October 10th, 2006
Just 4 days before I hop down the isle and this is the current status:
Bridal showers attended: 2
Heart-shaped balloons received: 1
Parental units in town: 1 (1 more on the way)
To-do items on the wedding day list: 62
People who RSVP’d to the wedding: 74
Number of tuxedo strawberry that will be on display at the restaurant: 150
Beauty appointments attended: 2
Beauty appointments remaining: 3
Tiara purchased at Icing in the mall: $24.99
Self-appointed personal attendant: 1 (don’t you love when people volunteer!)
I am still at work and going strong. Mother-Russia is taking it upon herself to take the ever-fabulous Light Rail to the airport, pick up dad and get back into town. The other good news is that she has been hard at work taking in the bridal gown and is now reporting that the alterations are complete. This is going to be filed under $500 that never had to be spent. Russian moms are great like that 
I need to apologize in advance to my faithful readers if the stream of updates will slow down and/or stop until after the Really Big Day. You are not going to be mad at me, are you? I promise to post some photos, especially if anyone is going to make fool of themselves at the reception.
Yours truly,
delinquent bride
Categories: Delinquent Bride |
No Comments
October 4th, 2006
One of the suckiest things about being a bride is writing out a billion of “thank you notes”… No, I am not an ungrateful monster. I do appreciate all the cards and gifts but somehow it is much easier to say it in person than to write the same very thing seventeen times over.
Why am I complaining? I had my wedding shower/happy hour with office people today. My super-woman friend Amity organized it and was kind to get me a Visa gift card with everybody’s contributions. She went above and beyond and noted everybody who donated more than usual. She even placed their names and amounts into the “thank you” notes that she had bought. I had no choice but to write them all out immediately after the event since 90% of the work had been done for me. One more shower to go. My wrist will be hurting.
Categories: Delinquent Bride |
1 Comment
October 4th, 2006
While Genya has posted the first and pretty complete account of the bachelorette party, I have a few things to add. I do have quite a few pictures too but I value everybody’s privacy too much to post those.
First of all, holy crap! My girlfriends outdid themselves yet again– a full gourmet dinner instead of promised “appetizers”, a carrot cake, a drinking game with carefully selected naughty prizes, the “other cake”… I could have not had a crazier and better party, thanks girls! I didn’t have to pay for anything the entire night while the food and alcohol kept flowing my way.
And thanks to the guys who have come and rescued the bachelorettes at the end of the night. Here’s Kostja and John tired in the hallway by the elevator– not sure which part of the night this was taken at….
Categories: Delinquent Bride |
No Comments
September 28th, 2006
We’re in the final stretch before the wedding and my bachelorette’s party is in 3 days.
The great thing about the event is that I didn’t plan it. I am not even allowed to know what we will be doing. After months of managing florists, caterers, and invitations, I am ever so thankful to my two fabulous girlfriends who have been plotting the shenanigans for several weeks now. ( Connected readers did get a sneak peak into the party prep here.)
Now all I am concerned about is finding a right outfit (yeah, you guessed it– I checked my closet and I have nothing to wear!)
Please stay tuned for juicy details and photos!
Yours,
the delinquent bride
Categories: Delinquent Bride |
No Comments
September 20th, 2006
Remember my unfortunate experience with “Induldge and Bloom” florist? The guy never emailed/called me with a flower quote.
My string of bad floral luck continues. Last weekend, my friend Amity and I went to Vanderbloom wholesale florist and the following Monday I decided to place an order. I called and left them a message. It’s three days later and nobody called me back.
Slightly frustrated, I looked at some of the online flower delivery service: www.rosesource.com. The website provided a user-friendly chat option for customers to get pricing and inventory information. Great, I don’t have to wait for somebody to call me back, it’s all real-time baby! Not so fast, Gina 
. Here’s a transcript of my chat with their customer service:
Time of chat: 9/20/2006 11:41:58 AM
Length of chat: 00:03:03
Your name: Gina
Chatted with: Albert
11:41 AM Albert: Hello, Gina. Can I help you with anything today?
11:42 AM Gina: Hi,
11:42 AM Gina: I am looking for mini calla lilies (80-100) for a wedding. Can I order specific colors from you?
11:42 AM Notice: Albert exited session.
The show continues.
UPDATE
The Albert guy emailed me back– he didn’t mean to ignore me. His Windows shut down on him and he’s very sorry. Insert your Microsoft joke here.
Categories: Delinquent Bride |
No Comments
September 5th, 2006
You would think that I am all ready by this point. Huh! I would not be a good delinquent if I were! Still, here’s the progress report. In the last two weeks, I
- Got our electronic invites out. 50 people already replied
- Got a set of 5 feather boas on Ebay. What’s a wedding without boas?
- Got bridesmaids necklaces. Again, on eBay. Thank you, China.
- Met with the photographer. Since she’s BK’s college friend, we’re getting a huge discount and don’t have to put anything down. Another reason for the discount: we absolutely do not want a wedding album. All of the pics will be on a CD for us to store digitally and print out as we wish
- Decided to have music at the ceremony. My friend Amy who’s much more musically talented than me is in charge.
- Got very close to using a taxi as a transportation of choice for the wedding day. No limo companies in Twin Cities area are willing to do a point-to-point ride for a Saturday night. They all insist on some kind of wedding package and/or minimum number of hours we have to rent the car for. I also heard that buses run late on Nicollet
- Discovered the beauty of shopping for a tiara at Claire’s in the mall. The same metal-and-crystal contraptions that run $200 in the bridal salons are up for sale for $15-25.
- Had my hair figured out. BK’s sister is a hair expert and was able to make me look pretty without resembling a prom queen.
- Am going through a flower dilemma– see separate post.
The fun keeps on going!
Yours,
the delinquent bride.
Categories: Delinquent Bride |
1 Comment
September 5th, 2006
Even though our wedding is not going the traditional route, I still wanted a pretty ceremony so it has been decided (most by me, BK is wise enough to stay out of it) that the wedding party is getting flowers. Tipped off by a couple of tipsters at work, I have scheduled two appointments with downtown florists. My objective: to get a quote for a simple set of bouquets/boutonnières for 14 people and not having to leave the city limits to pick them up. No table decorations, no extras, no fuss.
My first stop was Market Flowers.
The lady was friendly and had a book full of actual photos of weddings they had done in the past. She was quite nice and took her time with me. She did appear though to be a little bit of a “blue collar” florists– she specializes in “cascade” style bouquets and using baby breath is a very serious option with her. End result: a quote on the spot– $334 + tax. I was told that it is very reasonable but the number still scared me and Genya who said she would rather be carrying a daisy than letting me pay $40 per bridesmaid’s bouquet. Regardless, I proceeded with my second appointment.
Please meet Indulge and Bloom. I met with the owner himself. Not blue collar at all, he didn’t have any photo book with him but he did have many creative ideas for my wedding. Nothing fru-fru, he understood my need for simplicity and style. However, he also seemed to be very confident in knowing that I do need a centerpiece for the fireplace where we will get married and also between 6 and 24 table decorations. He scruffed up his nose slightly at some of my ideas and seemed to have completely lost interest when he realized that I was a thrify bride on a budget. He said he would need 24 hours to give me a quote. A full week later, I am still waiting.
Needless to say, a stylist but snobby florist who tried to make me feel stupid is not getting my business.
I am still not decided what I am doing with the flowers. I still might order them from my first florist or we can be headed back to the internet where one can get bulk flowers sent directly from the farm for much cheaper. Now, any of you readers interested in making 14 flower arrangements? Lemmie know
Categories: Delinquent Bride |
No Comments
August 21st, 2006
I got this NYTimes article through my Google Reader and my dear friend Genya who as of lately has been burdened with one-too-many-weddings.
Here’s the most imporant bit:
A survey this year found that the average wedding costs $27,852, compared with $15,208 in 1990
The author goes on talking about the fact that the average number of wedding guests is about 200 nowadays and many people in their late 20’s and early 30’s suffer from “wedding fatigue” every summer as they’re invited to multiple lavish affairs. Is this a sign of an excess society? Did average income go up that much in the last 20 years to justify this change? Or there’s something else in play? What do you think, my dear readers? (I would love to hear what “Freakonomics” guys have to say about it but I shouldn’t get my hopes too high)
A couple ideas that came to my head are:
- average age of the brides and grooms: most people start their careers well before tying the knot
- easy access to cheap credit (credit-card offers extravaganza, home equity lines of credit?)
- the never-dying desire to beat the Joneses
Categories: Delinquent Bride |
No Comments
July 31st, 2006
After several crazy weeks of partying, studying, and getting promoted (oh yeah! we don’t talk about work here though 
), I am back to planning that little thing happening in October.
|inline
Categories: Delinquent Bride |
No Comments
