See, I Am Getting Stuff Done Over Christmas! :)

Bridesmaid dresses are ordered!!! :)

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Invitations will hopefully be ordered on Monday. I set myself a deadline, so now I have to make up my mind (or the people in the store will think I'm crazy.) There's just so many rules and so many things to worry about. I read somewhere about a couple whose family got upset by the wording on the invites and they had to order them again! I am not financially capable of something like that, lol.

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Ryan and I visited his family for Christmas, so I got to talk a bit with his sister-in-law, Sandy. She's a wedding photographer and a wealth of knowledge about these things. I'm sure I drove her crazy:

"Have you thought about this?"
"No."
"Did you consider doing it this way?"
"No."

Etc, etc, etc, lol

But I do appreciate all her information :) She suggested that we pair up the bridesmaids and the groomsmen, because otherwise everyone always looks "terrified." Good point, lol.

She also assured me that there will be ambient light in my photos, which is apparently a good thing :)

And yet, she also mentioned that even though she knows now that the photos taken at her wedding (by another, un-named photographer) aren't perfect, she was happy as can be with the results at the time. I think that will likely apply to any of the wedding scenarios... We're trying for perfection, but even if everything isn't just so, we'll probably still have a good time :)

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We started talking about situations where the bride or groom's parents don't approve of their offspring's choice as a partner. Ryan's mother said, "We've always known Kristen was too good for Ryan, so..." :) I like her! lol

Of course, this only lasts until bright and early the next morning, when Ryan gets her coffee and makes a big breakfast for the family. I can't compete with all that!!! :)

***

Ryan assures me that he will not collapse from the heat at the wedding, even though tuxedos don't have a short sleeve variety.

"I don't think your family will approve if I show up in a tshirt with a tie painted on it," he said.

I told him, "That depends on how well you paint."

It's rather unfair that women get to wear short sleeves and men don't!

***

But did I mention that the dresses have been ordered??? :)

A Few Little Mistakes

After all that secrecy, Ryan's mother blurted out the exact style of my wedding dress in front of Ryan! lol. Thank goodness I can trust him not to peek - I want him to be surprised!

I think we're even, though, because I've just discovered something terrible: I never sent a save the date to Ryan's parents!!! How did that happen? Easily. Ryan's mother composed a list of all Ryan's relatives and their addresses for me, but she didn't list herself. I used that list to put Ryan's family members into my Excel spreadsheet. I was sooo careful to include everyone from the list and to make sure I didn't forget anybody. See what happens when you try to be super organized??? But she has a save the date now, so it's all good :)

Ryan's sister in law remembers seeing a man get married wearing a bright white suit, white shoes, and a camoflauge tie. I've been leaving the tux-getting up to Ryan, but I did have to make it clear that that won't be allowed :)

Now we just have to decide on the invitation wording. That's my goal for this weekend - we have several days off for Christmas, so we can actually sit down to talk about it :)

In other news, a friend is planning to propose soon. I don't want to post too much just yet, even though I can't imagine any scenario where he or his friends would ever read this blog. But I liked his plan for the proposal :)

What's Happened Since November

Michelle keeps reminding me that I haven't updated since November, so here's another post to make her happy, lol.

Save the Date cards are out! (With about 2 to 3 exceptions - I still need a few more addresses.) I'm so excited to finally have those in the mail. Christmas cards, though, are another story... Apparently I'm a little slower at writing/labeling addresses than I had hoped! :)

In other news, all members of the wedding party have (finally) been invited. Ryan told my brother "I have to ask you 7 months in advance or else the terrorists win." lol. Whatever it takes!

My dress has already been ordered and the rest of the bridal party will follow suit soon, I hope. I think we've narrowed down exactly which dresses we are getting. Although, here's what happens when Michelle tries to talk to me about dresses while my thoughts are elsewhere...

Michelle: What do you think of XXX?
Me: CRAZY.
Michelle: What's wrong with the dress?
Me: Wait, what are we talking about?
(I thought she was referring to the area code of a phone number, not a dress style number!)

Has anything else been happening? Should anything else be happening?

Oh - I am working on the wording of the invitations. Apparently there are many, many rules. Also, I need to figure out a new way to address the envelopes. I don't think are labeling system worked out too well with the save the dates, lol. Does anybody know any calligraphy????