Boot Camp

H and I were in Indianapolis last weekend for what M affectionately called "Bridal Boot Camp" (nevermind the fact that I was 'required' to attend as well)(wedding planning is so sexist). The basic aim of the weekend was to meet our photographers and to get down to the nitty-gritty and start putting our 'vision' into action. To do so, H and I spent all week creating our vision boards, like the nutjob (Renee?) in the first episode of this season's "The Bachelor" to really 'visualize' the wedding in an effort to 'realize' the wedding (Mine was on a green posterboard with bedazzled words like "dalliance" and "elegant" - H's was a little more forthright - it simply read "BAM!!" with random pictures she pulled from Domino Magazine). OK - so, we didn't really do the vision boards - but, whatever, we had thoughts - and pictures. Lots of pictures.

The trip didn't start out great - I went to work in the morning and H would pick me up around noon. Naturally, at 12:10 PM, I freaked out and put a small, passive aggressive phone call in...it did not go over very well. Thankfully, H downloaded and played "I'm on a Boat" and everything was forgotten.

We made good time (very important to me) and immediately upon our arrival, it was on - dinner with H's parents and then drinks with M (arm cast and all), and Nate and Tiffany from NEP - our photographers. I have to point out that we had drinks in Zionsville, IN at a place called the Lobby - in the Brick Street Inn - If we ever move to Indianapolis (big if) - I want to live in Zionsville. It is a perfect little town and the Lobby serves Saison Du Pont - which is strange in an awesome way. I was pretty nervous about this meeting - I really wanted Nate and Tiffany to like us and to be as excited about the process. I am convinced if they think we're cool, we'll get 'cool' pictures. I don't know why - probably some deep-seeded high school esteem issue I have yet to deal with. More than that, H and I think its important that Nate gets a good feel for our personalities - if we're all comfortable with one another, then we think that makes for great photos. I think we all vibed right away - though I have had H pester M to make sure that they liked us - strangely no confirmation yet.

As is custom, I fell asleep and H stayed up watching television, having a glass (bottle) of wine and going through old pictures - around 3 AM, she finally came to bed. We were due to be at Detail + Design to meet with M and Gene at 9:00 AM. This was a problem. We rolled in at 9:30 AM. We make great first impressions. I don't think we have been on time to a meeting yet.

We were casually told beforehand that Gene - the lead designer at D+D - could take whatever we tell him and kind of commit it to a vision. We think that he immediately understood what we wanted - and was able to offer suggestions and show us examples. It was pretty amazing when you think about it. I don't even know if H and I knew exactly what we wanted, but Gene was able to figure us and our vision out. I don't want to spoil it with details and the like, but I have to say, that we are both extremely excited about how this is going to look. I can't wait to see our guest's faces when they walk into the reception - it could be ridiculous.

Gene left us to M for the rest of the afternoon for some tough love - budget talks, timelines, marriage licenses - all the little things that we just don't think about and/or don't know about getting married. Since M is crazy organized - she will have this wedding planned to what seems like the minute. I am glad that she is on our side. We can't be profusive enough in our praise for this woman. She should be equally commended for not ripping our heads off when we let her know that the "number" had inflated a little. We had originally anticipated inviting 160 - 180 people with hopes that 140 would be our final guest tally - M had budgeted everything around this number. You could actually feel the exasperation in her voice when we kind of casually mentioned that the number of invitees was closer to 200. Oops.

It was at this point that we let M know a little secret - its the off-shore wedding account. An account that H secretly has been putting money into to help pay for some things wedding related - like her dress and some other 'big ticket' items. So, our budget has been slightly misleading for a while now. We like our secrets, but for the sake of the coordinator - uncoordinated relationship, we thought best to let M (and all 6 of you readers) in on this one - sorry M!

Levity had been restored - the sigh of relief in the room blew our hair back (and our vision boards off the wall).