Putting people to work for me

While visiting us out in CA, I put my mom to work, since I am sort of running out of time. First, she finished painting those escort card frames, and then she went to work on the Gocco. She used it to print all our return addresses on our invitation envelopes. Sorry... no pictures to post of that... but rest assured they were drying everywhere.

Then, she helped me out in Miami. Shockingly, she painted more even more frames. We bought wood frames from Ikea for super cheap.


After a coat of 50 cent craft paint and some edited photos off the internet that Ralph was kind enough to cut for me, you get the names for our tables....



So here is a little bit of what I have been working on and what will be on each table...

I am super grateful for everyone's help - J, you are next!

More first fitting pics

Compliments of Heather who was kind enough to take only like a bazillion pictures of me. Here is my super inexpensive second-hand veil in the sample dress. It is exactly how I hoped it would look with the dress.

Some more pictures of the first draft. I love that they drew on it.


I had to include this one, because Heather finds it so humorous. They were letting out the hips, and she managed to capture this.


I must have been in mid sentence, but it looks as though I got pinned like a voodoo doll.

And my dress. Sort of...

Today was so exciting! Heather, Stephanie, and my mom accompanied me to San Francisco for my first fitting at Amy Kuschel. The lady who took care of us (for the life of me, I can't remember her name) was sweet enough to have the sample dress already out for me to try on for everyone.

It was a great opportunity to try on my undergarments and veil. Pics to come.

Then they put me into the first draft of my dress, based on the measurements they took about 8 months ago. It was an simplified version of my dress in acetate, almost like dress lining. It had no zipper (I wore some demure undies!). And then they got to work on me...

(hey girls!!!)

They had to let out the hips some and take in the bust (big shocker!)

And then I was pretty much done. Not too bad.

Yeah, I am making faces, but I am really happy. Wow, I just realized that I have a really short waist! Heather and I should switch our body halves!

Anyway, when they were done pinning, they then drew all over the dress with Crayola markers. Not kidding!!!! They marked a bunch of incomprehensible things in different colors. No this won't be my actual dress, just a prototype. Come January, it will be the real deal. I can't wait.

She got a dress!

And her shoes... all on the same day.


Well not the dress I found for her...

But another, more beautiful one. Turns out that they had an even better selection than when I was there last. It is similar to the one above in all aspects except the bodice. Her's (sorry no pics) just couldn't be more perfect in terms style and the level of coverage. And it fits perfect! Well, it needs a hem job, but at 5'1" that is expected.

And her shoes, well she found them pretty quickly too. She got these in silver and couldn't be happier.

Happy mom = happy daughter. It is so good to have her here!!!!

Peep show

I have to say that I love my gocco, now that I have gotten the hang of it. I just wish that the supplies weren't vanishing away. They have stopped manufacturing many of the supplies and most of the last of which have been bought up by a Australian company.

But I digress... I love printing with this thing.

A better sneak peek...


With this latest project, I am ready to tackle the invitations come January. This is the actual cardstock we are using for our invites. It is slightly textured which is a bit tricky to deal with, but I think I got it down. The envelope above is the same style envelopes we will use for our thank you cards. Yes, I gocco-ed the return addresses on all those envelopes already. Ralph pretty much freaked at my preparedness.

Next up are the actual invite envelopes. My mom is flying in tonight, so maybe I can convince her to gocco the return addresses on all of them during her visit.

Speaking of her visit, we are heading to the BCBG outlet tomorrow to look at that dress. So exciting!!!

Vote for us please.

I entered Ralph and I in a contest for a free day of coordination (aka DOC). I think we might need it considering we have so much to do for ourselves. They would help our catering coordinator with all the little details like collecting our things and gifts at the end of the night and tipping all our vendors. A real help! All I had to do was submit my inspiration for our wedding, which you all have seen before:


Well our inspiration board was in the top 10. So here is the link to vote for us: http://www.lmgevents.com/board_contest.html.

They only allow one vote a computer and it ends this week.

Wish us luck and thanks!!!

More craftiness!

I can't show too much here, but here is a sneakpeek of what I worked on this evening. After printing another 60 or so pieces of paper, I think I can safely say that I am now ready to gocco our invitations.


Ralph has finally broken his silence and expressed his displeasure with the state of our home from my craft weekend (of course, in a kind, gentle sort of way).

Having fun being crafty!

Following an extended trip to JoAnn's Fabrics (we had to stop at Mervyns), Emily and I came to my place and started some wedding fun-ness. She made a gorgeous veil for her cousin, complete with silver satin trim.


All is needs is a little pressing on the trim. She made it really quickly too.

As for me, not so much. I goccoed our favor bags - all 125 of them. They are all over our place!

What they will somewhat look like (when I get the correct color riboon):

My momma's attire

This has been a bit harder than finding my dress. We have been to countless stores... many Macy's, several trips to Neiman Marcus (not our typical store!), Off Fifth (Sak's Fifth Ave. Outlet), Neiman's Outlet, and even a bridal store.

After trying on countless dresses, my mom loosely determined that she likes:
(1) a long dress
(2) a empire waist
(3) a flowy fabric
(4) nothing ornate
(5) nothing dowdy

It seems that blue was the color she likes best as well. She actually did find a dress that she loved. The original problem is that was pretty expensive, and then when we went back to get it they didn't have it and couldn't get it. I looked everywhere for this dress and nada.

I have a pretty good handle on what my mom likes and what looks good on her. So when I was out Christmas shopping at the outlet mall and popped into BCBG, I was floored to find a perfect dress for her. She likes BCBG dresses and they fit her quite well. I decided to try on the dress to see the fit, which it was very true to size. I thought I would then buy it in two sizes for her to try on. The problem - all their sales are final. The dress was a good deal for sure, but not that great a deal if my mom does like it or it doesn't fit. And I definitely don't want to guilt my mom into a dress. So here is what the dress somewhat looks like:

BUT... In this color and fabric...

It satisfies all the criteria that seems to be important to her. And the price is pretty darn good. My mom gets here in 6 days - I just hope they still have it. If not, it certainly wasn't supposed to be her dress. If not, I found another pretty cool dress at Macy's, while shopping with Emily...

With 2 out of 4 moms with their dress already - I hope we can finally find her one on her trip out here. And no Miss Meyers, in case you were thinking about it, you absolutely do not have to wear a dress ;-)

Being Thankful

There is so much to be thankful for, namely for our wonderful family and friends. Although we are just having a relaxed intimate Thanksgiving day (complete with watching the Macy's parade and football, and maybe fitting a bike ride in there), we still wish we could be with our families. In a few short weeks we will be there! I can't wait.

In the meantime, this will be a craft weekend. Some of the ladies will be coming over to finish up some various crafts (it is gocco time for me) - and maybe we will have some mimosas. Pics to follow!!!

Happy Thanksgiving.
xoxox

My crowning glory

I never thought I would wear a veil. Never! Ralph and I even talked about it. He really hoped I wouldn't. Then I tried on this Pronovias dress.

And then they put it on me.

And I knew I had to wear a veil.

For the record, I love this dress, but it just didn't feel like the dress I would marry Ralph in. I know that sounds weird - but it works in my silly head. It would definitely be the dress I would wear if I was having a frilly, vintage-insipred, garden party wedding. And that sort of wedding wouldn't work for Ralph - therefore it wasn't meant to be the dress I would marry him in.

When I did find THAT dress, I put on this simple veil.

But in the end I decided to go for a longer veil. Why? Well, because of this...

Credit - the wonderful Zlatko Batisticho

Aren't they beautiful? You are a gorgeous bride J!

I like the drama from the back. I can't help it! So when I stumbled upon a bride selling her long simple veil for a fraction of the price (for reference that veil I am wearing in my dress cost a whopping $125), I jumped on it. In addition to saving lots of $, I couldn't be happier that I am re-using a perfectly good piece of tulle. We may not be throwing the most green wedding ever - I am trying to do my part when I can.

And so here it is, on the pretty bride I bought it from (wearing a dress I did try on)...

(credit)

I received it today in perfect condition. I can't wait to try it on with my dress (which is coming up very soon). I promise to post pics!!!

Sharing some of my attempted craftiness

Poor Ralph, he thinks I am crazy. I have about 10 different DIY projects going on at the same time. Why? Well, I want to have as much done as possible before I leave in December (which would be December 9th!!!).

Some stuff just has to wait to be revealed until the big day. But in the meantime, I will share my latest somewhat finished project. The other day, we were shopping at Target and I was perusing the $1+ section in the front of the store, and found these:



I decided that for $2.50, I could make some nice signs to direct people to our ceremony. I just needed some materials that I had laying around my house. I sanded them down and painted them with some latex paint that I found in our utility closet.




Then it rained on them and they looked pink. I tried another coat - still pink. So, Ralph stepped in and got some flat spray enamel in white. He said he would take care of it - but in the end it was largely all me...




Next I needed to paint on the letters - not an easy feat. So I printed up a design in word. Using a ballpoint pen, I traced over the letters using alot of pressure. This left an imprint that I then followed with the craft paint I used for the escort frames.




The result wasn't perfect, but good enough. I am glad I didn't bother with stencils. I like the imperfect look.

I made two signs for a total cost of $8. Sure it was cheaper than buying them on etsy, but it was a little more time consuming than I would have liked. The only thing I am missing is the correct ribbon.

Oh and I have no idea what I will do with these after the wedding. Maybe flip them over and paint something else on them???

So excited!

My mom is coming to visit us and to come to my first dress fitting. I couldn't be more happier that she will be here with me!

Tiiiime AIN"T on my side...

no it ain't!!!!

Yep, my workload has finally crashed in on me, which means no posts. I have also been doing a fair share of wedding stuff, with a heavy dose of help from Ralph and family, but some of it just has to stay a surprise.

Anyway, I just had to share this.

This is a slideshow from a wonderful South Florida photographer Stephan Maloman (yeah we couldn't get close to affording him). He shot this reception at Jungle Island. Not many couples have their reception outside, preferring to stay in the climate controlled ballrooms, so this was a pleasant surprise.

Enjoy the pics!

Back in town and with some DIY goods

I have been gone for awhile and have been keeping busy. Even when I was in Belize "working", I still had wedding stuff on my mind. Emily and I were perusing a tourist trap souvenir shop, when I happened upon the 70% off clearance rack. There I found some cute little handmade embellished frames that sort of falling apart.



They are made of recycled and natural materials.

You can see that they used an organizer for some of their backing materials

The recycled paper insert for the frame has a very nice texture.


How could I resist?

I thouroughly checked them out and found that the glue holding on those sad little embellishments came off really easily. Although that was a problem for them, but good for me. I figured that with a little bit of paint that they would make really nice escort cards. For those that haven't been keeping up with wedding lingo, escort cards are the little things that tell you which table you are suppose to sit at. We will be assigning tables, but not seats, since it seems that people need just a little structure.

Anyway, I himed and hawed a bit, but Emily, who is a crafter extraordinare, talked me into getting them. I proceeded to convince the saleslady to break the packages up so I can buy just the blue and green ones. It really isn't hard to convince her, since they are in such sad shape. I probably could have negotiated the price, but I knew I was helping the local economy in their VERY low season. So, I bought 68 of these little guys. While Emily and I were sitting around waiting for some transportation, we along with some new found hostel friends started to remove the embellishments and glue. And now with a little bit of acrylic paint ($0.80 on sale at Michaels)...



I hated that I had to cover up all the natural fibers with paint, but I had to. At least you can still see some of the imperfections in the paper frame. We will print our guests names, on the recycled paper insert along with their assigned table (we are naming the tables after Florida-growing plants)...

A little photoshop goodness (Mom- do you like the names???)

The great part is that these can be used again as frames. In case our guests don't take them home, I can always give them to another bride who is having a smaller wedding. Recycled and reusable!

The rules of the game...

I found this list of at From Fumpy to Foxy as a guide of what not to do as a wedding guest. I added in my take for some of them in green.

• Don't Be Fashionably Late - as the song says, get to the church on time! Oh please let my family read this! I may be a habitual offender of this, but not at weddings, job interviews, or other important events.
  
• Don't Produce Sound Effects While at a wedding and reception, turn off your Blackberries and cell phones, put them on vibrate, or better yet, don't even take them!
• Don't Talk Trash It may sound obvious, but it happens all the time. No matter how big or how loud a wedding is, things get overheard. So, be on your best and most polite behavior. Oh dear! We might have some trouble with this one.
  
• Don't Come Bearing Gifts Whether you're planning on gifting the happy couple a Cuisinart or cold hard cash, do them a huge favor and don't bring it on the wedding day. If you do, they have to keep track of it and haul it home at the end of the night. Send the gift ahead of time, or after the actual ceremony -- at a time when they can really relax and enjoy it. This is my #1 fear as we live 3000 miles away from the venue. But I see it all the time.
  
• Don't Dress Down Whatever you choose to wear, make the effort to look your best for the bride and groom. They'll appreciate that you got dolled or duded up for the occasion. If the invitation doesn't specify dress code, put in a friendly email or call to the bride, groom, their parents, or attendants to get more info. Black Tie means you've got to dust off that long silk dress or rent a tux. If it's an outdoor affair, there may be more leeway, but get details on the location, so you can come prepared (because it's isn't fun to be traipsing around in the sand in your stilettos!) That is why there are wedding websites to fill people in on the nitty gritty. I hope they look at it.
  
• Don't Bring Mr. or Ms. Random If you're single, choose your date carefully. If it's someone you've only been out with once, it may not be the best idea (could be awkward for you, your date, and the newlyweds). Same if it's someone you recently "sort of" broke up with. Weddings are intimate affairs and bringing in a stranger should be done with thought. Let the bride or groom know if you decide to come alone so they can seat you with other fun "ones!" And as much as you may love your kiddos, don't take them if children aren't invited. This is one thing we really don't care about. I would hope that our guests have someone to keep them company whomever it is. And kids... well, kids at weddings are hilarious.
  
• Don't Steal the Show Wedding ceremonies take all forms -- from religious to poetic, musical, or humorous. Whatever the vibe, let the bride and groom set the tone and follow their lead. If you're normally a loud, life-of-the-party type, bring it down a notch and let the wedding couple stand out. If you're a weeper, bring tissues and sit where you can sob without disturbing the I Do's. If the ceremony includes religious rituals, find out what you should do (or not do) ahead of time.
• Don't Pig Out If food is serve-yourself, avoid the buffet line stampede and wait until the crowd dies down. Also, avoid going back for thirds. I would hope that everyone gets their fill, as it sure is costing enough.
  
• Don't Drag Out Skeletons If the bride blushes, it should be from pride, joy, or sheer love. Not because someone just stood up and told a humiliating story about the loser she dated in high school!
• Don't Stockpile Party Favors At the end of the night, as you're saying your thank-yous and farewells, avoid the urge to hog all the super-cool (or yummy) party favors! You don't need to take some for people who weren't able to attend. You don't need extras. Take one for yourself, unless someone in the wedding party urges you to do otherwise. Take them all. Geez, I don't want to haul them 3000 miles home or send them to the thriftstore.

Well it seems that we aren't too fuddy duddy after all. They are good guidelines, but I have seen just about about all these happen at weddings. Are there any particular offenses that you hope can be avoided on your wedding day?

I can be slow...

at making decisions, especially when it comes to purchasing things. The fiance and I are polar opposite in this regard. I take time, read customer reviews, find the best price, and ultimately determine if I really want it. Ralph on the other hand, decides he needs it and immediately goes out and buys it. He isn't happy if he doesn't get it the same day.

You can see that my approach to purchasing things doesn't bode well for registering for gifts. I am just thankful that our registry allows us to update stuff online. Lets just say that I have been altering things here and there as I have done some research and read customer reviews. No one needs to buy us $100 item that is piece of crap and will work for only a few years. It is the kitchen appliances and such that I am being such a discerning shopper - like the toaster oven, select pots, hand mixer, and blender. I suppose that is why we already have some of "the good stuff" already in our kitchen - you know, stuff that should last a lifetime:

KitchenAid Stand Mixer - check (thanks Aunt Diane),

an assortment of Le Creuset things - check (thanks Mom/Me),

a breadmaker (used almost exclusively for my focaccia dough) - check

Great Cutco knives - check (again Mom).

An assortment of other gadgets that I love

And even some of my other "good stuff" got left behind in my move to California. So, yes, I am a kitchen equipment snob - remember I did say that I have been waiting years to register! It just means that I need to do my homework about what I (er, we) need. And since what my picky little self's likes and needs aren't always at my registry store, I decided to open another one. A place: that hooks up to lots of other stores and therefore has a great selection, that has pretty awesome prices, and free shipping over a $25 purchase. Yes, that place would be the great and wonderful, Amazon.com!

How many places did you register at? And did you have a hard time picking out your potential booty?