So glad we maid it.

See a photographer this Sunday! Spoke to a priest and I am rolling! Talking to a hair dresser about a $30 hair trail!

I am going to a sample sale this Friday morning, so I am thinking about my own dress, I swear, but I spent some time today thinking about Bridesmaids too. I offered black dresses up to my maids, but they all said they were cool with a light blue. I like an aqua blue, but I realize that not everyone does, so I need to curb my impulses to pick some crazy aqua nightmare.

I can't really explain fully how outrageous I think the bridesmaid dress thing is. They will have to pay 200+ for a gown they will never wear, plus they will have to pay around $100 for alterations. I think it's a racket, I think it's unnecessary. I want my BM's dresses to be off the rack, ready to wear, and under $200. This has less to do with inconveniencing my bridesmaids, and more to do with how disgusted I am getting with the wedding "industry". The groomsmen can rent a tux!

I have beautiful, young bridesmaids and I like the idea of them in knee or tea-length contemporary designs. What I planned on doing is picking a material and a color, and letting the dames pick their dress from a place like Ann Taylor or J.Crew.... so they can order it online and so that they can pick the style themselves - and maybe like it better. I don't really care if I see my sister in this dress again or not, but I care that she LOOKS like she could wear it again. With my huge bridal party, I also think a casual, pretty, young-style dress will look better.

Ann Taylor:
Color is "Cornflower Blue", Material is silk dupioni. Here are the two dress styles they can pick with that color and material right now:
One, Two.

There is also a flowergirl dress that is adorable and not so frilly.

J.Crew:
Color is "BRIGHT AQUAMARINE", Material is silk chiffon. Here are the three dress styles they can pick: One, Two, Three.

If they don't mind wearing the same dress and like any of these, they can do these:

I like this dress, it's all three of the wedding colors (aqua, gold, white) and it's different and inexpensive.

This might be too tight, and it's like "WHOA AQUA", but just to show you.

Another very "WHOA AQUA" dress. Most of my bridesmaids are fair skinned, this might be too bright.

I like this one and it's cheap. My bridesmaids are all thin, so that helps.

They are going to vote on the cheapest one, I know it, so I am glad I like that lace one. :)

This photo was taken by Michael Leslie.

Ok, so, Matt's marriage was annulled and I am the happiest person alive. I really, REALLY wanted a Catholic wedding and a Catholic marriage, and now I can, he can, and his ex can too. EVERYONE IS HAPPY! Except... gay people, but I really feel in my heart of hearts that this will change some day. I am meeting with a priest on Monday at this ultra-liberal West Village church (they have a Catholic Lesbians group, which made my heart burst into rainbows), and I really can't wait. I plan on doing a soul dump.

I have been living such a selfish, self-serving life, I haven't done volunteer stuff in a year, and I feel horrible about it. I haven't done much prayer or anything to connect with that part of me either. It's an empty way to live, for me. So I think he'll have suggstions. I would love to connect volunteer work with getting involved in the church again. I would love to ACT like I care about the greater good instead of just SAYING that I do - like the rich Tribeca yuppie that I am terrified to realize I am slowly becoming.

Anyway, so that is on track, and I am talking to two photographers. One is too expensive ($5000), but he has shot in the aquarium so many times, was very responsive, and was recommended by the aquarium itself. He shot the photo I attached to this post. I am worried about the low lighting and the reflective tanks. I want a good, seasoned photographer that isn't expensive... impossible? I hope not. I found a couple that has also shot in the aquarium who will do it for $3,300, which is more than I wanted to spend, but I DO get TWO photographers for the price. I am going to check out their stuff next weekend. Wish me luck.

I also found the woman that I want to do my hair, and I am going to set up a trial soon. My plan is to have this whole wedding planned by fall, and NFL kickoff. I think I can do it, I've had a year of sitting on my thumbs, waiting for the annullment and just looking at things, so I already know what I want. I just have to find the person to get it to me - for the right price.

I am paying $1000 for my wedding dress. I can do it.

A fatal attraction to cuteness.

OK, I am having major problems. I am about to enter into the biggest commitment of my life, something ULTRA-adult, and I am cooing over little HELLO KITTY accessories!

I can't help it guys. I've loved Hello Kitty ever since I was teeny-tiny, and my mother told me that the "K" on Hello Kitty's overalls stood for my name. (I was as self-obsessed then as I am now - I totally believed her!) I thought her name was "Miss Kitty", and I thought her FIRST name was Kate. I was wrong, but I still love her - and I love these
Tarina Tarantino bridal accessories! Obviously some of them are a bit too big and bold for my look, but even if I can't wear some of this stuff on the big day, I would love to rock this in my hair on the days leading up to it, or flash this ring at the bachlorette.

And... since no one will see it... I can really see myself wearing this under my dress. I am not doing a garter toss, so I'll get to keep it. ;-)

Man, but this stuff is expensive. Maybe best kept for the fantasies. My mom will destroy me.

Hair we are.

We could hear about the annulment ANY DAY NOW, which is exciting. It could also be in weeks, so that isn't. I am still staring at the aquarium contract, I didn't send it yet in the hopes that maybe we would find out beforehand. I have to send it this week though, and plop down our first chunk of change on a deposit. (!!)

I decided how I want my hair to look, and I'm excited. I started using the Picasa album on my gmail account to hold "inspiration" photos - I could never put such nonsense in my precious Flickr photostream - and now I have a bunch. Here is my little Bride Hair album. The young lady in the photo I've posted has the hair I like best, I hope she doesn't mind me posting her photo here. I love the way it looks with a veil, I like that it looks "special" without looking too formal... I love it.

Hair is important to me. I'm from Jersey. If anything, this is almost as big a deal as the dress.

HOT TOPIC : It suddenly feels real now that I am making a deposit.

Currently the HOT TOPIC on the knot: "Is a half-dozen rose bouquet too small for the bridesmaids? WHAT?! who cares?! I can't believe how many responses that has. Do people really feel strongly about the size of a bouquet? Seriously. Can there really be "too small"? I know there could be "too big" meaning cumbersome to carry, but will people really look at my bridesmaids and say "she should have sprung for bigger bouquets"? Man. Ps. The Knot is calling this the "HOT TOPIC", I didn't make that up.

I just came back from the gym, it's 8:45am and I am already on the knot. I can't help it. Yesterday we came back from the Ballroom, and I am signing the contract this week, most likely. I know we don't have the church yet, but Matt SWEARS I shouldn't worry, and I suppose I should listen to him because he's done this before. We are now past the annulment contention period, it should go through VERY shortly, so I suppose he's right. We still have 15 months until the wedding.

So um, I can say that we are definitely getting married in May 2009. It's real, it's happening. I can plan, and I don't have to worry. So I'm on the knot. So sue me. I'm very excited, and they have an excellent guest list tool, which I am loving. I can see who is single, who is coming with a guest, who is a child/not ordering alcohol... I can also add them to separate guest lists for the rehearsal dinner, the shower, and the bachlor/ette parties, and plus in their e-mail and street addresses. It's a great tool. I need to do a good first guest list so that Matt and I can really hammer out a budget - we are already saving, which is great, but we need to ramp it up.

But I could care less about bouquets, or flowers in general. I am not having my wedding reception next to a shark tank so that people can look at dead plants.

I have been quietly flipping out about the wedding, because I am SO stressed about the annulment. When is FINALLY going to be FINAL?! When can I start planning? Ug ug ug. I have this paniac every few days that all the Catholic churches in Philly are going to be booked for May 2009 soon. I mean, it's possible. It's a Catholic town, May is a popular month, saturday is the best day ARRRGH.

I registered at a church in the West Village, but now we are moving to Tribeca. Should I re-register? How does that work? Maybe I'll start all over gain fresh and figure this out. I sorta' want meet with a Priest on my own. Tell him my concerns, and maybe get confession so that I'm all set. WTF, this is all so confusing.

On the nonsense side of things, I like these invitations. I wish the colors were different, but I can change that, I'm sure. I like having the ocean animals on the invites, but I don't want palm trees. We are having an aquarium wedding, not a beach wedding. So I can't do that exact pattern, but I like the look. Man, letterpress is expensive. I wonder if it's really that big a deal. I like the way it feels, but come on, people don't, like, SAVE the invitations. Hey "Monkey Girl", did you see these?

My friend Kevin has a printing company, maybe I could ask him for ideas. A co-worker of mine is a grpahic designer, too. Hmmm. I guess I should stop thinking about this and work on the church stuff though. No point in thinking about invites when you can't set a date. :(

Whale pitcher

Matt is finally letting me use the computer (he's a big computer hog), so I am going crazy looking at all these links I've been saving from magazines.

I know I'll register at some place like Bed Bath and Beyond or Target (and hopefully William-Sonoma), but in my dreams I can register at a place like Jonathan Adler and get a Whale Pitcher. Or for a digital SLR camera. Or for some of the awesome stuff on this website or the MOMA store. Like, these place mats. What's your fantasy registry? I don't even know where I'd put this stuff if I was to get it. I mean, I have no room for my shoes or clothing, where am I going to put a WHALE pitcher?