THE Dress!

My Life Ain't Always Beautiful...
But It’s a Beautiful Ride!

Ok, SOOO much stuff has happened over this weekend!  SOOO much stuff yet to take care of!  First things first, we officially set a date!  January 15th, 2011 I will officially be Mrs. Nathaniel Ford!!!!  And, yes, I must be crazy.  I am going to plan the most beautiful wedding ever in 2 1/2 months!  Yikes! 

Recap of the weekend...
Thursday, I asked Amanda Masterson to be my Maid of Honor and of course, she said yes!  Well, actually, she screamed at the top of her lungs, "yes, yes, yes, I am soooooo excited!!!"  Then, she called back to tell me about everything she had been thinking about for the wedding! :) Gotta love Mandy, she was helping long before I asked!
Friday, I went dress hunting for the first time with Natalie and Nicole, Nathan's sisters.  We went to several places.  I found a trunk dress I liked at Sofia's in Greenwood, and also fell in love with 2 pricy dresses at David's Bridal.  I decided to sleep on it since it was my first time out and I was defiantly having sticker shock!  I did ask Natalie to be my bridesmaid and complete my side of the wedding party.  She accepted also!
Saturday morning, bright and early, I made my way out to meet Amanda for a second go at the dress shopping.  I woke up a little, ok, a lot late, so I am speeding to get to her on time...  Well, I got pulled over!  The cop comes to the window says, "Do you know why I pulled you over?" 
"Yes" I said. "Speeding"
"Do you know how fast you were going?" he quizzed me.
"Not sure"
"70 in a 55.  Is there some reason why you were going so fast?" he asked.
"Well, I am getting married in 2 months and I made an appointment to look at dresses and I am late.  I want to be able to find something in time!" I told him.
So, the cop takes my info back to his car and I am freaking out, thinking there goes $150 of my dress budget.  The cop come back to my window, and with me feeling total defeated, he says, "On behalf of the police department, I would like to present you with a wedding gift of a warning!"  he smiles, handles me my stuff and says, "good luck on that dress shopping!"
OMG!  Did that just really happen?  So awesome and what a great story! :)

Anyway, back to the dress hunting.  I meet up with Amanda and we check out a small place in Brownsburg, we hit David's in Castleton so I can show her the ones I liked.  I didn't have the same love today as yesterday.  Good thing I slept on it!  I tried on a few others with no real love for any.  We then headed to the Bridal Superstore.  I chose my allotted 5 'first' dresses to try on.  The last one I tried I asked if she could ask the seamstress about if it would hem well.  She bring back the lady, she looks over it, and says, "did she try on that petite sample dress in clearance?" Then she heads down an aisle of dressed. 
The consultant helping says, "but that will be too small, it is 4 sizes down!"
"Have her try anyway, we can see what can be done.  I think it will fit length wise and save her some money on the hem."
So she hands me this lacy, beaded grown that is beautiful!  Inside I am thinking, yeah like this will fit!  I put it over my head and can get it on!  I asked to be zipped and yes it is zipping, almost all the way up!!!  I come out of the fitting room and take a look.  It is the perfect length!  It is gorgeous dress!  I ask again about alterations and if it could be made bigger in the bust to fit.  She tells me they can add a corset back instead of the zipper, no problem!  Tears start to well up as I am thinking about my wedding day, I can see myself walking towards Nathan in this dress!  IT IS THE ONE!  It was like it was made just for me!  And by some miracle a dress 4 sizes too small fits almost perfect!
You would be amazed what looking at a dress the right size does!  It is sooo hard to imagine what you will look like in something that is 2 feet too long!  I brought my dress, THE DRESS, on Saturday!!  One of my hugest worries is done! 

Sunday, me, Nathan and Amanda went to our first Bridal Show.  Me and Nathan got Bride and Groom stickers which definitely put you in that "I am getting married" kind of mindset!  It was cool to be able to try cakes and talk with ALL KINDS of venues all in one place!  I felt like I got more done in those few hours than I have in the past week!

Now it is time for crunch time!!  Wedding invites have to be taken care of ASAP!!!  Photographer, cake and flowers are a must!  Tuxes must be ordered!  Oh, yea, and Nathan MUST decide on his Groomsmen, NOW!!!!  He is afraid of hurting peoples feelings but we are seriously running out of time here!

What a busy weekend!  I got like NO sleep!  Time to start the week all over again.  We have some serious decisions to make this week too.  This wedding stuff is stressful, but I know I am marrying my best friend and cannot wait!  Nathan has been soooo sweet lately too!  When deciding on the date, he said, "it does not matter to me as long as I am marrying you on one of those days, the sooner the better!"  <3<3<3

The Place!

My Life Ain't Always Beautiful...
But It’s a Beautiful Ride!

FINALLY!  I have found a venue that fits us just right and I know it will be memorable!  Drum roll, please...
We will be having the wedding at Normandy Barn at the Indiana State Fairgrounds!!!!  It is soooooo cute!  Definitely just as good as what we really wanted but couldn't have due to weather.  Nathan is just freaking out about the catering prices, which are really reasonable, but to him sound like a fortune for JUST food. :)My mind is going crazy with ideas and decorations.  We have a few dates in mind but that is still up in the air.  Hopefully we will have that nailed down by the end out the week.  I just hope none of our guests are offended by the parking fee.  It is only $3 but I am still worried people will be upset. 

Now, I just get to stress out about everything else.  The only thing I am really worried about is finding the DRESS!  I have not been out hunting yet and we have decided to move the date up a few months earlier than first discussed.  So, the pressure is on! 

All I can think about right now is the wedding.  I have not being sleeping because I can't clear my mind.  I can't stay focused at work because I am thinking about all the little things I might be forgetting.  Geeezee!  If I wasn't such a control freak maybe I wouldn't be so stressed but I feel like I have literally NO time to get everything done.

I feel some weight has lifted with the venue being decided, but there is still lots of details to finalize before paying for it.  I feel like there is so much to do and so many little details to tend to.  I still am researching photographers, cake shops, and I have no clue about flowers yet! (recommendation welcome!) I will be announcing the bridal party next week.  I hope they say yes.  Lord knows I need their support and help!

On a more personal note, it pains me that my mother will not get off her high horse so that she can celebrate with us.  It would be so exciting to have her be a part of this.  And only pray it will work itself out before the wedding...

Venues

My Life Ain't Always Beautiful...
But Its a Beautiful Ride!

Ok, as stated in the prior entry, both the free barn and water venue are out.  I don't want to stress myself and my funds to the bone trying to make the free barn suitable.  The water wedding idea just was not for me.  It was not anything close to what I dreamed my wedding would be like, so scratch that!

Starting fresh was defiantly difficult.  We don't want to spend our whole live savings on the night that officially starts our life together.  Venues are SUPER expensive.  Then on top of that, they are picky!  You can't do this, you have to do this, you must pay for that.  OMG!  Things you never think of when you are DREAMING about your wedding!  I felt like I was hitting a brick wall of 'nothing is going to work'.  Then, finally, I started to get creative!  I have found some places but, at this point, I am still sorting...

I have a catering taste testing tonight at Jonathan Byrd's and future sister-in-law, Natalie, will be going with me.  Nathan had to work so...  Hope it goes well.  I don't think I am going with this company or their venue, but I heard it is a good thing to try a few places so you know what is out there and how to compare.  So, worse thing is that we get a free meal! :) Can't complain! LOL

Nathan and I are going to check out 2 venues on Friday.  One is a complete inclusive venue (Valle Vista) and the other is just a venue (Winchester Place).  Again, not sure what I want so trying to keep an open mind at this point.  I did find a 3rd possible location that I am super excited about.  I think it might be the ONE! (Keeping this one a secret for now!)  But it is booked out for all of next week so I have to wait a little while on that one.

Nathan also asked if we could move the date up.  Umm, super stressed!  After our trip to Evansville last weekend, we found out my Dad is not doing so great.  Nathan really thinks we should move it up so that it is at a time when he is still in Good health and can actually WALK me down the aisle.  IDK!  I am freaking out as it stands right now!  I think the only thing I could not rush is the dress.  I mean, I am not the normal girl.  I am 4'8 and not sure what, if anything, at a store will look good.  I have not been dress shopping as of yet, but I know it will not be any walk in the park.  Leaving this discussion open for now...

I am just hoping to get the ball rolling and soon.  I NEED to CHOOSE the venue, like yesterday!  I need to announce my bridal party ASAP so I can get some help!