Wedding Nightmare #1

Last night I had what I hope is not the first of many wedding nightmares.   "Poor baby" you're thinking, "what happened?" you're wondering.  What happened? What didn't happen is a better question!

So the first thing I remember is being at the church and getting ready to walk down the aisle-- the next thing I remember is Michelle's boyfriend TJ carrying me out of the church... because that's normal.  Apparently after the I do's, Brandon walked right on out of the church leaving me behind.  Classy.  Next I remember seeing my wedding band -- or lack there of.  I had a thick wedding band that was clearly missing diamonds.  In fact, I was wearing three(?) rings and they were all missing their diamonds.  Then it was time for the reception.  Here is where the ish hit the fan.

First I couldn't find the bridal party in order to get everyone into the reception to be announced.  I found a friend of mine (who for the sake of this blog will remain nameless - you'll understand why in a moment) who I guess in my dream was a bridesmaid, but who is in real life is not part of my wedding party, and she had already changed out of her bridesmaid dress.  I was very upset about this.  I mean the wedding had just ended and we hadn't even made our entrance into the reception!  How could she already be changing out of her dress and into a new one? Who thinks this is socially acceptable behavior at my wedding? This is why she isn't in the real wedding... just kidding :)

Then when I was in the reception (still looking for my MIA husband) -- the hall looked nothing like it does in real life.  Obviously this upset me, but I didn't have time to cry about it since I was on a recon mission to find my wedding party and get them to enter into the reception correctly with their names announced and everything.  People were upset because the bar wasn't giving them free drinks.  Not even my father.  Who was creating a scene about how he is paying for the reception and he will drink whatever he wants for free since he paid for open bar.  I asked for a coors light draft (because, let's be serious, I needed it) and they charged me $2.  Excuse me, Mr. Bartender, I am in a wedding dress -- where do you think I am holding my money?  So I left the beer and continued my search.

The search that brought me to DJ Vinny. Oh DJ Vinny - please save the day!  Nope.  DJ Vinny was actually not even DJ Vinny -- it was a stand-in since DJ Vinny was playing softball.  Stand-In DJ Vinny wasn't even playing anything that was on the list.  He wasn't even really playing anything at all.  What list?  You mean DJ Vinny didn't give you the list that is required to be submitted at least two weeks before the wedding.  I know I made the list.  I remember filling out the little questionnaire with everyone's names on it, the wedding party order, the agenda for the reception, the songs for father/daughter dance, mother/son dance and our first dance as husband and wife (if I ever find my husband).  I asked Brandon... Oh My God.  Did Brandon not mail in the list?  Of course not.  Please just play Oldies during the cocktail hour and the meal.  Oldies?  Really?  What an interesting selection Victoria...

Mom! Dad! Why are you leaving the reception? It hasn't even really started yet.  Oh, you have to help Jessica move?  On my wedding day?  You mean she couldn't have picked another day to do that?  My wedding day has been the same day for over a year and a half.  Why does she have to be moved today?  Oh, ok.  You go take care of that.

I gave up. I just wanted to go home and cry.  After all, it's my party and I will cry if I want to.  So I left the reception to go home... where I found Brandon and his friends playing drunk wiffleball in the backyard while eating ice cream cake and pigs-in-a-blanket.

I hope Hadley is right.  I hope that I am getting my wedding nightmares out of the way early...

life at work post-wedding is actually more work than just work

So this morning when I was getting my tea (today I am drinking Lemon Lift in case all the stalkers out there were wondering), the staff recruiter from HR asked me if I had made any wedding plans.  We talked a moment about how I am just about certifiably insane and how I have narrowed down dresses (for the bridesmaids and for me), booked the church, reception hall and DJ, picked out favors and had started thinking about centerpieces.  I then decided that now that she thinks I am crazy, it should be my turn to ask questions.  I asked something that had been on my mind -- what happens at work post-wedding.  I mean, I am changing my name and tacking Brandon's last name onto my name (no I am not hyphenating it Brandon, we talked about this already, my maiden name simply becomes a second middle name i.e. First Middle Maiden Married), so really how much work is changing my name?  Obviously I understand that things really won't change all that much -- except my email address in terms of communication stuff (which actually brings up another point, I already have two addresses linked to my account one with "t" then my last name and one with "v" then my last name -- I really don't want to think that people will be able to reach me by one of four different email addresses. UGH); but, anyways, what all do I have to do? As it turns out, the answer to that question is a lot of stuff.

I have to go to the courthouse and get a marriage license.  I have to go to the church and get married (duh).  I have to go to social security and get my name changed there.  I have to go to the DMV to get my name changed there and get a new license (and fyi - the answer is yes, I will be bitter if my picture is not as good as the one I have now).  Once I have that all done, I have to bring all the paperwork to work (paperwork being my new social security card, my new license, my marriage license, etc.).  Then I have to do something I am seriously dreading -- I have to pretend I know what I am doing again and fill out tax paperwork AGAIN.  Thanks a lot Brandon -- how about you take my name instead.

I should considering doing what my mother did.  You know -- just tell people I changed my name and sign everything with my married name, but you know, never actually change it.  I think the woman might have been onto something there.  I guess that is not completely true -- my mom did take my father's last name and legally change her last name. When did that happen?  I thought you might be wondering... Let's think... umm... My senior year in college.

Everything is falling into place :)

So given the fact that the wedding is still 18 months away (537 days according to our wedding website on theknot.com) I think Brandon and I are way ahead of schedule and things are really starting to fall into place which obviously makes me extremely happy.  I mean, we've booked the church and the reception hall (although, we still need to meet with the guy from the Knights of Columbus to confirm details and such), we've booked the DJ (you remember, DJ Vinny don't you) and put the deposit down, and we have made plans to meet with the photographer.  I mean, seriously, look at me... I mean, us go!

Over the weekend we went to see Aunt Patti and Uncle Jerry -- which was an absolutely incredible time (I am still stuffed from all the food we had) -- and Aunt Patti showed us samples of the champagne flute wedding favors.  They are amazing :) I mean seriously, they are perfect.  The champagne flutes are everything I dreamed of in a wedding favor and more.  They are very elegant and something that people can actually use again and again.  Aunt Patti gave us two samples to take home and look at and fight over which one would make the more perfect favor and get sappy about wedding plans over and then fight over again for good measure and then pick out for Aunt Patti to mass produce.  While I can see that for some people this does not sound exciting -- I AM EXCITED!  

I wanted to share my joy with everyone who reads this -- if anyone is reading this besides me and Brandon when I ask him to read it, but really I am not completely convinced that he actually reads this so maybe I need to start giving him quizzes to see if he actually reads this.  I digress -- I wanted to share with everyone the wonderful wedding favor samples. :)  One of the champagne flutes has the flowers that go all the way around the glass and the second one of the champagne flutes has just one bunch of flowers. 

So those are the ones with the hydrangeas that wrap all the way around the glass.  I think these will be the winner in the end.  I love the way the branches look (Aunt Patti's incorporation of the wedding color brown) and I love the symmetry of the whole thing.  Come on -- did you really think symmetry wasn't going to play a role in my decision on this matter?  Let's be serious.  Added bonus: Brandon likes it too :)

And these are the ones with one bunch of hydrangeas on one side of the glass.  While these ones lack the symmetry that the wrap around ones have -- I love these too.  I think they are absolutely beautiful.  They are very simple and I love the simplicity of it.

Now we just have to make a decision and let Patti know what we want.  So, if anyone has any thoughts on which they would like to see at the wedding, let me know! :)  While I can't promise I will listen or care what you think, I am more than willing to hear your thoughts.

On a completely separate unrelated, yet obviously very pressing, note -- the save-the-dates are in(!!) and I want to send them out, like tomorrow, but Hadley says it's too soon considering, as I previously stated, the wedding is 537 days away.  Boo to her.  I can't handle it!  I have them all stamped and addresses and ready to go out, but she says it's too soon.  I mean really, is it?  It's not like I am going to let anyone forget that I am engaged and when I am getting married and it's such an easy date to remember anyways (I mean seriously, 9-10-11, if you can count, you can remember it), why can't I just send them out?!? Ugh -- I guess I should listen to her though.  After all, she did take an entire class in wedding planning and is very knowledgeable in the topic and I have merely read copious quantities of wedding magazines and watched hundreds (that may or may not be a vast exaggeration) of hours of wedding television.

Honeymoon Registry: To do or not to do, that is the question

So today at lunch I was asked if Brandon and I had plans to take a Honeymoon after our wedding.  My response: Nope.  The girls were very taken aback by this response.  They could not believe that I would not use this as a golden opportunity to travel and see somewhere absolutely beautiful and warm.  The more I think about it, the more sad it becomes and the more taken aback I become at my lack of potential tropical island, or at the very least Hawaiian, honeymoon.  If you know Brandon, then you know there is no way I am getting him on a plane.  There goes my cliche honeymoon.  If it were up to Brandon, we'd go to a cabin, deep in the woods, surrounded by animals he could shoot and a lake where he could fish.  He would find a cabin where there is no bathroom and no running water.  Ew.

Lindsey once told me about her friend who had done a honeymoon registry.  Honeymoon registry?!?! What a wonderful idea!  Oh wait... Brandon will not commit to planning a vacation that is essentially two years away when we haven't even gotten the wedding out of the way.  Brandon doesn't like when I make plans for us that are more than a week out.  Brandon barely wanted to commit to the wedding day because it was so far away.  The boy has a serious problem with committing to plans; however, lucky for me, he has no problem committing to me :) and in the long run, isn't that more important?  However, in the short term, i.e. today -- a honeymoon is important to me.

I looked into this "honeymoon registry" thing a little more closely.  There are several websites that seem like they could be helpful.  Basically, you decide where you want to go and plan out everything you want to do and then set up the website.  On the website, you guess(?!?) how much things are going to cost and request the funds from friends and family.  Here is a sample registry  -- this looks fairly simple to me.  (Obviously for the sample one, I picked somewhere that I wanted to go)  So I guess you put it together and then before your honeymoon you let the company know and they send you the money(?!?).  This seems a little strange to me and obviously I would have to do a lot more research on it... I could take the easy way out and just set up a bank account now and save a little each paycheck, but that seems to make too much sense.

So now I have to really weigh the options here.  I have a really think about the pros and cons of doing a honeymoon registry v. opening up a separate honeymoon savings account.  Most importantly, if I do plan to use the honeymoon registry, I have to find a way to 1. get Brandon to commit to a vacation that is 20 months away and then 2. how I am going to get him on a plane...

Let's have a party on a school night

Sunday night Brandon and I had a lovely evening full of laughing, wine, best friends and leaky basements... Wait, what?  So with all the rain we had been getting, the foundation of the house was a little leaky. And by "a little leaky" I mean it was annoying and terrible and we had water coming in from new places every day and we had to change out towels every three hours, including in the middle of the night.  How not-so-wonderful.  What was wonderful was the dinner party we had with my friends from work.

 Me, Lindsey, Hadley, Sarah

Laura, Nikki, Carrie

My co-workers and I do not have a normal co-worker relationship.  You know, the one where you say "hi" in the morning while getting your coffee, make small talk by the copy machine about the weather, children, how cold the office is and then wish them a good weekend on your way out the door.  We are mildly obsessed with each other.  We cheer each other on during our big accomplishments (me with the Breast Cancer 3-Day, Nikki with her half marathon, Hadley with her Cherry Blossom 10-miler) and we support each other (even if Lindsey is a Pastafarian).  We hold each others hands when we need a friend and we sing to each other when we are sad (well, Hadley sings to us when we are sad).  Like I said, we have a not so normal friendship.  So we decided what better way to wrap up a crummy weather weekend, then to spend it together laughing and drinking wine and eating.  Brandon and I offered to host the evening and everyone agreed to bring something to dinner.  We had an incredible amount of food and an incredible time with our friends.

Brandon and I made appetizers (corn dip, veggies with ranch dip, and salsa pizza bites) and an Italian risotto bake.  Nikki and her boyfriend, Eric, brought pulled pork bbq (which was AMAZING) and cornbread.  Sarah and her friends Brian and Brian brought spaghetti, a curry dish with rice and Chicken Parmesan.  Hadley and her roommate, the legendary Lisa, brought potato casserole and a yummy chocolate dessert.  Lindsey brought orzo Greek salad which was fabulous.  Carrie and Josh brought delicious pizza. And Laura brought another dessert -- Irish car bombs. :)  I think I might be forgetting some things, but the point is -- we had a feast, complete with wine.  I wish I had taken a picture of the table spread with all of the food on it.   It was glorious.

Brandon was perfect.  The food was SO GOOD. The evening was perfect.  Brandon made sure everyone was comfortable, he served wine, he served food, he helped prep and he helped cook, he cleaned up plates and napkins and he did dishes.  I could not ask for a better fiance or better friends.  We all agreed that this was something that we needed to do a lot more often.

Hillbilly Bone meets the Four Seasons

Last night was the Girl Scout Council of the Nation's Capital Annual President's Circle dinner, sponsored by an anonymous corporate donor and held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Georgetown for the individuals who have contribute $600 or more to the Girl Scouts in the last year.  I am obsessed with where I work -- I love the mission of the Council and I love what we provide for the girls -- so when Hadley told me I had to donate $600 and go to the dinner, I didn't argue with her.  In fact, after last night, I should probably thank Hadley for making me do it.  Don't go thinkin' we have money now -- they deduct $25 from each of my paychecks so I never even see the money, so it isn't hard to give $50 a month.  In fact, I'm pretty sure if I didn't donate the money it would just go to buy shoes or something, so I think Brandon is pretty happy I decided to listen to Hadley too.

I love getting dressed up and being girly and wearing heels that are entirely too uncomfortable to wear to work but I absolutely had to have for just such an occasion and I love seeing Brandon dressed up.  I mean, I think he looks good in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt (obviously, I am biased), but damn that boy cleans up nicely.  And he did so last night for the dinner.  We left the house at 5:45, stopped and got gas and headed down to Georgetown in wonderful Washington, DC rush hour.  According to Google Maps, the Four Seasons is less than 10 miles from my house, will someone please tell me why we didn't get there until a little after 7?  Well, we got there, like we could see the hotel by 6:45 -- but waiting for the valet parking was a pain and the line to get in was all sorts of backed up, but it was definitely worth it :)

The Four Seasons in Georgetown, as you can imagine, is absolutely gorgeous. I mean, obviously the decor was different than in the picture I put on here but I needed a visual.  So, there it is, that is the ballroom in which the dinner took place.  I'll back up a little bit though.  When we got there, it was the cocktail hour, so I checked my coat and got a glass of wine and we mingled.  Brandon went over to the bar and got a bourbon.  After he got his drink, he said to me "Ya know that video for Hillbilly Bone... that would definitely be me if I didn't have the Praxis tomorrow.  This stuff is three or four shelves above the stuff I buy at the liquor store."  Did I mention that the event is top shelf open bar and the wine is free flowing? Thank you Hadley for telling me I had to donate $600.

The food was absolutely incredible.  I didn't have any of the appetizers, but Hadley and Brandon both agreed that they were amazing.  The dinner started with artichoke, spinach and pinenut ravioli with fresh yellow tomato coulis, basil chiffonade and micro green garnish (easily the most amazing ravioli I have ever eaten).  Then the entree was on a quadrant plate and it was Maryland style pan seared jumbo crab cakes (holy crap -- delicious... Brandon's was replaced with something because he couldn't have the shellfish, poor boy), grilled sliced herb chicken with caramelized shallot mashed potatoes, chilled poached asparagus salad with orange segment and finally, tomato -zucchini-chevre tart with olive tapanade and micro arugula salad.  Dessert was a warm bananas foster cream cheese flan with caramel sauce and crumbled toffee garnish.  I don't like bananas foster, but this was amazing.  

Brandon and I have agreed that every year from here on out we are going to make the donation and we are going to attend the dinner and I know Hadley will be right there with us. Also, let's take a minute and look at this picture... Tell me my Maid of Honor and my fiance don't make a beautiful couple.  I would be completely lost without the two of them.  So I want to thank Brandon for an absolutely wonderful evening and for being so incredible.  And I want to thank Hadley for telling me that I had to donate because without her we wouldn't have had this wonderful evening and really, without her, I probably wouldn't be nearly as sane as people think I am. :)

Maybe a hangover is just what I needed...

Brandon may not be the most romantic boy in the entire world, but he tries.  He puts his whole heart into things.  He may have unintentionally botched our anniversary dinner (I mean come on, I knew what I was getting myself into -- those boys hadn't seen each other in almost a year and if one of my best friends surprised me before leaving for Afghanistan, you can bet your bippy I would be one hungover little girl the next day - except I would have a wine hangover which is far worse than a beer hangover, believe me, I have found out from experience), but Brandon definitely made sure the day of our actual anniversary was wonderful.  

Usually after my alarm goes off I like to complain about not wanting to get up and Brandon makes me get up (not because he is the responsible one and is trying to make sure that I too am responsible, but he knows when I get out of bed he can sprawl out and take over the entire bed, steal my cold pillow and take all of the covers).  Monday morning he let me lay in bed and complain about how stupid I think having to work on Monday is.  Please keep in mind, I absolutely love my job, but come on, it's Monday and who really enjoys getting out of a warm cozy bed on a Monday morning?!?  That's right, no one.  So we got to lay in bed for awhile and be bums and talk about our relationship and laugh about the stupid fights we've had (and believe me, they are all oh-so-very stupid but oh-so-very funny now) and the funny things that have happened over the last two years -- something I had tried to do on Sunday night, but Brandon definitely was not having any part of.  Finally, I got up and showered and went to work.  Maybe if he always let me do that, I would have wonderful Mondays...

Work was typical Monday work.  I didn't want to be there.  Crazy people called.  Lunch with my friends was wonderful and eventually 4 o'clock rolled around and I was happy to go home. Thank God I didn't have part time.

I came home to find Brandon already there (one of my favorite things is when he is home when I get home so that I don't have to wait for him like a little puppy in the window -- which is exactly what I do when I get home first).  As I was walking in, he was heading out.  He wanted to spend the afternoon washing his truck and mine -- talk about wonderful.  If he wants to go outside, have a stogie and wash my car -- who am I to stop him?  I went to our room to find that he had made the bed exactly how I like it (what can I say, I'm picky) and he picked up his dirty socks (my least favorite article of his clothing, probably because there are always so many of them and they never match and what he considers a "pair" is just really two socks that once had a pair but are now widowers who he decided should be together) and put them in the laundry basket (that was overflowing because he and I have the tendency to push off laundry... a lot -- I think it may be the chore we both hate the most which is going to be a huge problem when we have kids because the last thing I need in 10 years is a phone call telling me that my kid is the smelly kid.)  Brandon had also done one of his least favorite things (which happens to be one of my most favorite things)... he bought me flowers. :)  Brandon does not believe in buying flowers because according to him "it's wasted money -- they just die" and "why do you want something that is going to die?"  I'll tell him why -- because they smell good and they're pretty. Duh.

 Of course he picked the most perfect pink ones :)  When the boy is good, he is great.  We had a wonderful dinner together and then Brandon did something especially wonderful.  When I thought the surprises were over and the day of celebrating was done, and I decided it was time to be a grown up and fold the clothes, he brought in two glasses of champagne.  Like I said, when he is good, he is great. We had a champagne toast to the last two years and to many more to come :)

I'll tell ya, if Brandon being hungover at our anniversary dinner means that I get flowers, sappy cards, laying in bed longer than normal, my car washed and champagne toasts -- bring on the friends and the hangovers.  I'll take it :)

Happy Anniversary, I am a Hot Mess.

So today, March 8 2010, is Brandon and my two year anniversary (woohoo we haven't killed each other yet!).  Because Brandon botched Valentine's Day and did not so much as even get me a card, I told him that I wanted to do something really nice for our anniversary. (I mean seriously, all I asked for was a card and some discount chocolate on the 15th but I got nothing! He is lucky I am not one of those girls who expects a big Valentine's day extravaganza because this is two years in a row that Valentine's Day has fallen by the wayside. What happened last year? I thought you might want to know. Last year, Brandon picked the restaurant (Ichiban) and I picked up the bill... and had an allergic reaction to dinner and was sick all night and had hives and was miserable, but don't worry, Brandon got home in time to watch his shows - Rock of Love with Brett Michaels and VH1's Tool Academy.)  Anyways, this was our first chance to go out on a date since we got engaged, which I consider to be kind of a big thing, I don't know -- maybe I'm crazy, and really Brandon and I had never gone on a nice romantic date... unless you consider Cracker Barrel romantic.  Anyways, Brandon agreed that we could go out to a nice dinner -- so I picked the restaurant (Melting Pot) and I made the reservations.  

I wanted to do something over the top for Brandon.  It has been a crazy few weeks with work, our part-time jobs, getting engaged and everything and we will continue to have a crazy few weeks with more work and the President's Circle Dinner (a charity dinner we have this weekend), the Praxis, engagement parties, and Rolling Rock (I think our lives begin to settle down around June.  Ugh!).  Brandon's friend, Kyle, contacted me because he is being shipped to Missouri in two weeks where he will be for 6-8 months of intense training before heading to Afghanistan in the winter.  We agreed that he and Brandon needed to get together and I knew the perfect weekend -- our anniversary weekend.  I knew if I pulled this off, I wouldn't even have to get Brandon a present :) All week, I told Brandon that he better not be hungover for our big dinner on Sunday.  He promised and swore up and down that it wasn't even possible since we were going to NJ and he was not going to drive home hungover.  I kept warning him anyways.  In case you were wondering, I was able to pull it off and Brandon was incredibly surprised, but I ended up getting him presents anyways... The Show 2010 (I know, I regret that decision already) and some cigars too.

The boys had a wonderful time together and stayed up incredibly late on Saturday drinking and laughing into the wee hours of the morning.  Brandon, of course, broke his promise not to be hungover for our oh-so-romantic anniversary dinner.  So we were at dinner and I let Brandon pick the first course -- the cheese fondue.  He picked the Mexican cheese (not what I would have picked if I were hungover, but it was our anniversary, not my anniversary so he got to choose).  Idiot.  The waitress was mixing together the cheese and the salsa and if we were hungover we definitely would have gotten sick at the table because with the chunks of peppers, chilies, cheese and tomatoes I am sure you can guess what it looked like...  Oh wait, Brandon was hungover.  Don't worry, he didn't get sick at the table (thank God).  He got sick in the bathroom.  However, upon he return he was a brand new man.   Thank you Pepto Bismol for salvaging what you could of our anniversary dinner.

The rest of our meal was excellent.  We laughed and talked about how wonderful the last two years had been... Ok, I talked about how wonderful the last two years had been and we did very little laughing because Brandon was still struggling a little bit, but by the end, I think he was almost human... almost being the operative word there.  So here's to another year of being crazy-in-love and not killing each other.  Here's also to hoping that in the next year of our relationship I get a superb Valentine's Day and that Brandon isn't hungover on our anniversary... Well, at least I have a pretty decent shot at him not being hungover on our anniversary next year considering it's on a Tuesday...

Hey, you guys want to see my basement office?

So my friend Katie has bravely agreed to go with me to meet with the wedding reception DJ (Vinny) from Good Vibrations DJ service.  Why am I not taking Brandon? It has not been three months since we got engaged... duh.  Haven't you been paying attention?  I'm not allowed to talk wedding or do anything wedding related with Brandon for another 2 months.  He didn't even want to talk about engagement parties with me and I know for a fact, that he enjoys parties!  Besides, he has made his rules about music perfectly clear so I know what is and is not allowed.

Anyways, I have been emailing with DJ Vinny and have decided that we're friends.  Anyone who I email more than once a day to make plans with (on a weekend no less) is clearly a friend.  He, obviously, does not know this yet as we haven't even met, but that's okay.  He will know of our blossoming friendship in due time.  He has arranged a meeting time for next week.  I am pretty excited about it, except for one thing... it's in his "home office".

For some reason when he asked if we wanted to meet with him in his "home office" I immediately pictured the basement studio from Full House.  If you are not familiar with this location -- don't worry.  I have done some extensive research in order to find visuals to help you understand what I am picturing as Vinny's home office.  I'd like to thank YouTube and screen shot for allowing me to share my vision with everyone.

 

Obviously, where Michelle and Uncle Jesse are standing would be big plush chairs and perhaps a coffee table.

Seriously though, that is what I envision when I think of Vinny's home office -- which may or may not be in his basement.  I assume it's in the basement because that's where Uncle Jesse had his home office...  Anyways, even if it ("it" being the home office situation) is kinda weird, I am pretty excited for the meeting.  I am going to put the deposit down to make sure my new friend isn't flakey :) and let him know what ideas Brandon and I have come up with and hear a little bit about what he does and how he can accommodate us.  I know he has a pretty decent amount of country music and I am excited to see what kind of oldies he has... can't have a wedding without the oldies.

I am excited to take Katie along because she has the tendency to ask the important questions that need to asked like "what happens if you are sick? what is the back up plan?" when I am too busy asking all the questions I think are critically important like "what is the most embarrassing thing you have ever seen happen at a wedding?" or "how bad was the most drunk bride you have ever seen?"  Anyways, I think this will end up being a really wonderful partnership between me and Vin.  I mean, if he is anything like I am picturing him (based on the tone of his emails and his picture on the Good Vibrations website -- which I highly recommend everyone check out, he looks like a total guido) than I am going to his new biggest fan.  I am crossing my fingers that on my wedding day he asks for a Jagerbomb from the DJ booth to go with his protein shake.... I'm not quite sure why my wedding has a DJ booth instead of a little area like most weddings have or why I am picturing a European Discoteca as the dance floor at the reception instead of the dance floor at the Knights of Columbus.  Oh well... I definitely need to stop thinking so much.

Re: So We Can't Have Ice Cream Cake...

Last night as we were laying in bed talking about our days, I told Brandon about yesterday's blog post.  He was seriously offended.  He was not offended because anything I had said was wrong and he was not offended because I had upset him by what I had posted about.  No, Ladies and Gentleman, Brandon was offended because he would also want to have hamburgers and hotdogs at our wedding reception -- not just chicken fingers.  What was I thinking? Of course he would want burgers and dogs...

So We Can't Have Ice Cream Cake...

If my wonderful fiance Brandon were in charge of planning our wedding and reception this is how it would go: Kegs and Eggs for breakfast followed by a quick church service (without the full mass), no posed and horrible pictures following the service, and we would celebrate our marriage with a 10 hour wedding reception with open bar and wiffleball.  He would be the DJ and he would serve pigs in a blanket, his mom's cole slaw, corn on the cob, chicken fingers and ice cream cake.  In case you're wondering, I have had two nightmares in which this is how my wedding day actually went down.

Brandon and I have had what I like to call the "Great Ice Cream Cake Debate" on numerous occasions.  Usually it goes a little something like this:
Me: Babe, I really want to sit down and find a wedding cake bakery.  I want to find a couple places we like so that we can set up tastings which is something you might enjoy.
Brandon: I said three months without wedding talk-- you never listen, besides I don't see why we can't have an ice cream cake for our wedding cake. I know I enjoy those.
Me: Because you just don't do that, wedding cakes aren't made from ice cream babe.
Brandon: But I like ice cream cake and I want ice cream cake.
Me: You sound like a three year old. We can't have an ice cream cake for our wedding cake.  You just don't do that.  Stop being so difficult.
Brandon: Then I'm not eating any cake
Me: Whatever. Fine -- don't eat the cake. 
Brandon: You're not supposed to give up to easily.
Me: I'm letting you have pigs in a blanket, you're not getting ice cream cake.
Brandon: Fine -- but I'm not eating any of your stupid cake.

Ladies and Gentleman -- welcome to my life.

So without Brandon by my side, I began searching for a bakery with good prices and good options for flavors and fillings and I found it!  This whole wedding thing is not nearly as hard as everyone makes it out to be... So I called Brandon into the room to show him the website.  He does not even notice the wedding cakes -- first thing he notices: bar-b-q pork foot long $6.75.  The bakery has a deli section and a lovely assortment of cold cuts.  Talk about making my life easier! What's that, the bakery also sells coffee?  You mean, I can take Brandon there and feed him while I talk wedding?!?  It's like the clouds parted, the rays of sunshine came out and God said "Let this wedding be easy."

As for the ice cream cake... it looks like this little girl will be partaking in one of her favorite southern wedding traditions, the grooms cake.  Traditionally the grooms cake is displayed next to the wedding cake, but this is a tradition we are going to have to pass up since the last thing I want is Brandon's freaking ice cream cake all over the place.  Grooms cakes are traditionally very unique and come in crazy shapes and sizes (think Ace of Cakes) -- "yes, Carvel? I'll take the lil' square ice cream cake with the word "suckerrrr" written on it. Yes, I need four "r"s at the end there. No, it's "sucker-r-r-r".  Awesome, thank you so much."

So I gave in. I caved. I folded my hand. Say it however you want.  I have a soft spot for that little boy and I want to make him happy and if an ice cream cake on our wedding day is going to make Brandon happy and smile extra wide in our wedding pictures, then an ice cream cake he shall get... in his face during the sharing of the first bite :)

A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words

Finding a photographer has been something that kind of scares me.  I mean, this person is going to be taking pictures of me at my best and at my worst throughout the course of one of the most important days of my life that a lot of people are going to see (and judge) and that I am going to have to live with for the rest of my life and see probably every day until the end of time.  NBD.

Theknot.com has proven to be a pretty legit source of vendors, so of course I went back there to look for a photographer.  There are over 60 different photographers in the greater DC Metro area listed on theknot.com website... great.  This shouldn't be too difficult.  So now how do I pick from all of these different vendors? I will tell you how... price.  I do not see the point in getting stressed out over funds and feeling like I have to put my kidneys up for sale on the black market to pay for a photographer.  Especially considering the fact that at the rate I am going, I am definitely going to need both kidneys when I am a little old lady.

So once I narrowed down the search it became a little less stressful and a lot more fun.  I loved going to the different websites and looking at the portfolios of the different photographers... not so much because of the photographers (don't get me wrong, my mission was to find someone whose work I loved and respected), but because I got to be a judgmental little girl about other people's weddings.  (Some girls do arts and crafts, I judge.)  I love the pictures of the loyal bridesmaids smiling proudly in the horrible dresses that the mean bride made her poor friends wear.  I love the terribly cliche pictures of the newlyweds where the husband's smile says he is happy and in love, but where his eyes are screaming "I did not agree to this posed picture".  I love the pictures of the bridal party where the bridesmaids are obviously fed up with bridezilla but she is glowing while holding her bouquet so proudly.  I love the especially staged pictures of the groomsmen with their jackets over their shoulders and they are strutting down the street and the one on the end looks especially out of place.  I love the pictures of the bride with her family and the sister(s) has a look on her face that says she thinks she should be getting married first.  I love the pictures of the adorable flower girl laughing and lifting her dress over her head with her mother in the background with a look of absolute horror on her face.  God I love wedding pictures... God I dread wedding pictures.

After going through the pictures it seems as though I have found the one: my real true photographer love.  His name is Ruben.  Ruben was able to work with one of the most terribly unfortunate brides I have ever seen (it's ok, you can call me an ice princess) and take some truly wonderful pictures of her on her wedding day.  His work is stunning and he is available on my wedding day.  (I know, I would hope so too considering my wedding is 19 months out -- but get this, he has a wedding scheduled for August 2011 AND New Year's Eve 2011 into 2012 - turns out I am not nearly as crazy as everyone thinks... SO THERE!)

So here is to my photographer, may he take only wonderful pictures on my special day where everyone is happy and seemingly sober.... yea freaking right.