All About A Wedding

We are at 24 days to the wedding and this week has been busy with details.

I met with the day-of coordinator who will earn every penny I have paid her. She is in the process of contacting every vendor, confirming their arrival, departure times and their contracted duties.

She is also developing a timeline for the wedding weekend starting with Friday and taking us through midnight on Saturday. She estimates it will be over 5 pages. Granted, most of it is for her own use, but what a relief to know it is not my job to meet the Party Rental Company to monitor the delivery of our glass wear, plates and spoons. (The wedding will be modeled after airline service in post 9-11. Everyone will get 1/3 of an off brand "cola", 6 peanuts and a plastic spoon. Enjoy!)

Jason and I settled on a final number for our tally. We asked for RSVPs to be in on August 15th, and here we are 10 days later and the happy little envelopes have stopped coming. There were a few non replies (RUDE) and a few who opted to up the number in their party. However, these are minor issues and since we are under the fire code minimum for the facility I am happily going to welcome all the guests. We did have a "yes" reply come after we told the caterer a number. Instead of panicking and calling to report a 2 person variance I'm going to roll with it. No doubt there will be some one who will come on the wrong day or doesn't come at all. Flexibility is the beauty of a buffet!

In working with the caterer, I realized I had made a significant error in my interpretation of their seven page invoice. I assumed the cost of the rentals were included in the bottom line and thought I only owed them an additional $1000.oo before the wedding. Well, turns out, the invoice clearly states that the rentals are a separate charge. So, the check I wrote today was way more than expected.

But, I'm so happy with the level of detail and the feedback I'm getting from the venue contact about the caterer that I am not upset. We budgeted a certain amount, and are coming right in at that number. It's nutty to spend that much for one day, but oh my I really think it's going to be great.

We'll have a cocktail hour after the ceremony. The staff will pass tiny treats and wine. The first bar will open and I'll have a moment to recover from what I'm sure will be an emotional moment at the altar. I'm excited for the opportunity to immediately mingle with our people, and feel good that Melissa the wonder coordinator will get us to the next 'task' on time and with little effort.

So, this weekend we have no required wedding tasks and I hope to enjoy a quiet weekend with my sweetie before he heads to VEGAS Baby! for the Man Bash.

I am going to my final dress fitting tomorrow. I wonder if I'm coming home with a dress?

I'm excited and happy today. Yes, I wrote a huge check - but for a pretty great party.

My next task is to update the girls on the details (without writing a book...)

Maybe tomorrow.