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Wedding vendor info, as promised

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!

Local Wedding Resources

These are various wedding-related resources that I ran across in the course of my research: Alabama Bridal Directories, Brides.com, Bama Bride, Alabama Bridal, Weddings Alabama, Alabama Wedding Magazine, Brides Club

Other

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.

Also helpful: Frugal Bride, Cheap Wedding Ideas, Greater Birmingham Convention & Visitors Bureau, Shop for Weddings

So she says no to fur

Doug Larson said, “Few things are more satisfying than seeing your own children have teenagers of their own.”

Oh boy, ain’t that the truth! Jessie’s 10 going on 18. I’ve told Jim many times that he wasn’t ready for her to be a teenager yet. Hell, he still isn’t ready for her to be old enough to be considered a “tween,” but she’s already there. So far, we’ve had mega-attitude (combined with a quick temper yields much grounding), a smart mouth (more grounding), the rolling eyes and muttering under her breath (watch it, missie!), crushes on boys, and to top it off: she’s wanting to know when she can wear makeup.

:shock: Poor Jim. LOL

It’s not all bad though. Despite her mother’s incessant wishes for her to be grown already (jeez lady, enjoy it while it lasts!), Jessie still remains innocent enough to enjoy our time together. She hasn’t yet reached the “oh geeez, you’re embarrassing me!” stage yet … she’s maturing, and the fact that I’m not the “evil stepmother” yet means either I’m doing a lot better than I think, or she’s a really REALLY great kid. (I already think she’s great, but hey, I’m biased! )

She hit me with something the other day that seemed out of the blue, but may be foretelling … apparently she’s anti-fur.

When she and I went shopping with my mother a few weeks back, I was looking for some really cute earmuffs for her. Her school won’t let them wear toboggans or hats anymore, but earmuffs are completely acceptable, so I was on a happy hunt. I ran across an ADORABLE pair of red and black pairs that were covered in rabbit fur. When I called Jessie over to look at them, she looked at me in horror and asks, “Is that real fur?”

*blink*

I said, “Yeah, sweetie, it’s rabbit fur. Do you want to feel?” I’m allergic to rabbit fur, but she isn’t and they were adorable so I naturally thought it would have been a good find. She looks at me with these big sad eyes (you know, the kind you only see on puppies and cartoons?) and says, “I could never wear anything that hurt an animal to make it!”

I was honestly stunned for a moment. It never once crossed my mind that she would take something like that into consideration when shopping for clothes, accessories, etc.

I played it off as no big deal and we kept looking. We found a much cuter pair of earmuffs later on with plush monkeys on them. (Monkeys rule, don’tchaknow!)

When we were getting ready to leave, I asked her if she had felt that way a while about fur. She said she had, but had been afraid to say anything. (Given how her mother gets so abrasive over non-issues, I don’t doubt that she’s too scared to speak up more often!) I told her it was no big thing and I’m proud of her stating her beliefs and standing firm on them. I then asked her how she felt about leather. “Leather? That comes from animals?” she asked. I told her, “Yeah, it’s made out of cow hide. Our couch, my backpack, your sneakers, … these are all from cows.”

She paused for a moment and said, “Oh, those are ok. I just don’t want the cute furry animals to get hurt!”

You heard my child. Screw the cows.

Reflections on Christmas

I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas. Mine was pretty good.

I worked Christmas Eve and left around lunchtime. I had just enough time to run home and change to go see my parents that afternoon. We had a lovely early supper and hung out a bit with my folks and my brother and his family. Things are slowly getting better with Dad. He and I talked for a little bit. I know he really enjoyed having Jessie over last weekend and for Christmas Eve. (I know he was driving Mother up the wall!) Mother kept pressing the “children” issue again. (not gonna happen) Between her and my aunt Sharon, I don’t know who’s worse. ;P

I know they mean well, but it’s my decision — I just wish they would accept it and stop badgering me already!

Jessie scored big with some cute outfits and a TON of new earrings (much to her delight!). Jim and I scored gift cards. (YAY, shopping!!!) We left around dark. Jessie had to leave shortly after to go to her mother’s house. She spent the night there and came back the next day around lunch. Unfortunately I was way too wiped out Christmas Eve night to finish wrapping the “Santa” gifts and put it off until the next morning. Jessie showed up just as I was finishing up wrapping. Luckily Jim came to my rescue and met Jess at the door and suggested they leave to “pick up breakfast” — which is parent-secret-code for “Nicki’s not done yet and needs someone to buy her some time.” LOL!

Waffle House provided a very lovely brunch of scattered/smothered hashbrowns, toast, and bacon. YUM! (they’re the only place around town open on Christmas Day, and it’s becoming a tradition with us to get breakfast Christmas morning there!)

We had Christmas at our house and Jessie racked up on goodies, a nice jewelry box (for all her newly acquired earrings, LOL!), and several toys and art sets. She gave Jim a DBZ video that he didn’t already have in his collection. She gave me a HUGE bath gift set — lavender, my favorite scent. She had also given one to her mother the night before, but it was only a quarter of the size of mine.

I told a friend about that yesterday morning and he said, “Congratulations! You’ve moved up from stepmom to super mom!” :lol: I dunno about all that just yet, but it was very nice to know that she’s thoughtful enough to know my favorite scent and picked out such a nice gift on her own.

We left to head to Jim’s mom’s house that afternoon and spent most of the day there with her and his brother’s family. Jess spent the night over there last night while I worked on Jim’s website. (His WordPress was WAY outdated and his plugins folder was an absolute MESS!)

I’ve also posted some old family recipes over at my recipe site: Pineapple Cookies, Peanut Butter Balls, Butter Cookies, Sand Tarts, No-Bake Cookies, and Cherry Glaze.

I spent most of last weekend helping my mom make some of those and took the opportunity to snag some snapshots of her recipes with my Helio Ocean. :mrgreen:

I’m finishing up on my newest WordPress themes and will most likely release them all four of them tomorrow. (Yes, I got FOUR done this last week and a half! GO ME! LOL) I haven’t decided yet which one(s) to enter in the LunarPages contest, if any, so I guess I’ll do that this weekend.

Next week marks one year since Hobie passed away. I’ve been thinking about her a lot lately. While I was wrapping some gifts last week, I ran across one of her old toys (a felt mouse) in my supply box and started crying. It hardly seems like it’s been a year already. Late at night I still find myself listening, wanting to hear her feet on the kitchen floor or running up and down the stairs. Honestly that cat sounded like a pack of elephants sometimes, LOL!

It’s weird but sometimes I feel like she’s still here. Sometimes out of the corner of my eye, I’ll think I see her prancing down the hall, or sitting and watching me. She always loved Christmas (or rather, loved Christmas trees since they were fun for her to play with!), and it still feels weird not having her around.

Maybe by next Christmas (or the next at the very latest), we’ll be in a new house and may have another furry friend to share the warmth and joy of the holidays.

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