Jim grew up in and around New Orleans. His 20th class reunion is coming up. Guess where they’re having it? In a casino.
Only in New Orleans.
So we’ve got a few months before then. Jim wants to put his weight loss plan in overdrive. Me, I don’t think it will take me that long, and my Tai Chi starts next week. I figure I do that a little while, then I can start hitting the weights again.
Staying dedicated isn’t a problem, making time is …
It will be kind of neat though … meeting the people I’ve heard about over the past 5-6 years.
Edit:~just~ as I hit “Publish” it dawned on me … there are Cotillion sisters living down this way.
A friend of mine’s mother passed away and her funeral was today. Things have been pretty somber over the last few days, and considering how long her mother was sick, I know she’s glad that her mom is finally at peace. The weird thing is, her mother and my mother-in-law have the same first name and almost the same last name. Listening to the eulogy was a little surreal, but everything was beautiful. One of my co-workers sang (and boy could he sing!). On the way back to work, I marveled at the scenery and thought to myself that I had forgotten how beautiful Jemison Park is, and the winding roads going in and out around English Village.
I’m sitting in class and Jim texts me just now, realizing that at this very moment 5 months ago today, we were getting ready to leave our wedding reception and pile into our (heavily “decorated”) car to head down to Florida for the honeymoon.
It took him all day to realize it, but he remembered.
I admit, I am a bit later getting this out than I would have liked, but I think I’ve covered everything pretty well.
Vendors and Services We Used
Online Wedding Planner / Organizer:The Knot — The Knot offered a great online organizer service that allowed me to track and keep up with events associated to the wedding and the wedding planning process. They offer a ton of services, but what I found most useful was the adjustable checklist and portable guest/gift registry. I used the guest list to generate mailing labels for addressing the invitations, and the same for using the gift registry for generating mailing labels for thank you notes. I can honestly say that using The Knot’s services made my job a little easier. Wedding planning is hard work, but their website’s services helped me keep my chaos organized.
Wedding Dress:My Sister’s Closet — Someone on eBay referred me to her online store. My dress was new, never altered, and came at a very reasonable price. She shipped quickly and the dress was packaged very well.
Flower Girl Dress:Ducklings & Daffodils — Also a gem found on eBay, she shipped quickly and everything was packaged very well. Description was slightly inaccurate, but she was pretty quick to fix a mix-up, and overall I am pleased with the dress.
Wedding Location:The Birmingham Botanical Gardens — We were blessed with beautiful weather, and despite the drought all summer, the gardens were still as beautiful as ever. We paid a deposit of $100 for one hour in the Japanese Gardens. We also had the option of an hour rehearsal in the Japanese Gardens which would have had to been scheduled prior to the wedding (we ended up not needing it). The reservation also provided that we could setup as early as 30 minutes before the wedding. The gardens staff also allowed us to use their back gate so our guests would not have to walk from the visitor’s entrance at the main gate. (this has to be requested prior to the event!) All in all, we had a VERY lovely ceremony and I highly recommend the Birmingham Botanical Gardens to anyone who is looking for a wedding location.
Reception Location:Marriott Fairfield Inn & Suites — Unfortunately the reception room at the gardens was already booked for our date, so we held our ceremony here. This worked out in our favor for several reasons: 1. we needed a backup location in case of rain (the gardens’ rain shelter only holds 15-20 people); 2. we were able to start setting up the day before the wedding and did not have to rush; 3. we rented a suite in the hotel that was large enough for me, my entourage, and several others to get ready and do other wedding-related things the day before and day of the wedding; 4. the reception hall we rented was plenty large enough to hold everyone and several more, and was only right down the hall from our room so we could scurry back and forth getting things packed up during and after the reception. The Marriott staff were accommodating in every way possible and were a huge help in making our reception go as smoothly as possible. They went above and beyond when it came to customer service and we will definitely be using them again!
Miscellaneous Location / Meeting Room:Gardendale Civic Center — We used rooms at the Civic Center for several small and miscellaneous things related to the wedding. We met here with our pastor to cover the ceremony program as well as our consultation. We also used it to gather with friends and family to put together the wedding favors. The civic center staff have always been helpful and very accommodating. Their rooms are reasonably priced and book VERY quickly; so if you’re interested, give Linda Harris a call as soon as you have your event date/details!
Wedding Favors:Oriental Trading Company, The Paper Works Outlet, Elizabeth’s Treasures — My wedding favors comprised of large take-out boxes from Elizabeth’s Treasures; chopsticks, candy, magnets, and filler from Oriental Trading Company; wrapping materials by Paper Works Outlet. I had pleasant experiences with all three. The Paper Works Outlet is a local business (metro-area Birmingham), and was only a short drive from work or home. Their staff was very helpful in giving advice and ideas, as well as helping me look for anything I needed. I ordered online from both Oriental Trading Co. and Elizabeth’s Treasures; both shipped quickly and were quick to answer any questions I had.
Wedding Dress Alterations:Just Alterations (205-914-3081) — Located in the strip mall located beside the Gardendale Post Office, she was easy to work with and always very accommodating to my crazy schedule. She not only did a great job and worked quickly, she offered a lot of useful advice. I’m pleased to refer anyone I can to her, as I believe that no one else could’ve done a better job than she did with my dress!
Photography:His Hands Photography — I’ve never enjoyed having my picture taken until I met Samantha. She instantly put me at ease and I was able to enjoy the sessions and just have fun. Her husband used to work with my husband, and she was also referred by several people I know. She did both my bridal photos and wedding day photos. She’s also done a few sessions for my brother-in-law and his family as well as my mother-in-law. She does excellent work and works with you to meet any and all needs you may have. I highly recommend her services to anyone looking for a photographer for special events or for any photography needs in general!
DJ Services & MC:DJ Vez — Both my husband and I have worked with him in the past. Not only did he do a great job with the musical layout, he also helped keep the festivities rolling by making announcements and prompts when needed. We have enjoyed his company as well as his friendship and would recommend him to anyone in search of DJ’ing or music services.
Wedding Cake:Wal-mart — Yep, believe it or not, Wal-mart’s prices were very reasonable AND the cake was both lovely and delicious! The only thing they didn’t do that most everyone else did was deliver. That was no problem for us because the nearest Wal-mart was only a few minutes from the reception location. Wal-mart did a lovely job on decorating the cake and provided everything we needed to set it up as we desired. The price was the well within our budget and we even had filling added to the largest layer — our guests LOVED it!
Hair & Makeup:Merle Norman, Linda’s School of Beauty — Prior to the wedding, I had a makeover done at the local Merle Norman studio. Unfortunately they were not available to do my makeup early the morning of my wedding (they would not be open early enough for me to get it done), but they were very helpful in showing me how to do my makeup and what colors/tones to use to get the effect I wanted. Pretty much the same for my hair, Linda’s would not be open early enough for me to get mine done that day. However, I’d gained a lot of advice and tips previously and their staff (students) have always done a great job on my hair. I highly recommend both of these establishments to anyone looking for hair and/or makeup services!
Eventective - This handy tool helped me refine my search for ceremony and reception sites. You can customize your searches based on location, need, size, etc. Not just for weddings either, you can use Eventective to look for event sites for just about any occasion. Using this site helped me narrow down my research to a select group of potential sites and provided just about all of the information I needed in order to evaluate whether or not I could use a particular company/site.
Teresa sent me this, so I figured I’d post here instead of emailing the whole world.
Welcome to the 2008 edition of Getting to Know Your Friends. What you are supposed to do is copy (not forward) this entire e-mail and paste it onto a new e-mail that you will send. Change all the answers so they apply to you, and then send this to your friends including the person who sent it to you. The theory is that you will learn a lot of little things about your friends that you might not have known!
1. What time did you get up today? 5:15 am CST.
2. Diamonds or pearls? Both.
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?I Am Legend.
25. Any new and exciting news you would like to share with us? I’m in the middle of fscking up my website, isn’t that great?!!?
26. What did you want to be when you were little? A teacher.
29. How are you today? Can’t complain, and yourself?
30. What is your favorite candy? Oh, I have many favorites. Let’s just say chocolate … that should cover most of them.
31. Your favorite flower? Roses.
32. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? Saturday.
33. What is your full name? Are you a census taker?
34. What are you listening to right now?The Essential Ozzy Osbourne.
35. What was the last thing you ate? A piece of Altoids gum.
36. Do you wish on stars? No, I leave that to Jessie now.
37. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Flame red.
38. How is the weather right now? Kind of soggy.
39. Favorite soft drink? I dumped soda … but he still calls sometimes.
40. Favorite restaurant? Oh, I have several! Cajun Steamer, Bento, BK, Doodles, El Carreton, China One, Styx, … there are several more, but can’t think of them at the moment.
41. Siblings? One brother.
42. Favorite day of the year? Any of the “eating” holidays.
43. What was your favorite toy as a child? My NES.
44. Summer or winter? Definitely summer!
45. Hugs or kisses? Both.
46. Coffee or tea? Tea is my poison of choice.
47. Chocolate or vanilla?What kind of question is that? Chocolate, fool!
48. Do you want your friends to e-mail you back? Sure if they don’t wanna comment.
