Save the Date!

Ok, one more thing to almost cross off the list! I just ordered our save the date cards from Vistaprint. Sorry the picture is hard to see. The front says "Save the Date August 14, 2010." The back is printed in black and white and says "We're planning a special new year, we're getting married! We hope you have a great 2010. Happy Holidays, Beth and Duey." I know we're a little late for the holiday cards but we wanted to combine the save the dates with Christmas cards. It's just easier!

SORRY!!!

It has been way too long since my last post! I am so sorry readers! Life has just happened. I have changed jobs. I was working at the restaurant when I got a call form former boss. (I was a pharmacy technician for years.) He needed a manager for his pharmacy. So I started back there full time during the day and I was working full time at night at the restaurant. Almost eighty hours a week left no time for blogging or sleeping or anything else. One thing led to another and I decided to leave the restaurant. Not because of two jobs, for other reasons. So now I am a nine to fiver! But back to the wedding...

We are down a caterer. We talked to someone who was willing to come to my parents' house (where we are having the reception). She was also willing to charge us a lot of money! We would have had a lot more to do which would have meant a lot more stress for us. So we are considering a different venue for the wedding. We will see what happens.

I asked my facebook friends for DJ recommendations and I booked a DJ! Well I sent a deposit and they cashed it, so I am assuming we have a DJ lol. I hope they will be ok with a possible change of venue. We also booked our photographer. They are a husband and wife team that photographed our friends JoAnna and Aaron's wedding. Speaking of JoAnna... I decided life is short and I want everyone I want to be in my wedding.... so I asked Jo! And she said yes!

The decision I finally made for the bridesmaid dresses was to let the girls pick their own. The requirements are chocolate brown, knee length, short sleeve or sleeveless, matte not shiny, and church appropriate. Most of the girls have their dresses already.

Jason and I also bought our wedding bands. We went with plain white gold bands. We bought them from Kmart and got a great deal, 70% off! I have yet to find the ones I ordered on eBay, I wanted to use them for the ring pillow. With the amount of wedding stuff I have it is no surprise I can't find them!

We also ordered our flower girl dresses which turned out beautiful! We have a ring bearer pillow, garter set, wedding wish tree (in place of a guestbook)... and so many other things done...

The next step is getting some pictures up!

Flower girl baskets

I have finally finished the flower girl baskets! I found bamboo baskets and made ribbon handles and added bows.

Table names

I don't like table numbers at all. I don't like people to think that the higher the number they are(ex. table 20 out of 20) the less important they are to us. I like table numbers instead. We were originally going to go with different varieties of wine but we switched to different New York State Wineries. Here's the list in ABC order:
Applewood
Arbor Hill
Atwater Estate
Brickstone
Bully Hill
Casa Larga
Cascata
Cayuga Ridge
Chateau LaFayette
Deer Run
Dr. Konstantin Frank

Fox Run
Glenora
Goose Watch
Heron Hill
Keuka Spring

Lakeshore
Long Point
Rooster Hill
Sheldrake Point
Six Mile Creek
Standing Stone
Thirsty Owl
Widmer
Woodbury

Please raise your glass to toast... Mr. Jim Beam

We have a few speeches during our reception... our fathers, Uncle Marion's poem, best man, maid of honor, "sisters of honor." And we thought about a champagne toast. We have been planning on Jason and my Grandpop doing a shot of bourbon together. I thought about it and decided that we should just use bourbon! Jason loves Jim Beam, it's his favorite. So I think we're going to pass around shots of bourbon instead of champagne.... we'll have apple juice or something else for anyone who doesn't want to. But who wouldn't want to, right? Ha ha. It will be my first shot of bourbon. I like little touches that reflect Jason and I.

Here Comes the Guide!

I am super excited to announce that I am planning my first wedding! I have helped with several over the past few months but I have one from (pretty much) start to finish. The bride is Bridget and she is the older sister of my best friend, Sheila. The wedding is April 2011, so we have plenty of time to plan even after my big day. The theme is black, white and pink. The couple also loves football and baseball so we may incorporate some sports into it.

40th Wedding Anniversary

A few days ago I got a thank you note in the mail from Beth's mom for the Anniversary party! It made me realize I haven't posted pictures yet! So here they are: Place settings: Candy Buffet: Chocolate Fountain: Cake and Cake Topper: (Tha cake was made by Beth's uncle and I made the topper, it's a lowercase h)

DIY Pocketfold Invitations by Miranda

Ok, big belated THANK YOU to Miranda. Miranda made me a template with directions for making pocketfold invitations. They are generally very expensive to buy so a lot of people make them. The problem is that all the templates out there are for custom cut paper that usually needs to be ordered online. Miranda has started her pocketfolds and used 12x12 paper which is cheap and easy to get. Hers looked great and I can't wait to see the finished product!

Directions:
1. I used 12x12" paper
2. Using the template measurements cut the entire piece out (once you do it once it's pretty easy)
3. Fold the 1" section on the score line, I used double stick tape on the back of the 1" sections on the bottom and folded the whole section up to create the pocket.
4. For the pocket inserts I created 3 different sizes [4.75x4.75", 4x6" (my response postcard) and 4.75x7"])
5. Once the invite is completed fold left to right and fold the 2" flap over to the left

Decisions, decisions

Ok one decision has been made! I have switched over to the new website. It is beautiful and has a lot more features. I think the R.S.V.P. page will work great for online responses rather than a separate site. But I don't know if I want to include response envelopes as well. Hmmm. I have a day off on Thursday and I can't wait. It's going to be a wedding day! I have a lot of wedding details that really need my attention. Plus I have Anniversary party pictures to post and I have a new wedding to coordinate. We'll know more when I meet with Bridget, the bride, next week. The wedding is April 2011. I am considering getting a business license for event planning but right now I have many many other things to think about! So expect pictures on Thursday! We are also going to look at a house on Thursday with my Dad. We've looked at this house once but we're going to bring Dad to see what he thinks.

Flowers!

Ok, we have 9 bridesmaids and 2 Junior bridesmaids. I need 11 bouquets plus mine plus a toss one. I have 8 of the take out box ones for the bridesmaids and junior bridesmaids. I want something different for my sisters and Sheila, my maid of honor. I know I would like to carry tiger lilies and I would like my sisters to as well. I have not decided what I'm going to have Sheila carry. So many decisions. I did find some inspiration for my bouquet!

Bridesmaid dresses

So the bridesmaid dresses have been returned. It's very disappointing. On the upside Heather tried hers on for me and sent pics! Which made me happy. Hers came in way too big, she had to clothespin it for the picture! Sheila sent me links for a bunch of different dresses that looked similar. Thanks Heather and Sheila! I am still trying to find a new dress for the girls. I'm thinking chocolate brown with a sage green sash. Something different for Sheila and my sisters will probably have a tiger lily orange sash. Melissa is working on a wedding logo for me. She is expecting it to be done by Sunday. I can't wait! Thanks Missy!

Decisions, decisions

Ok we have some choices to make.... First off I have a wedding website that I started, like, three days after Jason proposed. But it expires after a year... which would be May. The wedding is in August. That's not helpful. The trial version for the site was awesome! After two weeks it reverted to the standard version which is lame. So now I am considering moving to another site with no expiration date. It seems to have much more useful tools and seems to be free. I might work on it for two weeks to make sure it isn't a trial then direct everyone to it. So new website or old website? That leads to the second decision. Do I use the free R.S.V.P. site that gives everyone a private access code? Or do I let them use the free R.S.V.P. feature on the new wedding website where anyone can do it and see everyone else's entry? It would be more difficult to do a separate site because each invitation would have to include a private access code. (Different for EVERY invitation) It would also be one more site everyone has to go to. Ok choice number three. Should I do an online R.S.V.P. or just do response cards. I know some guests don't use the Internet, but I pretty much know who they are and can send them a response card. Lastly, I am really excited about the online picture sharing BUT I saw another idea. I was reading about someone else online that had a photo station at her wedding. She had someone volunteer to man the station and had a laptop where guests uploaded their pictures before they even left the wedding. The DJ told everyone about it and then no one had to think about it when they got home. I think I would still want some kind of site so everyone could still see the pictures.... especially the ones from the disposable cameras. I guess I could just use Facebook though. Oh man.... so many decisions. This isn't even the big stuff!

Rough draft Save the Date postcard

Here is my rough draft of our possible save the date postcard! It was super easy to make. It took me about five minutes on Picnik.com. And it was free!

Guest photo site!

I have been busy looking for a specific website. I want a website where we can upload photos from the wedding AND guests can upload their pictures from the wedding. I would like everyone to be able to print the ones they like and download them to their own computer. There are a million photo sites out there and I have been trying to figure out the best to use. I think we are going to go with The Wedding Lens. We will have a custom URL, password for our guests to access photos, the photos are download-able (so you can print from any place you want not just their site), and they will even e-mail our guests to remind them to upload their photos. We might start out with the basic edition then see if people want to be able to download pictures and all that. I am going to get some business cards made that have all the information about the photo uploading. I haven't decided what to do with the cards. I am going to leave some out and make some sort of camera related business card holder. Then we could put some in the thank you notes or the favors. Or both I guess! I have also seen people set up a station, at the wedding, where people upload their pictures before they even leave! I think no matter what we need a website so everyone can see the pictures that others took and that the photographer took.

Candy buffet

We're making a candy buffet for the party! Besides red and white candy we're also going to have mini marshmallows and red sweet and salty popcorn (that I'm making the day of the party).

DIY pomanders

Ok so I am super into the DIY pomanders. I really like different styles too. Partially because I keep running out of stuff I start with....so I have to find additional materials! Well Miranda has an awesome one she's making for her wedding! It looks like it will take a lot of time.... but I'm going to start looking for ribbon! The above picture I stole from Miranda. This is the how to link:

http://vintageglamblog.com/2009/04/diy-entry-7/

This is another project I'm not so sure about.....

This is the first side of the cardbox. It's four frames nailed together (Thanks Dad!). This is just a picture from the fridge to give a rough idea of what I'm going for. This first side actaully took longer then expected. I'm happy with it so far but who knows, remember the original cake topper?
Here is a link for building your own cardbox from picture frames. (Mine is not exactly the same.) http://adorkable.so-uneek.com/d.php?go=cardbox

Pics coming soon!

I am working on a bunch of stuff for the 40th wedding anniversary party! I have pictures coming soon!

Yea, double dip!

Ok, to the left is the slip after the first dip.

To the right is after the second dye. I think
it looks a little bit bluer and that what I wanted, so I'm happy!

Something old

Hard to see, but this is my something old. It is an antique looking necklace given to me by Bethshow. I am thinking about removing the chain and tying the "charm" to the comb for my veil.

Is it ok to double dip?

I decided that my blue crinoline just wasn't blue enough. So I figured I would try and dye it one more time. I want it to be REALLY obvious that it's something blue!

This is the link for the best directions that I found: http://onlyslightlyneurotic.blogspot.com/2008/07/dying-crinoline.html

And we thought the dress drama was over!

Ok, it is obvious I have NO luck with dresses! It took me a while and I finally found the perfect bridesmaid dress. I asked the girls to order it and two weeks later I went to find the link to forward it..... and guess what? No longer available. So I frantically texted all the girls to see who had ordered theirs hoping that we got them all. Heather and Beth had theirs and that was it : ( So now we are back to the drawing board and I'm going to have to figure out something else. I'm sorry Heather and Beth! I feel really bad.

Wedding hair

I have had to great offers from friends. One is from Beth, one of my bridesmaids, to do my hair for the wedding. Saturday was JoAnna's wedding and Beth did her hair too. I popped in while everyone was getting ready at Jo's sister's house so Beth could throw my hair up..... it was really rough looking and needed it. And while she was doing my hair I saw one of the bridesmaid's perfect wedding hair! She was nice enough to let Beth and I take a pic during the reception. That's the hair I want for my wedding!

The second offer I got was at JoAnna's reception. My friend David from work was helping Jason and I set up cameras (We were the videographers!) and we were talking about my wedding. David and I are twins. We are both extremely detail oriented people. And David offered to be my wedding coordinator! He is going to oversee a lot of little details that I won't have time to do. He will know exactly how I want everything and when everyone else is busy he can be the go to guy. I am pumped because he will do a really nice job and then I won't have to worry..... as much. That also lets the friends and family stress a little less.

Guest list!

Days until the wedding: 348

Guest Count: 224

More engagement pictures!

Engagement pictures!

Jason and I had engagement pictures done last Tuesday! They turned out nice. While we are waiting for a CD of all of them the photographer (friend of Teresa's, thanks T!) emailed me some of the best. I think we will send out save the dates as Christmas cards.

Another cake topper!

This is the cake topper I am making for my friend JoAnna's wedding. She already has a cake topper but she liked my "D" and wants a "G" to display. I went with a burnt Orange colored bead to go with her theme. It's a cursive G, I think it looks nicer than a print, and it's easier to work the wire with cursive letters rather than regular print. I guess we will have to see if she likes it but I'm still undecided.

Something blue

So by now you've gathered that I'm a planner. So of course I am already thinking about something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. I saw a picture somewhere of a dyed crinoline (that big puffy skirt with hoops that you wear under a wedding dress). It was bright pink! And I got to thinking "Hey, I have one of those!" Then I decided it could be my something blue! It's hard to see the blue in the picture. You can tell the lace is dark blue. In person everyone has been saying it's definitely blue. I am considering re-dying it.

Towel Cakes

Ok the cakes are almost finished! On the left I have my fall cake decorated with leaves, and on the right I have my beach cake decorated with seashells. And all around the cakes is my messy kitchen. Jason probably cannot wait for some of this wedding anniversary stuff to be over! Poor Jason, every surface in our place is a project in progress.

Jess and Rob's Wedding

Ok, I had a HUGE project I was working on but I couldn't really say anything because it was a secret. So it was killing me not to post anything about it. But finally on Saturday Rob and Jess had a small intimate wedding so it's not a secret anymore! Yea! I wanted to do a few small things to help make their day extra special. Favors- chocolate heart molded candies (red because I was initially misinformed about the wedding colors, cough, Jason, cough). The chocolates were in little silver heart shaped boxes. Fans- just Popsicle stick fans. I didn't have time to get a picture of the bride and groom so I used some clip art. Sigh, not my finest work but I had some time constrictions. Bubbles- instead of birdseed or rice or flower petals. I just tied little bows around the necks of the bottles. I don't think I have a picture but it was just a little bow. Photo frame with autograph mat- I just tied some ribbon around the four corners and then put the back of the frame on to hide the ends of the ribbon. No picture of it though. Sorry : ( Cake topper- I started a monogram "V" like my "D" but it looked more like a "U" so it evolved into a heart. Which matched the favor boxes and the backs of the fans. Totally Sheila's idea, thanks Sheil! And the most daunting task..... and I got called a crazy person more or less at work..... I made the wedding cake!!! I love to decorate cakes. Thanks to Aunt Lynn who had me do my first cake ever. Blue's Clues for one of Emily's birthdays. Don't ask me what birthday... five I want to say? I actually do have a pic somewhere. I am used to working in butter cream but I went for fondant because I didn't have time to hand pipe an entire cake in the short amount of time I had. It was a total shot in the dark because I had never done it. But it totally paid off. The cake was beautiful! It was three layers, wrapped in ribbon, accented with white roses and green leaves. The server at dinner asked for a piece! The cake though is an entirely different post.

Guest list!

Days until the wedding: 365!!! A YEAR!!! Guest count: 224

Wedding cake... towel cake

Ok, so I know like 27 people that are getting married. I started making a towel wedding cake for one of my friends. I've made diaper cakes before and they've turned out really nice so I thought I'd try a towel cake. Usually with the diaper cakes I take the rubber bands off and replace them with ribbon. The cakes are pretty serious though.... I may have to ribbon on top of the rubber bands. I think the cakes might bust through just ribbon. Anyway, this is the undecorated version. There are six bath towels and six hand towels. I didn't even bother with washcloths. I had enough towels and I don't think people really use them anymore.

Flower girl headbands

Ok, I lied. The most tedious project to date was probably this one. I made these pearl headbands for the flowergirls to wear.
They're going to be tied with green ribbon under their hair. By the way please excuse my messy 2:30 in the
morning hair lol.
Great how to video!
http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to/video/how-to-refashion-a-headband-out-of-a-pearl-necklace-245911/

My new favorite pomander!

I found pearl garland at my new favorite store (Hobby Lobby). I wanted to try making a pearl pomander since all the girls will be wearing pearl necklaces. It was probably the most tedious wedding project I've had to do so far. I had to push the pearls together to hide the string and it took 30 feet of garland!!! But.... I think it turned out beautiful!....and heavier than I expected! I am worried that sometimes that type of garland gets yellowish with age....and I'm also worried that the ribbon might fall out because it's so heavy. I might hang it up somewhere and see how much weight it can take.

I know, it's been too long!

Sorry it's been FOREVER since I posted anything. Work has been really stressful. Wedding planning is still well underway. My mom told me today it's been a long time since I put anything up lol. Today I ordered a dress from JCPenney. It's sage green and I want to see the color and how big or small the dresses run. The dress (and picture) are from JCPenney.com. I'm super pumped to see if those flats from Target will match the dresses. I'm thinking I want Sheila (MOH...maid of honor) to wear a different color dress. I am torn between taupe (to match the accents on my dress) or a coral/tangerine type color (to make the tiger lilies I want to carry). I think either color will be nice with the sage green but I think the orange would look nicer on Sheila because she has dark hair and very fair skin. Today Beth and I went shopping for her parents' anniversary party. We also wanted to check out some prices at Sam's Club and BJ's. I got some rectangular tablecloths for the buffet tables for the wedding. It's kind of killing two birds with one stone because we can use the tablecloths for Beth's party too. I also saw some great square plates at BJ's that I might get for the wedding. Yes, they are plastic and disposable. But they are nice. I don't want anyone doing dishes at my wedding! (Especially Aunt Kathy!!! She always gets the dishes!) Friday is one year until the wedding! We are planning on getting some engagement photos taken August 25. Thanks Teresa for recommending Melissa! I'm hoping to get some stuff done tomorrow and maybe get some more pictures up!