DIY Garter

Ok, so I can't really call this a "DIY" project, as I personally did not do it. But my awesome Aunt Terri did, so it's still home made. In my last post I mentioned that I got 2 garters at JoAnn's last weekend, only $3 each. Well, I gave one over to Aunt Terri, and she made it FABULOUS! I was *this close* to ordering one online a while back, and it would have cost me $15. And it was nowhere near as cute as this one!!

Here is the "before". This is the plain one, how they both came, and will be used for my "toss" garter.

Pretty cute for $3, but of course the one to keep needed to be spiced up a little, and my wedding colors needed to find their way in! So a little brown lace and some coral ribbon, and voila!

She even added the little charm that says "Love" on it. HOW CUTE IS THAT?!

And here are a couple pictures of the 2 together. Just imagine them on my leg...actually don't... :)

Ah, it's so wonderful to have crafty people in my family... My next DIY project (that really is DIY because I will be the one doing it ;) is the flower girl baskets. Unfortunately it's snowing outside right now, so not exactly the best conditions for spray painting. Hopefully the weather will be better next weekend and I can get going on those. I am also expecting a package in the mail very soon with my napkins inside!! I can't wait to see them!! Of course I'll post pics when they come. I also hope to book our honeymoon SOME DAY and once that's done I'll post an update as well. So stay tuned!

P.S. I'm getting ready to update my Photography blog...go check it out! (click here)

Making progress...

Well, I don't really have anything major to report, but I have made a few accomplishments in the past week...

• Ordered personalized napkins (I'll post a pic of them once I get them)
• Bought supplies to make flower girl baskets (I FINALLY found baskets I like, and silk coral gerbers. JoAnn's ROCKS!)
• Also bought garters at JoAnn's. Only $3! I bought 2 plain white ones, and then we found some brown lace and coral ribbon that my aunt Terri is going to add to one of them. (I'll post a pic of that when it's done)
• Researched reception decor online - this week I hope to order vases for the centerpeices and votive candle holders.
• Researched Honeymoons online - I've narrowed it down to 4 options, and I will be forcing Matt to help me decide so we can book one this weekend! The 4 options are: 7 night stay at El Dorado Seaside Suites in Riviera Maya, Mexico; 7 night stay at Dreams Resort in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico; 7 night Carnival Cruise to Western Caribbean; 7 night Royal Caribbean Cruise to Southern Caribbean (click on each one for a little more info... and tell me what you think! If you've been on one of these trips, feel free to share your experience :)
• Filled out most of the passport forms. Just need to fill in a few more things, and go apply for those bad boys!
• Fixed the wedding website...the pictures all show up now! (I was really smart and copied and pasted from the old website, and then deleted the pages...yeah...didn't work so well...)

So that's where I'm at...slowly but surely getting things done! I hate that I'm down to all the little details, it was much easier for me to work on booking vendors! But we're under 4 months to go now!! I can't believe how quickly time is flying!! Hopefully by the end of this week or this weekend I will have another update to post with more accomplishments (keep your fingers crossed ;)!

P.S. Have you checked out my new photography blog yet? I spent some time this weekend posting on there too...check it out!

I'm a slacker...

I'm still alive, I promise! I know it's been a while since I posted, and I haven't updated my to-do list (there's nothing to check off anyway...), and I haven't had any major accomplishements lately, so I thought you might be wondering if I fell off the planet or something! Nope, I'm still here. Just been a busy week, and the busy-ness has not been wedding related (for once). But, I just realized, as of today we are exactly 4 MONTHS AWAY from the big day!!!! AHH!! I have so much to do!! I promise I will get on the ball and start getting things accomplished soon...so stay tuned for more posts! In the mean time, go check out my new photography blog! I've been a slacker on it too, only posted once so far, but hopefully tonight I will change that! See you soon!



P.S. Happy (belated) St. Patty's day! And happy 3 YEARS since our first date :)

how sweet is this design/logo? It belongs to LUCKYME, a blog I follow (the company is Lucky Designs)-check them out for some awesome wedding inspiration! It is my current inspiration for my next tattoo. :) Matt and I are going to get one together once we get married - I love the clovers/hearts on this logo...I think if I add another leaf (has to be a lucky 4 leaf clover!) and have the tattoo artist put their own spin on it, it will be perfect!

Want More?????

So...if you were thinking to yourself man, I wish this chick would blog about more than just her dang wedding... (which I'm sure so many of you were...) then you are in luck!! I got myself a new camera recently, and with that came the re-discovery of my love for photography. Sure, I've only had my pets and fiance to take pictures of so far, but I still love it and really like some of the shots I've gotten already. I decided that I needed a place to share some of these pictures, as well as a way to see the progress I will (hopefully) make as I learn more about my camera & digital photography - I've been an old schooler up until now...but I'm venturing away from film and into the digital world... :) Enter: THE NEW BLOG. By the way, click on that link if you'd like to check it out. There's not much to it right now (one measly post to be exact) but it's a work in progress. :) I have about 600 pictures to sift through so I can choose my favorites to post, but I haven't exactly gotten that far yet. Like I said- work in progress. So anyway...go check it out, and let me know what you think! I'll post a link over there ----> with the link to our wedding website, so you can always find me. :)

We Registered!

Well I couldn’t think of a clever title for this post, so I decided to just get straight to the point. Yes, I’m a little delayed in posting this, but as of last Sunday we are officially registered! We decided to register at Bed Bath & Beyond. I originally debated on registering somewhere else as well, but I think our 19 pages worth of stuff should cover it. :)

Another thing we debated was whether or not to register for china. It’s kind of a tradition to get a set of china for a wedding gift, but we weren’t sure if we’d ever use it. As of right now, in this tiny house, we couldn’t entertain if we wanted to. A nice big family dinner deserving of fine china just won’t be happening here. On the other hand, when in our lives will we ever want to shell out the cash for china? We do plan to have a family of our own some day, and a bigger home to go along with it, so those big family dinners very well could be in our future. SO, in the end we decided to go ahead and register for china. No, we may not have a use for it right now, but in the future we definitely will. If nothing else, I have an excuse to buy a china cabinet to display it. :) I had seen a set at BB&B previously that I really liked, and believe it or not (without any encouragement from me) Matt actually picked that same set as his favorite! I was shocked. Especially because to me it’s a little “girly”. But hey, I’m not complaining, it was an easy decision! The pattern we picked is called “Belle Boulevard” by Kate Spade. Who knew Kate Spade designed china?? It was news to me. Anyway, here is a picture I took in the store of the place setting the awesome bridal consultant lady put together for us (it also includes the glasses and silverware we picked out):

And here’s a picture from BB&B’s website of the china:

So…what do you think??

I love the design so much that I went ahead and registered for the toasting flutes and cake serveware hoping that I get it for a shower gift (hint hint) so we can use them at the wedding. I also am hoping to use that flower (the website calls it a bow…I don’t quite see that) design on my invitations. I know, a little obsessive. But you know me…I like to keep things matching. :)

OH! And if you're interested in seeing all of the awesome stuff we picked out, you can view our registry online here. Or you can go to our website (link over there ---->) and click on the "Registry" tab.

The tux dilemma...

...HAS BEEN SOLVED!! FINALLY

On Saturday, Matt, Mom and I went down to Mia's (which is where we tried on our lovely BM dresses) and picked out tuxes! YAY!! Their tuxes come through Jim's FormalWear, but either way this experience was WAY better than Men's Warehouse. Like 100% better. First of all, I had a FEMALE to help me figure out what the heck I wanted (not being sexist here, but honestly...can some dude really understand the complexities of an indecisive bride who has OCD issues?? It's just not physically possible.) I wish I remembered her name, because she was awesome. She gave us great suggestions, and made our decision so easy.

So...the big question...what the heck did we pick???

drumroll please...

We chose tan tuxes (yes, they are technically tuxes, although they are also technically suits...don't ask...) with a chocolate brown vest and tie. Matt will wear the same thing, but with an ivory vest and tie instead.

I'm going to post pictures, but you will have to work with me here. I cannot for the life of me find a picture of the dang thing all put together...so we will be using our imaginations today, ok? Great. Here we go...

This is the tux itself, the tan part. Ignore the fact that the guy in the picture is only wearing a tie. Also ignore the fact that this couple is so disgustingly beautiful, and that they are walking along the beach. We will not be doing so (obviously...).

This one will give you an idea of what the vest and tie will look like. Ignore the black tux, as you know ours will be tan. Also ignore the fact that the tie and vest don't appear to match - I promise that the ones we picked match. Quite well. And the brown matches the BM dresses pretty close as well. You know I was sitting there comparing fabric swatches before making any decisions...

So anyway, using your imagination (sorry I don't have photoshop otherwise I could put this all together for you), picture the tan tux (I know it looks like a suit but it makes me feel better to call it a tux...just go with it...) with the brown vest and tie, and Matt's happy a$$ modeling it. There you have it! I don't have enough time to do all that over again for the ivory...you'll just have to use your imagination some more. :)

I know that I have gone against *almost* every one's advice in choosing tan, but I really don't care. (Not that I don't value your opinion, just that my OCD issues overpowers anything :) Matt liked the tan, I like the tan, Mom likes the tan... that's enough for me! So what if we aren't having an outdoor, destination or afternoon wedding... too bad! I just couldn't handle the thought of black tuxes with brown vests, ties and dresses. I know people have done it, and I know it looked just fine and dandy, but for our wedding - not happenin. Ok, enough justifying my decision. After all, it is MY day, so what I say goes! Right?! :)

PS if you happen to be a wife or significant other of one of the men in our wedding party, kindly drag their butt into Mia's whenever it is convenient and get them measured. Matt is *supposed* to call all of the guys to tell them, but, well, you know how that goes. Email me and we can talk $$. Smooches!

A florist it is...

So the plans have changed. I was originally feeling very adventurous and budget friendly, and had planned to DIY all of my flowers. (I still stand by my claim that I could totally do it, by the way...) Unfortunately, the world of online wholesalers does not know the concept of CORAL gerbera daisies. Seriously. What's up with that?! I can almost guarantee you I have looked at EVERY SINGLE flower wholesale site that exists (ok, that's probably not true...but I've looked at a LOT of them!) and every single one of them has gerberas in "Red, Orange, White, or Pink". WHAT ABOUT CORAL?! I know it exists, I've seen it with my own two eyes. The only places I found that do carry coral were wholesalers that only sell to retailers (i.e. flower shops and florists...) So that brings me to our decision...

We booked a florist! Her name is Linda Dowdle, and her company is Floralyn. Check out her website!



She's going to do just about everything for us...Bouquets, Corsages, Boutonnieres, Ceremony Decorations, Cake Decorations, Centerpieces...

So I went from DIY to D-I-None! And I'm actually quite ok with that. Since Mom was ok with going over budget (for the 10,000th time... ;) I am ok with handing the work off to a professional. :) I gave Linda a swatch of that AMAZING fabric we found at Hobby Lobby, as well as a list of my ideas, and Mom and I both really felt that she "got" what I am going for. (which is great, because sometimes I'm not even sure if I "get" it...)

Did I mention she's also putting my centerpieces together for me at no extra charge! I just have to finish gathering vases and coffee beans, and hand them off to her! YAY. Oh, and we also decided that 1/2 the tables will get the floral centerpiece, and the other 1/2 will get a candle centerpiece (the only DIY tidbit left...). I have no idea what that candle centerpiece will be...any suggestions???? :D



P.S. I booked her last week actually, I'm just a little behind on the blog updates...stay tuned, plenty more to come! It was a successful weekend!

It's DONE

No, not the wedding planning. (Ha! I can dream, right?!) The website!! I finally finished moving everything over from our Google site to the new and improved Knot website. Yay! I'm officially normal (no comments, please :) and have ONE wedding website. Thank goodness for boring work meetings...

Check it out!

Oh, and I didn't completely get rid of the old website, it's still there, but when you open it up it directs you to the Knot website. Since I am a genious and put the Google website in the Save the Date's envelopes, I don't want to confuse anyone by making that website dissappear all together.

I really like the new site...it has everything I wanted, is organized, and all in one place! Easy to update too. I still have a couple of pictures I'd like to add, but their on the home computer...maybe I'll get around to that one of these days...

Oh and mark your calendars...Matt and I are still on for our WEDDING DAY tomorrow! Mia's, Travel Agency, and Bed Bath & Beyond: HERE WE COME!!

I'm in trouble...

I took a quiz called "1930s Marital Scale" to tell how good of a wife I am (ok, will be...)

Let's just say my results weren't very promising........

22 As a 1930s wife, I am Very Poor (Failure) Take the test!

So how did you do?????

Wedding Website OVERLOAD

Just when I think I have my wedding website up-to-date, and have come to terms with the fact that I have THREE websites, The Knot goes and changes their website format. I'll give them credit, it is WAY better now, and pretty awesome for a free website, however now I have 2 websites that are pretty much the same. Not exactly what I was going for. So over the next couple days I hope to get the Knot website updated with everything that is currently on the Google site (I finally put links to all of them over there on the right side of the blog --->) and then *hopefully* do away with the Google one and have everything all in one place. Wow, maybe I can be normal and just have 1 wedding website and 1 blog! he he. I'll update when I'm all done, but for now both sites will probably be looking pretty rough while I get everything fixed up - so pardon my mess while they're under construction :)

Now I'm really wishing I had put the Knot website in with the Save the Date magnets instead of the Google one..........

P.S. This weekend wasn't *quite* as successful as I was hoping (go figure). Mom and I did meet with a florist, and hopefully will be booking this week (keep your fingers crossed for us that her prices aren't crazy!) I finally dragged Matt (and Tony, his friend and a groomsman) to go tux shopping yesterday, but with no luck. First of all, why in the WORLD are all of the bridal/formalwear stores CLOSED on Sundays?!?! And second of all, Men's Warehouse SUCKS. At least for indecisive me they do. We went there, looked through a book, and left even more confused than when we got there. So all that coaxing for nothing (needless to say Matt was less than thrilled with our pointless outing...). But hopefully this Saturday a trip to Mia's (when they are actually OPEN) will be much more successful. I have a "Wedding Day" planned for Saturday for Matt and I, including tux shopping, honeymoon planning, and starting the registry, so hopefully we can get a lot done (you might want to cross your fingers for us on this one too...)