3 Months and 2 Weeks, But Who's Counting

Tonight I pick up our wedding invitations at the printer in Oakland! I bought envelopes and some stamps for reply cards last week, but need to still go to the post office, weigh the complete package, and buy additional stamps. Our invitation is a postcard-esque design with us holding a California "postcard", which is the item in focus, on the front side. The printer thought we had a low-res file because our image was blurry (on purpose). The backside is designed like a postcard you would send, the info for the ceremony on the left, and the addresses for the sites on the right. Included in the envelope will be directions and the reply cards, which are regular postcards.

Also in the works are the bachelorette shower plans for the last weekend in July. Beach picnic in Atlantic City, anyone?

Bridesmaids have all ordered their dresses so now we really need to start thinking about accessories and shoes for them. I got my hair cut yesterday and the lady told me how this one wedding party she did had the bridesmaids wanting to go all out with hair and makeup while the bride was more laid-back. While I don't really care how they wear their hair, I guess I do need to consider it so it doesn't look more done up than mine, which at this pojnt I don't really feel like doing up at all....

Last week I ventured to New Jersey to discuss with my church there the ceremony in November. I want that to be short and sweet. We'll walk in together, a sutra will be chanted in Japanese, we'll use some incense, and then go downstairs for the lunch. I am hoping a local Japanese drum group can perform, too, as our entertainment. We'll have pizza, sub sandwiches, birch beer, and hopefully, a cake from Century Bakery. YUM!

Invites Designed, Photography List Estimated

This week has been full of ups and downs. Our friend Taya designed our wedding invitation to my specs and used a photo our friend Kristy took for us. It turned out great! Now we need to find a place that will print the postcard invites (they won't be mailed as postcards, but were designed to look like one) for a good price. We only need about 75 really, but most places start at 250 or 500! 4by6.com I found had options for 100 and 75, but haven't checked out rocketpostcard or psprint yet.

This week also had us meet with Bob O'Magic, our officiant, to go over the wants of our wedding day. It was a nice dinner and productive meeting with Bob. In addition to the day's outline and timeframes, I thought more about the photos I wanted taken at the ceremony, before it, at the reception, and after the festivities were over. Then on Thursday we met with Jamey to discuss lighting at different spots in the grove, garden, and reception hotel. Another productive meeting!

We also found out a little more about the sound system at the Bancroft, and I measured the railings at the grove site. 18 sections on the top, so we'll need to only use 14. Instead of 5 cranes per strand as originally envisioned, the railing isn't that high so only three will probably fit and look fine. So that means instead of 50 strands of 5 cranes to be hung, I think 85 strands need to be tied to the railing. Good times ahead for the wedding party... :-)