2 months and counting

Holy crap. As of today we are 2 months out from the big day!! How CRAZY is that?! I feel like I still have 10 million things to do. YIKES. But I am making progress. I actually took off work Friday to run a whole bunch of wedding errands. That helped, although I didn't quite get to mark everything off my list. I guess I overestimated how much time is in a day. :)

The main task at hand this week is INVITATIONS. They should come in today, and then it's up to Jess and I to address, stuff, stamp, and seal the deal on those bad boys!

I also have several DIY projects going that I need to finish up this week and next...still haven't finished the FG baskets, and now I decided to DIY the programs as well. Oh and I also bought a basket to hold the programs that I need to spray paint and jazz up. :)

So as you can see, things are coming along. I have all of the decor for the ceremony, aside from what the florist is doing, and almost everything for the centerpieces. Just need to order some flower petals and hunt down a few more vases. Other than that I think I have all the decor pretty well lined out.

I had my first dress fitting on Saturday...it went great! (meaning yes, the dress still fits! :) I will be going back in a couple weeks for a second fitting, and to see the veil she is making me - oh, I guess I should mention, the veil I got from eBay is white. My dress is ivory. Once I put it on it was pretty obvious, so we decided to ditch that. Barb (The Lady Who Makes Dresses) is awesome, and is going to whip up a veil for me in ivory. I really need to work on finding my jewelry now.

It's really exciting to see so many things crossed off of my master to-do list I made back in February, but don't worry there is still PLENTY to do. So let the countdown begin...2 months to go!!

If the shoe fits...

...wear it at your wedding!! :)

So the shoes I bought off eBay arrived last week.........and.........THEY FIT! And I love them! Woo hoo! The shoe search is FINALLY over!! Here is a not-so-good picture of them on my feet...

They are so cute! And actually comfy too! I'm considering jazzing them up a bit, but not sure yet if I will. I bought two sets of buttons at JoAnn's over the weekend, if I can figure out a good way to attach them they just might work! If I end up having any luck, I'll be sure to post pictures. ;)

Oh, and as promised, here is a picture of the giant bubble of a package I received last week!

How funny is that?! The vases inside are a bit smaller than the ones I have now...

(the one on the right is the one I had, and on the left is the new one...)

But I think I will just make them work. I don't really care to attempt to re-create that bubble for shipping purposes. :)

Well, I got a thing or two knocked off the list this past week, but not nearly enough. Let's hope this week is a super-productive one!! I'm hoping to order the invites this week or next, can't wait to get that weight lifted off my shoulders!!

Back to "square" one

Remember when I mentioned that I had square vases and votive holders on the way?? Well. The votive holders came in last week. I was super excited - until I opened the package. Note to self: READ THE DESCRIPTION OF THE ITEMS YOU ORDER OFF THE INTERNET. They were tiny. Teeny tiny. And the website said perfectly clear that they were 2" squares. Ok my candles are 2 inches...that doesn't leave room for ANYTHING else. DUH. So luckily the website has a generous return policy :) Those are being returned...and after playing with my centerpieces some more (see DIY post) I decided to nix the square votive holders and do round instead. I know, I know, how indecisive can I be...

So today, I ordered THESE:

This time, I measured my votive candles first, and actually read the size listed on the website :) So hopefully these will work. Since we're making our own candles, we have a bit of leeway on the height, just not the width - and I made CERTAIN that the width would work. (I say that now...) So the OCD girl is doing it - ROUND votive holders with SQUARE vases :O can you believe it?! But I think it's going to look really good!


I also ordered 12 of these:
which I will use for the candles going down the aisle. (see DIY post for picture of that) It's hard to tell from the picture but it's just a cylindrical vase, very simple. And much cheaper online than in most stores!! Both items came from save-on-crafts.



So, hopefully both of these items will work out and I won't be returning anything else...but no guarantees there.



Also - I received the square vases yesterday. I haven't even opened the package yet (it was a busy and stressful evening last night...). I will have to take a picture of it before I do, though...it is the funniest looking package you've ever seen! It's a giant bubble! Please keep your fingers crossed for me that what's inside the bubble will work for my centerpieces... I'd hate to try to wrap that package up to send back... ;)

DIY Extravaganza!

Yesterday, I made the mistake of going to Michael's on my way home from work. I went there for a hot-glue gun. I came home with a whole ton of stuff - and no hot-glue gun. Oops. Guess you could say I got a little...er...distracted... A lot of the stuff I bought will be part of my gift to my bridesmaids (so I won't be posting pics, sorry!) but I also got some supplies to finish the flower girl baskets (well, one of them...) and play around with centerpiece ideas. Of course the first thing I did when I got home was take over the kitchen table and had myself a DIY extravaganza!
First of all, the flower girl baskets:

Before

After!

You have to tilt your head for this one...sorry about that :)

I originally bought some coral silk gerberas to put on the sides (where the bows are) but I decided that was a little too much. I'm thinkin simple is better. I used up all my ribbon on this one, so I need to go back and find some more so I can finish the second one. And since I didn't do the silk flowers on it, I didn't even end up needing the hot-glue gun! :D

My next project was some centerpiece action. I found a (plastic) Ivory tablecloth to simulate what I will have at our venue (the real thing will be much prettier - and less wrinkly :) I also recently decided that I am nixing the coral runner idea, so I wanted to see how that would look. So for the flower centerpieces (which will be on half the tables), this is what I'm thinking...

For the other half of the tables, I'm just going to do a simple candle centerpiece, using the same vases as the others. This is my first mock-up:

I'm still not sure what color petals I'll use - possibly the same color as the ones I got for the flower girls (which is a pinkish coral) or just an ivory. The ones pictured came out of a box I got at Michael's, which was called coral - but it was really just 1/3 pink, 1/3 orange, and then these ivory ones with orangeish tips. The ivory/orange ones are what I used in the picture. I'm also not sure about the pillar candle - the one pictured is ivory, but I'm thinking of having Matt's mom make them in the same coral as the votives will be. Oh, and I also am pretty sure I've changed my mind and want to go with round votive holders instead of square. :) I actually received the square ones I ordered this week, but they are WAY smaller than I thought. Like tea light size. So those will be getting returned. And I've pretty much just decided that this is just a sign that I should have ordered round ones. :)

The last thing I played with was the aisle decoration. I am going to line either side of the runner with petals, and then do a pillar candle in a cylinder vase every few feet, sort of like this:

(tilt your head again. sorry, the computer doesn't like me today...) I stole this idea from another bride, but I really like it. I think it's really elegant, but I love the simplicity. So now I just need to find some cheap pillar candles and cylinder vases!!

Well, that's all of my DIY adventures for this week. What do you think?? I think I'm getting there. I'm not 100% happy with everything, yet, but I know that is mostly because everything is sort of half-done. When I have the real flowers, on the real tablecloth, with the real candles, etc., I think it will look great. At least I'm hoping!!

In other news - the invitations are almost done!! Woo hoo!! I should be finished with the design next week and ready to order those bad boys!! Once they're all sent out and everything I'll post pics.

Well, happy Friday! Here's to hoping I get some more wedding stuff checked off the list this weekend! :)

Making (some) progress...

Well well. It's been a while since I've given an update hasn't it... (other than my bridezilla freak out moment from last week :) I can't say I have a whole lot to update on, but I'll give ya what I got...

Matt's Ring

We looked at Helzberg over the weekend, and Matt picked out one that he liked. It is made of Tungsten, which we're told is scratch resistant and very durable (a MUST for him). I couldn't find a picture of his exact choice, but this is pretty close:

It's very simple, but i like it!

Centerpieces

I still haven't received all of my vases and votive holders, but thought I'd post the pics from the website since I never did that.

There are 12 of these bad boys on the way (which will hopefully match the 4 that I currently have...) coming from this website

And 72 (yes SEVENTY TWO) of these. coming from this website.

Inspiration

I will soon be receiving an awesome Inspiration Board from The Blissful Bride, and this is the preview of my color palate that she sent:

Not that you didn't know what my colors were (I know, I'm slightly obsessed...) but I thought it was a good teaser :) I can't wait to see what she creates!

Flower Girls

Baskets- still in the works. I am almost done spray painting them, they just need one final coat. It started raining when I was doing them, so I couldn't finish. After that I'll just need to dig out my hot-glue gun and put the finishing touches on them. I'll be sure to post pics when I (finally) get them done!

Dresses- I got a call from Jen last week...the dresses are in! I'm anxiously awaiting pictures of the girls trying them on. Once I have them you bet I'll post!

Passports

On the way!! I took Friday afternoon off so that Matt and I could get our pictures done and turn in our applications at the post office (which only does passports until 3pm...crazy isn't it?!). Now we just have to wait for either a call saying we did something wrong :) or the real thing in our mailbox! The guy at the post office said they're currently only taking 2-3 weeks, so shouldn't be long!

Shoes

:( Nothing to report. Matt is the trooper of all fiances and went shoe shopping with me on Friday, but we left empty handed. I'm running out of places to look. Who knew that a hot pink glamorous shoe with a 2" or less heal would be so hard to find?! I'm not giving up just yet though...

Hair

I made our appointments for the wedding day! EEK! And I have a trial on July 8th. another EEK!

Whew. Seems like a lot, but the to-do list is still way too long for my liking. I haven't quite finished up March's items, but hopefully this week I will. Then I'll have a whole 4 days to get April's stuff done! YIKES. Time is flying. As of Saturday, we are 3 MONTHS AWAY. That seems like nothing! It has always seemed so far away until now... it's right around the corner! I'm super excited and totally freaked out all at the same time. I think that's how I'm supposed to feel though...right?!?!

Stay tuned, hopefully lots of updates this week!

Centerpieces...round 2

Well, this weekend on our usual Saturday outing, the family and I hit up Hobby Lobby. Oh what a great idea that was! The whole reason for my suggesting that we go to Hobby Lobby in the first place started with my Valentine's Day gift from Matt. A few weeks ago, as we were discussing how we weren't going to get each other gifts this year, I just happened to mention to him...if you ARE going to get me flowers, I would reccommend finding Coral Gerbera Dasies, because I've been wanting to get some to play with anyway...I thought this would be a much better use of our dwindeling money, not only do I get a nice bunch of flowers for V-day, but I get a sample of my wedding flowers to play with. Believe it or not, he actually LISTENED, and when I woke up and came into the living room on Saturday morning, there they were! My coral gerberas! They DO exist! (I was beginning to think that I just made up this color of flower...). Anyway, I digress. So I had the flowers, now I needed a few other supplies to test my centerpiece ideas out - floral foam, and some more candle holders. So when everyone agreed to go to Hobby Lobby with me, I was super excited! And as always, I walked away with WAY more than I anticipated (I think there's a rule about that at Hobby Lobby...) Not only did I find the floral foam, some almost-coral silk gerberas, 3 more votive holders & 3 more candles, I found the most AMAZING piece of fabric EVER. No really. I almost cried. My cousins Caitlin and Shelley were on the hunt for something coral in the fabric department, when I heard Caitlin say Brooke! What about this?? as she points to this heavenly piece of satin. Like I said, I almost cried. Kind of like the flowers, I was starting to think my coral color in my head didn't really exist. But it does! I have proof! And it comes in the form of a yard of Satin. :) I bought a yard to play with, but I can tell you right now I WILL be going back and probably cleaning the store out of this stuff before July. It's $2.99 a yard (not bad, right?) and did I mention how FREAKING AWESOME it is!?

Anyway, on to the point of this post. I saw a picture somewhere (I have NO idea where, and I didn't save it...sorry) of a table runner on a round table. Yes, sounds kind of strange, but it looks fabulous. So I decided I wanted to do this (and what do you know, I have a great piece of fabric to try it with!!!) So here it is...my mock up of our reception tables...

what do you think?

*Disclaimers--ignore the blurriness of the picture, it was the best I could do with my cell phone. Also ignore the baby gate in the backround (I swear that was out of the picture!). While you're at it, ignore the crappiness of our kitchen table. Basically, ignore everything but the GORGEOUS fabric and my make-shift centerpiece. Use your imagination here folks...

As you can see, there are only 4 gerberas in this version. Matt (the awesome guy that he is), went to 3 different places hunting these bad boys down, and 4 was all he could come up with. He did so well though...I honestly didn't know he knew what coral was! :) But as I mentioned earlier, I got some silks (in almost-coral...that's what I'm calling it, it's really just hot pink...) at Hobby Lobby, so I added those in to get the "full effect". Here's what that looked like...

again, cell phone picture, so not the best. Although, I am pretty proud of the angle I got on this one...looks all "artsy" and what-not... :)

This one gives you a pretty good idea of the overall look I'm going for. So...what do you think??? Matt wasn't quite as thrilled with the result as I was...but he's a guy so what does he know, right?! I think with all real gerberas (instead of the flimsy fake ones) this will look AWESOME. I am still in love with the coffee bean idea. Oh, and by the way, those puppies aren't nearly as cheap as you (ok I) may have thought. $8.99/lb! Yikes! (To fill that vase would take at least 2lbs...more like 3) BUT...my awesome Maid of Honor just happens to be dating an awesome guy who's family owns coffee shops (I know! It's fate!). So he has the hook up on a restaurant supply store where I can get these things for like $3/lb! SWEET! I also came up with this little trick which will not only save on the amount of beans I need, but will also help keep the flowers alive and beautiful. Check it out:

I just stuck a piece of floral foam in the middle, and poured the beans around it. Genious! I know! It's tricky getting the beans to fill in the entire area, but with a little practice I'm sure I'll become a pro.

So there you have it. Centerpeices round 2. I am MUCH happier with the results this time. I just need to find about 10 more of the vases, a BAZILLION votive holders, and a crap-ton of candles. Oh and the fabric for the runners. But luckily I have an awesome family (and soon to be in-law family) that is helping. I told you about Jess and the coffee bean hook up, Matt's mom Jamie is going to attempt to make the candles for me, and my aunt Terri is going to help make the runners. So I just have to scrounge up all the materials, and get going on this! Oh, and I have to decide about the main table linens. The venue offers black, white, or ivory. Of those I would go with ivory. I really like how that coral looks against the brown, though, so I may just have to look into renting brown linens. Oh and I guess I need to work on getting the flowers too, huh. So much to do......

P.S. As of tomorrow, we're officially 5 months away! AHH!

DIY Centerpieces...attempt #1

Last week Sarah and I went to Old Time Pottery (which, by the way, is the COOLEST STORE EVER!) The plan was to find some cool vases and such for centerpiece inspiration. I did buy 1 vase...and a whole bunch of Christmas stuff...oops.

Then last weekend, while shopping with my family on Saturday, I picked up a few more DIY supplies - coffee beans, ribbon, a cute square votive holder, and the closest thing I could find to a coral colored candle. I had some silk Gerbers at home (yes, I'm obsessed with them...they're everywhere...) so I threw some of those in as well.

Here's my final product....what do ya think???

You'll have to ignore the fact that the large vase isn't entirely full of coffee beans...I didn't quite have enough. You'll also have to ignore the multi colored gerbers, and pink candle...these will all end up being coral. :)

I'm pretty happy with how they turned out... I just need to find some more multi-sized vases. I'm thinking big and square. And I need to find a place where I can find lots of coffee beans really cheap.

The DIY adventures continue...

Centerpiece Ideas

Since I plan to DIY all of my decorations and centerpieces, I've been trying to come up with a "vision" for these centerpieces, so that I can start buying things and trying things out. I think I found that vision...

Right now, here's what I'm thinking...

~Varying heights of the centerpieces (like a tall, medium and short)

~Some with candles, some with flowers (gerbers of course!)

~COFFEE BEANS inside of clear glass vases, like in the pictures. What a cheap and perfect solution for my color scheme!!!!

~Square vases...3 heights like I mentioned above.

I'm sure this will change a million times before I make a final decision, but I'm really excited to at least have SOME sort of idea to start with!!

P.S. Thanks again to the Realies for both of these inspiration pics!!!!!!! :)