Scoooooooore! I found a dress. I went to a local shop, did it all wrong by not establishing an appointment, and the 5th dress that I tried on was IT. Not precisely what I set out looking for, but definitely the right thing. Since Chris reads the blog too, I can't spell out the details, but the answer to the colors question is that the dress is ivory, so we'll be going with dark green for a color scheme. So I'm going back on May 3rd (I wanted some time to ponder, although really I'm not sure what I'm pondering) and will get measured, give a down payment, and order. I didn't get the maker's name, I figure I'll do that when I go back. They tend to hide that, my suspicion is they don't want people shopping their dresses around. Once I give a downpayment, I'll push them for details so I can find a picture on the web and email it to everyone.

On a slightly lesser note, I got the invitation samples in the mail today, so I should be able to make some decisions on that pretty soon.

I've been having problems accessing yahoo from Chris' computer, so I'll email folks later from my laptop. Hope everyone is having a fabulous weekend!

Cb
- posted by cam @ 1:58 PM

 
So now that I'm running with Becky's napkin idea, yesterday was spent looking for clipart with the tandem bikes, bride, and groom. Amazingly enough, there's really very little clip art with a tandem bike on it. It's strange! But I've found a site that looks promising, so we'll see

I've also been looking at cakes. I've got my druthers plan, and my back up plan. Druthers - smaller wedding cake + groom cake. Back up - bigger wedding cake. The cake will probably come from McArthur's, and while I like their wedding cakes, I'm not so excited about the three grooms cakes that they display. We'll see! Right now Mom is planning a trip to the bakery in the AM on the Friday I'm in St Louis. Thus we can taste test (oh, the horror) and see about getting a grooms cake before we head off to Royale Orleans in the afternoon for paperwork, cake ordering, that kind of thing. And if you're curious, the cakes I'm interested in are:
320
372
203
383
but I retain the prerogative to changed my mind!

And finally, congratulations to Becky on her new job! Big changes coming up for her, retiring from the school district and tackling a whole new world. Good luck, we're all praying for you!

CB
- posted by cam @ 7:14 AM

 
Hooray! Chris' Mom, Becky, came to the rescue on the bicycle dilemma. Her suggestion is to have it monogrammed on napkins. Perfect - it'll be there, but not gaudy. I love it!
Cb
- posted by cam @ 9:21 AM

 
Ok, first of all - I figured out how to change the time stamp on this thing, so we'll see with today's posting if I'm remotely close to what the time should be. The bad news is that I no longer look like I'm industriously getting up at 4AM to blog.

Yesterday was an off day in getting things done. I spent the day looking for creative ways to incorporate a bike motif into the wedding somewhere without having to ride one down the aisle of the church. (White bike shorts anyone?) What better than a cake topper, I thought to myself. But now, I know the truth. There are NO couples on bikes cake toppers. Couples on skis, couples in carriages, and teddy bear couples on bikes, yes. Human couples on bikes....apparently that's right out. There were a few custom cake topper sites, but they were wanting $200+ for something that's going to sit on top of a cake in the corner of the room. That seems excessive to me. The other suggestion I've been given is on the invitation, but that really only seems to work if the invitation is really plain, or if I order from this place. I'm not sure how bicycles tie in with calla lilies or roses or wedding bells. So anyway, some creativity is going to have to be employed here. Fortunately this is the first aspect of the wedding which has been a real stumper so far. I've got time to work on it!

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions and input so far! It is most appreciated!
Cb
- posted by cam @ 7:21 AM

 
Ok, so we have a reception place! It's called Royale Orleans (If you click the name, it takes you to the site). So that changes the wedding time since the reception will be 12:30-4:30. I'm thinking of moving the wedding back to 10:30, which gives us time to get married, take pictures, and then round everyone up for the drive over. So...yeah!

Next up...invitations. My question of the day is: If I pick an invitation with calla lilies on it, but don't have calla lilies in my wedding, will I invite ridicule and scorn for the rest of my days? The problem is, I'm not a big fan of calla lilies in real life. But apparently they make wonderful design elements in invitations. I've ordered 6 sample cards, but if I had to pick one straight off the net, this is the one I'd be inclined to go with. Sigh. I do have 3 invitation samples on order with roses, 2 with calla lilies, one with wedding bells. So we'll see what they look like on my dining room table when I make the final decision.

Final wedding thought for the day...colors. Despite Tammie's suggestion of pink or sherbert orange sparkle chiffon for dresses (and Christine suggesting they could dye their hair to match), I'm leaning towards either navy blue or dark green for dresses. A nod to the season without being a Christmas tree skirt. I talked with Kathy V yesterday a bit, and her suggestion is that if I end with a white-white gown, go navy, and if I end up with an off-white gown, go dark green. So it all comes back to getting off of my duff and looking at dresses. This weekend! I promise!

And totally off topic...We were standing in the driveway with Fred off leash last night when new neighbor Ashley, who is about 4, came over to pet Fred. Fred let her get really close, and then dashed away, ran a big lap, and the stopped a few feet away from her. She giggled and ran after him, and when she got to him he spun in a circle in place and then took off again. They were hysterical, this continued for about 5 minutes, Fred running circles, Ashley running towards him when he stopped, sometimes he would spin in place, sometimes he would just take off when she got near. The cool thing was he never play bit her like he sometimes does when he gets too rowdy with Chris or me, and he didn't bowl her over like he does sometimes with other dogs. He seemed to know that his new best friend required different handling. And me without a video camera!

Off to work...
Cb
- posted by cam @ 6:32 AM

 
Chris and I drove by a bridal shop last night, and they had prom dresses out front. Hot pink. Big tulle skirt. Sunburst on the bodice. I think we have a winner. Chris and I discussed adding a racing stripe to the dress for me to wear as the bride, but I really think that my freshly official bridesmaids, Christine & Tammie, would look FAAARRR better in them. Mwah-ha-ha-ha-haaaa.... Remember the mastercard commercial? "Friend worth wearing seafoam green for: Priceless." Really ladies. Priceless. Remember that.
Cb
- posted by cam @ 11:20 AM

 
Well after reviewing the Lemp's numbers, we decided against it. It was out of the budget, and quite frankly, I think we can have a fabooo time without spending a bazillion dollars on the Lemp. So it's looking more like an afternoon wedding, and we've narrowed it down to two places. I've seen them both...way back in the mists of time. So Dad and Mom were going to discuss last night and give me their opinion. We'll make the call from there!

And I got my first wedding planner. :) My friend Christine M sent it, and I'm totally wowed by it. She also sent the Cosmo relationship quiz book, which has been hours of entertainment. And little thumb massagers (which Freddy tries to bite) and great cards. Very cool!
- posted by cam @ 7:11 AM

 
Ok, so this was an "unproductive" weekend. Translation: Weather was beautiful so I took a half day of off work on Friday and of course had the whole weekend in which to revel in 70s and sunshine. Alas, there was not one wedding dress, computer, or telephone involved in my revelry. So today I have nothing to report on the advancement of plans. Hopefully more details will follow tomorrow!
- posted by cam @ 6:50 AM