Wedding Organization

So I took tonight off from school work and decided to really get into wedding planning mode!!!  So I finally finished "The Binder"!  Oh I am SO excited!!!  We are really getting into the swing of wedding planning!  But I'll be honest...it can be a little overwhelming at times!  Dave is such a good sport at communicating with me as much as he can and help as much as he can even though he is an ocean away. I am envious of my friends who lived with their fiancees as they planned their wedding!  There are so many times that I just want to show Dave something I've found but I can't because he's sleeping (seeing as that I do a lot of magazine looking at night...which is 1/2 way through the night for him!).  So I have to save the really important things to show him on skype!  But he's a trooper and is so wonderful to me and will sit on skype with me and look at idea after idea!  (reason #23,534 why I am so excited to marry him!)  


Anyways...I've been organizing things as I've accumulated them...but tonight it all came together! :)  YEAH!!!!  It's official...I have my own person wedding planning binder...with tabs, details, and pictures! (And yes, of course it's organized alphabetically!  DUH!!!)  Here are just a few pics of my master piece (and it's green (not pink) because clover (I think), black and white are our wedding colors!).  

My tabs in action!   

Tabs again...

More Fun in London!

View from Dave's flat!  

Pretty Cheltenham!  :)

The last part of my spring break was spent both in Cheltenham and London!  Dave wound up taking the later portion of the week off from work so that we could enjoy some time together!  And we did just that! 

More prettiness in the park!!!!

Thursday we got in some wedding planning, well mainly narrowing down the photographers (I had a list of like 100 I liked and we narrowed it down and made categories of wants and needs and compared what we could so that when I got back to the states I could set up meetings with the top contenders!)  but we also discussed the budget a little more and found areas that we could spend or save or do ourselves.  We looked through Save the Date announcements and thought about a “theme”.  Well, we aren’t really “theme” people…we just want a classy, fun, memorable event surrounded by the people we love and cherish!  Sounds simple enough right?!?!  It was nice to be able to be together as we had these conversations.  It so much easier to really see each other in the moment to gauge just how strongly someone feels about something.  Dave did have to work a few hours from home this day…so I made myself as scarce as I could in a one bedroom flat and continued (actually finished) read a wedding book we both agreed we should read entitled “Inviting God to Your Wedding”.  It was a really great book that talked about what a wedding truly is…a union of two people committing to each other in the presence of family and friends and God.  It helps to keep things in perspective when the out of control details can kick in.  It was a very simple read! 

Me with my orange peel!
It looked like a flower!  :)

Also on Thursday we spent a lot of time outside…walking and talking.  We tend to have the best conversations either while we are out for a walk or driving somewhere!  Well, without a car we have to stick to walking…the heart health is the added bonus!

Friday/Saturday we headed to London for the weekend!  Dave found a deal online for a wonderful hotel!  The Metropolitan (http://www.metropolitan.london.como.bz/ ).  It was LOVELY!!!!  The room came with plush robes and everything…and when we called down to the reception desk they referred to us by name!  We did a TON of walking while we were in town this time!  And if anyone really knows either or both of us…you know we walk fast…so we covered SO MUCH of London in just 2 days!  Here are some of the highlights:

London Tower 

*London Tower and Tower Bridge – this was a fantastic time!  We walked across London Bridge as we found our way to London Tower…and let me just tell you…the famous bridge in London is NOT London Bridge…while London Bridge is a very nice bridge and looks just like any of the umpteen bridges in Chicago it is not the picturesque bridge that you think it is…the bridge we all picture when we hear London Bridge is actually Tower Bridge!  See…we learn something new every day if we just pay attention!  We took a free tour (wasn’t the best…but it was fun) and then got to explore on our own!  London Tower was built as a castle on the river but turned into a prison towards the end.  Dave could fill you all in on the history…I just know it is the home of the famous ravens, CROWNED JEWELS, some traitorous family arguments/murders, and at one point a menagerie!!!  Critters!  Now, let me just tell you…Dave and I know how to travel…small snacks of both sweet and salty, a full (albeit small) camel back backpack, a guidebook, some Rick Steves guided tours (when applicable).  We are starting to look like pros!  And we also try (if we can) not to look like American tourists…although I’ll admit…I typically blow our cover when I comment on something (like how cute the mice are in the Underground…whoops!). 

Dave squishing the bridge!

My turn to squish!

*****Cutie Couple Alert*****

*Westminster Abbey – this was amazing!  It was well worth the price (as it was a bit higher than we thought it would be) and came with an audio guide. We got to really get up close and personal with most of the abbey…I mean…I sat in a chair that was in the SAME PLACE as where the Queen sat for the ROYAL WEDDING!!!!  AHHH!!!!  My shoes where right where her shoes were!  I got to walk part of the path that Kate walked!  It was so amazing! 

*Theater…Dave knew I really wanted to see a theater production while I was in London so we spoke with a few ticket brokers and found reasonably priced tickets to Rock of Ages (an 80’s metal musical)…it was great!  I knew most of the songs and had a blast because they encouraged people to sing along!  It was a good thing no one was behind me because I was popping and wiggling the entire time!  Cute story line too! 

*Nobu!  We were fortunate enough to get reservations for an early seating at the Japanese restaurant Nobu and Dave taught me to use chopsticks!  I was doing so well…until I started to use them to pick up ice cubes out of my water glass!  (Impressively I got them to my mouth without dropping them!!!) You can dress me up…but apparently you can’t take me out!  Oops!  But at least Dave was still smiling!  

Me with my proud chopsticks!

When asked why I thought I should do that (in a totally fun, joking kind of way) I simply said…well, I like using these things and all the food was gone so I thought that would be the next best thing to pick up!  HA!  That answer worked because we got to order more food!!!!!!!!  YUMMO!!!!!!!

*The Underground…we are now seasoned travelers and well versed at using this mode of transportation!  Dave has “oyser” cards…which are like CTA cards here in IL and they are fantastic.  We are both fairly decent at reading the map (thanks to Daddio and Uncle Mark) and knowing which transfers may be the quickest/easiest/etc.  It is much easier to work this system without baggage but we can do it with luggage too if needed!  Look at us go! 

Bikes on parade!  This is an AWESOME concept!!!

I would have to say that this Spring Break was definitely a memorable one!  Although it wasn’t a beach in Florida I still managed to get a little color (this was the 3^rd warmest spring London has seen in over 600 years!!!).  And I’ll take what I can get!!!   The warm weather definintely made up for the rainy, cool summer we had!  I’m much looking forward to my next journey over there…LONDON 2012 Olympic Games…here I come!!!  XO