SPAM Wedding Emails

This is a word of advice to all those ladies out there (or gentlemen if you are into wedding stuff). I signed up for "free tickets" to a Bridal Expo on September 14, 2008. That was a BIG mistake. As a normally savvy web-explorer, I'm usually adept at spotting email-address/ contact information fishing expeditions. But, alas, the post-engagement euphoria fogged my vision and good judgment.

Since signing up for the Bridal Expo, which I ended up not being able to attend, I have received at least 100 unsolicited advertisements through email, snail-mail, and even a few phone calls!

For example, the other day I got a phone call that said I had to call this number immediately or apparently bad things would happen. I actually got chastised for calling a day later (they left the message on my old cell phone) and was told that I almost "missed out" because of my delay. Right... My regret is that I didn't call her on that one. Turns out it was a weekend trip "giveaway" in return for me giving up an evening (that evening, in fact!) in Schaumburg to test some products. What?! So, they expect me to go somewhere with one day notice and then tell me I almost missed out because I called back 1 day later... You can see that I'm still a bit frustrated by it.

Also, I get emails from people that I supposedly "met" and "talked to" at the Bridal Expo... That's a bit risky for them to say that because obviously they did not! You think they would err on the side of subtly.

The real kicker is that some of these advertisements were not even related to weddings!

Yesterday, I checked my mail and got an advertisement for Camel cigarettes. Here's the content of the letter (I have to include it in full and without corrections to grammar/ capitalization because it was so bizarre):

Hey good-looking,

Hopefully, you're one of the millions who got a nice fat check from the government. And hopefully you had some fun with it. But chances are more of it went into your gas tank than that new whatever you've been wanting but couldn't afford.

More relief is here. And this time it's only good for one thing - a little break on your favorite style of Camels.

It ain't a flat screen . . . . But maybe you could hang a stuffed marlin or something on the wall instead. Just a thought.

Enjoy!
Camel

Right... because I'm a smoker and an idiot that is going to spend what little money I have on cigarettes. I find it despicable that this company can fake concern over my dwindling cash reserves, but at the same time tell me I shouldn't give up my luxuries. Also, I want to know where this fat check from the government is? If I get that check, I'm spending it on wine - my vice of choice - not cigarettes. I know Bridal Expo sold my information because I do not sign up for stuff online for just this reason. Also, I certainly haven't contacted Camel about how much I love their smokes. I got coupons too, which I'll be giving to my friend Mark, who was pretty excited about my offer to give them to him. I'm just spreading the love.

So, moral of the story: I totally regret registering for free tickets to a Bridal Expo. I hope that after next August I will not continue to get this spam because I really am attached to my email address and don't to change it.

Fitting # 3

Today I had my 3rd fitting with Tina. She has to help me into the top (see left). We nailed down the shape of the neckline and backline so she can start making the more solid piece to which she will attach the boning. I made the front and the back a little lower than we had talked last time - why not show off the goods? I like the look of a v-line in the back and front as opposed to some thing more sweetheart shaped.

I paid the second deposit today as well, which is REALLY exciting because that means that she is purchasing fabric!! The next fitting will begin the draping of my fabric (silk taffeta) and looking at proportions. The fittings will now be with my wedding shoes on too. Unfortunately, this means no more Uggs. (See pictures below). The next fitting will be in early December right after Thanksgiving. The good thing about having all these fittings is that I have motivation to WORK OUT. The motivation hasn't worked so far, but I'm holding out hope... :P A funny side note about that is when Stephanie was helping me into the bustier - She was using all her muscle strength and noticeably struggling, which made me think, "Geez, I have to work out." Turns out that she was trying to get it on the smallest hook-and-eye. Needless to say, trying to undo that was much harder!

Three of my b-maids were able to come - my 3 local ladies - and it was a lot of fun to share this with them. They were my papparazzi and fashionistas! I truly value their opinions, and I'm glad that they could take time from studying and see the dress creation.Yay! Dress!

Picking the placement of the straps is serious business.

Neckline.

Backline.
Uggs are classy.

Jessica, Me, Heather, & Stephanie

Photographer Drama

Erik and I met with our photography company on Saturday for 1.5 hours (S2 Photography). This is in addition to the 1.5 hours that we met with them in August as Stephanie can attest too. (Sidenote: She really won the best-bridesmaid of the month award during that trip up to E's parents'.) Anyway, the last 2 months working with our photographers have not been stress-free. Part of it is our fault in the sense that we decided to upgrade our package after meeting with the owner - we wanted to discuss offline about the higher price but still wanted to lock into the date at least.

The 2 months of stress consisted of me having to follow-up with the owner, Jack, every 2 weeks or so to get our new contract sent to us. When it finally arrived (about a week ago), none of the information that was supposed to be on it was and my name was spelled wrong! I'm not an expert on business practices, BUT spelling the customer's name wrong is a big no-no! I know I have a difficult to spell name, but Meagh-E-n? I'm just going to stop there because I'll become incensed about it again. (Huge pet peeve of mine!).

So, I called Jack to set up a meeting for this weekend - Saturday morning - because he's obviously not good at communicating over the phone. Also, every time I talked to him on the phone, it was like the movie Groundhog Day and had to start over fresh why I was calling, when my wedding was, etc. After a client calls about 4 times not very happy, wouldn't you remember who they were?! Anyway, so Erik and I get to the studio about 10 minutes before our meeting and Jack is nowhere to be found. Fortunately, his office manager Chris is there, but Chris has no idea who we are (Jack didn't tell him about our appointment) and says that hopefully Jack will be back soon. Apparently, Jack got called to do a photo-shoot for that morning and didn't bother to call us to prevent us wasting our time.

The long and the short of it is that Erik and I had to negotiate a new contract with Chris, the office manager, because Jack never showed up - or wait, he did, but it was an hour and 1/2 late and we were about to sign the new contract. Chris gave us a lot of push back to some of the things that Jack promised us and this morning I realized why. Their pricing has changed significantly, and even though we are no longer getting everything promised in August, we are still getting a better deal than anything they offer now. It's just frustrating because I tried to get more specifics in writing initially, but Jack flat out refused to put more detail because "he would remember," which basically means "because I hope you forget."

Anyway, it's resolved now but not without a good dose of stress.

300 Days

300 days from right now (5:19pm) Erik and I will be getting ready to walk down the aisle. I guess that's if things run on schedule (which they will!). Actually, I'm not sure how Nazi-esque I'm going to be about the wedding day timeline. I would like to think that I will just be relaxed and laid back and not be worried about things not going according to plan. Knowing myself, that will not be easy. My goal is to have everything planned and delegated so the day of the wedding, I can just sit back and enjoy all my hard work!

Three hundred days seems very far away. Sometimes I wish we were getting married next month! Then I start thinking about how much I have left to plan and then am happy that I have 300 more days to get everything together.

Flowers

So, this was so nice! Erik's Aunt J. called me at 9:15pm tonight and we talked for 40+ minutes! She finally had the flower quotes, and they were a little more than I had budgeted (damn expensive taste). She is so kindly doing our flowers for us as a wedding present. I'm very excited about seeing them! Before next weekend I'm going to find some sample vases and bring them up to Erik's family's next weekend for her.

At Thanksgiving she's going to have examples for us! I can't wait to see them. She LOVED the eucalyptus and hydrangea idea! I can't wait to see it. We discussed corsages for the moms & grandma and boutonnieres for the men - making sure Erik's is special, of course! We discussed using the extra fabric from my dress & the b-maids' dresses (after alterations) to wrap the bouquets! What a great idea. On the tables, we going to do low vases with votive candles around them. Something very simple but classy.

I tried to find a picture of the idea for the bouquet for this post, but no images came up on Google Images - that must mean I'm the first the think of it. :) I'm just that awesome. (Note: Sarcasm should be evident.)

Honeymoon & Officiate Update

10 Months Until the Wedding!

I finally talked to V. at All Seasons Travel in Itasca. I highly recommend them if you are planning a vacation (not sure who all reads the blog, but I thought a little advertising wouldn't hurt!).

We are looking at several options including cruises in the Greek islands, visiting just Athens and Santorini, going to Aruba, or going to Atlantis in the Bahamas. We don't want to go away for too long, and we want to keep it reasonably priced. As a side note: Flights to Europe are expensive! I remember flying to Rome for $500 in May 2005 - now the same flight costs $1,300!! (I just looked it up on Orbitz!)

On a darker note, our officiate called me today to let me know that he was just diagnosed with colon cancer. He was worried about not being able to make our meeting next Saturday because he might be having surgery this week... I'm thinking - DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT! Fortunately, they caught it extremely early so the spot was 1/2 a millimeter. It was nice that he thought of us, but I just hope that we (or other couples for that matter) have not caused him any needless stress. I told him to not even worry about us and just to focus on his health and getting better and that there is plenty of time to talk about our ceremony - especially considering that it's 10 months away!

So, if everyone reading this blog can keep Tom in your thoughts & prayers that would be really great.

Thanks.

Whoops!

So, today marks another momentous occasion - although not one for celebration... I missed my first wedding appointment! I had a phone meeting with the travel agent today at 2pm and totally forgot about it until 4:45pm when I went to get ready for a BoV Reception/ Dinner. Whoops!

I guess it was bound to happen at some point - a person is only able to keep so many balls in the air without dropping one. Fortunately, there is still PLENTY of time to arrange the honeymoon and the travel agent was SUPER nice about it. She works with Erik's Aunt K., so at least she knows that we are not total flakes!

Erik is getting better - he's able to do more things on his own already, which is promising. At the same time, it still is taking a lot of time out of my everyday to take care of him, and I'm pretty stressed about school - especially with Homecoming events going on that I had already committed to attend. Fortunately, I got some deadlines moved until after the weekend. I plan on going to half the Homecoming game and then work all weekend... I guess I just won't be sleeping as much for the next few months... Not a fun prospect.

As a side note, the photographer still hasn't sent us the revised contract... Looks like I'll be making a follow-up phone call tomorrow. They deposited our check, and I have my proposed contract in writing, so I'm sure this will end up just fine.

My Future Husband

So, today marked a momentous day - the day that my future MiL (Mother-in-Law) relinquished nursing duty for her son. While this is a necessary rite of passage for any son, I almost think it would have been nice to have her swoop in and take care of both of us for a few days! The reality of "in sickness and in health" is setting in... ;)

All joking aside, he's being a trooper and the situation in his shoulder was not quite as bad as suspected. His recovery will be several months, but it definitely could have been worse.

The picture above is about 20 minutes before Erik had surgery on his shoulder. No, he had not been given any drugs yet. So far, he has not had any major discomfort and is intent on doing things for himself. Unfortunately (in his eyes) for him, I will be carting him around town until his follow up appointment in 9 days, at which point he will hopefully get the a-okay on driving independence.

And as a side note: It really hasn't been that bad taking care of him - in fact, I find myself checking in with him more than I should - both to his annoyance of being coddled and to the detriment of my studies.

Okay, back to work for real now.