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leidend posted:The DJ company I hired claimed to allow us to choose songs, they even had a fancy online list where we could select each song we wanted, but then the DJ just played whatever he wanted - which for some reason was a lot of Justin Bieber. Haha, the exact same thing happened to us with our DJ. Ours even had us select "must play" songs which he promised to play during the reception, and just didn't play several of them. I chalked it up to us having non-top 40 music preferences but come on! I'm writing you the check, can't our taste in music trump everyone else's just for this one day?  When we realized it (which to be fair wasn't until a few days later) it really bothered us too because we are music nerds... but it's a small bone to pick when basically everything else ran smoothly.
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Apr 28, 2013 22:53
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leidend posted:The DJ company I hired claimed to allow us to choose songs, they even had a fancy online list where we could select each song we wanted, but then the DJ just played whatever he wanted - which for some reason was a lot of Justin Bieber. This is one of the few things that would cause me to lose my poo poo at my own wedding. I've said for years that I hate traditional wedding DJ's and that I had a list of songs in my head that would get them fired immediately if they played. I made that pretty clear with my wedding planner during our first meeting and I've been assured that we can set the entire setlist for the music. I plan to basically give them a disc of music and let them play only from the disc.
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Apr 29, 2013 01:43
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Aquatic Giraffe posted:Every event I've been to where it's just been a iPod/iPad hooked up to a sound system, some drunk people would decide they wanted to listen to their favorite song RIGHT NOW and keep loving with the music. Or some small child would start mashing buttons and manage to delete the whole playlist. Drunk people taking over and wrecking the playlist is exactly what happened at our wedding. We went to a lot of effort to put songs people requested on the playlist (people wrote what they wanted to hear when RSVPing) and a lot of people not hearing their songs due to the playlist interruptions made me feel guilty, like we ignored what they wanted, and a little bit bridezillaesque for wanting to have this *so* under control.
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Apr 29, 2013 04:08
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New Weave Wendy posted:Haha, the exact same thing happened to us with our DJ. Ours even had us select "must play" songs which he promised to play during the reception, and just didn't play several of them. I chalked it up to us having non-top 40 music preferences but come on! I'm writing you the check, can't our taste in music trump everyone else's just for this one day? Our tastes were very top 40 but the company specialized in bar mitzvahs and apparently didn't want to switch from their usual playlist. I kinda wish I didn't bother with dancing. My side of the family was too uptight/German to dance so we ended up with a small group of my wife's friends dancing with themselves. e.g.  (that kid stole the show) 
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Apr 29, 2013 05:39
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Yeah, we're having a mix of live music and playlists. I'm currently compiling 5 playlists on Spotify: Early on, sort of mingly music and a little dance; pre-ceremony, just about 15 minutes of romantic stuff for people to gather for the ceremony; ceremony music; post-ceremony, which has romantic stuff that's a little more dance-able; booty-bumping music, ranging from hip-hop to country to cumbia to swing. Our wedding website has a page where people can request music. No one's used it yet though! My mom will play an acoustic set with my brother early on, my fiance's instrumental rock band will play later a little after sunset, and my brother will DJ a short cumbia/dubstep mashup thing after that. Each of them will only do about 30 minutes. My cousin is a sound tech, so I'm asking her to manage the transitions.
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Apr 30, 2013 00:34
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You have micromanaged your music to a staggering degree. I hope all those pieces fall into the right place! Our wedding is just going to have my sister play some violin during the ceremony, and then we're ipoddin it up.
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Apr 30, 2013 01:49
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So I kinda got engaged tonight. I don't have a ring yet, but we shook hands. I'll be looking at moissanite rings on Etsy and my fiance will find some creative way to present it to me. We likely won't do wedding bands because he just doesn't wear jewelry, so there's no point. I'm just kind of excited that I can officially start planning things now. I totally want a nerd wedding with an elements (earth, water, fire etc...) theme and tiers of colourful cupcakes instead of a wedding cake. I've been doing some mental planning for a while now, so it's nice to be able to actually follow through with it!
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Apr 30, 2013 08:47
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Congrats Nessa. I'm sure it was a special moment for you but it sounds funny that you shook on it. "I now pronounce you man and wife." *Fist bump*
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Apr 30, 2013 12:31
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Gravitee posted:Congrats Nessa. I'm sure it was a special moment for you but it sounds funny that you shook on it. At my friends wedding last year this is literally how they got married. The vows were: "do you want to marry this person?" "Yes!" For each of them and then "you are now married!" And they spontaneously high fived and walked back down the aisle. It was hilarious and awesome. I've been to 5 weddings in the past couple years and the ceremony from that one remains my favorite.
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Apr 30, 2013 12:57
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Plus_Infinity posted:At my friends wedding last year this is literally how they got married. The vows were: "do you want to marry this person?" "Yes!" For each of them and then "you are now married!" And they spontaneously high fived and walked back down the aisle. It was hilarious and awesome. I've been to 5 weddings in the past couple years and the ceremony from that one remains my favorite. I like this a lot and want to try to do something similar at mine, or at least I want the vow portion to be pretty silly and completely non-serious. Our reception isn't going to be traditional in any sense so we want the ceremony to be somewhat that way as well.
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Apr 30, 2013 14:10
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Nessa posted:So I kinda got engaged tonight. I don't have a ring yet, but we shook hands. I'll be looking at moissanite rings on Etsy and my fiance will find some creative way to present it to me. We likely won't do wedding bands because he just doesn't wear jewelry, so there's no point. The top tier of cupcakes have to have Captain Planets face on it. Im getting my girlfriends engagement ring done through a guy on Etsy. It is palladium with a moissanite stone in it. Ill upload a picture when i get it.. should be end of May early June as he has to source the materials and make it still. blackswordca fucked around with this message at 16:06 on Apr 30, 2013 |
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Apr 30, 2013 16:04
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Gravitee posted:Congrats Nessa. I'm sure it was a special moment for you but it sounds funny that you shook on it. Not particularly special, no. "So you wanna use the E-word? Let's shake on it." it was just weird when our friends started congratulating us. Marriage has been in the cards for us for years now, so nothing's really changed.
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Apr 30, 2013 16:36
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Nessa posted:Not particularly special, no. "So you wanna use the E-word? Let's shake on it." it was just weird when our friends started congratulating us. Marriage has been in the cards for us for years now, so nothing's really changed. We'd been discussing getting engaged for about a year before he officially proposed. It's nice to be "official" at least in my case so I could start looking at wedding stuff without feeling like one of those weirdos who plans their weddings without being engaged (the girls at the bridal shop I got my dress at said they've even had a few people come in buying wedding dresses while they were single  If I was a dude and was dating a girl and found out she already had a wedding dress hanging in her closet ready to go I'd run far, far away as soon as I could)
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Apr 30, 2013 18:35
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Aquatic Giraffe posted:start looking at wedding stuff without feeling like one of those weirdos who plans their weddings without being engaged shut up 
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Apr 30, 2013 19:24
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blackswordca posted:The top tier of cupcakes have to have Captain Planets face on it. Haha, Captain Planet would be pretty funny. Though I think I'm going to go with Light (Bride), Dark (Groom), Water, Fire, Earth, Air, Metal, Plant, Electric and Ice. I know it's a lot, but I want to have fun with multiple small tables with unique and fun centerpieces. I also just love playing with colour and most of my favourite things have elemental themes to them. I've also been looking at moissanite rings on Etsy. Moissanite is way cooler than diamond.
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Apr 30, 2013 22:10
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Been working really hard to get this wedding together and it's pretty much up to me to get ducks in a row while my fianc works full time. Being a bit of a scatter brained individual though I bet i globbed something up. Am I forgetting anything goons? 1. Park reservations for the ceremony and reception have been made and paid in full. 2. Seats for the ceremony have been reserved and will be paid off completely next month. Tempted in getting them to deliver them but its another 200 dollars for them to deliver and pick up and the chairs cost 300 already... Ughhhh 3. Invites are being sent out and are coming back in. Another wave goes out tomorrow. 4. Cake has been paid in full. The three tier bad boy will be delivered to the reception grounds while the wedding is going. 5. I am still looking for simple catering... May just say gently caress it and have penn station sandwiches as the main food. People coming in know it's not going to be the swankiest of affairs thankfully. People in town are bringing in sides and we will have a chocolate fountain we got so there is at least that. 6. Found a speaker and microphone set that has a iPod jack that we can use for announcements and music for 40 bucks (originally 100). Will probably use that for wedding reception and ceremony. Not the best but hey we work with what we get. 7. Along with the reception hall, we rented out some bunks as well in the lodge for people out of town to crash. No shower but if they need one our new house has two baths they can take advantage of (part of the reason our funds are limited is because of the new house) 8. Bought some things to scatter on the table as kinda take aways. Bought a big thing of various sided dice (DND helped bring us together, engagement and otherwise) and plan on putting other things out for centerpieces. 8. Plastic and paper ware has been bought for the food. 9. The rings have been paid for halfway and will be paid off by next year. (Want to see pictures? I can oblige!) Thanks for any help you can toss my way goons 
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May 1, 2013 00:37
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Spiffster posted:Been working really hard to get this wedding together and it's pretty much up to me to get ducks in a row while my fianc works full time. Being a bit of a scatter brained individual though I bet i globbed something up. Am I forgetting anything goons? You sound so defeated  Don't let the stress ruin it for you. If it's sandwiches, it's sandwiches. Everyone likes sandwiches. It sounds like you're going to have a fun low key wedding Ask your fiance and family to help you manage the logistics of picking up chairs and such- maybe it'll be worth it to have them delivered, or maybe someone else can get them.The only things I can think of that you might have forgotten are a rain location for the ceremony if it's outside and you don't live in like Nevada, and maybe decorations? Or servingware for the various dishes people will be bringing? Tablecloths? Flowers? Booze? Of course we want to see pictures you ninny. 
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May 1, 2013 13:08
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So what are people's opinions on wedding planners? A friend of mine recommended the lady that planned her wedding last summer. The wedding and reception was in a comic book store and was really nerdy in a sweet and charming way that suited the couple. I'm just not sure if I want to spend the money on a wedding planner, when I could probably do it myself, for what I'm looking for. I want my wedding out at my Grandpas's farm (my great grandparents were married in the same yard and we've had some family reunions there). My cousin built a large garage there a couple years ago that would be a great place to set up tables if the weather turns sour. I think a potluck wedding would be more than enough for me, and I want myself and some friends of mine to bake cupcakes instead of a wedding cake. I also plan on designing my own invites (I'm fairly well versed in the Adobe Design Suite), and already have some ideas for them. What are the kinds of things that wedding planners do and is it worth the cost if I want to be really hands on about my small, farmhouse wedding?
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May 1, 2013 18:48
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I wouldn't hire a wedding planner unless you feel like you can't handle putting a wedding together by yourself due to time constraints, personal stress level, etc. I'd try planning it solo and if you get overwhelmed then I'd look into hiring a planner. I don't have a planner but I believe what they do is have you tell them what you want then they do all the legwork researching and hiring vendors and stuff. I was going to design my own invites too, then I decided it'd be too much of a headache getting them printed just right and all trimmed to the right size and then finding a matching envelope set and stuff. I just don't have the time to deal with that. We picked out invitations we liked on weddingpaperdivas and once we set our date we just have to plug our info into the website and bam we're done. I did design our save the dates since those are less involved than the actual invites. We're sending out fridge magnets of one of our engagement photos (I purchased the copyrights) with our info on it.
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May 1, 2013 20:28
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I hired a day-of wedding planner. I have a live band and I just don't really want to have to deal with anything during my wedding. I've run a lot of smaller events by my lonesome and it sure is a pain in the rear end that I don't want. I want to enjoy myself, dammit.
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May 2, 2013 03:25
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Yeah, I probably won't go with a planner then. I have enough friends that can help me with anything I need, that it will probably be a pretty cheap wedding.
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May 2, 2013 04:11
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I'm getting married in two weeks! Oh my god. Does anybody have experience finding a photographer on extremely short notice? I need to find a photographer for our reception on 5/18 in Chicago, but I live in Boston. George Street has a few people available that day but my fiance doesn't love the idea of going with a corporation. Their Yelp reviews also seem to be 50% 5 stars and 50% 1 star, which is alarming. We're looking for something under $2k. Do reputable photographers advertise on Craigslist? I've emailed probably 15 via Offbeat Bride and The Knot since Sunday and I'm getting desperate.
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May 2, 2013 04:43
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catamar posted:I'm getting married in two weeks! Oh my god. Honestly, go with a corporation if your time frame is 2 weeks. You don't want to pick up some random photographer who is available during prime wedding season, right?
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May 2, 2013 04:46
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Agree with corporation but you can also check any local art schools with a photography program perhaps?
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May 2, 2013 05:07
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LogisticEarth posted:Has anyone here made their own playlist for music at the reception? Our friend is a manager for a string quartet, and she got us an absurdly good deal for live music for the cocktail hour and dinner. However, we wanted to have non-string/contemporary music later for dancing and whatnot, so we didn't book them past that. The venue we're using has a sound system to tie into, and we're basically planning on just hooking up an iPad or something to it. What's up string quartet and iPod playlist buddy! I'm in the same situation. I don't know what to put on my iPod either, but I will absolutely make sure to exclude The cha cha slide, YMCA, We Are Family, etc. I want to keep it fun without ostracizing the younger or older crowds.. We're having a very small wedding at a bed and breakfast in Vermont. Besides me, my fiance and the wedding party, his two young daughters, we only have 17 guests. So I don't anticipate a drunk mob messing with the music. I'm not too worried if someone wants to hear a specific song and rifles through my iPod. Does it sound tacky to ask the guests who I know will want to dance what songs they want to hear a few days before the wedding? I've disliked the DJ at every wedding I've ever been to. I always request a song and they always say they'll play it and then never do. So this way if a friend wanted something specific, I can accommodate. Although on the other hand, they may not know til they're in the moment, at the wedding, that they want to hear something specific.. thoughts?
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May 2, 2013 13:05
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The Boats posted:What's up string quartet and iPod playlist buddy! I'm in the same situation. I don't know what to put on my iPod either, but I will absolutely make sure to exclude The cha cha slide, YMCA, We Are Family, etc. I want to keep it fun without ostracizing the younger or older crowds.. No that sounds fine.
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May 2, 2013 13:10
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The Boats posted:What's up string quartet and iPod playlist buddy! I'm in the same situation. I don't know what to put on my iPod either, but I will absolutely make sure to exclude The cha cha slide, YMCA, We Are Family, etc. I want to keep it fun without ostracizing the younger or older crowds.. Another option is if you have a macbook you can set itunes up so that it can receive requests from the Apple Remote app, people can put songs in the playlist from their iphone/ipad/ipod touch.
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May 2, 2013 17:10
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I'm at that point in wedding planning where I ignore it for long periods of time so I don't kill myself. Now I'm playing a bit of catch up since I have to hire a photographer, get the catering contract signed, and decide how we want to do music and flowers and the rest. I should also probably buy my dress. I can't decide if I want to go with a cheap short dress that I'll probably look okay in or a expensive long one that I'll look excellent in. I do have a question for anyone in the know about David's Bridal... This is the dress I tried on and looked awesome in. I would buy it now if it was half the price it is. I want to buy it for as cheaply as possible but as I wear a distinct size 2 petite I doubt I'd find one used in time. Does David's Bridal haggle? I've also heard they have huge sales but I haven't seen any and IDK when they do them. Do you think I could get this dress on sale within the next few months?
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May 2, 2013 18:12
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We found our bridesmaids dresses at DB, and haggled our way to getting the clearance price in the color we wanted. Originally, the clearance dress was only available at that price for selected colors, but we managed to get the lady to order my color from other stores and have them delivered to the store we purchased at. ($50, man  ) So yeah, haggling CAN be done. Give them a taste of their own medicine, because those bitties at DB are pushy in general.
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May 2, 2013 18:39
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How much haggling is appropriate in general? Like if your passed hors d'oeuvres are $21/dozen or whatever according to the caterer's menu, is that what you pay, or are they expecting to negotiate? What about other vendors?
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May 2, 2013 19:33
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JibbaJabberwocky posted:I should also probably buy my dress. I can't decide if I want to go with a cheap short dress that I'll probably look okay in or a expensive long one that I'll look excellent in. I do have a question for anyone in the know about David's Bridal... Go with the long dress if you like it better. When else are you going to get a chance to wear a fancyass long dress like that? As for the haggling: are you in love with THAT dress, or that style of dress? If you just like the style, I'd try to find a similar one at an independent shop because they have more room for haggling than a big chain like DB. The lady at the shop I got my dress from knocked a couple hundred off and gave me my veil at half price just for the hell of it because it was Christmas and she thought my friends were entertaining
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May 2, 2013 21:38
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Blistering Sunburn posted:How much haggling is appropriate in general? Like if your passed hors d'oeuvres are $21/dozen or whatever according to the caterer's menu, is that what you pay, or are they expecting to negotiate? What about other vendors? I would bet that most of your vendors can be haggled down, at least somewhat. For your catering example, if you can get them to total up everything you want in the contract including every single bell and whistle you would realistically want, you can always say "Well, our catering budget is X so I'd really like to see this down around that number, what can you do for us?" A good rule of thumb is most services are flexibly priced - and most of what you are purchasing includes services of various types. Haggling is something that makes me kind of uncomfortable in general since I feel like I'm "cheating" the other person. But realistically there is wiggle room in almost every estimate you get. And if you end up offending the service provider in some way, they will drop hints long before you hit that point. We ended up haggling down our catering, photographer, transportation services and negotiated a better deal on our wedding night hotel room (not all by huge amounts, mind you) even though I'm not a Master Negotiator by any means. I just like a good deal! 
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May 2, 2013 22:56
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How difficult is it to plan a wedding in a different state? My boyfriend and I currently live about 10 hours away from our home state for school/work, but we'd love to be married back home I know planning weddings is a big undertaking and I know my mother will at least be able to help, but I'm wondering how do-able it can be when you can't personally visit locations, or even be there to meet florists, cake designers, etc (I assume people do that?).
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May 3, 2013 02:56
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Thanks Drunk Tomato and Miranda, you're right. Craigslist is a bad idea. kittiesgomeow, I've been planning a Chicago event from Boston and I think it's gone pretty well. We knew we wanted something casual so I made a trip out 9 months before with a list of potential venues, caterers, photography locations, and some dress shops to check out. I was able to pick almost everything out that weekend and had enough information to make the rest of the decisions later. If we had wanted something more formal, I would have gone out earlier since things book up so far in advance. I also found it much easier to correspond by email with someone I met in person. It really helps to have someone whose opinion you trust in the area. I'm shipping the favors and decorations I made to one of my aunts this week to make sure I have time to fix anything that breaks on the way over.
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May 3, 2013 05:23
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So I'm getting married in 2 weeks. Is it normal to not sleep at this point? I feel like there is so much to do, and so much I am forgetting! I can't wait for the honeymoon- all the planning will be done and we can just chill out. That's how it goes, right?
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May 3, 2013 08:51
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RetroGracey posted:I can't wait for the honeymoon- all the planning will be done and we can just chill out. That's how it goes, right? To be perfectly honest, the blissful feeling I woke up with the day after our wedding was in no small part due to never having to get married again. The day itself is absolutely fantastic, but the planning and the expense, dear god. It's perfectly normal to be stressed, just make sure that you check everything stressful at the door on your wedding day. Name someone you trust the designated problem solver, pass anything that turns up during the day over to them, and enjoy yourself!
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May 3, 2013 10:24
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I live in Texas, my fiance lives in Nebraska, and we're getting married in Virginia. I flew home to Virginia for one of those big bridal expos a couple weekends ago and picked out my vendors, tasted cakes, made my bridesmaids try on dresses, etc. I'm planning on doing most of the organization via phone and email with a few trips back here and there. I can send my parents places on my behalf, but my mom is kind of spacey and forgets important things sometimes and my dad might change my plans to something he wants instead so I'm trying to do it all myself. I have a flowers question: have your florists been reasonable with specific requests? I'm allergic to a very common type of flower and every time I've requested that kind to be left out of arrangements they always end up in it anyway. I don't want to be all sniffly and sneezy during my wedding. Should I just write "NO MUMS" in large red letters on every page of my contract?
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May 3, 2013 15:17
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Eggplant Wizard posted:You sound so defeated Not really defeated, just so much crap going on at once is making me feel overwhelmed. Something Positive is probably feeling it as well. We bought disposable plates and plasticware in the wedding colors. No booze is allowed at the lodge we are having the reception. For the best considering some of our family reacts badly to liquor and we will have some of our students there as well so no to that. here is my ring...  And here is Hers. it wraps around her emerald ring and looks really cool. will post them both together when we tie the knot  
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May 3, 2013 20:45
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RetroGracey posted:So I'm getting married in 2 weeks. Is it normal to not sleep at this point? I feel like there is so much to do, and so much I am forgetting! Yeah I basically stopped sleeping for a while there. Seconding find someone you trust to delegate tasks and be the contact person. I had out of town guests who were lost and confused and my maid of honor, thankfully, took over taking care of them so that I wasn't freaking out about that too. She also made sure all my checklists were in order, helped double and triple check everything, etc. Soooo happy that it's OVER!
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May 3, 2013 21:45
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Spiffster, I love your ring! Where did you get it?
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May 3, 2013 23:32
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