My weekend
Sep. 27th, 2010 07:47 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
spritechan
My weekend was really, really fun. Steve's (and everyone else's) hours have been cut, so he was able to score this weekend and next weekend off (SQUEEEEE). So much time together yes.
We went shopping on Friday for the last few things for Spoogie's wedding and my family pictures. We were able to find me EXACTLY what I was looking for - a plain white hoodie (ON SALE FOR $15), a black t-shirt, a black polo, and a certain shade of blue t-shirt. All at least 50% off at JCPenney's. God I love that store when they do end-of-season sales. We also found him a pair of NICE slacks for $20 (almost 50% off). I bought him a pair of dress shoes, which he was happier than he expected with because they looked GOOD with his outfit. I also bought him dun dun dun a DSi XL, which we both agreed we would purchase before winter. They dropped $20 in price, from $189 to $169. I will purchase myself one in two weeks when I get paid next. It's not as urgent for me because the handheld game I'm playing at the moment is the GBC game Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons, which cannot play in a DS. Steve though, just finished the third Professor Layton game and FINALLY started Luminous Arc! OMG I love that game~! It looks SO PRETTY on the DSi XL's screen. I miss it!!!! We had a lot of fun, as we always do, when spending time together at the mall. It's just a good time.
Saturday we went to Spoogie's wedding. It was an incredibly small ceremony, only about 40 people there, and other than the bridal party's dress and the actual ceremony, not very formal. The reception was in the GYM of the church, and no alcohol was allowed. It was really sad because I had made a joke earlier about having the reception in a high school gym D: Steve and I spent the entire ceremony and reception discussing what we will do differently, and how we want to go about the wedding. Steve says it has to be lighthearted, and we agreed to not have any "God" or "jesus" in our ceremony. It's just not fitting. I also got to listen to the hilarious commentary by Nick's mom during the ceremony and reception - Nick and his sister were both in the wedding, and Nick's parents were the only people we knew. It was great. I had to leave at 3:45pm to drive out to Shakopee to take my family pictures. For the first time we decided to have them outside, and with a non-professional photographer - my parents hired the mom of some kid August and Paul know (Paul coaches football and my parents are very involved in August's baseball stuff too). It was actually really, really fun. We wandered around the paths of the Minnesota River (until of course we reached the flooding) looking for good places to take pictures. We took some while precariously perched over the river on trees, climbed in and around things, dodged mud (though August and I separately fell victim to one sneaky patch of mud), and all around were just silly. Bethany and I made jokes, and Tony was there too with Cayden so it was ALWAYS funny. Tony wouldn't take any pictures because he "needed a hair cut" XD Just like Tony. My only complaint is that she didn't give us any direction, so we don't know if we were double-chinning or having fat rolls hang out or posing stupid or anything. But it was a lot of fun, minus being eaten alive by the mosquitos.
Then I went back home and Steve and I slept from 8pm to 1am to try to fix our sleep schedule for tonight. I'd say we were pretty successful. It was a wonderful sleep regardless. Then we had 12 whole hours to hang out! We watched some more Lost special features - it takes a couple hours just to watch ONE SEASON'S worth of them! We also played games, cleaned up, and made our bentos. This week we weighed in pretty well and obviously gained over the weekend at the eating out and stuff, but still decent. I made my bento significantly smaller than I have, because I realized that I shouldn't be eating as much as he does! I don't NEED that amount of food; I just WANT it because I love food.
I switched up my theme in honor of Lost. I like it, but I still gotta find time to tweak my layout overall, because I'm not happy being unable to see individual entries' icons! Catching up on everyone's stuff after being gone over the weekend is very time-consuming, which makes me thankful that I have the time to do that while here at work. It just cuts down on my Japanese study time/homework time, which is a little sad, but I can always do hw or study. I'm really invested in my current friendships and don't want to miss out. Speaking of which, I also got to talk to Suzi for two whole hours! It was a great time. We haven't been able to speak on the phone in a looooong time. It was very nice, and an informative conversation on both sides :D It's like when we haven't been able to talk monthly, we forget things or just don't learn them in passing as much as we used to, so it was great to get to pick that up again!
We went shopping on Friday for the last few things for Spoogie's wedding and my family pictures. We were able to find me EXACTLY what I was looking for - a plain white hoodie (ON SALE FOR $15), a black t-shirt, a black polo, and a certain shade of blue t-shirt. All at least 50% off at JCPenney's. God I love that store when they do end-of-season sales. We also found him a pair of NICE slacks for $20 (almost 50% off). I bought him a pair of dress shoes, which he was happier than he expected with because they looked GOOD with his outfit. I also bought him dun dun dun a DSi XL, which we both agreed we would purchase before winter. They dropped $20 in price, from $189 to $169. I will purchase myself one in two weeks when I get paid next. It's not as urgent for me because the handheld game I'm playing at the moment is the GBC game Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons, which cannot play in a DS. Steve though, just finished the third Professor Layton game and FINALLY started Luminous Arc! OMG I love that game~! It looks SO PRETTY on the DSi XL's screen. I miss it!!!! We had a lot of fun, as we always do, when spending time together at the mall. It's just a good time.
Saturday we went to Spoogie's wedding. It was an incredibly small ceremony, only about 40 people there, and other than the bridal party's dress and the actual ceremony, not very formal. The reception was in the GYM of the church, and no alcohol was allowed. It was really sad because I had made a joke earlier about having the reception in a high school gym D: Steve and I spent the entire ceremony and reception discussing what we will do differently, and how we want to go about the wedding. Steve says it has to be lighthearted, and we agreed to not have any "God" or "jesus" in our ceremony. It's just not fitting. I also got to listen to the hilarious commentary by Nick's mom during the ceremony and reception - Nick and his sister were both in the wedding, and Nick's parents were the only people we knew. It was great. I had to leave at 3:45pm to drive out to Shakopee to take my family pictures. For the first time we decided to have them outside, and with a non-professional photographer - my parents hired the mom of some kid August and Paul know (Paul coaches football and my parents are very involved in August's baseball stuff too). It was actually really, really fun. We wandered around the paths of the Minnesota River (until of course we reached the flooding) looking for good places to take pictures. We took some while precariously perched over the river on trees, climbed in and around things, dodged mud (though August and I separately fell victim to one sneaky patch of mud), and all around were just silly. Bethany and I made jokes, and Tony was there too with Cayden so it was ALWAYS funny. Tony wouldn't take any pictures because he "needed a hair cut" XD Just like Tony. My only complaint is that she didn't give us any direction, so we don't know if we were double-chinning or having fat rolls hang out or posing stupid or anything. But it was a lot of fun, minus being eaten alive by the mosquitos.
Then I went back home and Steve and I slept from 8pm to 1am to try to fix our sleep schedule for tonight. I'd say we were pretty successful. It was a wonderful sleep regardless. Then we had 12 whole hours to hang out! We watched some more Lost special features - it takes a couple hours just to watch ONE SEASON'S worth of them! We also played games, cleaned up, and made our bentos. This week we weighed in pretty well and obviously gained over the weekend at the eating out and stuff, but still decent. I made my bento significantly smaller than I have, because I realized that I shouldn't be eating as much as he does! I don't NEED that amount of food; I just WANT it because I love food.
I switched up my theme in honor of Lost. I like it, but I still gotta find time to tweak my layout overall, because I'm not happy being unable to see individual entries' icons! Catching up on everyone's stuff after being gone over the weekend is very time-consuming, which makes me thankful that I have the time to do that while here at work. It just cuts down on my Japanese study time/homework time, which is a little sad, but I can always do hw or study. I'm really invested in my current friendships and don't want to miss out. Speaking of which, I also got to talk to Suzi for two whole hours! It was a great time. We haven't been able to speak on the phone in a looooong time. It was very nice, and an informative conversation on both sides :D It's like when we haven't been able to talk monthly, we forget things or just don't learn them in passing as much as we used to, so it was great to get to pick that up again!
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no subject
Date: 2010-09-29 06:31 am (UTC)Pick your invitations first is the best advice ever. The invitation encompasses all of the elements of your wedding in one convenient card; theme, colors, mood, etc. It really gives you a solid base to work with. I wouldn't bother with RSVP cards in this day and age unless someone is paying for them; no one ever RSVPs anymore. Some people even have wedding web sites and do it that way.
I totally want to be a wedding planner when I'm old and have nothing better to do.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-29 09:54 am (UTC)I remember looking at wedding pics when I first added you. If you don't mind me asking, how much was your wedding? And what did you do - where did you hold the ceremony/reception, anything special for centerpieces or little gifts for guests? What about food/bar? I'm super curious!
no subject
Date: 2010-09-29 07:59 pm (UTC)The reception is the bulk of the money. I saved about 15% on the total cost by having my wedding on a Friday. Saturdays between late April and mid June are prime time and you will pay the most. If you're willing to have your wedding on a Friday or a Sunday during the fall or winter, you'll save. I personally feel mid autumn is a fantastic time to get married, but that's just my opinion.
I had an outdoor wedding. It was set in an English style garden and we were married by an ordained non-denominational minister. Our reception and wedding venue were in the same place, which saved time and money (we didn't need a limo), since people could just walk to the party.
I had hydrangea and wild flowers in various shades of blue and purple with a tall white candle set in the middle for center pieces. I made them myself so I only had to pay for the flowers. I didn't do favors because they're a waste of money. No one ever takes them home and if they do, they end up in a junk drawer or in the back of a closet.
For food... Cocktail hour: crab-stuffed mushrooms, roasted pepper rolls with herbed cheese, crostini with white beans and basil-roasted shrimp. Not that I got to eat any of it... it took an eternity to put up my train.
For appetizers: caprese salad skewers, assorted Italian dinner rolls with olive oil dipping sauce.
For the main: zucchini and goat cheese stuffed chicken breast with white wine sauce. roasted beef tenderloin with ham provolone and mushroom sauce and rack of lamb
For desert: the cake, obviously. It was a standard white cake with strawberry and cream filling and was iced with butter cream and stacked 4 tiers high, topped with fresh flowers.There was also fresh fruit salad with mint sugar, a chocolate fountain, agua fresca (which is like a light fruit punch) coffee and tea.
I had an open bar all night. I don't recommend doing that. It cost me a lot of money. I would have a free cocktail hour and a pay bar for the rest of the reception. You also might want to factor in your rehearsal dinner if a family member isn't paying for it when you consider the food budget. I spared no expense with the food because it was one of the most important things to me.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-29 08:25 pm (UTC)Anyhow, I had a traditional ballroom style wedding gown. It was a Maggie Sottero. It was a very romantic dress made from taffeta and lace with a chapel length train and sweet heart neck line. It also wasn't pure white. It was slightly off white to give a more realistic period fabric appearance. Your style may diverge greatly from mine, but in general, the more complex the dress the more alterations will cost. I'm short and I had a dress that required a diagram to lace and bussel. Needless to say, the alterations were extensive. I spent $444 on alterations on top of the $1281 I spent on the dress. I got a wicked good deal, too. The dress I picked was normally $2800 but I pulled the 30% off rose on Valentines day during a major trunk show sale (all the dresses were an additional 15% off). Oh, that reminds me. Order your dress early! It takes at least 5 to 6 months for the average dress to come in unless you're really lucky.
My brides maid dresses where tea length chiffon in a deep navy. Most of my girls wore various silver shoes. I was pretty lenient about that. As long as they were wearing the same dress I didn't care, so long as it was appropriate. I OKed everything 3 months before the wedding. Speaking of which, that can be a delicate subject. Traditionally, when you say yes to being in a bridal party, you are also saying yes to whatever the bride wants. That means you pay for all of your stuff. I didn't do that to my bridesmaids. I bought their dresses for them and also hired a beautician to do their hair and make up to their liking. Times are a changin' and few friends are so close that they're willing to spend that much money for a single day to see you get married. Be flexible and fair.
I think I got all of your questions. If not, ask away.
no subject
Date: 2010-10-01 12:55 pm (UTC)That food sounds AMAZING. SO good. I love great food and it's also a very important aspect to my wedding. The only reason I like an open bar is because I've noticed at weddings that charge or have "tickets" or anything, that people appear to have less fun, or in the case of my uncle's wedding a year ago (he's 25) NO ONE danced. Except maybe the bride and children. It was quite dull.
Having a Friday wedding sounds like a good idea. It's reasonable, and all our of family mostly lives here in MN so travelling would be a maximum of 4 hours for the few people living on the outskirts of the state. We'll likely get married indoors as the weather here is too unpredictable D: In my experience outdoor weddings in MN suck hardcore. And I'm short too and have a unique body shape, so I'm probs gonna need lots of alterations too :P
I think I'd have 4? Bridesmaids. At least 3 anyway. I'd probably buy their stuff too, just because I would feel it's right since they probably will never wear it again even if I buy the coveted "bridesmaids dress you can actually where to other functions."