Sarah & Brandon's Swan/Il Mulino 04.28.12**The not so good stuff**

[tric8783]

Congrats! I think I read first when you first posted and didn't post (i've been so bad lately at reading and not replying!trying to fix that! ) Sounds like you are definitely making progress! Even though you had a bad experience with Bluezoo (more like lack of communication rather than a bad experience) I'm glad you posted about it- we had thought of going there for our RD and decided on somewhere else instead. Just makes me a little glad I made a good choice


Congrats on your invites and website! Love that people cna RSVP right through your website! Will we get to see a pic of your invites?

We're doing Welcome Bags but nothing too crazy, I think it's a nice added surprise for people traveling to the wedding that they (hopefully) aren't expecting to get! I say if there was ever a time for matching shirts, this is it. Take full advantage!

 

[Sizzle]

I think using one of those books would be such a great idea for a guest book! Have you thought about seeing if a local library has one, that way you can see the insides? Or if there's a seller on ebay that might show more of the inside pages?

And sometimes, you just have to use your Bride Powers for evil in addition to for good.

This is a great idea! I'm thinking now that I will head to the Half Priced book store and see what I can find.

I found out we have a family member that has a part time home business doing screen printing! So we are going to see if we could have her help with making our group shirts. If not, I will just do the ever fun task of making somewhere between 32 - 60 shirts from home! lol. It will all be so much easier once we have a firm head count. Our RSVPs should be here end of the week and we will turn them around within a day.

Oh! And I emailed the Disney contact for doing a dessert party at The Grand Floridian. When we first started planning, I had seriously looked into the Epcot party but decided against it for a few reasons. I think the Grand Floridian is a great alternative. I think we'll set it up for Sunday night. Wish she would get back to me sooner

 

[Sizzle]

Oh. wow. We found our rings! It has been a long process. There was a design I was absolutely in love with for the last 6 months that is a portfolio piece from a custom jewelry here in Seattle. We've been in several times to talk to them about ring options, and then last week specifically about the design we love. Well, long story short, they were not very friendly and we felt like we shouldn't have to beg them to be nice to us when we're spending big $$$.

Skip forward to a wedding show we visited which was a total bust. I mean, awful. I'd been to a big one before last year that was great and this was nothing like that. We were feeling like we had totally wasted our time, when we came upon a jewelry store booth. The guy was SO nice and very knowledgeable. And best of all, he had my ring. It was nothing like anything I had been trying on and WAY more blingy than I thought I wanted. But I put that thing on and it was like it had been made for me. It was even my exact ring size!! So on Saturday we went by the store to look at all of their rings, not totally sure we had decided and one more time trying on that ring and I couldn't take it off. Best of all we got it for a great price. And the store employees were so friendly and welcoming.

We had my diamond set in it and picked up the ring the next day! One whole day not wearing it was long enough! I am so so happy. And Brandon got his band which is being ordered and will be ready in about a month. So here it is!!

 

[yourgypsy]

Yay! It's so pretty and sparkly! And that's awesome about the family member and the tshirts. Maybe they'd even do it for free as a wedding present? (I'm always the optimist )

 

[Jilian]

Nice ring! It looks so sparkley in the picture so it must be really beautiful in person. I like that it is unique. Nice choice!

 

[Aurora2012]

Beautiful ring!

 

[MrsDuck]

Very pretty and unique! I love it!

 

[Freckledginger]

Hi Sarah!!

Just found your PJ, and have so enjoyed seeing all your plans
LOVE LOVE LOVE your wedding colors, and your ring is drop dead gorgeous!!

Regarding not having a bridal party, I can completely relate to you on that decision. DF and I are having a small wedding too (probably about 40 people), and it just didn't feel right to have a traditional bridal party. I think we'll end up just having one person each to stand up there with us.

Yay for a DP!! That'll be a fantastic experience! What sort of desserts are you thinking you'll have??

I'm very excited to see/read the rest of your plans!

 

[virtuous girl]

UR RING!! AHHH!! i have a bling fetish the proposal was so sweet Ur going 2 have such a lovely wedding all the swan & dolphins brides have GREAT ideas

 

[Sizzle]

Well, things have been insane on the planning front. Mostly because in addition to the wedding, I am coordinating travel, lodging, dinner and entertainment for all of our immediate family for the week of the wedding. (32 people) After 6 hours (not kidding) on the phone with Disney on Friday, we ended up getting screwed on our reservation and had to upgrade all of the rooms at a pretty penny. I won't even say the amount because it makes me cringe every time. But, my family is pretty stoked to go from a value resort to the Boardwalk Villa's!

I also added in a Dessert Party at Sago Cay for the day after. The Disney coordinator for that has been a huge PITA but I think we finally have it confirmed. However, since she never responds to my e-mails who knows.... GAH! I wish everyone was as easy to work with as Karen at JM!! She is my hero. I was telling Brandon today that I'm starting to burn out on planning, but the thing is, it's the non wedding related things that are killing me! The actual wedding has been the easy party! Go figure.

I also coordinated group dinners for three nights of the week. Each dinner will have someone from my family and someone from Brandons family. That way, everyone gets a more personal chance to chat, and the families get to mingle a bit more. This took a whole lot of coordinating based on travel and the rest of the arrangements, but I think it will be well worth it. You wouldn't believe how difficult certain people are about this. Figuring *I* Am the one doing all the work you would think they would just say, "Wow! Thanks for scheduling this, Sarah!" But noooo. It's "I dont like that kind of food. Or we were going to do something else that day. That time is a bit late for me" blah blah. I'm ready to tell everyone to just not bother coming then.... BREATH SARAH! lol

I sent everyone a calendar of events for the wedding day, day after dessert party, Group Tshirt Day and Group dinners. And of course I have gotten either complaints or made fun of for being neurotic. sigh

I did find a family member who is going to print all the shirts so I'm really excited about that! They will turn out much better than if I were ironing them all on.

So, that was my big fat rant. Everyone is ticking me off and I'm one more complaint away from throwing my hands in the air and telling everyone to kiss my fat behind. The non eating of carbs for the past month is probably not helping my attitude....but for now, we will blame them Up next, invitations!!

 

[Sizzle]

Yay! It's so pretty and sparkly! And that's awesome about the family member and the tshirts. Maybe they'd even do it for free as a wedding present? (I'm always the optimist )

Ha! I wish lol. But thankfully my Dad has opted to pay for them (instead of me) since we're keeping it in the family. So ultimately, it's a win win for me!

Beautiful ring!

Thank you!!

Very pretty and unique! I love it!

It is a bit different, I liked that for sure. Thank you!

Hi Sarah!!

Just found your PJ, and have so enjoyed seeing all your plans
LOVE LOVE LOVE your wedding colors, and your ring is drop dead gorgeous!!

Regarding not having a bridal party, I can completely relate to you on that decision. DF and I are having a small wedding too (probably about 40 people), and it just didn't feel right to have a traditional bridal party. I think we'll end up just having one person each to stand up there with us.

Yay for a DP!! That'll be a fantastic experience! What sort of desserts are you thinking you'll have??

I'm very excited to see/read the rest of your plans!

Thanks for joining in! For desserts, we are doing the cordials in the chocolate cups, then one of the preset menus. (Can't remember which one) but it was the larger one. I'm kinda getting a bit over the top at this point lol

UR RING!! AHHH!! i have a bling fetish the proposal was so sweet Ur going 2 have such a lovely wedding all the swan & dolphins brides have GREAT ideas

Thank you! He is a romantic, more so than me at times! haha! And I do love the bling on this ring, sometimes I can't quit staring at it LOL

 

[Sizzle]

So first, our Save the Dates. Brandon actually made these himself! I found a general idea of what I wanted, then he tweaked it in Publisher, then we sent them to Kikos to be printed. He cut most of them at work, then we cut the edges to be rounded. All in all, it was something like $30. woohoo! We sent these out in...October ish? I think. lol

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sizz/6797010947/

Next up is our official invitations. We had these made from Minted. They were great to work with and I found the process pretty simple. I can honestly say that I didn't spend much time picking out invitations, they were never a huge priority for me. Frankly, if it hadn't been for the fact that people were ultimately *very* confused about doing everything on the wedding website when we sent our STD's, I wouldn't have bothered with paper. But some of the old school folks really wanted a paper invite, so here you go. We sent these out Monday or Tuesday so most people should have them by now.

Our wedding website has every detail about the wedding. Including our dessert party on Sunday. I also emailed out a calendar of events that I created for our immediate family. So I am really forcing everyone to get online and look at it

invites

I really like that the STD is a little more fun, carefree ticket to Disney. Then the formal invite is more of an adult fairy tale feel. Very happy with these.

 

[yourgypsy]

Both of them came out so cute! I love the fairy tale feel to the invitations. Simple, but very classy

 

[MrsDuck]

Super cute STDs!

The invites are gorgeous and whimsical! I love them, Sarah!

 

[Shannon84]

Just started reading along, but had to tell you that I love the engagement story!! I love that a stranger was sweet enough to take pictures for you guys so you have that special moment captured!

 

[Jilian]

I love the STDs and invites! Nice work!

 

[Sizzle]

Both of them came out so cute! I love the fairy tale feel to the invitations. Simple, but very classy

Thank you so much! I never planned to have two, or two that were similar, but I think it really worked out

Super cute STDs!

The invites are gorgeous and whimsical! I love them, Sarah!

You're so sweet Faith, thank you!

Just started reading along, but had to tell you that I love the engagement story!! I love that a stranger was sweet enough to take pictures for you guys so you have that special moment captured!

It is my absolute favorite part of our entire engagement! It always is the unplanned that turns out being the most memorable!

I love the STDs and invites! Nice work!

Thank you, Jilian!!

 

[Sizzle]

We got our flower girl dresses!! I had spent a million (actual number) hours online looking at dresses for my nieces and just wasn't making any progress. Inevitably, the only dresses I would like were a million dollars (Also actual number) So I told my SIL that we just needed to go to the mall and buy something and be done with it.

As I walked in their house on Friday, my niece Pearl asked me if we (Her and I) were getting married. We had a brief conversation where I reminded her that the groom was actually Brandon, but that she would in fact be IN the wedding as a flower girl.

Surprisingly, we got the dresses within an hour. They were the second ones we found, first ones we tried on. And I think my countless hours online paid off, because I was prepared to make the decision on the spot. So here is my niece Eva modeling the dress! (My younger niece also tried it on, but her size wasn't in stock so it is being ordered)



I really love them. I think they are the perfect blend of formal/casual that will fit right in for our wedding. $44 at Nordstrom, can't beat that! (These girls are so adorable, they will steal the show regardless of what dress they are wearing!!)

 

[MrsDuck]

Super cute (and great price)!!

She is adorable!

 

[Fay]

Hey!

1st your ring is beautiful! such a good choice!! very pretty!

Your STDs are cool too, bless Brandon for making these!!! and your invitations are simple and elegant!

Your flower girl is sooo cute, the dress is very sweet!

Happy Planning!!!

X X X