Next stop: Richmond

I'm finally getting sworn in at the Virginia Supreme Court on Monday, and I'm incredibly excited! Although I missed the mass swearing in ceremony in October, it actually works out very well for me. Instead of being sworn in en masse, and sponsored by my law school's latest Dean, I'll be sworn in in a much smaller group, with Mr. L as my sponsor! Maybe it's silly, but I am really excited to have my fiance go before the supreme court and make the motion that I be admitted to practice before the courts of the Commonwealth.

Since my mom, Mr. L, and I will be there anyway, I plan to make the most of the time. I'm planning to head down on Saturday, and spend a weekend doing wedding scouting. Here are the highlights of the plan:

Head up to DC Friday, and hit up the sample sale at Hitched in Georgetown. It's not really that far out of the way, and it's an excuse to look at pretty dresses. in the "big city". that are on sale. with a great law school friend!

Then, Saturday morning, it's off to Richmond. Saturday is reserved for trying on dresses with RichFriend*. The plan is to do David's Bridal first, and then I have an appointment at Bella Rosa. Bella Rosa doesn't inspire the best reviews by friends of friends and knotties, but they too are having a sample sale, and, frankly, there aren't that many choices unless I want to spend a lot more time in DC. And although I'm a little wary of facing David's on a Saturday, I'm so eager to go dress trying-on that I think it may be worth at least trying. I feel like it'll all be easier to take since I don't actually plan on finding anything - just getting ideas. I'll let you know if I end up eating my words.

Sunday, my mom arrives in Richmond, and it's off to the bridal show! I wondered at first if these shows were really all that helpful, or if they are really more of an excuse to be around a bunch of other women who are just as wedding crazed as I am, but after looking at the list of vendors, I think there is a good chance to actual productivity.

It looks like there will be a ton of caterers and photographers there, and those are two of my big question marks - and two vendors that I really want to be able to meet with in person. So hopefully, with my uber-focused mom's guidance, we'll be able to maximize time by speaking with the vendors we need to speak with anyway and getting prices and ideas all in one place. At least, that's the goal. This may be another case of me eating my words.

After the bridal show, the plan is dinner, and then a few important stops that are less goal-driven. We're heading to the Jefferson so that I can show my mom where Mr. L proposed; and to the chapel, so that mom and I can both see it in person, get ideas of how much and what kind of decoration it might need, and generally reassure ourselves that it is going to be a great location.

Monday is swearing in in the morning, and then lunch with the moms! I love both our moms, and I think they'll get along nicely. Since our families live in different cities, I wanted to grab this chance to introduce them. I'm also looking forward to getting a chance to talk to his mom about some of the planning, since she's local. She knows everyone and everything around Richmond, so I suspect that she has some great ideas!

And sometime in there, I'm hoping to squeeze in scouting trips to four reception venues. One is almost next door to the Jefferson, so that'll be the easiest to squeeze in - I have no idea when we'll fit in the others. Details on them to come!

*RichFriend because she actually lives in Rich-mond.