Nearly complete

The list of things to do is nearly complete. We have two appointments coming up with the two different florists. I also asked one of my co-workers to DJ, so we will see how that goes. I started looking for some jr. bridesmaids dresses. Formal dresses are pretty expensive and found that the dresses' prices can run pretty high. The dresses would have been over $150 for both. I was somewhat afraid to buy it because I was in Texas when I saw the dresses and the girls wouldn't have been able to try the dresses on. Hopefully I will be able to find something back at home.

Jr. Bridesmaids

I got in touch with my future SIL to ask about BFC's niece's measurements so I can start looking for junior bridesmaids' dresses...which reminds me, I need to get in touch with my other bridesmaid to see if she found the dress my MOH bought. Well, if she doesn't get that same dress, I'll live. I think it'd be best if everyone had a dress that was comfortable and that they'd want to wear. I don't really care if they all don't have the same dress. I think it'll show their individuality.

I'm hoping to find something nice for the jr. bridesmaids to wear and that it won't be too expensive. I know that I have to keep some money on the side for alterations and to pay off the balances of whoever I need to pay.

A lady from Easley florist keeps calling me, but she calls me when I'm not able to answer the phone...hopefully I'll be able to get in touch with someone to at least set up an appointment. I don't really like how it's going right now though. At least with the other florist, the lady got back to me right away despite how "busy" they were with the holiday season coming up.

Flowers

Flowers is the next item on my list that needs to be looked at. I did call one florist back after a rep called me, but I didn't receive any call back from that one. Oh well...at least I have an appointment set up with another one (TGIS) coming up in January. I have to write that down on the calendar so I don't forget.

I finally sent the down payment for the videographer as well. I was somewhat bummed out because I found a cheaper company on CL. It wasn't too bad though since the price difference wasn't that much. I'm excited to see what the end product will be like.

I also am meeting someone to buy a guestbook this morning. She mentioned something about a veil as well, so we'll see how that looks.

I can't believe it's nearly December, which means there's only approximately 8 MORE months. :p

Videography Pt. 2

BFC and I did meet with a videographer on Friday afternoon. His prices were the best among the others I've seen. The other studio that I was interested in was WAAAAY too overpriced for my liking. They did a package deal of photography and videography with prices starting at 8500. I couldn't believe it! If I were to put the total price of my photography and videography together, they wouldn't even come near that price. The videographer was nice and I liked watching his sample. Everything seems to be coming together.

Oh and the florist emailed me back the other day as well. We will be meeting her sometime in January to discuss what we want and what our budget for flowers will be.

Videography

One of the first things I thought I could nix from my wedding was a videographer. I thought I didn't need someone to videotape my wedding. Then, the more and more people I spoke to said that they're glad they hired someone to video their weddings. So, I figured, I'm the type of person who would definitely watch my DVD several times, so I decided to start looking into videography companies.

There are a few I liked so far, but as I was looking on weddingwire.com, some didn't get very high reviews. The one company I am interested in (fisheye studios) emailed me back today with a survey I needed to fill out. I quickly typed it up and sent it back to the person. I'm hoping their rates are reasonable since I really liked their material...

Invites!

This evening, I got a call from the place BFC and I ordered invitations from. They've come in! I'm so excited to see the final product. Well, at least that's one thing I don't have to worry about anymore...now I just have to make a get-together so we can stamp them all. I guess I could do a little at a time...I just need to clear off the desk and counter areas.

Wow! The wedding date is creeping up so quickly. I think the next thing we need to do is make plans to get our wedding bands ordered since that may take a few months to come in. Now that the invitations are completed, we have to go through the guest list again to look at the people we're inviting. I know that the invitations aren't going out until early April, but I know it will alleviate some headaches if we go through everyone first.

Officiant

I ended up emailing Alice Inoue to be our officiant. Apparently she can't confirm the date until four months before the actual wedding, but I did receive an email stating she has the date "reserved" for us.

Meanwhile my future MOL has been trying to reach a friend of the family to be our MC. BFC tried to contact someone to DJ our reception, but that person didn't even call him back. BAD BUSINESS!

I guess instead of looking at the things that aren't complete, I could focus more on the stuff that is done...I need to finish up that budget list in the book.

Lists

I started inputting all of my expenses into the book my MOH bought me as an engagement present. I haven't totaled everything yet, but it's amazing how quickly everything is happening (as I'm sure I said in so many words in my prior post). I finally emailed someone to be our officiant, but she's one of the popular ones, so I'm hoping she'll have the date open, but if not, we'll just have to find someone else.

Another thing I was thinking about was the DJ/MC. If I could find someone who could do both, that would kill two birds with one stone. I'm also in the process of finding a florist. I was watching some videography samples last night and am thinking of putting in some extra money for a videographer.

My MOH's sister said that she would do my cake and I'm going to ask her to do my centerpieces and favors as well. I've seen some really cute cupcake cakes and was thinking of doing something like that, but I know that it may end up being more expensive to have the cake that way.

So much to worry about, but so little time.

9 More Months!

Well, there are approximately nine more months until the wedding. I haven't really been doing any wedding stuff until recently since GC's wedding is over.

BFC and I went to purchase our invitations yesterday and are looking forward to seeing the finished products. I can't believe how quickly time has passed.

Other than getting the invitations done, there are still so many other things to do...
like getting an officiant, booking a florist, MC/DJ...I need to do my checklists.

Dress

After reading a bridal bargain book, I decided to start looking online for dresses. One of the suggestions was to use Craigslist to see if anyone was selling used dresses for cheap. I ended up getting in contact with a lady to look at her daughter's old wedding dress. Apparently, she had had the dress preserved and packed away in a box.

I tried the dress on and found that it was too big for me (both in the bust area and with the height). I figured after getting it for such a good deal, I'd just get it altered. I'm going to the alteration lady this week some time and will ask her how much it'll cost to make those changes to the dress.

Venue

BFC and I went to the HK Hotel to put down our deposit for our ceremony and reception. The lady we worked with was very efficient and we were out of that office in 10 minutes. Funny enough, I found that the ballroom I chose was the same one my cousin had used for her wedding a few years ago. The two of us were also able to check out the ceremony site, which reminds me that I need to look into finding an officiant.

Photos!

BFC and I finally decided on a photographer for our wedding. We were really excited to hear about Gary from Phillips Photography from BFC's brother and sister-in-law. I spoke with Gary on the phone and thought he was really nice and straightforward regarding how I should go about looking for a photographer.

We went to meet with Gary and his wife, Janelle, on Friday. They showed us some of their album samples and they also showed us some of their engagement session samples. We decided to book with them after the meeting. I got a really good feel for them and thought they would be great to work with since they were familiar with our venue and their cost didn't hurt either.

The ball has really started rolling...another thing to check off the list.

Snaps

After getting an idea about how much wedding photography costs, I was wondering what other companies were charging for similar packages. I was somewhat disappointed because I knew that Vince was going to cause us to be over budget. Photos are important, but at the same time, there are other expenses I need to think about.

I spoke with another photographer today who had come as a referral from BFC's relative. I thought he was very personable and his packages are way more affordable. I'm going to set up an appointment with him soon to check his portfolios soon.

Dates

After much procrastination, I finally called the hotel I wanted for the ceremony and reception. And surprisingly, I was able to get the date I wanted. The catering manager was very professional and called me back even after missing my call twice. I was happy to have gotten something even after hearing that I would have to book my date so far in advance.

Now it seems like reality is setting in since the place is booked and the date is official. I will soon become a Mrs.

Oh and BFC and I met up with Vince from LSW. Although he was nice and very down-to-earth, the two of us will probably look at another photographer just because the prices were very steep. Half of our budge may have gone to photographs if we had decided to go with him. I was kind of bummed at the price though since I had been looking forward to working with him and getting the quality of pictures he seems to take.

Love Story Weddings

Vince from LSW called yesterday to set up a consultation with me and BFC. I'm looking forward to seeing his samples and figuring out prices. We still have no date, but we'll be going to the TWC workshop the following day, so we can see if our date(s) is (are) available then. Vince was really nice and he does seem to have a good personality. We may see otherwise when we go to the other workshop, but BFC is pretty much set on having the movie poster engagement picture. I'm hoping the consultation will go well.

Wedding Expo

BFC and I went to the wedding expo yesterday. There weren't as many vendors as I thought there'd be. The only good thing was that we were able to talk to the photographer that we wanted. We left our information with him so that we could have a consultation with him at some time. I'm hoping that we'll be able to talk to someone from the Hale Koa when we go to the Wedding Cafe workshop in a few weeks. BFC also looked up going to the Pagoda for our ceremony and reception. I haven't eaten there in a long time, so I'm wondering if the food is still decent. I've already set down my dates and hopefully they will have one of them available.

Off to the Expo

BFC and I will be heading down to the Bridal Expo tonight. I'm hoping to find a lot of stuff there and get lots of information. It'll be interesting to see what vendors will be there. The Wedding Cafe workshops will also be starting next week, but since I have Open House that night, I won't be able to make it until the following week, which falls on the 4th of August. I just realized that that date is our anniversary! What a way to spend our 2-year anniversary...going to a wedding workshop. LoL

TWC

BFC and I had gone into the Wedding Cafe (TWC) a few weeks ago to browse their resource center and to try some of their popular iced teas. The girls at the store were actually really helpful and one helped us look through some photography albums. We're still looking at who we should use to be our photographer. BFC decided on a few he liked, so I told him that we could look into it when we go to the Bridal Expo, which is happening this weekend.

I had signed up to be on the email list at TWC since the girl mentioned that there would be free workshops coming up. I figured, what do I have to lose, so I signed up for them. I just received an email from them on Friday describing the different types of workshops that were going to be offered. I thought they all looked pretty good and since they're on Wednesday nights, I don't have to worry about taking off from work or anything like that. I just have to remind BFC not to pick up any extra shifts on those days. I signed up for a few of them that I thought would help us, but I haven't received any confirmation yet. I'm wondering if we're supposed to just show up or we're supposed to get something via email. I guess if worse comes to worse, we'll just show up early and see what happens from there.

Lazy

I've been really lazy the past few days and haven't really done any planning at all. I did finally sit down and write out the guest list. The number is way more than I expected and I still haven't finished putting in some people I want to invite. The number is slowly creeping up to 200. That's 50 more people than I initially thought. I told BFC that he may need to cut out some people and if they get girlfriends/boyfriends within a few months before the wedding, they may not be able to bring them. M-I-L (mom in law) did mention that some of the family members may not be able to come because they live off-island and are older.

I've been slacking on doing the stars for the favors as well. I know I'm going to have to fold a ton when I get motivated to do so.

My BFJ Wedding

BFC proposed to me on July 3, 2010. He mentioned that he had given himself a deadline of asking me before the fourth. At least he'll probably never forget the day he actually proposed. Funny enough, he proposed while we were watching "My Big Fat Greek Wedding." I joked with him that we could have a "big fat Japanese" wedding.

I've been trying to stay on top of everything by beginning my planning early. I started the day after his proposal. You know how everyone says that most girls dream of their wedding day from the time they're little...honestly, I was never like that. I never really liked to dress up or put on makeup. I was always in my shorts and t-shirt lounging on the couch. Now that I'm actually going to get married, I guess I'm putting more thought into what I really want for my wedding. It seems to be getting bigger and bigger than what I initially thought.

The first thing I tackled was the guest list. I wrote down everyone who I wanted to invite and asked BFC to do the same. His mom was nice enough to type out their side of the family. I don't think I'm done with the list yet, but I'm going through it slowly and surely. Then, I started thinking about the centerpieces. I've always had a thing for nice centerpieces, but didn't think that having flowers would be good enough, so I decided to make my own, although it may take me a while to do them. I ended up going to the library to borrow a ton of books to read through about keeping a budget and not going overboard.

BFC, my MOH, and I are planning on going to the Bridal Expo in a few weeks to see the vendors and maybe even get some deals. We'll see what happens.