10
June
2008
I am beginning to feel like one of the seven dwarves (noooooo…not because of my height, or lack thereof!) - I’ve been slaving away and getting lots of things done.
First, I got our Save the Dates and envelopes ordered, addressed, and mailed! My friend, Sam, did an awesome job at helping us bring our ideas to fruition. We tried to stick with our “themes” of orange, daisies, and kinda country. I have been working on getting the addresses for everyone as well waiting on the new Wedding stamps
to come out. They finally came out today and I got the majority of the announcements addressed, so I have added 3/4 of a check to my checklist!
In addition to the STDs (I really hate that acronym!) we got rooms blocked off at Saddlebrook and the Holiday Inn Express (I’m sure there’s a joke in there somewhere, but I’m coming up blank right now). That gets a full check! Oh, and we got our suite reserved for the night before and the night of the wedding. Things are really starting to seem real now!!!
And finally, we are actually very close to getting our rehearsal dinner finalized! We are down to two different choices: Kafe Kokopelli, which is in downtown Dade City, and The Lange Farm’s Antique Barn. They both have their pros and cons so the final decision is going to come down to price. Hopefully, we’ll get final pricing estimates done in the next week so I can put this project behind me, for now.
Wish me luck!
Frenchie 
Happy Dance! 
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26
May
2008
Yikes! We have only 10 months left until our wedding! Okay, that’s a while, but when it comes to getting in shape and looking fuh-ine for the wedding, that’s not a lot of time! So, what’s a girl to do???
Well, we had a few friends get the Wii Fit last week and talk about how great it was. One friend was shocked (and more than a little pissed) that she was considered “Obese”, based on her BMI.
This morning, we decided we’d try our luck at finding one. We called the local Best Buy as soon as they opened and they had “a couple” left. We drove up there, but by the time we got there, they were gone.
We went across the street where there was a Toys R Us, GameStop, Circuit City, and Target (in that order). We started with Toys R Us and worked our way around. We made it to the Target and they had 3 or 4 in stock!
So, we’ve gotten home and set it up. I’m happy to say I am not obese. I was really expecting it to say I was obese!! I am, however, overweight and “need” to lose 22 pounds to get to a suggested BMI of 22.
EP, on the other hand, was surprised to find he was not considered overweight. His BMI was just under 25, so he was in the normal range. He is also going lose about 11 pounds or so to get to a 22 BMI.
We’ve now run through all of the available exercises today and I’m pooped! 
This thing is no joke, as long as you don’t try to cheat the system (because that would be a waste of $90!!). We did learn that I have much better balance than EP, but he’s working on it.
So, now I have a fun, entertaining way to fit my exercise in. MM is off at a friend’s house, but when she gets home she’s going to be psyched to try this out, too!
Frenchie Fit & Fine Fiancee No Comments »
19
April
2008
I was browsing through various wedding-related sites this morning and came across this story.
Bernie Peng reprogrammed Tammy Li’s favorite video game, “Bejeweled,” so a ring and a marriage proposal would show up on the screen when she reached a certain score.
Li reached the needed score — and said yes.
Yes, I’m a huge dork and a sappy romantic! I think that’s so awesome!
Frenchie Love Is In the Air No Comments »
10
April
2008
I booked the videographer today!!!! YAY!!!
This was such a stressful one because I really wanted it, but just needed to figure out how to afford it and still get the quality I wanted. Luckily, Trinity Wedding Video fit the bill! Dealing with David has been so great thus far. He’s been patient with all my questions and the delays. He is even brainstorming to help us figure out the rehearsal dinner quandry. I am so happy that this part is through!
Hmmmm….I have my exam coming up, maybe now is another time to put things down for a while. I’ll still be looking around for ideas and inspirations, so the next stage will be passive more than active but I’ll keep you posted! 
Frenchie Happy Dance!, Lights, Camera, Action! No Comments »
5
April
2008
If you hear sniffling, that’s just me still crying from my major disappointment. EP & I made our journey up to Dade City this morning to see the Woman’s Club facility. It is an absolutely gorgeous, historical building. The building was built in 1926 after local women raised $23,000, for its construction.
When we were there today, the building had already been set up for a baby shower that was being hosted there this afternoon. There are beautiful hardwood floors throughout. The main room could have easily sat 120 people with the tea room sitting another 30-50 along with buffet tables. The kitchen was so amazing that EP wanted one for himself. The building itself is right at the edge of downtown, surrounded by local residents. It was just perfect! Too perfect!
As we were in the kitchen discussing the details of deposits and rental agreements, the lady checked her calendar and the building is already booked for the freaking entire weekend in March 2009!!!! WTF?!?! Can’t people share?! Why do they have to have 3 freakin’ days?!?! It’s for a weekend wedding but they’re not even holding a rehearsal dinner. I’m so hurt now.
We’re starting all over and still can’t find a place to have our rehearsal dinner. If anyone knows of any place in that area that we could use, feel free to let me know!
Frenchie Decisions, Decisions No Comments »
5
April
2008
Sitting here, early on a Saturday morning and blogging about my wedding planning, I have had an epiphany:
epiphany: \i-ˈpi-fə-nē\ noun - a usually sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something .
EP is sitting here watching Iconoclasts with Dave Chappelle and Maya Angelou. Many, many moons ago, when I was in high school, I took AP English. My teacher, Mrs. Sarden, was a connoisseur of words, especially words that, when put together, made you think. Not just a passing thought type of thinking, but stop you in your tracks and remain on your mind for hours, days, weeks even, kind of thinking.
connoisseur: \ˌkä-nə-ˈsər also -ˈsu̇r\ noun - one who enjoys with discrimination and appreciation of subtleties
One of the writers that Mrs. Sarden absolutely adored was Maya Angelou. I remember sitting in her class in January 1993 watching the Inauguration of President Clinton. Maya Angelou wrote an original piece for that very day. I just sat there, enthralled by her words.
enthralled: \in-ˈthrȯl, en-\ transitive verb - to hold spellbound
I am now on a mission. I want to find something just that powerful to have read at our wedding. It may not be Maya Angelou’s work, but something just as effective. And the right person has to read it because the delivery of the words is just as important as the words themselves!
Frenchie They're not just words No Comments »
5
April
2008
It’s been a while since I blogged about..well, anything. But, specifically, it has been a while since my last (and only) update on our search for video services for our wedding day. When I started that project, that’s about when the steam ran out of my engine. After sending out several e-mails inquiring about services and pricing and then dropping off of the face of the earth, I started getting follow up calls and e-mails asking if we had made a decision. Now that I got my mojo back, I’m going full steam ahead with this!
I sat down one day and listed all of the vendors that were within our price range and what their packages included. When it came down to it, the one that stood out was Trinity Wedding Video. They weren’t the cheapest company, but they are the only recommended video vendor at The Lange Farm. We reviewed samples of video from all of the companies we were considering, and none of them were “bad” so it finally just came down to what our gut was telling us. The only concern we had with Trinity’s package was the deposit. Right now, business is just so dang slow! But, I e-mailed to find out if there was anything we could do to break up the payments and he told me that they offer monthly payment plans! He also said he offers wedding registries for his services, so we have the option of receiving gifts towards the final price of our video services. We’re still trying to figure out that one. I’m not sure whether we’re comfortable with trying to pay for parts of our wedding with gifts from our guests. We’ll have to revisit this one…
So, now we’re just down to figuring out which plan we want and how many hours of coverage we need and then we’ll have yet another check on our list!!!!
Frenchie Lights, Camera, Action! 1 Comment »
4
April
2008
I’m on a roll here! Once I got back into planning, I really got into it!
We have been kind of agonizing over a place to have our rehearsal dinner. Even though this is not always a pressing issue within the wedding planning process, it has been for us a little bit. We are getting married in a somewhat remote location. In addition, we have the majority of our guests coming from out of town. Thus, we had the issue of just finding somewhere convenient to our ceremony site to begin with, and then trying to make sure it wasn’t going to be too difficult to get our guests to and from the location.
I-75 is about 15 minutes or so from our venue and it’s currently undergoing some major growth. By the time the wedding comes around, there will be lots of shopping and dining in addition to the 3 or 4 hotels already there. But, we don’t just want to do a restaurant, yet we don’t want to spend just as much on the rehearsal dinner as we are on catering the next night! We are estimating that around half of our guests will attend the rehearsal dinner. We want this because these are friends and family that we dont’ always get to see.
After asking around, I was given the suggestion of the Dade City Garden Club. After calling, I found out that the Garden Club is actually housed in an old church that was donated to them. EP and I went up to take a look at it last week. The building is very beautiful!
There are galleries on either end of the room where guests could go and sit and just watch the activity down below. To rent the place for the whole day, it’s only $374 plus a $200, refundable, security deposit. Since it’s the Garden Club, the grounds are absolutely beautiful . There’s also a full kitchen. This is a plus because, when I called to get more info on the facility, I was given Vickie West’s name. Vickie owns Celebrate Catering in Dade City. I can’t begin to describe how much the lady at the Garden Club raved about Vickie’s cooking! Vickie said that she would come to the location and cook the food there since it has a full kitchen, so it would be very fresh! Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like the building will hold anywhere near 100 people comfortably.
Luckily, there is another location in Dade City (right around the corner, actually) that has a full kitchen, is absolutely gorgeous, and is very reasonably priced.
The Dade City Woman’s Club is another historic building in Dade City. When I spoke with the lady there, she said it can hold about 240+, comfortably. When we were up there visiting the Garden Club, there was someone already there setting up for a wedding the next day, so we couldn’t get in to see it. But, the main room measures 47′x30′. There’s also a 39′x17′ tea room off of the main room. We have an appointment at 11:30 AM tomorrow to go check it out and, hopefully, sign a contract. The only “drawback” is that it costs more than the Garden Club - its $600 for the entire day, but no security deposit. Keep your fingers crossed that I get to add one more check to my list tomorrow!
Frenchie Decisions, Decisions, Let's Eat No Comments »
4
April
2008
Oh so pretty!!
Today I had a hair & makeup trial. Normally, these aren’t done until a lot closer to the wedding. But, I was concerned that whoever I picked would not have experience with “black” hair. When I expressed my concerns, Darla offered to let me have a trial as soon as she had availability. Darla Stafford is an extremely popular stylist here in the West Coast Florida area, so I wanted to meet with her soon and make a decision before she was booked up! She said that she already has a lot of dates booked up for next January through March!! OY!
Originally, we were scheduled for a trial for some time in March, but poor Darla came down with pneumonia!!! By the time today came around, I was about ready to explode. But, I managed to stay calm, if not sane, and we had a great time. I took her a picture of a style that both EP & I agreed on. It’s actually one from my earlier hair inspiration post. The thing 
was that EP wants my hair down, but I hate having it in my face and am very worried that I will end up looking like a big ball of frizz by the time the evening is over if I just leave my hair down. I took a copy of the picture with me to show Darla what I wanted and she did her magic. I really love how the curls turned out. She took some pictures for me with my own camera, and the ones of the back of my hair really show off the curls. While she was doing my hair, she mentioned how the curls made me look like I had so much more hair. At first I thought it was more because my hair had been pulled back and straight when I first showed up, but once I saw my hair, all I could say was “WOW!” The finished product was absolutely amazing. It’s a shame to be so made up and just sit around the house….
The last time I had my trial scheduled, EP & I decided to take advantage of the situation and we bought tickets to see the Florida Orchestra perform Brahm’s Piano Concerto No. 1. Unfortunately, that one didn’t work out. And, no matter much how much I begged, EP won’t let me go out tonight since I took him up on his challenge to save money and not eat out…for the entire month of April! So, I sit here at home, all prettied up, with nowhere to go!
And my hair wasn’t the only thing that we did today. She also did my makeup. I’m not one for makeup, or at least not a lot of makeup, but I do know that I need (okay, want) to have my makeup done for my wedding day. The thing about wedding makeup, at least for photography purposes, is that it is a bit dramatic. And, EP is used to seeing me sans makeup most of the time, so he keeps saying that it is “too much”. I’ll just have to see what Darla can do to tone it down some, yet have it still be effective in our photos. But, at the end of the day, I have one more check mark on my “To Do” list! I have my hair & makeup vendor!!
Frenchie Locks & Curls 3 Comments »
