Wedding Pictures & Reflections

This is my last post for this wedding blog. I really had a fun time with this blogging adventure. I hope anyone who visited my site got something that they could use to make their own wedding day special and unique. Your wedding day is hopefully a once in a lifetime event that you should remember for the rest of your life. Here are some of the things that I learned from this whole planning process:

1. Do what you love.
This is your's and your fiance's day. Don't let other people control something that is for the two of you. Let others make suggestions and help out, but if you don't like their suggestions, just let them know in the most polite way possible. Weddings bring out something different in people. I don't know what it is, but everyone wants to help and put their input into the ceremony or reception activities. But, if you aren't careful, you could be stressing yourself out for no reason because you want to please everyone. You cannot please everyone, so you might as well do what you love.

2. Take some Me Time.
I wish I had done more of this while I was planning my wedding. I didn't realize how essential it was until the bridal shower when we went to a spa and I got a massage. The lady said that I was really tense. That was when the light bulb went off in my head that I probably should have been doing more stress relieving activities leading up to the wedding. If you make a point to do them, most likely they will get done. Just remember to take some time for yourself to calm down and relax.

3. Stay Close to the Fiance.
This is another thing I wish I would have done more of during the wedding planning process. It is really easy to get knee deep in projects, planning and life in general, that you can lose sight of what this is really about. Its about you and your love professing your love to each other and promising that love to each other before God. Remember to stay close to your fiance. Even if he doesn't want to be included in wedding planning or even if he is driving you crazy, go on a romantic dinner, go on a picnic, take a bike ride, do anything that will keep you two in each other's corners. You two are your best allies when the family starts screaming about how great great aunt so and so didn't get an invitation.

4. Be Picky...but not Bridezilla.
It is really important to be picky without driving people crazy. Just because something is on sale doesn't mean you have to buy it. Just because the Dollar Store has stuff that is only a dollar doesn't mean you have to go crazy and buy up the whole store. But, at the same time, don't get too crazy with everything having to be perfectly the same. Things will be beautiful no matter what because people don't know what it should look like or what you wanted it to look like, they just see what it looks like. I had to take a step back at times and remember this myself. It helped me down the stretch to not flip out when I ran out of blue ribbon and needed to use silver ribbon on some of the programs. Its ok. Stay sane.

5. Finally...Appreciate Everything & Everyone.
People don't have to help you. Your bridesmaids are not your personal assistants for the year or two that you are planning your wedding. This is not their job, they are doing this because they want to support you on a very special day of you life. Same with your family, they don't have to give you anything, they don't have to help. So, let people know how much you appreciate their help. Its the little things that you can use to show your appreciation. Like, not flipping out on people if they don't do it exactly the way you want it done. The differences will provide character. Remember to say thank you. It seems so small and insignificant, but people will remember if you don't say it.

Well I hope you all enjoyed this blog. Here are some albums from the wedding pictures. Enjoy. And one last time...Save those pennies. Stay tuned for my next blog coming to a computer near you by mid August.

Our Wedding Party 

The Reception - Party Party Party

Our Wedding Ceremony

What Do I Do With All This Stuff After The Wedding?

Hey everyone. I'm back. Its been almost a month since I married the love of my life and my best friend. I am finding my way through this new thing that is called a wife. It is a new adventure and I am trying to navigate through all the changes. But, I have been looking all over the online world for some ideas on what to do with all the accessories that I have now that the wedding is over. I found nothing. I found out how to make them and stuff, but I have found nothing to do with the sentimental things like ring bearer pillow, left over flowers, bridal bouquet, unity candle, etc after the wedding is over. So here is my best advice for any brides who may be having this problem.

Ring Bearer Pillow:

1. Give it to the Ring Bearer. Since your ring bearer is probably the son of one of your close friends or family member, they may want a sentimental token from your wedding and also something that they can put in their child's hope chest.

2. Keep it for a Scrap Book. Say your ring bearer or his mother/father does not want the ring bearer pillow, then what? Well, if you are crafty, and you probably are given the fact that you have been following a blog that has been 75% DIY projects, then you would probably enjoy cutting up the fabric, using the little rings and if there were flowers on the pillow, using them as the cover to your scrap book or some accessories in the actual book.

3. Donate it to Another Bride. You all know how much all of this stuff costs and it all adds up. Even the little things. Some of the things that you may not want, another bride may want to take off of your hands. And if you don't have any friends or friends of friends that would want it, then you could donate it to a local church that has a wedding department. I am sure they would appreciate your reused items.

4. Sell it On eBay. You could make a little bit of cash and another bride will get something they need at a discounted rate. Its a win win.

Extra Flowers:

1. Use Them In Your Scrap Book. Just like the ring bearer pillow, you could use this to decorate your scrap book by using some of the flowers (if you used silk flowers).

2. Make An Arrangement for you home. Take some of the flowers that you have left over and mix it with some other cool flowers you may find or have laying around and make a cute and trendy little flower arrangement for a dining room centerpiece, window sill decor, or any other little piece of artwork that you think of.

Unity Candles:

1. Dining Room Centerpiece. The candles probably are the hardest thing to find something to do with, but if you took time and/or money to put them together, then you may want to give them a prominent spot in your home. Not just a dining room centerpiece, but also using the candles in a living room, den, ect. Find someplace pretty to put them.

2. Donate Them. If your unity candle doesn't have any identifying marks or if they weren't permanent (like mine), then just give them to a friend or a church like with all the other stuff.

3. Reuse. Are you planning on having date night? Instead of stuffing the candles in a drawer somewhere, take them out and have a candle lit dinner with your hubby or wifey. Something less romantic, use them if the lights go out in your house LOL.

Bridal Bouquet:

1. Centerpiece Bouquet. I know I used silk flowers for my wedding so I have this beautiful bouquet that I now want to show off. I plan on using mine on a table that I will place my wedding portrait on. Its all white, so it will go with any decor that I may use in the house. But this could be used in any room of your house to add something sentimental from your wedding to a table, room or shelf you plan on devoting to wedding pictures.

2. Scrapbook It. If you don't mind deconstructing your flowers, use them in your scrapbook. Simple, easy and adds pizzazz.

Wedding Veil:

1. You Guessed It Scrapbook It. If you, like me, made your own veil for like $15.00 I don't mind cutting up the fabric and using it as keepsakes in a scrapbook.

2. Sell it on eBay. If you actually went all out and spent lots of money on your veil and do not want to keep it around for your daughter or some other person to use it later, offer it on eBay and make some money off of it.

3. Donate It. If you have a friend or loved one who doesn't mind using a second hand veil, let them use yours or donate it to a Goodwill store for someone who may not be able to afford a really nice veil for their wedding day.

Wedding Dress:

All the ideas apply for the wedding veil, although I don't know who would want to cut up their wedding dress.

Make it into a Party Dress. Do you know anyone who can sew really well? Maybe they can take your wedding dress and make it into something that you can wear again. Many people think about doing this, but never actually do it. But, it could be kind of fun to actually wear your wedding dress again for a fun night out with you hubby.

I am curious what other brides did with any left over items that they had after their wedding. If you think of something else, please leave a comment, I would love to hear from you.

Lastly, my last wedding blog will be pictures of  the wedding day. Once I receive the CD from our photographer, I will upload some of my favorites on here so that everyone who followed this blog will be able to see the finished product if you were not able to make it to the wedding. I have really enjoyed blogging and documenting my journey and was overwhelmed by how well the blog was received. I was not expecting to get so many readers, but I did. I will be rolling out a new blog next month about a topic that really hit me hard while I was planning our wedding. I hope you all will enjoy my next blog as well. Stay tuned and save those pennies.

Escort Cards & Unity Candles - DIY

I bet you thought i was joking with all of these DIY projects huh? Nope I was not joking. I was serious about saving money by doing stuff myself. Since time is money, then I used my time instead of spending my money LOL.

So, I think that I explained in a previous post that one of my pet peeves is searching through tons of escort cards for my name. Her is my solution to that dilemma:

I found a few styrofoam boards, some wooden clothes pins and the escort cards. Then I alphabetized the escort cards by last name, and I attached the cards to the pins and stuck the pins into the sky painted styrofoam board. Get it "Ribbon in the Sky". Yay and voila, on theme, alphabetized escort cards. I have 3 boards that will say last name A-H, I-M, N-Z. This idea can work for just about any theme. I got my inspiration from one of my bridesmaids weddings. She had a beach theme and painted the styrofoam board with some kind of sandy paint and put the names on mini beach umbrellas. Super cute. 

The cardstock was $11.00 (which I used for my wedding programs as well so got double duty out of one package), ribbon (which I have been using for just about everything), the styrofoam, my stepfather had in the  basement and the pins were from another project and the paint was $.89/tube. So I spent about $5.00 for this project. 

Predesigned escort cards are about $15.00 on Amazon. Hey any savings is a good thing right? 

Ok on to the unity candles. Here is the finished product:

The only thing that I am not crazy about is the fact that the blues are off, but I am going to deal with it because I don't feel like designing another monogram. My buddy PJ designed this for our reply cards and so I took it and used it for this. But anyway, unity candles can get pretty expensive, but they are really easy to make. 

Two long candles - 2 for $1.00 at the Dollar Store

Middle Candle - $5.00 at Pat Catans

Ribbon - Left over from other projects

Paper Monogram - Free

Candle Holders (not pictured) - Borrowed from my aunt

________________________________

Total Price = $6.00

On average Unity Candles run about $30.00 on Amazon and can even cost more if you buy them in a store so I saved about $24.00. 

How to make:

Take some ribbon the color of your wedding and wrap it around the candle. Then take some straight pins and push them into the candle to attach the ribbon. The monogram is actually made of paper, but you could also use a clear label if your design does not have as much color as mine. You may need to pin that label to the candle as well if adhesive doesn't stick to the wax. Then just put it on your candle holders and there you go, a decorated unity candle set. 

Welp, two more projects almost done (still need to put together my last escort card board), and on to the last one, putting ribbon on the ceremony programs. I survived the DIY projects and saved some pennies along the way. 4 more days until the BIG DAY. Yay. I am now getting excited. LOL. 

How To Save On A Wedding Veil

So its 5 days before my wedding and I am almost finished with my DIY projects. Still have about 20 wands to complete tomorrow and have to put some ribbon on our unity candle in some cute and inspired way. But what I want to talk about is saving money on a wedding veil. So, if you look at wedding veils at any main stream bridal shop you will know that they cost hundreds of dollars. This is one of the main projects that I decided to do when I started this process. With my mother's help with some of the sewing, we put together my wedding veil. It is floor length and if you have been following my blog, I did decide to be adventurous put a little trim at the bottom of the veil.

In all I paid about $15.00 for the materials:

2 yards of plain white tulle ($1.99/yard)
1 Bottle of Glitter spray paint ($5.99)
1 Spool of Ribbon - $1.19
1 Strip of Pearl Trim - $.97
1 Pack of Metal Combs - $2.99
_______________________________
Grand Total: $15.12

To save even more money, come armed with coupons for Joann Fabrics. I completely forgot to bring mine, but you can usually find some 50% off coupons online.

At David's Bridal, the average price for a full length veil is $100.00 or more. In all the grand total for savings is  about $85.00 by making your own veil.

Here is the 95% finished product. Still need to add a couple more details, but for the most part it is complete.

The full veil (I haven't sprayed the glitter on yet) 

When you spray the glitter on, make sure to test the spray paint on a piece of the scrap fabric to make sure it does not ruin it. The kind I used was Krylon Glitter Spray Paint and it worked perfectly on the tulle. 

A picture of the trim (still need to put the little pearl detail on.)

How it looked on my wedding day. So proud of this DIY project. 

If you would like to try to make your own veil here is a video that may help you get started. This is what I used to help guide me in my wedding veil making adventures. 

It does take a little bit of time and patience, especially if you would like to put a little bit of trim on the bottom of the veil. Hey for $15.00 you may want to experiment and if you don't come up with something you like, you still have time and money to find other options. But, if you are even the least bit crafty, it could save you a bit of money. I hope you enjoy this project, I thought it was really easy and fun. Save those pennies ladies. 

DIY Overload

Here are the latest updates on my DIY Projects. I am almost finished with my ribbon wands. I only have 53 more to make. That one is the biggest one and when it is finished a big DIY weight will be off my shoulders. They look really cute and I even had a dream about them. Yes, I am back to having panicky dreams about my wedding. I had a dream that I forgot to bring the wands to the wedding and panicked at the altar because I had spent so much time on them. Turns out that my fiance had brought them for me. Hehe. But anyway, they are really cute and I am hoping that I will get some cute pictures of them

My next project is making the escort cards for the reception. I was going back and forth about whether or not I should put ribbon on the cards, but I decided that I was going to stay with my theme and do another project. They look so cute. All I have to do is print out all the names and stick them on the cards that I am making. I also have this pet peeve about not being able to find your name on the table that the cards are held on. So, I am going to hopefully make it a little easier while still staying on theme. I am taking a couple styrofoam boards (that my stepdad happened to have in the basement) and some wooden clothespins (that I happened to have in my room from another project), paint the styrofoam like the sky with clouds, and stick the clothespins in it with the cards attached in alphabetical order. Hopefully it turns out really nicely.

I also have to fill up my candy bags that I stamped a long time ago with wedding date and stuff. Just have to pick up all of the candy. I waited for the last minute to buy candy, because I didn't want to give people 2 month old chocolate. That's not a good look.

Last, but not least, I am making my own veil. Here are the material that I bought the other day. It totaled about $10.00 and it is going to be a floor length veil. I could not justify paying over $200.00 for something that I could make myself. I have done a lot of YouTube research on this project and am really excited to see the finished product.

Organza & Glitter Spray

I hope this works.

I will post some pictures of what the finished product looks like. I still need to look for a comb, but this is pretty much all you need. I also may add a little trim onto the bottom if I am feeling ambitious. 

UPDATE TO THE ABOVE POST:

So I wrote this post before the DIY project party. Two of my wonderful bridesmaids, a couple friends, cousins and aunts all got together and helped me with my projects. Some filled candy bags, some painted clothes pins and others put together ribbon wands. I wish I had had the forethought to take some pictures, but you guys will just have to believe me when I say that I have the best family and friends ever. They are definitely helping me have my personalized wedding without breaking the bank. You all are the best. Save those pennies ladies and have your friends and family help with stuff. 

Bachelorette Party

Hey everyone...this has by far been the most stressful 2 weeks of my life. Between family coming and some family deciding to ditch me on my wedding day and decide not to come, I am thoroughly emotionally spent. There really are not words for how I feel right now.

But, I would like to thank everyone who came to celebrate my bachelorette party with me this past weekend. I would also like to give a special thank you to the best maid of honor a bride could ever ask for, Brandy Gaines. I had the best time. There were 3 parts to the party and it was an all day event.

Part 1:

A Day At The Spa - We went to this cute little spa in Murrysville and I must say that I will have to find a way to get massages more often. That is exactly what I needed given the past 2 weeks of stress. It felt so good to just relax, get a massage and a pedicure. I can see why people make such a big deal about going to the spa. It is definitely relaxing.


 
  

Part 2:

Movie & Lunch - We watched The Best Man and just had girl talk (really we screamed at the television) and talked about how we would have handled the situation. It had been a while since I'd seen that movie so it was fun to watch an oldie but goodie. The food was really great as well. What more could a girl ask for when she has good food, great friends and a good movie?

  

Part 3:

A Taste of The Good Life - We took a limo to Savoy (an upscale restaurant and lounge for non Pittsburghers). Sidenote: we had to have broken a record because 6 girls go ready in 45 minutes in full hair, make-up and cute clothes with only 2 bathrooms. Good job girls. But anyway it was really fun. It was good to just let my hair down and relax, dance and hang out with some of my best friends.

 

Thanks again to you all. I had a blast and will definitely remember it for a long time. Every bride needs a friend or friends who will help them relax when things get stressful. This is priceless and worth all of the pennies in the world.

Savings Tip Number 4 In Action

So I did a series of posts back in July of 2011 on different ways to save money during your wedding planning. http://dawns-weddingonpennies.blogspot.com/2011/07/my-top-ten-penny-saving-tips-in-five.html
Tip number 4 was to search eBay for different things that you will need for your wedding. Yea, so my groom doesn't really do eBay, but he LOVES I mean LOVES Amazon. I think 95% of the stuff he buys on a day to day basis is from Amazon. But anyway, he has been looking at wedding stuff on there and every now and then goes ahead and buys some good stuff on there. Some of the things that he has purchased that have saved us money are:

Aisle Runner:


$26.00 on Amazon

It has a rose design on it and its really pretty. He found it on Amazon for like $26 bucks. That was spot on with my budget. Hey ladies, I wouldn't really waste too much money on this thing. They have really nice ones out there for low costs. I was talking to my aunt the other day and she was worried about the runner sticking (like they do in almost every wedding) so she went to a craft store and bought a more expensive one and guess what...yup the aisle runner stuck. This is going to happen and if it doesn't happen at your wedding, you are among the lucky few. LOL so, why waste $50 bucks or more on a "nice" aisle runner when you can get an inexpensive one from a place like Amazon and just be use it for what it was designed for. Look nice in pictures as you walk down the aisle on ONE DAY of your life.

Cake Cutting Set:

  VS.

This one was $6.25 on Amazon                       This one was on sale for $30.00 at 

                                                                              Macy's originally $43.00

I am super happy about this find on Amazon. We had a set on our registry from Macy's and they were like $40  or something like that. Guess what...we found a set for $6.00 on Amazon. I am sure that the quality is not as high as the set at Macy's but it looks just as good.

Once again...this is going to be used for ONE DAY to cut your wedding cake and look pretty in pictures. Use the internet to your advantage and don't waste money on stuff that you don't need to waste money on.


Lastly...we bought the garter on Amazon as well.

Yup another $6.00 purchase. I was looking through at the different kinds and they can get pretty expensive. I don't really know why because its just a strip of fabric with some elastic inside of it and some frilly stuff on it. It is thrown away at the reception anyway. I found one that was light blue (the color of my wedding) and it was really cute. It will serve the purpose it was made for and I didn't have to spend more than I needed on this wedding extra.

We are well on our way to planning this wedding. Things are getting really stressful and the time has come to start calling all the people who did not send in their RSVP. Just wanted to let all those thrifty brides out there know that these ideas really do work. If you look far enough in advance to give yourself plenty of time to figure out if you like your purchase or not, you too can save money by doing some bargain shopping online or even in thrift shops, discount stores or by doing DIY projects.

There are so many ways to get what you want for a price that you can afford. Remember to save those pennies.

DIY Ribbon Wands

Hey everyone...a month from now I will be Mrs. Gobble. I am super excited. Mainly for the honeymoon. Does that sound bad? I am happy to get married, a little scared to have my life change in such a big way, but so happy to have this next adventure with my best friend.

Now on to some money saving stuff. So, everyone probably knows that I took on this ribbon wand project as one of the feature items for my Ribbon in the Sky wedding theme. I got an Oriental Trading magazine in the mail, well actually John got it in mail and I looked at it. I was looking through and guess what I saw. Ribbon Wands. They were $17.00 for a pack of 24. I couldn't believe it. These things are getting pretty popular. I think I am ahead of the trend. Anyway I will compare their unit price to the price that I am spending on all my materials as well as give a quick run down on how easy it is to make them for cheap.

Here is the stuff  that I bought/used for my wands...

Ribbon: $3.93/100 yards on papermart.com. I will need 800 yards to complete 400 wands.

Grilling Skewers: $.99 for a pack of 100. I am gluing two skewers together so I need 8 packs.

Scissors: already have

Hot Glue Gun: Already Have

Measuring Tape: Already Have

DIY Unit Price: $.10 per wand

Oriental Trading Unit Price: $.70 per wand

That a pretty big savings. I am pretty proud of myself. I think that my time is worth $240. Sheesh. Well, they are pretty easy to make. Just take your skewers, and glue two of them together to make them stronger and make sure they don't break when people wave them around. I cut off the pointy side once I glue them together. 

Cut the ribbon to the desired length (I used a foot and a half) and then glue as many as you want to one end of the sticks. I am using three in my wedding colors of light blue, silver and white.

Then wrap the skewers with another strip of ribbon. This will make it stronger as well as hide the skewers and make them prettier.

My finished product looks like this:

They are really easy to make and it will take you a lot less time then me because I am making 400 of these. They are a lot cheaper than bubbles, and they're no mess no fuss unlike throwing rice. 

I love these and I hope that I can get some cute pictures of people waving them. I have a couple more DIY projects that I need to start along with these. I finished the wedding programs and now need to print them. I've gotta go out and buy the fabric for my veil and make that. Things are coming together slowly but surely. 

I hope this helps out some other DIY brides and that you find as much joy in making your day as beautiful as you would like it to be. Save those pennies brides and remember what this is all about. Your and your future husband making a life together. 

Brandy's Bougie Bridal Bananza

Hey everyone. I know its been a while since my last post. As everyone can imagine, its been so crazy. With about a month and a half until the big day, things are getting crazier and crazier. Weddings bring out something strange in people, but oh well on to happier things like the wonderful bridal shower that I had. It was perfect. I have been saying that I wanted something small and intimate since our wedding is going to be rather large. Well, my mom kept inviting people to the shower and I just gave up on my small and intimate affair, just like I did with the wedding. But, it turns out that it was a small and intimate affair after all.

My mom and bridesmaids are the best. Some of the highlights of the day were:

1. My cousin and bridesmaid coming from North Carolina to surprise me. The funniest part was the fact that I had just talked to her earlier in the week and she was saying how she wouldn't be able to make it. I was totally cool with that, but then I saw her drive up, it really made me happy. Thanks Blaire.

2. My maid of honor's bougie bridal shower ideas. Watches and such as prizes for games, custom made raffle tickets with the wedding theme design on them and last but not least chocolate bars with custom made labels with the wedding theme on them. The name of this post pretty much sums up my bridal shower. Love it. LOL

3. My friend Erica driving all the way from Ohio when she heard that her invitation got lost in the mail somehow. I told her when the bridal shower was going to be and she made her way here. I have some really great friends. Thanks Erica. Love you girl.

4. Two words: Gas Card. LOL

5. The most amazing bougie desserts a bridal shower could ever have. My aunt Mar made various flavors of parfaits (most places call them shooters) and there were even mini spoons to eat them with.

6. The huge smile on my fiance's 91 year old grandmother face when I opened up various lingerie sets.

7. Last, but certainly not least, the family and friends who came out to celebrate such a life changing event in my life. I am so grateful to have such great family and such great friends.

Pictures are to come. Once again thanks so much for everyone who came out to celebrate this special day with me. I really enjoyed myself and had a blast.

Signed, Sealed, Delivered

Hey everyone. Two months until our wedding and guess what, yup the invitations have been sent out. I am super excited about them. I personally think they are the best invitations I have seen, but I am of course bias. Thanks to my buddy PJ for helping me design them. The pictures do not do them justice. I still have a few to send out, but I have been lazy and haven't gotten around to sending them, but the bulk of them have been sent out and I have heard from people who have gotten them. 

Ok...I will admit, they were slightly over budget, but I feel that I got exactly what I want for about the same price as if I would have bought something I wasn't completely in love with. I made 260 of these invitations as well as reply cards and 2 different direction cards. The paper is shimmery silver (which took me forever to find) and the envelopes were on sale buy two get one free. I had coupons and got a bulk discount as well. John laughed at me the whole time I called all over the city to get the price I wanted, but ended up actually under budget if you add in the stamps. Because I didn't use reply cards that needed envelops and the paper was a lighter weight, I didn't have to pay extra to send the invitations. All in all, I think I got a pretty good deal with these considering the custom work and the specialty paper. 

What they look like closed

The opened invitation and RSVP postcard

I also have already gotten some RSVPs back. So love people who are punctual and send in the RSVPs back before the deadline, but I know there will be a ton that I will have to call next month to get a final head count. 

I really hope that I did not offend anyone. Me and John are paying for this wedding ourselves and are doing everything within our power to include as many people as we can. I personally wanted a small intimate garden wedding, but given the fact that my family is very large that is virtually impossible. But, anyway, I hope everyone who received or will receive the invitations loves them as much as I love them. If you are reading this and would like to know where we are registered, all the information is on our wedding website. But, to keep you from going multiple places, we are registered at Target, Macy's & JC Penney. I will be adding new items as often as I can. 

Our day is coming up really quickly. Yes, I am excited, but honestly, I am more excited to spend time with my honey at the honeymoon. We may argue and disagree on stuff, but John, you are without a doubt the best man for me and I am so happy that you will be my husband. 

Save those pennies everyone and enjoy your evening. 

Don't Stop the Music

So I am a couple days away from exactly 2 months until our wedding. I know these last two months are going to fly by. There is so much left to do, but I feel good about the progress I am  making and following my checklist on theknot.com. The invitations are almost ready to send out. I will be sending them about 2 weeks early, because we have quite a few people coming in from out of town and I didn't get to send out save the dates to all of them. Saturday, the post office will see me with my over 200 invitations. Yikes LOL.

Well, on to what I am really here to talk about today. The music. My brother Johnathan will be the DJ for the reception and we will be using all live music at the church for the ceremony. My brother and cousin will be singing a song, and one of the girls from Sixth Mount Zion will be singing as well. The only song that I haven't been able to nail down is the exit song. I need an upbeat, celebration song to send the bridal  party off.

For the reception, Me and John will be getting together with my big brother to get a list of songs together. I have already picked a song for our first dance and its one of my all time favorites. I have been trying to get John to choreograph our first dance. Something like Dancing with the Stars. John, you think you can do the split Jaleel White did in his last dance on DWTS? Hehe. Here's the video in case you want to practice ;-)

Ok, now the fun stuff of this blog post. Its time for all of you to play DJ. Like I mentioned before, I have yet to choose a celebration song to leave the ceremony, and if anyone has any songs that would be good to play at the reception, I would love to hear from you. Just leave a comment on this blog. I know my aunt requested some oldies. You know we gotta pull out some of the oldies, that was when music was real music. What are some of your favorite old school songs? How about dance songs? Anybody who has been to a party thrown by my family can tell you we love the line dances. Gotta stock up on all of them.  

Well, I hope everyone enjoys your day. Don't forget to save those pennies. 

Less Than Three Months To Go

  

I cannot believe that time has flown by so quickly. Our wedding is less than 3 months away and the next thing on my wedding checklist is to send out my invitations. This is probably one of the most important wedding tasks for any wedding. This is where the rubber meets the road. People will now know they are invited to your wedding. I have been designing my own invitations with one of my friends and we are 90% to the finished product. I printed up a mock up last weekend and the only thing that I didn't like about them was the paper that it was printed on lol. So this weekend, I am exploring my printing options including places to print that won't cost me an arm and a leg and I am going to investigate this paper warehouse I keep hearing from people who have used them for their wedding stationary.

The other thing that I did this week was buy all the ribbon I will be using for the wedding. I bought 1250 yards of ribbon which will be used for lots of projects. For those of you who have been following my blog, I have settled on the theme of "Ribbon in the Sky" so clearly I needed a lot of ribbon. They are going on my invitations, escort cards, ribbon wands, probably will incorporate some in my reception centerpieces, ceremony programs, and advice cards. The amazing thing about this ribbon though is that it can get pretty pricey. For some reason ribbon is expensive. So, of course I went scouring the web for a good deal on ribbon since I would need so much. I found an amazing deal. So, brides if you need any large amounts of ribbon for anything check out papermart.com. I got all my ribbon plus shipping and handling for $30.00. I am always leery about buying stuff online and especially on sites that aren't popular, but while I was looking for different ideas for my ribbon wands, I saw an instruction video and the lady in the video said she too had bought her ribbon from papermart.com. So, that eased my nerves a bit. Plus, I have about 2 more weeks before I start to panic if the ribbon doesn't show up. LOL

Also, I called my reception venue and the next thing to do for that is to tell them what my design for my centerpieces are. I am loving the fact that this place is taking care of all the stuff for the reception and I don't have to do anything but drop off escort cards, cake bags and party favors, oh yea and pay them. But that keeps me from stressing over all that stuff and I can just focus on the ceremony. We get to pick out our cake design and flavors. I guess we are getting to the fun stuff...cake tasting, Yippy. Hmmm what kind of cake do I want. Yum Yum.

Last but not least, I would like to thank all my bridesmaids for all of their help. Yup, all my bridesmaids have ordered their dresses for the ceremony and I am super excited. I probably have the best group of bridesmaids ever. They are the best. You all are so great, and I am being so serious. I could not do any of this without all of your help. Love you guys. 

Ok that's the end. I have gotten a lot done this week and I am really proud of myself. Just need to keep plugging along. Well, everyone save those pennies...you never know when they will come in handy. 

Mother of the Bride Dress

Hey everyone, I had a pretty productive day today. I am following my knot.com task check list to stay on top of all the things that need to be done for this wedding. The next up on the list was to finalize the DJ and to buy the ceremony decorations. Check and Check. My big brother Johnathan is going to be our DJ for the reception. This is turning out to be a family effort and I am really appreciative of all the help.

I also talked to my godmother the other day and she will be doing my hair and she also offered to do my make-up. I am really happy about that. She is excellent. There are only 3 people that I really trust to do my hair, my mother, my cousin and my godmother. For whatever reason, I have had bad experiences going to hairdressers. But, anyway that is settled now.

Now for the ultimate wedding saving thing that happened today. My mother has been looking for her dress for the wedding and hadn't found the one yet. Until today. Well, my aunt really found it for her. Here is a picture of the dress. Take a look at it and try and guess how much she paid for it.

Wait for it...wait for it. $30.00. Yup a similar dress was at David's Bridal for over $200.00 and my aunt found this dress for $30.00. Super happy for my mom. It is perfect and its a light fabric, perfect for a summer wedding and its absolutely beautiful. If you know how to shop and take the time to find what you need in the price range you are comfortable with, you can find just about anything within your price range.  

Lesson for today, my aunts are probably the best shoppers that I know. LOL. Well that's it for today. Save those pennies and bargain shop. Its actually really fun. 

Custom Made

Hey everybody. The time is really flying. I am getting more and more excited with every passing day. I have been really reflective on my life lately. It is about to change dramatically in the next 104 day. A little over 3 months from now I will be a wife. Crazy. But anyway, there is a lot to do in a little bit of time.

I posted a while ago in my "Something Old" post that I planned on wearing a pair of earrings that I found in my grandmother's jewelry box. They are very simple, classic and chic. I mean, I would expect nothing less from my grandmother. But, I wanted to have something unique to go with the earrings. One of my best friends and bridesmaids started a jewelry making business. She makes very beautiful and unique jewelry. She has a store on Etsy, check it out when you get a chance. http://www.etsy.com/people/zoereflections?ref=pr_profile Her pieces are very pretty. We brainstormed this weekend and came up with a design that I love and I can't wait to see the completed piece. Not only will this be very unique and I am sure nobody will have the same necklace, but it is also very cost effective, because I actually let her know what my budget was, and we came up with something that could be made within that budget. If you are a bride trying to save some money, you may want to play around with this kind of idea for your wedding jewelry. Maybe look around in your mother or grandmother's jewelry box instead of spending $50-$100 or more on new jewelry, you will have something sentimental and cost effective. Or, if you are crafty, try finding a design you always wanted to try and make it yourself. You never know what you will come up with.

Ok, my ribbon theme has really taken off. Here is kind of an inspiration board of all the things I plan on doing with ribbon. I found a great price on ribbon on papermart.com 100 yards for $3.00. I will definitely need a lot of it by the time this wedding is over. But anyway, invitations, seating cards, wedding programs and a greetings tree for the reception (words of encouragement for us as a new couple and/or date night suggestions). After this semester is over, I will be knee deep in DIY projects regarding lots of ribbon. The biggest one being my ribbon wands from the last post.

    

Side note: I am really enjoying this warm weather that we are having here in Pittsburgh. It makes me smile when I don't have to wear a jacket somewhere. Well, I hope you find something to smile about. Brides, remember what this is all about. The wedding is one day, but the marriage is for a lifetime. I refuse to let myself stress about things that will only matter for a day. I am a perfectionist, but if some of these projects don't turn out exactly like I want, ehhh, things will turn out beautifully no matter if its perfect or not. That has to be my attitude. Most important thing is I love John.

Have a great evening and save those pennies.

Wedding Theme - Ribbon in the Sky

So, I have been telling everyone that the theme of our wedding is kind ribbon in the skyish. I think I am going to make it official and just go ahead and make this the theme. The invitations, place cards and ceremony programs will all have swirls on them (the ribbon part), the colors are skyesque (blue and silver). The song is sort of old school which both me and John love, so I think it serves the purpose. Not to mention, the words to the song are really powerful.

The main reason I settled on this idea today was because I was looking for an alternative to bubbles, rice and glitter to "send us off" when we leave the church. I was looking through the blogosphere and came across this cute little DIY project called "Ribbon Wands". I think they are really cute and easy to make (I probably need about 500 of them LOL). Which is why the bubbles idea wasn't very ideal anymore. I would have to buy 500 containers of bubbles for the ceremony attendants. Yup, you read that right, our ceremony attendants list is nearing 500. CRAZY. Still gonna rattle around some ideas, but I think this one is really cute and I won't need to be super DIY bride to make it happen. It also popped out to me because the project was displayed in our wedding colors.



Here I am saving the DIY instruction link for future use: http://thetwips.com/blog/diy-ideas/ribbon-in-the-sky-diy/

                                               

I think this is very pretty and classic looking. Falling more in love with the idea with every google search.

Anyway, does anybody have any other ideas on how to incorporate the "Ribbon in the Sky" theme into our wedding. I am looking for a cute way to ask people to give marriage advice at our reception. Have a wonderful day and save those pennies.

Happy Leap Day

                                      
So wedding lore says that on Leap Day, it is acceptable for women to propose to their boyfriends. They even made a whole movie about this. I think it is an Irish custom or something but, anyway it could be something fun to try if your man is procrastinating on popping the question. Well, it would be fun if he said yes. Well anyway, I would love to hear any stories of women who have actually proposed to their men on Leap Day.

Well, on to wedding discussions. There is a lot to do as our wedding day comes closer and closer. We have finally started really nailing down this guest list. By guest list, I am pretty much referring to the reception guest list. It is by far the hardest thing to do when you are planning a wedding. If you have ever planned one, you know what I am talking about, if you have not planned one, you will find out what I am talking about. It seems like when everyone hears that you are getting married, the next question is am I invited to the wedding. It's hard to say yes or no to that because neither answer would be good. If you say yes, then you kinda have to pay for them to be there, if you say no, they go into this long story about how long they have known you. Just a sticky situation. But if you want to save money, the fastest way it to cut down the guest list. But the fastest way to get in an argument with someone about your wedding is to...you guessed it cut down the guest list. But anyway, things are going pretty well. We still have to trim the guest list a little more, but we are getting there.

We did make an Access database to keep track of all the addresses and from there it will be pretty painless to print labels off. Nope, I am not going to be taking anything to a calligrapher, nor am I going to be writing out anything, takes too long. Does anyone still do that anyway?

Next thing that I got done was to have my first wedding dress fitting. I didn't really have to do too much to my dress. Just get the bustle put in and take in the top slightly. I saved $175.00 by buying 4 inch heels. Yup, I will be wearing 4 inch heels on my wedding day LOL. I know that was a hot question earlier last year. Well, it was either pay $175 to get the dress shortened or pay $40.00 for some heels. Well, actually I was going to wear heels regardless LOL.  I was afraid of the bow and was prepared to do some DIY on them, but when I tried them on with my dress, they looked really cute. Thanks to my fiance for convincing me to actually try them on. We looked at them together online. I have my dress, shoes and the next thing is to work on jewelry. One of my bridesmaids makes jewelry, so the plan is to take my grandma's earrings as inspiration to make a necklace. Something dainty and complimentary to my "something old".

Bridesmaids are on schedule with ordering dresses, groomsmen need to get on it LOL. We are still looking for a DJ to play for our reception. So if anyone has any referrals, let me know.

Like I said, we are making headway. With all the weddings going on and people posting pictures of their big days, I am getting more and more excited about that special day. I will not have my intimate, small wedding, but hey that's what I get for having so much family. I will not complain. Well, make someone smile and save those pennies.

Knocking out Wedding Tasks Like A Pro

Happy Valentine's Day everyone. I hope you all remember that love is something that can be shared with anyone year around and doesn't have to wait for Valentine's Day. But, its also a great day to use to show someone you love that they are special to you today and everyday.

I am very happy wedding plans are moving right along. My future hubby is really helping me get things done and I can't ask for anything more. I was really nervous about this limo dilemma because when me and John originally talked, he wanted a Bentley. I was looking at a $1500.00 price tag. That was not in my budget plan. So we kept looking and God sent us a blessing. My future Mother in law sent us a contact and he hooked us up for 4 hours of limo use and a town car to take us to our hotel room after the reception. The limo is really nice too and it will fit the whole wedding party. Super happy. Just as a tip, you don't need the limo for the whole time of your wedding. All you need is the limo to bring the bridal party to the church (if you want to cut this out just arrange for cars to take everyone to the site. Just make sure everyone is there on time.). And you need to get everyone to get to the reception site. If you just do a limo for reception transfer and pictures you may be able to get away with the lowest package. Just beware, most limos require you to at least rent the car for 4 hours. This is what we are doing. 

Speaking of transportation, I need to sit down one of these days and take a look at who may need rides from the airport, possible rides too and from the reception hall since its kind of far away. Family and friends I'm probably going to ask you for some help with this. One that I know I will need are our photographers. One of my friends is coming from Atlanta with one of her employees and they will need rides too and from the airport and any transportation around the city for the wedding weekend. Also, I'm gonna need some help getting gifts and stuff like that too our house after the reception is over. Just a few things off the top of my head. I want to get everything down and planned so that I don't have to stress out figuring this stuff out the weekend of our wedding.

So, we also got a block of rooms reserved in Oakland. Apparently, June 30 is a super popular day to get married because the prices just keep going up. But if anyone needs a room for our wedding, there are 15 available there, and I am going to go look at the Quality Inn to see if I can get some rooms there too. Trying to get things done before I send out invitations.

I keep updating our registry list as well. There is a compiled list of the places we are registered on our wedding website gobbleandlarkins.ourwedding.com. I am really happy that is working because it can be a little confusing since we are registered a several places.

Well, things are moving along pretty nicely. And, surprisingly we are pretty good about being in budget. My next big project is to finish up the wedding invitations and to start addressing them and sending them out. I am really trying to stay stress free, since I have been through a lot because of this wedding already. But, I am thanking God that things are getting better. Welp everyone, save those pennies.

Our Wedding Website

www.gobbleandlarkins.ourwedding.com

So, everything is coming up pretty quickly and I finally got a chance to update our wedding website. This is going to be a pretty good resource for anyone who needs information about our wedding. It includes our registry, directions to the church and reception hall and some fun stuff about me and John.

I will try to keep updating it with any information that the guests will need. I am planning to put a packet together for all the out of town guests with travel information, names and numbers of who to contact with any questions and stuff like that. I just want to keep all my family in the loop as much as possible. If you have any suggestions on what else to put on the website, just leave me a message. Any feedback, words of wisdom, or suggestions are welcome. We are getting there slowly but surely. Enjoy :-)

Managing Wedding Stress

So I have about five months left until our wedding. Things are getting pretty tense in my world. I don't know why I thought I could plan a wedding, finish my last semester of school, and prepare for medical school all at the same time. But anyways, I am dealing with a lot of stress right now, and I am sure that this is something most brides go through, so I decided to find some good tips on how to manage stress leading up to your wedding day. I need to take some of this advice, because I need to stop taking my stress out on other people, especially my future hubby. So here we go. I got these tips from Ask.com and these tips were written by Craig Weber, MD.

1. Get Organized

Setting clear timelines and priorities will help eliminate unexpected complications from daily events and create a sense of empowerment and control.

2. Work it Off
A regular exercise program provides both physical and mental benefits. Physically, exercise helps release stress relieving hormones. Mentally, the time can serve as an important refuge in the hustle and bustle of daily life.

3. Develop Strategies
Stress is never completely unavoidable. To help deal with life's stressful situations, take some time to develop strategies to deal with unexpected moments. Whether it's having a backup ride for the kids or a Plan B dinner, simple strategies will go a long way to simplifying and deconstructing stressful situations.

4. Take 5
Everyone needs some quite time during a busy day. The "Take 5" rule works in both an organized an unorganized way. Building in small segments of quiet time will allow time to catch your breath and review daily goals. Being able to detach from an unexpected situation, even for a few minutes, will provide valuable respite and a fresh point of view.

5. Set Realistic Goals
Nobody likes to fail. Yet, one of the fundamental failings of modern goal setters is a tendency to set overreaching, potentially unattainable goals. Keep daily goals well focused, task oriented, and realistic.

6. Take a Nap
The idea of the afternoon nap is actually built into the fundamental functioning of many European cultures. Yet, in the hard working environment of American corporate and family culture, this valuable tool is often overlooked. Studies have show that even short 15 or 20 minute nap breaks markedly improve mood, outlook, and stress-handling ability

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7. Stay Involved
Boredom creates stress. Keep your days interesting and varied with a little preplanning. Hobbies, friends, and activities can all play a role.

8. Eat Well
Poor Nutrition both alters biochemical profiles, leading to feelings of exhaustion and stress, and also heightens poor body image, reinforcing these negative emotions. A balanced diet can help avoid these negative impacts.

9. Play
Personal recreation is a vital part of stress management. Spend some time each day engaged in activities you find enjoyable and fulfilling. Whether it's spending 20 minutes walking, curling up with a book or magazine, or just people watching at a cafe, personal time will leave your refreshed and feeling positive.

10. Connect
Social connections are fundamental to human experience. Seek out connections with like minded individuals or groups to improve your sense of social connection.

Here is another set of tips I found especially for brides:

http://www.realsimple.com/holidays-entertaining/weddings/wedding-stress-relievers-00000000006424/page2.html

I really need to work on regular exercise and playing. I have a hard time playing when I know I have a lot of things to do. I hope these tips help some poor bride out there who is stressing over how to pay for the wedding, how to tell her mother she doesn't want her to go crazy with wedding planning, or just plain needs a break. Remember to keep it all in perspective. Wedding are all about family and two families coming together to celebrate your new life. IF you are stressing over small details, think "will it matter the day after the wedding?" Probably not. Things will work out. Enjoy this adventure and try not to stress.

A Special Treat

Hey there...I wanted to share a video that my cousin and brother did at Thanksgiving. I hope you all enjoy it. I am trying to figure out how to incorporate them both into my wedding without adding another song to the ceremony. 

Reception Guest List

  

The first thing most wedding check lists tell you to do is sit down and come up with a tentative guest list. Yea...this took us a year and a half to do. We finally have a tentative guest list (for the reception) and surprisingly it is right at our limit. Now, I know you are probably sitting there thinking, "reception guest list?". Yes, since we are paying for our own wedding we decided to try and have a smaller reception (200 people or less lol) and invite everyone to come to the wedding. The reception is the most costly part of any wedding. I wanted to have a venue that had a nice garden outside area and was pretty for pictures on the inside. I believe the place we chose has the best of both worlds (cost effective & pretty grounds).

  

Now, the fun stuff begins. Where do all these people sit? LOL Yup the dreaded seating chart. In many ways, this will be the first time my family and extended family meets John's family and extended family. This is not going to be one of those weddings where everybody knows everybody and its just a matter of sitting the people who will like each other together. Yea, mostly everyone will be strangers to each other. My family will know my family/friends and his family will know his family/friends. We do want to mix it up and put some of my family/friends at a table with some of his family/friends. I hope it works.

I am getting excited for our big day to be here. I just have 3 months of school/med school waiting to get in the way of that excitement. This is crunch time for a lot of things in my life. Hey, if the world ends in December at least I can say that I had a fulfilling year hehe. But for real, I talked to my brother last night and he told me basically what everyone has been telling me. "You need somebody to help you." Trust me, everyone will have a task to do. I am thinking about who to ask to help me with the wedding coordination on the actual day. They would need to have the flow of the day down packed and be able to tell everyone where they need to be for the rehearsal and make sure things run smoothly on the actual day. If any of my family/friends know a good person, let me know. But, I will definitely need help in the months ahead.

Well, I hope everyone has a great day. They say we are getting snow to move in here this evening. Drive safely and save those pennies. I'm serious about this, every little bit help. Smile for the camera.