we tv wedding sunday freakout

So my current wedding planning project is working on the decorations and set-up of the reception. I am not sure why this is weighing me down right now; however, I am pretty sure that I can place total blame on David Tutera and Four Weddings and really WE tv wedding Sundays as a whole. This is consuming me so much so that I have set up a meeting with the reception venue so that Brandon and I can go see it again (tonight) and take measurements and try to visualize how things will be set up. Yes, I am aware that it is January. You can stop judging me whenever you want… but seriously, now would be nice.

I have a rather large wedding party and that didn’t really occur to me until, well, last night. It wouldn’t really make sense to have the entire wedding party sitting at a head table that’s like 20 feet long – that seems crazy and excessive. So I asked Danielle what she was doing because her wedding and mine are comparable in size. I had choices; I could suck it up and have everyone sit at the head table even if it looked ridiculous. I could have a sweetheart table and have all of the bridal party at two tables (yes, two tables) on either side of the sweetheart table (groomsmen at the table next to his parents; bridesmaids at the table next to my parents). Or, I could do option three which the little genius Danielle is doing. I could say screw it and let my bridal party sit with people they know and have a sweetheart table. This lets the bridal party be happy with who they are sitting with and let’s me save money. How? By doubling the bridesmaids’ bouquets as centerpieces. The bridesmaids’ flowers will need water anyways, so why not have them keep their flowers safe while simultaneously serving a purpose. This also gives the reception décor a little bit more depth because there will be more variety in centerpieces. I will have some candles, some regular centerpieces and some bridesmaids’ bouquet centerpieces. Danielle – you are a lifesaver!

So now that I have that figured out, I am excited to go to this meeting tonight and get a better grasp of the venue. I know it’s only January and I will probably save this one hundred more times, but I think things are really starting to fall into place. It’s starting to really sink in, we are in the year of the wedding. I am getting married. I am going to be a WIFE. Now if I can shake the dream where all of my guests RSVP that they aren’t coming, things will be perfect. When I told Brandon about this dream (you know, the one where all the guests RSVP NO), he said to me “you shouldn’t worry about anyone else being there. You should only worry about me showing up.” Thanks Brandon, now I will have nightmares about being stood up at the altar… however, I guess it won’t be that embarrassing since all of my guests have other plans...

To have and to hold, and to take a vacation

For a long while, Brandon and I did not think we were going to be able to take a honeymoon. He is extremely dedicated to his students and knows that they need consistency and support from him, since many of them cannot find that support and consistency at home. However, Brandon is a wonderful, caring, compassionate man and he knows that I am needy and that I have been planning my wedding/honeymoon since the moment that I knew what a wedding and a honeymoon even are. So while he shot down the Caribbean cruise or All-Inclusive resort stay due to excessive costs and the fact that we want to buy a home soon after the wedding, he did say that we could plan a vacation to take place after the honeymoon. I will take it.

At first he had suggested we go to Ocean City. It’s close and it’s cheap. Not thrilled with the idea of Ocean City, I agreed because well, I was thrilled with the idea of a honeymoon after almost a year of thinking it was not in the cards. After more thought, I decided to look into finding a better honeymoon location than Ocean City. I want something near the beach, something cozy and something affordable. Michelle suggested that I look into B&Bs along the Eastern Shore. I looked in Ocean City, Rehoboth, Bethany, Dewey, VA Beach, etc. Finally, I found the one. Miss Molly’s Inn Bed & Breakfast in Chincoteague, Virginia.  http://missmollys-inn.com/

So today I called them to see what the rate would be, how far in advance they suggest we book and what the deposit would be. I spoke with the most wonderful English woman, ever. She was so kind and so sweet. Apparently, they did not even need a deposit, just my credit card number to hold the room. Perfect. When she asked for the name of the reservation she said, “Ok love, and what will your married name be – because when we get to meet you, it will be your name.” I cried, not the sad weepy kind of cry but that holy crap, I am getting married cry. I gave her our information and she wished us a million congratulations. Then I got the email confirmation address to “the future Mrs. Wilkinson.” Eek! I am getting married! :)

a new endeavor?

As everyone knows, I love planning my wedding... like a lot.  In recent months, it has come to my attention, that enjoying wedding planning as much as I do is not actually normal.  (Or so I am told.)  The same people who told me that my love for wedding planning is not normal,  have also told me in recent months that I should look into event planning and wedding planning as a side business.  I was told that not only I would be incredibly good at it, but also, that down the road, maybe I wouldn't have to work in the 9-5 business world and I can be a stay-at-home mother/wedding planner extraordinaire.  Clearly at this stage in my life, the wedding planner extraordinaire is much more appealing than the stay-at-home mother aspect of this.  This idea has been pushed on me so much to the point that many of my Christmas presents from my older sister, future brother-in-law and fiance were event planning books and wedding planning books and if that didn't drop a big enough hint, small business start-up books. Hmm -- I guess I should take that hint.

So in the next year, I am going to look into this a bit more.  I have already started some research into it and I like what I see.  I found a local place where I can get certification without spending an arm and a leg and putting a kidney up on the black market.  I mean, I am planning my wedding and I have the honor and privilege to plan Michelle and TJ's wedding.  TJ has also asked me if I would be willing to plan their house warming/engagement party.  If that goes well, maybe I could be planning other weddings and big events soon.  I really enjoyed planning a luncheon for the donor team for Dr. Levy and I do love the whole wedding planning thing and it is something that I would love to do for a living.  I already recommend my florist, my bakery and my photographer to everyone I meet, so I might as well do that professionally.  Brandon already has wonderful ideas for my own little home office (isn't he wonderful) and so this could become something, something wonderful and unexpected.

So here's to trying something new and being brave enough to give it a shot... and hopefully to this something new becoming something very prosperous :)

New Year. Big Move.

So as many of you know, my parents moved to Florida in December.  It's been an interesting thing for me.  I am not sure it has even really hit me yet.  I think with all the chaos and unpacking (yes, still unpacking) and boxes there hasn't been time for it to really hit me yet.  I have no doubt that as soon as things settle down and we are back to normal life, things will hit me.  I am not sure how I never addressed this in the blog... oh wait, yes I do.  I was very lazy about posting.  Right.  How did I forget!  So instead of blogging more about my feelings and about them leaving, I have decided to cheat and just show pictures of their going away party :)

 the sign i made for them :) 

jane, liz, patty, margaret and tommy

michelle & margot

patty & jimbo

daddy & his boys

greg, pat, tj, brandon

dad, liz & pargo :)

that, ladies and gentlemen, is the budweiser two-step

dad & shirley

typical liz -- thanks for waiting...

teresa, brandon, greg, me, aunt maggie, liz, jeanette, dad and kern

 teresa, daddy and aunt maggie

(yes, I am a suck up)
mommy & me

So they're gone.  It's weird.  But I think it's good, I think it was time.

I am channeling my inner Liz :)

I will start this post by saying that my mother is the most creative/clever person that I know.  I cannot count the number of times that I have heard my father say "very clever Elizabeth!"  The woman can take nothing and turn it into the most wonderful craft project.  I have decided that it is about time that I channel my mother and make her proud.  In  the past week or so, I have been thinking of all of the little wedding details that I can take care of early -- things that I don't want to run around doing at 9:00 the night before the wedding, things my mother would take care of early and everyone would "oooh" and "aaahh" over.  One of the things that came to mind is the lay out of place cards.  I mean, yea I can put the cards in alphabetical order by last name and people can grab their name card off the table and it could say their table name on it, but that's not cute.  There is nothing creative or exciting or unique or Liz Trotter approved about that.  So I decided to channel my mother and take on a little craft project with the help of my wonderful future hubby :)

Brandon and I took a 3x2 cork board, covered it in a wonderful brown fabric and made thumbtacks (aka buttons that I covered in fabric, with nice little cardboard circles glued on the inside of the back of the button and thumbtacks glued to the cardboard to make button thumbtacks) to match the fabric of the cork board -- and our fabulous wedding theme :)  ...ok, I guess we don't really have a wedding theme, so much as wedding colors, so the material matches our fabulous wedding colors.  It wasn't really that difficult, it was actually pretty simple and quite fun to do together.  On a side note, I have been really hard on Brandon about wedding projects and wedding things in general.  I have felt pretty alone on them and like he didn't really care about any of the details and things that needed to be done.  It didn't occur to me that Brandon had absolutely no idea what really goes into wedding planning but after a discussion about it, it was nice to see Brandon involved in the wedding stuff with me.  I was really happy with the final result of our first craft project and with Brandon's involvement in general.  He really is something wonderful :)

this is the material I used to make the pins

I covered this little thing with fabric circle cutouts

then I put the button in there and folded the edges and put the back on it

...almost done...

and it made buttons :)

...and then there were twenty-eight

so that's what they look like with the pins in them :)

and that's how they will look when pinned to the board! :)

So now that it is done, I feel really good, really accomplished.  I am going to try to think of all the other little details that could be spruced up a little bit and do my best to make sure things that could be turned into simple projects don't get overlooked (especially since I have some of that great fabric left over!).  I am also really proud of Brandon and how attentive he was and how helpful he was and how enthusiastic he was... and he is really amazing :) And I need to stop drinking wine... it's making me sappy and sentimental. 

We're in the year of the wedding!

Well what would New Years be without a post about resolutions and being better people.  This is not a blog for said post.  I mean come on, we are in the year of the wedding.  And not just my wedding either.  This is a big year for weddings.  Danielle is getting married in May(!), I am getting married in September (eek!), and Rona is getting married in October.  Also getting married this year are Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert, several girls I went to college with (Lindsey, Kaylin, Jill and Shelbie) and a couple girls I went to high school with (Alli and Leah).  Like I said -- this is the year of the wedding.

That being said, I will have you know that theknot.com says that there are 252 days until the wedding and 116 things to do.  Between now and March, I am supposed to finalize a decision about bridesmaid dresses (which means I need to sit down with my seven bridesmaids -- seven?!? how did that happen?!? when did that happen?!? Oh well, I can't help that I love the wonderful ladies in my life) and pick out dresses.  (This will then determine the final line up of bridesmaids and therefore, the order of the program.  I need to have some kind of organization and symmetry to things!)  I also need to stalk the priest and find out what other things we need to do because there is no way we are getting off that easy.  I also need to figure out ceremony music and finalize a menu for the reception... oh wait, I already have that done!  So to recap: bridesmaids dresses, priest stalking and ceremony music.  Not to shabby!

So my new years resolutions (what?  You didn't really expect to get out of a New Year blog post without hearing them did you?) is to be a better friend.  I have a ton of really wonderful people in my life and I don't do nearly enough with them... I think having lunch with Hadley, Sarah and Carrie reminding me of that fact.  I am also going to make a very honest effort to blog more frequently.  I mean, there is a lot going on in life and this is going to be a very big year and I think my adoring fans want to hear about it :)