Wedding Planning Weekend

As most of you know, I headed home last weekend for a crazy, whirlwind planning trip! I flew out Friday after work (and did I mention, there was a storm and I had to beg to get on a flight that left an hour and a half LATER than when I was supposed to leave? But American has cozy FREE blankets and those pillow things that fold up, so I forgave them) and we started the search bright and early Saturday morning.

Not having a particular emotional tie to the church we were members of when I was in high school, or the church my parents attend now, I went on a mad search to find the prettiest Methodist or Lutheran church in the DFW area. (I'm Methodist, Ben is Lutheran) Around 11 am, we found it. My mother tried to tell me, but when I saw it, it was absolutely breathtaking! The church I was baptized in, First United Methodist Fort Worth, stands proudly in downtown with a look that could rival the National Cathedral. With its beautifully detailed buttresses and shady, green courtyard, I was hooked before we even went inside. It is so majestic. It is the type of place you stand near and feel God's presence, at the risk of sounding cheesy.

Anyhow, after I'd decided that regardless of the lack of a return phonecall in the past two weeks from FUMC Fort Worth, I was getting married there no matter what, we headed to Stardust Celebrations in Plano to try on wedding dresses!!!

Now, of course I can't elaborate too much on the dress procedure because I'm a traditional girl and I don't want Ben to know ANYTHING about my dress before the wedding. But I will say...going somewhere with workers who know a lot about body type and wedding dresses really paid off. The first dress I tried on was the winner, and it wasn't anything like the dresses I had been flagging in the magazines.

What an exhausting day! With my birthday looming on the upcoming Tuesday, my parents wanted to take me out to celebrate, so after a 45 minute power nap, we were off to The Keg Steakhouse at the Highlands in Arlington. YUUUUMMM is all I can say! My cousin had her rehearsal dinner there a few weeks ago (the same weekend we got ENGAGED), so I had tasted the goods before, but this cooked-to-order steak, fresh piping hot bread, and whipped mashed potatoes was the best meal I had had in a long time. My filet mignon was also covered in blue cheese, a perfect companion to that wedding dress I had tried on earlier (not). But, come on, it was a birthday worth celebrating. I am officially closer to 30 than 20, and...

That sucks.

The next morning, not-so-bright-and-early, we woke up and headed to breakfast before going back to FUMC Fort Worth and sneaking in the door to find the wedding coordinator. We lucked out, and she was there! They can't book non-member weddings until 9 months out, so we have to wait until October to put down our deposit and get our date, which makes me nervous, but hey, if I get to get married in THAT church, it is worth the wait.

Here comes the fun part. Found the absolutely most perfectly wonderful place ever for my reception, but it's a bit pricey. Spent most of the afternoon pouting because need to find a way to get the absolutely most perfectly wonderful place ever for my reception to work with my budget. Haven't found a solution quite yet, but stopped pouting because at 5:30 was the appointment with...

The Cake Guys! What an awesome little boutique in Duncanville. These guys are talented, creative, and they make yummy cakes. This was hands down my dad's favorite part of the weekend and the best part was, it was all free! They give a discount if we get the contract back by Friday--delivery is free--so just putting the finishing touches on investigating the budget, and we'll know more!

Bridal Show aka Frenzy

Yesterday I went to a bridal show in Baltimore...what a crazy experience. It was definitely worth it for the free year's subscription to Bridal Magazine and contact information for a couple of the vendors that are national, but wow! Brides are crazy. 1000 girls with "Bride to Be!" buttons adorning their shirts dashed into this exhibit center on the Inner Harbor in Baltimore to be greeted by strangers (way too happy for your wedding considering they don't know you) with cakes, dresses, deals on tuxes, DJs, full band orchestras, Passion Parties, Pampered Chef parties, registry venues, limosine rental, hotel reception ideas and countless honeymoon contests you know are only going to result in a lot more spam in your inbox.

I was relieved to see a harpist at one of the first booths I visited, and the company that provides the musicians is national, so hopefully I can reach someone in Texas. Maybe this is silly, and I have a feeling it is going to cost an arm and a leg, but when other little girls were dreaming of white dresses and fairy tale cakes, all I really knew I wanted was a harpist to play Canon in D as I walked down the aisle. Now I have a lot of great ideas, thanks to being in a sorority and attending a grand total of about 25 weddings since I graduated (don't worry, I love you all!), mostly in the DFW area. But the harp has been a constant in my wedding daydreams.

Gosh, I just can't believe how you begin to sign your life away as you're planning a huge event like this. Every vendor requires a contract and every contract requires a lot of research and negotiation. For the first time, I am thankful that I was volun-told to plan my office's Christmas party last year. You can't put a price on that kind of experience in planning an event. Hopefully, hopefully, I can make it through the whole process a) without a coordinator while b) maintaining my sanity.

This weekend is wedding venue decision time, with a cake tasting and some bridal shopping thrown in. How much can I possibly get done in two days in DFW? I guess we'll find out!

Wedding Lesson #1

It's been one week since Ben Meyer proposed to me and Wow! My whole life has changed. Funny enough, my friend Jen (runbigjenrun.blogspot.com, who incidentally got engaged the same day I did) has declared that her blog will not at all begin to resemble a wedding planning diatribe, but since I'm creating this from scratch I think I'm in the clear. I mean, I figure if you don't want to read about that, you'll just tune in next fall when all of the wedded bliss is over and Ben and I chronicle what I'm sure will be our most interesting lives here (hopefully, if I can get him to post).

The coolest thing about getting married is realizing that you're going to have someone in your life to share everything with now, from bumps and bruises to the emotional rollercoasters, elated moments to tough times. It's a good feeling. The craziest thing about getting married is planning the wedding. I didn't even think about all of the things I have to do in the next year until I was on my way back from Texas (for our proposal story, check out www.theknot.com/ourwedding/BenMeyer&MeganOrton), on an airplane, reading bridal magazines. I thought it was a good idea to get a head start, but now I'm not so sure. My mind has been spinning with wedding mania since last Wednesday!

Anyhow, I hope at least some of you are looking forward to sharing this experience with us, and hopefully we can help you to avoid any pitfalls we might have along the way. First off, lesson #1:

Fiance is a male engaged to be married, fiancee is a female engaged to be married.

Interesting. Blonde females get an extra "e" too. Since Ben and I are disgusting and like to sit around saying "Good morning fiancee," "Hi Fiance," "Love, your fiancee," it's good to know that spelling it any old way would just not fly by Emily Post's standards (or Merriam-Webster's). Now we know.