Inviting approval?

It has happened - the invites are on their way out! I haven't sent all of them yet, but we've already had seven RSVPs - and a range of positive comments!

I'm pretty relieved about the comments - it was always going to be a risk sending e-vites, but we decided that it was a risk we were prepared to take. You can't please everyone, but  it seems you can please some people - even if you just do what is easiest for you. Several of the replies we've had have included comments about how much they liked the invite and website - some were friends, but one was an older relative - so hopefully we've not upset too many people!

I've also only had one failed delivery email, and my parents were able to provide an alternative address for that person. So now it's a case of watch this space, and hope none of them have been eaten by cyber-space or junk mail filters!

Scheduling a busy day

The last thing I have to do before leaving the country (apart from sending out the invites, but that's a whole separate post) is arrange meetings with all our w-day vendors. I thought I should start with the main ones, so I've arranged to see the vicar on Monday morning, and the venue on Monday afternoon. We'll have only been in the country for 2 days, but there's so much to do before I start my new job (in a new city 5 hours away from where we're getting married) that it feels like I need to get on with things!

Next on the list is the photographer - I'm not sure whether to meet her at the venue, or separately. I'm also not sure if we get a pre-wedding shoot included - if so I have no idea when that's going to happen! Maybe on the same day as my hair trial...except that I don't know when that will be either!

Then I need to see the florist (should only be a 10 minute job), the hairdresser (need to know my work roster first) and my flower girls (to check their dresses fit).

So basically I'm hoping to have one day focused on the wedding, and then it will all be pretty much sorted. Some might say that's optimistic - but I find I get more done when I have more to do. Gadget will just have to manage for one day!

Wedding-y hymns?

One of the slightly random tasks that we've done in the last two weeks has been to choose the hymns for our ceremony. We reverted to our usually planning style - I wrote a short list (with the help of my dad) and then Gadget picked them. So we're having "I vow to thee my country" and "One more step along the world I go."

Whilst these both have some significance to us, we've mainly picked them because we like them. Your church wedding has an area where you can listen to the most popular wedding hymns - our second hymn is actually on the list, but our first is not. This isn't an area where I feel the need to be "different." I quite like singing hymns, so I've picked ones I like singing. Once again, an easy decision. As long as the vicar approves!

It's all happening! (both real life AND the wedding)

I have a job! Hooray! This is one big thing off the list of things I have to sort out/worry about. It means we can look for somewhere to live, a car and a job for Gadget - without a base that was all proving very difficult!

This weekend was also the anniversary of our engagement. We celebrated by going back to the Bay of Islands, and the kiwi sunshine came out to join the party. Yep, we've been engaged for 12 whole months, and the wedding is now less than 5 months away. The invites (evites) will be going out next week - I've already sent my parents some jpg files to print and post (for our less technical guests). It's all starting to seem very real - and very soon!

That means the wedding website had to be completely finished. I thought it was finished a few weeks ago, then my dad checked it for me - on his iPad. It was completely scrambled. Luckily it was relatively easy to fix, although our funny RSVP forms are not iPhone compatible, so they've had to be deleted from the mobile site. I'm planning to add a note to the email suggesting that people should visit the site on a real computer!

Although I have heard that people won't check the website and will just send me emails full of questions. Here's hoping that doesn't happen to all our guests...