Weddingbee Blog

I knew when we started planning our wedding that there were bound to be ups and downs. Down, down, down, I stumble.

Here is the truncated version of this little hiccup in my wedding experience thus far. When we first started talking to our ceremony/reception venue, their events coordinator spontaneously quit. This dragged out our negotiations as she had made several errors (such as giving us menus with outdated pricing) and it took them a while to hire a new, permanent coordinator. When they did hire someone, I adored her and did flips with glee. I had met her elsewhere and was so happy to have her on board.

Negotiating our contract still took a long time for various reasons. At first it came back to me with a lump sum for how much the wedding would cost, but I was adamant that I wanted the whole thing itemized so there would be no confusion later. We finally signed a week or so ago.

A few days ago I found out that the coordinator I loved so much quit out of the blue. I can’t begrudge her quitting because she obviously had to do what’s right for her, but man does this have me concerned. We will now be working with our FOURTH coordinator at this venue in just a few short months.

All I can hear in my poor little head is, “RED FLAG, RED FLAG!”

Well that and, “Thank god you are so neurotic you had all the pieces itemized in the contract.”

There are little details that the coordinator who just quit was still helping us try to resolve and I am hoping, hoping, hoping that the new woman (who I will meet next week) will be just as wonderful in helping us with all of this. I’m really not much of an optimist normally (that’s my fiance’s job), but what choice do I have? I’m trying to get that pesky RED FLAG voice to shut up and trust that it will all turn out OK. The contract is signed, I can’t really run for the hills, and I’m not really into having an Elvis wedding in Vegas (although I would love to go to one of those!).

I think the moral here is sometimes wedding planning has tulle-filled highs and quitting coordinator lows, but sometimes we just have to let go and trust that it will turn out OK (this is what I keep telling myself, anyway!). Oh, and get it all in writing so you have something to fall back on when your trust only goes so far.

There’s nothing I like better than a bargain. And that’s exactly what Gartner Outlet has! The selection is small, but there are really cute things in there if you dig around. For instance, these wedding party thank you cards come in packs of 14 for just $2.99. So cute!

Sony ImageStation is having a sale on their linen covered, printed albums. I don’t know how these compare to MyPublisher since I have only used Sony, but I think you can’t beat the price ($19.99) and they come in 10 pretty colors.

I have to admit, given that I don’t even know what my wedding colors are yet, ceremony programs should be the farthest thing from my mind. Yet somehow I stumbled across the prettiest baskets to hold them at Target. It may be too early for me to make such a purchase, but I thought I would share my discovery just the same!

Aren’t these great for a soft wedding?

Tiddliwinks Safari 2-pk. Baskets with Liners ($14.99)

Or these for a more modern wedding:

Set of 4 baskets with neutral liners ($23.99)

Or this for an outdoorsey wedding:

Abaca storage basket ($18.74)

How do you know when it’s true love?

When I saw this ridiculous vegetable fabric, I thought it was awesome. And for some reason I thought my FI would too. The first thing he said when he saw it was, “This is incredible. I love it! I want pants made out of this!”

Seriously now, my heart just skipped a beat. There is no deeper connection in my eyes. THAT is true love!

Since I didn’t do such a good job describing the caribbean blue v. ice blue dilemma, I thought I would post pics of the two Jim Hjelm dresses I am debating between:

1) Caribbean blue

I don’t think I would use the rhinestone tiw, but the dress is very cute on. I think the color is brighter in person though

2) Ice blue

This dress is cute on too, but it is hard to wear a bra with it, which may be a deal breaker for some of my more well-endowed bridesmaids!

I am an indecisive bride. Especially when it comes to choosing my “colors.” I was invited to NINE weddings this year and am hoping not to replicate what all my friends are doing. This, of course, limits the color options significantly.

My MOH has been amazing (amazing, amazing) and tried on a billion dresses and I *think* I have settled on blue. Ugh, it is so hard to decide. I really liked a Jim Hjelm dress, but the only blue it came in was caribbean blue (brightish turquoise). I liked another dress in ice blue too… but I liked the dress less than the color. Point being, I think I will probably go with the caribbean blue dress, but I may still change my mind.

In an effort to move the decision making process along, I took a trip to the Garment District to buy fabrics in my “color palettes.” My current ideas are either caribbean blue dresses with light blue linens and red accents OR caribbean blue dresses with light blue linens and chartreuse accents. Here is what I came up with:

1) Carribean blue (the little swatch on the red below) with light blue and red

2) Carribean blue with chartreuse

I really don’t care for the print of the flowered chartreuse fabric, but it was cheap, and you get the idea (it may be a bit too green too). I think the trip to the Garment District was great to help me think more about colors, but sadly I am STILL CONFUSED! I want something different, but not ugly. What do y’all think?????

It makes no sense, I know, but the first thing I booked was my photographer. I completely fell in love with his photos from the moment I saw them.

Here is one he took of a wedding at my venue!

(source: Sergio Photographer)

My “partner in crime” and I first visited our wedding venue (a southwestern resort in the foothills of Tucson’s Santa Catalina mountains) in April 2006… almost four months ago. Within a week, we decided it was the place where we wanted to be married. But the event coordinator there quit, it took time for a new one to be hired, and then it took more time for the details of the contract to be signed.

About a week ago, I started to panic. Was the venue just stringing us along, waiting for a group with more money to swoop in? Was this place just a pipe dream for us? My friends kept asking, “When is your wedding date?” but I was afraid to tell them the date we were trying to reserve for fear it would jinx the process. Yesterday, however, a little miracle happened. The contract arrived with everything outlined and no errors that I could detect. And we signed it.

It’s signed! It’s signed! It’s signed! I have a wedding venue!

Everyone, do a little dance.

In this pic the space is set up for a reception, but this is where the ceremony will be. I gotta say, this photo does not do the space justice and must be old because the ceiling is now arched with little lights. I love the way you can see the mountains between the low wall and the ceiling!

I could go for a swim right now!

Casitas for the guests

Woo-hoo, hurrah, I’m a new blogger at Weddingbee. Who would have thought that behind this mild exterior is a crazy bride (um, well, my fiance…).

So here’s the quick scoop on my wedding for those who are interested. My FI and I live in NYC, but are planning a whole weekend of festivities in Tucson, Arizona. Tucson may seem like a random place, but since I’m from there, it’s really not so random for us.

There are many plusses to getting married in AZ: it’s freakin gorgeous by the mountains (and the sunsets!), my excellent Mom is there to help, and I’m guessing it’s a bit cheaper than New York (don’t quote me on that though). The down side? It’s FAR. Trekking out to Tucson is no easy task, but I will bravely do it all in the name of wedding planning. I’m not sure my F.I. loves all these trip to Tucson as much as I do… but that just shows how much he loves me (hee, hee).