Our Aruba Wedding

After a few set-backs and misunderstandings over the last couple of days, I think I’m moving forward again. At the moment its 2am and I have only one day left! In this day I’m hoping to get salon treatments done (acrylic nails, pedicure, wax), get the fudge I plan to bring as favors (40 minutes away), hire a pet sitter, finish packing and my mind is blank after that right now.

Luckily my brother (who just got married last weekend!), offered to help me with the printed materials! I’ve roughed in the itinerary, welcome letter, stickers, favor tags, CD labels, etc and he’s going to print this all for me and assemble the CDs! I would think wedding chores would be the last thing he would want to do right now, but maybe he has an appreciation of how much work goes into this. While I have other people that have offered to help, I haven’t been organized enough to accept it. I’m from a family of procrastinators so my brother is someone that will help me scramble at the last minute and not give me (too much) grief!

The Dress!

Today I picked up the dress (and my party outfit and the groom’s pants – all from different placed). She’s hanging here in my living room. Now I’m worrying again about getting her down there. Its not huge and ‘poufy’ but is big enough that it could cause trouble. I’ve done a lot of reading to try to figure out how I ‘pack’ it. Brides have had all kinds of experiences with the airlines from fantastic to horrifying.

I’ve read accounts of attendants that will hang the dress in the first class closet but think I’ve also read posts that say these closets may not be available in some of the smaller commuter planes (or they are confronted with a flight attendant having a bad day who refuses to ‘bend’ the rules). When the closets aren’t available, some brides have gotten lucky with an empty overhead or seat or even had a crew willing to let it fly in the cockpit.

Others have had the horrible experience of a flight attendant that made them cram it in their carry-on. Some brides, reading about experiences like that didn’t want to take the chance with cramming in a carry-on so instead chose to fold it into a large checked bag, only to be a nervous wreck wondering it it will get damaged or lost.

I do plan to try to carry my dress on as my personal item but admit I’m uneasy because the plane is full! I wouldn’t worry at all if I saw empty seats but it looks like space will be a premium. Since I’m bringing so much with me, packing in the checked bag is not an option, not that I really think I’d do that anyway. So please, wish me luck! If my fiancé and I were flying from the same city I wouldn’t worry because he’s a ‘medallion’ member with the airline and has a knack for being able to schmooze just about anyone – “Mr Charming”. We’ll meet up during the lay-over, but getting down there could be interesting.

This is one time I actually plan to get to the airport early! I’m thinking I’ve had enough problems in the last few days that its time for things to start going my way, right?

Here’s a nice Trash the Dress photo I just ran across on ProjectWedding.com

As always too many things have been saved for the last minute. Not the least of those is my groom’s outfit! He’ll be wearing a shorten Indian sherwani that is a creamy color with embroidery. The problem? Finding pants to go with it! Try to find lightweight cream slacks right now! The hunt did not go well, both of us totally stressed out trying to accomplish this at absolutely the wrong time. We finally went to a really upscale men’s boutique here in town with a plea for help.

As we walked in we said “We hope you can save our wedding!” It’s interesting how helpful an objective third party can be! They had the cream colored slacks I thought would work but the guy at the salon also insisted a nice chocolate brown would be really nice. (Chocolate brown is actually what my fiance wanted.) I kept thinking chocolate brown on the beach?!? Sounds so wrong but I finally gave in after the guy at the boutique insisted it would be really good. On the upside though, he was able to convince my groom that a more contemporary fit, flat front pant would work well for him (something he wasn’t interested in by my suggestion alone). So we ended up with brown but flat!

After all that ‘fun’, we came home and worked through packing and think we’re going to be ok! We got the lanterns and welcome bag items packed which was the most important. He will have a hard shell suitcase with lanterns, plus they will take up about half a duffel, so there is his to checked bags. Luckily he doesn’t have to pack much – doesn’t really need much more than a carry-on. I will have a duffel full of welcome bag stuff, plus a second checked duffel with fudge and my clothing. Then my carry-on and checked bag. I am SO GLAD I arranged to have a car service pick me up and take me to the airport! (We are flying from different cities but will meet in Atlanta.)

After shopping and packing we decided we needed to chill out with a movie, pizza and wine. Pizza and wine are things I definitely didn’t need and then I kept thinking about some of the chocolates we are bringing with us – some orange chocolate Dutch Pastilles. Neither of us have actually tried them so we figured we might as well before giving them to our guests. Oh my gosh – they’re so good! We ate most of the tube. Then this morning I finished them off and continued my bad behavior with a carrot cake cupcake from the bakery on the corner. I think in the last 24 hours I undid a week’s worth of workouts.

I am planning to have my bridal hair and make-up done at the Mandara Spa at the Marriott. I have an appointment for a full hair and make-up trial this week and then have my appointment for the day of the wedding. I’ve told them what time I need to be done but but they still haven’t told me what time I should be there. I was having trouble getting replies to recent emails until the Marriott’s wedding planner intervened. After she replied the manager sent an email asking about my hair and wanting a credit card authorization which I sent probably two months ago.

Another thing I wanted to know is if they had any photos of hair and make-up that they have done. I still haven’t received an answer to that, let alone photos (though I have to admit I wasn’t really expecting to get them). After asking three times what kind of make-up they use (foundation – mineral, liquid or airbrush), I’m finally told they use Bare Escentuals. This is something I’m actually pretty happy about. I’ve been using Bare Escentuals for over a year now and love it. In fact I just stocked up when I was at one of their stores last weekend.

Finally, the other thing I want to do is false eyelashes and am told they do not do that, even if I bring them with me. (My inspiration is the photo above.) An independent stylist will be coming to the hotel though, to do hair and make-up in room for the mothers and my maid of honor. I think she can do the eyelashes, but am not sure if they can be done after make-up is already applied! She won’t be coming until an hour or two after I need to be at the Mandara. My other thought is to stop by the Mac counter and see if they can give me some pointers. At one time I had thought about lash extensions but expect I’m out of time for that.

Trying to find a hair inspiration photo is a little tough. I know its really really windy and that an updo is a must. But, I don’t want it totally glued to my head – you now, the slicked back look on the top and sides? So far the best I’ve found is this photo, left.

I’m starting to get this nagging feeling that I should cancel with the Mandara and use the independent wedding planner’s lady instead. The reason for the Mandara is to ‘get away’ for an hour or two. For now I’m going to hope for the best at the trial and will hope we can figure something out if it doesn’t go well.

There are just too many remaining tasks to post here! I get a knot in my chest just looking at it.

Most important things I have left to do are:

• This weekend: practice wedding dance! Create wedding CD, welcome letter, itinerary, etc, packing and some shopping
•  Monday: pick up my wedding dress and party outfit!
• Tuesday: salon appointments

The hardest thing this week? FLOWERS! I was getting so discouraged and overwhelmed that I was ready to give up and do the identical mixed flower centerpieces but then he wouldn’t let me turn back. So now we’ve ordered a bunch and are hoping for the best. I think what I’ll do is sketch out how I think the placement of the flowers and lanterns should go since I’m still not feeling like we’re ‘on the same page’. Then the day of, my girlfriends can stop by and take a look and suggest adjustments if necessary. One of these girls is an amazing fine art photographer who has a great eye. I figure it will be better for her to suggest changes to something I did vs suggest changes to something someone else did. Of course to get started I need to find out the dimensions of the tables – wish me luck on that one!

If you’ve been following along, you know we’re planning on having dinner on the Marriott’s lawn, near the pool. Our biggest hang-up though was a desire to create some intimacy in that space so we don’t feel like we’re having an expensive picnic – we didn’t want to feel ’so exposed’. While we know we can’t have privacy, we want to feel like the space is a little more ours.

What we really wanted was a bamboo canopy like the one pictured here, but the one available on the island was prohibitively expensive. We also weren’t liking what we were hearing about the company we would have to rent it from.

We had almost given up on this idea when our independent wedding planner decided she would invest in one for us! Unfortunately the bamboo structure was really expensive and presented potential problems with a lawn set-up so she choose another more versatile type of skeleton (I’m not sure what its made of – it’s simple and white).

No one was really excited by the picture she first showed us (the draping looked kind of hap-hazard and sloppy), but we could all see potential – that maybe all we need to do is tidy up the drapes. For weeks she has been trying to get over to the Marriott to do a test run (one any given day it seems either she has a function or they do). Finally yesterday she succeeded (after 6 hours of set-up) and sent us lots of photos. The verdict – I think the canopy is going to be awesome! The drapes are white and really sheer and so pretty. You still get the ‘island’ feel and somehow I know having this canopy over us will give us the intimacy we are looking for.

The entertainment company will see about providing some diffused ‘uplighting’ to create ambience. Our favorite lighting effect is the one shown here with lights shining up through some branches and casting a pattern on the top. Now that I’m thinking about it though, that effect might not work for us.  Our draping will be sheer, looser draping, not a tight opaque tent like in the photo. Also we’re thinking we’d like there to be openings in the drapes, so there is some draping above, bouncing light back down, but other spots where you can look up at the stars.

Finally, she has some silk organza chinese lanterns she can hang from the top (though they won’t be lit – chandeliers will be an investment for another day). There aren’t a lot of them (she just happened to have them around for a different project), but I think they’ll be nice. I did have a time where I really wanted hanging crystals but finally decided to not push my luck. And good thing because I’m suddenly pretty sure I will NOT have enough room to pack them!

In all, we’ll have the canopy, the hanging organza lanterns, simple white resin folding chairs, eclectic arrangements of flowers and the shiny contemporary nickel lanterns she invested in for us as well as the ‘mini’ lanterns we’re bringing with us. All of these are simple things that I think will give us a nice elegant space and intimate setting that doesn’t distract from the beautiful landscape around us. I can’t wait to share pictures! I might not turn out like I hope, but at least no one can say I didn’t try!

One thing I have found really helpful is to join wedding websites that have great photo galleries. Many will let you create a free account. Then when you are browsing photo galleries and see photos you love, add it to ‘your photos’. I had nights where I would spend hours looking at photos, flowers, hair, jewelry, etc. After a while it all blurs together. Then I would go back a week or two later and look just at ‘my photos’. Photos that I remember ‘liking’ were suddenly photos I loved! That’s where my flower inspiration photos came from. My ProjectWedding saved photos. (Here are over 1600 beach wedding photos.) While ProjectWedding has been my favorite I also love StyleMePretty, and I’ve used theKnot. I’m sure there are tons of sites that offer this, in particular, bridal magazine websites.

Flowers: It looks like the Phalaenopsis Orchids I wanted for the submerged arrangements ARE available, though substituting the Cymbidium for those will add over 40% to the arrangement’s cost! We are so spoiled here in the US. I love those orchids and am so used to seeing pots of giant Phalaenopsis in Costco for $20. Here though, we’ll pay $150 for a single submerged stem. (I actually wouldn’t be surprised if that submerged display costs just as much here at home.) So, I’m going to scale back the bridesmaid bouquets just a little, as well as reduce the number of orchids in mine, replacing some with a less expensive filler like freesia or roses. I’m going with an all white bouquet for me and orange calla lilly bouquets for the girls.

Still don’t know what we will do about ’sprayed mums’ vs another flower. She is advising against hydrangeas because they can fade in the heat so I will take her advice on that one. Bright pink gerberas are available however I do not want regular gerberas – you know, the ones we see in the grocery store for $5? Fluffy pink spider gerbera daisies would be really cool though. The frustrating thing is that I can’t just have this conversation with the florist. I feel bad that the wedding planner has to keep going back and forth between the florist and us. It also takes a lot more time to have questions relayed through a third party. 

Funny thing is two months ago I didn’t even care about flowers. I hadn’t seen anything I was ‘in love with’. Of course when I do finally fall in love with something is almost always expensive or hard to get. Luckily my groom laughs about it. He says I could look at three nearly identical items (ie. maybe three dresses), and will undoubtedly prefer the one that’s more expensive without ever knowing the price.

I was told that yesterday, Thursday, was the absolute deadline to order our flowers for next weekend since they will come from Holland and Hawaii. We had placed the order on Wednesday but then there were questions because some of the flowers we were quoted are not available – pink spider mums. When asked if I was ok with having white mums ’sprayed pink’, I asked instead about substitutes – I wanted to know if pink spider gerberas are available – if not, how much would it increase cost to use pink hydrangea or freesia. And worst case, could I at least see a picture of what ’sprayed flowers’ will look like? Finally, I’d really prefer to see Phalaenopsis orchids on the cake, as in the picture I provided, and in the submerged orchid arrangements, but am concerned about how much those will increase cost. (But – will it looked weird if those are white and all the flowers around them are pink and orange? Will white Phalaenopsis add drama by being different or look out of place? I’m SO not a flower designer.)

Well now its Friday morning and I didn’t get answers to any of those questions. So, did the planner just make a decision and place the order? Has the order not been placed? *sigh*

This is a test to see if I can post from my iPhone. Could allow for some quick and easy short posts while we are in Aruba! Less than a week to go! (Looks like iPhone posting is working but not photo upload.)