Progress Thus Far

OK, so now for me to punch in some of my journal entries. These date back to December, however, they may have some jewels in there to help out you other brides - at the very least it might make you feel not so alone with your confusion. :-P
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Anyway, I'm just going to type them up as is. And so, even though this first entry says that Remy and I haven't done much with wedding planning, we actually have the basic planning done. In fact, as of this post we have the major aspects figured out - we just need to start booking vendors and such. However, as of this JOURNAL ENTRY we haven't had much done. I know, it doesn't really make much sense, but pretend it does. ^_^ *clears throat* Anyway, without further ado....
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Since the proposal, we haven't really done much along the lines of wedding planning. And so I'm just going to note everything we HAVE done leading up to the present. Moving forward I'll write in dated journal entries.
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First, there are the hurdles Remy and I need to jump before true planning can begin. First is my job. In May I was fired from my job. I was actually using my college degree and everything! And then... nothing. As of right now I'm a "sandwich artist" at a local Subway(R) sandwich shop. And so, not only am I not really raking in the dough that I need to fund a wedding, but I'm also not sure where my job search will send me.
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Second hurdle is the stupid long distance! I'm not sure how my one friend pulled it off, but planning a wedding with a long-distance fiance is not fun! Plus, almost six years of long-distance is quite enough for me! Considering all the angles, it seems better that I move up to Remy.
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Which brings me to the BIG hurdle: Finances. Neither Remy nor I have much of a nest egg saved, and both of us already have school debt, and so we really don't want to have to get a bank loan for our wedding. Neither of our parents really have money to spare either, and so we know we're more-or-less paying for the wedding ourselves. Even with my cost-cutting ideas, "How to Save" books, and "Family Only" wedding guest list, it's hard to keep a budget of about $15,000 - let alone actually SAVING that much FOR the budget! And Remy and I STILL need money for actually living together! I'm trying to save my work tips, and cut costs even more than I have in order to save money while still living with my mother, but at the rate we're going financially, we won't be married for another five years! I need to think of something soon.
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Our last major hurdle? Where to actually HAVE the wedding! Do we have the wedding in New York or Pennsylvania? I really can't plan more than I have over the past four years (of pre-engagement) without starting to hire vendors. But where do I hire them? I'm planning on living in New York state when Remy and I get married; so it would probably be easier on me to organize a wedding up there. I won't have to travel four hours to meet with vendors, and do I really want to travel for my own wedding? But on the other hand, my family is (almost) all in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. My side would be traveling at LEAST four hours for my wedding. How many would actually do that without it being some sandy beach destination wedding? Also, Remy's extended family is mostly from Georgia, and so they'd travel farther to New York than Pennsylvania. However, if they're already coming from Georgia, is the extra four hours really going to affect them? Then we have the battle of Mom verses Kitty. Mom hates driving and Kitty doesn't seem to mind at all. So why make the mother who doesn't like driving cover the distance? Plus, there's an unspoken benefit to being the bride's mother. Sort of an honor above the groom's mother. Mom even threw in her two-cents about the matter by stating that she went through thirty-six hours of labor, where as Kitty almost gave birth on the elevator to the maternity ward. Therefore Mom deserves the wedding by her. I just don't know which state wins out...
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Ok, so another hurdle - one that is sort of minor as of right now, but will become a major one once the other issues are figured out - is wondering who will officiate the ceremony. Since Remy and I want a handfasting for our vows, it may be challenging to find someone willing to officiate. In the meantime, I'm scripting the ceremony. Handfasting is typically a pagan or Wiccan ritual these days, and so I have to rewrite all the ceremonial sections so it has a Christian, and NOT pagan, base. So far, the part I spent the most time rewriting is the ceremony of the Sword and Chalice.
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What is the Sword and Chalice ceremony? Well, basically, in the ceremony the groom presents a sword as himself and the bride knights him with it. Then the bride presents a chalice as herself and the groom toasts her with it. However, the point of the ceremony rests on the pagan symbolism of the sword and chalice representing man and woman based on their genitalia. Worst part is that just about anyone who even SAW "The Da Vinci Code" would recognise that the ceremony is basically about vows of fertility. The sword half isn't very obvious, and in fact it made Remy and I tear up as we read it. And so the "chalice" half needed to go.
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Thankfully, Remy came up with our wedding motif a few years ago: a sword wrapped in a rose. My wonderful cousin is going to be designing the actual motif for us (THANK YOOOUUUU!!!). And so, I don't have the motif right now, but here are two samples of what we're thinking of: Sample 1 and Sample 2. He told me the sweet symbolism behind his idea was that the rose means "love" and the sword "honor." Backtracking about four or five years, Remy and I found a set of charms that said "To Have and To Hold" and "To Love and To Honor." Those two vows really stuck with Remy, hence the sword and rose symbolism. I, however, like to extend the metaphor a little bit. The sword, along with honor, symbolises strength and protection. The rose is beautiful and gentle. All-in-all, a perfect motif! Continuing further, the Celtic tradition also dictates the presentation of a "wedding sword" to the couple for protection. And so Remy wants to have a sword engraved with our wedding date. All the pieces seemed to fit, and so it was easy to rewrite the chalice segment as a rose instead. The same basic concept is still there, but not as blatantly obvious as before. My favorite part is that instead of Remy toasting me with the chalice, he will recreate our handfasting by tying the rose to the sword. I'll have to remember to post the actual ceremony at some point.
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Well, aside from writing our ceremony, I have been slowly working on our wedding website through TheKnot.com. It has been a very slow process, mainly because I have no real details to post yet - not even the YEAR - and also I don't have any nice pictures of Remy and I. In fact, I should probably put that on my list of things to do for the wedding: I need to get some nice pictures of Remy and I together...
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Anyway, I also started organizing the HUNDREDS (literally) of ripped-out magazine pages I've been collecting over the years. It is a long, tedious process, especially since most of the pages are articles with advice that I must now re-read. Some times I feel like I tore apart too many bridal magazines and organizing it all is too large of a task! However, if I can't conquer this task, how can I handle the daunting challenge of throwing a wedding?
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So, yeah. I haven't really done much else to prepare for the wedding thus far. I feel a bit over my head here. I just wish I had someone that I could bounce ideas off. I feel like I'm going to drown in all the details, but I must go it alone - more-or-less. Here's hoping I make it out alright.