Two Post Day

Today is a two post day because Andy and I had an exciting landmark in our lives. We closed on our home and are officially home owners! I know this isn't directly related to the wedding but we are thrilled and I had to share.

Our new home sweet home!

Wedding Shoes

Is it possible to absolutely be in love with a pair of shoes? If so I am head over heels, pun intended. I L.O.V.E. the color even though it looks a little off in the pictures.

Fierce and Fabulous, 'nuff said!

Ceremony Planning

Today we met with our pastor for a second time to plan the ceremony some more. He walked us through the traditional ceremony. I am very excited that we have decided to do this because to me there is something about saying vows that others have been exchanging forever. We also chose our readings. Ultimately we ended up with all Bible verses. Initially I wanted at least one reading that wasn't from the Bible but to try to find something that spoke to me and Andy was difficult. So in an attempt to simplify things we went only with bible verses. The verses we chose are: Colossians 3: 12-14, Mark 10: 6-9, Ecclesiastes 4: 12.

Day After Brunch

Today I am revisiting the Day After Brunch, which was something I REALLY wanted to incorporate with our wedding. But after looking into a few options we realized this was an expense we didn't really have room for.

Well after attending the Day After Brunch at the wedding we were at this weekend Andy is now also very much on board with attempting to make it happen for us also. By having a brunch the day after it just gives everyone a chance to visit again in a more relaxed atmosphere. Also you want to make sure that you get a chance to really talk with everyone who has traveled to be with you.

Unfortunately we aren't going to be able to have the superb catered event that we attended this weekend. Instead we were thinking of a much more casual event. Our hotel has a courtyard in the back with a gazebo and a few tables. We are hoping to assemble: bagels, pastries and a few other items under the gazebo just to provide some breakfast before the guests hit the road again and a chance to mingle one more time.

Happy Memorial Day!

I hope that everyone had a great 3 day weekend. It's been a week since my last post but with being sick and trying to keep up with daily life I didn't find time for blogging. This past weekend we went to a wedding up in Wisconsin. It was nice to get away for a few days and visit old friends. The wedding was held in a very unique location, an art school. The ceremony was in the gallery of the school, dinner outside in a tent and then dancing resumed back in the gallery.

Since we were visiting and spending time with friends I completely forgot to take pictures of anything: the ceremony, centerpieces, programs, cake. I got nothing, sorry. But one of the best details of the wedding was the jar of homemade cherry jam at each place setting. The couple used local cherries and made jam for all of their guests to take home, and I can tell you it is very yummy.

Busy Day

Today was a supremely busy day. Work all day, pick up Tiffany's wedding dress, makeup class, and birthday dinner for Tiffany (even though it was yesterday). From beginning to end I was away from home starting at 8am until 10pm.

Tiffany's dress was beautiful and perfectly her. She had the same experience as me trying it on for the second time, which was a bit of a let down. You idealize the dress in your head that when it finally comes in it isn't perfect because it still needs alterations and such. However despite the demons in her head it was a beautiful dress and looked great on her.

The makeup class tonight was fantabulous!! For two hours I got to play with makeup with my favorite girls and by far the best makeup artist in town, who happens to be kick ass person also. I was really excited when she asked us to be her guinea pigs for a new service she would like to start offering. But it was way better than I had anticipated. I learned that while I might really be into makeup and have decent technique I really need to up my game in the products department. However I did learn enough to be able to pretend to be a pro to do Tiffany's makeup for her wedding since her's will be out of town.

Out of Commission

This weekend was my only weekend open and free for weeks. I had full intentions of working on many projects however life had a different plan for me and I have been out of comission, sick.

Today I did get a chance to go to one of my maid of honor's fittings, klenex box in hand. And I have to report back that the dress looks 10 times better from the last fitting with the changes we discussed. I am now confident that the dresses will look great on them all. On Wednesday we have fittings for the other two and I know it will go just as smoothly.

**Today is 2 months until the wedding, I can't believe it is sneaking up so fast!

Detail Woes

Lately I have been feeling the pinches of a smaller budget. Most people who know me, know that I am all about the details. I enjoy taking the time to make sure all the details are thoughtfully done. But with a smaller budget some of the details have to be axed and I am not thrilled about this.

I have been wracking my brain about some details we could add that wouldn't cost much but still would add something extra. If anyone has any great ideas, I would love them!

Yikes

I recently realized that on our wedding day I am going to have lots of people staring at me, especially when walking down the aisle. I cringe at that type of attention. Don't get me wrong I like small doses of attention but not 200 people staring at me attention.

Today I was looking at pictures on different photography blogs and noticed that in so many getting ready pictures the brides had TONS of people fawing over her. I would feel suffocated if I were some of those girls. Granted I don't want to get ready by myself but is it really necessary to have 15 people watching my every move as I apply more mascara?

If I was this girl I would be thinking YIKES people give me some breathing room. It looks like I am going to have to deal and get over this very soon.

R.S.V.P

The RSVPs started rolling in yesterday which was very exciting! We got our first RSVP on Sunday handed to us but the ones in the mail are also now coming. This signals the final stretch and I am looking forward to finding out who can and can't come after months of speculation. Knowing the numbers also means that I can get working on programs, escort cards and all those other last minute projects where it is essential to know exactly who is coming.

Shower

Over the weekend was my shower. It was a success, everyone seemed to have a great time. It was wonderful visiting with everyone, but also overwhelming to have so many people there to see me and not being able to socialize the way I would have liked to. I can only imagine that is a preview of what the wedding is going to be like since there will be about 5 to 6 times more people.

But I had a wonderful time and I wish it could have lasted longer. I am blessed with so many wonderful people to share in our joy. However some of my relatives probably think we drink too much based on the amount of wine glasses and wine gadgets we got :)

In the Mail

Today I put all of our invitations in the mail! It was such a wonderful feeling to hand them all off and know that this project is done and all I have to do is wait for RSVPs to come in. I took them to the Loveland post office and stamped them all with the circular stamp that has the date and city name. I know it's cringe worthy cheesy that I drove the extra five minutes so they could be coming from the land of love, but it makes me smile like a little girl so it's totally worth the teasing.

Finished!

Da Da, the invitations are complete! They are all assembled, addressed and stamped. Now they are waiting to go to the post office. This project has been a labor of love. Many hours and help from my Mom, Tiffany and Heather was needed in order to get these completed. But it was all worth it in the end! Here they are:

Putting all the stamps on.



The front with the brand new wedding stamp and the return address on the back flap.

All ready to go to the post office.

Almost Done

The invitations are almost done and my excitement is palatable! Tonight my good friend and DOC Heather came over to help with the process of assembling invitations. There are only a small number of people who I would allow to help me with such a detailed project but Heather and I are cut from the same cloth and she understands my penchant for detail. She was such a huge help especially since she was extremely more efficient than me. I definitely would not have gotten as far as I did if it hadn't been for her help, thanks Heather!

I am proud to say that I only have five more invitations to go. Through the process of assembling the invitations and putting them in the correct envelopes I found a few errors that unfortunately can't be corrected until tomorrow. But tomorrow evening they will all be done and ready for me to go to the post office, determine outer postage, and mail them off!

The assembly line all ready to go!

All the pieces separately.

All the pieces stacked together ready to be enclosed by the ribbon.

All set ready for the envelope.

The invitation as it will look in the envelope. I am very happy that I went with the black envelopes because they will be more dramatic to receive them and the purple looks great against it!

Ceremony Planning

Today we met with our Pastor for the first time since we booked the church. It was exciting because planning the ceremony means the wedding is around the corner. And it was fun to start to making real decisions. While we spend so much time planning the party it was refreshing to work on the meaningful, important part of the day.

Woman on a Mission

Today I will again be calling the different local post offices in search of the new postcard stamp. They all said they should have it by Monday or Tuesday of this week. Here's hoping that I find them!



Update: I found a local post office today who was able to sell them to me! So I have the stamps and will begin assembling tomorrow!

Bridesmaid Jewelry

So I have been procrastinating in posting these pictures because I can't seem to take one good picture of the jewelry I recently worked on for the bridesmaids. For some reason I can not get a focused close up shot so that you can actually see the detail. So please forgive the awful blurry pictures.

All of the pieces are made using pearls and swarovski crystals. The photos don't show how they are sparkly which is my favorite part.

I made 2 different versions of the bracelet and have yet to decide which I like better. When Tiffany comes into town I will give her the choice. I used a magnetic closure to make them really simple to put on.

Also I made 2 different styles of earrings. I like the longer dangle ones better but that's my style. I know that some might prefer the shorter so I am still deciding what to do there.