Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Back Post #5 - The Vices of Time

So, I'm obsessed with DIY and craftiness in general. Now, one might think, "oh I wish I was creative!" or "Oh but things are so much cheaper that way," and such, and in a sense, you would be right. But at the same time, you would be forgetting one crucial detail: time. And as I say this, you're of course now thinking "but she's not getting married for TWO YEARS, she has all the time in the WORLD!" And again you would be right. However, I've discovered that time is both my savior and my friend in this wedding planning business.
Time is wonderful, because I'm having a huge wedding and I live an hour away from where it is taking place. And because money is kinda tight, time gives us (both sean and I and our families) that extra time to scrape up the funds. Plus, with me being uber crafty, I have the time to do things I want. 

But then again, time isn't so good. I don't mind the waiting part at all, that's not it. It's the budgeting our time. I simply cannot make the invitations or centerpieces two years in advance. That's ridiculous. In two years, my ideas might change, trends might change, our colors might change - hell, anything could happen! Plus, I don't have anywhere to store all of the stuff that I want to create.

I feel like I'm in a Catch-22. If I don't start doing stuff now, I'll be rushed in a year. If I do start doing things now, I'm jumping the gun. I'm not sure which option is best. Not even a little bit, not even at all. 

So what prompts this? 
The fact that I ran into incredibly simple DIY invitation directions. Now, I have been (and truthfully, still am) perfectly okay with print your own, yet pre-made invitations. They're fairly cheap, and incredibly easy. But, so are these that I found. I can make them my own in every way too. ARGH. The thing is, DIY invitations take time. A lot of time. I would have to decide by the end of the summer (at least) if I was going to make them or not. And then throw my heart and soul into them. I know, invitations are only sent out about 3 months before the wedding, but in the year before the wedding, we'll be graduating, moving, Sean will be starting law school, I'll be starting a career - we'll be busy. That last year is going to FLY by. Plus, I'm going to have about 120 invitations (yea 300 person guest list!)

Right now, I'm focusing on engagement pictures, save-the-dates, and the church classes. That's all I'm allowed to worry about for this semester at least. Because I have to survive school while doing (or forcing myself to NOT do) all of this.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Back Post #4 - Meeting Dates

We finally have meeting dates!!! We have our first two meeting dates, and after the second one, we'll officially set our wedding date. I know I know, we keep saying January 8th, 2011. But that's not set in stone until our second meeting. The meetings are designed to "assess our readiness for marriage" but seeing as Sean and I are perfectly confident we're ready, we're not too worried about that. What we're more worried about is our priest not liking the day we picked (it's still technically in the Christmas season). There's nothing against weddings in the Christmas season, but the priests have the right to be picky. We're also worried about him possibly going on another mission trip at that time of the year, which means we'd either have to change our priest or our date. Not a preferable option on either account. Another possibility is that the day will be full, but we HIGHLY doubt that (although most of my age group is starting to get to the marriage age), considering it's January and there are 3 time slots each day for weddings at All Saints.
Anyways. Our meeting dates are both on Sunday, on April 19th and May 10th, at 10 am both times. Two months away. But this also means I can go get my Bapt Cert over spring break, which is ideal. Like, ideal ideal. That's going to save me at least $10 from having to get them mailed, and this way I can just pop over to St. Cletus one day. Super easy. 

I really like having this blog. I feel like no one really understands the work that goes into a Catholic wedding, because they're so ornate and complicated. But a lot of work is going into this event, even at the earliest stages. From setting a date to getting engagement pictures and save-the-dates out to gathering ideas for centerpieces, it's a lot of work. But I'm excited. This summer we're going to have to make a LOT of appointments though. We have to find a hall (all the ones we're looking at come catered), a cake person, possibly a photographer, a DJ, etc etc etc. Oi.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Acknowledgement!

Fr. Don has realized we exist. This is step 1 to getting a meeting. Apparently, the problem was we were using phone to get in touch with him, and phone is just way too outdated. Fr. Don has to have emails. Oi. So we fired him off an email, and lo and behold, we get one back. Asking if Wed, Feb. 18th would be a good night to meet. Erm. Sure! Except I live 100 miles away...I just emailed him back explaining the situation, and we'll see what response I get. I'm sure we'll bump into him at church today.
Of course, this leads us to another issue. Baptismal Certificates. Basically, proof that we were baptized in the Church. That's all fine and dandy (and expected). Except it means that I have to get my butt over St. Cletus sometime between 8 and 5, Mon through Fri. Which isn't going to happen. And since I'm 18, my parents can't get it for me (I don't think). I'm gonna have to give THAT church a call now, and see what can be done. Who knows, maybe I'll be skipping a few classes. Sean has to do the same thing, except he has the time seeing as he lives in town. He needs to go over to Sts. Joachim and Ann though. Still a hassle. But, such is the Catholic life lol. The annoying thing is, I've given All Saints MANY Baptismal Certs. Like, when I got my first communion, when I was confirmed, when I started school there, etc. Why they can't use the same one, I have no idea. But they can't - so I have several hassles.

But, thankfully, we've been noticed, so hopefully the ball will start rolling. *crosses her fingers*