Wedding Related Content: Beware

Things checked off the list:

1) Ceremony and reception site. We've chosen a beautiful place and booked the date. Whee. They do catering on site which was pretty much a deal-breaker for us. Control of the food is pretty fundamental, as I would like for Biker Boy to be able to eat everything there. (Yep. And right there is the NGS mentality - I would like him to be able to eat everything - he could care less as long as there's something for him to eat.)

2) Cake. Okay, the reception site couldn't deal with our cake needs. But this place could!! They let me (and a friend) come in for a sampling of their cheesecakes. I ordered a gluten-free cheesecake and we took it to Iowa with us so Biker Boy's family could try it. I honestly could not detect a bit of difference between the GF cheesecake and the regular, so I'm very pleased with this choice. It's not costing any more than a higher priced wedding cake (per slice) and they'll come in and do set up and everything, so yay for Muddy Paws!!

(For anyone remotely curious, I did some early reconnaissance on some local gluten-free bakeries for a more traditional cake. What I really wanted was something that guests would not know was gluten-free if they didn't know about Biker Boy's dietary restrictions. I found none that met this specification. At one point, I got two cupcakes from a certain unnamed bakery and we ended up throwing them out because neither one of us would eat anymore. This led to the discovery of Muddy Paws.)

3) Dress. I ordered my dress a couple of weeks ago from Brides of France. A friend is going to let me borrow her hair piece. My attendants are going to wear whatever the heck they want (as long as it meets my exacting specifications). And, yes, I did have the prerequisite bad experience at the Wedding Shoppe in St. Paul. Do not ever go there if you can help it.

4) Officiant. Whee. Natalie is ordained!! Ted and I are very excited that someone we both know (and love!) is going to do our ceremony. It will be so much more personal and meaningful. And I should be able to get Natalie to include a bit in the vows about how we NEED to have a dog at all times in the household.

5) Photographer. We hired one. He came and took our engagement photos. We haven't actually seen any yet, so I'm reserving judgment on this one. His portfolio is awesome. His demeanor is absolutely wonderful and so far I'm crushing just a bit on this guy. We'll see soon how the engagement pics turned out.

6) Rings. Yay for your friendly local jewelry store! We bought my engagement ring there, as well as the bands. I highly recommend it. The folks there don't work on commission, which memans they don't try to upsell, they are super helpful, the selection is awesome, and there are goldsmiths on the premises. When I first got my engagement ring, it was like a quarter of a size too small. We took it in one evening (I was soooo sad, thinking they would have to take my ring for a couple of days) and one of the goldsmiths did it in an hour. And if you stop in, request my girls Gina and Connie. They were tremendously awesome.

7) Invites. I thought I mentioned this, but I can't find the post, so I guess I'll repeat myself. This was conceivably the most difficult thing ever. We fought over fonts. For over half an hour. But some decisions were made. We may have to rethink some of it to get costs a bit lower, but we have an idea of what we want. Save the dates have been ordered and sent out.

(My mean grandmother sent me a letter soon after the STDs went out. It read something like this: "Dear NGS, I am old. I cannot go to your wedding because I am old. Why didn't you have it closer to me? Why Minnesota? I am old. Your card was interesting. You fiance looks like he has a sense of humor. Will I ever get to meet him? I am old." I'll leave it to you to interpret what all of that means.)

8) DJ. We went with Adagio for reasons that I had nothing to do with. It was left to Biker Boy. He made some appointments. We went. He decided this was best for us. Music is his thing. (But I'm putting Radiohead on the do not play list.)

9) Guest list. This took some doing. And to preserve family peace, that's all I'll say about that.

10) Hotel. We spent a week going from hotel to hotel in St. Paul to find the best place for our guests to stay. For reasons having to do with location, cleanliness, ease of parking, and price, we chose the Hilton Garden Inn. We'll see what happens when people start making reservations.

Things still to do:

1) Figure out flowers. I can't believe how much this would cost to have a professional do it. But I also think it will be a pain in the ass to do it ourselves the day before the wedding. We'll see.

2) Make-up/hair/nails for the girls. The girls are me, my two attendants, and my mom. I don't know where to do it and I don't know exactly how much to budget for it. I also don't know if I'm too late to get bookings for the date. Argh. (Oh, and I don't know how I want any of that done, either. I think I have an idea about hair, but my make-up?! Geez. I just want to look less like an overly made-up bride and more like me. But I kinda want to look like Nicole Kidman in the Chanel ads.)

3) Colors. Look, I found this ribbon. It's the right color. But it's grosgrain and I want satin (and I know I've written about this before, but I can't find the post). Until we find the damn ribbon (and we buy like 100 yards of it), I can't make any decisions related to color. My dilemma is real, people.

4) Suit. Biker Boy hasn't gotten his suit yet. I'm not hassling him yet, but after Christmas, the boy better get his ass over to Saks Off Fifth and get himself a suit. The guys are doing plain black suits (BB hasn't decided if he wants two- or three-button suits and heaven knows I don't have an opinion on that.) and we'll get them red ties and/or pocket squares for the suits. Again, this tie/pocket square thing can't be done until we find the damn ribbon, but that's a whole different number (3!).

5) Gifts. We need gifts for the attendants, our parents, and grandparents. Oh, and quite possibly our awesome officiant. This is quite possibly the most fun, but stressful part for me. I love giving gifts that are appropriate and that the receivers love. But another part of me is stressed because we can't decide on anything until we find the damn ribbon.

6) Everything else. We need to find someplace for the rehearsal dinner. We need to know if we'll be able to use the reception site for a brief rehearsal the night before. We need to decide on a menu and cheesecake flavors. We need to decide on what songs will be played and when. We need to decide on what time everything will start. I need to get alterations for my dress. We need to make reservations for where we'll stay on the wedding night. We need to figure out if we're going to rent a car for that week for picking people up at the airport and whatnot. We need to get our engagement pictures and send them out to the appropriate people and places. We need to ... whatever. I am getting married!!!