Last Friday we got our marriage license!

I picked out invitations two years ago. It never occurred to me, at the time, that they might stop selling the design (thankfully they didn't), and I kept looking but pretty much settled on it.

I placed the order right after Christmas when there were a lot of people around to a) participate and b) check my work. Proofread, proofread, proofread. As a bonus, Invitations by Dawn says they print invitations in 3-5 days, and mail them immediately after. Great! That should be about two weeks, excluding weekends.

So two weeks come and go, with no sign of invitations. Not even a change on the order status site, much less an ASN or any contact at all. Now, I like to think of myself as a pretty careful internet shopper. But it was at this point that I actually googled the company, and it was not pretty, even after filtering out the bridezilla complaints (i.e., "I wanted cornflower and they sent me sky blue!!!!!!!! I spent hours on the phone with them and talked to their manager! Oh the humanity!" etc). Yikes.

So the morning after a long, sleepless, self-induced stressed out night in which I dreamed that no one came to the wedding but a few family members because no one knew where or when it was, I called the company. And you know what? They were lovely. And helpful. The design was out of stock, and they had gotten more in but were a little behind printing, but they would upgrade me to overnight shipping, just for my inconvenience (which I was going to ask and pay for, but the conversation never got that far). Keep in mind the only thing I said on the phone was "Hi, I'd like to check the status of my order."

The invitations came at the exact time they said, and were prettier in real life than I had imagined.

The moral of the story: yes, they probably should have called/emailed me. But they were so nice, and helpful, and considering the cost, they are amazing. So if you're googling Invitaitons by Dawn at 2 a.m. in a panic, just give them a call in the morning.

Since the holidays have passed, we're on wedding overdrive! This Saturday we spent all day working on wedding related things:

• Meeting with our ceremony musician for a concert. She is a lovely woman who really loves her music! We spent an hour listening to a huge variety of music.
• Meeting with a potential DJ for the reception. Finding a DJ is hard, especially when you have very few references and few friends who have recently gotten married! This particular DJ was professional and well put together, but we're still working on the final decision.
  
• Spent hours in the jewelry district shopping for Andy's wedding band. You would not believe how many styles there are! It's especially hard when you have all manner of custom jeweler available.
• Had dinner with a friend in Santa Monica. Not wedding related, but sure was fun.
  
• Stopped in at Bed Bath & Beyond to look at dishes and add to the registry.
  

Whew! And that was just Saturday!

I'm also planning smaller projects - the table numbers and favors. I have about 10 phone calls to make, and meetings to set up, and decisions to make!

On top of it all, the invitations have gone missing. I hope they turn up soon...

We had our coordination meeting at the chapel yesterday - seems like everything is well in order. The chapel is very professional and with it, so we're both confident that things will go smoothly day-of. It was just a gorgeous day, too, to be out there in PV - one of the clearest days you could ever have. Catalina was doing it's thing (being an island), and also one of the channel islands (not sure if it was San Nicholas or Santa Barbara) was also visible. Cold in the shade, but perfect in the sun. We are hoping to get a similar day in April :)

After that we scouted out the Queen Mary hotel (you can stay in the ship's cabins). It's got great proximity to The Reef restaurant where we are having our reception, so that is a plus. There's not much around it, but on the other hand, I think that makes it pretty safe place to stay. I wasn't sure if the rooms would be musty, but ends up it was a very nice room which wasn't too small. Hallways are 2 if not 3 times wider than modern cruise ships which is nice.

Next, we went to the Courtyard Marriott by the Long Beach convention center and the Best Western which was right across the street. Saw rooms in the Courtyard, and though we did not see rooms in the Best Western, we found out the the building is under two years old so I'm sure it's great inside. The neighborhood seemed quiet, but I'm not sure what it is like at night. There's a restaurant across from the hotels and maybe other things to do nearby.

Emily ordered the unity candle, and after a skype conference with my parents, we're getting closer on the rehearsal dinner...