Monday, February 11, 2008

Yay purple wedding!

Last week, we finally got the German guest list from Torsten's parents, which means that our guest list is more or less finalized. I don't know what the response rate will be, but I think we still have a hope of keeping our wedding to 75 guests. Our dream of 50 seems unlikely, but on the other hand, if we were to have only 50 guests, it would mean that people who really matter to us weren't there. So I'll be happy with 75. Although who knows what the final number will be.

Anyway, because we have something close to a final number, I was able to order the save-the-dates. I placed the order on Wednesday night, and they are scheduled to arrive sometime next week. I am so excited. We paid the money to have our return address pre-printed on the envelopes, but we plan to address them by hand. By which I mean, I plan to address them by hand, because Torsten's handwriting sucks.

I read all this stuff about calligraphers and whatnot, and while I like calligraphy as much as the next person? I don't see a need to have it, especially given how much it costs. One of my favourite things about receiving letters from friends is the hand-addressed envelope that just screams of "personal" the second you see it in your mailbox, before you even know who it's from. I want our invitations to feel like that. And I have pretty good handwriting. And we're only sending about 60 actual cards.

So, I will be hand-addressing our save-the-dates, and also our invitations. And yes, I will be doing so with a purple pen. Are you really surprised?

And also, I went ahead and ordered the stamps to send the save-the-dates and also to put on the return envelopes for the RSVPs. I only wish I already knew whether the invitations themselves would require extra postage or not. I never knew that those love stamps you always see? Those are designed for weddings. The post office always has a wedding stamp available in 1- and 2-ounce rates. And the current 1-ounce wedding stamp, the one that I ordered? It's purple!

Speaking of our wedding and purple (and the two DO go hand-in-hand), my successful meeting with the florist and our extensive discussion of the decor made me start thinking about the details of our wedding. And honestly? That's almost all that's left. I had a great conversation with a potential officiant on the phone, and he's out of town for a few weeks, but we have a meeting set up with him in early March, and if he's in great in person as he was on the phone, then we're set. And if not, I have several other leads.

The ceremony and reception venue, the caterer, the photographer, the DJ (who will also be doing the ceremony music), and the florist have all been arranged. I'm going to NC to look for a dress in a couple of weeks. As I mentioned, the guest list is done and the save-the-dates have been ordered. The invitations have been chosen, though we don't need to order those yet. The officiant is almost sorted out. The menu has been selected. Blocks of rooms have been booked at two different hotels.

Those are all the big things. The only big thing we haven't done yet is the cake, and that's next on my list. Makeup artist, transportation, tux rentals, and bridesmaid dresses must still be selected--but those things can be dealt with slowly, over time, and don't need to be handled this far out. And from there, it's all about the details. Attendant gifts, guest favors, linen colors, place cards. The fun little stuff that most people probably won't even notice--stuff that will not make or break the party.

I am excited about that stuff. I just arranged a meeting with the "complimentary" day-of coordinator provided by our caterer. We'll be getting together next week at the reception site and reviewing table linen options and other such thrilling details. I haven't asked her specifically about purple, but she mentioned in an email that solid linens in any color are included in our contract. So it seems--knock on wood--that a purple table (similar to the one on my wedding inspiration board) may well be in the cards for us.

So, in view of this upcoming table linen summit, I thought I'd double check with Torsten about my purple tablecloth plan, in case he found the idea upsetting. And his response? "I would be upset if there weren't purple tablecloths!"

And that, right there, is why we are the perfect match.

41 comments:

  1. I love hearing your wedding planning. Sounds so exciting! It's great that you're taking care of the major stuff so soon, you will be a very stress-free bride! I can't wait to hear about the wedding dress shopping!

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  2. Your wedding is after mine and you're ten times more on the ball than me. That's awesome!

    Word to the wise. If you are ordering bridesmaids dresses through a traditional wedding dress venue, you may need 4-5 months for those dresses to arrive. I was shocked, and I'd hate for you to have to rush that when you've been so ahead of plan with everything else!

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  3. Things are coming along very nicely and your organizations skills are enviable! I hadn't seen your purple inspiration board before and as a fellow purple lover, I approve.

    I like the personal touch of invitations addressed by the sender too.

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  4. I, too, have a thing for purple pens. If I were to address wedding invitations, I would use none other than a purple Pilot pen, the same thing I used to doodle, take notes and write letters throughout high school.

    :o)

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  5. Way to go with all the purple! That sounds so awesome!

    And I think we should have drinks when you're in NC. Just an idea. :)

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  6. awe i love his reaction about the table cloths. you definitely have a keeper on your hands ;)

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  7. I love the idea of a Table Linen Summit. It sounds very important and official.

    Fun! Purple!

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  8. those stamps?

    its like the MAN (read: govt) knew...

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  9. we're so on top of our shit! love it - and love the purple theme :)

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  10. It's going to be so beautiful.

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  11. I had a calligrapher because addressing invitations? GETS OLD QUICK. It may be a lot more manageable with your guest list though. I also had a friend do it for free, so I didn't have to pay.

    As far as the guest list goes, you will be repeatedly amazed at who IS showing up and who IS NOT. It all evens out in the end.

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  12. i love Torsten's response to the purple tablecloths. ;)

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  13. Sounds like you're having fun! Just as you should.

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  14. That is simply serendipitous that the wedding stamps are purple.

    Yay!

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  15. I'm so excited for you! And I agree, getting a piece of mail with a handwritten address is way more exciting than a printed one. It's more personal and special feeling. At least to me it is.

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  16. Yay wedding stuff! We're just about to order our Save the Dates too and I can't wait!

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  17. Purple! Love it! I love hearing about wedding stuff!

    When I get married a million years from now, I want my color to either be a deep red/burgundy or black. So pretty!

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  18. Hooray for wedding talk! I felt about the deep red we chose for everything the same way you do about the purple.

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  19. Haha... the title of this post was going to be my comment... and then I realized it was the title of the post. So... um... I got nothin'. :)

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  20. i love hearing the wedding plans too! whee! also: totally fortuitous and awesome about the purple stamps. clearly meant to be :-)

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  21. I've always wanted a small wedding with about 50 guests and people keep telling me that 75 is more realistic. Not that there is any reason to think about anything like that yet.

    I love reading about your wedding planning. You seem so relaxed and so together when you talk about it. And, I love, love, love purple.

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  22. I agree about hand-addressing, and about 75 instead of 50, and about purple tablecloths, and just EVERYTHING. This was so fun to read.

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  23. Sounds perfect Jess. I can't wait to see the pictures!

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  24. Purple tablecloths sounds amazing! You're really on the ball with the whole wedding planning thing.

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  25. Oh my gosh, you have so much stuff done already! I miss all of the wedding planning, so I'm living vicariously through you. And also? Buy yourself something pretty for handwriting all of those envelopes! I did all of Save the Date envelopes too, plus the actual invites and all the thank you notes. You totally deserve something after all of that writing! :)

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  26. You are so on top of things! I was so laissez-fair (sp?!) about details. I'm not sure if I even had favors on the tables...
    My wedding was purple too, though!

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  27. I love hearing about your wedding planning. It is an instant pick-me up, I'm so happy for you. Love purple...

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  28. You two are so cute! Sounds like the wedding is coming together perfectly.

    Also, purple is one of my favorite colors. Its the color of passion which I find fitting for weddings.

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  29. Aww, that's great! Go purple.

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  30. Uh if I ever get married, I'm gonna need you to plan my wedding. K thanks.

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  31. I don't even know how people know how all these things that have to be done for a wedding-- I haven't the slightest clue how to find something like a calligrapher or an officiant!

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  32. Yay purple wedding, indeed!!! I am with you on the calligrapher. That's an expense I'll definitely skip.

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  33. My high school colors were purple and white, so purple always makes me think of pep rallies and football games. Wedding purple will be way classier, though, I'm sure! :-)

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  34. Okay, that is the PERFECT response about the purple tablecloths. Love that! You sound so calm, organized, and happy. Kind of a nice thing to see in a bride...Yay purple :)

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  35. His reaction is perfect.

    You are a lucky girl, and the planning seems like a lot of fun.
    Decisions, but fun.

    Have fun in NY dress shopping, I want to hear all about it! :)

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  36. Everyting sounds so exciting - I am happy that things are coming together and I defiitely think that the hand written envelopes will be a nice touch.I love receiving things by people and it;s ncie when you see it's their penmanship on the upper left hand side.

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  37. i think hand-addressed envelopes are much better too. i love the personal touch. i have to agree with what some of the others said...make sure you order the bridesmaid dresses soon! you never know what could happen. my girls had to wait forever to get theirs, and it turned out they came in but no one at the store bothered to call and let any of my bridesmaids know.

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  38. Sounds like your wedding is gong to be fabulous. I love hearing about it even though I'm no where near getting married just for the fact that you're doing it the way YOU want to do it. Not stressing out over what other people are going to think or putting on a dog and pony show.

    sounds fantastic :-)

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  39. Wow, you are organized! That's great. We hadn't given ANY thought to decorating the church hall until two days before...some of the guys in the wedding party helped out with that. We hadn't thought about prelude music either but the florist friend who did our flowers just so happened to have made a couple of compilation CDs for another friends wedding and just so happened to have them handy. Whew!

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