Bags

Finished all of the Gift Bags (minus the Galenaians that I will pick up Friday while in town) and Scavenger Hunt Bags!

Bachelorette Party

What a great time! Especially the Stripper!

School Wedding Shower

Cyndi threw a great wedding shower; wonderful gifts too! $100 gift card for Meijers, $50 for TGIF, $50 for Micheals and some wonderful kitchen supplies!

Brew Labels

Chris finally finished the labels after working on them all weekend.

Zombie Wedding Topper

It is complete!

Seating

Worked on seating tonight by starting to write out all the names on our place cards. Still waiting for some RSVP's thought so I am unsure about some tables and whether to stick with 7 since we have that exact number or to add the 8th table just in case.

Shower

Today was my bridal shower and though I had major anxiety about going and having to open gifts in front of everyone, it was more then wonderful. The guests were great and many were in black and white, the food tasted amazing, the written advice was prefect, and of course the whole event was more then I ever imagined. Nanci was an amazing host, her husband Bill took great photos of us all, Jean made wonderful black and white center pieces, Cyndi coordinated the Black and White gifts artistically, Joni and Karma did a great recipe book made with things from everyone, Lauren took photos of the gift opening, Tiffany made a beautiful bow bouquet, Lana was a successful gift getter, Laura was a great gift putter awayer helper, Karen was a great driver and everyone else was also such a great addition to the party. Thank you everyone for everything!

Rings Bought

Chris finally ordered his ring yesterday (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA03201N1586) and today we bought my ring. Another thing done and checked of the list!

No Children

It is official, today in court an order was written saying Lauren had to take the boys during our wedding despite her claims for already booking a vacation when we gave her almost a 40 day notice that we would not be able to make our visitation that weekend. Now that is just one less thing to worry about

1 month

And so the one month left to get everything done count down begins...

Hotel

So who would have thought that the hotel blocks would have went so bad. Though people were told over the phone they had a month before the actual date, which would be Tuesday August 14th, I told people the block expired the 10th as that is what my contract said. When I called on the 10th to see how many rooms I had left, I still had about 16 and was informed there was no end date on the block. The woman also said not to worry because they wouldn't fill up within the next few days even if they did go off the block. Well after writing my nice emails and not getting phone calls back about Lana not being able to book on room yesterday, I finally called the hotel again and demanded to talk to Dena. Needless to say, our conversation basically ended with me very frustrated that the hotel would not help regardless of the fact that they told my guests the wrong dates. Thankfully my resources kicked in and I was able to tell Dena that if you tried booking online, there were still rooms available but not at our price so how could the hotel be full like they were claiming. This is when I was informed that the rest of my block was indeed not 'sold' but instead given to Expedia like sites so technically there were still rooms left but I had to use another party to book them. Now one would think that the hotel would want their guests to be happy and would get this worked out but nope; I had to call the third party and explain to them the situation and they then had to call the hotel to confirm that they could indeed sell me a room, which is eventually how Lana ended up getting her room on our block. Overall, not happy with how the customer service was handled on this...

RSVP's

Today was the 'official' last day to RSVP and of course, I have about 25 people not confirmed. Many came in today but there are still more to hunt down. If you have not registered on the website or booked your hotel room, please do so before the night is over to help save me some anxiety!

Photographer booked!

http://www.apieceofcakephotography.com/

Ring

Found the Candians responsible for making my wedding ring band and even found in on their website however they says there are no 'authorized dealers' within 100km. Considering such, I messaged them seeing if they could help.

Wedding Bands

Christopher and I attempted to shop for wedding bands today while at the Galesburg mall as well as on main street. Chris found some he liked but thought they were way too expensive. We think we will get a Titanium one as though ceramic is cooler looking, it is not as 'tough'. He liked the ones I tried on, especially the two sided enhances as they make the ring look huge but I didn't find one I loved nor were any others really what I wanted. I found one I liked at Kohl's Diamond Gallery (http://www.kohlsdg.com/), which is not associated with the Kohl's department store we are all familiar with despite the name. Though I liked this one, it did not fit great with the ring cut, nor did they have it in my size and of course, it was more expensive then I wanted to spend. I tried finding it online but could not and they didn't have it on their website either so I called them and asked about it which is when I found out that it is a weird brand (Libman item # b3545wd.07) that you really cannot find or buy therefore they had to take a picture, which was really crappy, and send it to me. Now the goal is to find something like it! 

Wedding Shower Invites

Nanci's beautiful black and white shower invites have started arriving; Nanci is so amazing!

Coupons

Today I was not only able to use two 50% of coupons to buy my Wedding Skeletons that I saw earlier this month at Micheal's, but I was also able to use my free Victoria Secrets coupon for free Bridal undies. Like I have always said, coupons not only make everything cheaper but also make everything that more enjoyable!

Ham

Every time I work on Wedding stuff, Moto insists on sitting right next to, or ontop of, whatever I am working on. I think she does it because she knows I am photographing everything I do and wants to be a ham and be in each picture!

50 Days

Since it is 50 days to the weekend wedding, we applied for our Wedding License today. We were able to do it at Kane County since they do 'Weddings' everyday of the week, as opposed to just Friday's like DuPage County. The license goes into effect tomorrow so I can call and make our appointment to be wed at the court house on the 12th like we initially planned. Pray that date is still available as people have only had about 10 days to start booking as they require that you cannot get your license earlier then 60 days prior to the wedding date. Chris said we should be good because he claims that no one will want to get married on the day after a national tragedy - I hope he is right for once haha!

Ballerina Slippers

Who would have thought that out of all stores, Miejers would have my wedding shoes? (http://www.meijer.com/s/df-by-dearfoams-womens-ballerina-flats-with-bow/_/R-206290)? I was looking for my Fila Skeletoes shoes as they had a coupon for $10 off of shoes but just like every other store, they also did not have them. Fortunately though, they did have white ballerina slippers and they were one sale for $9.00 - Of course when I should Chris what I was buying he was like "Um what are these for?" I told him they were for the wedding and the look on his face was priceless; I thought he was embarrassed but instead he said "Wait so you get to wear comfy slippers and I have to wear uncomfortable dress shoes?" I just laughed and told him he could wear flip flops for all I cared.