Late Night

I am still at work and it looks like I am stuck for the near future, yuck!! A late night on a Friday is always depressing. I just want to relax and start my weekend but why not take the opportunity to blog.

This week was a very busy one. I managed to get a lot of work done on the wedding. Here is the recap.

I was able to weasel my way into starting the catering process much earlier than normal. The Monona Terrace doesn't typically assign a catering sales person until 3 months prior to the wedding but I got one now. I am super happy because when you commit 50% of your budget and have to wait until 3 months before to find out that you don't have enough money is not a good thing. I was worried (as always) because I began to look over the menu and figure out the cost per person and got uber overwhelmed by all the little fees and restrictions and such. I spent quite awhile looking it over and came up with a mild estimate. Which I thought was high and so I needed some advice from a catering person. I emailed Sue and over the course of three days she got herself assigned to our wedding and we scheduled a phone conference. Throughout our conversation I got some good ideas and we came up with a preliminary cost per person. I have to admit that we were 3 dollars apart in our estimate with me being over estimated. I guess I am REALLY good with catering menus. Who knew certainly not I. A bonus is Sue will be at the tasting on March 14th so Dan and I get to meet her in person. That should be so helpful.

In addition to the catering I contacted a honeymoon travel specialist. Also Dan and I have chosen the location at least tentatively. We want to spend our first vacation tramping (hiking) through the New Zealand countryside. To all who voted on our honeymoon poll thanks for voting the most for our 1st choice. I say tentatively chosen because we have to consider cost and travel distance for our honeymoon. New Zealand flights are not only long (24hrs +) but super expensive. So if the cost is too high we will have to choose another location. I think the back-up locale is Hawai'i but I don't really want to stay in the US. I have had a passport for two- three years and have not traveled abroad yet. Its about time to get a stamp. One great surprise about New Zealand is that our travel agent Lori went there for her honeymoon. She should have some great ideas and recommendations. I am going to be cautious that Dan and I still make the trip our own. Lets be honest we aren't the greatest trampers (thats hiking in New Zealandish).
And for those of you who are Flight of the Conchords fans, Dan and I will be making lots of references to the show. Those who don't know the show I demand you go watch it. It is super funny and who doesn't love a New Zealand accent.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3371/3286889124_ff2c9d8943.jpg

Check out the pic. New Zealand rocks!!!!!! Best travel advertisement ever.

With the help of my mom we got information on the hotel blocks. It turns out that the Hilton and Sheraton (owed by the same company) are not very negotiable. Unfortunately you can't beat having the hotel connected to the Monona Terrace, super convenient. So we will have to figure out if we want to block some rooms or have our guests (you all) chose the hotel that fits your wallet and likes. Of course we will have all the information here when we decide for sure. Oh and we will be sending our Save - the -dates soon. So the info will be there too.

Dan got a call back from the florist. Not much information was gotten except that we most likely can't get local flowers no matter what they are. It seems WI winters are too harsh to spend the energy to run a greenhouse during the winter. I'm probably still gonna stick with roses but perhaps mix in something else to give some variety. We will see if we get more info from this florist otherwise we will shop around. I really don't care much who does the flowers cuz they would be beautiful just stuck in a plain vase. Can't go wrong with fresh flowers.

Anyway gotta get going a time point calls me. Have a great night and weekend if I don't get back here this weekend. I'm going to try and do some planning but after tonight I might just sleep all day tom. :)

Almost forgot!

1. Done but had to leave a message.  I called during business hours too :(
2. Done, and lots of replies! thanks!
3. Ummmmmmmmm yeah I didn't really do this, but I think I may have some ideas now, so I will count it done hehe
4. Almost forgot but I'm here aren't I?

<3 -Dan

more to do tomorrow!

Many years ahead of us

In all this wedding planning, it is easy to forget that the more important thing is the commitment we are celebrating.  We have many years ahead of us to spend together.  Visiting my grandparents this last weekend helped me remember that.  Congrats on their 60th anniversary!!! They still seem so happy after all these years.  They live life with such a good energy and good humor.  You can really tell that they found the perfect person to balance each other out.  At dinner on Sunday they said that that the key to it is to have a sense of humor.  I'm trying to keep one, and keep Jeni laughing, but wedding planning comes with loads of stress.  To manage that stress, I have to get organized.

I've got a todo list for tomorrow:

1. Call the florist / greenhouse
2. Solicit a bunch of addresses from people
3. Figure out how I am going to make the save the dates
4. Check back in here on the block to update how I did.  Yell at me in the comments if you don't get an update from me tomorrow.  Someone has to hold me accountable, I figure the best way is to tell the public, hehe.

I am also going to try to make smaller updates more frequently with these sorts of todo lists and updates.  I've been lazy with posting recently.  Thanks for reading !!

Maintaining Balance

I feel a little like my body has become a fulcrum (support at which a lever pivots) in which my arms extend outward trying to hold up all my to dos and the general laziness that everyone has. Every Monday I feel the same way...where did the weekend go and why is it that I didn't do more planning, chores, or fun? I feel consumed in my need to get things done and while I have always felt this way it is ever so more demanding now. I realize that making priorities and completing them should allow you to do less significant things. So my goal for this week is to get organized and start to cross things off my list while maintaining a little bit of fun. Otherwise Dan might crawl into a hole if I obsess too much.

The other goal I have is to delegate some items. This I have to admit is my WORST quality. I always feel that it is easier to do things myself and so while I am working my butt off other people (Dan!!!) get to have fun. So if Dan and I both do stuff that means I can have a little more free time to do things like watch movies. We have one movie to watch tonight but not until we get some stuff done.

Perhaps after a little more work I can finally let my arms down and enjoy myself. If only I could stop dreaming about the wedding, I tell you it never really ends. :)

Scoreboard...scoreboard!!!

First scoreboard I would like to bring to your attention to is the Grace Methodist Church Pancake Breakfast eat-athon. To Dan's credit he didn't know I was keeping score or planning to out eat him but I did do both. The final count was Dan 2 pancakes and Jeni 3. Sometimes if I put my mind to it I can eat a lot. It could have also helped that Dan didn't know I was challenging him and so he stopped when he was satisfied. All that matters to me is the satisfaction that I beat him. Of course none of this could have been possible without the invite to go to the breakfast by Donna (Dan's mom) and Jay's (Dan's Dad) amazing batter making skills. I still wish I could find out that special ingredient in the batter but Jay is reluctant to tell me. The pancakes were soooooo delicious and I probably could have ate more but didn't really want to embarrass Dan.

For those of you reading this know that this blog details the planning process for Dan and my upcoming nuptials. Well 60 years ago a different Hoeflinger committed himself to the love of his life. Tomorrow marks an anniversary for the ages. Dan's grandparents (Aug and Rose) are celebrating their 60th (!!!!!!!) anniversary. Even though their wedding date was Feb 18th we are celebrating the anniversary tom. To make it to 60 years married is an amazing feat that not many people can reach (I should also say Dan's parents are over 35 years married). All I hope is that Dan and I can learn from them so that our marriage will be just as successful. I have all the confidence that Dan and my marriage will be just as successful.

Well off to bed...goodnight (or good day if you are reading on Sun) blog world.

Tip of the hat...er here's some more money

There is a clever iPhone app that I downloaded awhile ago called Wedding911. It is supposed to be a place where you can ask questions and get answers from other brides. While waiting for Dan at lunch (he was 10 mins late...hehe ratted you out) I took a look to see if any interesting problems were going on. Well I came across this inquiry about tipping vendors for their services. So here is my dilemma, I understand that tipping is a way of thanking someone and showing approval but I don't understand who deserves a tip. This is something I need help on.

So do you need to tip EVERY person who is doing something? I'm kinda confused here. So the catering staff gets tipped. That is fine by me because essentially we are paying for the food and the tip is for the service of the food, right? The bartender is the same deal, paying for alcohol and then tipping him for the service. Now it gets fishy.

For the photographer we are charged a fee for them to take pictures at our wedding. So do they need to be tipped because in my opinion we are paying the fee that they charge which is for their service (taking photos). We are not paying for any tangible objects like the food, in fact no actual pictures are included and are additional cost (unless you count a proof book). So if we are obligated to tip them (I don't want to be perceived at stingy) are we tipping for the deliverance of a service. This doesn't add up to me.

Same for the DJ, florist, officiant (do not understand this at all), and decorator when does it ever end. A tip on top of a fee for a service that they are directly charging us for.

If that wasn't confusing or overwhelming, how much do you tip? If it is the customary 18% (again I'm not that stingy) does that mean that I need to account for a huge chunk of the budget to be tips. 18% is almost a fifth of the fee and for this I demand to know what is obligatory. For those who had a wedding or planned one I need your advice. I'm not just asking to increase comments on this blog but really need help on this one (email me or something). I'm by no means a cheapskate and want to show people I'm grateful for their participation but can't that be said in a thank you note and not by a transfer of even more money.

Its all about the benjamins

Whew is all I can say.

The genius that is my future husband spent last night making our lives so much easier. He made an all encompassing, recalculating and editable (not sure if that's a word) spreadsheet for our budget. Prior to today I was comparing two separate internet budgets which are totally different and don't even included certain things we need. I also had started using two separate spreadsheets to total and keep track of expenses. All this presented so many problems and it was hard to see where money should be spent and what we have already committed to.

So he used his mastery of computer languages (lol excel is hard) and made it just to my specifications. Not only that but he put the budget is on Google documents meaning I can access it from anywhere and he and I can edit it together at the same time. It is really cool to watch him change something in real time. No more emailing countless edited sheets back and forth between us or even computers at work and home.

Next thing on the list is to actually update it as soon as something happens. I am really $ conscious and want to make sure that we don't go over budget and if we do that it is justified. Like the photo booth, right?

For those of you who have planned a wedding or other major expensive event keeping a well sounded budget is key. So I am really happy right now to have this magical spreadsheet to do so much work for me with minimal input. Well minimal work on my part. Dan, you are truly amazing for making this for us.

Hmmm, now where do I list the photo booth, under the mandatory fun-ness column. Perfect!!!

2 years ago...fades into memories

Yesterday was Feb 15th and for most of you it means nothing short of the day after Valentine's Day. We all know that on Feb 14th most woman look forward to the flowers, a romantic meal, or perhaps a present. Something from her special man to say thanks and I love you. Well for me Feb 14th is merely the day before my special day (or this year the last special Feb 15th). Let me explain.

It all happened about 2 years ago. Dan and I decided unanimously that we would define the beginning of our relationship on a sorta random date. See for us we don't really know when we started "dating" we only know that it happened and sometime in Feb sounded like a good plan. So we chose Feb 15th. We did this mostly for the funny story that could be assumed by it being the day after Valentine's Day. Something like... well I (Dan) didn't have anything planned for V-day so I just asked her the day after. Good plan, huh. Worked for us since we didn't really have anything else in mind. We actually didn't see each other that Valentine's weekend but he did send me a text wishing me a Happy Valentine's day but it stuck and two years later it is our anniversary again.

So yesterday was our 2nd anniversary and boy was it a special day for me. *Dan did get me flowers for V-day and we still went out for brunch.* But last night he (YES HE) made me dinner. It started out all fine and dandy. He went shopping for the menu of filet mignon, potatoes and corn. He started out making the potatoes and before any intervention could be done the water and flakes were added. I hear from the kitchen "Jeni, is there any trick to making these potatoes?" I walked over, assessed the situation and calmly said "I'm pretty sure you are not supposed to add the flakes yet." Sure enough the potatoes were as hard as a brick. After the laughter subsided we left and returned to the store to grab some new potatoes.

We got back and I sat down in the living room (not too far away) and waited for him to make dinner. I was very hungry and everything started smelling yummy. After a quick consultation about the searing of the steaks, filet mignon is a very thick cut of meat, I suggested he slice them in half and try cooking them that way. He finished about an hour later with the meal. The filets were delicious and only seasoned with sea salt which I thought was awesome. The potatoes were fluffy and amazing. The corn was corn but was good anyways. You can't really go wrong with corn. Of course I thanked him a hundred times and we both finished all our food. I even went back for some more potatoes.

Hershey bars were the final little touch for dessert, simple but delicious and I love chocolate. :)

All in all a wonderful anniversary and while this is our last Feb 15th anniversary I get to look forward to many more anniversaries come Nov 6th. That is if he remembers. *wink, wink*

Tuxes and defining the color red

    Last weekend after we freezed our butts off at the outdoor hockey game, we went to pick out tuxes the following day.  Charlie came along and was a big help picking stuff out and figuring out what to wear.  We also got a chance to get him measured.  Now we just have to wrangle the rest of the guys down and measure them.

    It was a pretty easy decision deciding the jacket, as I knew that I just wanted a very standard and simple one.  The real trouble came in deciding the type of red we wanted in the vests and ties.  Now normally what the guy wheres is pretty insignificant, but in this case I think we are going to try to match the reds in the ceremony to the type of vest / tie we use.  So it suddenly becomes a pretty big decision (yay pressures on!).   We came in wanting a deep red with shades of black in it, something relatively bold to stand out against the white black.  Sadly the selection wasn't all I had hoped for, I was looking for a solid non-shiny deep red but most everything that was dark at all was also patterned to create the darkness.  None of the swatches of color really fit the description, but once they were paired with the tux it looked much better.  We found a set we liked with bow ties (wasn't expecting that) but it seemed to fit much better.  The ties were a lot wider than I would've wanted and there wasn't really a choice of shapes.  We also found a nice way to separate me from the groomsmen and dads etc.  Just a short update on our progress, but if you are a groomsmen or a dad or an usher were gonna track ya down, and get you measured, fair warning.

Facebook...allowing mother-in-laws to conspire online since 2010.

Disclaimer: I don't mean any offense to the parties involved. Just wanted a little funny weekend update.

In the old days (baby boomers and older) parents-in-laws had to meet in person and generally information was passed by the children. Now with the advent of email and internet social sites they can easily become "friends" with the click of a button. Plus there is this small thing called an inbox. I can't see what gets written behind the scenes and who knows what they are saying about me.

Earlier this week Dan's mom and my mom became facebook friends. My great hope is that they only want a means to share little cute things about their respective child. We all know Donna should be bombarded by all the stories on how wonderful of a child I am. And how I will make such a great daughter-in-law. Of course I won't really know will I.

So facebook is the communication tool of the future and should not be ruled out when planning to merge two families into one. I have to say it will be easier to introduce them in person. It's like they have been friends for months already.

Cheesecake Dilemma-SOLVED!

During a teleconference conducted in my laboratory today Dan and I were able to determine the best solution with Monona Terrace in regards to our wedding cake.

We will still be having cheesecake though it MUST be provided by Monona Terrace. Luckily, the catering staffer that we talked to said customization is available. Also we were given a quote for the toppings bar. While the overall cost is quite significant to that of Grace's Cheesecakes this is really our only alternative.

The staffer also reassured me that their cheesecakes can be displayed on risers on the cake table. I was really concerned that we might not have a cake on display. How can you cut the cake when it is in the kitchen cut into pieces? I'm only hoping that they will allow the cakes on display to be left uncut. I don't think they would look too nice with slices all in them.

So now the tedious process of deciding how to make them look nice. I'm thinking of have either rose petals surrounding the cake or little flower bud adornments on top. I still want to stick with the minimalist theme and go with something simple. Luckily, I have a while for that and I guess its easier to not work with another outside vendor.

I'm glad that over the course of a few mins. all the confusion and frustration was redirected into realizing the possibilities and benefits of having Monona Terrace make our cake. Truly a piece of cake...hehe.

Tiered or Not Tiered...what?

The rare double post but I feel I have to share this with all you out there in blog land.

So Dan and I have been in an email war over the exact wording of the Monona Terrace Wedding Cake policy. I will preface this by saying... the policy changes EVERYTHING I was thinking about for my wedding cake. Barring an answer to my latest email in which I stressed that I would like the cheesecake to be displayed and not done by the slice this may still work out, only with the very limited and expensive cheesecake offered by Monona Terrace.

The policy states (paraphrasing) that Monona Terrace will supply all the food and beverage with the exception of a tiered wedding cake.

The problem: cheesecake is not a tiered wedding cake. While you can get a tiered cheesecake it is my understanding that it must have frosting (gross) in order to be tiered. That brings Dan and I back to the problem of a frosted cake. Neither of us like butter cream or fondant frosting and want to avoid this. So I guess the tiered part is out. So that leaves me with wedding cake which cheesecake is not allowed as a wedding cake under the policy except perhaps the tiered cake. BOOM!!

FAIL CATERING POLICIES!

So anyway we now have to compromise by perhaps having to have Monona Terrace provide cheesecake by the slice a la restaurant style (unless some exceptions can be made) or to have different desserts.

Just to let you know the main reason for this policy...MONEY!!!!! Monona Terrace wants the extra money so bad so they have to make a non negotiable tightly worded policy to squeeze the extra money out of us. Here is a little bit of the breakdown. Grace's Cakes will cost around $345 for 8 cheesecakes and delivery. Monona Terrace adds fees to cakes brought in which is normal in the amount of $177.11 (fees are almost as much as cakes). This total is $522.11 (approx) for the whole thing to my knowledge. Also understand that Grace's offers over 20 varieties including dairy-free cakes and gluten-free. For Monona Terrace's cheesecakes there are 3 options with the average price being $4.90 a piece, as far as I can see no discount for a larger order ie. like 8 whole cakes. That total is at least $612.00 and not including extra fees they may charge. Other dessert options are no less than $593 so all it comes down to is $$$$$$. I just hope that somewhere along this email chain we can get some straight answers. Mark my words I am not going to get a nasty frosting covered tiered wedding cake just to satisfy their policy. I would rather not serve dessert.

Perhaps Grace's Cheesecakes will deliver to my hotel room. Is everyone okay with squeezing in there?

Snow Day

Yesterday Illinois was blanketed with a heep of snow. Luckily, my job is very flexible and I can chose to miss a day at the last moment. I decided to stay home, I really dislike bad roads even if I have to drive around the block. :)

After I slept in until 9:30 I got up and started the day. I decided what better to do than wedding planning. I swear it will never stop. I was focused on a few important details, flowers and hair.
I emailed a local greenhouse/florist for information regarding what flowers can be grown locally in Nov. I'm thinking I'm going to stick to roses since they should easily be able to be grown. I'm not to concerned about fancy exotic flowers. I would rather they be grown locally than shipped in from CA or South America. I'm thinking the greenhouse I contacted should work well just a matter of getting some more detailed information.

As for the hair, I searched all over the Madison area for a reasonable place to go. My top choice is Rejuvenation Spa. They seem to have reasonable prices and is the only salon to mention hair extensions. The only downside is they are quite a ways from downtown on the west side. For a second choice and one that is located on Capital Square is Cinema Studios. The only reason this is my second choice is the prices for styles. It is a little more expensive but is more convenient. I will also have to ask about hair extensions. I do have a while before I need to decide on the stylist so I'm not too worried about choosing one just yet. Though I have to say navigating the websites for price comparisons is difficult.

I also sent out emails to the cheesecake place and to the caterer. Hopefully, Dan and I can get the dessert situation figured out. A lot of little issues have arisen with the choice of cheesecake. The most worrying is that Monona Terrace sells cheesecake by the slice and so they may not allow us to get cheesecake from another vendor. I think the only way to get around this is to have a tiered cheesecake which I'm not sure I want. I will need to figure this out a little bit more and hopefully negotiate some wiggle room. If the cheesecake doesn't work out I'll most likely go towards a dessert spread which will include cookies, truffles, candy and etc. Gotta spend some time thinking this out.

I also called our officiant and made an appointment to meet with him. He seems really nice and is incredibly accommodating. We get to meet with him in Rockford, IL so that Dan and I don't have to drive all the way to Madison. We are also meeting on a Sunday so we don't have to take time off of work. I really hoping everything goes well in the meeting so we can begin to plan the outline of the ceremony and get an idea for how long it will last. I'm quite content with a get in get out ceremony but understand that other peeps may want to see more that just the vows. I am aiming towards a ceremony between 15-30mins.

The last detail I managed to get done yesterday is the father of the bride. I called my "father" Joel Stokka and asked him to walk me down the aisle. I could tell his was caught off guard and did not anticipate me asking him though he sounded very excited and honored. To me I couldn't hope for anyone else. For those who are not familiar with the Stokka family here is a small recap. During my childhood years I was bestfriends with Betsy Stokka (MOH). I would spend as many days over at her house as my mom would allow which was at least every Sat night. Since 5th grade I have always felt I was one of the family and remember so vividly all the times Joel would call me his adopted daughter. For a girl who didn't have her father around this little gesture meant the world to me. And so with that I am very happy to bestow this honor to the only true father I have had.

Well that was a long post be back tom.

T minus 9 months

Today is Feb 6th, 2010 and is exactly 9 months from our wedding date. So far planning the wedding has been a crazy and time consuming process but I have to remember we still have plenty of time.

I picked up my dress last night and everything went well. There were no beads out of place or stains on the dress, no snags in the fabric or really anything wrong with it. Now I just have the tedious process of finding an alterations place that will make it fit me well. The top does not fit much at all and so I hope the straps can be altered so that the bust of the dress doesn't puff outwards. Other than that I probably only need minor alterations in the waist/hip area and a small if even length adjustment. I also need to accessorize and pick out a veil, shoes, and black accessory.

Dan and I will be off to the game soon. Just gotta get into our cold weather gear and hope to stay warm. The temp is 21 degrees F and looks like the low will be 16. So not as bad as it could be for sure but still quite cold. The sun is out so I hope that means it will seems warm. :)

Go Badgers (men and women)!!

Snow on roads = Super nervous Jeni

Off to Madison we go, again. This weekend is filled to the brim and I have even more things I would like to add to the agenda just don't really know how to do that. Perhaps sleeping is optional.

First on the agenda, getting to Madison in one piece with the car intact. Dan and I will have to brave the snowing roads and hope that a 3.5-4 hour drive will be easily made in 6 hours. That is the allotted time we are giving ourselves. Also I am personally hoping that most other people meaning semis decide to stay home.

So Dan and I need to get into Madison by 7:30 for my dress examination extravaganza. With the help of Dan, Becky and Shannon we should be able to see anything that is out of place or wrong with the dress. This way I can feel confident that the dress isn't of poor quality and that David's Bridal is trying to swindle me.

On Sat Dan and I will be spending many hours (like 6-8) outdoors at two back to back hockey games. Tickets to the event held at Camp Randall (football) Stadium were a gift from Dan's parents and I am super excited to get to go. Not only that but a bunch of my friends will be in the stadium as well and so warm-up times can be spent hanging out with the Madisonians I miss so greatly. After the game I have no idea what Dan and I will do besides raise our core body temp to optimal levels. Hopefully, this can be achieved quickly so that I may do something later that night.

And for Sun we have an appointment to start looking into tuxes. Once we are done with this appointment we will be back on the road to try and make it home before the kick-off of the Superbowl. Oh yeah and GO SAINTS!!!!!!

Toasty Warm Feet

Well that is the guarantee that I got last night after Dan and I purchased our new shoes.

Dan and I both needed new athletic shoes to go along with our new exercise regimen and so we headed on over to Body and Soul, a locally owned shoe store. While I browsed the ladies shoes, Dan went to look at the mens shoes. I was looking only at style and hoping that I could find a shoe that wasn't ugly. See while growing up I got traumatized by ugly basketball shoes that a good friend of mine always seemed to get. These huge, shiny looking shoes that you could see from a mile away scared me into buying tennis shoes based on looks alone. As I looked I found some potential and the sales person got me a few "good looking" styles to try on. I got an okay shoe, still a little whiter than I had hoped but after a few uses they'll just be grey anyway.

Over on the other end of the store sits Dan trying on shoe after shoe. I look over for a sec and see him dart off into the middle of the store. I guess jogging helps him make an informed decision. So anyway he decided to get a practical shoe both water proof and thicker material, so less airs gets to his feet.

With our selections in hand we go up to the cash register to pay and we end up chatting a bit with the sales people. Talking about our engagement, eventual marriage, and this weekend spending 7-8 hours outside at a hockey game. Gonna be fun by the way.

So the salesperson quips "Well he won't be getting cold feet now."

It took me awhile to get it...but needless to say that was a good $100 to spend to guarantee toasty warm feet on the day of the wedding. Now if I can just get him to wear those shoes and not the dress shoes. :)

Emailing Queen

I think I have found my calling in life...emailing vendors and planning things. I am really enjoying contacting vendors for information and getting that much anticipated reply email back. At the tips of my fingers lies the ability to discuss options, check availability, get pricing information and anything else I want to know. What's also nice is that email is no longer stigmatized as being a rude business communication tool. I don't think vendors are any less likely to answer my questions via email than by phone. In fact, I kinda like the ability to answer back at my convenience and most surely they feel the same way. Plus no more answering machines or missed phone calls. Email is right here always available (well i hope gmail doesn't fail one day) day and night.

I am totally immersed in this planning phase. Most of my free time is spent thinking about one thing or another. I even dream about planning often waking up in the morning with more ideas to utilize or conflicts I need to resolve. During the day I often think about details while working (ugh work) and have fun throwing ideas at my co-worker Dimitri. He has been a great sport listening to me talk. After work I try and juggle planning and organizing with my nightly activities. Fitting it all in a busy day.

One quick update to Dan's post (read post below). We are in the process (email has been sent :) ) to book our DJ. Just need to get that reply from him. Good day and perhaps more Jen-mails will be flying in cyber-space.

DJs, Officiants and Florists: OH MY!

Its decision making time again.  Time to reserve the services of some people so that were sure to have music, bouquets and most importantly: someone to marry us.  These are hard and stressful choices to make because you have to do them very quickly, without a great deal of information at your disposal. I think we are doing a good job of investigating and making educated guesses as to who will be best suited for our wedding.

For a DJ we are sending off a email of questions today to our top choice from the bridal show. So long as everything comes back well from that we will most likely book him.  He had a good vibe at the bridal show, and as long as we can book this guy specifically, and not a random one from the company I think we are in good hands.  Its time to make requests for songs or requests for the banning of songs (Do it in the comments below, don't be scared!)

Jeni found this great looking Officiant place. This is good, because we didn't really see any at the bridal show up in Madison.  The best thing about this place is that they are open to pretty much anything it seems.  If we want to get married while doing handstands underwater and eating a hotdog with mustard on it at the same time... they'll do it.  However the Rev.  probably wont go in the water with us.  That would just be ridiculous. Not only do they seem open to most things, they also provide some structure or basis for the ceremony (if we want it) with this packet that we received with a bunch of modular pieces to pick and choose from.  This way we have a backbone of a "normal" ceremony from them, and we can add in whatever odd things we want to.  Don't worry though, the terrace doesn't have a swimming pool, and I can't hold my breath that long;  plus, think of what that mustardy water would do to Jeni's beautiful dress!  Anyway, this place seems to be just right as far as balance between structure and freedom.  I think with the starting point they provide we can construct a wonderful ceremony.

Picking our a florist is something we are kind of far behind on.  We have been putting it off because we really have no idea how to deal with flowers picking stuff out, especially with it being November in Wisconsin.  I think we have been somewhat afraid of what this stuff will cost.  Its important to me, if possible, that we get local greenhouse-grown flowers rather than shipping them in from California or some remote place.  I was somewhat discouraged when at the bridal show I kept getting very weird looks from florists when I asked about locally grown flowers for November.  However, we have been scoping out places online which seem to grow flowers in greenhouses around Madison and have found a few.  Who knows what they will have but that is the next step.  We have a small list of florists with greenhouses (we think) and we are going to send them some questions within the next few days.  This was the biggest question mark for us before, but now that we have a pretty solid theme and color scheme (see Jeni's post a few below), it should be much easier.

Its all coming together one step at a time.

Remember to vote in our poll to the right ===>
Represent your school (I'm only talking to Illini fans here)
Also, don't forget to leave song suggestions in the comments, I want to hear them!

Simple...I Think Not

Planning a wedding is NOT simple. I shall elaborate and explain myself. My desire since I was a bridesmaid in my friend Katie's wedding was to have a simple, simple, simple affair. Her wedding was my first glimpse behind the scenes and I have come to the realization that by nature weddings are not simple. The simplest part I would say is the actual proposal. Especially for me (the bride)...I just had to wait for the moment to happen. :)

After that morning (the proposal) Dan and I were thrust into a world filled with flowers, venues, music and so many things I probably don't even realize yet. I want this to be a once in a life time party and I don't want to have any regrets. THIS WILL BE MY ONLY MARRIAGE and so my only wedding. I want to do it right and have a great celebration. This however leads to "simple" being thrown out of the window.

I get told often that our wedding is getting more and more complex but perhaps once you dig into the details you can't escape the complexity. A ceremony and reception held for 125 people isn't easy to put together especially when so many of the guest have to travel. As long as Dan and I stay true to our vision of the wedding and take the planning one day at a time it will become more simple. The "simple" now is the ease at which the complex pieces have fit together just like clockwork.

While I close up this little update, I can say with confidence that this grand affair will just be a small little party in which our family and friends can join in celebrating the beginning of Dan and my life together. What a party it will be!!!!