Outfitting Bryan

Is it really Sunday at 6:15 already? I write this blog post as Bryan naps - a nap he SWEARS was NOT induced by the soccer game we had on. (It totally was! Germany was beating down Australia and he took a snoozer!). Lucky for him, our Comcast DVR/cable box-thing is STUCK on soccer. I am not kidding. Does anyone know if there's a way to lock these things? I think Bryan's managed to do it. He can only get it to go from ABC to ESPN. Nothing else. Suspicious...

Friday we decided to relax and watch some Dexter, of course. We've been renting other movies and ignoring them. 'Valentine's Day' has been sitting on our counter for at least a week - which in Blockbuster-speak means we've bought it. I just can't tear myself away from that Dexter!

Saturday we were up and at 'em! First stop? Men's Wearhouse to look at tuxedos. I was a little apprehensive given the advice I had gotten many many blogs ago regarding not using Men's Wearhouse. But Bryan wanted to at least look based on the convenience of them being all over the country (with the intention of making it easier on our groomsmen).

With trepidation we walked in and were greeted by a very friendly man who asked if we wanted bottled water, coffee, anything?? Score one for offering me a beverage (even though I never take one - why is this?). A sales associate came over and began to gather our information. Wedding date? Bryan answered quickly, "October 15th". "That's the day I'm getting married" the associate said.

Ok, is this for real? Is this a trick? Do they say that to everyone? Oh, you're being so charming, Men's Wearhouse, I don't even care!

He noticed I was clutching my swatch from David's and mentioned that they had exactly the same color for the groomsmen vests and ties. Yay!!!

The funny point of the morning. "How many groomsmen do you have?" he asked Bryan. "5," Bryan answered.

I was completely confused. "What? No, you have 6." I told him. "No, I have 5," Bryan insisted. "What?!?" And I shook my head convinced that I would re-count with him when the associate finished measuring him (I didn't want to embarrass him and I was seriously asking myself if he had possibly had a knock-down, drag-out fight with someone??!). "Stephanie, do you know all of the groomsmen?" the associate asked me. "I need you to write down their information." I looked at Bryan and said, "Ok, I'm sorry. I KNOW there are 6." And I proceeded to name them. I'm not sure if Bryan was forgetting someone, simply miscounting, or associating 5 with each side of our bridal party because, although I have 6 bridesmaids, on that day there will be 5. So 6 it is! It just struck me as funny because after limiting Bryan to 6, here he is saying he has 5! (When we began this process, Bryan wanted 9!) And with all of the effort it took to get him to ask everyone in a timely manner...my Heavens!

Well, crisis averted. I wrote down all of the names of our groomsmen and, of course, the F.O.B. Bryan was measured and had requested he be excused for a few of the details I was getting to make decisions on that he didn't want to know about. That gave me and this sales associate time to chat about his wedding - code for me trying to figure out if he was really getting married on that day or if he was just trying to charm us. If he was lying, he was quite convincing, but I'm assuming you would be convincing if you were a sales associate. But he was most pleasant and really nice to work with!

All in all, we were finished with all of the details in about an hour! So far: Men's Wearhouse gets an A+ from us.

While Bryan went off to watch the soccer game, I started making our Table Cards. I find this oddly fun and have some cute ideas to give them a true Hoey/Soon-to-be-Hoey signature. Then I did some researching on rehearsal dinner ideas and I think we've got it! We'll try to finalize some details this week and then we'll pass them along publicly. If all works out, it is going to be DELICIOUS!

Saturday night, we headed to the drive-in for a birthday party but shockingly didn't stay out too late even though Bryan was trying to get me to watch Shrek Forever After for the 2nd week in a row! The main reason I was so pushy about wanting to get home at a decent time? We had a 9:30am appointment with TinaMarie this morning to look at more houses. After our 4-hour marathon house hunt last week, we took on only half the amount this morning. We wanted to revisit our favorite house of last weekend in addition to some houses that, online, had some incredible looking kitchens.

The verdict? We actually liked our favorite house of last weekend MORE this weekend! This time we were scrutinizing the types of things we might need to fix/change (light fixtures, things like that) and they were mostly cosmetic which is a good sign. The backyard, while not the backyard of the house we had bid on previously, is a really nice size for Mags and for eventual babies. Plus there is a great spot for a pretty nice-sized garden which is important to me - even though I will be gardening while wearing a bee-keeper suit. So our next step is to check out our commutes and stalk the neighborhood at different times of the day and night.

After our house-hunt we went to check out the venue at which we are hoping to have our rehearsal dinner. Then we went to eat lunch at the restaurant that is in the running to cater the dinner. Did I mention it was delicious??? It's literally the opposite of what I would've ever thought I wanted, but I came up with the idea and I'm really loving it.

I will do the big reveal of all of this information when everything is finalized and there is a contract. So stay tuned on this. Bryan thinks I'm just making myself crazy but I want this portion of the program completely organized so we can focus on our ceremony and other details. Plus, I want to make sure that all of our amazing out-of-town guests are in the loop on where they're going and when they need to be there (plus, what they're eating!). I've already started making an itinerary and a "Things to Do in Atlanta" list. The "Things to Do" list will be posted to our website on The Knot if I can grab some free time this week to finish it up!

So that concludes our weekend. Too much soccer, too little free time, but quite productive. Unfortunately, this whole soccer deal continues for a few more weeks. Anyways, it will be another busy week but I will continue the updates as I wrestle with wedding invitation wording (who knew this was so technical?) among other things. It's back to Dexter for the remainder of the evening for us!