.the bad and the ugly.

Ok, yes, I am a blogging slacker… I get it. Let’s hope that this makes up for my slacking. As of today, we are 101 days away and it can’t get here quickly enough. I know that we should enjoy this special time, I won’t be a fiancé again and I won’t plan my wedding own wedding again (vow renewal, anyone?!?) but it is sucking the life out of me. For serious.

Lately, I am feeling defeated. This is the ugly side of wedding planning that I will share with you. Of all the blogs I read, this subject hasn’t come up often, but I am not the only bride who wants to just quit, go to the courthouse and get it done. If we didn’t already pay half of our event to our venue, that would be an option.

Planning a wedding could seriously be its own job and that is why there are wedding planners- it is their job. How many weddings a year do they plan? That is their fulltime job. Me? I have a full time job and am planning a wedding, so it is becoming a bit much.

While most of the details are worked out, there are logistics to handle. So… I will go ahead and post all of the things that aren’t going right, at this point.

1. The dress. I haven’t tried it on in months. SO it may fit. I haven’t lost any weight since it arrived, months ago. I’ve been working out like a fiend, which I am loving. (More on my workouts another time)
2. I need undergarments and furnishings for this dress that I am praying fits.
3. My shower, while I am VERY appreciative that anyone invests any amount of time or money into me, it has become chaotic. My sister is trying to plan it from 2,500 miles away. I have two Zillaz here who want to step in and help more. Maybe my sis wants to be a good sis and plan it all. But we ran into some snafu’s…
4. The invites weren’t done in time. So with 4 weeks until the shower, they weren’t approved or even created. I am not sure what happened and don’t want to know.
5. My wedding invites are going out now and I don’t want to crowd the mail box with a shower invite and a wedding invite. Nothing screams “GIFT” more than two invites in one day.
6. One Zilla replied to an email and CC’d me on it. It was the email with all of the shower details and a gift idea that the girls thought of for me. So of course, I read it…. I could have NOT read it. But I now I know everything.
7. Bachelorette party. A-Zilla has offered to help plan this since she is on modified bed rest. This is a GREAT thing…but then I feel badly when the cost of anything comes up. But it is part of being in a wedding; these are things that need to be paid for and not by the bride, right? I will have a stash of cash anyway.
8. My list keeps growing
9. One of the mothers still doesn’t have a dress. And when I offered to go shopping with her, she said that it was too early. Now she wants to go next month and I am slammed with work, wedding planning and staying healthy.
10. My health. In case you didn’t know, I am a Type 1 diabetic who has been doing a decent job of maintaining good blood sugar numbers. The wedding hasn’t been stressing me out too much. Well that is starting to change. My numbers are fluctuating all over the place. The other nite, I woke up with an extreme low. So even with the working out, the healthy eating, it is my life right now that is taking me all over the numbers map.

I’ve asked Mr. Nearlywed to help keep me as stress-free as possible over the next three months. Stress free and weddings don’t normally fit in the same sentence but we can see how it works out.

Ok, there ya have it. Weddings seem like fun, but they can be insane. And there is a piece of my insanity that I’ve shared with you.

.happy 2010.

Happy New Year! This is the year in which I will be married. Yippeeee! While it seems that it can’t get here fast enough, it is really right around the corner.

The planning is ho-hum, but not wanting to start the New Year with an ugly blog, I will focus on the good. The bad and ugly will come tomorrow.

With 103days until the wedding, we have:
1. Started our pre-marital sessions (another blog will elaborate!)
2. Are starting our dance lessons tonite. I am white. I can’t dance.
3. Our invites are going SOON! Yes, it is three months early, but we have a TON of OOT guests and they are getting their invites soon, it will also make for hunting down people for RSVPs a TON easier.
4. My shower is in one month.
5. Make up is booked, yay!
6. My candy buffet has been reconfirmed.
7. We are meeting with our vendors slowly and surely to wrap up details.
8. Next week I meet with someone about creating a head/hair piece for me!
9. Mr. Nearlywed and I are really working well together as a team
10. I AM GETTING MARRIED!

There are many more good things, but that is what is making me happy right now, while I am in the middle of wedding chaos. Again, that post is scheduled for tomorrow.

Yes, I still owe you more on flowers, our invites, our DJ and videographer…. Stay tuned.

I wish you ALL a HAPPY NEW YEAR! And Happy wedding year, a happy engagement year, a happy dating year, a happy year of being in your BFFs wedding because it means the world to her, trust me, I know this.

.where i've been, part 1.

Whew….quite a few months it has been in the world of wedding planning. It feels like I took a nap back in July and woke up to now December. So let me start back with where I feel I’ve left off. I told you that we changed our venue and I updated you with both photos and stories and reasons why.

Then, I’ve almost decided upon flowers. Almost. I just need to pare down a few things to fit within my budget. We decided on a fabu four tiered cake. Invites are approved and the check has been sent. We booked a DJ and an officiate. We solidified a date & location for my bridal shower in Las Vegas. Mr. Nearlywed has almost planned his entire bachelor party while mine….well…. I don’t know where or if mine stands yet. I spoke with someone regarding music for the ceremony and we have a menu tasting next month. We don’t have songs picked out and my do not play list still lives in my head.

I almost have shoes, still need accessories, jewels and undergarments….le sigh.
Today, we are 136 days out from the wedding. Remember my 365 blog?? Over 200 days ago?!?! Yea, me too.

So what do I owe you for blogs? Well I need to blog about my experience with my florist. Show you pics of the cake. Talk about finding out minister. How awesome our DJ will be. That should give me a good start. Are you ready, readers? Stay tuned, I am going to hammer these out and post them ASAP.

.holy october.

In traditional crazy Vegas weather, we went from inferno to ice box in a week. Literally. Two Sundays ago it was 102 this past Sunday it was about 70 and gusty. Yea, I am marrying the weatherman and use words like "gusty".

Welcome October! This is my favorite month and when I truly wanted to get married. However, with a January proposal that I wouldn't change for the world and self-paying for the wedding, October was unrealistic. Instead of stressing over what is left to be done and what needs to be where, I get to enjoy my favorite month along with the cooler temps, yummy wine and candy with friends! That is the only reason why I like Halloween- for the candy. This year, I am going to be the Mad Hattress.

Anyway, I blogged back at 366 days to go and 365 days to go to the wedding. Now, today, I have 200. Where did those other 165 days go? In another 165 days, I will be 35 days away from the wedding. Holy crappers time IS flying.

So this post is not about anything wedding related except the count down is really on.

Enjoy this beautiful weather! Have some apple cider (sugar free of course!) eat some snack sized candy and enjoy the next 25 days of my favorite month.

.savor the countdown flavor.

Every day, Project Wedding sends me an email with a fabulous tip, read, discussion or all around good story. Today’s email brought on a whole new subject- 299 days to go. Last time I wrote about how many days left, we were at 366 and 365. That was a whopping 66 days ago. WOW! Time flies. We have broken the 300 day mark. Come Wednesday, we will have been engaged for six months. No matter how much I try to tell myself that “we have plenty of time, we are just under 10 months away!” I know that I am secretly kidding myself.

Flo and I met with our wedding planner yesterday, after about a 6 + week hiatus. Once we laid the structure for the event, there wasn’t much to cover until we hit the 10 month mark. Yesterday was quite productive- I updated him on my finds and some new ideas and we started talking timelines. This is when it hit me that it really is time to get a move on. Let’s pretty much consider it July. So we have July, August, September and October, four small months, until we hit the holidays. In all honesty, November and December aren’t going to be great planning months with all of the shopping to do, holiday parties, etc. While it may be a great time for me to finish any DIY Projects, it will be a rough time to nail down and details with vendors.

Then we welcome 2010 in January. We can celebrate our one year engagement anniversary and our birthdays. Yes, the both of us. Back to back. The 23rd and the 24th. Usually, I throw myself a rather large party to commemorate the day. Not in 2010, folks, sorry! In January is when the planning will pick back up full speed ahead! Tuxes, ice carvings, dance lessons, and honeymoon planning….

So on my birthday of January 24th, that will mark three months left. Less than 90 days (yay for February being short!). Essentially, then, that leaves with me with eight months to get effective planning complete. Stellar.

I have yet to break my tasks down by month but will shortly work on it. In the meantime, I am going to enjoy my laissez faire attitude for just a few more weeks and pretend that I have all the time in the world!