Wedding Planning Updates

I realized it's been quite a while since I've posted anything about the wedding planning. It had been on the bottom of the priority list until we finished relocating, moving into the new house, unpacking, and so on and so forth; therefore, I had been seriously slacking.

A quick glance at my knot page however, snapped me out of my wedding planning denial - 220 days to go! Crap nuggets! We don't have a photographer, officiant, dj, or baker. We still haven't signed the contract with the ceremony and reception venue. Literally, aside from my dress, and a binder full of inspirational pictures - we have NOTHING. I flipped into psycho planner mode earlier in the week (much to the delight of my unofficial wedding planner) and started delivering tasks to NavyGuy drill instructor style.

So, where are we at right now?

~ Photographer booked: Dave Watkins out of Madison. We knew early on that photography was a huge priority for us, so I spent hours and hours reviewing online options, made some phone calls, and made a gut decision. After seeing the stress that was Sister's wedding photographer, I wanted to make sure it was someone we would click with, and I think Dave fits the bill. (Plus the photos on his website are my dream mixture of artsy, formal, creative, and classy.)

~ We revamped our ceremony site. Long story short, we're now doing the ceremony in the Promenade Terrace at the Overture Center. The rooftop garden option at the Museum of Modern Art was becoming way more drama than it was worth (plus now I don't have to have panic attacks about a bad weather outside wedding... double plus, it's cheaper :).

~ Blocks of hotel rooms for our guests are currently causing me migraines. I didn't get on the ball and do this earlier, so now several of the hotels in downtown Madison are completely booked for the wedding weekend (you explain to me who wants to have a business conference on Memorial Day weekend, but I rest my case). NavyGuy and his parents are working some magic and hopefully we won't have to stay at the YMCA on our wedding night.

Part of the hold up at the moment is the inconvenience of planning a wedding 2000 miles, and 2 time zones, away from home. There's a lot of phone tag with vendors, and way too many internet searches. Luckily, NavyGuy is an expert at calming me down and reminding me that it will all get done. The good news is I'm getting better at making phone calls (those who know me know I would rather have my toenails forcefully extracted than talk on the phone to people I don't know), and... we still have 216 days to make it all happen!