We are just over a month out. Many missing responses and concerns about the post office. Some of the groom’s relatives are unable to understand the concept of RSVPs. Based on input from the groom’s parents, those folks are very unlikely to afford/obtain a plane ticket and hotel rooms. The first invitation were mailed the last week of September with a 15 November response date. The next wave has a 10 December dates. We have mailed to the B List (friends who are very excited to be added to the festivities) and my best guess at this point is that we will feed 136. (To meet the hotel’s minimum, we need 124).
The bride has had her second dress fitting, my dress is ready, the bridesmaids are getting their alterations done. We’ve begun place cards, escort cards, and table settings. The florist sent a sample floral arrangement for Thanksgiving.
I’m ecstatic that D’s college friends are planning a group dinner while we are at the rehearsal dinner and they are also making brunch plans for Saturday. It makes me so happy that they are all excited to be together again.
We’re pretty quiet here! I lost my password for a bit in the transition.
We are about 3 weeks from the wedding. If you remember we had an “A” list and a “B” list and I’m glad we did. Initially we mailed invitations for 170 for a room that seats 168. We have a low turnout from the groom’s side, maybe 40? Other than those at the head table, the groom’s side will be at 3 tables — and one of those is mixed with both sides. We will have a 16-person head table plus 12 tables (mostly tables of 10). I would prefer tables of 8, but our friends and families fit nicely at tables of 10.
Our minimum at the hotel is based on 124 so we needed to go to our B list, where we had a good response. Right now we are pretty firm at 131.
Dress is ready, tuxes are ordered, bridesmaids’ dresses have been altered. Place cards are done. We are working on the escort cards. The bride has been writing thank you notes as the gifts arrive from the registry.
We are buying supplies for the 3 days of the hospitality suite and our itinerary for the week of the wedding is filled with details.
It will be a quiet Christmas as the couple is not traveling until a few days before the wedding. January 5th, the arrivals begin with the big days on January 10-11.
The escort cards guide guests to the correct assigned tables.
The escort cards will be on a table just outside the ballroom. They are alphabetized and indicate what table one is seated at. On our case, we are attaching favors (skeleton keys that are also bottle openers) to the escort cards.
The other alternative I’ve seen is a big framed poster listing all guests and their tables.
About the keys, the wedding venue is Colonial and they use a key theme on some of their decor.
Wow, time is certainly flying…not really soon but we are now three months out from our S2’s March 21 wedding. Bride has her dress, groom is getting fitted for his new tuxedo (as is S1, his brother!), bridesmaids are getting their own dresses and, as far as I know, all have them except my D! Bride gave them carte blanche within a color palette. Invitations are in and addressed - I will be heading to MOB’s house to help stuff and seal for mailing on January 6. I have not even begun shopping for a dress but since FDIL doesn’t care what color I wear, I have my grandmother’s vintage (think 1954) gown she wore to my mother’s wedding and it actually fits. I will try it on for the kids this week and see what they think. This is my second go-round as MOG and I must say things seem somewhat calmer this time around even though I have more input and responsibility this time. Knowing that the ceremony and reception will be inside make that stress disappear, as well.
@Mom22039, sounds like things for you, too, are pretty much under control.
Thanks for the explanation. We had those too…but called them seating cards. Must be a regional name.
We used a huge variety of small cordial glasses…name and table numbers were written on them with wine markers. Most guests took them home (which was what we expected).
DDs wedding is March 28th. She sent the invitations out in November because she didn’t want them to get mixed with holiday cards and didn’t want to wait til January. So far a lot of replies and so far all yesses. Which was not expected for a Saturday brunch wedding in March.
Wedding is a little over 3 weeks out. There is so much I don’t know but is in the hands of the wedding coordinator in the DR. DD goes down the week before to finalize details. They are so much more relaxed about when details are done there. We go down 3 days ahead. We are hosting the welcome party but no hospitality suite. Looks like we will be around 75 people, the original estimate. Around 100 were invited. Fortunately DD is pretty relaxed abut it and figures it will be a great party no matter what.
I know there were holiday weddings here and a few coming up soon. Hope all is well with everyone! Our wedding in creeping up far too quickly for comfort, invitations are going out on Monday and I finally started looking for something to wear, unsuccessfully I might add. I think I need to put a little focus on this before I end up in a last minute panic. The vintage gown I mentioned above is still an option, but I need to find a tailor who can work on 64-year-old fabric.
Remember if your wedding is coming up — give yourself a reminder to pay attention and enjoy the day! My DH actually handed me a notecard about an hour into the reception that said “remember you want to sit and talk with ------”. Written in my own handwriting, even. We had no planner, and no Co-parents, so I was busy doing a combo of visiting and troubleshooting. In retrospect I see you have to decide to care about a few people a lot, or a lot of people a little. We warned the venue staff about high maintenance people and the staff made sure to keep them happy.
Christmas gifts from FDIL was an ornament of a photo of me and the bridesmaids! One of them is having her own girls weekend where we live and they are stopping at the house to say hi, I’m so pleased. MOB got a photobook and the newlyweds were sad she wasn’t very interested, but I told them they were right to make her one, regardless. People gotta people.
The rush starts today when the bride flies in. We have quite a timeline.
There have been a few awkward moments (the groom’s parents didn’t want to rent a car … he is renting one to share with them, thank you, Groom). Apparently they thought we would drive them to a couple of places.
I had a forceful phone call with the hotel/reception space on Friday evening over the items they were missing. Especially exasperating is that they haven’t taken any payments in accordance with the contract. We’ve budgeted according to their contract. They were supposed to charge $10,000 on Thursday. “If you can’t handle the billing on time, what else are you going to miss?”
Then we went through the room block, corrected spellings, and noted particular room requests. And made sure they had our Marriott Bonvoy number in the room reservations for our family. (They have had that number since we signed the contract).
I had to make 6 phone calls to the church/diocese on Friday to confirm they had the documents…
Luckily I have a great BFF and SIL who can listen to my woes!
S’s wedding was on New Year’s Eve. It was an amazing, magical evening. The ceremony was meaningful and personal. One of his groomsmen/wonderful childhood friend provided the music for the ceremony (he’s a professional musician) and it was sublime. The food was delicious. Their DJ did a fabulous job mixing up songs for “older” and “younger” tastes, and the dance floor was filled all evening. The venue they selected did a fabulous job and was a great space. I got tons of compliments on my dress (my D helped me pick it out via FaceTime). The bride was absolutely stunning. They had the wedding they wanted and it was perfect.
Well, I bought a dress today and my S, the groom, was downsized from his job. I remember someone else going through this with an imminent wedding (ours is in March) and I can now relate to that sinking feeling of comforting my S when he should be excited about the upcoming wedding. I think he’s well positioned to hunt for a job and he assures me he’s going to begin in earnest after 24 hours of licking his wounds. My FDIL stepped up big time to provide the support and encouragement he needs right now, but the timing sucks. And this is the S who has always struggled in the employment arena, graduating with a liberal arts degree into the 2008-09 financial debacle. He’s been at this company for 6 years but even he said he was overpaid for the job he was doing and the Board of Directors ordered cuts across the board. They treated him well (substantial severance, excellent recommendations, etc.) but my heart aches for him. And then I bought a dress
@runnersmom, when I first read this I thought you meant he was “downsized” from being the groom.
I am sure it’s a stressful time, but it sounds like he has what he needs to do an effective job hunt, and a great support structure.
Tell us about the dress when you have time.
