Time for an update

So, I've been bad at my goal of updating this frequently. I suck. So this may be another really long post.

So, of course wedding planning, being the all consuming hobby that it is, is taking a bit of a back-burner role due to my looming final exams. That being said, all has not been forgotten. Here's an update of sorts on various topics.

1) Ceremony: CATHOLIC CHURCHES WON'T DO CEREMONIES DURING LENT!!! GAH!!! We're not changing our date because we're too attached to the idea of leap year, and we aren't willing to wait four years so this puts a major glitch in our original plans. For now, the idea is to get married in the United Church with one of Jason's cousins as our pastor. Then, following our honeymoon, we would get the marriage blessed by a priest. It's not ideal, but I think it's the best decision given that we aren't flexible on the date. I'm even considering doing the official blessing during our honeymoon (which we are having at my mom's cabin just outside of Ottowa I think) so that we can have it in Ontario and my extended family can join us! My mom suggested that, and I thought it was a wonderful idea.

2) Wedding party: We are having the biggest wedding party in history, I swear to God. Five on each side. Add Jeff Blahun as a groomsman. I haven't had a chance to confirm with the new bridesmaid yet, so I'm not going public with our choice yet. But there will be five (FIVE!) on each side. Chalk it up to Jason and my classic indecisiveness. Sigh...

3) Wedding dress: I haven't started shopping yet, but I've been procrastinating studying by browsing the internet. I think I've found a style that I like a lot (it's very, very, very simple) so that's exciting. I'm not sure if I want to buy off the rack, order in from ebay or have a dress made...it all depends on the cost I guess.

4) Following Easter dinner with the Lockharts, we should be well on our way to finding a caterer. Apparently the cost of that will be lower than I had anticipated. Somewhere around 10-12$ a person instead of the 20$ I had been told to plan for. So, for a guest list of 150 (which is our current estimate), we're talking from 1500$ to 2500$. Jason's mom also agreed to be the lead on the decorations (thank God, the woman is brilliant!) so that makes me feel much, much better!

5) We booked and viewed our honeymoon suite at the Ramada Hotel in Stettler. It's BEAUTIFUL! I will post images of a similar room, but ours is fancier and more luxurious! We also reserved a large executive loft (with a seperate bedroom for bridal-napping) for the women to get ready in. The gentlemen will be getting ready at Jason's parents house. Jason and I also took a romantic drive around the Stettler area to get better acquainted with possible picture locations.

6) We took our engagement pictures on April 4th, 2007. Jordan Verlage (www.verlagephoto.com) did a beautiful job, despite the cold, snowy weather. We may look freezing, but I guarantee you that we did as good job hiding it as we could in light of the weather.

7) Engagement party is booked for May 5th, 2007. This coincides with the Mexican holiday of Cinquo De Mayo. Jason is excited to wear a sombrero! I'm excited to be done school and able to have a few cervecas and relax!

8) Wedding colors have been finalized. Black and White with touches of red. Should be pretty. And classy. But most importantly, simple!

The next few things on my list of things to do include:
1) Finalizing a caterer
2) Choosing a baker for the cake
3) Finalizing the guest list with our parents
4) Figure out how in God's name we're going to afford this day!
5) Build our registry/ies
6) Attend our engagement party and hopefully have a good time :)
7) Finalize and order flowers (yes, apparently I'm supposed to do that this early...weird)
8) Choose a dress style and decide which method i'm going with in getting what I want.
9) Book our DJ and talk to Sarah about music.

We are getting a phenomenal amount of support and encouragement from those who surround us- we are a very lucky couple! I'll admit, this entire process is a little intimidating, but it's also exiting. I am looking forward to the day that I become Mrs. Jason and he becomes Mr. Zita (the last name question is still up in the air at this point!).