As you've probably noticed, this is my first wedding blog in two months. That's because wedding planning had to take a backseat during the month of June due to an unexpected job shake up for my fiance. Long story short: James was offered a new job in Santa Monica, he accepted, and 3 weeks later we moved from Long Beach up to Los Angeles. So June was almost 100% devoted to packing and apartment hunting.
Thankfully we're all settled in now and I've started to work on some wedding things again. Here's what I've got so far!
- Oklahoma engagement party! This was one of the reasons our June move was so rushed. We booked a June trip to Oklahoma months ago and had no idea we would end up needing to look for new places to live at the exact same time. Luckily my mom handled most of the planning (thank you mom!). We held the party at Gaslight Theatre in Enid, OK (I practically lived here growing up so this venue is very special to me.). We had delicious catering from Jumbo's Foods. We had drinks. And *drumroll please* we had BEER PONG - a unique engagement party feature for sure! We had fewer friends attend the party than expected, but it kept things a little more intimate. And that's always fine by me. :)
- Flights/hotels booked for all immediate family! The hotel we ended up going with was The Pacific Inn in Seal Beach. The reviews were very good, it is located within walking distance of our ceremony site, plus it has family suites available to make everyone's stay feel a little more home-y. James and I will be staying in the hotel too for the couple of days leading up to the wedding. We may end up just staying here for our wedding night as well and save the fancier hotel rooms for our honeymoon. (Irish castle, anyone?)
- Registries are set up! We have one at Honeyfund and a smaller, more traditional one at Amazon. We'll most likely continue to edit these registries up until the wedding as we continue to think of things we might need on our honeymoon and at home. We've already received several gifts from people who attended the engagement party in Oklahoma! (If you are one of these people, THANK YOU!!!)
- Irish honeymoon planning is well underway! James and I are giving ourselves a couple days to decompress after the wedding, then we'll hop on a plane from LAX to Dublin! We've been talking to a couple different travel companies and they're helping design our ideal itinerary as we speak. My biggest complaint with European tours I've taken in the past is that every minute of every day is already planned. If I'm having to set an alarm clock every morning in order to get to an excursion on time, it just doesn't feel like a vacation to me. I'd rather have more days in fewer cities with fewer planned excursions. I want to discover a new town on my own schedule. So that's exactly what we're doing. We'll be focusing on southern Ireland - places like County Cork, Galway, and of course Dublin. We'll take a few excursions in each town, at our leisure. Then return to LA 9-10 days later. We should return home rested, not exhausted! THAT'S a honeymoon!
- James' friend Gino finished the caricature art for our wedding invites! I'm SO THRILLED with how it turned out. It's going to take all my strength not to show people this drawing before the invites get sent out. Aaaah!!! It's so good!
And there you have it!
I am so happy I got so much wedding stuff squared away back in April and May. Otherwise I'd be scrambling right now. So now I'm pretty much right on schedule instead of ahead of schedule. But that's ok.
Since the move to LA, I've had a few people ask, "Aww... aren't you frustrated that you already booked your wedding in a Long Beach location?" The answer is quite the opposite! It's perfect! James and I have friends all over LA and Orange County. Long Beach is the halfway point. No one has to travel too far! Plus I may not live in Long Beach anymore, but I still love that town. My wedding is a damn good excuse to visit. :)
**Louisa**
