Two months before...

Today I'll start sending out the invitations (or more specifically, the text content of the Invitations page with a link thereto -- no big graphics in email!). While a few will be individually emailed, most will be by way of posts to email lists, LiveJournal, Facebook, etc. Hopefully the explanation we wrote will actually get the idea across without confusing too many people :-).

As for the checklist:

• We still need to decide which of the charities we chose for our registry to use for the favors, or if we should pick a third option. Opinions welcome.
• There ceremony is almost written, but we still need to finalize it and the events of the reception. One thing we both agree on: NO Chicken Dance!
• The music list is pretty much done. I'll post that sometime this week.

Like many brides at this point in the process, I've had my moments of "maybe we should just drop the whole thing and elope," but I think we're past that point now. I guess the Powers decided to make sure I didn't miss that part of the bridal experience ;-).

Our previous ceremonies

I've updated the "About" tab with links to our previous virtual wedding (between our characters in the PBEM through which we met), and our legal realspace wedding. After all, we're renewing our vows, so looking at those vows again is rather important :-).

Rings

These are the ones we've been wearing for almost fourteen years, but we still love them and I want to give a shout-out to Walker Metalsmiths Celtic Jewelry, who are still making many gorgeous things!

The design is named "Ceol Mo Chridhe", Gaelic for "Music of My Heart." Ours are white gold, like the images above. I remember at the time how hard is was finding knotwork rings that weren't made of silver, and how pleased I was not only to find something so perfect but that their prices were also affordable (obviously they've gone up since then). I had to have mine resized, but they did it for IIRC the cost of shipping and had it back in time for the ceremony. Seriously, I can't say enough good things about them :-).

Flowers

Lots of pictures in this one, since it's covering a lot of ground :-).

Music: Maybe we should hire these guys for the reception?

Whether I decide to "hire" them or not, I just had to share this. From The MozART GROUP site:

"We exist despite the sober formality of great concert halls, despite the boredom of classical musicians' life, despite fanatic lovers of classical music, despite fans of rock, rap or pop who are afraid of classical music. We treat our Muse with a humorous irony and we're sure, she will have nothing against it!"

Some examples of their work (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLYgVbVRoqk if the video doesn't show):

If you like that, there's more on their YouTube channel.

Three months before...

Some of the checklist items for this week don't feel like they need a whole post, so I'll cover several in one :-).

• Menu: The buffet option from Hornblower's Platinum menu
• Flowers: This gets a separate post.
• Favors: We'll probably be using IDoFoundation.org for these.
• Ceremony is being finalized.
• Programs will be posted when the Big Day arrives :-).
• Rings: These will also get a separate post.

We're still looking for people who are interested in being part of the ceremony, either as readers or soloists. Drop us a note (or post a comment) if you're interested!

Music post #1: Processional

Rather than wait until we have all of the music picked out, I'll post the important pieces as we decide on them. First up is the processional: "Mairi's Wedding"

(If for some reason you can't see the embedded video, it's at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-RYxRB0ZS4)

Groomsmen's formal wear

Well, the ladies have their outfits together, gentlemen; now it's our turn. Barring objection (seeing as we have a lot less to worry about on this front), here's the basic plan (below the cut):

Cakes

As mentioned in an early post, I got the idea to do this whole virtual-wedding thing while planning a wedding for one of our RPGs. One of the cakes I'd looked at for them caught Roland's eye for our use, and I agreed :-).

The reason the title of this post is plural is that it also includes a Groom's Cake. Since there won't be a rehearsal dinner, the Groom's Cake will be an alternate flavor at the reception.

Photos and more info after the cut...

Interlude: Cakes That Should Not Be

Cakes tagged "wedding cakes" on Cake Wrecks (hat tip to Susan Fox for providing the link, since I'd been looking for it for a while).

I'll be making a post for our cakes soon, but I wanted to share that link for the laughs (and groans...).

Invitations

Since the last thing on the "Seven to Six Months Before" checklist is "Select and purchase invitations," and since I don't need to send them until the two month point I don't need to have them finished to check this item off :-). We've chosen the text and font, so now I just need to actually create the graphic.

Initial honeymoon plans

After some discussion, we've decided on a two-destination honeymoon. First, Bella Venezia, which I would still be able to see enough of with the wheelchair to be worth it. I can always use a cane (and my hunny's arm) for short distances, like from the hotel to a gondola or water taxi. Then a drive across Romagna to Firenze, to enjoy the countryside. After seeing a few sights in Florence*, we'd fly to Ireland. Details still need to be worked out, but mainly we'd be seeing various sacred sites in Ireland and England (high on the list: Glastonbury Tor and Stonehenge).

* OK, I admit it, this part of the honeymoon is the "Assassin's Creed 2" tour :-).

Transportation

We're arranging for two separate options here.

First, to get the wedding party from the church to the reception site, a basic black stretch limo, not necessarily the one linked but something much like it. Arrangements would be made to get everyone's cars to Marina del Rey so no one has to go back to the church after the reception to pick them up.

Second, the "get-away" car. We've decided to go all out on this, with a 1927 Packard Touring Sedan.

The runner-up for the get-away car was a 1973 Rolls-Royce Convertible.

Honorable mention to a get-away car suggested by Keith, one of Roland's Best Men: The 1966 Batmobile. There are driveable replicas of that around :-).

LoH gowns

Unless one of my ladies has an objection, it looks like a decision's been made on their gowns. :-)

Schedule slip

Something we gamers are used to :-). By the compressed timeline, we should be at the "four months out" stage by now, but we're still working on things on the 6-7 month list. On the other hand, some of the later stuff is done, so I guess that evens things out.

The ladies are looking at gowns, I'm looking at transportation, and I have some ideas for invitations (since I don't need to "send" them for a couple of weeks yet, I should have something ready in time. It's not like I have to send them out for printing ^_^).

Anyway, hopefully we'll have posts on the latest plans soon!

Best Men

Time for me to finally put my two bits worth in. :-)

As Morgan noted, we've decided to go with three attendants each, but didn't want to have to choose one to be the "honor attendant" over the other two. Fortunately, I didn't have her linguistic travails; "Best Men" was nice and simple. Of course, I think Ladies of Honor came out nice, but I'm biased.

In contrast to the Honorable Ladies, not all of us are on Facebook, so the blog will probably be the best place to coordinate our activities. As such, I'm taking another page from my hunny and doing a brief round of introduction here. In the order I met them:

Reception site

This was one of those "Oh yeah, this is it" things -- Hornblower Cruises out of Marina del Rey. While the web site is geared towards wedding/reception combinations, I'm sure they would also do receptions when the ceremony is elsewhere.

Even though money isn't an object for this, we're going with the Platinum package. Image below the fold...

The Bride's Gown

I've been going back and forth between more traditional white bridal gowns and evening dresses more suited to more mature women (those in the mother-of-the-bride section at most bridal wear sites), but then I realized: Since I don't have to buy off the rack and can have a "virtual seamstress" make any alterations I want, I can mix and match :-).

So, take the skirt from Mon Cheri Style 112206, cut it down so there's no train (i.e. make it a simple floor-length gown), make the bodice more like Bonny's 1814, then tint the whole thing light/powder blue.

Pics below the fold...

Ladies of Honor

Roland and I have decided to go with three attendants each, but didn't want to have to choose one to be the "honor attendant" over the other two. This means he has three Best Men and I'll have three... "Maids/Matrons of Honor" is cumbersome, and IMO their titles shouldn't depend on their current marital status, so I'm calling them my Ladies of Honor :-).

Since all four of us are on Facebook we'll probably do a lot of our kibitzing there, but I also wanted to introduce them here as well.