica from china as I had someone I know do this and she was happy with her $200 purchase. It's been a struggle to justify spending $1500 on a wedding dress ill wear once but in the end I think it may just be easier to deal with a vendor here and get the real deal as opposed to a knock off. Either way the store told me i have about a week to make that decision so I better get on it.

Ive also been toying with the idea of having a jewelry or brooch bouquet. Its an idea I had seen online about a year ago but go reintroduced to when a beautiful bride I know Emily designer her own for her wedding this past march. I have started to collect jewels but still have to decide if I'm going to move ahead with this idea or not.

Ive somehow talked myself into getting a videographer even though I didn't care much for it before and so we will be meeting with a company this Sunday to see what they can provide. All I'm really interested in is a non cheesy 10 min recap anyway so we will see how much that will cost me.

Someone kindly pointed out the other day that I only have about 6 months left... YIKES! Why did I think I had all the time in the world? Am I falling behind on planning? I feel lost....

How Important Is A Videographer Anyway?

At last weeks meeting with our wedding planner she asked us what our budget was for a videographer. We both kinda stopped and looked at each other before I responded with hesitation "we don't really have one...we don't know if we want one yet".

We ended up putting in our "this can always be nixed" section of the budget but when I think about it I'm not so sure how sold I really am on having one. Ive always been the type who cant sit still during family videos where there is 8 minutes straight of watching people dance, so WHY would I want to make my own?

I LOVE the cinematic style that some videographers provide and the idea of a same day edit is really cool BUT when the local rates for this style start at $5000 I begin to wonder if that 10 minute same day edit is really worth $5000+.

So for now.... its in the budget really for the sake of being in there but I have to say I'm not sold....

Next up Invites!

Since getting engaged at the very end of January we have booked our venue, photographers, wedding planner & decor company! Not bad for only 2 weeks of planning huh :)

Since we wanted to get married this year and knew a lot of vendors would be booked up very soon we jumped on it and got a lot done fast so we can breathe a sigh of relief now and prep for our big move.

Once the move is over next on my list are the invites..... do we get them done in India or local? Lets weight the pros and cons shall we?

Invites done in India:
Pros:
Very cost efficient
Parents are going to India so I don't have to pay for shipping
Pretty enough to possibly impress the FI's side
We have family friends there who can if needed so and approve the sample
More money is left over for programs, menus and table #'s

Cons:
Not so original
Completely Indian so non of FI's non-Indian side is represented
Communication barrier
Time restraints

Invites made locally:
Pros:
Able to create a "fusion" style invite
Unique
Able to see the proofs in person

Cons:
Not of cost officiant
I would want to find someone who created one of a kind invites and that may be hard

This is our next big decision and challenge and Im looking forward to it!

The Date Is SET!!

Today FI and I signed the papers for our venue today so the date is set!

I can now say our wedding date is....

11/12/11! 

Next task Save The Dates! I'm thinking fun, I'm thinking magnets or postcards, I'm thinking DIY! Ive been waiting a LONG time to do some DIY wedding projects and I cant wait to get started.

I'm always looking for inspiration, what are some of your fav DIY sites??

Narrowed down our venue search woohoo!

So after a LONG day of searching, talking & negotiating we have finally narrowed down our selection to 1 venue. While I haven't looked at every single venue in town we have been to over 15 different ones and have a pretty good idea of what we are looking for.

We still have to talk to our parents and make sure they are on board tonight but I think we will be signing this week with them. The hall is updated with a recent 3 million dollar reno and is every brides fantasy with its massive sparkling chandeliers and standard gold Chiavari chairs BONUS we don't have to use or pay for chair covers woohoo!

We would get 2 halls combined with can technically seat 500ppl and use of all 3 attached lobby spaces which is massive but great for cocktail hour after our ceremony or ceremonies (havent decided yet)!

Once the hall contract is signed I can breath easy and start to confirm all my other vendors. I have already hired my wedding planner and have met with photography company that I'm hoping to work with and we meet with our decorator this Wednesday! Things are slowing coming together and the stress is beginning to ease THANK GOD lol.

ps- We move in a week and half... think we should start packing?? geez thank god we live in a condo.

Wow who said planning a wedding was fun??

Although I have been dreaming of this for years and been actively collecting ideas for months now I'm seriously overwhelmed!

We are planning 2 events on 2 different days, 2 different ceremonies that I'm hoping to combine into 1, 2 different venues and approx 350 people!

We have decided that we will need a wedding planner for sure and so have been on the hunt meeting with a few over the last 2 weeks and have narrowed it down so we hope it works out because I need help!

Saturday is a FULL day of venue hunting... my fiance is thrilled lol no seriously hes being really good about it all and right now hes my rock. I seriously cant wait to just be married!

Oh and we move into our new house in 2 weeks OMG.. I should seriously start packing lol.

Anyways I'm really hoping the "fun" will start once I book a venue... or at least that's what everyone keeps telling me.