Weddingbee Blog

Mr. Sunflower and I have officially taken care of our three major vendors. The reception site, the photographer, and on the 11th, we booked Body Rock to provide the entertainment for our reception. Our package includes: mini intelligent lighting, a fog machine (which they throw in to every package but will not be on during our reception), a DJ and MC, plus a live percussionist.

We saw the live component on their promo DVD and it just sounded incredible. He plays along to the backbeat of the music throughout the entire reception, and I think he may even have some solos. We have the option of adding a live saxophonist, as well as two plasma screens and a photo montage, but that brings us WAY over our entertainment budget. At this point, it’s up to Mr. Sunflower and Mr. Sunflower-in-law. I really don’t care if we have plasma screens or not. The saxophonist I could live with.

I’ve been doing research on gifts for the girls when the time rolls around, and I’ve come up with a few ideas. Vera Bradley has some very pretty things to offer. While I wouldn’t go so far as to buy each girl their own full-size tote (they can be pricey), I would however, definitely consider make up cases, check book covers, and such. They have some very pretty prints to select from as well.

Wallet with Strap shown in “Medallion” - $42.00; Pocket Wallet shown in “Petal Pink” - $23.00

Travel Organizer shown in “Windsor Navy” - $42.00; Out to Lunch shown in “Bermuda Blue” - $25.00

Large Cosmetic shown in “Hope Toile” - $24.00; Brush & Pencil shown in “Java Blue” - $17.00

The collection contains MANY other items such as limited edition umbrellas, dog collars, and scarves. They also carry some items in silk and brown and/or black microfiber. I own a huge tote that I used to carry around a lot of my paperwork in, and it’s absolutely fabulous. I can’t recommend this brand enough, although I’m sure most of you have heard of it.

In addition to a case/bag of some kind, I would like to get each girl a piece of jewelry or a set to wear for the day. I’m aiming for something that they’ll be able to wear again instead of something that they’ll either stuff in the back of a drawer or throw out.

Yesterday morning, Mr. Sunflower and I met with one of the owners of Sherwood-Triart Photography in Woodbury, Long Island. We knew before we even stepped foot into the studio, that we wanted them on board for our special day.

Francesca the Wedding Consultant had already shown us two of their albums and the owner Earl showed us another 6 at the meeting. We watched a montage of images from various occasions - birthday parties, bat mitzvahs, weddings - and I even saw Pierce Brosnan! One of ST’s crews went to Ireland to shoot 007’s wedding! Now, while that may be really exciting, we made our decision based on the quality of the work that we had seen, his reputation, and the stellar recommendations from just about everyone.

We are spending quite a bit of $$$$$$ on this, however, this is how we look at it - after our wedding day is over, our pictures and video are all that’s going to be left. Of course, we’ll have each other, but you know what I mean. We want them to be perfect.

Plus, when we discussed parts of video, he assured us that for interviews, they do not give the microphone to every single guest. At that point, Mr. Sunflower & I looked at each other said loudly, “THANK GOD.” My cousin’s wife showed me her wedding video and there was about an hour’s worth of drunken guests mumbling about how fabulous the couple was. Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice…but an hour? God help us all.

Anyway…Sherwood-Triart it is! Tomorrow is a meeting with a prospective DJ. More as it develops!

I ordered my bridal shoes a few days ago and they arrived last night. Yes I know I may sound crazy, but I want to make sure I have shoes with me when I go to try on wedding dresses. Plus, I couldn’t pass up on the deal. They’re simple Coloriffics with a 1″ inch heel, for $46, when everywhere else I looked was selling them for $50 and up. I can’t have a very high heel because of my bad knee and I also don’t want to tower over Mr. Sunflower. We’re both 5′10″ and I would like to look “equal” on our wedding day.

I love the way they look on - they slenderize and elongate my feet. Granted, not many people will see the shoe since I want my gown to be floor-length, but I want to be comfortable and not have my tootsies be squished and aching all day.

I received an email from my wedding planner Francesca. She set up appointments for us with the DJ and photographer that we want. The other three vendors we were considering don’t offer appointments when Mr. Sunflower is off from work, and I won’t go to this type of meeting without him. He trusts me completely, but this is a HUGE investment and I want him to be there. He can smell B.S. whereas sometimes, I’m too gullible. So, at this point, let’s hope their offers are reasonable and call it a day.

I’m still on the look-out for centerpiece ideas. I did find these the other day:

I LOVE the tall candle holder. If I could find a place that sells them or a way to make them, I’d be all over that in a heartbeat. I think this calls for more web hunting!

I decided this past Sunday was my own personal Fat Sunday, where I was going to indulge in whatever sweets and food I desired because Monday would be the commencement of my new fitness regime. I’m taking baby steps. Usually I jump headlong into these things and become obsessed right away, but I think for this engagement party/wedding I’m going to take it a little slower and do things the right way.

I joined SparkPeople and set some goals for myself. Right now, I’m in Phase 1: Fast Break, where you set several smaller goals for yourself. For example, giving yourself a 5-minute prep talk in the morning, not drinking soda, not eating in front of the television, etc. You also set your target weight for a period of time. In my case, I’d like to lose 10 lbs by October 15th, the engagement party.

The nice thing about this site is they set healthy guidelines for you. They even offer meal plans, the ability to track the caloric / fat / protein / carb content of what you eat, the average ounces of water you drink, your cardio / strength routine and calories burned.

It’s been really helpful thus far - granted I’ve been a member for a couple days, but I did 4.5 miles on the stationary bike and burned 260 calories the first day. That’s big for me in another way…since my recent car accident, I haven’t really been able to do much because of the dizziness and headaches. I had been working out 4-5 times per week between free weights and cardio, and that all went down the drain. Monday was the first day I was able to exercise without feeling sick. Breakthrough!

Here we are, in all of our exaggerated love-struck glory :). I must say, our artist, “T-Dog” made my hair look AWESOME!

Since Friday, I have received…let me count…11 postcards from a variety of djs, florists, limo services, and photographers. This is not including the 4 sets of duplicates I’ve received or the 2 phone calls from a band. Is this normal? WOW.

I feel like I’m caught in a tornado of cardstock.

Relatives keep pointing out how I need to incorporate more pastels because my wedding is in April and people associate that time of year with Easter.

I have a sudden fear that someone is going to show up dressed as the Easter Bunny.

About a week ago, I requested 3 free sample invitations from Exclusively Weddings. They arrived a couple of days ago. I’ve decided that I need an invitation with, at least, a little bit of color, even if that color is only cream. This is what they sent me:

This one was really tiny and very…plain and white.

I have similar feelings about this one.

This one was the only one that I liked. The border looks kind of yellow, but in person it’s cream-colored.

Of course, I have a while to decide on invitations, but it doesn’t hurt to start getting ideas now. I’ve fallen in love with this Peony invitation from WhiteAisle.com. It’s soooooooooo pretty.

These are my boys, baby!

The little one is my godson and he is the funniest little man I’ve ever seen. The big boy is his brother, and everytime I look at him I can’t believe how much he’s grown. They’re my cousin’s (also my Matron of Honor) sons and she actually has number 3 on the way. I’m not sure how we’re going to get him to go down the aisle, but we’ll see what happens. I can’t wait to see them in little tuxedos. They are going to be so adorable.

My next task is to figure out what kind of favor to give out at our engagement party. I don’t think I want to go too overboard, since it’s a small affair. Right now my Mom and are I leaning towards this:

$3.15/set at Exclusively Weddings. I’m ordering 30 which comes out to $94.50.

I was also thinking I could go with Custom Printed M&Ms in my colors, lavender and cream. This is so exciting to me because we have the worst sweet-teeth known to man, so I think it’s only appropriate to incorporate candy into our festivities.

My good friend Jenny just pointed out that I should put “GINA & DAVID” on one color and our wedding date on the other. I think that’s a better idea. That way it’s kind of like a save-the-date and mini-favor all rolled into one. She rocks my world!

I’m totally in love with this particular bridal bouquet.

I think the gown that I might be going with - if it doesn’t make me look like a heifer - is ivory, and the colors of these flowers will be magnificent.

Something a little similar, but smaller it seems.

I absolutely love peonies, but my venue wedding planner Francesca made it sound like they might be more expensive depending on what the weather is like the month we get married.

Then there’s always the option of going with a bouquet of lavender roses. I’m not sure what I want to do yet.

Bridesmaid Bouquets

Of course, I would not expect my girls to walk down the aisle holding a mint julep cup…

Centerpieces

Mine would involve different colors.

I love these arrangements.

I am SO happy to be a new member of the Wedding Bee team! Thanks Mrs. Bee :). My name is Gina (aka Miss Sunflower) and my fiance’s name is David - we’ll be married in April 2008. I’ve been consulting weddingbee for weeks now b/c of the wealth of information available, and have gotten so many fabulous ideas. It has inspired me to share the details of my planning process and hopefully provide some helpful information to other newly engaged couples.

We’re having our reception at Jericho Terrace. Anyone can tell you that I’ve been obsessed with this establishment for the past three years. Everytime we drove past, I would gaze at it lovingly and dream. After the initial bliss of our engagement, we decided to get moving on the process of reserving a venue for the reception. I’m not ashamed to say that the Jericho Terrace is the first and last place we went. It’s fabulous. Absolutely fabulous. Now comes the journey of finding everything else - entertainment, photographer/videographer, florist…and making sure that we don’t go bankrupt in the process!

Anyway, that’s about it for now. Thanks again, Mrs. Bee, and happy posting!