Florists, photog, and a church and country club

I am slowly checking vendors off the list. I have left the D.J., possibly the cake maker, possibly a videographer, and also the string quartet for the ceremony. Other than that, I am pretty much all set. I did, just recently, hire a florist. I went to the florist shop and sat down with their designer. I don't know much about flowers, so I'm expecting a lot of help here. We discussed a lot of the flowers I had/have in mind, and I showed her some pictures of bouquets I liked. She wasn't super helpful, but not completely bad. I decided to go with them (without doing much research) because there are really no other options. There is, however, one other store in downtown, but I used to buy my mom roses from there when I was a little girl and it always smelled and it was really dark and creepy looking. I just really wasn't turned on by the place, so I decided not to go. Bad idea. I went home to get my hair colored this weekend, and my stylist is getting married in September back in my hometown. We started talking about different vendors, and all of a sudden she just started raving about her florist... who happens to be the guy that works at the smelly, dark, old flower shop! She said how he customizes all the bouquets for every bride and bridesmaid. Crap... that sounds awesome. Then she goes on to tell me the price she's paying for all of her centerpieces, church decor, and all the rest of the flowers! Damn... that sounds amazing!! I'm going to try to meet with him, but I already made a deposit with the other florist so I'm not sure what to do... ugh... why am I always trying to just get things done???

A few weeks ago, I decided to call my church and reception site to ask some questions. First, I called my church. I started to ask her questions, and then all of a sudden she stopped me and asked my date again. I told her, and she was like you're not even in the book! I just told her that I called about a year ago and booked the church. I talked to the priest, and also another secretary for the church. No biggie, she put me in and I was all set. I was a little upset, but oh well it wasn't that bad. So, then I call my reception site. I called and was told a BIG surprise. Apparently, they had switched management companies and the contract that I had signed and placed our $500 deposit under was now in null. I was pissed. They also told me that we could not receive our deposit back since we signed with the other management. Uhm... and why didn't anyone inform me of this change? Later, I found out that we made the deposit 2 weeks before the change! Then, she goes on to tell me that I wasn't in the books! WHAT?!?! I DID NOT pay $500 for nothing! I was seething. I calmly ended our conversation, called my parents bawling, and they went over to check it out. Apparently the lady was quite snappy to them, but after a firm talking to by mom (surprise!) was calmed down. My parents said that it should still be ok, and that I really don't have much to worry about. Let's just hope... It's a good thing that I keep up with my vendors (or at least try to)!!

We hired our photographers, and I'm so happy! They were actually my second choice, but I'm so happy that we decided to go with them. They seem like a really cool couple, and I could actually picture myself being friends with them. We're having our engagement session next weekend with them, so we'll see how it goes!! I'm excited!!



In other news, my mom and I are talking again. It's always weird. We get into the biggest fights... hell, my entire h.s. years was one big fight... but if we just steer clear of each other for a while (like a month or so) it's as if nothing happened.

Mo is now my Maid Of Honor. I'm so excited and happy about it! She's been so amazing, and I'm so lucky to have her up there with me! Dan will still be my Man of Honor, but they'll just split the duties. She's saved me a ton of money too, since she designed our invites, save the dates, and anything else I could ask her! I'm so lucky to have such great friends!

Oh yeah, and a couple of checks off the list:
- Program layout













- Bubbles ribboned, and in the process of putting labels on









- A new set of initials for the door (bigger)









- Some of the favors