Sarah and Matthew

All items matching: wedding_registry

Blog: Flowers, Hotels, and Cake!

This past Saturday Sarah and I went down to scout out some florists, as well as take some measurements of the Pavilion to make sure that it's big enough and has outside power and such. Now we're working with the woman from the Parks system to see if they have chairs or if we'll need to have a rental place bring them in. We're also getting the inside of the Pavilion in case of inclement weather, and so that we'll have access to the restroom. Our next stop was the hotel where we didn't get the rooms reserved, but we got it straightened out on Monday so we'll get the information onto the website soon. Sarah's family is looking into renting a house on the beach since there are a lot of people coming down. We're trying to set up a visit to take a look, and we also need to decide which of the florists to go with and get that lined up. Sarah has set up an online registry with Amazon and has a trial run with the makeup and hair people and she's going bridesmaid dress shopping with her girls next weekend. We did decide on the cake, though, and with only one stop. Strongbow has amazing cake. We're probably going to get the chocolate raspberry mouse. It was really tasty, with really good frosting, and I'm not that big a fan of cake so that's saying something. Lastly, I made it over to the tuxedo rental place so the guys that are in the wedding will be getting an email from me shortly to let them know where and when to get fitted. It feels like things are coming together, but it's a lot to keep track of. Thank Google for Spreadsheets!

Blog: spend, spend, spend

One of the many aspects that I admire about Matt is his ability to make up his mind with little fuss and stick to his convictions. I, on the other hand, tend to stew and fret over many decisions and spend an enormous amount of time and energy doing so. Not the most efficient way to go about life. But, it seems that a part of me likes an eternal debate. One of the debates mulling in the back of my mind is the forecoming wedding registry. The problem is that I haven't been able to come to a decision on what I expect when it comes to wedding registries. You may be scratching your head at this point. I don't blame you. It SOUNDS straightforward. Go to Best Buy, pick out what you want, put it on a list, and call it a day, right? Wrong. I saw an article online that has alternatives to the conventional idea of getting "stuff" on your wedding day. Basically, guests can provide services, plant a tree in our name, give to charity, create homemade gifts, pool money for a solar panel, and do a wide variety of other means to convey their gift to the bride and the groom. I was inspired when I read that because while I like "stuff", it seems like there are better methods out there to show support for a marriage. I'll also point out with Matt and I being older than the typical norm, we have most of the "stuff" that we need at this point. Another toaster oven is not going to make our marriage stronger. I am personally trying to move away from the "spend, spend, spend" mentality of most Americans. I know that in my near future I will be a jobless, poor college student that will have almost no budget for discretionary spending. The good news is that I am doing this voluntarily so I can do my Masters degree fulltime. The bad news is that many people don't have such luxury and are feeling the hurt from the economy. Maybe an alternative wedding registry may just save some guests some heartache and actually make Matt and I happier in the long run. Or, maybe I am just over-thinking the whole thing.