Left Brain, Right Brain

I'm going to go to Payless and probably a few other stores sometime soon to see if I can get some nice shoes for the wedding for a good price. I like the Eliza ones at David's Bridal, but come ON! They are $48!! $48 for a pair of shoes? They won't even show up in the wedding pictures! So here's what I've looked at online so far. But I'll be going shopping for real, too, of course... (All links open in new windows)

Kameo Quarter Strap

Lecia Ankle Strap Sandal

Liz X Band Classic Sandal

Kozy Dress (I actually don't like this one so much. Maybe I should remove this from my list...)

Honeymoon Jewel Sandal (I kind of dislike the rhinestones. This will probably come off the list too...)

Goddammit, my inner were-bride is coming back to life again. Thought I'd killed her off once and for all.

It's like an infection of my BRAIN. Suddenly I want a big ol' frilly fluffy white gown again. Gah! Why does this happen??? It doesn't make any sense at all. It's not even natural - it's just my subconscious reminding me that white wedding gowns have been the style for the last 150 years or so, and don't I want to be fashionable for my wedding? No!! I don't! I just want to be me! I want to be special! I want a dress that I can wear again and again! I don't want to waste hundreds of dollars on a one-shot wonder!

...and yet the inner were-bride does.

I'm battling her for control, and she is getting stronger. She first came to life after I got *THE DIAMOND*, much to my surprise, but I squashed her into submission in just a few short weeks. She popped in once in a while to voice her frilly little opinion, but I just nodded and told her I'd take that into consideration, along with all my other options. Now that the venue is booked and the date is SOLIDLY September 23rd (quick, mark your calendar!), and I've started looking at menu options and decorating ideas, well, the whole thing is suddenly getting a lot more "real" and it is giving my inner were-bride strength. She found out that there is a $99 sale at David's Bridal which ends on April 3rd, and she is considering driving me to Fargo this weekend so I can go dress-shopping with my mom. Ack. If I'm not careful, she might even drag me to the local David's Bridal to do some browsing this week.

It's not easy battling with a fluffy-chiffon-tulle-lace-sparkly WERE-BRIDE... she is getting really strong and persistent, and I think she's starting to win. :(

I am not actually that emotional right now, but the hormones of my Moon make my eyes want to cry and my lips want to pout. It's weird. Like my body feels like crying, but my mind and emotions really don't.

As the wedding date gets closer, the plans are morphing slowly into shape. My parents are paying for the wedding and are now doing all the planning, which is a HUGE GIGANTIC load off my back. I hate that stuff, and they are real pros at it. For this to happen realistically, we would have to do the wedding in Fargo. This is not such a terrible thing. It's my hometown, which is supposed to be the traditional location for the wedding. It's also cheaper to do everything there. And my uncle, who works for the NDSU Alumni Foundation, can get one free usage of their beautiful center per year.

The Alumni Center is booked on September 30th, but it is WIDE OPEN the week before - September 23rd - which also happens to be the first day of autumn... not to mention the first full day of Rosh Hashanah and the first of Ramadan. Hah. So my dad actually already got us penciled in on that date for that location. I will probably confirm it once and for all this week.

I have a lot of relatives coming to the wedding - about 15-20 of them. I believe 7 of them are traveling over 3 hours from central North Dakota just to get to Fargo. I'd feel like a shit making them travel another 3-4 hours to get to the cities. Jon only has 6 relatives TOTAL coming to the wedding, 4 from the Twin Cities and 2 from St. Cloud, which is like an hour closer to Fargo. So there. It's totally fair doing this in Fargo, the "most central" location. I have more long-distance family. Not to mention, the hotels in Fargo cost less than hotels in the Cites, and while I am not paying for ANYONE'S hotel rooms, less people will be paying less money overall, which is good.

Jon is being a real trooper through all this. He isn't in love with going up to Fargo, but he is in love with me ;) and he is being totally open and willing to do whatever it takes just to get this thing over with! LOL - Besides, we will be LIVING in the Cities, and after this, we will only have to go to Fargo once or twice a year to visit my family for holidays or whatever. It's a small price to pay in the big scheme of things. And people travel for weddings ALL the time... it's no big deal.

I am actually really happy and confident and calm. My wedding is in great hands. But I still feel like crying. Damn periods.

I like Urban Red the best right now - matches my red kitchen stuff (and all the retro-red stuff I'm going to register for!)... but I also like Fresco, although not nearly as much.

I think before I make up my mind I should go to the Corelle store in the Albertville mall and look at patterns there, and see what kind of other pieces are available for all patterns.

Then again, I might just keep my Butterfly Gold set for a few years longer. It works just fine, it's nice and neutral, and I grew up with them so they are special to me. Plus I have something like 12 of every size plate, bowl, and cup (my brothers each have a few more settings of the same set), and 2 serving bowls and a nice platter. It's fun to have a relatively complete set of matching dishes, even if they are slightly dated. New "everyday" dishes can always wait.

And I am getting my great-grandmother's beautiful china, anyway. And a hutch to display it in! And my GOOD silverware, which I actually recieved for my high-school graduation, but my mom has kept it in storage for me since I really don't have any use for a fine set of silver anyway. I use the old set that used to belong to Grandma S., and hey, as long as it's all matching, I got no complaints. But I guess it will be nice to have a nice set of china and silver... in case I ever feel like I want to get all fancy and impress company or something.

OK, I just talked to Jon and my Dad between last night and this morning, and I think I might actually do this. I can get married and have my party all on a riverboat! (My dad and I were looking specifically at this one - The Anastasia) If you've never been on a riverboat cruise, they are REALLY fun. I am just a little concerned that the weather might be ugly on September 30th, and half the fun of a riverboat ride is enjoying the beautiful weather from an open upper deck.

But either way, even if the weather is ugly, the reception tables and everything would be set up in an enclosed area of the boat, so it would be manageable.

The other thing I really like about it is that I could just do a nice little 3-hour mid-afternoon reception with some hors d'oeuvres and cake, and then it would be done! No dinner to worry about, no open bar and embarrassing drunks lasting far too late into the night - just a nice fun time!

I saw a dress at the mall this weekend that literally took my breath away - I just stood there and gasped when I saw it in the shop window. I went in to look at the price while Jon was in a neighboring Poker Shop.

Dammit.

My taste is just too damn good. The dress was $1500.

Oh well. Maybe I'll find something similar some other time. But I'm still cranky.

I think if I wear any kind of gown at all, I want to be married in a blue one. And I want to carry blue hydrangeas and ivory roses if I carry flowers.

Edited to add: Also, I just bought a new titanium nose bone with a lovely sapphire (lookalike) stone - Sapphire for September! I think maybe we will keep the 9/30/06 date after all. ^_^

I think that the wedding is going to be on September 30, 2006. I just kind of tossed it out there as a suggestion, and I figured it's far off enough to allow at least a little planning, and being the last day of a month makes it easier to remember. Plus I kind of like autumn. And it's not too close to any major holidays or birthdays.

Sent Jon a text message on his phone suggesting it. He looked at his calendar and IMed me later this morning when he was back in his office from the client site he was at. Said it seemed OK. He was kind of looking for something like 10/10 but that's a Tuesday, and I explained that the last day of September was the closest I could find in about a year's time that was kind of easy to remember, too. He seemed pretty OK with that.

The other option I was thinking about was 11/11/06. There are a few problems with it though. 1) 5 days after my birthday; 2) 1 day after my brother's birthday; 3) In this part of the country, it very well may be quite cold, even snowing by then.

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Never mind, I just talked to Jon about it, and he still says 9/30 is fine. So I guess that's it!