finding alernatives

we are having an estate table at our reception and I wanted this look for the table.

Or this

you get the idea. i have been on the web searching all day for candles and i think i've scored! with the help of www.weddingbee.com i found a www.cudge.net all of the candles are smokeless, unscented and have 7hr burn time. Here is the best part the pricing....125 tea lights-$11.66, 72 votives-$12.22, 36 round floating-32.44 and 12 6in pillars-36.44. For a total of $93 for 245 CANDLES and the florist wants to charge $120.00 for 12 of this look. (note* we were not using orchids)

Cheers

Lastnite I hosted a wine tasting for the BM's & Man of Honor. Everyone wasn't able to make it and but we had a blast. Recap

Appetizers

Shan poppin' bottles

working on the DIY projects

Shan bustin' a move

Sham bustin' a move

when 1 door closes another 1 opens....

after receiving that OUTRAGEOUS proposal from our florist, i decided that i needed to go price some of the things that i asked for so yesterday i went on an exploration and guess what i found? A GREAT DEAL!!

This is what i should here for inspiration:

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS!! but we are not getting married in a church and i wanted my aisle markers to double for centerpieces for the reception. SO i should her this:

the quality is low b/c i took a pic of a magazine photo

anyway i wanted to add some feathers at the rim and river rocks. THAT"S IT and she is charging $100 per centerpiece and i need 8 of them. ARE YOU KIDDING ME????

I went to Hobby Lobby on the search for willow and birch branch's and guess what I found? Curly Willow 18 branches /pk for $7.99 and 50% OFF so needless to say I brought 14 packs and 4 bundles of birch branches 50% OFF and some of other DIY items for $66.00 BUCKS!

So I ask WHY is she charging me $100.00 / centerpiece? Of course i will be calling her bright and early in the AM.

foolish florist

i booked our florist about 6 months ago and have been waiting to recieve an estimate. i know you thinking what took so long? and why did you book her without an estimate? the answer to the question is i know her. i have worked with her with other brides on numerous occasions and i love her work. she is very creative and i felt that she could bring my vision into a reality and b/c she is "budget friendly".....

today i finally recieve an estimate from her and it is OUT OF THIS WORLD ridculously TOO EXPENSIVE... I was astounded.....she must have bumped her dead of she thinks that I am paying what she proposed to me! I mean SERIOUSLY... I really even have flowers. so I say all this to say GAME ON for NEGOGIATIONS!!! I am I worried? NO I know that she will work with me and my budget that's why I chose her in the first place. I will definetly keep you posted!!

pleasantly surprised!

As you all know I was pretty sad about not having my monograms for this weekend events. My BM and I are gettng together for a little dinner and wine. I wanted to work on some of the DIY projects but I needed my monograms to do so. {getting to the point now}Well fellow blogger Jeana from http://www.mydreamring.blogspot.com/ read my previous entry and gifted us some monograms!!!! YES I said GIFTED !!! She contacted me and offered her assistance and it was the sweetest things things that I have exprienced... Jeana I THANK-YOU and may you day and marriage be blessed! Anyway so we can use these to start the DIY's tomorrow and that is AWESOME!! Here are 2/3 monograms that Jeana made for us.

disappointed..

i should have used another company to make our monograms or made the order earlier. this weekend is the BM wine tasting mixer and i wanted to work on wedding DIY projects with the ladies and now I probably will not have the monograms to make any projects. That sucks! We can still do the STDs but that's all folks. I am using I Do Originals and they have a 20 BUSINESS day turn around for monograms. I should have read the fine print and I would have had another company do it. Needless to say I will not be using them for any other services that I need in a rush. It's my fault but I am still SAD!!! on a HAPPY note.

The invites are almost completed from the designer and I LOVE them! I have also mocked of some programs but guess what I need the monograms to complete the task. I have my OOT boxes but I need the monograms for that as well. I have my flip flops but I need my monograms, I have my glassine bags but I need my monograms. I just need my darn MONOGRAMS! Well I will just have to wait. Maybe I will postpone the mixer to next weekend and hopefully they will e here by then.

FYI: I even contacted the company to ask of I could pay EXTRA for a rush order and they decline and they are not even a custom design.

Still waiting...

on my MONOGRAMS! so sad:(
i hope they are here by the weekend!!

jumbled thoughts

I feel so scatterbrained. I gotta clear my mind! I have to get organized with school, work, and wedding planning. I feel like I have a million things to do at one time. I delegate but still it's hard. I am all over the place with the wedding planning. Trying to do DIY projects and hiring a videographer and finding an officiant, and this and that!!!

Right now I need to focus on:
Booking a videographer
Preparing the STDs to go out
Wedding dress shopping
Finishing invites
I will work on DIY projects as I have time.....Woosah!!!

invit-hations pt 4

so remember my invitation problems???? Well I finally found something that I

#1. Liked

#2. would not blow our {tiny } budget

After having such a great exprience with the designer for the STDs I decided to hire her to do our invitation suite. So after about 3 weeks of emailing back and forth. I KNOW I got on her last nerves but she was SUPER sweet about it!! Here is what we have come up with. But before I unveil these beauties I have to say that I really like one and LOVE the other.

I had to blur out our names and venue location for obvious reasons so what do you think?

invit-hations pt 3

I know I was suppose to post pics but I have been to busy to download them off my camera. I will do it{pinky swear} anyway in the mean time I have been super busy with school. I am STILL waiting on the post wedding monograms. Which I hope are emailed to me this week. I am still having issues with my invites. Now are in the design process now and can I say that I am really not feeling them get. It's missing something but I can't quite but me finger on it. A part of me just want to give up and buy the invite suite from Michaels and call it a day! I thought this would be easy but boy was I WRONG. The designer is great! She is super patient and listens to all my woes but I am just not LOVING it yet. I think I want to switch the whole idea and come up with something else..I have one more idea up my sleeve...Gotta run

I got GOODIES!!!!

the STDs, gable boxes, and fabric swatches came in today. i will post pics tomorrow i have a BIG exam to study for. Boooo
later

Do me a FAVOR?

We have been seriously thinking about favors for the wedding and of the umpteenth million...yes that is an exaggeration but as a former event planner I have attended a LOT of weddings. So I say all this to say there are always a few things that gets left behind or thrown in the trash and that is favors, flowers, and paper goods (i.e. programs, menu cards, etc) so because of that those things are on the bottom of my budget list. I digress. Back to favors so we collectively came up with inexpensive favor ideas. Our options were CHEAP or NOT @ ALL.

• personalized shot glass - why? FI works as a bartender PT and that's where we met. Story here. and they can double as candles for those people who may not like that sort of thing, put a tea light in it a viola...



• CDs-why. WE LOVE MUSIC!!! well we decided against b/c it time consuming and IMO overdone (no offense) but since I do this for clients all the time and already have the supplies we decided to put them in the OOT bags instead!



• Picture framed (?) - why? I love pics we cut that idea



• FOOD- why b/c people like to EAT!

So what is the VERDICT : can we say..... MILK & COOKIES (lol)

We are going to have a milk and cookie bar with a variety of different cookies and flavored milk options. Here where it gets better. At our venue you have to use their caterer which I didn't like at first but one less vendor to find/hire/book YAY and the menu we selected has an dessert so we sub'd the dessert for a plethora of cookies so now we don't have to add the cookies to the baker's bill. GREAT RIGHT!

I am going to have cookie sleeves/bags with our monogram for the guest to put them in....

What are your favors or are you even doing them?

Christmas in FEB!

I am so EXCITED! Why? because this week we will be recieving all kinds of goodies.

• the glassine envelopes are IN! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!
• the invite proofs are coming along great
• the gable boxes for the OOT bags should be here today
• the STD's should be here on THURS
• the monograms should be emailed to me by next week
• i brought the paper yesterday to line the envelopes for the STDs

What a week for my DIY but the only bummer is I have 2 tests and I can't focus! Excited nonetheless.

i WILL be a WIFE in 8 MONTHS!!!

holy crap we are 8 months away until ' i do'!

the dreaded "D" word...

ok unlike most brides shopping for a wedding dress was not my top priority. not because i don't like to shop i LOVE to shop it's just such a hard decision. but i always knew and have decided that i will be a 2 dress bride. anyone who knows me will not be surprised by this...why because i am indecisive and i like what i like....

another BIG reason why i have been reluctant to go dress has to do with my WEIGHT! i have gained a lot of weight during the course of this relationship and yes i am half heartedly trying to lose some but i can't wait forever to order a dress. i am so worried that i won't be able to get the dress i really want and feel comfortable in it b/c of my size.

wedding dresses already run up to 2 sizes smaller than street sizes so that puts me in a large dress. what do i want...i honestly don't know...i do know what i don't want.

• i don't want to be trendy...but i LOVE mermaids
  
• i don't want white for the ceremony...i know SHOCKING
  
• i don't want to be uncomfortable... i personally know brides who have squeezed in dresses and fainted
  
• i don't want lots of beading or lace..it's pretty but not for me
  
• i don't want a long train

after searching the internet and looking a bridal mags i know what i like...(at least i like the pics not sure what it will look like on me)....

• i like a whimsical dress -"feathery "(duh i love feathers) floaty and fun
• i like draped dresses
• i like trumpets, mermaids, goddess gowns
• i like a hint of detailing
• i like strapless ( how will i hide my back fat???? lol:))

here are a few dresses that have caught my eye for one reason or another

it's carrie bradshaw... of course i love it!!

this one is similar and a gorgeous at least to me

i got this from a fellow knottie a while back. she was using it for her TTD photo shot but i like how simple it is.

these are cute they are by watters.

project runaway -leanne gotta love

classic

i have made appointments for this month so wish me luck. how was dress shopping for you? what did you enjoy and what didn't you enjoy about your experience. i officially am off to study. for real this time.

here's a little secret....

i am sooooooooooooooooo engrossed on wedding planning that i am not focused on school. i have to prioritize this is just so much more fun.....off to study....

DIY PROjects!

I made my laundry lists of DIY projects for the wedding.. at least every thing I could think of at 1am in the morning. I did order my monograms and glassine envelopes this weekend. I waiting for the STDs, and fabric swatches for the BMs dresses, and my gable boxes for the OOT boxes to come in. A sample of the invitation design should be emailed to me sometime during the coming week.

liners OR wrappers

so at this present moment we are serving cupcakes instead of the traditional wedding cake at the wedding. so now i am trying to decide do i want cupcake wrappers or liners or neither. it's a hard decision. i know for sure that i am making monogram cupcake picks like this:

But now I am deciding should I get cute liners OR wrappers like these:

right now i am thinking a solid colored liner that coordinates with the monogram picks! NO wrapper. I think that's what I will do.

rehearsal dinner update

as you know i have been on the search for possible rehearsal dinner locations and with the help of my man of honor we found a place and a theme. of course i ran the idea by future hubby and he loved it. i was a little worried if my FMIL would go for it because it is not the typical and i wasn't sure if she wanted to cook and the such but she is on board with the plan !!! yea! i was so excited when FI gave me the news so we are having BEERS, BURGERS and BOWLING!! I LOVE IT! i think its fun and laid back!

we are planning to get BP shirts for everyone and now i am currently searching for the bargain deals on customed made t shirts for our BP to wear to the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. this will make for some very cute photos and how i LOVE pics. i plan on designing the shirts for the bridal party. i want them to be funny but then i may put on of our monograms on the from and their title on the back. here are some funny ideas.

these are hilarious

my dad would love this t shirt!

here are some of my ideas for the rehearsal dinner

exhibit #1 invite

now i would do a ketchup bottle or something...

exhibit #2 centerpieces

now this isn't really my stee-lo (style) but you get the overall concept

i could use mason jars or empty condiment bottles

exhibit #3 cake

how cute is this!

getting organized....

I am attempting to get organized for the weddding... I have all my wedding thoughts together in my mind so I decided to make myself a little (read overly ambitous) list of things to complete this month,

Who's Invited???

When we 1st started planning the wedding I made a guest list of everyone on my side that would be invited to the wedding... and now that it's time to starting figuring out who makes the cut.. I am a little stressed. Originally we made an agreement of the TOTAL # being 175 that includes US and BP. I began to think about how to divide this number up. I wanted to do a DW however FI did not. I wanted a small intimate wedding with close friends and family and puff your done. Well he wanted to invite everyone he has ever known and people he does not even know so I think in his mind if we could have 500+ people he would do it.


My perspective of it is that weddings are an intimate moment b/w a man and a woman and I think that the only people who should witness this are people that will be there for you through your marriage and through life period. I just feel like it's about the man and woman and your Creator. I think that marriage is sacred and I feel that a wedding should only involve people in your "inner circle" so with that said I really didn't want to have a bridal party or any children attendants. Just me and him and the officiant would have been cool with me. But FI wanted his friends to be in the wedding so we negotiated and kept our attendants under 6 so I am cool with that. I digress....

After reading a few articles on guest lists and how to divide and conquer I found this one insightful.....

A factor that will come into play when creating your guest list is who’s footing the bill. If your parents are major financial contributors, then naturally they’ll have more say in who to invite. If you’re paying for the majority of your wedding you will have more control of the guest list.
Some questions to ask yourself when creating your guest list:
- Who are the important people in our lives?- Is it necessary to invite co-workers?- Are we including guests simply out of guilt? (i.e. They invited you to their weddings.)- Are we including guests that we haven’t seen within the last year?- What if a guest does not have a significant other. Are we allowing guests to bring dates?- Do we want to invite children?- What about extended family? Is it necessary to invite second cousins and great auntsI


At this present time no kids unless they or their parents are in the BP. No guests for the singles. He and I with the help of our parents are footing the bill.

I think that we are going to divide the total # by 3 in our case I'm going to use 180.
180/3=60 people for the parents ( mine and his) and 60 people for US.
I plan to take OUR 60 and subtract 30 ( 60-30=30)
The 30 is for BP + guests
That will leave us 30 remaining to split in half (30/2=15)
That will leave us 15 guests a piece...
Viola...

That's perfect for me for a few of my classmates. But FI may need a more!

How did you decide on your guest list???

I got STD's....

not the kind that make you itch but the kind that makes you smile from ear to ear and y'all know I have a big smile :o}. Like most brides I knew that I wanted save the dates and I knew I wanted it to be a represent our individual personalities. I wanted at least one picture and I wanted something FUN! I wanted magnets. I went to FI for ideas and he came up with the PERFECT idea and I LOVED it... What was his great idea? A SCOREBOARD I know your thinking A WHAT? A s-c-o-r-e-b-o-a-r-d!

I loved it b/c it so us! He loves sports especially football and basketball so I felt that it represents him and I love themes... so this was right up my alley!

So I had the idea and now I needed someone to create the concept for me so I started looking for someone that was affordable and yet creative well that led me to Jonezy @ http://www.thebuckeyebride.blogspot.com/. I explained to her what I wanted she created this:

Cute? Right! (of course i had to blur out our names this is the internet) But it needed a little tweaking so after a few revisions this what we ended up with....

are you ready....

without further ado.....

introducing our STDS....

Our names have been changed.

I would also like to thank ebonee @becominghismrs.blogpot.com for inspiration.

What do you think? Now I'm just waiting on them to be delivered and until April to mail them off. I am working on a cute way to package them. Will keep you updated!