Lindsey Dillingham

One of my best friends is getting married this summer. A friend and I are throwing her a wedding shower. Joy is getting married in July. We want to throw it for her before school is out so that nobody has to drive really far since we will all be spread out during the summer. Our tentative date is April 29. Most likely she won’t be registered by then because her fiance lives in San Antonio, so it is hard for them to find a time to do that together. Since she won’t be registered we are going to throw her a personal shower. Yes, that means lingerie. It will be a lot of fun! We are currently looking for a place to have it because I live in a sorority house and Rachel, the girl I am hosting with, has a small living room. Joy is my first good friend to get engaged and I am really excited about throwing this for her.

My maid of honor is my younger sister. We went to Oklahoma City to shop for bridesmaids dresses. The first place we went to was JJ Kelly Bridal. I have been looking at dresses online and they carried all of the brands that I liked. They carry Nicole Miller, Charsa, and Dessy dresses. They carry a few more brands, but these were my favorite. When I went wedding dress shopping I knew almost exactly what I was looking for. My only requirements for my bridesmaids dresses were that they were strapless and pale pink. I found two dresses that I love and that fit my sister great. One is long and the other is tea-length. I can’t decide what length I want to have. I also haven’t decided on how many bridesmaids I will have. I know for sure that I will be asking one of my long-time friends. She was gone on a spring break trip and wasn’t able to go with us. Eventually we will go back and decide. It takes three months for the dresses to come in and then my sister’s dress will have to be hemmed because she is so short. So while I still have plenty of time it is not something that I can put off until last minute.

My big spring break plans were nothing other than staying at home all week! I hadn’t been home since school started so I was quite okay with just going home. Since I have been home my mom and I have discussed nothing but my wedding. We sat down (without my dad) to figure out my wedding budget. My dad thinks that everything is too expensive so it is best to just leave him out of everything and just give him the final total. Planning a wedding can be very stressful, especially when you are on a tight budget from your family. My mom and I tried to plan how much everything would cost so that way I can have an idea of what I can spend on everything. We divided everything into categories, such as my dress, bridesmaids attire, flowers, photography, location fees, food, decorations, invitations, etc. I’m hoping I can stay within the limits that have been set. Now that I have a budget I feel that I can really start researching what I want and what I can afford. Planning your wedding budget should be one of the first steps in planning your wedding.

The wedding party is becoming less conservative. People are now including their best guy friend as a bridesmaid. Bridesmaids are typically female. My fiance and I are discussing how many people to include in our wedding party. Ty doesn’t want more than just a maid of honor and a best man. I would like to include more of my friends. One of our mutual friends is getting married in August. She is having eight bridesmaids. The more bridesmaids you have the more money you are going to spend. You have to buy their dresses, shoes, pay for their hair and makeup and their bouquets. My maid of honor will be my sister, but picking my other bridesmaids is not an easy decision. I have several friends that I would like to ask, but don’t want to hurt anyone else’s feelings. An ideal wedding party would include an equal number bridesmaids and groomsmen. I don’t see this happening for my wedding. I guess I will just have more bridesmaids than groomsmen. Our ringbearer will be my adorable nephew. He will be five at our wedding. Our flowergirl will be his niece, who will be three and a half. They will be so cute!!

I am so excited because my parents are coming up to see me this weekend. I haven’t been home since school started and have only seen my mom when we went wedding dress shopping. They are coming up for the basketball game on Saturday. We are going to look at a few wedding locations while they are here. My fiancee’s parents are also coming up for the game. Our parents have already met. We are from the same town, so they actually see each other quite frequently. It will be nice for us to all go out to dinner and discuss the wedding and potential dates for it. I’m really excited to see my parents! My dad hasn’t even seen my ring yet, except in a photograph I sent via e-mail. I’m excited to actually get started on making some decisions. I am one of those people who like to have everything planned out way in advance. I think that quality drives some of my college friends mad, because I am not very spontaneous. It will be a fun weekend.