Flowers

Here's the thing...flowers are really expensive. I figured we would do silk flowers and no one would know the difference. Until someone offered to give us real ones. Of course I say yes! Little did I know we would go to a high end florist that has been in wedding magazines I look in all the time! The Blooming Gallery or Flowers by Lisa is absolutely amazing. She had so many ideas that blew us away. For anyone about to get married... use her. She's incredible! I'm so excited to see all of her ideas come to life! It's going to be absolutely fabulous :)

Wedding Workout/Diet

Those who know me well know that I have the eating and drinking habits of an overweight 40 year old male with rising cholesterol. I ate gigantic portions 4 times a day and one of them was most likely an entire box of Kraft Mac. I never worked out. When I wasn't working I was in front of the TV getting my reality TV fix for the day. Needless to say I gained weight...quick.

Anyways when I realized I needed to lose weight for the wedding I kissed the coffee, soda, mac, and ramen a sweet and overdue Goodbye.

So far it's been 2 weeks of working out (5 days a week) and eating smaller portions of better food 5 times a day! I have only lost about 7 pounds so far but I feel great and am finally starting the process of looking like a thin and fit bride. Today was the first day I felt skinnier so I decided to share my enthusiasm!

Wish me luck!

FYI

Okay so I put this up just to give everyone a heads up. Everyone is asking me who they should bring so just FYI...

We are not sending out invitations for you +1. I know it sounds harsh but we wanted to invite as many friends as humanly possible. I just wanted to tell everyone now before you show up with an extra person and they don't have food or a seat. We do love your friends...but not as much as we love you :)

Honeymoon

We have always been the type of people that just want to be by the water. The moment we got engaged we knew we wanted to go where ever the water was beautiful, plenty of drinks and a plethora of exciting things to do. Basically we were looking at anything around Caribbean waters.

For those who are planning, GO TO A TRAVEL AGENT. Expedia may look nice, Price line says they are the ultimate negotiator. Whatever. They are all full of it. Yes, its a deal but you can find better. Travel agents have the best deals and have sent people on vacations and honeymoons for years. Theres a high end travel agent on Htown that specializes in honeymoons. Just find someone you are comfortable with and then go from there.

Now back to the story! My Aunt Laura and Uncle Dan called my mom saying they wanted to give us their timeshare in Cancun! We couldn't be more excited! We both already love surprises and this one was a pretty amazing one. We couldn't be more thankful! The room is an Ocean view Villa!

There are so many things to do there we are so excited. Ruins, dolphins, jet skis, zip lines, underwater caves and my personal favorite....going down in a shark cage :D NO I don't have a death wish. I have an obsession is Shark Week. It enthralls me every year. So I am pretty excited about it! I may pee myself out of fear but hopefully that doesn't attract them to me further. Let the adventures begin!

5 Months till "I do"

OMG! AHHHHHHHH :D

Well Father Time you sure have made this go by quite quickly. I can't believe it's only 5 months away! I'm so excited to finally marry Philip Michael Pearson!

However, so many things still need to be done... I am a professional procrastinator and I let it show all to often. For example, instead of looking at invitations, I'm blogging. Lets pray it all gets done SOON.

"Where do we register and for what?"

Putting our registry together was probably one of my favorite parts about planning.Why? Lets state the obvious...

A. I don't have to pay.

B. I don't have to pay.

C. I don't have to pay.

D. I'm telling you what to buy to help start our life together :)

Spending days picking out stuff with the scan gun was so much fun. Never go with just a girlfriend or your Mom. It's like being in the playground during recess. It's also so nice to be there with your sweetheart picking out items you may want to pass down to your kids or grandchildren one day. An amazing experience and SO MUCH FUN!

When it comes to your registry go with what you both know and love. Keep in mind some out of town guests needs. A lot of places that are around here may have a location in Illinois (thats where his family is from). We also had to keep in mind that one place you register may not have everything your heart desires. Go for 2 places. It'll just give the guests that many options!

We registered at Macy's and Bed, Bath and Beyond... incase you were wondering :)

Families of Friends

The second I got engaged, friends I haven't talked to in years suddenly started speaking to me on a weekly basis. Again looking at cost of everything, I couldn't invite everyone. If anyone out there is having a hard time with making your guest list... take my advice!

Just because you like them, and may have known them for a few years DOESNT mean they have to attend. Think about it. Everyone knows how expensive weddings can be. Why would they be upset if you didn't invite them? Those who get upset for you not inviting them are only in it to actually go for the wedding. I unfortunately have come across some people like this. It stinks that they feel that way. But it's not your problem. If someone isn't invited and they truly care for you, they will understand and look forward to seeing many pictures and hearing wonderful stories from you later.

I only felt like sharing this advice today because I feel like some people who aren't invited are going to be upset. Some people already are. We have big families and don't have the American Express Black Card so we can't invite 500 people, sorry. We love you I swear!

"No, you never talk to them. Yes, they have to come"

The guest list is probably the most important piece of advice I could ever give. This is gold people, PURE GOLD! Ready for it?...

Don't let your family dictate the guest list.

I know it's amazing I have to say this but I fell for it myself. I told my parents and my fiance's parents to look it over and our guest list went up by 75 people. I kept telling them that this means THEY will have to pay more but they all said it was necessary.

Think about it if each person costs $35 per person to feed than Im spending an extra $2,450. Thats not including alcohol, favors, the extra invitations, and time wasted at the wedding when you say "Hi" to every one of them.

So, save yourself the awkward "Hello. Thanks for coming to our wedding. Hope you have fun" while thinking "Did you even know I existed?". Don't be afraid to tell your parents that you dont want their friends on the guest list. In fact, if I could do it again, I'd tell my parents to specifically tell their friends "Im sorry I already told you that you were invited to my daughters wedding. She's being a B**** and only wants people who actually care about her and Philip to eat their food and drink their alcohol."

So if you want to tell your parents they are allowed to add whomever they want, enjoy asking every store you go to for the next year if you can pay them in gum because you'll be BROKE.

Banquet Halls = Devils Advocate

I read that these places are the most expensive spots to have a wedding. I checked it out and it's all true! They claim to be the better deal but really they have cheap decorations and charge the price of a new Toyota. It's ridiculous. Don't fall for it! I went to a couple places like this and was disappointed in how generic it looked anyways. However, I know that not all of them look like trash. Many are beautiful and big enough to accommodate the population of Africa, but you still end up paying more for them then any other places.

So what places should we look for? According to "How to Plan a Wedding Under $10,000" it's pretty much every OTHER option besides a banquet hall. Look for some of these that I have stumbled across...

- Country Clubs: They always have great food and a beautiful setting for pictures and though the price can be large. It's still more for the money. Another tip for country clubs...Look outside the main areas of the city. I looked at some in the areas outside of the downtown and memorial areas to find that prices were cheaper. MUCH cheaper.

- Beachside Hotels: I thought this was crazy but it's true. I contacted some historic hotels in Galveston and some could save you $5,000 plus.

- Church: So many beautiful churches in Houston have areas that can hold a wedding reception. Prices here are going to be the cheapest by far.

- Brookwood Community: I know this is a Houston place but it's a steal and a great cause. It took some looking outside the box to find this place but I'm obsessed! It's a community that houses and educates adults with special needs. They get their funds from donations and a Cafe that has a 4 star chef from NYC. The church is on the campus grounds but the cafe is just a football fields distance away. All the money you spend goes towards the communities needs. It's absolutely beautiful too!

There's lots of other options out there. I just can't think of the rest right now. I'll post them if I remember. It's all about thinking outside the box. Don't just look at what is being advertised!

Now lets take a moment of silence in remembrance of many families and brides credit scores, for they have suffered a major blow by these banquet halls wrath and fury. May they rest in peace.

Bridal Extravaganza

I unfortunately didn't use any of the deals they had when I went. But I reeeeally suggest going. They have so many deals there it's insane. Lauren and I took about 4 hours to cover the whole place. They want to get their business out there and are throwing deals in your face. I didn't use any of them because I was in the beginning stage of planning...aka I didn't know anything about weddings or what I wanted out of mine.

The next one is January 8 -9, 2011. Bring stickers with your name, address, email address, phone number and wedding date! You WILL need them!

Houston Bridal Extravaganza Website