5 MONTHS!!!!!

So since I live in Texas and the wedding is in PA I have a ton of stuff I have to cram into 6 days!!! Some of this stuff I can get done online but there is a ton of stuff I need to do in person while I am in PA for the Holiday. Talk about overwhelming!

• Select and purchase invitations: I fell in love with these invitations by DesignsbyAdj on Etsy. She will custom make them to whatever you want. I used her for my save-the-dates which I sent 9 months out since our wedding is the weekend before Memorial Day. She does a great job and I love that the response card is a post card and saves on paper! Always trying to be earth friendly!
  
• Start planning a honeymoon: Living in TX but getting married in PA makes thing a little complicated with travel so we have to meet with a travel agent and see if we can get a better deal than I have been trying to online.
  
• Shop for bridesmaids’ dresses & order: We are scheduled at Bijou in Ardmore, PA to go try on those beautiful dresses the day after Christmas. Super excited!
  
• Meet with the officiant: My FI and I decided that we wanted someone close to us to Marry us rather than some stranger. Also it is like $250 to hire someone and I want a short ceremony so I just thought that was ridiculous! So my very dear friend Chad will be marrying us. I was a bridesmaid in his wedding in August of 2009 so it is really nice to have him be a part of our day. We are paying for him to get ordained online which is only $30. That is a sweet deal my friends!
  
• Schedule hair and makeup artists: I had been getting my hair done by the same girl for the past 8 years and she is AMAZING and offered to do my hair for free. I also made an appointment with her to cut my hair while I am in PA because I have yet to get a good cut and color here. I haven't decided yet if I will do my own make-up or hire someone but I guess I should do that next week while I'm home.
  
• Choose your music: I actually gave this job to Patrick but who knows. I don’t find this necessary to do anyways until like 2 months out. Plus we are including on our response cards a place for our guest to suggest a song to be played. So ultimately I would love to incorporate everyone’s song into the day as best as possible.
  
• Select and order the cake: Our cake is included by our caterer and we have an appointment to do the cake tasting December 27th. Very excited because it will be the first thing Patrick and I have done for the wedding TOGETHER!
  
• Finalize the menu: Our caterer, Emily is fantastic! I’m really hoping we will be able to do our final tasting this trip because it’s the only trip I have Patrick with me.
  
• Book a florist: Our florist meeting is the next day (Tuesday) at Carousel Florist in Doylestown, PA and I could not be more excited to see what my bouquets will look like and what ideas she has.
  
• Reserve a block of hotel rooms for out-of-town guests: So here’s the dealiyo on this. I emailed the closest hotel (The Hampton Inn) to our house to reserve a block of rooms and they came back to me with a price that was HIGHER than then one I can get anytime online. This can not be right can it? So I am going to go there personally and talk to someone face to face because I find this absurd. Has anyone else had that happen to them?
  
• Look for the groom’s tux and decide what groomsmen will wear: I would love to Patrick to do this on this trip because he probably won’t be back until the wedding and I just think it’s something to do WITH your groomsmen … but maybe that’s just me.
  
• Have your mother and future mother-in-law coordinate and select their dresses: I actually am totally lost about this and don’t know if I go shopping with my mom or just let her do her thing. I probably should talk to her about the color because she has choice of color over Patrick’s mom. We don’t want any animosity on the day of do we?
  
• Reserve rental equipment such as chairs, tables, linens, tents, etc: This is a must do for this trip and right now I am waiting to hear back from this woman who is the mother-in-law of one of Patrick’s groomsmen because they are “hopefully” hook us up with a discount on everything we are renting. (Keeping my fingers crossed since our rentals are bringing us $2,000 over budget and it is KILLING me.)
  
• Research and book your rehearsal dinner location: I came up with the fun idea of having our rehearsal dinner at my favorite sushi/hibachi restaurant. Ooka in Doylestown, PA is so delicious and Hibachi is just such a fun thing to do with a big group. I also use to waitress, bartend and hostess there so I’m hoping they hook me up with a sweet deal ;-)