Though I feel like I have a million details swimming around my head, things are beginning to get done.
I’ve booked mani, pedi, hair and make up for me, including trials, and made the offer to my bridal party (who are very slow about getting back to me — nudge, nudge).

We paid off and picked up our rings! The day we did, I think I showed them to everybody I ran into. They are so pretty and I am so happy with them. Now the question is whether to get them engraved before or after the wedding.

Travel arrangements have been made for James’s father’s side of the family.

I have recruited help to cook the rehearsal dinner.

I just ordered the bulk of the material for the napkin rings. I had some debate over whether or not to go through with it, but I’m really in love with them. Plus, I only have to make 100, and I have three days off next weekend. Completely off, from all jobs. Even if I only do 10 a day, that’s only 10 days.

The invitations are at the printer. We will see a proof tomorrow, and then Joe has promised me I will have them before the Fourth, so I can use my three days off to address them. I really want to get them in the mail that following week.

Progress is being made. It’s getting exciting!

Edit:  Oh!  I almost forgot!  I also booked Joel Blumert, local guy and awesome blues guitarist, for our cocktail hour.

Okay, because wedding stuff keeps popping in my head and I keep obsessing over it, here’s a list of things I still need to purchase:

Fish bowls
Floating candles
Glass rock things
Cake topper
Tiara
Earrings
Shoes
Undergarments

That’s all I can think of. That’s not so much, is it? It looks so much more manageable now that I’ve written it out. And I don’t really want to buy all the centerpiece stuff until I know how many tables we’re going to have. So I guess I can relax a bit.

I have been a bad wedding blogger, but I think when you hear what I’ve been up to, you’ll forgive me. At least, I hope so.Back on May 10, James and I met up with Melissa and Reed, who are also being married at the Wake Robin. Really sweet couple and we had a great time. Hopefully we’ll be able to hook up again.

On the home front, I’ve taken a second job to avoid putting any more wedding expenses on a credit card. I’m waitressing and hosting at The White Hart, a cozy hometown pub with an upscale menu. I am enjoying it so far (especially the tip money!), but I’m starting to get tired. At least I’ll have Memorial Day off from both jobs.

So, what’s left to do for the wedding? I’m glad you asked. Here’s a list:

Napkin rings!
Male wedding party (one down, two to go…)
Invitations (must be designed by the end of this month…that’s only a week!)
Favors?
Flower girl dresses (I keep forgetting to call their mom. Put that on the list.)
Groom’s outfit
Two more pew decorations to make
Buy materials for centerpieces
Call guests about room rate reduction
Figure out ceremony and music
Write vows
Finish paying for and pick up rings (engraving?)
Undergarments and shoes for the bride
Attendant gifts (I have my eye on a couple of things, just need to buy them)
Tiara, if I’m really going to do it (I want one!)
Cake topper (again, picked out, just have to buy)
Cake! We have done nothing with the cake!

Okay, I’m getting a little more frantic with each line I type, so I’m going to leave it at that for now. Things are crazy busy, but I think I can do all this. And if I can’t, well, we’ll still be married if I never get a tiara. That is, as long as we remember the marriage license. Put that on the list, too!

Saturday we gathered at my aunt’s house to put together favors for Sharon’s wedding, which is Saturday, March 29. Less than two weeks, now!

We had fun doing it, what with the champagne and fountains of glue. She got silver boxes, filled them with all kinds of candy, and put a white bow and escort cards on them. There will be unmarked boxes on the tables, since the escort cards are one per couple.

Her venue has what I think is a 1,000-page checklist of things she has to do. It’s overwhelming, but at least she’ll be prepared.

I’m going for a fitting for my bridesmaid dress this afternoon. It will still need to be hemmed, but I think I’ll have it ready in plenty of time.

I’m also working on a day of emergency box for Sharon. Here’s what I’m thinking of including:

Aspirin
Hairspray
Clear nail polish
Nail polish in whatever color Sharon’s wearing
Safety pins
Bobby pins
Antacid
Smelling salts (where do you even get those?)
Band-Aids
Pantyhose
Club soda
Nip of vodka
Cheese & crackers
Tweezers
Tissues
Lint roller

Am I missing anything? I’m sure I’ll think of more. I have a shoe box that I’m going to cover with cute paper and then fill with all these treasures. She’ll be the most prepared bride ever!

I have been quite remiss in my blogging duties, and I can only blame the holidays and extreme holiday inertia. I think neither James nor I moved from the computer chair or couch, respectively, for the entire week the paper was shut down.

But another reason I haven’t been blogging is because, well, things have been difficult and I haven’t known quite what to say. One of the things we made it a point to do during shut-down week was to sit down and discuss the wedding, and we’ve found that we have very different approaches when it comes to interacting with our families (we knew that already, but really butt heads over it in the last week or so).

Also, issues we thought we had dealt with, like my struggle to balance my need for independence with my coming role as a married person, are cropping up again. Guess there’s more work to do there.

We made very few decisions about the wedding, but we were able to get all three bridesmaids in the same room at the same time. I think they all liked each other. I had fun, at least.

From all of this, I’ve learned that we’ve got quite a bit of work left to do, both in the practical planning and in the emotional preparation. I think we’re up for it. If not, well, I guess something will have to give. You don’t really need flowers for a wedding, do you?

James, wonderful fiance that he is, scanned the napkin rings for me.

I had a break through this weekend: I am basing the wedding decor on the napkin rings that I fell in love with in Somerset Weddings. This magazine was ridiculously expensive, but it has tons of great ideas for wedding crafts.

There’s no photo on the site of the napkin rings. I’ll have to scan in a pic when I get home.

Anyway, the rings are made mostly from copper. It’s a fall wedding (well, early September), and copper is a fall color that I like. I also like green (as does James), so I figured maybe copper and forest green as the main colors. That will make Mom happy, since she never liked the idea of brown bridesmaid dresses.

I also looked at some copper and brass tiaras. My dress is “candlelight” and there are some copper tones in it, so a copper tiara could work. And they’re cheaper. Dwarvesong has some pretty, plain ones for only $28.

I’m thinking of getting paint swatches to start to plan some stuff out. Especially since my wedding party is spread out across the East Coast.

But yay for making a decision about colors, finally.

James and I went down to Stamford this weekend, where our friend Kate works at Bed Bath & Beyond to set up our registry.

Let me just say, Kate was amazing. She stayed with us for three hours and guided us through the store, making suggestions and recommendations. She said that we did get some special treatment (she wouldn’t usually stay with a couple that long), but even if we didn’t know her, I would have loved to have gotten that much help. The store is huge and overwhelming without a guide.

The whole experience went pretty smoothly. James turned out to be the picky one. I liked just about everything, so it was mostly a matter of finding which things he likes as well. We agreed pretty easily on the china, flatware and pans. The crystal was harder, and finally James just let me pick what I wanted.

Kate complimented James on being so involved. She said most grooms get bored and hang back.

To find our registry, go to the site and enter one of our names in the registry section. It’s still a work in progress (do we really need a $150 toothbrush?), but I think the bulk of it is there.

For some reason, James doesn’t feel this cake topper is appropriate for an event at which families will be present.

Wedding planning comes in waves. I can go a week or more and barely think of the wedding at all and then, bam!, the bug hits again.

Sharon and I have been trading a few wedding emails. She’s deciding on a place for hair and make up and getting her block of hotel rooms in order. We’re going to stay definitely one night there, probably two (depending on the plans for the rehersal). We’re in the same state, but it’s still an hour and a half drive, and I’m sure it will be much more peaceful all around if we don’t have to make that drive on her wedding day.

I feel so far behind her (though she is six months ahead of me, so I guess that makes sense). We’re still negotiating our contract. I thought we were done and ready to pay our deposit, but then something else came up and I had to ask for another change. Luckily, it’s still a long way out, but I wonder if Shaffin (who’s planning for us at the Wake Robin) is going to start calling me bridezilla.

Other than that, we have so little decided on. I thought James and I were agreed on the escort cards/favors/table decorations, but after I bought five bud vases, he tells me he never really liked the idea. (I’m not too upset, though, because I only spend $1 on the vases and can definitely find a use for them somewhere). But he’s not into talking about stuff like flowers and favors so early, and I have this inexplicable compulsion to make a decision about something.

I’m planning a trip to Boston in the next couple of weeks to visit friends and check out a dress shop or two. Maybe just two. Don’t want to overdo it (at one point I thought I could hit four in a weekend, but now I’m thinking that’s insane). I got some recommendations for a couple of boutiques in Medford, so I think that’s where I’m headed.

I was looking at tiaras today and though I didn’t fall immediately in love with anything, I think I would like pearls (faux or otherwise) in the tiara. Actually, I really like pearls, so I’m thinking that my jewelry will all be pearl-based.

There. That’s a decision. Sort of.

Man, I’m dying for a bridal magazine about now. When does the fall Martha come out?