It's all official now

Okay, no great post here, but I'm no longer rehashing old ideas about what I thought I might do with my wedding. Instead, I'll be talking about the real thing. Because now I really need to plan a wedding. Because I'm ENGAGED!!!

So from here on out I'll be discussing real issues as I encounter them in wedding planning. Let the fun begin!

Farewell, theme #2

This theme was my most generic. The one that my hypothetical fiancé would choose if he wasn’t inclined to have a very theme-y wedding. In fact, this theme really has no theme. It’s just a typical wedding. Good food, lots of dancing, and fun. Since I live in Louisiana the food would include the classics: crawfish etouffée, jambalaya, red beans and rice, gumbo, shrimp remoulade, the whole nine yards. For favors I’d use containers of Tony Chachere’s spice mix (God’s gift to quick and flavorful cooking) with little tags saying, “Thanks for spicing up our wedding,” or some other corny saying. And if I really wanted to focus on Louisiana, we might have a little fais-do-do for the rehearsal dinner, a time of Cajun dancing. Basically this whole wedding would be a time of bright sunshine and lots and lots of dancing. So what’s the problem, you ask? My boyfriend is not a big of dancing. So, off with your head, theme #2!

So long, theme #1

Before I ever met my boyfriend, I already had various ideas and themes for a wedding going on in my head. I had it narrowed down to three different scenarios and figured that whenever I became engaged that my fiancé would say, “I pick option A (or B or C),” and then I’d just roll with it from there. And I suspect that my boyfriend would still be okay with that. (He’s already said that I should just plan whatever I want and let him know when to show up.) But I’m already trying to come up with a plan that better represents the two of us. Yet I’m still attached to some of my previous scenarios. Aaagh!

Since I may have to say farewell to some of these ideas, I figure I’ll at least let them see the light of day before they die away (from my wedding plans). So, without further ado, here is option 1!

A swing night. The rehearsal dinner would have a swing lesson, with a possible refresher class and/or some professional dancers doing a show during the reception. A live band would be ideal, though a DJ could get us by in a crunch. But I would like it to have the feel of a 1940s dance hall, just bursting with energy. A cocktail from that era would be the signature drink for the evening. I’d like more traditional, classy flowers like calla lilies, tulips, roses, etc. Tables would have names like Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Count Basie, Artie Shaw, etc. And the wedding favor could be a cd with tracks played during the reception.

This reception style would not be that great if there are a large number of uncouple people as it is difficult to dance to this style of music without a partner. And since the whole point of this wedding would be the dancing, and my boy’s not much of a dancer, I don’t see this in our future. Goodbye swing wedding!

You have got to be kidding me

In the article entitled "Have a Luxe Wedding For Less" they post this picture of a lovely floral centerpiece made of carnations (one of the cheapest flowers available) and roses (which can also be surprisingly inexpensive). And how much does this budget-saving idea cost? $250. PER CENTERPIECE! We've obviously got different ideas of what is considered a budget price. Gotta love WIC.

Photo by Robert Mitra for Modern Bride/brides.com

How early is too early?

Visit almost any wedding-related website or browse through the wedding section at your local bookstore. You are bound to find timelines of all the things that should be accomplished by a certain time. If you’re lucky the timeline is starts with 9-12 months out, but there are several that list a variety of things that you should have done more than a year in advance. But what if you’re not planning on waiting a year or more to get married?

On a wedding related forum I read about a girl who started contacting venues and finding out availability before becoming engaged. Though she and her boyfriend discussed what month they wanted to marry in, the boy hadn’t asked her the question. So most of the responders told her to hold off on the wedding planning until they were officially engaged.

I agree with most of the people who commented. The girl is getting ahead of herself. But when a couple doesn’t plan on a super-long engagement, there should be some kind of planning already started unless it’s to be a rather rushed and chaotic feeling directly after the engagement.

Like many women, I’ve thought about what kind of a wedding I would like to have. I’ve thought about colors, and first dance songs, and food, and themes, etc. I’ve got my own little “binder” of inspiration ideas I keep in files on my computer. I’ve looked into the pricing for various photographers, venues, etc. Basically, this will give me a head start on the thinking that should occur before the planning actually begins. Sort of like the backward planning idea that’s so popular in education. Think of the end goal that you would like to accomplish and then make sure everything you do builds toward it. But that’s as far as I’m willing to go until I get engaged.

How much planning do you think is okay to do before receiving a proposal?