the invites

are here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! on the way to pick the up and have them cut! SO EXCITED to see them.....the envelopes came last week.

W-O-N-D-E-R-F-U-L.....

day...We have been so blessed throughout the whole wedding planning process. Granted there have been stressful times but overall I feel so thankful for everything. Today I went to our venue to work on the room-set up and diagrams for ceremony and reception. It was great! I came in with my pictures, ideas and diagrams and Joey created a masterpiece. I LOVE everything and to top it off he gave us the space for rehearsal for F-R-E-E! Unbelievable I was so happy I called my mom and MIL so excited I started crying ..... I just feel overwhelmed with joy and gratitude.

We are doing a circular seating for the ceremony. We are not having ceiling drapery and all the pipe and drape that is in the surrounds the room. But this is the overall inspiration for the ceremony. At the moment our ceremony is all white.

This is the inspiration for the reception set-up. Our venue doesn't have chivari chairs so of course since I am the chair cover lady we will be covering both ceremony and reception.

Checks...

We have been on a roll lately... today I ordered my ceremony wedding gown!!!!!!. It will be here late July early August.YAY!!! Tomorrow I starting my DIET!!!!

KICKS

I was out looking for the BMs shoes and ran across these beauties and thought to myself.... these would be great for the wedding so I purchased them. Now my FI reads this blog and he doesn't want to see anything that I am wearing on our big day so BB don't read any futher if you don't want to see.....

I am so serious....MR

Check...Sand Ceremony

We have our vases... I purchased them from Hobby Lobby like 2 weeks ago.. Just getting around to posting them.
I like that they have our initials and I am contemplating getting our wedding date etched on the "W" vase. I purchased these for $20 bucks! I want our mothers to put the sand in the vases.

hand fans...Check

In lieu of bouquets the ladies are carrying palm leaf hand fans. I debated b/w Nigerian fans and palm leaf and honestly the deciding choose came down to cost. So I ordered them online for like $2 each and I will paint them and attach some feathers and viola...Check

Inspiration that this can be done and still be funky.....



Here are the fans that I purchased and some peacocks I'm playing around with.

At this stage in the game I know that I'm going to paint the fans but I haven't decided on a color yet or if it will I do multiple colors. I plan to wrap the handle with some fabric or ribbon. I really wanted them to be larger but I think they are going to work with a little tweaking...:)

This is a work in progress ... I will post when this project is completed!

Wish me luck...

Sneak Peek...

We all know about my florist woes well I have something to show ya....I DIY'D what I wanted her to make for me. First, I made a mock-up to show my fam and friends to get there responses and then I revised them just a little bit because I wanted more color. I felt like it was missing something so far this is what I have some up with.

The one of the left is my 1st mockup which cost me ~$35 for everything and the one on the right is the revised edition which cost me ~$40 for everything and the florist wanted $100 per centerpiece and I will probably need 13 total. I am also using these to line the aisle (aisle markers of sorts but only 8 )

Sorry about the countertops in the background we are still doing mini renovations to our home!

Any thoughts?

all in a weekend's work...

From this...

To This....

These are from some of the events that we did this weekend. Business is picking up but it's prime wedding season.

Nothing over the top..but in my opinion chair covers can really transform a room. Unless your venue comes with chivari chairs or maybe garden chairs. Covers are the way to go if you want to transform a room. But that's just my opinion. I would rather have them than an over the top floral centerpiece but hey I'm not really a flower chick either :) !!!

It's time...

to tackle the MUSIC!!! FI and I are music lovers it's a important factor in our relationship. When I can't find the words to express how I feel I tell him to listen to a specific song. Or I make him a CD to express how I feel so with so much to choose from how do we narrow it down. I have started with the easy stuff like the father-daughter dance. But choosing the song that I will come down the aisle to is a daunting task.....what we be our prelude music, bridal party entrance, etc...

I have lots of ideas but narrowing it down to ONE song is hard as (beep)!

Stay Tuned .....

Checkitty check....

I had my weekly hair appt today and my stylist and I have started working on bridal hair styles. She came up with something that I ABSOLUTELY L-O-V-E. After my hair appt I had a consult with an make-up artist. I really liked her work so I booked her the wedding and wedding related functions. Here are some of the before and after pics! ENJOY!

Before

Wait for it.......

AFTER

(with dark plum lips)

Plum w/ gold toned lips

Mock birdcage veil. I have ordered mine yet. I think I'm going to attempt a DIY!!!

Back of the hair!

Let me know what you think? For the bridal dress portait session I think I am going for more bronzed or copper hues for the makeup.

to top it off

I'm am now plundering over cake toppers. We are having cupcakes with 2 layers on the top. As this moment the cupcake tower is going to be square and the 2 layers of cake 10" and 8" are also square. I was thinking about having a giant cupcake on the top but I not 100% sold on that I idea. To go with my overall vision of the day I think that we may have a mini bonsai or lucky bamboo tree as a cake topper.

I am also comtemplating a mini floral pomander or something with feathers.

decisons...decisions.....

Just Wright

My ManOH and I went to see this movie today and I have been waiting for it to come out ever since I saw the preview when I went to see 'Why did I get married too' anyway so I have been anxiously waiting for this movie. So I went and I can't express how much I LOVED it. It was a great love story. Now it has it's predictable spots but it's still a good movie. The movie just prompted me to thinking about my life and our love and how beautiful this whole experience is. It's amazing how someone can bring so much joy into your life yet get on your nerves at times. I love that about us. I am marrying the man that I really believe is for me. He is supportive, kind, gentle, and strong and much more. I feel that we are AWESOME together and I am so GRATEFUL for him and this experience.

CHECK baby check...

We booked the honeymoon today!!! YAY... {happy dance} FI made the final decision we are going to Jamaica mon. We will are going to Montego Bay we are actually between Montego Bay and Negril which is awesome so we can visit the Negril resort as well. I am so EXCITED!!! We got an AWESOME deal with a local travel agent including airfare and a direct flight NO OVERLAYS! We stayed in BUDGET and that is a blessing. We are leaving Monday morning and returning Saturday evening . So after having a mediocre day yesterday this makes me extremely happy. :0))

Here are a few pics from the resort!

My d.r.e.s.s.

came in. Remember last week I said I ordered a dress well it's here and I love the dress but I must lose some weight. PERIOD! It fits but not they way I would like. I have 5 months and I think I may need a trainer or something. I wish I could post pics but I can't. Tomorrow I'm going to David's to see what they have in white before I make the decision to have the white dress made by Milly or someone else and I will provide updates.

The sample invites came in today and I absolutely L-O-V-E them. Time to start dealing with addresses and the such which SUCKS!

Other than some vehicle woes all is well.

5 Months to go

..where did all the time go...I can't believe it!! I am actually not to anxious we are pretty much on track. We are booking the HM this week. Once finalized I will let you know the locale. The sample invitation should be here today. I have finally booked a consult with the makeup artist for next Tues after my hair appointment. We meet with the uplights vendor for a consult at the end of the month. Tonite I will complete signage and work on more DIY projects. The last thing up to bat is the guys attire and FI and ManOH are working on it.

Dress Update

I am in a bit of a quandary about the second dress. I contacted Milly Bridal about the dress and have responded with a very nice price $287 to be exact BUT after reading some recent reviews about them I starting to question their professionalism. They stated that they dress would be ready in 75 days but I am a little nervous. Some brides have nothing but great things to say. Others experiences have been nightmares so the question is MB to be or not to be?

I will make a decision by Monday! My deadline is 05.15.10

SUMMER BREAK!!!

Summer Break is FINALLY here! I took my last exam on Monday and I have been celebrating ever since. SO what have I done those far?

1. Finally got the house painted: YAY!! Kitchen, bathroom, and study.
2. Went shopping for house decor items... the housewarming is closely approaching.
3. Made a concrete decision about the florist....I am DIYing why because we are getting UPLIGHTS (if FI approves)
4. We met with our new travel agent and reviewed our options. We have decided either Punta Cana, Jamaica (Negril, Montego Bay or Ochos Rios) FI will make the final decision and book it next week!!
5. Today my hand fans for the girls arrived. They are carrying fans instead of bouquets which I ordered for way less than the $50 per bouquet I was quoted. More details to come!
6. The personalized hanky's also arrived today. Pics to come! These are a part of my gifts to our parents.
7. I brought the inside cover for the booklet programs.
8. Finally found a vendor for the BM's necklaces.
9. And I have a big check that I will post later!!!

Guess what I ordered....

........A WEDDING DRESS!! so as you know I have been struggling with the options for wedding gowns and I was coming up short so I decided to hit the internet and do some serious searching. Well I found a few beauties..



So this is what I decided on I am purchasing 2 dress for the ceremony and 1 for the reception. Why two for ceremony b/c I want 2 different styles and could not decide b/w white and ivory. I can do TTD session in one etc. So I am ordering the Ms Ivory from the internet. Yes...I am nervous about it because it's my favorite and I needed extra length added as I am 5'11 bare foot and my shoes are 4" heels. YES I purchased my shoes before the dress! I brought them like 2 weeks ago. Pics to come!



Now for the white one... well I found it on the internet and was ready to purchase it but it may not be long enough I am waiting for the sales rep to call me back to validate the length. If its too short than I will either get it made or buy it's contender from a local bridal salon.



The reception dress is the prob I found the dress I LOVED but it's too short and to get it longer like doubles the price and I am not willing to do that. So that poses a bit of a problem for me. I will figure it out.

I would love to post pics but I can't b/c FI reads this blog and he doesn't want to see anything that I will wear on that day. I couldn't even show him my shoes and that's hard to do when you share like everything with a person.