Well, it's been eons since I've updated this thing. But I've got some time, so I wanted to update everyone on what's going on with the wedding. There'll be more updates soon! And pictures, too!

The Dress

Well, I bought THE DRESS about a month ago. As I said before, every other dress I tried on after that could not compare. This one was the one. I can't wait til I get it. I'm going to wear it all the time. Practice dancing in it. Eat in it. Sleep in it. I love that dress.

The Invitations

We had this woman come over to the house with about 10 huge books of sample invitations. It took us about 2 hours to go through all of them and decide which one we liked. We wanted something different, yet elegant, yet within our budget. We narrowed down our 15 favorites to just one, but it wasn't easy. There was a lot of debating, because they all looked beautiful. In the end, we decided to go with an invitation that had a silverish border around it. Once we get them, I'll scan it up and put it on here.

The Hall

I'm a bit scared about the hall. When we had first talked to the owners of the banquet hall, they had showed us these beautiful sketches of how our hall was going to look like after it was completed. High ceilings with golden domes and large windows. Well, during the course of the construction, we were informed that the design was going to change to a more intimate, Victorian look. Me and Dave made had a little mission over to the hall a couple weekends ago to check on the construction, and we were peeping through the windows. To me, I don't know how we're going to fit 300 people in there. The ceilings aren't high at all, and the room doesn't look as big as we thought it was going to be. Then again, it looks like they're only halfway done with the construction. Yes. We're nervous. Take note - get a hall that's already built.

The Bridesmaids

I've got all my bridesmaids together now. It's going to be my sisters Claudine and Fatima, my cousins Melanie and Marian, and my friends Nikki, Jen and Rachel. My best friend Jaygee is going to be the maid of honor. I'm really happy to have them there with me on that day. You won't find a friendlier, more fun, sweeter, or more beautiful group of women out there. I love these ladies!

I took a couple of them to go and try on dresses, and it's a lot of fun being the one that's watching the other people try on dresses. Though it's not really good for one's self esteem (the dress sizes run about 2-3 sizes bigger than what you normally are). Skinny, tiny little Claudine looked good in about everything she tried on. We wanted to step on her. But we love her, so we didn't. I'm doing something a bit different with the dresses, where the bridesmaids will be wearing separates, all with the same identical skirts, but choosing their own tops. Since I've got 8 bridesmaids, I've got 8 different body types, and I don't want any of them to be uncomfortable in the dresses that they're wearing. My mom and soon to be mother in law think I'm crazy for doing this, but hey, Christine's rule #1 for the next 4 months is 'It's MY wedding!' Bratty and selfish? Yes.

The Groomsmen

Well, Dave's got all his 'boys' as his groomsmen. One of them is my ex-boyfriend, which some people think is a little odd. Ok, I think it's odd, too. But hey, as much as 'it's MY wedding', it's Dave's wedding, too, and whoever he wants to share that day with is his decision. All in all, I think we have a pretty fun wedding party. What isn't fun when you have 16 people in your wedding court? It's gonna be craaaaaaaaaaazy!

The Florist

Well, the florist was the one thing I've been putting off. I don't care for flowers. Sure, they look pretty in pictures, but to me, they were a low priority. And I was looking into pricing for flowers, and DAMN, they cost a lot. And with 8 bridesmaids and a flower girl, that's a lot of flowers. But I finally met with a florist, and I made up a price breakdown which went like this:

bridal bouquet	1 x $140
bridesmaids bouquets	8 x $65
flowergirl bouquet and flower crown	1 x $60
corsages for mothers/sponsors/grandmother	11 x $25
boutonnières for groomsmen/fathers/sponsors	20 x $5
arrangements for church	2 x $200
throwaway bouquet	1 x $40
aisle runner	1 x $35
flowers for the cake	1 x $30
centerpieces for the head table	2 x $50

That totals about $2000.

With the florist that I talked to, I was able to get a deal that was significantly less than that. However, it's still a BIG chunk of change. Man. I hate flowers.

The Table Centerpieces

HELP!!! I don't know what to put as my table centerpieces! I'm going to have about 30 tables, and if the centerpiece is $25, that comes up to about $750 dollars. Hot damn, I have no more money left! I may have to resort to just doing candles or something for the centerpieces. We'll see.

The DJ

Well, I hope I've secured Vince as the DJ. We've been playing phone tag, and haven't gotten anything in writing yet. But if he's reading this, VINCE I STILL WANT YOU AS MY DJ! Because you're good, baby, you're damn good!