Weddings are Hard...

As I mentioned in my last post, Cory and I went to a Bridal Show on Sunday.

The best part? Sampling cakes. Yum. I had a delicious piece of pineapple-banana cake with some kind of coconutty buttercream frosting that was to die for. Even Cory liked it, and he's anti-coconut. It was a little too sweet, though... I don't think I could handle a whole piece of it... but as a sample, it was amazing.

The worst part? The first fifteen minutes. That's because three of the first four photographers we saw were unavailable on our wedding date. And the fourth? Honestly, I could take better pictures with a disposable camera. And no, I'm not joking.

The strangest part? The fact that I'm totally willing to pimp myself for free stuff. One of the local limosuine services was doing a promotion-- they were giving away several three-hour limo excursion. All we had to do to enter the contest was wear one of their T-shirts. A black T-shirt that said "Length Matters" on it. We both put on the shirts, but won nothing. It was a great promotion idea, though.

Earlier this week, we met with a photographer for the first time. His house/office is only about a mile from our apartment, so it was an easy trip. We were there for two hours. Some of his stuff was great, some of it was kind of lame, some of it was really cheesy. I suspect that's pretty much par for the course.

I can't believe how much of a racket wedding photos and albums are. Starting prices to shoot both a ceremony and reception are around $1500. And in most cases, the only thing included is the photographers' time and the proofs. Enlargements? You don't want to know. And the wedding albums? The're about a grand apiece. It's insane. You could easily spend more money on photography than on the reception.

I'm fortunate, in that Steve and Jan are paying for most of the wedding, but I hate spending too much money... even if it isn't my money.

Now that we've had time to pour (pore?) over the reams and reams of stuff we got at the bridal show, there's one photographer that I think Cory and I both really like... his photos were nice, his base price is comparable to all of the others, he uses film instead of digital, and he includes the negatives and a copyright release so that we can make our own enlargements. As of Sunday, he was available on our date. I'm calling him tomorrow... knock on wood for us.

Here come the brides...

...All thousand or so of them.

Cory and I spent the afternoon at a bridal expo. Good times. Unfortunately, since I couldn't sleep last night, I'm too tired to write about it now. Maybe on Monday.

Three Cheers for Bridesmaids!

Hip, Hip Hooray!

Not having sisters, I've always dreaded the thought of having to select bridesmaids for my wedding. I'm the type of woman who's always had lots more male friends than female friends-- I can count my close female friends on one hand.

More than once in my life, I've wondered what I would do if my future husband wanted lots of attendants on his side. Thankfully, since Cory and I aren't having an enormous wedding, he decided to just ask his brother, his cousin, and his best friend. And I breathed a sigh of relief. Three bridesmaids, I can handle.

I feel bad, because I only talk to Anne, Nicole, and Kathy a few times a year. So it felt a little weird asking them to be in my wedding. When I was back in Michigan a couple of weeks ago, I got the chance to personally ask Anne and Nicole to be in my wedding. Thankfully, they both said yes!

Then, on Tuesday, I called Kathy and asked her.... Unfortunately, I totally forgot that it was her anniversary (which shouldn't have been that hard to remember... since I was in her wedding). Ooops. Fortunately, she didn't seem to hold much of a grudge.

Now, I just have to find some dresses!