I love my DJ - Again!

Mary at Toast & Jam really came through and hooked us up with another, actually AVAILABLE, DJ, so we're now lucky enough to have Leslie doing our do just right.

This weekend, I slipped trying to plan our ceremony music in between spurts of work.

So far, this is what we have...

During Guest Seating

True Romance

Somehwere Over the Rainbow

I'm Yours

Groom and Groomsmen Arrival

The Luckiest (just beginning to end of first chorus)

Seating of the Mothers & Grandmothers

Can't Help Falling in Love (Ingrid Michaelson's Version)

Processional (Girls and Me)

Stacey and a pianist playing this version of Canon in D (but hopefully, better than these two play it!)

Recessional

PM Love Theme (from about 30 seconds through the end)

Still completely stuck on an introduction song, cake cutting and first dance.

It sure is easy to forget to post!

Let's see, it's been a week. And what a week it's been. As usual, more work stuff than wedding stuff, but I did make some progress.

1. I bought a new dress! I found it when Janell was here for the weekend, but it didn't fit just right, so I made an appointment with the store's seamstress to see what she thought she could do. Lucky for me (unlucky for my wallet), I brought two of my best friends. I brought in my current dress and tried that one first. Definitely got some compliments (it DOES do great things for my waist), and I think they genuinely liked it. But man oh man, it was the neatest thing to put the potential new one on and when they didn't realize that I could see them in the mirror, I caught them making an "ohhhhhhh" face at each other. You know, the "ohhhhh, that's the dress!" face. That felt awesome.
   
2. Jenn finally got to meet Adam! She lives in Kansas right now and twice when she's visited, he's been out of town! I've repeatedly told Adam I wouldn't marry him without her approval (luckily, there was no doubt in my mind he wouldn't get it). But I do think we were cutting it pretty close. It was such an enjoyable night for me to chat with Jenn and Theresa and the fact that they got to see how happy I am makes me even MORE happy.
3. Our block of rooms at The Wit was set up and people started booking. There was a little glitch at first, but it's all worked out now. Even better? My future mother and sister in law are in town for my shower this weekend and while I was at work today, they took a stroll to The Wit and checked out the rooms (yay! they waited for me to take them tomorrow to show them the Roof!). I didn't think they would let them into the rooms or anything. Not only did they let them in, but they worked with them to find the exact configuration they wanted - a 2-room suite adjoined with a regular king deluxe so that the baby has somewhere to sleep, but grandparents are close too! I was nervous about people thinking it was going to be annoying to be so close to the train, but they said they were there for over 30 minutes (in a few different rooms) and never heard it once. Plus, the fact that everyone was so friendly (from the doorman to the person helping them with the rooms to the manager!) that it made them feel so comfortable. That's another reason why I felt like it was the right place. I think I mentioned before that I loved that it had the view and the style to be shi-shi, but the attitude of a family-run place that feels much more intimate than it is.
4. I finally ordered our invitations. Can't wait to post pics! I mentioned that I wasn't sure what the labels would look like on a cobalt blue metallic envelope and the designer made the cutest little wrap around label so the front has the recipient's address and then it wraps around to seal the back with our names on it. Adorable if I do say so myself!
5. We got a new DJ. I was so annoyed when the original one bailed on us, but Mary, at Toast and Jam didn't leave me hanging and found someone new! I hope she's got the endurance to make it through the wedding she has that night after our rocking daytime wedding!
6. Tomorrow morning (well, technically, this morning), I'm getting my hair and makeup trial. I'm nervous about it because I really have no preconcieved notion of what I hope to look like or what I want to do with my hair or anything. Again, perhaps I will post a pic or two to get some advice. The best part (as long as I like it!) is that my shower is in the afternoon, so I get to look pretty for it! NOW, I just need something to wear. It's going to be quite a morning.
7. I can't wait for my shower. I'm so excited Jenn and Theresa pulled something so nice together so quickly, especially with everything they have going on in their own lives right now! It means so much to me to have friends I've been close to for so long with me through this exciting time. I wish I could be geographically close to more of the people who mean so much to me more often, but one of my favorite parts of planning the wedding is how much more frequently we've been chatting - even if it is something simple.
   

It's been so nice to have my future in laws here. Adam's parents are just good people. And the fact that they made two great boys? One for me and one that attracted the sweetest wife to become my sister-in-law? That's just icing on the cake!

Speaking of cake... Portillo's chocolate cake and Sweet Mandy B's cake tomorrow. How does one choose?

I feel like a kid on Christmas. But I never got a brand new stand mixer on Christmas! I better go to bed so I can wake up!

I take it back, I don't like my DJ (or should I say non-DJ)

Just when I thought I made it through the week without a meltdown, I received an email from the Toast and Jam DJ, Tevis, that was "assigned" to us saying pretty much "oops. can't do your wedding." Obviously, we have no ground to stand on, but are left having wasted time meeting with and discussing our plans with someone who wasn't even available and took another week to tell us so. Not to mention that I turned down about 3 potential DJs who were less expensive than Tevis - and now they are all booked.

Great weekend with Janell!

Janell, my lovely maid of honor, was here this weekend and among other things, we were supposed to find her a dress to wear for the wedding. Well, technically, we did - it's one of my favorite dresses ever! It was purchased in 2001 for the amazing price of $63. It has since been worn three times by me, by Erika, by Jackie and by Bianca. Best part? You'd think it was brand new.

So, we checked that off the list pretty early, leaving me with a willing and able partner to take a quick trip down to White Chicago to see if they got any new dresses in that would be more city rooftop wedding appropriate than the one I bought on my birthday. What do you know? They DID! So, now, I'm faced with the difficult decision of whether or not to become a two-dress bride and work on selling that first one to a good home...

The best way to ponder that choice?


Over cocktails, of course! And what better venue than ROOF, at The Wit. It was great to get back and see it on our own, without all the dreamy wonder of the first time. But guess what? The dreaminess is still there - and it was even gross outside.

When we first arrived, it was too busy, but there was a decent crown inside and outside. As the night went on, it filled right up. Our server was very friendly and attentive the entire night - thanks Brooke - and we got to try quite a few of the yummy specialty cocktails on the menu. A few too many, some might say from looking at our pictures from the rest of the night...

We also had these mini Chicken Parmesan sliders, mmm, mmm good. Quite a few of the items on the menu sounded good (perhaps a little more adventurous than I'm used to) and I had my eye on everything other servers were walking by; however, we'd eaten a late lunch, so we didn't get anything else. In general, I love the small plate concept because I can never make up my mind. I'm the one who is always bugging you to order something I like so I can share. I also loved the way they displayed their menus on the tables. We've been trying to think of something interesting to do on our tables for the wedding even though we're not doing assigned seating and seeing their little brushed chrome menu holders made me want to put a quiz or thank yous or something in there for our big day.

Afterward, we wandered to the Bean and took some goofy pics - but also a really neat one of Adam and I kissing in front of it with the city mirrored in the background. Thanks Janell, couldn't have paid for a better pic!

The rest of the weekend though, not so productive. Well, wait a second, I take that back! On Saturday afternoon, we had our first meeting with our D.J. and all 3 of us loved her. Meeting her put me at ease over worrying whether people would dance and have a blast or not. I get the feeling that Tevis (from Toast & Jam) won't let that happen. She made me think a lot about all of the things I still haven't thought through yet, but it was good to get the juices flowing!