Wedding Gab

It's been a month since Jordan proposed and I accepted. Since then, we've researched venues, attended bridal shows (overwhelming), refined our vision, rethought our vision, redefined it, and returned.

The one thing that's been amazing is how much everybody wants to help! My mom's cousin Caryn has been sending me links to various contests. We've already won a beautiful set of toasting flutes from Lenox! My aunt Teresa has really been helping us articulate what we want and my sweet neighbor has taken it upon himself to give us free reign over his gay-rage of decor, give us amazing ideas, and even offer himself as an amateur caterer.

We're still waiting to hear back from the church so that we can set a date, but we're looking at mid-October. We found an awesome photographer that we're going to meet with this Sunday, have already started a contract for a cake with a bakery in Dickson, and have picked out Save the Dates (waiting on the deacon at church to get back with us so we can actually buy them). We even bought placecard favors that are amazing. :)

We have ideas about what we want. Decor and details should reflect who we are as a couple. Mom has been advocating that Jordan and I sit down and write out our vision for the wedding so that we aren't forced into compromise by well-meaning people who only want to help, and so that we can better articulate our wants. I've found that I have a lot of difficulty articulating what I want. Like I said, we have strong ideas, but I hate the feeling I get when I put one of my ideas out there and get a less-than-excited reaction from well-intentioned but outspoken folk.

The thing that's most overwhelming to me (of all things) is table linens and chair covers! Table linens are ridiculously priced, both to rent and to purchase. Should we get linen napkins as well? The cost is astounding. We found a place in Memphis that rented covers for $1 a chair (plus set up fees), but none that we've seen in Nashville have been that inexpensive! Am I being ridiculous for wanting chair covers? Should I just suck it up and go with the uncovered reinforced plastic folding chairs that come stock with the reception hall? Is it really that big of a deal? I bet chair covers will look crazy anyway. At least the plastic folding chairs are aerodynamic and simple. 

The wedding, when it finally arrives in October, will reflect who Jordan and I are as a couple. It won't be perfect, but it will be amazing because not only will it be the culmination of ten months of preparation, but because it will also mark the beginning of our forever. That's all that will really matter when we look back on our wedding album in ten, twenty, thirty or more years. 

Houston, We Have a Guest List

I am a huge planner when it comes to something I'm excited about. We are still ten or eleven months until the wedding (we haven't even set a date yet - we'd have to meet with the parish associate/ deacon and he's out of town this week), but I am planning everything I can. I think my fear is that, once I get into the semester, school work will have me bogged down and unable to plan.

We have our guest list.

We've already contacted (through my aunt) a sweet DJ who offered us a sweet deal.

We've been working out a budget.

We've been researching locations, cried at how expensive they are, etc. etc. Now we're trying to decide whether to use the parish hall or go with an outdoors, more expensive by at least $900, but probably way more once you factor in the cost of a tent, venue. The parish hall has two really beautiful patios, but I'm not sure how you'd incorporate them. The smaller one is off of the reception hall, but the larger one is at the back of the parish life center, on the bottom floor, and overlooking the blacktop.

I've also taken my ring to be resized! I am anxiously awaiting its return - we dropped it off on Monday and the jeweler said it could be a whole week until we get it back. In the meantime, I've been wearing an imitation sapphire costume ring of my Mom's, just because wearing a ring makes me feel like an engaged woman. My brothers think I'm being ridiculous. "Shouldn't being engaged to Jordan make you feel like an engaged woman?" I can't explain it, either to them or myself, but seeing a ring on that special finger gives me the warm-and-fuzzies. :)

We're also thinking about doing paper flowers for the bouquet - Jordan made me a gorgeous bouquet of paper roses for Valentine's Day last year and I've kept them, so paper bouquets and boutonnieres would mean something to us and they'd help lend that cutesy, folksy feel I'm hoping for. I'm brimming over with ideas! Now that I've gotten over my oh-god-this-is-going-to-be-so-hard-oh-god phase, I'm really excited. :)

I know the wedding is still nearly a year away, but it's never too early to plan, right? Right?

We've also been playing Cass's Wii yesterday and today. I love this thing.

Holidays!

Today marked the official beginning of my holiday season!

Jordan and I met Mom, my aunt (dad's sister), and my grandmother at Woodlawn Cemetery to put out Christmas flowers for Dad's side of the family. After that, we drove to Calvary Cemetery (official cemetery of the Diocese of Nashville) to put out flowers for Nana's family.

Then Jordan and I set out to go shopping to finish buying gifts for a family we adopted from St. Luke's Community House. I believe they still have some families and seniors available for adoption, if anyone is interested. I definitely recommend it - St. Luke's does great things in West Nashville, and some of the families they sponsor lost their homes and possessions in the May flood.

We ended up at the Cool Stuff, Weird Things shop on Charlotte Avenue and I got a pair of vintage Christmas serving trays for $1.50 each. From there, it was to Target where we finished our shopping.

Tonight we went to Harpeth Hills where my Pawpaw is buried to see the graves all lit up. It's so peaceful, beautiful and quiet that it was hard for me to be afraid of the great unknown:

We finished up the night by wrapping the presents we bought today at Nana's and helping her wrap her presents for the family. It was a really great day. :)

"Although it may not look exactly like the cover of a magazine, it's still beautiful to me"

One of my new favorite shows this year is Mike & Molly on CBS. Since I'm usually writing papers or grading when this show comes on, my Mom has taken to recording it for me on DVR so I can watch it when I come home. Some of you may remember when I posted this article last week:

http://www.marieclaire.com/sex-love/dating-blog/overweight-couples-on-television

Long story short, this blogger blasted the show for depicting two overweight couples in love, stating, among other things, that she doesn't want to see two overweight (she draws a distinction between overweight and plump) people kissing, just like she doesn't want to see overweight people doing anything as mundane as walking across the room. She also criticized the show for normalizing obesity.

I watched the Mike & Molly Thanksgiving show tonight. In the thanksgiving speech, Billy Gardell, the actor who plays Mike, gives a barely perceptible response to the article (0:19 in the video below). This scene is so beautiful to me, with the imperfect family, tactless friends, and uninvited guests enjoying a moment of pure happiness around the Thanksgiving table. The look Gardell gives Melissa McCarthy (Molly) when he utters the line leaves no mistaking its intention.



On this Thanksgiving, I am so thankful for the love I've found with the most amazing man, and the past two years that we've spent as a couple.

Tomorrow is about appreciating our family and friends, and being thankful for the good things in our lives. Although none of us, nor the events we plan, are perfect, as this episode points out, I hope that we're all happy with the celebration we've been given, and with the people we celebrate it with.

No amount of whiskey, no amount of wine

I'm starting this blog hoping that it will be a cathartic exercise for me, what with the various pressures associated with graduate school (MA, Public History, Archival Management). I've had a livejournal for several years (peachykeenjane.livejournal.com) that I actually kept updated while I was an undergrad, but I haven't written in it seriously for about a year and a half or so.

So, some things about me:

I love living in Middle Tennessee. My family is here and I love the climate and scenery. I love being able to come to every one of our monthly family dinners (hosted at my nana's home in West Nashville). We had one of those this afternoon, and the November weather was so mild that we were able to sit outside comfortably for a couple of hours. Love it.

I'm getting ready to start writing my thesis, and I'll be finished with coursework in the Spring. I imagine this will be a source of discussion on the blog.

I've been dating a sweet boy for a little over two years. He's my sweetheart and I hope to keep him around forever :)

I work as a teaching assistant and as an archival digital projects assistant at my university. I enjoy grading and holding office hours more than most people probably should.

Anyway, thanks for following me on this daily journey of self-discovery!