Wow…this week of  planning a wedding has been amazing, and crazy, and fun, and super productive!

If you were to ask me what my biggest accomplishment was this week, I’d tell you I FOUND MY DRESS – finally! 4 dress shops later and much debating over pricing, but I found what I love! There were several dresses that I really liked so kind of hard to choose, but I found one I wouldn’t have to alter too much and it is pretty much everything I’ve been looking for! My sweet mom and sister reminded me I will only get married once, so I should get a dress I really love – after all, I’ll be in that dress all day and it will be in every single picture. “Well”, I thought, “That make sense to me.” So I purchased my dress! Now I just need to find my shoes and then I can go in for my fitting and get marked for alterations!

I met up with Michael later that day and we spent some time registering. Ok, seriously, it is so much fun figuring out what we want in our home! It was fun to see that we have similar tastes. We went to Bed Bath & Beyond and did the scanning thing. It was Awesome!

We are also registered on Amazon.com, but we haven’t finished that registration yet. We decided to get more of the linen and accessories (towels, bedding, oven mitts, bathroom rack thing, etc…) at Bed Bath & Beyond and then we’re getting everything else on Amazon.com. FYI: so Michael is a genius for thinking to register on Amazon because when you register there your guests can just purchase an item and it gets shipped directly to your house with no shipping costs! How convenient is that? We were glad to go to Bed Bath and Beyond for our more linen items though because we could physically touch the fabrics and see if we liked them, but Amazon is great for everything else.

This week I also met with my fabulous wedding event coordinator, Chris. She is so much fun! I’m amazed at the details she considers and her expertise in EVERYTHING in the world of wedding receptions. It’s amazing to me that she will help me with my planning a wedding reception. From the lighting in the room to the color of napkins on the tables to helping me go through my list of guests and figuring out how many to plan for – best investment I’ve ever made, and she doesn’t even cost me anything!! I get her help for free just by booking my event here in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. She seriously takes a load of worry off my mind because I know that she knows what she’s doing and she’ll make sure to make mine and Michael’s reception exactly what we’ve been hoping for. Most of the below video is my conversation with Chris. She gives some great advice and ideas, so check it out! (Just try to ignore the fact that my ear is poking through my hair ha ha…I hate that. Oh well, such is life)

WEEK 4:

• Found  my dress!!
• Had lunch with my best girl friends to celebrate my engagement
• Did our bridal gift registry at Bed Bath & Beyond (we still need to finish our  registry on Amazon.com)
• Talked with my coordinator, Chris, in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building (figuring out colors, tables, placement of things at the reception and so  forth)
• Narrowed down engagement pictures to about 20 favorites (we need to pick the finals soon!!)
• Looked for wedding dinner location
• Some  of the sisters (Michael’s and mine) have gotten their mint dresses – super  cute!!
• Michael’s  mom found some mint ties for the boys
• My mom and sister have been prepping for the fam bridal shower
• Finished our Google Docs form to compile addresses (we’re sending this out via Facebook tonight)
• Our moms are helping compile our family addresses
• Michael has been out of town for work again, but he was home in Salt Lake for a few hours in between trips so we went out to dinner together.
• Figured out accommodations for some of my family traveling a little bit further for the wedding (my sisters kids need a nap in between the wedding and the  reception so they’ll be staying at Michael’s home)
• We also decided on the different items that need to be included in the  envelope with the wedding invitations we send our guests. Some of these include:  invite to the sealing (for those we’re inviting), invite to the wedding dinner (for those we’re inviting), To-do’s in Salt Lake and Temple Square (for those coming to the sealing and have a few hours to kill before the  reception)

For additional info and the video, go to http://www.templesquarehospitality.com/blogs/weddings/?p=1704