203

That's how many days until I am Mrs. Jacob Stupka. It seems like a long time based on that number alone, but when you think about it, since we got engaged in April, we are more than halfway there. It's also just a little less than 7 months, which doesn't seem like much. And this semester, although not over yet, has gone by incredibly quickly, then I will only have one semester left before the wedding.
:) :) :)

Yesterday Jake had the day off from work, so we decided to spend the afternoon and evening doing wedding stuff since I have been stressing about it because I've hardly had any time to sit down and really get things done. We had gotten most of the big things done, like where to have the ceremony and reception, I bought my dress and veil, decided on bridesmaids and flower girl dresses, and we've chosen our attendants and booked our photographer and DJ. But the smaller things really add up and I definitely do not want to be figuring out all of those little details halfway through next semester when I'll certainly be just as swamped as I am this semester. So after I got off work yesterday, we had lunch and relaxed a bit, then started gathering emails and sending save-the-dates to as many people as we could. We took a break and went to see the movie "Due Date". It was soooo funny. This is the movie that they filmed much of here in Las Cruces last year. Part of it was filmed on the highway that is a two-minute walk from my apartment, so last year Jake and I went around 11 PM one night and watched them film a vehicle chase scene. It was really neat to watch that scene in the theatre and know that we were technically there. But the movie itself was really funny and I love Robert Downey Jr.

So we got back from the movie and ordered our invitations, updated our registries, corrected some details with the photographer, and...I think that was it. But it felt good to knock a few things off the list. Next time we will probably make a wedding playlist and designate the "special" songs like the first dance, father/daughter, mother/son, etc. Things we need to get done soon also include booking a place for a rehearsal dinner, talking to a florist, at least thinking about decorations, favors and gifts for the wedding party and families, and hashing out all the details with our reception venue such as food, final fees and prices, etc. And the list definitely goes on, and I can't think about everything that needs to be done too much or else I get overwhelmed. Actually doing it isn't so stressful, but thinking about it is. I've learned this: You may have somewhat of an idea about how much goes into planning a wedding, but I think you really don't know until you are actually planning one. That has definitely been the case for me. And sure, we could elope or have a courthouse wedding and save money and stress, but I definitely wanted a traditional wedding. I am trying to avoid a lot of unnecessary details or over-the-top demands, and I think I've been doing a good job. I never wanted a super fancy, super expensive wedding. Just traditional, beautiful, memorable, and one that fits Jake's and my personalities best.

And if I haven't bored you enough with wedding information overload this will do it:
Regarding flowers, I will hopefully be able to go talk to a florist in Los Alamos when I am there for Thanksgiving and figure out what types of flowers will be good in May, and which ones won't cost a fortune. I have an idea of what I want, but I'll need to see how much it will cost and if it's possible. I was thinking ivory roses, Abraham Darby English roses (because their color is close to the guava color in our wedding), and perhaps white freesia as an accent flower (and they have a wonderful fragrance). So the flowers don't have to be these exact ones, but I like this color combination.

Thanks for letting me update you with all the wedding goings-on. Have a wonderful weekend :)