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Today we bought our airline tickets to Hawaii. I found a really good deal, and we figured we would get started with that and fill in the rest of the details as we go. We are also planning to stay in San Francisco for a few days. I started doing some more research and talking to a friend who just went to Hawaii a few weeks ago. It’s a little overwhelming how much there is to do, and how man different types of places there are to stay! I’m think it will be good to spend about 3-4 days in each place. We don’t want to move around so much that we wipe ourselves out, but we also want to see as much as we can. Who knows if we’ll ever have a chance to go to Hawaii again. I started researching hikes because I know Pete always enjoys hiking. I love how descriptive everything is. One in particular sounded great to me. It started out under fruit trees, traveled under a canopy and ended at a waterfall with a pool of water at the bottom that you can swim in. I can’t wait to get there!

On Monday morning, Pete and I met with our stationer to review our concerns with the invites. She agreed and so did the printer, so they are being reprinted and should be in by Monday. That gave me a week to get the envelopes addressed, order the postage, get the wax seal, and assemble everything so they are ready to have the invite inserted and sent out as soon as they come in.

On Monday afternoon, I went to the post office to confirm the amount for the postage, and then I ordered the stamps. I then went to order the wax seal, but suddenly I noticed something I hadn’t before. They cautioned that the wax seal may make the envelope too thick, which then means you have to pay extra postage. So now I’m not sure if we should order it since I already ordered the postage based on the invite without the seal.

Once I finished with the post office I went to buy a color laser printer, because I figured it would come in handy for the invites, menus, programs, escort cards, gift tags etc. I brought the invite in to the store, to consult with the sales people. I got a great printer, but not for the envelopes. I tried every possible setting for thick material and it just couldn’t pass through. Then I got in touch with the stationer, since she had told me it is done “all the time” with both laser and ink printers. It turns out she was mistaken, the printers use a straight path ink printer, since the lined envelopes can’t bend enough to go around the drum of a laser printer.

So then today I started researching straight path inkjets. Canon has several, but those particular models are only sold through their online store, which would mean I have to wait for them to ship or pay high expedited shipping charges. And to be honest, I didn’t want to risk spending all that money and then it still not working. So back to the store I went, armed with my new knowledge. I found another printer in the store that has rear access to the paper path, so you can manually feed it straight through. The salesperson (who was extremely knowledgeable) assured me I could configure the software that came with the printer to use the rear access.

Once I got home I couldn’t figure it out, so I got on the live chat support. The “technician” was practically illiterate, and had no idea how to help me so I asked for someone to call me. I had to call them, and I got assigned a “ticket” number with the information about my product and issue. I was told I would be transfered to a technician who could help with my particular problem. After being transfered, the ticket number seemed to have no bearing, because I had to give all the information again (only to find out I was transfered to the wrong department). After being transfered to the wrong place for the third time, I politely requested that the correct person call me instead of transferring me again. She refused. So I then asked if I could speak to her manager and SHE HUNG UP ON ME! I once had an HP scanner and I had the same horrendous experience with their customer support. NEVER AGAIN!

After that I decided “I give up.” Two days wasted is enough. I’m returning the printer and hiring a calligrapher. On the bright side, the calligrapher I decided to go with comes highly recommended and can have them done by Monday like I originally wanted!

Everything seems much better from where we stand tonight than it did yesterday walking to the bridal shop. Once we got there, Stacy got a different person who was much more willing to help. I think he sensed that we were really upset and we weren’t being caustic, so he was willing to help us out and get Stacy fitted. After that we went on a mission to set up the tuxedo rentals, but on the way we stumbled on the perfect wedding band for Peter! He was having a hard time deciding what material he wanted the band to be made from, but once he tried on titanium he was really impressed. He’s never worn jewelry before, so the lightweight feel of titanium appealed to him. Read the rest of this entry »

I guess it’s inevitable that I was going to have a meltdown somewhere in the process of wedding planning. It felt like everything was going wrong for the last few days. First we had the lackluster centerpeices on Thursday. Then Pete and I had a fight (also inevitable in wedding planning). Next, the invitations came in on Friday. I thought they were okay but not great at first, but after looking at them closer and showing them to Pete, I realized they were not okay. So now we have less than a month until we planned to get the RSVP’s back by, and no invitations to send. We finally reached the woman doing the invites late last night, and she promised to call by 9 am this morning. This morning 9 came and went, then 10, then 11 and no call. Finally at 11:30 when we were on our way into the city I realized she had emailed me instead of calling. Then Stacy arrived from Maryland for her bridesmaid dress fitting. As Pete and I were walking to the store Stacy called to say she was there, the seamstresses were all gone for the day (and wouldn’t be back until Monday) and she couldn’t come back to New York until a few weeks before the wedding. I couldn’t even stop myself from crying while walking down the street in Manhattan.

Tonight Pete and I went to look at the first mock up of our centerpiece design for the reception. We were a little disappointed with the amount of green and thought there was not enough white. The florist promised to make it more white and swap out the two types of greens at the bottom for eucalyptus since it’s a softer, paler green. She also said she will make it a little higher by having some of the calas at the top instead of the stock. And she said she would switch out the roses for the same kind that will be in my bouquet, I thought those were too yellow looking, whereas the bouquet is vendela roses – a white with a slight pink undertone. Hopefully once those changes are made we will love the design!

Today I finally typed all my old entries from my journal:

• Wedding favors
• Met with videographer
• Browsing with Pete’s mom
• MOB dress
• We booked the church!!!
• Hunt for a florist

Today we put the finishing touch on the first dance – the dip at the end! After 9 lessons we are feeling really comfortable with dancing. Each time we learn a new step it seems to come easier than the one before it. Now that we have all the moves down, we have to keep practicing to get smoother and learn to stay on the music. I think about dancing all the time now. It’s so much fun! The only problem is there’s really not enough space to practice in our apartment. I got a nice bruise on my knee from the coffee table one night… Now that we finished all the steps for the first dance, we can we can move on to other songs and types of dance in our lessons. Then we can really bust out the moves at the wedding!!

Today we put the ending on our first dance! After 9 lessons, we are feeling really comfortable with it. Now that we have all our moves we just have to keep practicing to get smoother and learn to stay on the music.

I have a really cute terrycloth hoodie and pants that I plan to wear while getting hair and makeup done on our wedding day. I have seen a lot of people get theirs embroidered but I’m not sure if I want to or not, so I thought I would ask for opinions. Here are the options:

A. The Future Mrs. Milcetic or Soon To Be Mrs. Milcetic (example). This seems to be the most popular design but then it’s not as wearable after the wedding.

B. Mrs. Milcetic Est 09.21.08 (example). I think this idea is cute because then it can be worn after the wedding, and everyone will know we’re newlyweds if I wear it on our honeymoon.

C. No embriodery, not as cute for the wedding day but definitely can wear it in the future!

D. Some other option…you tell me!

After watching a marathon of Trista & Ryan on the Bachelorette a few weeks ago, I decided it wasn’t such a bad idea to have a second dress. My main dress is very formal and heavy and I may decide I want to be more comfortable at some point during the reception or for the after party or whatever. So I went out today to look, with the intention of getting one of those allover antique lace gowns. I tried on about 10 lace ones before I gave up on it. Number 1 lace is so not comfortable! It’s super heavy and not all that soft. Number 2 I found another dress that is a soft and comfortable crinkle chiffon fabric. It practically feels like I’m wearing nothing. It has very little train so it’s perfect for dancing or wearing out to an after party. It’s also a new design that was just in to the store, so no one else tried it on. Since the wedding is less than 3 months away and the one in the store fit perfectly, they let me take it instead of waiting for an order. I didn’t think of it until I had the dress on, but it felt very much like it would be at home on the beach. So I may also wear it for some of the beach photos.