In lieu of...

Can you believe I've waited this long to talk about registering? Well, it took a while for us to actually decide how we were going to do the whole gift thing. Here are the facts:

1. A large percentage of the guests will have to travel from out of town. Doing this alone is a major expense and a big gift in itself. If it's a present or guest type of thing, guests will win out every time.

2. I'm going to keep it real and admit that I don't want people to overpay for any of the items that are on traditional registries. Honestly, I'd rather buy a set of pots myself at a discount store, with a coupon, or on clearance.

3. And the big decision-maker: I don't feel comfortable telling people what to do with their money. I don't want to make them feel like they need to buy things off of a list and I don't want to flat-out tell them that they can't give me anything...

So, we're going to do something a little different. Instead of creating a registry, we're going to let our friends and family know that we'll be happy without any gifts, but suggest an alternate way of showing some love with money. If anyone asks or checks the registry portion of our website, they'll get a link to our charity fundraising page for a fall bike ride.

Cycling, running, and triathlons are kinda our "thing" so we thought doing a charity ride would be a good way to avoid a registry, fundraise money for cancer research, and incorporate a little more "us" into the whole thing. 

*photo taken on a charity ride we did together two years ago*

Since I'm a needy blogger, I of course have a couple more questions to ask of you all:

1. How should I word the donation suggestion on my website? I want it to seem more like a suggestion and not a request.

2. How much should my fundraising goal be? The minimum is $250 per rider, but I don't want to pick a number that is too high and, again, make it look like I'm telling people what to do.  

bow here?

I've been doing some more thinking about the dress (don't worry, I haven't bought another one!).

You see, I'd describe my personal style as simple-classic+feminine and I feel like I need juuust a touch more femininity in my dress. Since I'll have to alter the back strap anyways (too big)... why not go ahead and add an adjustable bow?

Don't mind the weird white part below my back- I had to cover up a belt I've since decided not to use.

I'd like it to be a less intense version of this:

And, of course, it would relate back to my invitations:

Okay, go ahead and try to talk me out of it...

rewards

Thanks to some excessive wedding spending (and Lowe's gift card buying) and triple points I'm already sitting on over $100 in rewards from my Gap Card (of course I pay off the balance every month!). Lucky for me, there are a couple wedding worthy options speaking to me on Gap's website right now.

This one says, "wear me to the rehearsal dinner."

and these say, "duh, honeymoon!"

 

this hair

With my wedding being during July in Texas so I've decided that it's probably in my best interest to go with an updo. At the moment, this hair style is on the top of my list:

source 

The thing that sticks out to me most is that, unlike most updos out there, it seems like a straight-haired person's look. I have one of those hair types that just won't hold a curl so even the loose wave looks that I like aren't really options.

What do you think- too 2010? too messy? too casual? too ____?

FYI

Rue La La has more wedding stuff today (Pictured: Impression).

Side Note: I find that their best deals are found during the "Final Sales" and "Sunday Night Styleathons"

a grocery store?

After a long five months of not committing  searching  I've we've finally decided on our caterers (F-I-N-A-L-L-Y).  To be nice, I'll give you the CliffsNotes version of the events over the past five months:

November 2010- After receiving amazing recommendations (specifically for brunch events) from the venue's staff, I contact Caterer Choice #1 and talk to her about my wants/ needs for the wedding. She promises a call back the following week.

December 2010- I not only wait several weeks for a return call from Caterer Choice #1, but call her back and leave a message with  the assistant who promised that I would get a call the next business day. Of course, there was never another call back and she was out.

January 2011- My venue has a list of just under twenty catering companies that won't require any additional fees upon hiring. I don't want to rack up any additional fees or hire a company without experience at my venue so I go ahead and contact what I think will be the next best option- Grocery Store Caterers. I meet with the coordinator and receive a proposal back the following week- it's about $1,000 over what I want to spend.

February 2011- I ask if Grocery Store can come back with a lower number... they drop $500 from the total and take off all of the good stuff. I'm frustrated and wanting to just throw money at the catering to make it go away, but I decide to look elsewhere instead.

February 2011 to March 2011- I contact 15+ other caterers hoping to find something that catches my eye and fits within a reasonable budget... luckily, Trendy Caterer fits the bill.

Last week- Trendy Caterer's food options and pricing looks great, but I'm unsure about their abilities to pull together things like rentals or service. It also seems like they have quite a few additional fees including cake cutting and chair set up. Meanwhile, Grocery Store Caterers contact me asking if there's any way they can alter the proposal to fit my needs. Not completely happy with any of my options, I go ahead and revise their proposal myself using their online pricing lists. Thankfully, this works out- I end up finding a menu that I like at a price I like with a caterer I know I can trust to pull everything off!

Who is this mystery Grocery Store Caterer?

Okay, so it's a fancy grocery store. It's also local (they're from Austin!) and one of our favorite places. Nate and I actually have a routine every Saturday in the summer- we wake up at 6ish (it's hot in Texas), do a long run, swim in Barton Springs, then head over to Whole Foods for some watermelon. Proof:

Would you believe that we love our watermelon so much that we actually planned our wedding to fall during watermelon season? Also, we specifically requested to have watermelon- one of the messiest foods on earth- at our wedding. True story.

In case you're keeping track, we've locked down the following vendors so far:

Wedding venue- $2,150 (includes most tables and all chairs)

Photographer- $2,111

Catering- $3,192 (for 85; includes plates and service, but doesn't include bartender or alcohol)

Dress- $298 (haven't made alterations yet)

Invitations- $127 (without printing or postage)

Total spent: $7,878 (and more to go!)

Obviously, there's a lot more to do, but I'm excited to finally start talking about some of the details!

Has anyone else spent 5+ months making a specific wedding decision or am I completely crazy?

nobody ever blames the honeymoon...

I read/ hear these a lot:

"You're spending HOW MUCH for ONE DAY?"

"My honeymoon was worth every penny."

source

The honeymoon is usually a small chunk spread out over several days or weeks, but is it really giving you more bang for your buck?

Pretend Wedding: $18,000 for a one day celebration with 120 friends and family

Cost per person per day: $150

Pretend Honeymoon: $5,000 for seven days of newlywed bliss

Cost per person per day: $357

That sure makes a wedding look like a bargain, doesn't it? After thinking about the numbers this way, I've started to second guess focusing my anger on the cost of coffee service and, instead, thrown it at flight prices and hotel fees (it at least makes settling on the catering bill a bit easier ;).