Why I Love My Fiance: Reason #5,235,298

Remember my inspiration for our programs??

Look what we have!

Ours are a bit bigger and squared -- 8.5 x 8.5, and the corners are rounded, though it's a bit hard to tell from this picture. Tom, despite having a bunch of other important things to take care of, spent the day armed with a hot glue gun and glue 100 of these together. Tonight and tomorrow, I'll be trying ribbons around the stems.

Teamwork, I tell ya -- it's glorious!

So It's Finally Happened.

I like to call it "The Part of the Wedding When You Have SO Much Stuff That You Can No Longer Functionally Use Your Living Room or Kitchen Table."

Yep. We've hit that point. I naively never thought we'd be here --- I always figured that I was organized enough that we wouldn't have boxes of wedding paraphernalia strewn about. I was wrong. Gravely wrong.

Poor Tom came home from work to find the house littered with tulle, sparkles, scraps of paper, boxes of parasols, and mountains of other crafty supplies. Even my best effort cleaning it all up left us with over 4 boxes stacked on tables and couches.

At least we held out this long!

20 days to go!! :)

June's Checklist -- Totally Successful!

In May, I was only semi-successful with getting things done on my to-do list. But, with the wedding getting closer, it was time to buckle down. Without further ado:

• Workout 5 days a week. I'd give myself a "B" on this one. I was doing this, until I pulled a muscle in my hip. Worst pain I've experienced to date. Honest. Now, I'm doing yoga until it heals. :(
• Assemble, stuff & ship envelopes. Totally successful.
• Celebrate birthday! Success. :)
• Make sure Tom gets his passport (or else I'm honeymooning by myself...) Got it! And it came in the mail last week!!
• Attend 2nd shower, write thank-yous, unpack new stuff! Finishing the thank-yous tonight and tomorrow! :)
• Confirm men's attire with the groomsmen, and hound them until they've figured out what they're doing... Done.
• Paperwork. Arrange new insurance policies, draft will, etc. Half-done. We have to wait for our marriage certificate to take care of the rest...
• Remind Tom to figure out day-of transportation... Done! We've booked a convertible to drive around that weekend! :)
• Begin working on writing ceremony and vows (!) Ceremony - done. Vows -- I still think it's a bit early, though I've been brainstorming.
• Get new accessories for Thomas (shoes, shirt, cuff links, etc.) Done!
• Finalize bridal party gifts... Almost done. Most are purchased/the rest have been figured out.
• Decide on veil...(?) Well, I've ordered the tulle to make it, and will make a final decision once I meet with my stylist this month.
• Make rehearsal dinner arrangements Done! Now I just need to let everyone know...
• Finalize wedding timeline and photographer schedule Done, too!
• Finalize floral selections & send to florist Boo. Not done.
• Draft program & get quote from printer Half-done.
• Reserve & confirm honeymoon hotels Done!

If I say so myself, that was one heck of a month! Go me! :) Unfortunately, July's going to be just as bad, if not worse! Let's take a look:

• Buy wine bottles for "guest book" & ceremony box (more on that later)
• Purchase remaining bridal party gifts :)
• Attend appt. with stylist for hair/veil
• Attend gown fitting (currently being hemmed, bustled at the next)
• Send out rehearsal dinner invites
• Trial hair/makeup runs
• Finish, print & assemble programs
• Get marriage license! (yeah! I think we're doing it this week!!!)
• Go over ceremony with "officiant"
• Wrap bridal party gifts
• Get final count for reception & confirm with Maggiano's
• Confirm & send out final payments for Czarina, Kristen & Kara
• Book airport shuttles and other tours for Australia
• Send "must-take" picture list to Kara
• Finish up music playlists and confirm equipment
• Paint flower girl wands and get them over to Kristen
• Create signs for wedding day
• Finalize after-party arrangements! Yes!!!

Anything I'm missing?? I'm sure there is...

A Weekend of Tasks...

With the holiday weekend, I have much more spare time than I'm used to. So, I plan to take full advantage of it all and accomplish some of the smaller tasks that I've been ignoring.

What I need to do this weekend:

• Pick up and paint dowel rods and accessories for the girls flower wands
• Pick up, paint & assemble ribbon wands
• Unpack & organize all our new kitchen toys from the shower!
• Mail shower thank-yous (they were finished Wednesday, but I'm just now getting around to getting to the post office)
• Finalize invitation nonsense

This last one, the invitations, have obviously been killing me the last few days. But as always, I think I've found a solution that I'm happy with and won't break the bank.

Before I go into specifics, here's a visualization of the new invitation with my oh-so-lovely Photoshop skills.

Using the blue invitations I still have, I'll be layering green and white mats, the white containing the printing. The text will be black, and our names and the design will be blue to match the backing. I'll be returning the original RSVP cards I bought (luckily they're all still in the package!), and having the company custom cut and print the new ones to match the green of the mat. The printing on that will be black.

Despite all the new paper, and the double-sided and color printing, this will probably only run about $100 or so total. The company I've found is absolutely fantastic, and has promised me a 2-day turnaround on printing, and 3-day shipping! So, if all goes well, I'll still have the invites a week before I wanted to send them. Awesome!! :)

Even though these have ended up costing more than I originally planned on spending, when you add in the cost for the Gocco, this new route, including the professional calligraphy, will probably only end up costing an extra $50. Not too bad, right? When you take into consideration that the average invitation costs $3.50, and ours will end up right around $1.15, I don't feel so bad!

Another Fail.

What do you do when a DIY project fails?





I, for one, leave it on my kitchen table, in hopes that when I wake up the next morning, it will be magically fixed.



Usually, it's not.



Check out this cute design that my awesome graphic ninja (again!) designed for me. They're thank-you cards for our wedding shower. Get it? Raining kitchen appliances??

This would be so cute and clever IF THE PRINTING WASN'T UGLY!

Stupid Gocco.

I'm half-tempted to sell it. I can recoup my money, at least...

Gocco: Step by Step

So I'm betting that 99.9% of you had never heard of a Gocco before reading this blog. I hadn't heard of it until last summer, either. Once I saw the magic that it produces, I knew I had to have it.

So, I scoured eBay for a great deal, and had this baby shipped all the way from Japan:



As a wedding gift to us, one of my coworkers who is a graphic design ninja, designed our invitation and response card.

On Saturday evening, I got to work:



Little did I know (since the instructions were in Japanese), that this sucker needed new batteries. After a quick trip to the local gas station, we were once again ready to make our screen.


Voila! Now you just peel the design off of the back, ink it up, and begin printing.

Okay, kids, now what have we learned? Now we see that a) the blue ink is too dark, so we'll have to custom mix a lighter shade, b) the white ink doesn't appear well on the green paper, and c) the font is much too small --- it's blurry and doesn't take up much of the card.

Since I was still trying it out, I thought I'd see what the design on the actual invitation would look like:

Aaah. Another "teachable moment." Design too blurry, needs to be sharpened. White still a little light, should probably be embossed. Also, must work on centering skills.

In short, we'll be reworking the design a teensy bit, I'll sharpen it up, and I'll get back to work. Also, I've decided to emboss the entire suite so the ink is raised, which will add many, many more man hours to the project. Good thing Tom's done with finals on Wednesday... ;)

Anything I missed? Questions, comments, compliments??? :)

DIY Month: Update 1

So a while ago, I mentioned that I was working on lots of DIY projects, though not all of them were for the wedding.

As my newest niece, Charlotte, will be arriving shortly, there is a sense of urgency surrounding projects relating to her bedroom and my nieces' new "big girl" bedroom. A few weeks back, I completed a set of 6 or 7 throw pillows for their room, and just recently, Becca and I tackled a few more "decor" elements. Take a look at the lamp below, as well as the letter plaques that we spent almost 8 hours on:



Pretty awesome, no?

Kudos to my brother-in-law Rick for the lovely wall paint job (as well as the dresser, chair rail, and mirror, in addition to the bunk beds and custom closet, too!). AND, major kudos to Bec for all her work refining and creating her vision. It's really turning out awesome, and I hope to be able to show off the rest of the room later (including the SUPER awesome reading corner, complete with seating & a chandelier!).

PS - I love the reflection in the mirror ;)

A Little Late to the Game

Did you know that March is designated as "National Crafts Month"? I did. And I've started my celebration late.

It's no surprise that I love me a good project, especially one that has instant results.

I actually started these organza flowers a few weeks ago as a test run. They were pretty simple, actually, and I had churned out 3 in less than half an hour. Plus, I only spent $10 on the organza, and I have plenty left over!



Mine are made out of blue and green, and I'm hoping I can figure out a way to make them into hair clips for my nieces. The ones I made were a bit more curly around the edges, but I like them that way. If I figure out a good use for them, I'll be sure to post the final result.

Last night, I left the wedding projects behind and moved into home decor. Not for my house (though those projects are beginning to swirl in my head, too!), but for my nieces' bedroom. The two oldest of the bunch are moving up to a "big girl" bedroom to make room for little Charlotte, who will be arriving in just 6 short weeks! So, last night, I dug my trust little sewing machine out from the depths of my closet, fired it up, and whipped up 2 pairs of curtains and 3 throw pillows. Tonight, I'm finishing up the last of the 3 pillows. Soon, Becca and I will start with the last of the accents, which I'm most excited about. I'll definitely post some pictures once the room is finished!

Since I was already on a crafty roll yesterday, I ordered a new set of calligraphy pens and white India ink to address the invitations.


(Clever calligraphy from Once Wed)

I informed Tom that once I finalize and verify all the guests' addresses, I'll be launching a hostile takeover of his computer and printer so I can begin the printing, then will start the white ink process in batches throughout April and May. This way, June will roll around and all I'll have to do will be to purchase the stamps! :)

And what's an envelope without an invitation?



That's right --- I'm breaking out the Gocco. I know I've made a series of false promises with this, but I really have no choice anymore. I have to start this and figure it out, in case it doesn't work...

And maybe, just maybe, if I'm not too burned out, I'll finally start on the ribbon wands I mentioned.

I've purchased a TON of ribbon a few weeks ago, but I still have to purchase the dowel rods for these and the flower girl wands and paint them before I begin anything...

DIY Craziness.

So anyone who knows me understands that DIY projects are pretty much my forte. You also know that I tend to take on huge projects, convince myself that they're super easy and inexpensive, then leave them half-finished (the plaques sitting in the computer room, Mom?).

So when I start thinking about the DIY wedding projects, my natural tendency is to go pretty crazy. And by crazy, I mean I've pondered actually doing the catering myself (and yes, I talked myself out of that pretty stinking quickly!). So here's the list of projects I'm definitely going to do myself:

• Invites
• Programs
• Favors
• Table menus
• Seating chart
• Veil
• Wreaths for the doors (Stupid project, but I'm finished already)

Here's a list of projects I'd like to do myself, but would be okay outsourcing:

• Ceremony arch/chuppah knock-off
• Misc. ceremony decor (chair/aisle decorations)
• Reception centerpieces
• Flower girl wands (the wand part, not the actual flowers...)

Hmm...I can't seem to think of any more out there. Anybody else??