A Slow Boat to China

So, I haven't been able to update this wedding blog as much as I have wanted.  I am going to try to be better!  I guess I shouldn't be surprised that planning a wedding is more stressful than anticipated.  I plan events for a living, you know?  I plan and host two sessions of New Student Orientation that have over 400 attendees apiece, with coordinated workshops, activities and meals.  I though a wedding would be a snap!  :-)


But the thing that's been stressful lately, that I didn't anticipate, has not been picking out a caterer, photographer, or officiant (more on some of those, later), but getting items onto our gift registries so people have things to get us.  At first it was fun.  Kevin and I have had some ideas of appliances and other kitchen upgrades that we wanted.  We had maybe a dozen ideas.  Then, we learn that a rule of thumb for registries is to have twice as many gifts on your registry as you expect guests at the wedding.  This is to account for multiple bridal showers, and also the fact that wedding guests often put a number of low-cost items together s a package.  So, we need to register for something like 250 items!  Do we really need 250 new things?

(We may want to consider adding some charitable donations to an organization we care about as a gift choice.)

What made this even more difficult is that Kevin and I are planning on building or buying a new house within the next year.  This is a good thing, because there's no way all that loot is going to fit in our current townhome. What has been extremely challenging has been trying to envision what our new place will look like, what decor we want for each of the rooms, so we can request things that will go with the new house once we have it.  So, in addition to planning a wedding, I am also planning an entire house decor, which is a project unto itself!

Last night, we finally picked our china pattern.  I never imagined myself as someone who would pick a china pattern!  We obviously have plates, but they are dated and very country (the recently retired Heartland from Pfaltzgraff), so we wanted to upgrade to something a little more modern and timeless (does that make sense???).  I cannot explain how stressful choosing plates has been!  Kevin and I have very different tastes - he likes sleek, modern, and simple, whereas I like designs that are more unique, bright, and fun.  If I didn't have to share these plates with someone else for the rest of my life, I could have picked something easily.  Instead, I've spent probably 15 hours over the past week and a half exploring every dinnerware pattern known to man.  And then there's Kevin's concerns (always practical) - are they sturdy?  will they chip?  can we put them in the dishwasher?  what's the most durable?

So - single ladies - if you want plates with girly, flowery patterns, get them NOW!  Don't wait until you have to compromise with a man!  He will not want your flower patterns!

Although, I guess a lot of girls just pick out the dishes and don't worry about what their partner thinks.

But anyway, we went with something sleek and white, with kind of an interesting border.  I see it as a blank palette that I can use all sorts of interesting accessories and serving items with.  And they're timeless, so we shouldn't have to pick out new ones, and I can just swap out the fun accessories.

If you care about such things, we went with Mikasa's Antique White.  They got OUTSTANDING reviews on Amazon.

 Now on to finding those fun accessories!