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.