2010 has been a fun challenge for us. Our New Year's resolutions and commitments to Lent have been great for helping us grow individually and as a couple. Our New Year's resolutions are to avoid fast food for a whole year, along with flossing daily and cooking a new recipe every Sunday night. We've had an awesome time coming up with new things to cook, though we miss In-N-Out! For Lent, we gave up sweets, which is probably going to kill me sometime soon, or I'll kill Terry because I'm craving sugar so desperately, but we're okay right now. I'll keep you updated. Meanwhile, work keeps us busy, but my cheer season has slowed so I can be home more with my fiance! Terry won't travel again until fall, so we are grateful for our time together.
In the way of wedding planning progress, we are nearing some important dates. Long-distance planning is tough at this stage, because we need to interview potential vendors. This month, however, we'll finally have a chance to get up north (our last trip was when we finalized our contract with The Palm Event Center. You can read about it here). During our weekend up there, we will meet with a few potential photographers and hopefully a DJ or two.
For photographers, I started by using the "Recommended Vendors" list from our venue. I also found some photographers on miscellaneous websites and used recommendations from friends. I then researched photographers' websites and focused on quality of the images, pricing and packages, and style. We're looking for a candid style that will capture the most important moments of the day, and, ideally, we would prefer two photographers for the whole day. We have always said photographs are one area we assume will take up most of our budget, and we could not have been more right. Photographers run at least a few thousand dollars, plus extra for overtime, travel, or any bonuses.
Dress shopping will (finally? already?) get underway this month, also. My mom and I will hit up our first store when I'm in the Bay Area. We've both looked at pictures of dresses we like, and our tastes are surprisingly similar, so hopefully we can get a good idea of what works with my body so that subsequent trips are easy and fun. Some of my favorite high school memories are of shopping for prom dresses with my mom, and I'm so excited to continue that tradition with her again!
A few weeks ago, Terry and I attended a Crate and Barrel "Wedding Party" in Beverly Hills. We chose Crate and Barrel for its high quality, range of products, and reasonable prices. At these Wedding Parties, the store opens early for couples who RSVP, and those couples get the entire store to themselves to register. We decided to check it out, regardless of how ridiculously early it is to register, and we had a BLAST! The Crate and Barrel staff was incredibly attentive, the breakfast was delicious (not to mention the mimosas!), and the empty store felt relaxed and easy. Only five other couples attended, so we essentially had the entire floor to ourselves. Terry got the scanner gun, and I got the checklist. We took off running!
Most of our kitchen gadgets are registered through Crate and Barrel, but we are also going to register for our honeymoon. Registering for a honeymoon is becoming a popular option for registries, especially for couples who live together before they are married. The idea is that someone can contribute to your honeymoon rather than giving either cash or a physical gift. There are plenty of companies who run these types of registries, but we are going with Honeyfund. Our friends Nick and Jocelyn used this site for their wedding registry last year and had no problems, so we're giving it a shot! Researching the honeymoon "items" that we're registering for makes us so excited for our trip. 16 months can't go by fast enough!
And lastly, our first set of engagement pictures are in! Our incredible photographer (and great friend), Roxanne Neal, with the help of her husband Chris, took some awesome shots of us at Point Dume in Malibu. She is so talented, and we were so excited to see our photos. We want to share them all eventually, but we haven't decided how we will use them all quite yet, so for now, enjoy one of our highlights!
Love your blog!
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