Weddingbee Blog

Okay, now to more thoroughly address what has been stressing me out:

1) The letterpress issue. I did our entire invitation suite myself (which I will post here after they’ve been sent out!), except for the front part of the invitation, which I designed and will have printed at a local letterpress printer. I ordered the entire thing online, uploaded my image and communicated a couple of times with one of the employees at the printer. I thought there would be no problem. On their website, they say single pieces will take 2-3 weeks, and that people should call for a specific delivery date.

So… it has been two weeks, and yesterday I decided to call to get an exact time estimate. Turns out they lost my order. The guy on the phone was kind of condescending, asking me why I placed the entire order online and why I wouldn’t have called to make sure everything went through. I had to explain several times that I’d had an email exchange with one of their employees and didn’t think I needed to call. Initially he told me that I would need to pay a $50 rush order fee in order to have them done by the end of this month, and if I wasn’t willing to pay the $50, they would be done mid-June (my invites are supposed to go out at the beginning of June, and I still have to do some assembly once I get the letterpress). Needless to say, I was rather upset about the situation, because it isn’t my fault that they lost my order, and I shouldn’t have to pay a rush fee in order to have them done later than they should have been done in the first place.

Long story a teeny bit shorter, I had to read him several statements off of their website and all of the emails I had received before he agreed to talk to the “big boss” and get my order moved up. It will now be done on the 21st. I am glad that it all seems to be working out, but the guy didn’t even apologize. It hasn’t really left the sweetest taste in my mouth. Oh, well.

2) The groomsman issue. I was a little worried about discussing this in a public forum, but I don’t think he will read this, and I’m obviously not going to use his name. So basically, he bought a tux for his wedding and won’t be renting anything for our wedding.  Problem is, his tuxedo is the only one that doesn’t match. So I asked him if he would mind renting just the jacket ($45), so that the jackets would all match. He told me that he doesn’t think all weddings need to be “matchy matchy,” that I should take the “rules” with a grain of salt, and he doesn’t want to spend the $45.

He makes a lot more money than the other groomsmen, who are all paying over $100 to rent an entire tux. I really wanted the jackets to match, though, and I didn’t want him to hate me forever, so I offered to pay for the jacket. He emailed me back and said, “thanks for offering to pay–how about I pay for half?” It made me feel like he thought I should be paying for his rental even though no one else is receiving monetary help for their rentals.  In the end, I’m paying for the whole thing because I’m not in the market for anyone to resent me, and I really want the jackets to match.  The end.

3) The MIA makeup artist issue. I had a hard time figuring out who was going to do my makeup and hair. All of the makeup artists recommended online were already booked months and months out from my date, so I decided to wait for an artist who did makeup and hair for my friend Kathy’s wedding. She books three months out from the wedding date. So I emailed her and she said that I could have the date, and that I should call her to set up a trial. She does makeup for movies, so she told me to be patient because she was filming last week. However, I never heard back from her. I don’t want to be a nag, but I feel that the closer I get to my date, the less likely I am to find someone else if she isn’t going to come through…

4) Ceremony Music stuff. I found a group of students to play at our ceremony. They are a string trio. We are not very traditional people, but we will probably have a very traditional music selection for the ceremony (we both want it to feel really “weddingy,” and to us that means the wedding march). The musicians need to be covered with a tent. Now I have to figure out where to get a tent.

5) The photobooth issue. Mr. Cream Puff really, really wants a photobooth. So as gifts to one another, we decided to split the cost of the photobooth. Unfortunately, since we decided that, the people at the photobooth place we chose have not been answering their phones and have not been returning voice messages. I finally got to talk to someone on the phone on Monday, but she never sent me the contract. So I called Tuesday, and the guy said he’d send it in a half hour, and if I didn’t get it, to call back. An hour and a half goes by, so I call him. He said he hasn’t sent it, and he’ll send it in a half hour. I finally got it.

I feel like a lot of vendors have been this way…kind of flakey. It makes me uncomfortable. Like, if they act this way before we book them, are they really going to be there on time? This is the only photobooth place we can afford; I’ve heard really good things about them though, so I think it will probably be okay.

One last issue: Our MIA DOCs. I am a little bit concerned about the lack of responsiveness on behalf of our day of coordinators. I feel like they should be a little more responsive with their emails considering we’re less than three months from the date and no one has any idea what is going on. However, they are not responding to my emails any quicker than 2 weeks, if at all. Color me NERVOUS. I’ve only sent them a couple of emails, but they’re about important things - like the timeline.

Currently, there are a lot of logistical questions I’m having. How do I get three carloads full of alcohol where it needs to be without making three trips over the bridge three days before the wedding? How do I get all of the stuff for the ceremony to our Day of Coordinators? And how do they get all of it to the ceremony site and set it up? It seems like there is an awful lot of stuff!

All of this is compounded by the fact that I found out that I do not actually have carpal tunnel, according to the nerve test I had last week. Whatever is causing my arms and feet to tingle and hurt is not a problem with any of the tunnels in my arms. I am scheduled for an MRI of my head and neck on Sunday. It’s scary.

I really feel like I need to either take up yoga or find myself some anti-anxiety medication. I feel like my stress level is very high all the time. Honestly, I’m not really liking wedding planning all that much right now. I hope this is a phase, and that it passes soon!