2 Years!

Yesterday was our 2-year anniversary. It's been 2 years since the night we met, which makes this the longest relationship for both Nick and I. I can honestly say that it feels like we've been together forever; it feels like he's always been a part of my life. We're very blessed!

256 days until I am Mrs. Nicholas Pritchett!

Food!

Well, we had our tasting yesterday. It was a little strange! They send a chef out to your house to cook the menu for you. The food is mostly prepared, it just needs to be heated through. So the guy shows up to our house. He's very skinny, shaved head, and covered in tattoos. I have to say, I was a little nervous! After chatting with him for a while, we found out that he is a really nice guy and much less scary than his appearance suggested. 

Even better than him being a great guy, he is a wonderful cook. Mom, Jake, Nick, and I were served turkey, spiced apple stuffing, garlic mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes (not yams, but chunks of potatoes covered in a maple glaze-SO good!), and our mixed greens salad with candied walnuts, gorgonzola cheese, and pear vinaigrette. We also have corn and rolls on the menu, plus a smoked salmon appetizer and a cheese platter, which we didn't need to taste. We were very happy with the tasting and now I need to set up a time to pay the down payment and iron out our itemized contract. Woohoo!

Still to do:

*Appraisal for the rings

*Wedding bands for Nick and I

*Finalize our guest list (we're at 98 now-although we know some aren't coming)

*Save the date magnets and invitations

*Honeymoon stuff--we need a travel agent!

*Figuring out flowers

*Veil, shoes, undergarments

That's it for now . . . as far as I know. It's all so much to deal with!

Cute story (that has nothing to do with the wedding): I had all my 10th graders do a positives list. They had to write one positive thing about everyone else in their class. Then I compiled the lists for each student so that it was completely anonymous. At the end of each list, I wrote something special for each individual student. It took about an hour for every 5 students and I have about 85 kids, very labor-intensive. I read my note to each student at their request, which made many of them cry. At the end of 6th period, after I had read my notes, the kids surprised me with a positives list they had created for me. They had typed it up and put some clip art on it and then had it laminated. 

This gift is one that I get to cherish after I'm done with teaching, and for that I'm grateful. I truly have some wonderful kids this year. And part of that wonderfulness is the fact that they know I truly care about them. I want them to succeed and some of them had never had anyone believe in them like they know I do. It makes them shine and they actually try to do better. It's amazing what believing in someone can do for his or her confidence. Life lesson.

Tasting and other "stuff"

Our tasting with Gallucci's is set for Thursday at 5. Hopefully all goes well and we can get this booked and done.

We've also been looking at cruises for the honeymoon, but the more I look at that, the more I think that isn't the route I want to go. I don't want to spend a whole day at sea and not doing anything but hanging out on the boat with the hundreds of other people on the cruise. That doesn't sound romantic. I want to stay in Cozumel and go out to the Mayan ruins on more than one day. If we don't do Mexico, I want to go to Paris. Period. There are tons of flight and hotel deals that allow you to add on tours and secondary travel locations (London for a few days!). Europe is the dream and I'm going to really push for it. We can do a cruise anytime.

We just added our massage therapist to our list of guests. She came over today to give everyone massages and we showed her the dress. (Side note: I thought I was going to keep the dress under wraps and secret, but I've been showing everyone lately . . . ) She said she wanted to come to the wedding and my mom and I both said okay! She's so sweet and we just love her, so it makes sense to have her there. It's crazy how many people we've been able to add. This was supposed to be family only, but our "family" is a lot more extended than we realized!

Other, non-wedding news: Nick's brother Joel and his wife Cheryl are pregnant and they just found out that they are having a GIRL! Nick swore that Pritchett boys can only father boys, as there are only a few girls in the family on his dad's side. This is proof that it can be done. There's hope! We are all so excited now and I get to buy everything pink for them!

Guest list

We just completed our guest list and it came to only 94 people! This is very exciting because we know that at least a few people will not attend, which means that we get to add a few more guests who we thought we were going to have to leave off. Nick would rather leave the list as is and add more food to the reception, but I really want to invite a few more people outside of the family who mean more to me.

We got our itemized list from Gallucci's Catering the other day and I really need to call them to set up the tasting and pay the down payment to lock in our date. After that is done, all the rest of the to-do list will be easy, I hope. Just flowers, cake, engagement photos, etc.

Nick spent an hour on the computer yesterday looking at an 8-day tour in Mexico of the Mayan ruins. He was getting so excited, which was adorable. I like the idea and it certainly sounds more appealing to me to hang out at the ruins than to spend our whole honeymoon on the beach. However, this honeymoon Nick was planning out doesn't sound very romantic. I really want to go to Europe, but there are so many tours and travel sites to sift through. I have no idea how to go about booking this trip. This is one of the big things on my to-do list,  but I still have a little while before it starts to loom over me and causes me to stress out!

Catering!

Well, our last big decision is very close to being checked off. We met with Gallucci's Catering today and went over menu options and an itemized list of what we need. We were given a price quote, with which we are happy. The next step is to set up the in-home (yes, they come to our house and cook our menu for us!) tasting. 

Here's the menu:

*Turkey

*Mashed potatoes and gravy

*Stuffing

*Sweet potatoes

*Corn

*Rolls and honey butter

Appetizers:

*Cheese spread with domestic and imported cheeses, crackers, and crusty bread

*Smoked salmon spread

We were very happy with Ron, the owner, who we met with this afternoon. He's a very nice guy who gave us a great deal. It's very exciting to have this decision made (well, almost). We will likely sign the agreement and pay our down payment when we set up the tasting in the next couple of days. The best thing about it was that he went over all these tiny details that we would have never considered. We both feel a lot more confident now that these little things are taken care of. We went above our budget, but not by that much, and since Nick's parents are paying for the majority of it, we feel pretty good about the remaining balance. 

A couple of things we still need to deal with:

1. Purchase the wine and champagne

2. Get the banquet license so we can serve the alcohol

3. Book the cake person (we need to do a few tastings for this)

 

One other note: DO NOT book Twelve Baskets catering. While their food was delicious when we sampled it at the Seattle Bridal Show, their staff is rude and obnoxious. We sent them an email with our menu and proposed budget (for food ONLY, we did not include linens and service in this cost when we emailed them), and they called us a few days later. The man I spoke to informed me that I could not feed 100 people at Taco Bell for this price (it was $2000, which was only a portion of our catering budget). I was so angry that I told him he didn't need to worry about my budget or my business and I hung up. He did not ask me what I expected that money to pay for, or if that was my budget for all the catering costs. He also informed me that, as they are based in Kirkland, I should maybe look in Tacoma or other "low budget" areas for "cheap" food. He was a condescending jerk and I will be spreading the word that Twelve Baskets is a horrible company.

Beyond the Twelve Baskets fiasco, things are good. We are so ahead of the game and it feels great! Give me a few more weeks though and I'm sure I will be freaking out about something new. Ah, the joys of wedding planning.

(Even though it is stressful, I am having so much fun doing this! I wish I could work in this industry. It really is so interesting and fast-paced. Maybe in the future . . . )

Fun Times

The Tacoma Bridal Expo was this weekend and I decided to go. I thought it would be good to set up tasting appointments with a few places (and I was obsessed with having another baby red potato from Twelve Baskets). Nick and I asked his friend, Austin to go with, ostensibly to find him a "cute bridesmaid." Now, imagine me walking into the bridal show with Nick (and a groom sticker one of the ladies at the door stuck on him) and Austin as we are surrounded by brides, their mothers, and their friends. It was hilarious. I came with two boys. I think some people thought I was nuts. 

Things only got funnier as Nick and Austin started looking around and became overwhelmed. This show was 1/4 the size of the Seattle show, so I thought they could handle it. I finally had to lay down the law about not accepting photographer, gown, and venue brochures as my bag was starting to fill up and they were taking anyone that was thrown at them. Then Nick became obsessed with talking to every travel booth about Tahiti, the Mayan Riviera, and Paris. Every time I turned around he had disappeared and then would reappear with an armful of travel brochures. 

They were both food obsessed, and I don't think I've seen Nick light up quite as much as he did at the Famous Dave's booth, which was giving out free samples, including ribs. By the time we were done with the show, Nick was full. And we still hadn't booked a caterer or a cake designer. Eh, I'm not going to stress about it. I know that I need to take care of the catering situation, but I refuse to be rushed at this point. I am ahead of the game and things are going so well. I feel very lucky. Next time there's a bridal show; however, I think I will just take my mom.

Oh, and we didn't find Austin a "cute bridesmaid." The girls at the Tacoma show weren't as cute as the ones at the Seattle show. Austin had fun though. And so did Nick, even with the stomachache he developed from the BBQ. Gotta love the boys!

Decisions

My mom was talking about the wedding with one of her co-workers and she told this woman about my stress with the whole bridesmaid situation. Mom's co-worker asked why we didn't just forego attendants altogether. Now why didn't I think of that? Geez.

So, the decision has been made: no attendants. No groomsmen, no bridesmaids. It's perfect for our wedding, which is very family-centered anyway. Nick's brothers, Jacob, and Nick's friend Austin can be ushers and we will come down the aisle (separately of course-and me with my dad) after the family is escorted in. On the mantle will be the pictures of the grandparents and the wedding photos from Nick's and my parents, so it's like they will be our attendants. Plus, the altar area is very small, so the focus will be completely on Nick and me. No flower girl or ring bearer as well, which means we are going to save a ton of money on flowers with all these eliminations. Things feel like they are starting to fall into place. 

I'm also pretty set on a child-free wedding. I'm thinking that we will include a note with our invitations about our love for the children in the family and the hope that the parents will understand that, due to the nature of the venue, it would be more appropriate for children not to attend. Besides the fact that too many kids running around in that beautiful mansion scares the crap out of me, this will also open up about 15 spots for guests. There are some people I would be very sad to leave off my guest list due to space limitations. I just hope that people RSVP like they are supposed to, otherwise I'm going to have to throw down when the wedding gets closer!

Next up: Dave and Sariah's wedding this weekend and another bridal expo at the Tacoma Dome on Sunday with Nick and Austin (we're going to try to find him a girl there-maybe some bride's cute bridesmaid!) to do some wedding cake and caterer tasting. It's so nice that the food is the only big thing left on my to-do list. Other things:

*Chapel length plain ivory veil

*Make the favors-the bookmark idea won't leave my head, so that's it. It's a perfect statement from Nick and I since it is such an integral part of our lives.

*Flowers

*Dress cleaning, bustle, and alterations

*Book caterer and cake person (one of my students has a family member who is an amateur cake maker and I'm going to be calling her! Can you say cheap? And good!)

*Create centerpieces (tall vases filled with coffee beans and willow branches with hanging ivory and burgundy votives-maybe)

*Little things: guest book, unity candles (?), wedding rings

*Big thing: book our engagement session with Ryan! I really need to remember to do this soon.

*Call Marcella's about a good dress cleaner and alterations person here in Pierce County (Marcella's is in Seattle)

*Some Nana stuff

Is that it? That seems manageable. I can do this now that the crisis with the bridesmaids has been averted.

P.S. I'm still so in love with Nick's family for helping us with food. They are amazing!