Dusty and I finally found some time to begin registering for gifts. Registering for gifts has probably been the most difficult thing we’ve done for the wedding. We thought we would try to be strategic as we registered by going to several different stores, seeing what we liked from each store first and then going back to register for gifts. Saturday we walked through Bed, Bath & Beyond, Pottery Barn, William-Sonoma and Target. When we finally made it to Target we felt we were ready to register at our first store. Easier said then done.

We received our “gun” and were left to roam the aisles. It was so difficult to register for gifts but we made it through our first store with only one minor road block in the towel aisle. Dusty was much better at pushing the trigger. I on the other hand wanted to really analyze every item. By the end I finally realized that we couldn’t spend ten minutes deciding if we needed something, which one we should get, if our guests would like to buy it for us, etc. If we did spend that much time on every item we would be shopping for days.

After leaving Target we returned to Bed, Bath and Beyond to start another adventure. I must say that they did a great job at answering many of our questions. Dusty and I weren’t quite sure how to choose from so many different pots and pans, knifes, dishes, etc. and they did a great job of explaining the pluses and minuses of each item.

A few days later and after consulting with family and friends we decided to register at Dillard’s. I went online and got started. After registering for a couple of items I decided to Dillard’s and see what I was actually registering for. When I arrived I found out that it was easier to register online. I don’t know if this happens at all Dillard’s or just the one I went to but they don’t give you a gun to register but make you walk around and bring the employees everything you want and then they have to enter it by hand. The employees made it sound like it was really hard to do this so I walked around and look for what I wanted. After discovering what wonderful things they have I came home and finished registering with Dusty.

Dusty and I made our final trip to Pottery Barn to register for the remainder of our wish list. This being the fourth store was the easiest. We really had a much better idea of what we wanted and really focused on those things. For all the future bride and groom-to-be’s, relax and have fun. We could give you lots of other suggestions but you won’t understand until you’re there.

Last weekend Dusty and I went to look at tuxes. I didn’t know it would be so difficult to pick out a tux. Dusty made this decision and I’m very glad he did because I know nothing about men’s attire, there’s the jacket and pants, tie, vest, and shoes. What’s difficult is that everything looks the same from far away and how anyone can decide between a tux with two buttons and a tux with four buttons is beyond me. Here’s a picture of the tux and then a picture of the vest. We aren’t going with yellow, the guys will be wearing black and Dusty will be wearing white. Hopefully you can get an idea of how handsome the guys are going to look though.

I’ve know what cake I’ve wanted for over a year. I was at a bridal fair with one of my bridesmaids, Alyssa, who was getting married and we tried a lot of cake. There were samplings of cakes from at least five different places around Omaha. Most of them were okay, one was absolutely horrible and one was to die for. I told the girls that day that I wanted that cake at my wedding. I called last week for a vanilla sample cake with custard filling. Dusty picked up the cake Saturday. To our misfortune they accidentally gave away all of the vanilla cakes and gave Dusty a chocolate cake with some kind of fudge filling. I was very disappointed but the owner said we could come back Sunday for the vanilla cake. I told Dusty he shouldn’t have even taken the chocolate cake because I don’t like chocolate all that much and it would be wasted. The owner insisted Dusty take it I guess. I’ve never tasted such good chocolate cake. It was wonderful. Needless to say, we went back Sunday and got the vanilla sample cake. It was just as I remembered it, delicious! I’ve thought about shopping around for different wedding cakes but I love this cake so much that I just don’t have the heart. We’ve decided to get our cake from Chris Janicek’s Cakebox. I hope everyone saves room for cake at our wedding. I’m tempted to even have to-go boxes just so people can take cake home with them if they didn’t get any at the reception.

Last week I went to the mall again to look at bridesmaids’ dresses. I got desperate and tried on the dresses myself. I saw this dress and thought it was beautiful. I wasn’t quite sure if the girls would like it because of the low v-neck front. Tonight I went back to White House | Black Market with Keely and Alyssa to make my final decision on bridesmaids dresses. I’ve been to White House | Black Market a dozen times, each time changing my mind about what dress is going to look the best and every time I find a new option. It must be the season to introduce new dresses to their collection. If you can believe it I decided the dress I tried on the other day was “the one”. Click on the smaller pictures to see them enlarged.

The saddest part is that I can’t buy it for myself now. I was tempted to buy it but I couldn’t think of a good reason why I would buy the same dress my bridesmaids were going to be wearing. For some it might be weird that I wanted to buy the dress myself but that was my ultimate goal. I wanted to find a dress that the girls could actually wear again and that I might even want to wear. I would like to thank all of my bridesmaids for trying on so many dresses so I could find the perfect dress for them.

I’m getting anxious for the wedding. I tried so hard to be on the ball and make all of the big decisions before classes started in August that now it’s waiting time. We will eventually start choosing things like our wedding bands, wedding cake, tuxs, and flower girl dresses but none of these decisions must be made today.  Picking the bridesmaids dresses is one thing that I’ve been wanting to find. My ultimate goal is to find a dress that my bridesmaids can wear again, and I’m not just saying that.I’ve been in many weddings and feel very lucky to be a part of my friends’ weddings but it’s getting very expensive purchasing a dress and never wearing it again. For those of you who haven’t bought a brides maids dress lately, they’re only getting more expensive. A couple of years ago a dress might cost 100 dollars but now it’s costing almost 200 dollars including alterations and most of the time, girls can only wear it once.

I found a great store, White House Black Market, with great little black dresses. I’ve narrowed it down to three dresses. The girls like them so now it’s just making the decision between them all. Let us know if you have a favorite, it might help us decide which one to pick.  The first dress has a sweetheart neckline and three options for the sash. We would get the black sash. The second dress has a halter neckline and is made of a taffeta fabric. The third dress also has a sweetheart neckline and is silk.