Now we're making progress.........

Megan and Marcus got engaged during their trip to Hawaii last month. It was  all very exciting and then....a little overwhelming. Once she/we started looking at dates, locations, etc....things started to get a little complicated. Of course there is no way one date is going to work for everyone we want to be there....but still we were trying to figure out what would work best for the most people...and most importantly for Megan and Marcus.Then it was a question of where? The only people here are John and I, my brothers and Megan's God parents (and some friends of course)...but most family members of both the bride and groom live elsewhere. Megan did not want it in DC....and she wasn't sure about FL....so we started looking at other options. Welll....first off....everything is $$$$$$. We re-grouped...started looking at what we thought were less expensive options. Less expensive in the we wouldn't have to pay for the site (Sandy and Ken's property in TN) but then by the time you added up the cost of renting tables, chairs, a tent, etc...it wasn't that much of a savings...plus we would have had to schlep around with all kinds of gear...which was not exactly appealing either. Megan found a spot in Savannah...that wasn't outrageously expensive...had flowers and trees on a nice property, the price covered the venue, tables, chairs, centerpieces, etc...which would make life easier for everyone involved...and it's kind of in the middle. (not to mention a nice destination) . We "hired" Brenna as the wedding planner/negotiator...since she is good at that type of thing...and Megan and I are not...haha. She started calling places...here's what we have to spend...what can you do for us...type thing...so things were moving along.
Next up...our friend Christine suggested Megan have some fun and go look at dresses...she said we won't bring your purse...we'll just look. They went to a few places and tried on some nice dresses...but that led to the next reality check. Wedding dresses are expensive...and as far as I'm concerned it's a racket. I would equate it to the baggage policy on the airlines. ( You know....they give you one price that sounds good....but you pay extra for bags, food, etc)(* Oh I saw something online today...one airline plans to charge $1.00 to use the bathroom! Jeez...what if you don't have change...haha) With the dresses...you might find one that has a good price...but add in $$ for hemming, alterations, bustling...etc and pretty soon you can be spending  almost $300.00 more! What really is irritating is they don't have all the dresses in stock....I get that...but they don't even have a swatch of  say ivory versus white...off white, whatever. Turns out Megan looks better in Ivory...but we aren't going to pay hundreds of dollars for a dress to be sent in...without seeing it first...and most stores have a no return policy...if they order it...you are expected to pay for it first and it cannot be returned. This would make sense if it was a special order...or altered...but if it's coming from another store in the chain...or if it's unavailable at any store...why in the world can't you see what you're paying for. Not everyone has a spare $800.00 sitting around that they can afford to take their chances on getting what they want. can you tell I'm annoyed by this...haha
Well...after lots of aggravation...Megan and Marcus took a quick trip down to Savannah and decided on the venue. They met with a caterer and really enjoyed chatting with the woman, who also had lots of other helpful information/suggestions...so at last...we are making a bit of progress...and Megan is enjoying the whole process a little more. So the Save the Dates have been ordered...and should be going out soon

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...and now we are moving on to the next details. (and I of course am having a good time working on the play list...(Anne's infinite play list...haha).
We are moving along!