(Wedding) Material Girl

Though I got a ton done this weekend, it wasn't as rushed and busy as every day has been for the past... well, while. My parents and brother came, so they got a break too. They LOVED my apartment and I felt really great that I got to show it to them before the wedding. It felt like it made it real.

I had a good boot camp class yesterday and have been sore all day. I started another Blue Print Cleanse today, so I've been a bit tired. My wellness coach said that a cleanse may not be the best approach for me, since I may not have as much junk in my system to clean out, given my healthier diet in the past few months. However, it feels appropriate after the bachelorette party, and I can always add fruits or veg broth if I need it.

My dad luckily liked one of the songs I'd selected for the father-daughter dance, so yay! I liked it too, though I think it will be hard for me not to cry. But that's probably true of most of the appropriate songs. So I think we're getting to a good place, music-wise.

After my family left today, I spent a lot of time on the couch watching bad romantic comedies, drinking juice, and doing wedding stuff. I updated the various schedules we're maintaining (wow, its going go to be busy!), created the welcome packet (which took a surprising amount of time), and the wedding program (which was surprisingly quick). I also created a clip art we can use on all the wedding materials we're handing out. It's nothing fancy, but I think it'll help pull things together.

My parents had brought the wedding program from the wedding they attended yesterday, so I thought I'd use it as a template. But I got annoyed having to type it up, so I did a few Google searches, and lo and behold, I found the same template they'd used! It was pretty funny. I liked the wording so I used most of it :)


All of our guests were supposed to book their hotel rooms by Friday. Unfortunately, a few were too late. My dad called the hotel and found out that the entire hotel is booked with our guests! The block is full and there are no more rooms. We booked a few on reserve, but probably not enough for all the people who haven't booked yet. Apparently only TWO of our family friends have booked rooms, so there are probably quite a few desperate calls coming our way...

20 days left...

Last Minute Details

Time is going so fast these days! I leave 2 weeks from yesterday to go to Reston for the wedding. Aack!

The biggest worry on my mind in terms of time is that MJ and I haven't remotely practiced our first dance. We will only be in the same city 7 more evenings and we each have things planned on some of those nights. Oi! I suspect my mother and aunts will force me to get up at the sangeet and dance a little, so I need to practice something for that too.

We of course still have a bunch of details to iron out, but I think we're on top of most stuff. We've asked the various friends and family members if they will do dances, speeches, MC, etc.

I spent last night working on finalizing some key moment songs. I picked my bridal entrance song. That was fun, since most of them are about how beautiful the woman is and how she takes the guy's breath away. Hee hee But, I've also been looking for some ideas for the father/daughter dance. It's hard to find a Hindi one - most of them are extremely depressing and/or slow. Ideally, I'd like to find an old one, but I'm not picky at this point.

I'm also looking for gifts for the two friends who planned my bachelorette party and will be involved in the reception. It's hard to find the perfect gift to express my appreciation for them and their friendship, but I think I have some good ideas. Hopefully they'll like them!

I found out this morning that my favorite cousin in the whole world will not be coming to the wedding. She got turned down for a visa in India. I'm very upset, as we are like sisters and I never imagined I'd get married without her there. We've always talked about how her first trip to the US would be for my wedding. But there are some things that are out of our control I guess...

I'd love to write more, but my brother is on his way over! My family's coming to NY for about 24 hrs and I'm so excited to show them my new place!! MJ's also at his bachelor party in New Orleans this weekend, so it works out perfectly :)

Check! Check! Check!

25 days to go! It's starting to feel a little more real after this past weekend. It was very productive and we got a lot done.

We found a hair and makeup artist we liked. I like her work and her personality meshed with our's. She's a bit pricier than we were looking for, but we feel more comfortable with her than we have with the others. In general, it seemed like there were two distinct categories of makeup and hair artists. One category was in the $500 range, their work was more traditional and less consistent, and they used lower grade brands of makeup. (One even asked me what airbrush makeup was!) The other category had a more contemporary look and used more expensive brands, but was also almost double the price and often had an attitude. (One asked me for a photo of myself before she'd accept a meeting!) Overall, searching for such an artist was not a pleasant experience. Hopefully this one will work out.

We also met with some people who will be providing food for our house guests and the boxes we will be giving to our wedding guests. One was a man who used to work in the temple and they asked him to start a restaurant with pure Hindu food. The restaurant's ambiance leaves much to be desired, but the food is fantastic. It tastes like the Indian food people make at home, not the type you get in restaurants. So we'll likely hire him to make the food for our house guests the entire week before the wedding. My parents are having a lady come to the house to start making snacks and sweets for everyone too. (Our guests will not go home hungry!)

The final thing we did was to do a walk through at the venue with the DJ. He gave us a good feeling of being on top of everything and knowing what to do when. We have been slacking on putting together lists of songs and not all the key moment songs are ready, so we need to start focusing on that.

We went out a communication to all our wedding guests today as well, so that they feel informed and can plan better. (And, hopefully book their hotels. The area we're getting married in is notorious for not having available hotels and we're afraid our guests won't have a place to stay!)

Probably the most important thing is that we were able to discuss a lot of the details for the wedding events and get some final pieces nailed down. We thought of some fun activities for our guests that they'll hopefully enjoy. I'm starting to think this would be an awesome wedding to attend if it weren't my own ;) (since I can't participate in all of the fun stuff!)

I took last week off from the gym, but somehow didn't gain weight. But I went to boot camp last night and hit the elliptical this morning, so I'm back on track!

And We're Back!

So I was informed last weekend that there are some anxious readers out there who were actually waiting for another post. I had kind of assumed no one read this and didn't feel bad not posting after I returned from India. But I'm not one to let a captive audience down! So I'm back :)

The India trip was brutal, but productive. We did nothing but shop every day for 2 weeks in the heat and crowds, using only the subway to get around. But we got everything on our list and brought back SEVEN suitcases. No, that's not a typo. We paid for overweight and an extra bag, plus we both had heavy carry-ons.

Things have been getting steadily busier since I returned from India. I went to San Francisco and Austin over the long weekends, we had our engagement pictures, and we moved all of our stuff into a new apartment (Maneesh himself can't officially move in until after the wedding). Moving is especially painful, especially when consolidating stuff and having to sell old furniture. Luckily the new place is absolutely amazing. We have this view that I still cannot believe. It's nice to live in a nice place for once. I've always sought out places with character in NY, which basically equates to old, but this place is so luxurious and comfortable. Definitely a step up!

I've also been going to DC every spare weekend, which has been good. We're doing pretty well on being on track for the wedding. We still have a few vendors to solidify. The decorator has been more than flaky, so we don't have a contract with her yet, but my parents think we're close. We don't have a hair & makeup artist for me, but we do for the rest of the family members. We don't have mehendi artists. MJ's family hasn't picked the caterer for their welcome dinner yet. And my mom said last week that her brother convinced her we need a videographer, so we're starting to look for someone now. All the other vendors are good to go, so it's pretty much the details and coordination that's left. Of course, the devil is always in the details...

The entertainment is another big thing that's left. MJ and I are still debating on first dance songs and steps. My dad has no interest in discussing the song for our father/daughter dance, though he still seems to want to do it. Other than my brother, no one in our families seems interested in picking their entrance songs. haha Fun times! My brother is putting together a slideshow for the reception, but we don't have enough pictures. So MJ and I brought back an entire suitcase and a box full of old pictures, and I'm going to start picking some out. He's going to do the same this weekend when he goes home.

Picking engagement photos for our guest book was fun, but picking a wedding band was even more fun. I'm excited about the one we got! It's so sparkly and pretty with or without my engagement ring :)

Stay tuned for the next post, which will regale you with the ups and downs of our wedding invitations...

Becoming a Bride

So things have been MUCH better since my spoiled brat moment last weekend. In fact, it made me realize how great MJ and I are together, which has made me very full of love for him since our fight :) It's really nice being with someone who always makes you smile, and gets your crazy moments, but loves you anyway.

I had an "a-ha!" moment this past weekend though. All my married friends have told me "You don't think you'll care about the details, but you'll see. You'll end up caring so much about the smallest things." So I've been working on the Save the Date and website and was showing it to my family and MJ for their input. MJ asked if the website could have music and I'd totally forgot to add it. But I had no idea of what song to put on! And that was when it happened - I could care less what song went on the site, but since I had to pick one, I wanted it to be a good one. ...one that represented us, was romantic, but not cheesy, not too spirited, etc. And I realized it was happening to me! I don't care what song it is, but since I have to pick one, it has to be good. I ended up spending an hour trying to find a song and ended up on one that is super-cheesy, not at all us, and I'm not even sure I like! I was just so irritated with the process! MJ even said "we can always add music later," but I wanted the site to look great right when we launched it. Any suggestions are welcome. (not including Empire State of Mind, which has already been rejected!)

I'd been trying to decide whether or not we should have bridesmaids and groomsmen in the wedding. I like the way they look in weddings and know MJ's very close to his friends, but it's not necessarily Indian tradition. I've heard a lot of varying opinions, but have finally decided not to. Seeing and hearing the responses over the last month, I'm realizing even more how important family is, especially during a wedding and subsequent marriage. My family has been absolutely ecstatic for me. They've been calling and emailing, even Facebooking MJ! (My cousin even offered to host our engagement party at his place!) Relatives are planning on coming for the wedding from all over the world. I've been so incredibly touched. Their overwhelming response from my family has made me realize they are much more a part of this event than my friends, who of course have their own lives and priorities. At the end of the day, the event is about us actually joining each other's families, so it only makes sense that it should be about them.

Of course our engagement has been really special to some of our friends as well. We received an actual engagement gift last week! It was so adult and unexpected! And, as I said, I'm ridiculously excited and touched that my best friend and her husband are flying in for our engagement party. Just general happiness all around! I need to get my hands on some awesome thank you cards :)

MJ and I have been discussing our first dance as well. He wants to do something a bit unorthodox, but I'm not sure if it will look unclassy. (And, no, I'm not telling you what it is, because it's going to be a surprise if we do!) His point is that the first dance should be about us and what we feel comfortable with. So, ya, he's basically saying, we're not classy, why should we pretend to be for some froofy dance?

The Save the Date is almost done too. We're just figuring out the best way to send it out. I'll post it here when we're done. I do feel a bit bad because I took the photo off the internet and it's probably someone's work. Part of me says it's wrong to steal from an artist. Another part of me says they're a chump for not protecting it on the internet, so it's fair game. I'm going to listen to that part of me because I'm not creative or talented enough to make one myself...