Random planning notes and to-do list

Stuff that's done or decided is in italics.

Invitations:

• "Save the date": An email should suffice.
  
• RSVP's: Again, just ask them to use email? Use one of the online e-vite tools?
• Invitation wording and paper. Make our own or have printed?
• If we want folks to consider saying/reading something, include that with the invitation.

Getting Ready:

• Am I going to get hair and makeup done professionally? If so, where?
• Definitely get TweenGrand's hair styled/twisties or style of choice that morning.
  
• Get BabyGrand's and V's hair cut the week before.
• Plan to get "gin blossoms" aka the tiny capillaries that cover my entire face removed long before the ceremony. Since it will likely take several treatments, I may even have the first round done over my Christmas break!
  

Ceremony:

• Figure out what we're going to say and do. Make sure all rituals (especially Jewish specific elements and rituals) are explained as part of the service. Have prayers but keep God-language to a minimum out of respect for V.
  
• Who's going to officiate: Rabbi? A.G.?
• Wedding party: TweenGrand our only attendant. What will she do during the ceremony, other than perhaps take my flowers then sit down? BabyGrand is our flower girl.
  
• Other participants: Something for my parents to do? Special friends? Invite everyone who wants to to prepare a special blessing or poem or something else to say during the wedding?
  
• Where is it going to be?
• What are we going to make the chuppah frame out of, and how are we going to decorate the poles? How are we going to hold it up? Mom is going to make a quilt-pieced chuppah cover.
  
• Music: Mel sing during ceremony? How will we handle other music? What will the other music be? Procession to a niggun sung by all? "This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)" after the kiss. Who will be in charge of cuing the music during the ceremony?
  

Clothes:

• Find suit for V and get it tailored
• I have my dress already! Get my dress fitted
• Find SHOES (except they don't make pretty wedding shoes for people with wide flat feet who need orthodics in order to not be in pain within two hours)
• TweenGrand: Let her pick out her own dress, something she can later wear to a school formal, any color/style ok except for "tart".
• BabyGrand: Get TweenGrand's dress first so we don't have a color clash? Flower girl dresses on ebay?
  

Reception:

• Where is it going to be? We prefer someplace that would give us the choice of being either indoors or outdoors, depending on the weather on the day of the wedding.
  
• Who's going to make the food? Buffet, plated, bbq, appetizers and desserts only? We want either a focus on locally grown/raised foods, or Puerto Rican style foods, or a mix of both, though there's not much of a chance of finding a PR caterer around here.
  
• Cake: V's friend O is probably going to make. I'm going to start asking on freecycle for cool cake stands. Now I wish I had thought to take my Granny's cake stands, but I just didn't see that we'd ever use them and never thought about how they might be good for a wedding reception.
  
• Music: Need to rent a sound system? Hire a DJ? Use an ipod or mix-CDs?
• Dancing: First dance - still You Are My Home? Do we want to do a father/daughter (and perhaps at the same time, V and my mom) dance - maybe a slow swing dance instead of a regular slow dance? A "family" dance - "We Are Family" with the grand-d's to start then ask everyone else to join in.
  
• Garter? BLECH. But V may insist on it. Play "Echa P'alante" if we must do this. Flower toss? I really don't care to do that.
  
• Kids: Consider hiring someone to plan activities for and help keep an eye on the toddler through young school-age crowd, to give the parents a break. Crafts/coloring table? Glow necklaces - will need enough for the adults, too!!
  

Helpers:

• M.A.: help plan decorations?
• Tina: Helping to arrange flowers for table and around chuppah. Also growing flowers in her garden for us to use!
• O.: Making our wedding cake (I'm not going to count this as 100% certain since V goes up and down with O, but this is the plan as of this moment. It definitely won't be a "pro" cake but I'd MUCH rather have yummy and made with love even if clearly home-made and not "perfect" than anything else.
  
• Donna and Zip: be my personal helpers that day (dressing, attending to last minute details, verifying things are going ok)?
  
• L.I.: Make my headpiece, using lace cut from bottom of the dress to cut into ribbons for the headpiece, with added satin ribbon and tiny silk flowers?
• Kevin: Make some mix CD's - give him a list and an account to use for downloads?
  
• Photographer: Ask Bro, Bro-in-law, and JF to take pictures? Ask one to take some formal poses before the wedding, one to take pics during the wedding, all to snap pics during the reception. Or just break down and hire a professional photographer?
  
• Videographer: Do we want this expense? If so, who? I really like the idea of having this on video, but not sure about the cost of it.
  
• Music: Someone to cue the music during the ceremony, someone to be in charge of the music during the reception. Hire a DJ? Probably not.
  

Out of Towners:

• Where are folks going to stay? Hotel block somewhere? Rent a couple of campers to put in the driveway? Who can stay in the house?