If Only They Sold Flower Bouquets at Goodwill

I continue to pick away at my wedding to do list with good ol' Robbie. After some difficult deliberation, Robert and I selected a photographer. Picking out a photographer was difficult, because of the wide array of choices in the Seattle area. I narrowed down some general internet searching into a dozen or so photographers, which Robert and I widdled down to four, which we emailed. Two replied, so we set up meetings with them. Both of these guys were excellent choices, and we then had difficulty narrowing it down further between the two of them. One of them seemed very traditional and in control of his craft, the other was a little more adventurous and open-minded. We discussed it with our friends and family, and it was finally Robert’s sister who pushed us to make a final decision with her savvy artistic perspective. Phew, one more thing off the list!

Also, we picked our caterer a few weeks ago. At first I didn't even want to contact Susan Magan. On the preferred caterer list for Clise Mansion, all that was listed for her was a phone number. I thought: Oh great, probably an older woman who refuses to use the internet. On what was more or less a whim, (I had another caterer in mind) we contacted her and she invited us into her home in North Kirkland. What a great decision this turned out to be! She’s this wonderful retired school teacher who does catering in her spare time. She sat us down and described scrumptious meal options, complete with antipasto tray, fruit tray, and several appetizer options. Our guests are in for a treat! Robert and I are also very lucky, because this deluxe spread is less than any of the other caterers' minimal packages. She also had some helpful recommendations, and it’s through her that we met our fabulous cake decorator, Ginny McGavin. Ginny doesn't have a website, but she does thankfully use email. It has been a lot of fun for Robert and I to meet these quirky old ladies and listen to their stories. If I had to give any advice to a bride at this point, it would be: meet a nice old lady who knows other nice old ladies. They have reasonable prices, and it seems like they take pride in giving their products homey and personal touches. I think we will host some very tasty and special wedding refreshments.


I may not be able to get nice flowers at Goodwill, but luckily I have a few nice old lady recommendations, which is pretty much the next best thing. I met with one florist so far, (not a nice old lady recommendation) and I was discouraged by the high prices. I’m not going to have a lot of professionally decorated flowers at my wedding, but I really didn’t think the price would creep so high. At that rate, I might decide on making the bouquets on Saturday afternoon with the BMs and GMs (bride's maid's and groom's men). That's only a partial joke. I still want to interview 2 more florists, so hopefully we can come to a better bargain. I also might bust out my bartering skills if all else fails.

In other wedding news, Robert and I are working on our bridal registry. This is hard work and is taking more time than we bargained for. Sometimes I think it'd be easier to just receive money as a wedding gift, as is the tradition in other cultures. Regardless of how you chose to do it, it's very easy to spend a lot of money when planning for a wedding. Whether you're the bride, groom, family, guests of friends, it's kind of scandalous how many people are vying to get a piece of you. Weddings are a huge business these days, and there are a plethora of options and pretty steep competition in the industry. What sometimes shocks me is, considering all the time and expenses we are incurring, our wedding represents a rather low-key affair. Yeowza.

Lazy Lady!

So, I haven't been up to speed on my postings. I've been very tired and very busy with wedding planning, Goodwill hunting, kitten scolding, meal prepping, and house cleaning to prepare for the future in-laws.

To tell you the truth, I am beat and not fit to write out a blog. I have stuff to clean and chicken to marinate! Hooooo-doggies, domestic bliss can sure get a girl yawning early on a Saturday night.

My fiance's mother and sister are staying with us for about a week. In order to prepare for their visit, I cleaned and organized our place to the best of my ability. I take a lot of pride in hospitality and I wanted to make sure they both felt comfortable and welcome. We've spent their vacation here by eating out, playing with kittens, walking around Kirkland, and even going to Fremont for the Solstice Parade. It has definitely been a full week. Plus, tomorrow my parents will be coming for a brief visit, and we'll host a family bbq -- hence the marinating and cleaning duties that await me tonight.

Goodwill Score!

So, I went to the *big* Goodwill today to scout out some vases and tea light candle holders. I wasn't expecting much. Sometimes you can really strike out if you go to Goodwill with a shopping list.

So, imagine my surprise when I found 8 matching vases in a style I thought would be appropriate for the table center pieces. I also found a few other slightly different ones for using at the bridal party table or on the mantle or at the buffet table. Also, I saw these sweet little sherbet cups. I thought they'd be very cute with little tea light candles sitting in them. Plus, as an added bonus, I could use them after the reception. However, I thought: there's no way I'm going to find enough of these to make it worth my while. I was digging through the shelves, and a nice woman found me and asked: is this the style of cup you're looking for? Eeee!! It was!! Another woman joined us on the hunt and we found 15! For the photo I added a few river rocks from one of Robert's old disassembled fountains. I think for the main event, I'll go to the local craft store and look for some pretty blue glass to put in the cups.

I was pretty pleased with myself. That was a pretty productive Goodwill outing.

Now, some of my readers (yes, both of you) might be worrying that the only thing I think about is this wedding. Well, I will try and write a few different posts in the coming week just to mix it up. Stay tuned.

Photographer??????

I set out this morning to research photographers in the area. It is an overwhelming task! There are so many different photographers, packages, etc. I barely know where to start.

Right now I'm just scanning google, craig's list, yelp, a grand wedding, and Seattle Bride's website. It's terribly difficult to narrow all these things down! I will let you know how I get through this photography debacle.

I'm yawning and getting bleary eyed. I might need to step away from the computer for a while.

The Dress!

This past Sunday I finally got the dress! It was actually a fairly easy and entertaining process for me. I looked around to get a feel for what brand-new dresses cost ($600 and up, more or less) and then scanned the Craig's List clothes section for wedding dresses under $300. I also perused several different second hand stores, but decided that I stood a better chance of nabbing a deal on Craig's List.

Towards the middle of my searching process, I figured out what I wanted: a fancy wedding dress with a train, white and with some embellishment (in other words, not too plain and simple: lace, embroidery, beading or something similar would do), and a corset lace-up in the back. This last feature was important to me so I wouldn't have to worry about any drastic alterations; the dress would just need to be sinched up appropriately in the back. The list of what I didn't want (princess waistline, poofy sleeves, big poofy skirt, two piece, etc) helped eliminate many dresses on Craig's List.

Now, picking a dress from Craig's List isn't easy, per say. It took a several days of scanning dresses, comparing measurements and sizing charts, and trying to imagine what would be best. In the end, I met one person, tried on one dress and besides being a few inches too long, it fit perfectly and was comfortable and beautiful. She also threw in a veil and knocked $50 off the price due to the hemming alterations I would need. I bought the dress, had teriyaki chicken for lunch with my attendant bride's maid, and made it to a movie later that afternoon.

Also, a few days ago when I was at Goodwill, I found a simple pair of white sandals: comfortable, apparently un-used, small heel, and only $3.

Dress: check.
Veil: check.
Shoes: check.

Sorry, no wedding dress pictures on the blog, you all have to wait and see.

The wedding to-do list continues, and this week I'm trying to figure out what to do about a photographer and caterer. The fact that it's terribly stuffy and hot at home, really drains my wedding research tenacity. But somehow, I persevere.

Today at work I told one of my coworkers that I've been frazzled because I've been planning a wedding and he says, "Oh wow, that's exciting!" Oh yeah! It is very exciting...in the midst of all the planning, to do lists, and organizing, it had slipped my mind that this is exciting. Very exciting!