I'm Officially A Mailbox Stalker!

The wedding invitations are out in the mail and hopefully on people's fridges! I'm so in love with them and apparently other people are in love with them too!!

After all the trouble I had making up my mind, finding something I liked and was happy with..I'm loving my decision. We've gotten a lot of compliments on the addressing as well that Dave's mom did. We've even been asked if she would do it as a side job for some I know getting married later this year.

Now that they've been mailed out, I've become even more obsessed with checking the mail than before. We only have one key to our mailbox and I just keep it in my car. I'm now to the point when I get to the main street we live off of, I'm grabbing the key, and going straight to the mailbox when I get home.  We've already gotten 3 or 4 RSVP's back...but today...8 of them...and they were all yes's! I'm so excited!
Some people haven't written little notes saying "We wouldn't miss it." I've had a bunch of people write on my wall letting me know they got the invite in the mail and are looking for something to wear! I love it!! It really just makes me smile!

We even got our wedding gift today! My good friend and mentor from my first news job, Ashley, won't be able to attend because of May being a ratings month in TV (I really didn't even think about it when we sent the date...opps!)  I got home after excitement of 8 RSVP's and walk in the door and there's a box from Target inside. I opened it, and inside a beautiful wrapped gift in Target's logo print on white paper (who knew they had some awesome gift wrap) and inside.. a set of 4 beer glasses!! We love them!! Dave is so excited.. it's one of the things he wanted since he loves beer! Thanks Yarchin! Love ya lots!

 As for the Checklist....it's almost all done!! We got so much done the past week.... Dave's ring has been ordered and is already in!  6 guys have been measured for their tuxes...just waiting on one more. It's all the small things.. music list, picture list, download music I've already selected.  I got to order sand for the sand ceremony. I found pink sand but can't find orange similar to it. It's not really sand.. it's more like thick tiny rocks... I guess that's a good way to explain it. =)  

We should get our guestbook from our photographer this week. She told me she would mail it today. She loves the way it turned out and now I can't wait to see it!!


Need to Do:

  PAY OFF VENDORS

 Meet with Carol for catering 

·            Update flower list with Sandra

·             Download wedding ceremony music  <-- started

·             Meet with DJ – list of “to play” and “not to play” songs

·              Measurements for Guy Tuxs <---6 Guys Measured...1 More to go...

        Make Appointment for Alterations

        Have beads fixed on dress <- Pick up next week!!!!

·              Bridesmaid Order Dresses 

·              Must take picture list < -- started working on

        Send Envelopes to Susanne to be addressed

·              Go to post office to weigh invitation

·              Schedule hair trial <-- had to reschedule, made appointment for Bridal portraits

·              Figure out who’s doing my makeup

·              Apply For Marriage License

       Send photographer disc of pics for guest book  <-- Photographer has ordered!

       Water Bottle Labels

P     Put Together Invites

       Mail Out Invites

   Need to Make:

·              Card Box 

        Rhinestone Cake Topper

        Tears Of Joy Packets 

·              Programs

·              “Day Of” wear

·              Emergency Kit

En    Envelope Liners

        I Spy Game Cards

      

   Need to Buy/Order:

·            Clear Labels for Return Address

·              Postage for invitations

·              Pick out other gifts for Bridal Party

·              Sand/ Sand Ceremony Frame set

·              Dave’s wedding band

·              Garter

·              Sparklers, Ribbons & Container

·              Pen for guest book

·              Koozies 

·              Parasols 

·              Flutes & serving set <-- Mom ordered!

·              Solemates – heel covers

Until next time....  1 month, 4 weeks and 1 day to Mrs.!

The Road To The Aisle

Things are really starting to come together.. I know I just blogged the other day but I've gotten so much done since then.  I think it helps I've only worked 2 of the last 6 days.  (I had a normal weekend off then got back on my regular schedule, so I worked Monday & Tuesday this week, and was off again on Wednesday & Thursday.)  Anyways...

I wanted to share what I've gotten done.  One of the big checks... Dave finished our photo card box.  I wanted to post pictures and instructions on how I did it since so many knotties on The Knot boards have been asking, but I can't find the pictures I took of Dave working on it when here started...So instead here's a link to the blog I followed....The Road To The Aisle We did just about everything the same, but instead of using L Brackets, we used Hing Brackets. I hope this helps if you want to do the project. It's a lot of fun and is a way to get the fiance' involved.

Another thing started and almost done, the wedding invitations!!! Dave's mom did a wonderful job with the calligraphy . She brought them last week and I couldn't wait to get the liners done...so right after they left on Sunday I got started!  She has 20 envelopes she still has to send to me for last minute additions and corrections.  Once I was done with the liners, I couldn't wait.... I went ahead and added in all the invites. 

Then yesterday Dave and I went and had the direction cards printed up. Since we're getting married on a military base, there's some extra steps our guest will have to take to get to the ceremony. That plus the address for the Officer's Club doesn't come up on Google Maps or in my GPS, so we wanted to make sure everyone knew where they were going. After that, we went and got the invitation weighed and purchased stamps for the invites and RSVP postcards... Don't get me started on those stamps.... Let's just say the post card stamp prices are going up during the month of April, right in the middle of my RSVP timeline. So the cards have two stamps..one with a polar bear..the other with a tiffany lamp. Not my dream stamps for my wedding invites. Anyways... I got home and couldn't wait (once again) so I started putting stamps on the RSVP cards and matching the cards with the correct envelopes. We numbered our RSVP cards to match up with our guest list in case someone forgets to put their name.  Now I will finish up the rest next week with one of my awesome bridesmaids, Melissa.  I can't wait to get the invites out in the mail and on top of that, start getting RSVPs back!!

Another project I started and I'm so excited about is our "I Spy" game/cards for the reception.  I just came across this the other day and think it would be fun and super cute. The wonderful Martha Stewart started the trend..
You have cards at all the tables and you just have random things from your reception for people to take pictures of, like "The Photographer Taking a Picture," "The MOH Helping the Bride," " The Newlyweds Talking With Guest," etc etc  I'm excited about it!



I'm so excited the big day is almost here. I can't wait to celebrate let alone go on my awesome honeymoon!




Taking Care of The List:

Need to Do:

  PAY OFF VENDORS
 Meet with Carol for catering 

·            Update flower list with Sandra

·             Download wedding ceremony music  <-- started

·             Meet with DJ – list of “to play” and “not to play” songs

·              Measurements for Guy Tuxs <--Papa & Dave have been measured, other guys have been sent info

        Make Appointment for Alterations

        Have beads fixed on dress <-- dress is dropped off

·              Bridesmaid Order Dresses < -- DONE!

·              Must take picture list < -- started working on

        Send Envelopes to Susanne to be addressed

·              Go to post office to weigh invitation

·              Schedule hair trial <-- going to see my stylist next week

·              Figure out who’s doing my makeup <-- My good friend Brittany has agreed to this, along with doing hair

·              Apply For Marriage License

       Send photographer disc of pics for guest book  <-- going out this weekend

       Water Bottle Labels

P     Put Together Invites

       Mail Out Invites

   Need to Make:

·              Card Box 

        Rhinestone Cake Topper

        Tears Of Joy Packets 

·              Programs

·              “Day Of” wear

·              Emergency Kit

En    Envelope Liners

        I Spy Game Cards

      

   Need to Buy/Order:

·            Clear Labels for Return Address

·              Postage for invitations

·              Pick out other gifts for Bridal Party

·              Sand/ Sand Ceremony Frame set

·              Dave’s wedding band

·              Garter

·              Sparklers, Ribbons & Container

·              Pen for guest book

·              Koozies 

·              Parasols 

·              Flutes & serving set <-- mom is taking care of

·              Solemates – heel covers

85 days to go... And Thinking Of Those Who'll Be Missing Out

Man how time is flying now... It seems like the year just started...but no..Tuesday is the first day March already!

Things are getting done and finished... including paying off all of our vendors. Thanks in part to our tax returns, that is now done!  That's a big accomplishment! Now it's just to finish up all the small things.
We got our favors delivered last week! They turned out so awesome! I can't wait for everyone to see them!

I feel like things are getting done, but I can't remember any more what I've done.. lol
The best thing done.. wedding invitation envelopes are done!! There's a handfull left for Dave's mom to do but she's in town this weekend and brought them with her! They look awesome!!

We had a little issue with the bridal party this week. Dave's groomsmen Anthony is in the Marine Corps and is stationed in Yuma, AZ. He got orders this week for deployment soon after the wedding, so with him living out of state, he needed to step down to take care of things for his deployment to Afghanistan.  So Dave decided to ask my step-dad Joe to be a groomsmen, and he happily accepted so things are good now.  Thanks Anthony for your service and you will be missed! But country comes first.

Mr. & Mrs. Anderson Young

One another note, I went to a wedding last weekend. My friend and sorority sister, Prissy, got married.  Her wedding also gave me a chance to see our wonderful photographers, Judy Kay & Wayne last weekend. Prissy looked amazing and had a great wedding. Everything was beautiful. Brooke and I had such a good time. (Both of our guys backed out on us last minute so we went as each other's date.. Hey That's what a sisters for!)

Brooke & I 

Chaunte', Josh & Stee

That same weekend I went home to Columbia was a great weekend to go home.  My friend Josh is a member of the South Carolina National Guard and on Sunday, February 19th.. he deployed to Fort Hood, Texas for a month before heading to Afghanistan for a year tour. Dave and I had spent the weekend before with Josh and his fiance', Stee. 

On Shem Creek

They came to Charleston to celebrate Stee's birthday and Valentine's Day and they stayed with us and we got to have lunch together out on Shem Creek.  Dave and I were glad we had some time to see Josh off at the airport before heading home to Charleston. It was a very emotional moment... as we spent the time with Josh and his family before he left.
We hate he won't get to join us for our wedding but we know he'll be there in spirit.  Josh-- Thank you for what your doing. We can't wait to meet up when you're home for R&R, but more importantly, we look forward to your safe return and ride on the Thriller next summer!

Taking Care of The List:

Need to Do:

  PAY OFF VENDORS

·            Meet with Carol for catering 

·            Update flower list with Sandra

·             Download wedding ceremony music  <-- started

·             Meet with DJ – list of “to play” and “not to play” songs

·              Measurements for Guy Tuxs <--Papa & Dave have been measured, other guys have been sent info

        Make Appointment for Alterations

        Have beads fixed on dress <-- dress is dropped off

·              Bridesmaid Order Dresses < -- DONE!

·              Must take picture list < -- started working on

        Send Envelopes to Susanne to be addressed

·              Go to post office to weigh invitation

·              Schedule hair trial

·              Figure out who’s doing my makeup <-- My good friend Brittany has agreed to this, along with doing hair

·              Apply For Marriage License

       Send photographer disc of pics for guest book  <-- going out this weekend

       Water Bottle Labels

   Need to Make:

·              Card Box <-- just need to buy lazy susan and put together

        Rhinestone Cake Topper

        Tears Of Joy Packets 

·              Programs

·              “Day Of” wear  <--ended up just buying

·              Emergency Kit

       Envelope Liners  <--cut out, now need to put in addressed envelopes

      

   Need to Buy/Order:

·            Clear Labels for Return Address

·              Postage for invitations

·              Pick out other gifts for Bridal Party

·              Sand/ Sand Ceremony Frame set

·              Dave’s wedding band

·              Garter

·              Sparklers, Ribbons & Container

·              Pen for guest book

·              Koozies 

·              Parasols 

·              Flutes & serving set <-- mom is taking care of

·              Solemates – heel covers

Blinging "I Do"

I've been in the DIY (Do-It-Yourself) mode with lots of wedding things... From the programs (which I just bought all the ribbon and handles for on Black Friday) to designing the invitations and photo share cards.

One other thing I wanted to do was "bling out" my wedding shoes.  The first thing to decide...what shoes to wear. I finally decided on my hot pink pumps I got for our engagement pictures.   They are super cute and the height on them won't make me have to get my dress altered on the bottom... I won't be able to wear these all night.... but I never do at any wedding. I always switch into my flip flops so my wedding will be no different.   So it was time to start blinging!

Below are some step by step instructions (with pictures) on how to do it.

Besides my shoes, I got my invitation samples in the mail this week and I absolutely love them!!! I will be ordering the complete order this week so I'm so excited!  I can't wait for Dave's mom to address them with her beautiful calligraphy. 

Secondly, we booked and planned out rehearsal night.  Rehearsal will be at 5:30 with dinner at 7:00 p.m. at the amazing CALIFORNIA DREAMING next to the USC Campus. It's actually located right across the street from the dorm I lived in when I first met Dave!  We also celebrated my 24th birthday there... which is the first "holiday" we celebrated together as a couple.  The inside is so pretty.. The restaurant first opened its doors in 1984 in a historic railroad depot at Union Station.
On the back side of the bar (which you can see here) is a private dining room, which we have booked.  It's a great set up and I love what they have to offer.  You can select items from the menu to create to your own or have an open men. They also have waiters that will concentrate on our party and not have to worry about other tables in the restaurant.  I can't wait!



Okay so it's time to share my DIY project....

Rhinestones -- I decided to go with clear/silver and blue 5mm rhinestones. 
Then,  I had to decide what I really wanted to put on the bottom.  I thought about our initials & the wedding date, "I Do" and the date...  and that's what I went with. I printed a few of my favorite fonts to test out which one I'd like best. I cut them into little squares and decided on what I liked best...then I printed out different sizes of the chosen font to see what would be the best fit.

Next, I taped the square onto the shoe and used a safety pin to poke holes to trace the letter onto the rubber sole. Once I peeled the paper off, there was a faint outline of the letter.

Then I traced the holes with a permenant marker to make it stand out a little more so I could see it.  I then used Tacky Glue and a thin paint brush to put the glue on the shoe.. then used tweezers to put on the rhinestones.

I love the way they turned out!

Can't Make Up My Mind

 So I really thought I had my invitations picked out until I really started doing the math on the prices my graphic designer/printer gave me.  I just couldn't pay as much as they were asking for it and it not be completely what I wanted. I wasn't in love with what they did so I continued my search.  Mind you, I've never had a hard time with invitations before...parties, birthdays, work events... those have been easy to decide on...but for this wedding, it's a different story.

I was talking to my Matron of Honor, Suzanne, one day about the invitations and she asked me if I had checked out Zazzle.com. It's a website that does custom you name it on there... from business cards to invitations to tshirts and even phone cases, you can design just about anything you want there.  I probably spent a good 6 hours on that site that day looking at all my different options from pre-made designs to create your own from scratch, I tried it all.  And I finally found two designs I was really happy with. But then it happened again, I couldn't make up my mind. I asked Dave for input and he kept telling me to go with what I liked and that was the problem, I liked both.  Then he suggested I e-mail all the girls in the wedding party (including our moms) to get feedback on all three invitations (the two I designed on Zazzle and the one from the printers).  That was the best decision ever.  Pretty much everyone had the same answer, they liked the design from the graphic designer but they really liked one of the ones from Zazzles.   So today I ordered 10 of the invitations to see how they turn out before I place a huge order (we're talking almost 200 invitations!)

Next on the to-do list --- Guest Favors! Dave and I are both fans of koozies. To be honest, Dave has an old laundry bag full of koozies he's collected from over the years. And Dave doesn't go anywhere without one and it's usually his Zac Brown Band koozie.
So we want to give our guests something we enjoy so they can remember being part of our special day for years to come.  I saw a design of a koozie on facebook one day that I really liked and knew that's exactly what I wanted for ours... but then once again, the search began for that piece of art work.  Being from South Carolina, I love the Palmetto Tree. It represents where I'm from, where Dave's lived most of his life, and the Southerners that we are. And today I finally found that design on a website......
It's the Palmetto Tree & Crescent Moon with wedding rings hanging from the moon!! I want to add our names and wedding date and then it will be complete!

On to side notes not pertaining to the wedding:  I'm back to work. I started this week as a producer at WCSC Live 5 News in Charleston.  They are the CBS station in the area and the #1 news station in the market. I've been hired to start on the weekend show but I was told they don't keep people on the same show for too long because things start to become habits and the best product isn't being put on air.

Softball season is finally over.  Dave's co-ed team finished 3rd in their division. So a big congrats goes out to Sons of Pitches for a great season.  The men's team is done as well...not as great of a season but there's always next year.

Oh and we can't forget what a wonderful weekend it was for Carolina Football! The Gamecocks are the SEC East Champions, after beating Florida in the Swamp. Congrats to Steve Spurrier, Steve Jr. and the whole team for a job well done!

Until next time.....

Paper and Programs

Well I'm finally moving forward (at least I hope) with the invitations. Dave and I finally got the chance last week to head back over to West Ashley to take a look at the options for font/design for our invitations.

This is what I came up with on some website since I couldn't find anything on any wedding site that I liked. I love the colors and the design at the top... the lines and circle ...that's what sorta gave me the inspiration for the wedding cake design. I love the back too....I put one of my favorite pictures of us on there along with our website cause that site has so much information for our guests... hotel info, airport info, driving directions (including gate information since it's on a military base) as well as things to do while in town for all of the out of town guest.


I ordered one copy of this invite along with a matching RSVP to a print shop in West Ashley to see what they could do with it. Luckily they have a graphic design who could help improve my design. We decided we needed to change to font to make it more formal and less normal party invites. So after 6 or 7 designs and formats, I decided on this one here.... I love the design they came up.

Graphic Artist's Design

I think the top goes really well with the font. They still got to design the back but now I'm deciding if I still want to keep the picture on there or just be blank. They also designed a match RSVP card which will be like a postcard so it's easy for the guest to fill out and throw back in their mailbox and not have to worry about the envelope. Plus-- it saves on money on my part since it cost less to send a postcard.

I've also had a lot of time on my hands lately which has given me the opportunity for some DYI wedding projects and the once I recently worked on and figured out is the paddle fan programs for the ceremony. It's something I've always said I wanted...but of course to order them online, they are so expensive. So after lots of googling (which I love to do) I found a template for the paddle programs fans. (Here's the template: http://www.wedding-paper-products.com/Fan-Programs.php)
So after a little time working and putting it together and getting some supplies..... here's what I came up with....I'm pretty proud of myself.

I had a few issues with the text and picture and wrapping the text but I finally figured it out. There's also a back to it but a) It's completed with the rest of the wedding party and we haven't finished asking everyone so if I post it, it will give it away and b) I can't show you everything for the wedding..otherwise there won't be any surprises come the wedding day. It's pretty inexpensive to make them your self too... I think I paid $2.17 for 75 paddle sticks (or jumbo Popsicle sticks), the rolls of ribbon were on sale 99 cents each (normally $1.29) and then the printing. I printed this one at home but will have the real ones printed professionally.

I'm pretty proud of myself and what I've made and look forward to being even more creative in the coming months.... 199 days to go!

More Wedding Planning

Well well.. time is drawing nearer! Less than 9 months to the big day! WOW!!! So exciting yet lots to do.
We've gotten a few things taken care of...small things but it's done.

A few weeks ago, my mom was in town for the weekend.  We had a softball team gathering on Saturday to kick off the upcoming season and celebrate Dave's team winning a championship, but on Sunday we spent the day picking out songs for the reception.  Dave had no idea it took so much to plan music.  He didn't know you had to pick all these songs out for everything like cake cutting, garter toss, entrance, etc etc.  So we probably spent about 4 hours deciding on songs.  We had a few disagreements, especially when it came down to the cake cutting song... click here to hear what Dave's choice was...Needless to say, I was totally against it and that's not what was chosen.

This past weekend, Dave's mom came into town from Vermont so we could do some rehearsal dinner planning.  We aren't really sure what we want, so we looked at all our our options. We started in the Vista and checked out Blue Marlin, Liberty Tap Room, then we decided to head over to California Dreaming, as that restaurant is one of the first places we had a date. We started thinking we wanted some more casual, so we started looking at catering options.  Dave loves BBQ and of course, there are some great BBQ places in Columbia.  We went by Doc's Barbeque and really enjoyed what they had to offer. Besides BBQ, they offer a wide variety besides BBQ.  Before heading home, we checked out Dianne's on Devine  but thought that was too much more than we wanted.  We never came down to a final decision, but we our final choices are California Dreaming and BBQ catering.

One of the things I've had the hardest time with ....invitations.  I can't find one that I'm in love with.  I finally found a website when I could design whatever I wanted and I love what I came up with.  I ordered a copy of it and it came in the mail earlier this week and I was disappointed with the paper it was printed on.  Now I'm gonna have to see if a printing company can make them for us.


Until next time....