Floral Mess

So... our florist closed down his store and is now working out of a friend's shop... and was MIA from June until last week when he called to tell me this. Actually, I tried to call him one day last week and the phone number I had for his store was not in service. So then I went on his website, and that was "under construction." I then called a vendor who I knew to be part of his "group" of vendors who recommend one another, and she was the one who told me that he closed down. I nearly choked when I heard this-- what do you mean, closed down?

Of course I don't know the specifics and there could be a number of factors that played a role in why his store is closed and why he's now working out of a friend's store. But at that moment when I had no way to reach my florist and I'm finding out that he's closed down and hasn't called to tell me yet-- with only 6 months to go until my wedding-- I freaked out a little bit. I knew the whole planning process was going too smoothly...

Anyway. I started thinking of alternative routes to take and decided that this would be a good time to start looking for a new florist. But, strangely enough, my original florist called me later that night after I was trying to track him down. Now, back in June or whenever it was that we met with him, he said he would be contacting me several times in the fall to go over things and to give me a heads up about shows I could attend to see his work and get some ideas. But he never called. But then coincidentally he calls me the same day I try to call him? Interesting... On the phone he casually mentioned that his store had closed down and was working from a friend's store and not to worry, he'd still be doing my flowers for my wedding, which is August 7, 2011 right? WHAT! Try 2010. As in 6 months from this phone conversation. As in... do you even remember anything we talked about in June? Do you still have it all written down? He then started to confirm some things that he said we had left unclear... but really, we had decided on them during our meeting, like having a sweetheart table vs. a head table. It was a little awkward for me to be talking to my florist and feel like he had no recollection of the consultation we'd had in the summer. Granted, I don't remember every detail myself, but he wrote it all down and I would hope that he had that paper in front of him when he's calling to discuss my wedding with me. Oy.

This weekend we have a consultation at Dave's Baskets in EG. Lisa had her flowers done by them and they did a fabulous job, and Lauren works there so she knows first-hand the kind of work they do. I feel more comfortable going with a store that probably will not be closing anytime soon. It's unfortunate that we have to find someone new to go with, especially since I liked this guy and he knows my father, but now I'm just nervous that something else will come up with him and he'll take forever to tell me and then I'll be left hanging even closer to the wedding day. No thanks, I'd rather not risk it.

But honestly, if that's my worst problem so far, I think I'm doing pretty well!

New Layout!

After reading my lovely future-sister-in-law Lisa's awesome blog earlier, I decided to change the layout of my blog. I'm still learning things with all this blogger stuff, but I wanted something to reflect my current lovey dovey I'm-getting-married-in-6-months mood. Isn't it cute??

So today I booked our free engagement session with our photographer, Erick Brown. He's really fantastic-- he's so professional and everything about the way he handles his clients is so honest. I guess he changed his prices and added free engagement sessions to his 2010 clients, but felt like it was unfair to not include people who had booked him in 2009 for weddings this year, so he extended the free session to all of us, too. We were lucky in the first place because he was going to do our session free anyway. Whenever he works with someone in the service, or who is a police officer or fire fighter, he offers them a free session as a way of thanking them for doing a job that he could never do himself. How great is that? Plus his work is wonderful, which is really what matters the most!

We'll be doing the session in a few weeks at his adorable studio. I can't wait to see how they come out-- he's doing an online posting type deal, so I'll put the link here for anyone interested in taking a peek after they're up.

6 MONTHS!

Holy cow, today is the 6 month mark and I have no idea how we here! I went a long stretch without really thinking about the wedding too much, but now all of a sudden it's ALL I can think about some days. I've been experimenting with different makeup because I think we're going to skip the makeup artist (too expensive for something we can do ourselves, in my opinion). I keep browsing hair styles online. I look at flower arrangements constantly. I'm not anxious or stressed, just really excited!


Yesterday was a dress shopping day, but not for me. I have my dress, so yesterday was all about my bridesmaids, mother, and future mother in law finding dresses that they loved. The girls are all wearing Bill Levkoff dresses in Cornflower, but they chose different styles to suit their own bodies and tastes. They did such a good job making their choices-- they all chose dresses that looked amazing on them. And they did it so fast! The associate who was helping us said she had never seen a bridal party choose dresses so quickly. That's right folks, my friends are efficient and stylish. And to quote Shana, it's a good thing I have such good looking girlfriends ;)


My godmother, Mary, came along with us as well and served as a very helpful stylist. My mom and Matt's mom (also Mary) found gorgeous dresses. They were stunning. My mom chose a dusty rose colored strapless gown with a jacket and little embellishment on the waist, and Mary chose a gorgeous slate gray/silver dress with a criss-cross type style across the torso and off the shoulder type sleeves. 

The dresses look sage and yellow in this picture, but they're definitely not. They looked so good in person.

I won't post every single dress that my girls chose, but here's a cute group shot (we're missing Chelsea and Sara Mouch, my Virginia nursing student and my little world traveler). 

Six months from now, they'll be decked out in their awesome dresses and we'll all have tans and won't be wearing all these layers! Can't wait to see how beautiful they will all look :)


So this week my wedding tasks are as follows:

• Call the photographer and book the free engagement session he offered us (thank you, Matt, for your service to the country!)
• Call the videographer and schedule a meeting to go over some odds and ends
• Make a wedding "vision board" to encompass the colors, moods, and overall themes of the wedding day (not an urgent task, but it'll be fun) 

• Make a home made Valentine's card for my sweet fiance!