Wrapping up the details

Wedding planning has been moving along swimmingly. We finally sent out our invitations and people are actually starting to receive them! Very exciting. I guess this is it...we're for sure going through with it. I can't believe we're only a month away! Our invitations turned out nice. It took us weeks to pick out an engagement pic that we liked then Albert messed around with the coloring until he came up with the perfect amount of color. We thought about black and white, but then he added a little color so it looks really old school. In some cases it's really nice marrying a perfectionist. In other cases it can be frustrating, but I guess it's better to get exactly what you want instead of almost what you want.

I was listening to the radio yesterday and they were talking about what makes them or their spouse high maintenance. It made me think about what outlandish demands I have that would make me high maintenance or Albert. I brought it up with Albert since I couldn't think of anything that would possibly consider me high maintenance, but could list several things he does. He said that my wanting a cool car for our wedding day is extravagant. I didn't think it was until he told me how much it would cost to rent a really cool car...$2000! I don't think this makes me a princess because I changed my mind immediately about the idea.

In the end he agreed with me that he is more high maintenance than me since he has very specific ideas about cleanliness and is a bit anal about his stuff. He kinda freaks out if you aren't uber careful with his electronics specifically. The other day I borrowed a sweater he left at my house and when I told him he didn't seem to pleased and reminded me to be careful not to spill, although that could be because I can be pretty clumsy sometimes.

Monday we went to Jared's and picked up Albert's wedding ring. It turned out really well. I like how classy it looks...it was a really good choice. After all the chaos with getting my rings (they cancelled the order without telling us, but I guess it was ok since they ordered the wrong metal) I was thankful that we didn't have any problems with his...whew! They even let me use the $200 in store credit they gave him for the increase in metal costs between the time we ordered the rings and when we reordered them after finding out the store had mistakenly cancelled it.

Now we have to decide on the music for the ring ceremony. Since a lot of our family can't attend our actual wedding in the temple and the ring ceremony is not a part of the temple sealing we are going to have a ring ceremony on the front lawn of the church which sits across from the Potomac River on part of what used to be George Washington's property...weather permitting of course. Here's a pic of us last May in front of the church after Albert's baptism so you can see what it looks like. Very nice with all the greenery. We're going to do it right up against those trees you see in the background behind our heads.

Anyway, back to the music. Albert's coworker is a talented pianist and is going to be playing the music. I'm thinking a light, airy type of classical music for the prelude, processional, and postlude music. I want it to be a happy time, not all weepy and dramatic. I went through a ton of different websites looking for popular music selections and found a list of them I like. Now I just have to see what Albert likes and what his coworker can play. We also need to pick a song for our vocalist to sing. I'm thinking "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" or "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing." Not sure how she feels about this yet.

We still need to get everything oked by the Bishop (the head of our congregation who will be officiating). There are pretty specific rules about a ring ceremony and they want to make sure that it's not too weddingish, which is pretty vague since the ring ceremony itself is a major part of any wedding ceremony. We wanted to include various Filipino wedding ceremonies, but it looks like it's a no go. We did get permission for the coin ceremony where the groom gives the bride coins (or "arras") to represent the fact that he will support her monetarily. This is common in Catholic ceremonies in countries that have some relationship to Spain. We can't decide whether or not to include it though since it might be a little strange to include the smallest part of a Filipino wedding ceremony and not the rest. I do give props to the Bishop for being willing to include this much since I know how strict they have to be.

The plan is to include readings into the ceremony. One from the Bible, one from the Proclamation on the Family, and a Filipino love poem (tbd). Of course we still need to run all this by the Bishop and ask people to actually read them, but here are the two readings I've decided on and Albert seems ok with.

"The family is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan. Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity. Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities. By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners." -- The Family: A Proclamation to the World by the First Presidency and Council of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

"Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone? And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken." -- Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 (KJV)

My friend Sara is engaged! It's been a couple weeks now, but I just received email with their wedding website including the location and date. They're getting married a day before our one year anniversary in DC. I'm so glad that they're getting married here so I can pass on all the information I've gathered over the past few months including long lists of florists and photographers in the area and their prices. Most of the other girls I know getting married are going back to where they or their fiances' are from to celebrate the occasion so I'm no help there. I went over to her house and chatted with her and her fiance about wedding planning which was a lot of fun. I have all these ideas and honestly Albert is only moderately interested in most of it. He's a great help after I've narrowed down the choices, but it's the process that's exciting to me and only other brides really care about those sorts of things. Here they are with the bling. Congrats chica!

There are two exciting things happening this Saturday. One is the White House Garden tour. We went last year and it was awesome to be so close to the White House. Usually you have to stand a mile away, but a couple times a year you get to tromp through the front yard like you own the place. Of course you can't actually go on the lawn. Albert's mom made that mistake and the Secret Service made her get off.

The second exciting thing is my bachelorette party. It's going to be the least risque bachelorette party ever...I agreed to have it with the idea that there would be no fake male body parts. Sara (mentioned above) bought me a cute t-shirt and veil to wear that night and we're going to a hotel in the neighborhood with a rotating restaurant. Cool huh! I was reading about have to have a good bachelorette party and we're breaking every rule. We're having it close by, no boose, no strippers, and picture taking is encouraged. Hopefully it'll still be fun :)