New year, new details

Today commences, it appears, my initial tackle of all the pesky wedding details I have been happily avoiding. "After the holidays!" "There's so much time!" Etc. And yes, there is still plenty of time (just under five months). But the clock is ticking.

Next weekend we're traveling to the Outer Banks for a winter weekend at the beach. We'll be getting engagement photos taken. We'll be at our venue tasting to choose the menu. We'll be introducing [some of] the parents (!). But we really do need to begin picking our remaining vendors in earnest. To facilitate that process, we might have to duck into the "wedding expo" taking place that weekend. The thought of it is slightly mind-numbing and horrifying to me, but I have to admit that having all the vendors in one place will speed things along.

Given what lies ahead next weekend, I started a new spreadsheet today to track our decisions. Bear with me as I mentally organize. Five months to go, here are the timely vendor-related items we need to get a handle on soon:

• Dessert - Huge blank. We don't really want a wedding cake and are intrigued by personal-sized desserts, but that's about all we know so far. Help!
  
• Event rentals - Our reception is tented, so I need to go ahead and sign a contract with one of the two event rental companies there to secure the service, then further procrastinate on the actual details.
• Day of Coordination - We are strongly considering getting a Day of Coordinator to facilitate everything that day and help ensure that we're not all decorating tables or stringing lights an hour before the wedding starts. Since we're writing our own ceremony, we also like the idea of having someone "in charge" to help channel us through our slightly untraditional affair. Today I got quotes from a bunch of DOCs and want to sort this out in person next weekend after consulting with the venue manager.
• Cookout catering - We need to go ahead and book the bbq/shrimp catering for the wedding eve cookout. I'm thinking lunch at his place next weekend to make sure we like it.
• Hair/makeup - I need to figure out where all the ladies will get pampered. Ideally, this can happen at the spa at our venue, but I need to do some quality control first.

Here are less timely issues to work out, only some of which pertain to vendors:

• Decor- My mom is after me to find fabric for the tables asap. Will do, will do... I'm looking for one blue pattern and one red pattern. We also need to decide what we want the tables to look like and how the ceremony site should be furnished.
  
• Flowers - We have our florist booked, but haven't discussed anything yet. I'm still dreaming about dahlias and want to ask her the cost of getting them, plus show her my inspiration bouquet (right sidebar) and get going.
• Wedding apparel - We're waiting on the spring lines to come out to figure out what the groomsmen will wear. We need to get Trevor's seersucker suit tailored (it's his grandfather's). After that, flower girl dress shopping!
• Music - The f-word is in charge of the DJ, but we need to make sure we like him. We also need to figure out what kind of music we want during our ceremony, which pretty much paralyzes us when we try to think about it. We've also booked a bagpiper but he's been slightly sketchy on e-mail, so we might need to go with someone else.
• Writing - We need to buckle down and write the ceremony, our vows, the program, etc.
• Invitation suite - Decision-making with ABCD begins in earnest next week. Whoopee!
  
• Weekend this and that - Decisions to come on welcome bags for guests, favors, fun activities for the weekend, cookout planning, etc.
• Officiant - Our friend Gene is marrying us, so at some point we need to get him ordained online (!!) and double-triple-check all the legal stuff.
• Wedding bands - Fun!

The second list is definitely more fun than the first list, so that's going to have to be my incentive to get to the fun stuff. Hoping for productivity next weekend!