Shawn and I have been discussing what song we should use for our first dance. I've been kind of torn between picking a song that people kind of expect or a song that we both really like. I think we're going to go with a song that we both like and not worry about what song it is. I've been trying to keep such a tight handle on everything so everything gets done on time, but this is one thing where I need to loosen up and I think I 'm going to let my fiance choose our song. He'll be thrilled.
We also discussed whether or not to do the bouquet and garter toss. I really don't want to because we won't have that many single girls at our wedding and I find the garter toss a little humiliating and a little inappropriate. So I suggested replacing those with an anniversary dance. An anniversary dance is where all the married couples come up and dance and they are eliminated by length of marriage. Eventually you get down to the couple that has been married the longest and they can give some words of wisdom and they usually get the bouquet (our couple will be getting a smaller version of my bouquet as a gift). After there's a winning couple I would like the DJ to play a song for them to dance to and about 1/4 of the way through it have all the married couples are called to the dance floor in reverse order to join them.
Deciding our first dance song has been a little bit more of a struggle. I like songs like "You are so Beautiful" and "L-O-V-E", but Shawn likes more up to date songs. Even if we don't go with a song to I like I know they will be played at some point during the night. I've been trying to keep a tight handle on all of this wedding stuff so everything gets done on time, but I think I'm going to loosen up and hand over this decision to my fiance. I know he'll pick a good song that we both like.
Our DJ has asked us a give him a play and do not play list. This seems like an easy task, but I am a person that can't remember the names of artists or songs which makes things a little more difficult. We are trying to create a family friendly atmosphere. So we will be mostly sticking with songs from the 80's and older and we will be having several group dance songs since they are what gets people up and moving. I've also created a wedding website for our guests to visit and they are able to request songs for the reception.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
The Rings
Shawn and I went to look at rings before Christmas and ended up ordering them. They came in Christmas Eve and I was really excited. Shawn was torn between 2 rings: a tungston one and a traditional plain white gold band. He really wanted the tungston ring, but I have mixed feelings about it. Yes, it does look cool, but I've heard good and bad things about tungston. One of the benefits of a tungston ring is that it doesn't scratch and that is a big benefit since he has a career in medicine. One of the cons is that it can't be resized, so as your finger changes in size as you get older you need to buy a whole new ring. In the end he picked the traditional band, but has expressed that he would really like the other ring as well. So maybe it can be a future gift.
It took a lot of looking for me to find a ring that matches my engagement ring. I had found one that went around my engagement ring and when I tried it on it was gorgeous, but I have short fingers so having 3 rings on one finger wasn't working very well. I choose a single band that has a row of round stones that are similar in size to the round stones on the side of my engagement ring.
I love this ring, but getting it sized has been a frustrating process. I got my ring from Kays and they measured my engagement ring and then sent out my wedding band to be sized, they never confirmed anything with us before doing so. When the ring came back it was too small. They made it a size 4.25. So they sent it out again to be sized, this time with my engagement ring. The rings came back a couple of weeks later and the wedding band was made smaller than it was the first time. This time the ring was a size 4.
What I don't understand is that if the ring was too small the first time, why would you make it even smaller. My hands were cold both times and the ring still didn't fit. So now I have to get it sized a third time and instead of them trying to figure out a size, I'm going to tell them what size I want it. They refuse to believe that my engagement ring is a 4.75. I don't understand why that's so hard to believe, they even measured my finger and I need at least a 4.5. If I had to do it all over again I would not go to Kays, I would find the same ring at a different store and save myself the headache.
It took a lot of looking for me to find a ring that matches my engagement ring. I had found one that went around my engagement ring and when I tried it on it was gorgeous, but I have short fingers so having 3 rings on one finger wasn't working very well. I choose a single band that has a row of round stones that are similar in size to the round stones on the side of my engagement ring.
I love this ring, but getting it sized has been a frustrating process. I got my ring from Kays and they measured my engagement ring and then sent out my wedding band to be sized, they never confirmed anything with us before doing so. When the ring came back it was too small. They made it a size 4.25. So they sent it out again to be sized, this time with my engagement ring. The rings came back a couple of weeks later and the wedding band was made smaller than it was the first time. This time the ring was a size 4. What I don't understand is that if the ring was too small the first time, why would you make it even smaller. My hands were cold both times and the ring still didn't fit. So now I have to get it sized a third time and instead of them trying to figure out a size, I'm going to tell them what size I want it. They refuse to believe that my engagement ring is a 4.75. I don't understand why that's so hard to believe, they even measured my finger and I need at least a 4.5. If I had to do it all over again I would not go to Kays, I would find the same ring at a different store and save myself the headache.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Pre-Marriage Counseling
Shawn and I are getting married in the church that I grew up attending and they offer pre-marriage counseling. Although I'm a little nervous about it since I'm not exactly sure what to expect, I think it's a great idea. From what I understand about the counseling is that we will learn how to relate to one another and communicate with each other more effectively. Now I think that we already communicate fairly well, but it never hurts to learn how to communicate better.
Communication is one of the most important keys in maintaining a healthy relationship. Being able to communicate effectively with your partner helps you understand them, helps you communicate your respect for them, and helps to resolve conflict. Communicating effectively with your partner is very important in deciding life changing decisions, such as whether or not to have children and how to raise them. Although communication is not the only thing that goes into a healthy relationship, learning to communicate is one way to have a happy marriage that lasts a lifetime.
Communication is one of the most important keys in maintaining a healthy relationship. Being able to communicate effectively with your partner helps you understand them, helps you communicate your respect for them, and helps to resolve conflict. Communicating effectively with your partner is very important in deciding life changing decisions, such as whether or not to have children and how to raise them. Although communication is not the only thing that goes into a healthy relationship, learning to communicate is one way to have a happy marriage that lasts a lifetime.
Wedding Hair
Deciding on how to wear my hair for the wedding was a little overwhelming at first. I wasn't sure what style I should go with or what style looked best on me. Choosing a hairstyle also depends a little bit on what the dress looks like. If you have a strapless gown then wearing your hair down might be a nice option. If your dress has straps or sleeves then wearing your hair partly up or all up would probably be nice. The main thing to remember is to choose a style that feels like you. You want to look beautiful and still be you at the same time.
My hair is very thin and has a really difficult time trying to hold a curl. So trying to decide on a hairstyle for the wedding was a little difficult. I had a few people suggest that I wear my hair down with curls in it, but seeing that my hair is thin and the fact that July is usually hot and humid, I threw that option out.
Another option was a half up, half down style,
It's pretty and looks really nice, but doesn't look all that great on me.
I ultimately decided on an updo since that's how I usually wear my hair. It just feels more like me and that's what I want to feel like when I get married. I also decided to go with an updo because my dress has straps and details that I'd like to show off.
I haven't had my hair trial yet, but I'm sure that this is the right choice for me.
My hair is very thin and has a really difficult time trying to hold a curl. So trying to decide on a hairstyle for the wedding was a little difficult. I had a few people suggest that I wear my hair down with curls in it, but seeing that my hair is thin and the fact that July is usually hot and humid, I threw that option out.
Another option was a half up, half down style,
It's pretty and looks really nice, but doesn't look all that great on me. I ultimately decided on an updo since that's how I usually wear my hair. It just feels more like me and that's what I want to feel like when I get married. I also decided to go with an updo because my dress has straps and details that I'd like to show off.
I haven't had my hair trial yet, but I'm sure that this is the right choice for me.
Invitations
For our invitations we decided to use the DIY kit from Walmart. They cost only $20 for a box a 40 invitations and 40 reply cards compared to $100 for 25 professionally printed invitations. I never even considered getting professionally done invitations. I think that the DIY kits look just as nice and they have a wide variety to choose from.
The invitation kit has a website that allows you to find the invitation that you have and has an option to choose a pre-set wording or allows you to write what you want. They also have a variety of fonts to choose from so that you can make your invitations to fit your style.
Invitations can be a stressful project, but I had no problem picking them out and I'm sure I won't have a problem printing them out and getting them addressed. I'm actually really excited that they will be going out in the mail in a couple months. It's just one more item to cross off the list and one more item that puts us closer to our wedding.
Seating Chart
I was really hoping to be able to skip doing a seating chart because I've heard they can be quite the chore and I feel a little bad telling people who they have to sit with during the dinner. After reading a few articles it seems that guests actually prefer being told where to sit and not having to make a mad dash for a table so everyone can sit together. I have seen dinners be successful without a seating chart and I have never seen anyone race to a table, so I was hoping that maybe I could be one of the lucky ones that didn't have to do one. But it's looking like our dinner is going to be much larger than we were expecting and it seems that doing a seating chart is going to be inevitable. Just the thought of doing this seating chart stresses me out, but I was promised lots of help in creating it. So I'm sure it won't be as bad as I'm thinking it will be.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Programs
Some people would say that having programs for the ceremony are optional. We have decided to include them. I like knowing who is participating in the wedding and what the order of events are. I also find them helpful for people who are not familiar with the sequence of events. We attended a wedding our this past summer that included a Hindu ceremony, without a program explaining what was happening I would have been very confused.
I originally wanted to make programs that fanned out.
I thought that fan programs would be a good idea since our church ceremony will not have air conditioning. After considering the cost and the time that it would take to make them, we decided to go a different direction. Instead we will be using a a simple folded program with a ribbon holding all of the inside pages together.
I originally wanted to make programs that fanned out.
I thought that fan programs would be a good idea since our church ceremony will not have air conditioning. After considering the cost and the time that it would take to make them, we decided to go a different direction. Instead we will be using a a simple folded program with a ribbon holding all of the inside pages together.
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