Dear Internets,
I don't really have a wedding weecap for you today. I've been burying my head in the sand and avoiding my to-do list. I don't know if it's that the newness of the wedding planning process has worn off or just the funk I've been in lately. At any rate, I have made very little wedding-related progress.
I am considering redesigning this blog. That would be progress, right? Or is that just another way to procrastinate? I dunno.
Maybe I'll go get my dress altered tomorrow.
Ugh.
Love,
Jane
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Wednesday Weecap 11/11
Dear Internets,
I've been distracted from wedding planning this week. Sadly, I've mostly been distracted by FarmVille (and its easier-to-play cousin FishVille), and not by anything that would bring about positive world change. Here are some wedding updates of the bullet point variety:
Love,
Jane
I've been distracted from wedding planning this week. Sadly, I've mostly been distracted by FarmVille (and its easier-to-play cousin FishVille), and not by anything that would bring about positive world change. Here are some wedding updates of the bullet point variety:
- The pre-marriage counseling thing was OK. Achilles and I came out with several jokes about chicken, and a couple of techniques we might actually use from time to time. The time we spent was definitely worth getting $60 off our marriage license. Most of the couples were around our age, although there was one super young pregnant couple who kind of made me sad. I hope that everything will work out for them.
- I always thought I wouldn't want a veil, but I ended up trying one on that I really liked (and my mom loved). I'm going to pick it up today if I can drag myself away from my crops.
- We are thinking we might serve pizza at our reception. I wrote an entire post about food that I probably won't end up publishing because 1.) it makes me sound psychotic and 2.) I really doubt it would be that interesting to anyone.
- Achilles is taking my ring to be re-sized today (he has the day off, the lucky jerk). My finger feels sort of nekkid without it.
- Achilles' dad owned a business in Austin for about 25 years. This is coming in handy - he has connections and discounts at other local (and awesome) businesses that we'd never otherwise be able to afford. Saving money makes me happy.
- I still need to get my dress altered.
Love,
Jane
Friday, November 6, 2009
Out of the melting pot and into the fire
Dear Internets,
Shannon (aka Doahleigh) has an interesting post up on her wedding website right now. She and her fiance asking for suggestions for how they can show support for marriage equality at their wedding without offending people or getting too preachy. I'm interested in hearing what the Internets has to say.
Family issues can be really tricky at weddings for a lot of people. My mom's family is very conservative, and I have one aunt in particular who likes to pick political arguments with my mom (the odd duck who went to college and became liberal*).
*Anywhere other than Texas, my mom's political views would be fairly middle-of-the-road.
I really doubt that anyone will start fights about politics at the wedding (it is, after all, still the South, where politeness rules with an iron fist), but it is one of those things that I could give myself anxiety about if I thought about it too much. In the worst case scenario that my imagination always seems to gravitate toward, I have to intervene when a family member makes a racist/sexist/homophobic/religiously-intolerant remark, and that is what everyone remembers about the wedding.
I am sure nothing like that will happen. It is interesting, though, to think about the fine line you potentially have to walk when you bring a diverse group of people together to celebrate a wedding.
In reality, weddings are probably good for people; with all the celebration of love and family, people probably forget for a minute that the person next to them is the "They" they heard demonized last week on talk radio. Maybe my wedding will open peoples' minds without me doing or saying anything at all.
Then again, maybe a brawl will break out and I'll become a famous crying bride on YouTube. You never know.
Love always,
Jane
Shannon (aka Doahleigh) has an interesting post up on her wedding website right now. She and her fiance asking for suggestions for how they can show support for marriage equality at their wedding without offending people or getting too preachy. I'm interested in hearing what the Internets has to say.
Family issues can be really tricky at weddings for a lot of people. My mom's family is very conservative, and I have one aunt in particular who likes to pick political arguments with my mom (the odd duck who went to college and became liberal*).
*Anywhere other than Texas, my mom's political views would be fairly middle-of-the-road.
I really doubt that anyone will start fights about politics at the wedding (it is, after all, still the South, where politeness rules with an iron fist), but it is one of those things that I could give myself anxiety about if I thought about it too much. In the worst case scenario that my imagination always seems to gravitate toward, I have to intervene when a family member makes a racist/sexist/homophobic/religiously-intolerant remark, and that is what everyone remembers about the wedding.
I am sure nothing like that will happen. It is interesting, though, to think about the fine line you potentially have to walk when you bring a diverse group of people together to celebrate a wedding.
In reality, weddings are probably good for people; with all the celebration of love and family, people probably forget for a minute that the person next to them is the "They" they heard demonized last week on talk radio. Maybe my wedding will open peoples' minds without me doing or saying anything at all.
Then again, maybe a brawl will break out and I'll become a famous crying bride on YouTube. You never know.
Love always,
Jane
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Underoos
Dear Internets,
I got measured for underoos today. It turns out I wear a bra size I didn't even know existed. Go figure. I'm hoping everything works out together once I get the dress altered.
This is all a lot of work.
Internets, if you don't have a grandma who says your upcoming wedding gives her something to live for, I recommend eloping.
Love,
Jane
I got measured for underoos today. It turns out I wear a bra size I didn't even know existed. Go figure. I'm hoping everything works out together once I get the dress altered.
This is all a lot of work.
Internets, if you don't have a grandma who says your upcoming wedding gives her something to live for, I recommend eloping.
Love,
Jane
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Pre-Marriage Counseling
Dear Internets,
Texas offers a discount on marriage licenses for couples who complete eight hours of pre-marital counseling through approved programs. (Here's the website, if you're interested in checking out the program.) Achilles heard about the program from the judge he works for, and I read about it on one of my favorite wedding-related blogs.
We were both interested in the classes, but weren't sure about the approved providers in the Austin area. Most of the providers were either religious, super expensive ($600 for a weekend pre-marital "retreat" at a conference center? Erm...), both religious and super expensive, or had maximum income requirements for participants.
Achilles is Jewish, but not particularly religious. I am non-religious. Even though we both have decent jobs, $600 would be a huge portion of our wedding budget. Secular and free sounded better to us.
I decided just to call one of the local providers to see if they could point me in the right direction. The program I called offers free, non-religious year-long relationship counseling to low income families. The woman I talked to was super friendly. As it turns out, they also occasionally offer an eight hour program for Twogether in Texas that Achilles and I can attend. It is free, and they provide a light breakfast and lunch.
(Free breakfast and lunch, you say? Sign us up!)
Their next class (and the last one they have planned for a while due to the holidays) is this Saturday. Achilles and I will have to miss the Texas vs. University of Central Florida football game (sorry Horns - we'll keep an eye on the score on our phones), but hopefully we'll learn something. I'll let you know how it goes.
Love,
Jane
Texas offers a discount on marriage licenses for couples who complete eight hours of pre-marital counseling through approved programs. (Here's the website, if you're interested in checking out the program.) Achilles heard about the program from the judge he works for, and I read about it on one of my favorite wedding-related blogs.
We were both interested in the classes, but weren't sure about the approved providers in the Austin area. Most of the providers were either religious, super expensive ($600 for a weekend pre-marital "retreat" at a conference center? Erm...), both religious and super expensive, or had maximum income requirements for participants.
Achilles is Jewish, but not particularly religious. I am non-religious. Even though we both have decent jobs, $600 would be a huge portion of our wedding budget. Secular and free sounded better to us.
I decided just to call one of the local providers to see if they could point me in the right direction. The program I called offers free, non-religious year-long relationship counseling to low income families. The woman I talked to was super friendly. As it turns out, they also occasionally offer an eight hour program for Twogether in Texas that Achilles and I can attend. It is free, and they provide a light breakfast and lunch.
(Free breakfast and lunch, you say? Sign us up!)
Their next class (and the last one they have planned for a while due to the holidays) is this Saturday. Achilles and I will have to miss the Texas vs. University of Central Florida football game (sorry Horns - we'll keep an eye on the score on our phones), but hopefully we'll learn something. I'll let you know how it goes.
Love,
Jane
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Dressed, pt. 1
Dear Internets,
My wedding dress came in this morning. This is the dress I decided not to get. Our wedding is going to be kind of a garden/informal wedding. The long lace dress, while amazing, was just too fancy.
I ended up buying my dress at David's Bridal. I heard they have fairly inexpensive dresses in stock at their stores in sizes from 2 to 26W, and I liked the idea of shopping at a store where women of a variety of sizes could go in and try on something that fits. I probably would have preferred to buy a non-traditional dress and/or a dress from an independent seamstress, but my family thought both ideas sounded absolutely nuts. I decided it wasn't worth battling about.
While I've heard horror stories about David's Bridal, I had nothing but a good experience. I walked in on a Saturday on a whim with friends. Even though I didn't have an appointment, I got a lot of personal attention from my consultant, Sara. She was silly, fun to be around, and incredibly sweet. The managers at the store were really fantastic too. Later that week, I took Sara cookies and a thank you card for putting up with me. She hugged me and cried. She has a heart of gold and I just loved her to pieces.
I still need to get my dress altered and buy some sort of fancy brassiere to wear with it (why is it that everyone acts like my wedding underwear needs to involve NASA technology?), but I'm glad that the order came in, because that's one less thing to think about. I think I may already have the shoes I want to wear too.
Can anyone who's done this before (or has seen it done before) think of anything I'm missing?
Love,
Jane
My wedding dress came in this morning. This is the dress I decided not to get. Our wedding is going to be kind of a garden/informal wedding. The long lace dress, while amazing, was just too fancy.
I ended up buying my dress at David's Bridal. I heard they have fairly inexpensive dresses in stock at their stores in sizes from 2 to 26W, and I liked the idea of shopping at a store where women of a variety of sizes could go in and try on something that fits. I probably would have preferred to buy a non-traditional dress and/or a dress from an independent seamstress, but my family thought both ideas sounded absolutely nuts. I decided it wasn't worth battling about.
While I've heard horror stories about David's Bridal, I had nothing but a good experience. I walked in on a Saturday on a whim with friends. Even though I didn't have an appointment, I got a lot of personal attention from my consultant, Sara. She was silly, fun to be around, and incredibly sweet. The managers at the store were really fantastic too. Later that week, I took Sara cookies and a thank you card for putting up with me. She hugged me and cried. She has a heart of gold and I just loved her to pieces.
I still need to get my dress altered and buy some sort of fancy brassiere to wear with it (why is it that everyone acts like my wedding underwear needs to involve NASA technology?), but I'm glad that the order came in, because that's one less thing to think about. I think I may already have the shoes I want to wear too.
Can anyone who's done this before (or has seen it done before) think of anything I'm missing?
Love,
Jane
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Ringing it
Dear Internets,
It was important to me that my engagement ring be conflict-free and environmentally friendly. Achilles knew this, so I figured when the time came, he'd likely either buy me a vintage ring or something really unusual.
Achilles really prefers traditional-looking rings, but was nervous about buying vintage. Since he doesn't know a lot about jewelry, he was afraid he'd end up buying me a really expensive cubic zirconia (cubic zirconia would have been fine with me, except for the Achilles-getting-scammed part).
He ended up buying my ring from Brilliant Earth. I really like my ring - I don't know anyone else with anything like it, and I'm glad that no one lost a limb or strip mined a forest so that we could get engaged. Achilles was very pleased with the customer service at Brilliant Earth.
I hope you had a wonderful weekend Internets!
Love,
Jane
It was important to me that my engagement ring be conflict-free and environmentally friendly. Achilles knew this, so I figured when the time came, he'd likely either buy me a vintage ring or something really unusual.
Achilles really prefers traditional-looking rings, but was nervous about buying vintage. Since he doesn't know a lot about jewelry, he was afraid he'd end up buying me a really expensive cubic zirconia (cubic zirconia would have been fine with me, except for the Achilles-getting-scammed part).
He ended up buying my ring from Brilliant Earth. I really like my ring - I don't know anyone else with anything like it, and I'm glad that no one lost a limb or strip mined a forest so that we could get engaged. Achilles was very pleased with the customer service at Brilliant Earth.
I hope you had a wonderful weekend Internets!
Love,
Jane
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