4 posts tagged “wedding”
B'ah back to work already!
Still, can't complain as the wedding was great I just need something else big to focus on. I suppose searching for jobs qualifies, but it's not so much fun. :D
Right now I'm just waiting for our official photos back, we've seen a few proofs and they look great; I can't wait for the rest.
One thing I would like to mention to any potential wedding planners out there. If you plan to supplement the official photos by placing disposable cameras on tables for guests to use then:
- Instruct everyone to use them to photograph the people on their table before they do anything else.
- Get lots of cameras. Really do, the wastage is pretty impressive. Despite our cameras allegedly being good quality (Kodak) lots of shots had artefacts. More is therefore better.
- If you really want lots of pics encourage guests to mail their own/post them up for you (at the event so you don't have to chase people up). It's probably the better solution given the number of people with digital cameras these days.
Gift.
So as expected, my best man and ushers rose to the task of being fitted for suits with ease. Just as well too because sorting out the bridesmaids was a right pain. Anyway, I settled for tails rather than frock coats etc. and I should be dressed something like the bloke in this picture:
I'll have a gold waistcoat and cravat but the pattern will be slightly different, rather like this:
Which, incidentally, is roughly the colour (well not as powerfully purple) my best man and ushers will wear; they have to match the bridesmaids. We decided against top hats, chiefly because I look like an arse in them. Looking silly aside my friends really mobilised themselves when I needed them to, despite one of them having a small boy and pregnant other half to worry about, I'm glad I've got such reliable mates.
In other news, we finalised plans with the florist, the publican running our bar and chased down late repliers. The last item was not without issue, my family are terribly matriarchal and partisan so I've had to negotiate over my guest list to keep people happy. A bit bloody annoying but not unexpected, fortunately I've not had to invite any more people than I was planning due to various drop outs and well... it keeps the peace.
That said, although I've had a thoroughly exasperating time with my family at least I can tell what they want. Astraad's on the other hand frequently speak in code and requests arrive by a system of Chinese whispers. The latest incident involving speeches, where our policy was/is: the fewer the better. Wedding speeches can drag on if there are too many, and worse can be complete train wrecks, so to preserve tempers and face we settled on just two speakers. Obviously the best man has to make one, and the second I was going to be me combing the speech with the groom's thank yous and gift giving. We did ask Astraad's father if he wanted to give a speech, to which the reply was "I will if you want me to". That being the case, and knowing that Astraad's family don't care for big weddings (or that's the impression I got when her mother propelled at me for 20/30 minutes on the subject), we said "it's ok don't worry about it". Unfortunately though we hear down the grapevine, some months later mind, that his real answer should have been "Yes I'll be offended if you don't ask me". Sooo... we're back to the two speech plan but now it'll be Astraad's father then my best man, I'll just do thank yous. Not that I mind the new plan, but it's infuriating that I can't get a blessed direct answer unless one of them looses their rag (and sometimes not even then). Yes, I think it's fair to say between Astraad's family's mercurial desires and their very plain lack of enthusiasm for our wedding plans I'm quite fed up with the wedding logistics. >:(
Ending on a positive note, I am looking forward to the event itself and I'm getting pretty excited about it. Once we've tied up the loose ends, I'll be a happy man.
Gift.
Well we finally got a hold of Astraad's youngest sister for a dress modelling session and settled on a design and colour for our three bridesmaids. I spend a fair proportion of Saturday nodding and smiling as different dresses were tried. Incidentally the bridesmaid's boyfriend buggered off and left me with the girls when this was going on, I don't blame him I guess but a bit of solidarity would have been nice; I felt bloody conspicuous as the only male in the shop. :D
In case anyone is interested the dress can be found here. We settled on the colour called "smashing" (third row down third column in), it's a bit pinker in real life compared to the web page. A sort of dusky red wine colour I guess. Anyway, we couldn't have cut it any finer think. The dresses will take 3-4 months to be made, which is damn close to our wedding date. No clue why they should take so long, maybe specially trained dress fairies have to be clapped to life or something bloody stupid. Whatever the case, I wish we hadn't held on so long for Astraad's sister when deciding on a dress; we've got little to no room for error now :(
Now, I'd like to say that's one source of stress out of the way, but I'd be lying. The logistics of getting dresses made and sent to different ends of the country (the bridesmaids don't live in the same place) for fitting is a disaster waiting to happen IMO. Still I've paid for them so at least that's covered, just don't ask me how much and I won't cry ;)
Anyhoo, that delight covered I've now got to set about hiring suits for myself, my best man and ushers... Again this could be an adventure at least one of them isn't in the country right now. However, the silver lining in this case is that I can rely on my friends and family to turn up and get the job done with the minimum of fuss, so as soon as my errant usher is back in the UK I'm sure I can get everything sorted easily.
Gift.
PS found a picture, albeit in the wrong colour and a bit small. Still if the flash thingie on the company's web page is too much of a pain at least you can get an idea from the photo.
Well not much going on, which is fortunate given the trouble the rain has caused here lately.
Anyway, good news is Astraad and I have now decided on a wedding venue which, for those of you interested, can be found here. Not bad huh? We're aiming for summer 2008 to get hitched... all things going smoothly. I get the fun of calling the registry office to confirm next week.
On a related note I now know what colour cerise is...
Gift.
