Hotel room secured

We’ve been talking with the Sheraton Suites that is just across the street from our reception about getting a block of rooms for guests. Andrew also tried two other hotels nearby, but one took too much time to get back to us, and the other, while they had a somewhat better price than the Sheraton, does not have a pool nor are the rooms suites.

So, I went to the Sheraton today with the contract signed and in hand. The contract doesn’t actually obligate us to anything, but just says that guests will be responsible for their own rooms and any rooms not reserved by August 18 will be released.

After visiting the hotel, I went to the Torpedo Factory to grab a bunch of DC and Alexandria tourist guides. I had contacted the publishers of these guides and asked them to send several so I could send them off to my wedding guests who are travelling to the area, but I haven’t seen them in the mail yet (it’s been over a month).

Now I just need to compose the letter to send with the travel info…

Wedding Dream

This wasn’t my first wedding dream, but it was the most vivid, though the details are already fading…

The ceremony has just ended, and Andrew and I are walking out of the planetarium. About that time I realize that the lights had not been dimmed — the stars had not been up for the whole ceremony. So, I wonder why we bothered with the planetarium in the first place.

When we get out, we are called back so that our guests can do three special things for us. We walk back into the planetarium, which has turned into a large amphitheater, and the audience has grown. When we walk in, we get a toast by one of my cousins — that was apparently the first of the three things. Sadly I don’t remember the second, but the third was a video of me and Andrew. Andrew and I settled ourselves in on a grassy area on the side of the amphitheater in front of one of the large-screen TVs playing the video.

As we’re laying there, snuggled up, I realize that this would be a good picture, and I wonder why I haven’t seen the photographer snapping pictures. I un-snuggle myself, and leave Andrew watching the video as I go in search of the photographer or wedding coordinator. Neither one is there…neither one has shown up.

I run back to find my phone numbers for them, and find Dad on the way. I give him the numbers, and ask if he can call and light a fire under our coordinator’s butt. He says no. “What’s wrong with you?” I scream at him. “Grandma just died, ” he answered.

Now, I think about it, and realize that Grandma had been in the hospital in Minnesota while the wedding was going on, but that everyone, all of my aunts and uncles, were with us at the wedding. I have a moment of remorse about her dying alone, and give Dad a big hug.

Then I call the coordinator and start to yell, asking her where she is and where the photographer is. They got lost, is the answer, but should be there in just a little bit. I tell them it’s too late, and they should just meet us at the reception.

The part about Grandma being in the hospital came from finding out that she was hospitalized yesterday. She had gotten very dehydrated, had low potassium and low sodium in her system, so will be in for a day or two while they get her levels back up. She’s going to be just fine, but she keeps saying things like, “If I’m still around for the wedding,” to family memebers, so that’s probably where her dying came from.

Can’t I just be married now?

A few wedding notes

Bailey Banks and Biddle called Tuesday to let me know that the pendant I ordered last week is done, so I drove up yesterday morning to pick it up. It’s gorgeous, but I can’t get a good picture of it, so you’ll just have to wait for the wedding to see it.

Also, Andrew called a few hotels near the Stardust Restaurant (where the reception will be held), to see if we could get a group rate. We haven’t signed anything yet, but will probably go with the Sheraton Old Town.

Finally, I also posted my wedding pages today. There is information on how Andrew and I met, how he proposed, where the wedding and reception are, where to stay in the area, and things to do in DC. I still need to add a couple pages on things to do in Baltimore.

Name issue resolved

I think I’ve resolved the name-change issue. I’ve been fretting over it for the past several months.

On the one hand, I want to change my name. I like the idea of being part of a couple, and being identified with Andrew. (Not the barbaric, he-owns-me kind of identification, but the we’ve-pledged-our-lives-to-one-another kind of identification.)

On the other hand, I have two referred publications under my maiden name in The Astrophysical Journal (one of those as first author). I will have at least one more (albeit as one of 80 authors) by the time of the wedding, possibly a fourth (depending on the results of my current thesis investigation). I’ve also had this name for my entire life — 32 years. I’m not ready to just give it up.

So, I think I’ve decided on the compromise I like best:
Barbara Jo Mattson Kuchling

Two middle names. I really like ‘Jo’, so I’m not willing to get rid of it. But this way I can continue publishing scientifically under B. J. Mattson, but also get Christmas cards addressed to Mr. & Mrs. Kuchling (eventually Mr. & Dr. Kuchling!). I realize that I could continue publishing as B. J. Mattson, but it seems like it would be easier if the ‘Mattson’ is still part of my legal name.

I’m happy with this compromise, but need to see how the decision feels in a couple weeks or months. I still have time.

Registered at Bed, Bath and Beyond

We finished our initial registry at Bed, Bath, and Beyond tonight. I’ll be playing with the registry online, and hopefully adding a few things we didn’t find at the store.

I’m worried that we won’t have enough on the registry, espcially considering that we’re having a second reception in Minnesota for about 100 people, but we’ve both been living on our own for several years, so we don’t need everything everyone else needs when starting out. I am gutting the kitchen of garage-sale purchases, so that we will have new, not-hand-me-down appliances. However, we don’t want good china, because 1) we have no where to store it, and 2) we’d never actually use it.

We are also going to invite guests to contribute to charities in our names in lieu of a gift — but we need to choose the charities first.

Rings and Registry

We went to two malls today…yikes!

First we went up to Tyson’s Corner Mall where Andrew had bought my engagement ring. The Bailey Banks & Biddle was having a special “event” today and we wanted to see what kind of deal they were offering on the rings we wanted. We were able to get both of our rings at a 10% discount, so we went ahead and ordered my ring (mine is, of course, a special order), and picked up a ring for Andrew.

While we were there, I also asked if there was something we could do with the diamond that my Mom passed down to me from Grandma’s first marriage. It was a fairly small diamond, so we decided to have a pendant made with it. There will be a teardrop-shaped opal (my birthstone) with the diamond mounted on the top of the teardrop. For now I didn’t get a chain, but I’ll used one of my silver ones from home….hopefully it won’t make me break out too much (I’m allergic to all metals that I’ve used except platinum. Unfortunately, the platinum chain, by itself, was going to cost $460! Perhaps Andrew will get me one as an anniversary present someday.)

From there, we went to Fair Oaks Mall to register at JC Penney. (The Penney’s at Tyson’s Corner closed about a year ago.) That was fun, though I was getting tired by the time we finished. We still need to register at Bed, Bath, and Beyond, for some of the smaller kitchen items, some of the small electronics, and the bedding that we want.

Cake Person Hired!

We had a meeting with a cake person today. We had met her at the bridal show, and her samples were quite good (which couldn’t be said for the bakery that we were originally thinking of hiring). When I mentioned that our wedding would be a celestial-theme, she spouted out several different ideas about what do to. I loved that she was so enthusiastic, and she had a lot of creative ideas.

She works out of her home, and is just getting into wedding cakes. However, she has done cakes for birthdays, showers, christenings, etc. for years. I like that she is a one-woman operation — that tells me that she is in it because she loves it, and that she’s more likely to want to please us than herself (or her employer). I also like that she’s just getting into the wedding cake business. Rather than making me nervous, I feel like she is going to want to go an extra step to make sure that we’re happy, and that we’ll be happy giving a good recommendation for her work.

So, we met with her today at her house. I brought a swatch of the bridesmaid’s dress and one each of the soaps that I’m making for the favors. From these, she came up with some great ideas for the cake, and we sat down and designed something with her. The cake is a done deal!

Decided one place to register

We haven’t registered yet, but today we went out to the mall and wandered through several of the anchor stores. All of them have the small appliances and cookware that we want. However, Sears didn’t have much out on the shelves in the line of plates, silverware, or glasses. Macy’s was just a bit too much for us — the bedding wasn’t really what we wanted, and we didn’t see much in the line of kitchenware that we liked. JC Penney’s seemed to have everything — plates, flatware, glasses, appliances, bedding. So, it looks like we’ll register there…maybe next weekend or the on after.

We also need to choose a second place. Originally I had thought of Target, but I find that I don’t like their towels much, and if we’re already registering for appliances at Penney’s, there’s little else there that we need to register for. So, I think we’ll browse around the local Linens ‘N’ Things and Bed, Bath, and Beyond.

Rehearsal Dinner Set

We met with one of the managers at Anita’s New Mexican Restaurant this evening to talk about having the rehearsal dinner there. He showed us the upstairs (which we hadn’t seen before, since we come early enough for dinner that they’ve never been seating people upstairs). There was a smaller enclosed room that was set up for 20 people. It might get a tad bit cramped, but we can certainly squeeze 25-27 people in there.

There is also a larger room, but since we’re having the dinner on a Saturday night, we wouldn’t be able to have the room to ourselves.

He also showed us the reduced, large-group menu. My favorite dish was on there, and there were several vegetarian choices, so we were happy with it.

We had him sign us up for Sept 18. Yay!

Bridesmaid Dresses!

Mushi and Sweetie (my bridesmaids) came up this weekend so that we could either find dresses or patterns and fabric for their dresses. I’m not a picky bride — I wanted them to wear something navy, but that was my only real stipulation. I wanted them to wear something they’d be comfortable in, and frankly didn’t care if they had the same dress or not.

I got them out of bed around 10AM so we could get out of the house by 11 and on our way. The original plan had been for them to make dresses, but we decided to go to the mall and see if we could find something off the rack. Barring that, we could at least get some ideas as to what styles we liked, what looked good on them, and what was hideous while disguised as fashionable.

We started at Bloomingdale’s, because it was the closest entrance to the car. They didn’t have anything. Next was Nordstrom’s, which had a dress to try on, but in the wrong color. Plus, they didn’t have Mushi’s size, so it was irrelevant.

By then we were ready for lunch. I took us to Luciano’s, since it was on the way to the next anchor store, and their food is really good. (Plus, Andrew proposed to me in the Luciano’s in Oakton, so it seemed appropriate).

Lord & Taylor was next. They had a dress that both Mushi and Sweetie liked. Sweetie looked great in the dress, but unfortunately, Mushi’s dress was just a smidgen too small. We didn’t see one in a larger size on the rack. Sweetie could just get the dress, and we could keep looking for a matching navy for Mushi. Instead, we asked the sales clerk if perhaps they would have one in a larger size. “No,” she said, “but they might have other formal dresses downstairs.” But not this dress? “No, not this dress.”

We decided to have her hold the dress, so that we could at least get it if we didn’t find something better downstairs. We trudged to the escalator, disappointed that we were so close to a dress, but not for both girls. We started browsing the section the sales clerk upstairs had indicated, but at first found no formal dresses. Then, way in the back, there were two racks. And what did we behold? The very dress we’d been looking at upstairs. In a larger size. That fit Mushi. That looked fabulous on Mushi.

That was it. We had two matching dresses that both Mushi and Sweetie liked. Off the rack. In less than 4 hours. They even claimed they would wear them again.

I’m not holding my breath 🙂