Wedding progress - 252 days to go
Partially for my records, partially so I can share with you guys! (The days to go is from The Knot, I am too lazy to work it out on my own).
Ceremony/Reception:
Status: Booked
Money: $1000 deposit paid - balance two weeks beforehand
We are having both the ceremony and reception at a winery in the Yarra Valley. Food & wines are both amazing. All confirmed, we just need to sort out the menu closer to the date when they have come up with the seasonal menu.
We have opted for a choice of 3 dishes for each course - it is only $5 per person extra and working in hospitality, it is a PITA doing the 50/50 set menu, I'd much rather guests actually choose what they want to eat.
Celebrant:
Status: Confirmed
Glenn's mother has a friend who is a celebrant who would have been invited anyway, so she is going to officiate the ceremony for us. Bonus is that there is no charge.
Wedding Dress:
Status: Ordered
Money: 50% deposit paid, balance once dress arrives
I have linked this dress before, and I still adore it just as much. Will need to get alterations, because I am a short-ass.
Still have to sort out shoes. Not sure what style I want just yet, I need to get a swatch of fabric from the store.
Bridesmaid Dresses:
Status: Need to get sizes & order
We've selected the dress, and my best friend has found a store in the US which is significantly cheaper, even when you factor in shipping. Just need to get all the bridesmaids to try them on (2 still to try it on, the other two just to get sized) so we can order them all together.
Hair & Make-up:
Status: Booked
Have booked out (pretty much) the entire salon. Think there's 5-6 different girls doing them, between hair, make-up, and mum and her sisters getting theirs too.
Am still deciding on hair styles, need to look through more magazines - have potentially found a hair style for me but still working out what I want for the bridesmaids. Need to book a trial closer to the date.
Groom/Groomsmen Suits:
Status: Not started
Still working out what I want the boys dressed in, haven't even begun looking at stores. Will start looking into this in the next couple of months - don't want to leave it too long, but it's not as urgent.
Flowers:
Status: Barely started
Not sure what I want. Looking through magazines, I think I want some dusty pink roses in my bouquet, and white - but not sure what white flowers. Totally undecided for the bridesmaids, their dress is hunter green, so I am entertaining the idea of white for them as well.
On my to-do list to call 3-4 florists and get quotes from them, I have two I want to look at just need to source a couple of others. Going to talk it through with mum & the bridesmaids for more ideas.
Music:
Status: Booked, deposit paid
Booked a DJ for the reception. Haven't yet got their sample CD (also on my to-do list) but they are confirmed. Still tossing up ideas of songs - but it's not like that's a matter of urgency.
Photographer:
Status: Booked, deposit paid
One of the first things booked, we are going with a photographer who has shot weddings at our location before. we do at some point need to meet with him to discuss the photos we want, but I have seen his work both at a bridal expo and his online portfolio and very happy with what he has done.
Invitations:
Status: Looking at samples
99% sure that I will be ordering from CardsAndPockets as I am very impressed with their service. I am looking at their perfetto pocketfolds. I've just ordered a sample from them and am going to run the colours by a couple of people - it's quite purple, but it still is very good quality, and need to design the invitation so I know what I need to order. It's a US site but is sooo much cheaper than anything I've found locally, even factoring in shipping costs. Also need to sort out the guest list so I know how many invitations I need to order.
Wedding Rings:
Status: Not started
We are still working out what type of ring we want, and I need to look at the budget to see how much we can afford. I've seen a few different companies in bridal magazines which look nice, including one where you can make your own wedding rings. That looks really fun, and not too expensive (considering) so will look into it further.
Cars:
Status: Booked
This is another thing which was booked almost straight away. I can't actually remember which cars we have, but we have two Cadillacs booked for the bridal party. Apparently they can book out nearly 2 years in advance so we were very lucky to find these and decide straight away :D Glenn still hasn't seen them so at some point we will go out there, but it's not really 'important'.
Accommodation:
Status: Booked for bridal party
I tried to make a group block, but they were absolutely useless and told me about five different stories, so we have just booked for us / bridal party / parents / relatives we know want a room, and are directing every one else to book directly. The bridal party and groomsmen are staying the night before as well, and getting ready during the day. We're also staying there the night of the wedding as it's about 15 minutes from the venue - just need to arrange transport to/from depending on the number of people who will end up staying.
Honeymoon:
Status: Booked & paid in full
We are spending a week in Fiji, flying out the Monday after the wedding. We've gone through a travel agent, because I wanted to make sure all the transfers etc. were arranged for us, and so hopefully they could use their agent pull and get us flagged as honeymooners. We are staying 4 nights at Outrigger on the Lagoon on the Coral Coast, then travelling out to the Islands and spending 3 nights at Malolo Island Resort before flying home. We looked at staying longer but it was almost $2000 extra for only three more nights and wasn't worth it IMO - it's already costing us enough as it is. Would've liked it cheaper, but hey it's our honeymoon, and we are damn well going to stay in 4.5 or 5 star places!!
Gifts (Attendants & Parents):
Status: Not started
Haven't really given much thought as to what I'm going to do here - possibly jewellery for the girls and cufflinks for the boys? Again this is something I can put off until later on and look into when I've got more of an idea. Totally undecided for the parents though.
Bomboniere:
Status: Getting ideas
Originally we weren't going to do any, but I changed my mind. We're looking into doing a plant-type gift which will also double as a place card for the tables - something like this but we will do it ourselves. Going to look at some nurseries to get prices - hopefully there will be a bulk discount - and these tags. Going to grab some fabric from one of the craft stores - it doesn't need to be anything fancy, just to dress it up a bit. This can't be done until a bit closer, because I have NFI where I would put 100+ plants to begin with, and I don't want them to grow too much.
Anyway, that's where I'm at atm. So it is slowly getting there, major things have progress and I have plans for (most) of the other stuff. It helps having it in a to-do list, I am very much a list person and love crossing things off, haha.
I also need a wedding icon. Should look into this...
Ceremony/Reception:
Status: Booked
Money: $1000 deposit paid - balance two weeks beforehand
We are having both the ceremony and reception at a winery in the Yarra Valley. Food & wines are both amazing. All confirmed, we just need to sort out the menu closer to the date when they have come up with the seasonal menu.
We have opted for a choice of 3 dishes for each course - it is only $5 per person extra and working in hospitality, it is a PITA doing the 50/50 set menu, I'd much rather guests actually choose what they want to eat.
Celebrant:
Status: Confirmed
Glenn's mother has a friend who is a celebrant who would have been invited anyway, so she is going to officiate the ceremony for us. Bonus is that there is no charge.
Wedding Dress:
Status: Ordered
Money: 50% deposit paid, balance once dress arrives
I have linked this dress before, and I still adore it just as much. Will need to get alterations, because I am a short-ass.
Still have to sort out shoes. Not sure what style I want just yet, I need to get a swatch of fabric from the store.
Bridesmaid Dresses:
Status: Need to get sizes & order
We've selected the dress, and my best friend has found a store in the US which is significantly cheaper, even when you factor in shipping. Just need to get all the bridesmaids to try them on (2 still to try it on, the other two just to get sized) so we can order them all together.
Hair & Make-up:
Status: Booked
Have booked out (pretty much) the entire salon. Think there's 5-6 different girls doing them, between hair, make-up, and mum and her sisters getting theirs too.
Am still deciding on hair styles, need to look through more magazines - have potentially found a hair style for me but still working out what I want for the bridesmaids. Need to book a trial closer to the date.
Groom/Groomsmen Suits:
Status: Not started
Still working out what I want the boys dressed in, haven't even begun looking at stores. Will start looking into this in the next couple of months - don't want to leave it too long, but it's not as urgent.
Flowers:
Status: Barely started
Not sure what I want. Looking through magazines, I think I want some dusty pink roses in my bouquet, and white - but not sure what white flowers. Totally undecided for the bridesmaids, their dress is hunter green, so I am entertaining the idea of white for them as well.
On my to-do list to call 3-4 florists and get quotes from them, I have two I want to look at just need to source a couple of others. Going to talk it through with mum & the bridesmaids for more ideas.
Music:
Status: Booked, deposit paid
Booked a DJ for the reception. Haven't yet got their sample CD (also on my to-do list) but they are confirmed. Still tossing up ideas of songs - but it's not like that's a matter of urgency.
Photographer:
Status: Booked, deposit paid
One of the first things booked, we are going with a photographer who has shot weddings at our location before. we do at some point need to meet with him to discuss the photos we want, but I have seen his work both at a bridal expo and his online portfolio and very happy with what he has done.
Invitations:
Status: Looking at samples
99% sure that I will be ordering from CardsAndPockets as I am very impressed with their service. I am looking at their perfetto pocketfolds. I've just ordered a sample from them and am going to run the colours by a couple of people - it's quite purple, but it still is very good quality, and need to design the invitation so I know what I need to order. It's a US site but is sooo much cheaper than anything I've found locally, even factoring in shipping costs. Also need to sort out the guest list so I know how many invitations I need to order.
Wedding Rings:
Status: Not started
We are still working out what type of ring we want, and I need to look at the budget to see how much we can afford. I've seen a few different companies in bridal magazines which look nice, including one where you can make your own wedding rings. That looks really fun, and not too expensive (considering) so will look into it further.
Cars:
Status: Booked
This is another thing which was booked almost straight away. I can't actually remember which cars we have, but we have two Cadillacs booked for the bridal party. Apparently they can book out nearly 2 years in advance so we were very lucky to find these and decide straight away :D Glenn still hasn't seen them so at some point we will go out there, but it's not really 'important'.
Accommodation:
Status: Booked for bridal party
I tried to make a group block, but they were absolutely useless and told me about five different stories, so we have just booked for us / bridal party / parents / relatives we know want a room, and are directing every one else to book directly. The bridal party and groomsmen are staying the night before as well, and getting ready during the day. We're also staying there the night of the wedding as it's about 15 minutes from the venue - just need to arrange transport to/from depending on the number of people who will end up staying.
Honeymoon:
Status: Booked & paid in full
We are spending a week in Fiji, flying out the Monday after the wedding. We've gone through a travel agent, because I wanted to make sure all the transfers etc. were arranged for us, and so hopefully they could use their agent pull and get us flagged as honeymooners. We are staying 4 nights at Outrigger on the Lagoon on the Coral Coast, then travelling out to the Islands and spending 3 nights at Malolo Island Resort before flying home. We looked at staying longer but it was almost $2000 extra for only three more nights and wasn't worth it IMO - it's already costing us enough as it is. Would've liked it cheaper, but hey it's our honeymoon, and we are damn well going to stay in 4.5 or 5 star places!!
Gifts (Attendants & Parents):
Status: Not started
Haven't really given much thought as to what I'm going to do here - possibly jewellery for the girls and cufflinks for the boys? Again this is something I can put off until later on and look into when I've got more of an idea. Totally undecided for the parents though.
Bomboniere:
Status: Getting ideas
Originally we weren't going to do any, but I changed my mind. We're looking into doing a plant-type gift which will also double as a place card for the tables - something like this but we will do it ourselves. Going to look at some nurseries to get prices - hopefully there will be a bulk discount - and these tags. Going to grab some fabric from one of the craft stores - it doesn't need to be anything fancy, just to dress it up a bit. This can't be done until a bit closer, because I have NFI where I would put 100+ plants to begin with, and I don't want them to grow too much.
Anyway, that's where I'm at atm. So it is slowly getting there, major things have progress and I have plans for (most) of the other stuff. It helps having it in a to-do list, I am very much a list person and love crossing things off, haha.
I also need a wedding icon. Should look into this...