More planning...

We had our details meeting on Saturday at the St. Paul Hotel. We nailed down the food, timeline and other things.
The wedding planner we're working with is really fantastic. She's been planning weddings for years and knows her stuff. We were talking about the head table and I want a traditional one, cause I think people enjoy that. I asked if we could have the wedding party's significant others sit with us. She was super cute and was carefully choosing her words to say, in short, don't do it. I can't even imagine the type of women she comes across, so she was being very smart in how she said it. Basically she said that it was very nice that I wanted to honor my wedding party in such a way, but she's seen this turn into a disaster. Too many times someone breaks up a week before the wedding, or they bring a date who you don't really know or they don't have a date. Then it makes pictures look weird and is just not worth the hassle.
So I decided to follow her advice.
We also talked about the timeline for the day and how everything will flow. She said we shouldn't do a receiving line, because apparently people don't do those anymore. And with a group the size of ours, we'll easily talk to everyone without having a line.
Next Eli and I have to pick out the appetizers that will be passed around during the reception hour. We'll probably get that done today. We also have to pick out a cake design, but we have time to do that.
In a few weeks my mom, sister and I are going to pick out the flowers and invitations. I need them cause I only have a general idea for invitations and am at a loss for flowers.
One of these weekends we'll go and pick out tuxes. We found what we want. We're going to go with charcoal suits since the dresses are such a dark blue. Black would look weird. Eli really wants charcoal pinstripes, so we'll look at that. I'm not sold yet, but I will likely be swayed. He is the one you has to wear it!
Also, I got my shoes. I will blog about them later and post a photo. And, yes, they deserve their own post!
Oh and I have officially lost five pounds!!!!!! I am half way to my goal. It's very exciting :) Shout out to Kris for her progress, too :)

The fitting

I went for my fitting this morning. It took about 10 minutes and I think the women who work there think I'm crazy for having a fitting so far in advance. My next appointment isn't for another month because the woman said she doesn't want to do too much too soon, which I totally understand. The more they have to play with the dress (if I lose more weight or something), the harder it is on the fabric.
Anyway, at this point they think all I need are the shoulders taken in and it hemmed, which is fine by me. The woman who helped me was hysterical. She was in all her Benton County glory. Deep voice from smoking a pack of Marlboro's a day, cat hair on her sweat shirt and a white mullet to complete the look. Love it. She said maybe two words to me as she pinned the dress.
Yet another character to add to my book about life in Central Minnesota...

Ready for my fitting

I have my first dress fitting Monday. I'm feeling pretty good about it. To get ready I had to go buy a bra and what they call "shapers." You know what I'm talking about, that great little invention that sucks everything in and gives you that sexy shape without spending hours in the gym and starving yourself.
So I went and got these important items and put them on and then tried on my dress. Then I looked in the mirror for awhile, went and sat down in it, looked in the mirror again, turned to check out the back... this went on for longer than it should have.
What can I say? I love my dress. The more I try it on, the more I love it. I love how I look in it, I love how comfortable it is. It's fantastic :)
Also, for those of you wondering, I lost 3.5 pounds this week! Awesome, huh? I probably have lost some inches too, I can tell that I look slimmer. Sehr gut!
Even Eli came up to me the other day, put his hands on my waste and said I was getting smaller. Gotta love that!

Bridesmaids dresses

Saturday we went and ordered bridesmaids dresses. It was the first time all the maids had gotten together and things went really well!

Of course I came in with the photo of the dress I wanted and was ready to go. The lady at the store told me I was the "easiest bride ever." I told her I wanted that dress and wanted to make sure they had the colors I wanted: dark blue and silver. She brought the swatches, I picked the colors out and we were good to go! Jaci tried on their sample to see how it looked and we all loved it :)

It's A-line and is duchess satin, so it has structure. It flows away from the hips and thighs and is flattering on everyone! I love the dress so much that I wish I could wear it :)

I'm letting the maids pick out their own shoes and jewelry so they can show their own style. They seem to all agree that silver shoes are the way to go.

I couldn't imagine doing things any differently. I found the dress online and had sent links to all the girls, asking what they thought. They all liked it, obviously. I saw several groups where girls were trying on dozens of dresses. Sure some chicks like this, but I knew my ladies wouldn't.

I could see bringing one maid in to try on some styles, but bring eight in and have them all try different ones on? No thanks.

We went to lunch after and had a great afternoon! Britt and Jaci said they have never been so involved in the planning before and have had so little stress. That's the whole point! I don't want them to be stressed out at all. I just want them to be there on the big day and have a great time!

Anyway, here's a picture of Jaci vamping it up for the camera in the sample dress.