Photographers, Food, and Registering

I can't believe that we are only 4 months away. Its all really excited and not stressful really. We found our photographer right after Christmas and are so so so excited to work with them. I wanted to write a huge long update about meeting them but January was busy and I didn't take the time to do it.

We ended up posting an ad on craigstist for a photographer and no one who responded was really exciting us. That is until Doug and Katherine responded. Their email was well written and modest. Once I clicked the link I was sold. I showed Stacy and on of my groomsmen, Santi. They both really liked them too. So Doug, Katherine, and I emailed back and fourth for a bit and set up a date to meet in early January.

Stacy and I were a bit nervous to meet them. But once we got to the cafe we were going to be meeting at we settled in. When they arrived they had some suggestions on what to order and we all sat down. We got along instantly. We talked about wedding stuff, music stuff, life, and of course Stacy was nice enough to let me geek out about photography with them. Before we knew it it was 2 hours later and we needed to drive the rest of the way home (we met in Cambria). We finished talking about the wedding stuff and hit the road.

We got in the car and that is when it hit that this wedding is coming along really well and the things we envisioned for it are happening. We started getting really excited.

A few days later Stacy's mom got a lead on an awesome Mexican food place that would be a very affordable solution to our catering dilemma. Stacy's folks went to eat there the next night and reported that it was super good and that we should come down and try it. So we will be going down South again over Valentines weekend to try the food and see the family.

Registering for a wedding is crazy, guys. Don't get me wrong, it's awesome. But there is so much to think about and if you do it at a store its intense!

Stacy and I registered yesterday at Bed Bath and Beyond. We had been thinking about it and had wanted to do it all on Amazon but Frank and Jodie pointed out that some people don't like to buy stuff online and some people will want to get stuff to bring to the actual wedding rather then sending it before.

We went to the El Cerrito store and were helped out by an awesome guy named Hugo. He set up our registry account and showed us some stuff at the desk. I thought he would hand the little scanner to us and we would be on our way but he informed us that at BB&B they walk with you. At first I was thinking that I would rather do this with just Stacy. But once we started it was great. He was super honest about his opinion on all of the stuff and also what a lot of other couples do. I tend to think we aren't like most other couples but its good to remember that we are probably more like them then I know and it helps with ideas too.

We walked around the store for 3 hours! It was nuts. And most of the kitchen stuff I had decided to register for on Amazon so we skipped a huge part of the store. But we found everything we were looking for and put a lot of great stuff on there. We walked out of the store exhausted and drove home to chill.

So next on the list is trying the food in a few weeks and then getting fitted for a tux which my mom is coming up for! I am stoked about that. She will get to meet Wes and Santi and hang out with all of us. John, Frank, and I always make her laugh a lot and that will be really fun.

It's going to go by fast but I am going to make it a point to step back and take it in.

Weekend In Mendocino

Stacy and I had our anniversary recently and we got away this last weekend. It was a great trip. You can see some of the polaroids at my new photography blog HERE. More about our weekend soon!

Productive night after our first wedding fight!

Well, it happened. Stacy and I had our first wedding related fight. It wasn't really all that bad and we handled it really well and I am super proud of us for that. We got in an argument while we were both at work regarding our engagement pictures which led to a few other things. What it basically boiled down to was that we were both in shitty moods and were not communicating well. We got home and talked it out for about a half an hour and realized that we just need to talk about some things more often and explain how we are feeling better. While this is a special day for both of us, I need to keep in mind that for a woman this day is one of the most anticipated days of her life. But trying to make everything 100% perfect is too much stress/pressure for anyone. We just want it to be awesome and fun. Totally doable.

After we talked we picked out two engagement photos that we will potentially use for our engagement announcements/save the date cards. We are both very happy with them and can't wait to see them edited.

Then we looked for these lights that I want to use to use for decorating the reception area. I was at Periscope Cellars recently and I love how that place is decorated. They have these strands of lights and this sheer white cloth with them. It just looks so classy and elegant. I want something similar outside for our reception. The lights look kind of like fancy christmas lights. Like these...



After that we went to get burritos and watched the Dodger school the Giants for the second night in a row. I know that the dodgers are going to sweep the Giants. They are playing crazy well!

Then we got back to wedding business. As I predicted we hadn't worked on the budget since the day after I first blogged and it stressing me out a bit. We are still waiting for a total from the ceremony/reception site but we figured out how much it would cost for tables, linens, chairs, and a dance floor. Its not too bad but hard to figure out what all we will need. All that stuff came out to about $650. Doesn't seem like a ton to me but I think we can do at least a little better.

We calculated what we should be spending on some of this stuff based on The Knot's budget breakdown but it doesn't really work for us because we are spending way more in certain areas and not nearly as much in others. I think the next step will be to write down what we know we are spending and work from there.

The next part to think about was the food for the reception. Catering is seriously so expensive. It ranges anywhere from $10 a person to $200 per person! Who in the world has $200 to spend on one person at their wedding. I mean, the only people I can think of that working for are Steve Jobs and some couple who only has two friends and no family. Its crazy!

Stacy and I looked up some stuff on doing it ourselves but that would put so much pressure on us and seems like it might be an unnecessary stress so close to the wedding. Then we had a breakthrough. I was looking on craigslist for caterers and found an ad titled "Taco Fiesta"! Its a woman who caters tacos and quesadilla! She grills them right there! You get to pick your meats! And they come with onions, cilantro, salsa, radishes, lemons, grilled onions and jalapenos! AND the tortillas are homemade! This sounds like a great idea to Stacy and I but it also got me on the idea of perhaps having a taco truck cater the wedding. I mean how sweet would a taco truck be to have at the wedding? Crazy awesome! I put some feelers out for Taco Trucks around Santa Barbara but I think I will email the woman from craigslist as well.

So the evening was really productive and I feel good about what we got accomplished. I am sure we will do more and more and more as more time goes by. Tomorrows goals are to email the photographer we want and to email the taco lady to get a quote.

And with that, I will leave you with a drawing I did while budgeting for the reception!

What the fuck is tableware?

So I thought that I would start a wedding blog because my fiance and I set a date today. We are getting married on June 12th 2010. That's 311 days from today. It's kind of weird that we finally set a date. I asked Stacy to marry me in early April and we had a date penciled in for about a year from then but we decided to hold off until we could plan a little more and get some place booked.

We had looked at a ton of places in the Bay Area where we live but everything we found and loved was too expensive. We have a budget of $10,000. I know that seems like a ton of money but weddings are seriously ridiculously expensive. And the super shitty thing is that anything you could get for a wedding that isn't specifically for the wedding is so much more expensive once you tell people it is for a wedding.

I really wanted to have the wedding in the Bay Area. So did Stacy but her folks suggested looking around down south where we grew up. She was more willing to do that then I was. I am finding out that wedding stuff is super different for guys. It takes me 24 - 48 hours longer then her to get into anything about the wedding a lot of the time. After that time I am down but before that I am either passive or straight up against whatever the idea is. But I am trying to get better about that.

So we went down to Santa Barbara to check out the Lobero Theater. Stacys dad is the assistant technical director there so we sort of have a hook up. The original plan was to have the wedding outside and the reception in the same area. I had never seen the place but Stacy had. At first I could not wrap my head around how we would be able to pull it off with the space that was there. There were also restrictions on the date, the time, the space we could use to get ready. I was feeling like we were going to be going back home with no progress. Then Stacy asked if we could rent out the whole theater and get married on stage.

We went in and looked at the stage and asked Stacys dad to ask about it for us. We also found out that no one has ever gotten married on the stage before so it would be a first for them too. I was a little bit excited about the possibility of having people in red velvet theater seating and the epic-ness of the inside of the theater and I could totally see the outside working better too. We decided to talk about it on the drive home and sleep on it.

Today we decided that it was a good idea and a great price so we told Stacys dad and booked the date. Done and done.

But that isn't why I started this blog. I started this blog because I decided that it would be important to at least start our budget tonight when I got home from work. Stacy and I looked at our wedding book, The Knot Book Of Wedding Lists, and staring back at me in the reception part of the budget breakdown was tableware, flatware, and glassware. I asked out loud, "what is flatware?" Stacy said, "Like, dishes and glasses and stuff..." I responded, "What is glassware then?" Touche.

I did a google search and everything! I can't find the difference between those things at all. So I finally got frustrated and googled "What the fuck is tableware."

I am a dude. I don't understand a lot of this stuff. And I am a dude who wears a solid black tshirt and the same jeans almost everyday. I don't know a lot about fancy things and know almost nothing about wedding stuff. I have been to maybe a handful of weddings but not every many and none that I have taken notes on or thought, "Gee, I wonder where they got there tableware?".

I know I am going to learn a lot over the next year and I though it would good to keep record of it. I am excited about writing about all this stuff and hope that maybe it could be somewhat helpful for other dudes in the same situation.

So thats it for tonight. We barely got the budget started so I am hoping to do that tomorrow night after my band practices. Till then...