Shades of purple

OK, so I took that week off from writing about the wedding, which was good for me and all. But now I'm ready to talk about it again! It is, according to The Knot, 66 days away, and that seems to me to be a remarkably short number of days. The invitations and the tuxes were the two big things remaining, and now that we've sent out the invitations and decided against tuxes, we are down to a bunch of little details.

Which is great, right? Except OH MY GOD THE DETAILS. It's ridiculous how many crappy little things there are on my to-do list. And Torsten, who has the more demanding job of the two of us and is also less detail-oriented... well, let's just say that he's good at concrete tasks, but not so good at management of a process like this. So I'm managing it, and assigning tasks as necessary. Which is fine, and I don't mind, but the problem is that Torsten winds up with just two or three tasks at a time, and so he thinks he has all the time in the world to do them.

BUT HE DOESN'T, because there are nine gazillion other things on my list, and the reason I'm giving him tasks is because I need them DONE so I can stop thinking and worrying about them. So we had a little chat the other night (and yes, we're going to keep calling it a "chat" and decidedly NOT an "episode") about how when I ask him to do something wedding-related COULD HE PLEASE JUST DO IT so I can cross it off my list.

To drive the point home, I opened up my to-do list and started reading to him all the little, quibbly things that still need to get done, and before I was halfway done that boy was already hyperventilating with the stress of everything there is left to do and running to his computer to attempt to do all three things I'd asked of him simultaneously. Of course, that was impossible, but it was a sweet thing to try.

Wow. This post makes me feel kind of like I'm running a small army here. Taking a step back, let me say that this process has been much less stressful than I was expecting it to be, and also that Torsten and I have not had any real fights or issues over the wedding at all, and that neither of us has felt resentful or like we are taking on too much of the burden or not getting enough of a say. Things have, for the most part, just worked themselves out, and we have still found plenty of time to do other, non-wedding-related things, and just relax together, despite all the unexpected issues that keep cropping up.

Some things have found resolution: The best man will be at the wedding. We figured out what we want to do for attendant gifts. I emailed the restaurant about the rehearsal dinner (though I have not yet heard back). I ordered the materials to make seating cards. I ordered the candles, their holders, and the mirrors they will sit on that will prevent them from dripping on the rented tablecloths.

I've decided to go with the idea of naming tables after shades of purple, although I haven't picked all the shades yet (it will depend on how many tables there are). Color names that will definitely be included, however, are:

• Purple (duh)
• Violet
• Lavender
• Plum
• Lilac
• Grape
• Amethyst

Other color names that are in contention, but may or may not be used:

• Eggplant
• Mauve
• Orchid
• Wisteria
• Hydrangea
• Aubergine
• Fuschia
• Pansy (or is that just begging for dumb jokes?)

So this is the first place where you come in. What are your thoughts on this second list? Which ones of those scream purple to you more than others? Which ones do not make you think of purple at all? What other purple names would you suggest adding to the list?

The second place where you come in is with the table cards themselves. Once we've finalized what the tables will be called, we're going to have to label them somehow. But how? I mean, I suppose we could just write, or print, the words onto a purple card and set it up on the table somehow, and that may be what we do. But I'd like something that looks a tad bit nicer or more creative than that, but I'm not sure what that would be. Something framed? Something 3D? Something with a picture or a sticker? Maybe there could be a sticker that represents each table, and then the seating cards could have a matching sticker? Is this too much work? Am I overthinking this yet?

I had also been thinking maybe I could use those paint sample cards you get at places like Home Depot? But I don't quite know how I would incorporate them. And would people even get it? And also, don't paint colors usually have really strange names that have very little to do with what color they actually are?

My point here is, I am totally at a loss, and that's why I need your help. What do I do? And if you're like me and you have no idea, at least tell me what you think of the purples in that list up there. Because I am stuck, and I've been staring at that list for so long that the words have lost all meaning.