Backpost #3 - The Knot

I am in love with theknot.com. It's perhaps the most useful website I've seen so far, simply for the planning tools. I put all of my "guests" into it. I can A list or B list them (if the list gets too long, I can simply knock off the B listers), I can track their RSVPs, I can put down how many are with each family (and THEN it gives me the number of invites needed), and I can even keep addresses there. It's SO useful. Plus, we put in our budget amount, and it divides the money up proportionally (though we CAN change the proportions). We can keep track of how much we spend, and important dates and stuff, and because it's online, I can access it practically anywhere.

Organization has become my best friend... but that's good, right? I hope so. 

A big thing we're trying to decide on is necessary things. We don't need a videographer, and because our food and alcohol is included with the hall, we don't need to "budget" for them, but we do need to up the venue budget. There are still some things that we're not on the same page about though. Like programs. Sean doesn't see the point of programs, but I think it's necessary for the church. A lot of our friends aren't Catholic (and some have never even been to a Catholic ceremony). I don't want this to be overly awkward for them, so I think a program would help. I'd put all the songs and readings in it so people could follow along - if we print them ourselves, it won't cost much either. We'll see how that works out at least. I've got so much time, and yet no time at all. *scowls*

Backpost #2 - Busy Us

So last night, we worked out an approximate guest list. Without anyone bringing extra guests, and a rather small friends list, we have 278 people. That's right. This is going to be a 300 person wedding. We have over 200 people with just FAMILY. Did I ever mention that Sean and I have huge families? Point proven. And we only picked the family members we know. Like, zomg. It's daunting. We're taking on this huge task of entertaining a ridiculous amount of people. but it's going to work. We ARE going to get this done. I'm going to be doing my own stuff a lot, but that's okay.

We picked out centerpiece ideas too. I think we've narrowed it down to one we want to do (we're making them ourselves), and once we know how many tables, we'll start gathering stuff for them. Same with the pew markers. I'm TOTALLY excited about it all. every last bit. Let's see. We've also settled on a color (holly green), the church music/what singer and accompianist (though we haven't decided on grand piano or organ...), and we've decided where we want the reception (Cottleville k of c, it's one of the few places in stp that can hold our guest list).

We're calling All Saints tomorrow. It kinda terrifies me. That's the church I've grown up in, where I went to school. I'm the first one of our All Saints group to approach this landmark in my life. I don't want to feel as though I'm too young for this, even though I know that in two years I won't be. I'm under 21 too, so we'll probably have a few extra classes to go to. I guess my biggest thing is Ii'm afraid I'm going to be attacked with well wishers that don't really know me. I mean, I'm thankful to anyone and everyone who wishes me well, but when people that hardly know me make a bigger deal about things than my best friends, something is wrong. something is fake. But this is the most important thing we have to do. This is what gives us our date, and our a-okay to get married in the church. I wish I knew what all happens, but I assume we're going to have to set a date for our first appointment when we call. I guess?

Obviously, Sean and I have been busy bees. We're figuring that most of the stuff that we need to get done is going to have to be accomplished on our breaks, so really, we're getting married in about 8 months. Crazy!