Always and Forever

My senior year of college I lived with 4 amazing girls in a not so amazing apartment. It was just a long hallway with a few rooms on the left side. It had an oven that smelled like a dead person (although I’m sure none of us had ever actually SMELLED a dead person) and also served as the heater, a deck that probably should have been condemned, a couch covered in $1/yard fabric from Walmart, an address of 1415 and a HALF, and a bunch of girls that quoted Napoleon Dynamite incessantly. It was one of the greatest years of my life!

I’m leaving tomorrow to drive up to Fort Wayne, Indiana for one of their weddings. Ana and her beau and J and I got engaged around the same time. Ana and I have spent HOURS emailing each other about centerpieces/dresses/signature cocktails/bouquets/etc... Our email correspondence about our wedding ideas, fears and expectations about marriage, and rants about life have been have been one of the greatest supports and strengths... and sources of entertainment of the past few months.

I’m thrilled that she’s becoming a Mrs. and can't wait to see how all of the ideas we've talked about come together in real life.... but I am sure going to miss our email exchanges!!

She understands that wedding talk can never get old… in a way that only a bride-to-be can! ;-)

Ana, may the Lord richly bless and reward your marriage. Doug is a lucky man!

Although I hear he’s planning on singing this to you at the wedding…

Why do you love me? Why do you need me? Always and forever... We met in a chatroom, now our love can fully bloom... Sure the world wide web is great, but you, you make my salivate... I love technology, but not as much as you, you see... But I STILL love technology... Always and forever. Our love is like a flock of doves, flying up to heaven above... always and forever, always and forever... Why do you need me? Why do you love me? Always and forever...

When one finds a worthy wife, her value is far beyond pearls. Her husband, entrusting his heart to her, has an unfailing prize. She brings him good, and not evil, all the days of her life.
Proverbs 31:10-13

I've Fallen for Fall (ahaha!)

I stepped outside today and about passed out from excitement. After 10 days of constant rain and stiffling humidity, the air was crisp and cool and I could practically smell an apple pie baking in the oven. I LOVE FALL. I love it!

But I love Spring too. So how the heck do you choose what season to get married in??????

No luck

Since J and I live in Birmingham, but are getting married in St. Louis, we have to squeeze a lot of venue searching into very short trips home. My first and only qualification for a space was that it was different. After some unsucessful visits, I'm wondering if it's neccesary to have a unique space or if I can tranform a "cookie cutter" space into something magificent.

Here are some unique places that ended up being losers.

1. The Landings at Spirit Golf Club: Dad's #1 choice, since they offered him a free round of golf if we booked with them. This was the first place we visited. It was lovely, had nice views of the golf course, was in our price range... but it was just TOO small. Sorry dad.

2. The Kemp Auto Museum: Very sleek, modern and sexy featuring some awesome old cars. Also a tad too big. I'm afraid it would feel cold and impersonal to our guests.

3. The Old Post Office: I fell in love with this venue from the outside, but once inside it seemed kind of oddly configured and cramped.

4. The Crystal Ballroom in the Renaissance Grand Hotel: Where as the Old Post Office and the Landings were too small and the Kemp Auto Museum was too large the Crystal Ballroom was JUST RIGHT. I loved it. In fact I'm wiping the drool off my keyboard as I type, I love it so much. It has floor to ceiling windows that feature stunning views of my beloved St. Louis. It's truly grand. It makes a statement. But, alas, if we went with the Crystal Ballroom we could only invite 5 people. And they'd have to byob. It's way out of our price range.... so unless we win the lottery this one's out.

Still Waiting

There is a couple that work at the same tv station as J and I. They got engaged the same weekend we did.

They're getting married today.

I wish them all the best and happiness.

BUT (sigh) we're still waiting an annulment to come through before we can set a date.

How can I not feel jealous of our coworkers who will exchange vows tonight?

I get so frustrated. I know that there is a wedding (and more importantly, a marriage) out there for us... somewhere in the future... somewhere over the rainbow... but not having anything tangible (ie. date/venue) to give me something to look forward to is draining. Every time someone finds out that we're engaged, the first thing they ask is "when's the date". I know that's an understandable and reasonable question. But I'm sick of not having an answer. I'm sure it makes us look less sincere or excited to be married. And illustrating the intricacies of the annulment process is too complicated to explain to casual acquaintances.

I guess I should just start lying! ;-) So, ahem... According to anyone that asks, we'll be married on September 25, 2010. ;-) Aren't you excited for us?

(Liar liar pants on fire)

Wedding Vows

J and I are thinking about writing our own vows. They'd go something like this...

Groom: I J take you, the Aluminum Bride, to my my wife. I promise to love you and never ever act like John Gosselin

Bride: I the Aluminum Bride take you, J, to be my husband. I promise to love you and never ever act like Kate Gosselin.

BM???

For the most part I get a kick out of the secret lingo wafting around the blogosphere. But seriously, who decided that we bridal bloggers should abbreviate bridesmaid to BM?!?!?! I mean, doesn't BM conjure up another image??? Not that I would ever have reason to... but what if I had to tell the world that my BM was a real pain in the ass. I'm sure the world would snicker.

Now really, don't you think we can come up with something better?!?!?!

I'm just saying.

Bride Can't Stop Laughing

I love videos that make me laugh! I thought this one was TOO CUTE! Enjoy!

A Bridal Consultant's Worst Nightmare

My mom has been in town for the past week and a half. She leaves tomorrow and I miss her already. :-( We've had a wonderful time.

And what else would we do when we're together, but go dress shopping!!

I went to an Anne Barge trunk show several months ago. Ms. Barge was there. I was the only bride in the shop at the time so she spent my entire appointment bringing me dresses she thought would look good and telling me what she liked about one dress and disliked about another and what she thought would be best for me.



I was in bridal heaven. I mean, this amazingly talented, kind hearted, glorious human being spent an hour of her life helping ME become a beautiful bride. I'd love to walk down the aisle in one of her masterpieces. Unfortunately the ole` "ya get what ya pay for" mantra holds true in this case. Her dresses are magnificent, and lord help me, so are the price tags. As I've mentioned before, I have this problem with those pesky platinum tastes and aluminum budgets.

So mom and I decided to go on a covert couture undercover operation in the Anne Barge Atelier in Atlanta. We went in poised and confident and lied through our teeth about our budget. I tried on one that I LOVED. It was $4,170 + $600 to "open the bust" (whatever that means) and not including taxes or other alterations. We left agreeing that we had to "think about it". The consultant rolled her eyes.

This morning the first thing I did was google the style number. And lo and behold I FOUND it on http://www.preownedweddingdresses.com/ for $1000 obo!! Can you believe it?!?! I think it's too soon for it to be "the one" but I'm absolutely STOKED that my idea of finding a dress we love in a shop and ordering it online could REALLY work!

Is it all relative?

2 nights in a row and no sleep. *Sigh* I wish I could wear a sign that said "don't mess with me, I didn't sleep last night". Instead of tossing and turning all night I decided to catch up on my long list of tivo'd Platinum Weddings. .... I know I know, watching TV is the worst thing you can do when you can't sleep, but at 2am it sounded like a good idea.

WHY oh WHY do I watch this show? I mean, not only do these million dollar Platinum Weddings make my Aluminum one seem so desperately sub par... but I also get frustrated from a sociological point of view.

One bride spent TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS on her DOG's wedding dress. Are you flippin' kidding me? 2 grand? That's twice the budget for MY dress. Despite this type of over the top doggie pampering, the bride still had a look on her face that read "So help me God, if you lift a leg on my THIRTY THOUSAND DOLLAR custom designer gown I WILL take you to the pound... doggie dress and all".

Other brides think nothing of spending $20,000 on custom linens. $20,000???!!! I wonder if they know that they could plan a WHOLE WEDDING for what they spend on TABLE CLOTHS!

I'm frustrated. And cranky. And suffering from a lack of sleep, but this seems ABSOLUTELY ludicrous to me. Do they know that there are people in the world that are suffering? Do they know that according to Sally Struthers, at 60 cents a day they could use their TABLE CLOTH budget to feed a hungry person for EIGHTY THREE YEARS?!?!?!?!

But, maybe people think the same thing of me? I'm certain there are people out there that think $1000 is too much to spend on a dress that you'll only wear once. If it's all relative, where do we draw the line? Would you spend a ludicrous amount of money on your wedding if you could????