Success!

This weekend was a frenzy of activity! Saturday was the dress shopping extravaganza. I had quite the crew assembled to help me find the dress, and we had a big day! My advisors consisted of three of my bridesmaids, Emily, Kati and Crystal (with Shauna weighing in via text message from NYC) and Katie, our wedding photographer. This large group ended up being a great help because they were really varied in their tastes. I knew if I found something that everyone liked that I would have a winner.
We started at a boutique in the morning where I tried on about 10 dresses...or maybe it was more, it felt like 1,000. We found several good contenders...some really simple, some really huge, and I definitely found myself liking things that I never would have imagined. One dress in particular was giant and really pretty awesome, but way too much dress for an outdoor ceremony. Those of you who know me well know that I really hate shopping, and I had just reached my limit and was starting to get frustrated when we ran out of time at the first appointment. We left there with three strong options, but none that I really felt like was "the one."
During the lunch break, we went to pick out my wedding band. I managed to find one that all five of us agreed on, so that was the obvious choice. After some mexican food for lunch, it was off to appointment number two. We started off with some really outside the box dresses that turned out just as I imagined...hideous. But they were good for a laugh.

Then we got to the good stuff. The next dress that I tried on just made me happy. As I showed it to the group someone made the comment "I haven't seen you this happy all day." And everyone loved it. Things were looking good, but I had three dresses left to try on. Unfortunately, I loved all three of them as well, so I had to try each of them on a few times. After all that, we settled back on the dress that made me happy. Hooray!

We were so efficient at finding the dress that we still had time left in the appointment to look at bridesmaid dresses. While I changed back into regular clothes, my shopping committee ransacked the racks of dresses. By the time I stepped out of the dressing room, they already had a pile of about ten options for me to look at! We narrowed them down to about 6, and then it was their turn to model while I sat and observed. After a variety of costume changes and having each of them model the various dresses, we had a winner there too. We flipped through the swatch book, picked a color, and before we knew it, we had not only found the wedding dress but the bridesmaid dresses too! That's a productive day! And then I was exhausted...I was asleep about ten minutes after I got home.

Today, Matt and I went and purchased my wedding band. It's actually in stock, so I'm supposed to pick it up tomorrow already! So I'll have to hang on to that for awhile before actually getting to wear it. And Matt officially has a full wedding party. Our friend Dan is going to be a groomsman!

Dan and Matt...apparently this phone call was too important to put on hold for the photo op.

We heart logistics

Here's the funny thing about getting married in what is basically a glorified city park (albeit a GORGEOUS glorified city park). They pretty much give you the space and say "okay, there you go, have fun." I asked the rental lady if she had a list of suggested vendors for chairs, etc. Her response was "No." Okay then...this is where I'm glad I'm an event planner so I didn't panic.

So, chairs. After an extensive Google search of chair rentals in Des Moines, I decided to email a local morning show radio personality who recently planned a wedding at Simon Estes. Not only did she email me back right away, but she also gave me a GREAT suggestion for affordable chair rentals! Score! And I'm excited about my brush with fame...I'm pretty much a local celebrity after that encounter. I thought about asking if they'd like to feature my wedding on the morning show, but I restrained myself...for now, anyway.

Sound. They give you electricity, and that is all. Luckily I have two good friends who work in A/V, so I will be asking for their recommendations on how to tackle that one.
Logistics. As you can tell, the wedding is going to be a little complicated with pick up, delivery, sound check, etc. Enter the Logistics Coordinator. My friend Kristi has agreed to be the point person for the day of the ceremony to make sure all these little details come together. Woo hoo! In her words "I will be good at this because I'm not afraid to yell at people." Perfect.

The Logistics Coordinator. We are going to get her a UPS t-shirt for the wedding.

Decorations. In a convenient twist of fate, I had a work meeting with a florist/decorator yesterday, so while I was there I asked her about flowers and decorations for the wedding. She was awesome, the odds were good that she will be the florist.

And, because this was another high priority(...?) we got Matt's wedding band last night! Tomorrow is dress shopping day!

Reception!

Matt and I toured the Marriott today where the reception will be held and we got to pick out the ballroom that we wanted. The tour was pretty cool actually, they let you carry around a little flip camera and record whatever you want to remember, and then they email you your footage afterward. Good thinking, Marriott!


So now that we have that big issue handled, it's time to start putting deposits on everything. Here we go, this is really happening! Now I've tackled transportation, some entertainment for the reception, have an appointment with a florist this week, and wedding dress shopping on Saturday!

Wedding party update - Matt has two more groomsmen, his college roommate Mike and brother-in-law Andy.

Mike and Matt on the left, Andy and Matt on the right.











And since I'm focusing on all the super important plans first - we are working on getting my bachelorette party plans made! Woo hoo!

The proposal

Kati made the very good point that the proposal deserved its own post...especially with how hard I tried to ruin it! A couple of weeks ago, Matt had asked me if I would want to go to the ISU women's game on Sunday and I said yes. He told me he thought he could get tickets from a co-worker. Then Kati mentioned to me that she was trying to get people together to go to the game (which was strange to me but I didn't think twice about it) so we were going to try to sit together. I got an email from ISU saying that I could get free tickets, so I sold Matt's tickets to Kati and got us tickets right next to them.

So we got to the game and I gave Matt's tickets to Kati and he panicked because he wanted to sit on the aisle. I thought he was being dramatic, so I told him to get over it. Then I had mentioned that I wanted cinnamon roasted nuts during the game, so as we walked into Hilton, he really wanted me to get them right away. I wasn't hungry yet so I refused, and wondered why he was being so pushy about me eating. We got up to our seats and he noticed that Emily and Kati weren't next to us. Apparently I bought us seats on the wrong end of the row. Matt was very concerned about us needing to be next to them (which again, I thought was weird but didn't really think much about it). We moved to the other end of the row, and when the people showed up who had those tickets, they were very nice and sat in the seats at the other end that we had tickets for.

I was bound and determined that I was getting cinnamon roasted nuts at the 12 minute time out (which is when they do jumbotron announcements). Luckily, Emily (who didn't know this was happening because she would have given it away) happened to ask me where Lyndsey Medders, a former ISU basketball player, sits during games. I was trying to point her out to Emily, but she couldn't figure out where I was pointing, so I never got up to get the nuts because she was so confused. While I'm pointing across Hilton, I looked up and saw this:










I looked over and Matt was down on one knee with a ring. I was completely shocked! I knew the proposal was coming soon, but Matt had tricked me into thinking it was going to be the next weekend, I had absolutely no idea this was coming! I said yes and then was so shocked and stunned that I took the ring out of the box and put it on my own finger! This picture is a reenactment because I grabbed the ring so fast Kati wasn't able to get a photo:
Emily unknowingly saved the day, and still had no clue what was going on because she was still trying to find Lyndsey Medders across the arena! :)

Needless to say, we didn't pay a whole lot of attention to the game after that, but ISU did win! We took a picture of the scoreboard to prove that we actually were there and aware that a game was going on. (That's definitely the least attention I have ever payed at a basketball game!) After the game we called my dad, called Matt's parents, and went to Bravo for dinner to celebrate.

All kinds of progress

Good news to start the day - Marriott is available! So at least we have one solid option, hooray!

All kinds of research today...photo booths, transportation, reception packages, florists...no details on anything yet, lets just say that progress is being made. This wedding is going to be planned in no time! (Helps when you know exactly what you want ahead of time.)

And I have a maid of honor, my former roommate Emily! Matt is in process on his side...he's not a hyper-planner like I am and doesn't need to have everything done in four days. :)

Emily and I...very excited at her bachelorette party last summer!

The first hiccup

Embassy Suites is out. Not the end of the world, assuming that somewhere else is available! So...now to perusing the options. Matt would like to hold it at a hotel since he has so many out of town guests coming. The first choice is the downtown Marriott, where my friend Crystal had her reception. If that's not available, we're looking at a variety of banquet halls, hotels and other venues both downtown and as a last resort, in West Des Moines. So far this is the first minor stress we've had...I'm hoping that the Embassy Suites being booked doesn't mean that everything is booked.

My dad is getting nervous about the outdoor wedding...he doesn't want to be hot. Matt doesn't want it to rain. I don't want either of those things either, but we will roll with whatever happens.

We went to try on wedding bands last night (another thing that's clearly an urgent priority...) and I need to make a decision. Here's the engagement ring:

So the question is, solid white gold band, or diamond band?

Bridal party update: Two of my friends from high school, Crystal and Shauna, are going to be my bridesmaids! I've been friends with both of them since I was in elementary school! And I'm asking my maid of honor tonight, stay tuned...

Crystal and I on the left, Shauna and I on the right.

Colors...

Let's not worry about any of the big details right away, obviously the colors are more important than say...the reception location (which, by the way, we are shooting for the Embassy Suites because it's right next to Simon Estes and would be super convenient). So while I'm waiting to hear back from them, colors are a high priority...apparently.

In an exciting turn of events, Matt is voting for pink. Yay! He wanted hot pink, but I wanted something a little softer, so we've stumbled upon coral. We found a color scheme of coral, peach and brown that we were both a big fan of, so it looks like coral it is! Kati and I searched for coral bridesmaid dresses online and found a few options, off to a good start!

And for a bridal party update: (I'm only going to announce the bridal party as they get asked, so they are going to come a little bit staggered.) Matt's best man is going to be his friend/coworker John, and Kati, my friend from college, is going to be a bridesmaid!

John and Matt on the left, Kati and I on the right.

It's a date!

Okay, I realize that no one really cares about every minute detail of planning my wedding, but I also realize how quickly the planning is going to go by. So I'm succumbing to the world of blogging, if for no other reason than to remember the whole process once it's all over and done.

Now that the shock of the proposal (good job Matt!) has worn off, let the planning begin! Ever since I went to my first Nadas concert at Simon Estes Amphitheater years ago, I've known that was where I wanted to get married. I've also always known that I wanted my good friend from high school Brian, who is now a minister, to perform the ceremony. Meanwhile, Matt and I have a good friend who is a wedding photographer, so naturally we want her to do the photos. Therefore the wedding was half planned LONG before we were engaged.


First step, setting a date. We wanted to get married Labor Day weekend...a nice compromise to Matt not wanting rainy season and me not wanting to be super hot. Plus it's a three day weekend so everyone has an extra travel day. Of course, Simon Estes isn't available Labor Day, that would be too easy. So onto the process of cross referencing their availability, Katie's openings, Brian's schedule...not so easy. We ended up with mid-August (during the State Fair), late August (hot and muggy), or 4th of July weekend. Another three day weekend! Works for Matt's family, works for my dad...July 2, 2011, done. And we're off to the next steps...whatever they are...