Time to Kick Bryan's Butt

Anyone that knows me knows that I am a meticulous list-maker. I'm obsessive. I make lists of things to-do in various places in my life - in notebooks, on index cards that I shove in my purse, on my own hands. Some people flick the lights off and on, I make lists. It calms me to write down what I have to do, even if the list is a full-page long. Nothing is more satisfying than physically crossing something off of a list.

Of course it is somewhat funny that I am marrying someone that flies by the seat of his pants. If an issue comes up, he attends to it in the present. But overall, there is no laying out of plans in order to determine what is happening in the future, no matter how immediate. When we started the process of planning this wedding, I knew I'd do the bulk of it. It only makes sense. I work ALOT less than Bryan does and I genuinely enjoy doing a lot of this stuff - thinking about flowers and food and music and favors. It also allows me to indulge my enjoyment of making lists and organizing things. But I knew I couldn't do EVERYTHING. And luckily I've had an incredible amount of help between my Mom, Aunt Claire, and of course the amazing women in my bridal party.

Bryan had only a few tasks - which he brought upon himself:

1.) Officiant - he thought he had it easy with Father Bob, but with 93 days to go, Bryan has not found us a replacement. He's gotten suggestions for replacements, but not taken any steps to actually secure a person for our wedding date;

2.) Rehearsal dinner - After shooting down several of my rehearsal dinner ideas, Bryan sprung to action finding us a venue and some possible caterers. We visited the venue, priced it out, and I was happy. What did I find out the other day? He still has not put the deposit down on the venue. Um....so it's GREAT that I'm having invitations printed out for the rehearsal dinner with a venue we do not technically have for October 14th yet.

3.) Honeymoon - With all of the other things I've had going on, wedding-related and otherwise (interviewing for jobs, figuring out what's going on with school at UGA), I told Bryan I did not CARE where we went for a honeymoon. My only requirement is that I don't want to be dragged around some city like a ragdoll. "That's insane, who would do that?" you ask. Well, Bryan doesn't need sleep. He has more energy than anyone I've ever seen - which is something that I love about him. But when it's vacation-time, Bryan is all about go-go-go-go - every attraction in whatever city we're visiting along with attractions in surrounding cities - whereas alot of the time I'd rather curl up with a good book, a cup of tea, and nap at will (I call this 'visiting Mom and Dad'). The go-go-go-go mentality worked fabulously in the Pacific Northwest (where I did want to see every possible thing that I could've fathomed), but it's not what I want for our honeymoon. For me, The Perfect Honeymoon = cocktails + delicious food + relaxation. Whether it's on a beach or on a polar ice cap, I'm not concerned with that detail - well, maybe in order to pack the appropriate clothing that will be important, but otherwise, I don't care where we go. All I know is we're no closer to having a honeymoon booked than we were a few weeks back when Bryan started throwing out fabulous suggestions like Antigua and St. Lucia. Since then, it's been quiet and he's back to being obsessed with house-hunting.

My to-do list? I accomplished quite a few things this morning including making some solid decisions on our ceremony music, inquiring into follow-up proofs for our invitations, and setting up an appointment with our florist to see a "practice" bouquet (August 4th, woo-hoo!). Some of the things on my to-do list I have completed only half-way because I need Bryan's input on them: ordering a unity candle, solidifying the reading selections/ceremony outline (you know what'd be awesome for this - an officiant!!!), and of course, Bryan and I need to go pick out a wedding band for me and inquire into re-casting his grandfather's ring!!!

I should be exercising away my stress in preparation for the dress fitting next Saturday, but instead I'm sitting (literally) on edge trying to figure out what else I can accomplish in order to lighten the load a little bit. However, there is one other big thing I did this morning. I added to the "Things to do in Atlanta" tab on our wedding website, so check it out. You can tell which things I like the best given the little blurbs that I wrote. But all of those suggestions are fantastic (patting myself on the back). If you need anything logistically-speaking (more specifics on locations or what combination of things would be easiest to do in one-day increments, let me know). The website address is:

www.theknot.com/ourwedding/BryanHoey&StephanieGutzler2010

And I can be reached at tomboybride2010@gmail.com for questions, comments, or concerns.

Have a great day, everyone, I'm off to light a fire under my fiance!