I Love My Grandma

All last week I was thinking about my grandma. I really miss having her here. She would always hound me about wearing make up and fixing my hair because she was a beauty queen. She never went anywhere without having her make up done to perfection and her hair done. She changed purses almost everyday and her jewelry drawer could have filled a small boutique. If you had the pleasure of knowing my her you probably have a similar memory of her. Since my wedding is coming up I wanted to find a way to honor my grandma. I was looking up some ways that deceased relatives are honored at a wedding ceremony, but none of them really fit the bill.

These are the two most popular suggestions I found on websites:

1. Put flowers in the seats that they would have normally sat.
2. Write a poem in the program that honors them.

The thing is I don't want it to be a sad tribute, but I want to honor her in a way that fits my grandma's personality. I am already planning to wear some of her jewelry as my something old, but that just doesn't seem like enough. I need some help coming up with creative ways to honor her. Anyone who knows her or knew about her, it would be really helpful to have your input. I am definitely going to put something in the program along with a tribute to John's parents.

Speaking of John's parents, I want to do something special for them too but I didn't know them. I hope John will help me find the perfect way to honor them on such a special day. Its always hard to experience such a big milestone in your life without the ones who helped get you to that milestone. Since I consider myself to be a pretty creative person, I don't want these tributes to be just average. I want them to be extra special. They were extra special people in our lives and they deserve to be a part of the ceremony in some way even if it is a small way.

I think that's all for today. My grandma has just been on my mind the past couple weeks. I would appreciate any suggestions. If you did something that was received really well, let me know about it. I hope everyone has a great night. Save those pennies.

A Little of Everything

Not much to talk about as far as wedding stuff. The most I have done was order my personalized stamp that I am going to use for EVERYTHING. I love it. The Etsy designer did such a great job at making it fit in with my design. Once it comes in I am going to start personalizing my gift bags so that will be out of the way. Anybody want to volunteer to stamp 240 bags with me? It will be super fun. Hint Hint bridesmaids hehe.

I also officially ordered my bridesmaids gifts. The money came out of my account and everything. Super geeked about how much I saved. Let's just say I bought 5 sets for the price of one. Yes that's how serious of a sale it was.

Flower time. I called the church to set up an appointment to look at the decorations for the ceremony. Like I said before, this is not my favorite thing to organize, but it has to be done. I am not really a flower person so I probably am just gonna give them a picture of what I want the aisle to look like and the colors and say have at it. As long as it doesn't look fussy. I like clean looks. Simple but quirky. That't my personal style. Still super happy that my aunt is gifting the bridal party flowers. So I need to get swatches and choose some flowers that I like so she can do her thing. Any suggestions on flowers other than roses that would look nice in blue and silver? Suggestions are welcome.

So, I started asking for the guest list and I am going to tell you, I am jealous of my coworker's easy peasy guest list. Me and John's family includes step families, people so close they are like family, family members that literally do not talk to each other, and just plain annoying people and that's putting things lightly. The invitations are going to be the easiest part of this whole guest list situation. Keep in mind we are only having 200 close friends and family at the reception so who is going to get a reception invitation is going to be interesting.

I am still working on my save the dates. They are really cute so far. I have to look for some paper for my invitations and keep tweaking my design. Definitely going to emboss some stuff like the envelopes and my reply cards.

This is all getting real. Nine months left to go and we start counseling soon. If I can last through the next 9 months with school, work, med school apps and wedding planning I just may amaze myself. Well everyone, enjoy your day. Take some time to enjoy the little things in life. Save those pennies.

Sales Are A Thrifty Brides Best Friend

So, I just had the best news any bride could hear and especially a thrifty bride. Like I mentioned in a previous post, I found the gift for my bridesmaids a couple of weeks ago. The sales person told me that they would be $3.00 cheaper if I came back for the Labor Day sale. Of course, I was going to come back later to save $3.00 who wouldn't? Well, probably my lovely groom hehe. Well, I waited until Labor Day to go back and I was chilling out with John because I really wanted him to go with me and see them. He was cleaning his house after a weekend of partying it up with the best man Dave for his birthday, so he told me to go without him. He suggested I go to South Hills mall because it was closer to his house. Yea, I considered it, but something told me to just go back to Monroeville where I initially saw the set. So, I went back across town to buy my gifts. This is when the best thing happened. The lady who I was talking to the first time about the set was there and she remembered me. I told her I was back to order the 5 sets of jewelry.

Well, I think what really happened was she saw dollar signs in commission and for some reason started throwing out sales and coupons. After everything was said and done I got like 75% off of the original price of the set. Since I don't want any of my bridesmaids to see their gift, I'm not gonna post any pictures and don't want to give away the price. But, let me tell you, my gift originally costed more the the Bulova watches John is getting his groomsmen, but ended up being within my budget and less than John's gifts. Yes, I was concerned that my bridesmaids were going to get jipped. I was afraid they were going to wish they were groomsmen instead of bridesmaids. All I will say is that they are sterling silver with Swarovski crystals. They are so pretty, I love them. And now I love them even more because of the great deal I got on them. I now will be able to afford to give them a couple of little fun things that match their personality.

Bottom line, shopping during holiday sales are probably the best way to go when buying wedding stuff. I know that was one of my tips, but it is so true. Love it. Save those pennies everyone.

Money Sucks

Hey everyone. I know I haven't posted to my blog in a while. This is my first week of classes for my last year of my second undergrad degree. It has started out pretty weird. But anyway, on to wedding stuff.

Yea, so money sucks. I'm doing pretty good with my penny collecting, but I need more help so spread the to all of your family and friends that I am collecting change to help me with my wedding. Unfortunately, I had to dip into my wedding fund a little bit to buy books for class. Hopefully I can pay myself back soon.

Happy news. I have 9 more months until my wedding. It is now September and my knot.com site is actually sending reminders about things that need to be done. The most pressing thing that I want to get done sooner than later is to finalize my guest list and collect all addresses so that I don't have to worry about it when I send out invitations next year. I have most of the people on my side of the guest list done. I still have a couple of tweaks to do, but for the most part my side is done YAY.

Guess what bridesmaids, I think I may have found your gift. I am super excited about it because it is really cute. Its a little over budget, but my mom said she would help out with it. See family does want to help you brides so remember to let them help. But, my mom said that I am supposed to get the MOH a different gift then the other bridesmaids. Once again, I find a really nice thing for the bridesmaids and now I have to keep looking for the perfect MOH gift. Grrrr. Oh well, I guess she does deserve something extra special even though she is a lame. Love you Brandy.

Well I gotta get ready for class. I hope everyone has a great day and save those pennies.