3 More Days!

It's amazing...I am so excited and full of anticipation about the wedding! However, I really wish I had something to fill my time a little more. Even with the last minute errands and organization, I still feel like I have too much time to sit around and think about things!

The last few days I have just been an eager and fidgety bride! I keep tapping my fingers, my leg doesn't seem to stop and it's wearing me out! I feel like I need a nap :-)

Tonight is the wedding rehearsal, so fortunately we take everything that will be needed for the wedding and drop it off with the venue. So, all of the favors, the escort cards, the cake topper, ring bearer pillow, flower girl basket, etc. will all be out of the house as of tonight! The rehearsal itself will be very short. The Hacienda only allows for a 30 minute rehearsal...which I honestly find a little disturbing. I understand that The Hacienda does weddings and parties constantly, so they are comfortable with everything and know exactly what to do and what to expect. However, I wish they would take into consideration that the brides and grooms having their events at their venue don't have that comfort. We don't know how they do things, we don't know how things get set up there, we don't know how they take all of our wedding elements and set them up the way that we want.. Although the staff is incredibly friendly, they really leave everything hanging on the line of "oh we'll handle that at the rehearsal". Well, how are you supposed to handle ALL the details of a wedding at a 30 minute rehearsal? They really assume that everyone is just okay with their hands-off, "oh we'll take care of it" approach. I for one, am not...but have kind of realized that I really don't have a choice but to just accept it and deal with it. I'm just really hoping that my faith in a vendor that I've never done business with goes well.

I feel bad for Jarrod too! Today is the first day of his weekend, and since he works nights he's been up since yesterday at about 10pm. Knowing what's on his "to-do" list for the day, he won't get a nap or any sleep in before the rehearsal. I really don't like this, especially since he's been battling a cold this week. The last thing he needs is to deprive himself of sleep. Poor thing!

I do know that we are both looking forward to the rehearsal dinner at our favorite place, Lucille's BBQ. There will be SO much food, I know there's going to be left-overs! But, it will be an enjoyable time with friends and family!

6 More Days!

WOW...the wedding is only 6 days away! I think everything is planned and for the most part everything is done. There are just a few small errands and things to do at this point which hopefully get wrapped up in the next few days.

It's been incredibly difficult to get things done simply because of this cold I've had for a little over a week now! Sadly, Jarrod now has the cold and his just started last night...which means the poor thing is probably going to be miserable at the wedding and honeymoon :-( I'm praying that he is able to get rid of the cold sooner than I've been able to...yeah I still have mine.

Fortunatley, my mom and sister came and helped me finish up the favors yesterday! We knocked those out in a few hours, which really helped relieve a lot of stress from me!

The only things left really at this point are some of the presents for our wedding party/parents, etc. Everything else is just the "getting ready" part! The waxing, the nails, picking up the dress and the tux, etc.

We are also waiting for my "stand-in" ring. I was very weary about wearing my wedding ring on the honeymoon (didn't want to lose it or have it stolen), so we ordered a fake ring for me to wear. I still haven't seen what that one looks like, Jarrod seems to think it's funny to not let me see it until it arrives...so I'm nervous! Not really...he has good taste and it's just a fakey so that I have something to wear on the honeymoon!

I think I'm past all the pre-wedding cold feet (I hope), and at this point I am just so excited to see it all come together! I really hope that everyone who is coming has a good time and enjoys everything!

Wedding Money

Well, I think everything is "planned" for the wedding and those plans have been executed (for the most part). Naturally, however with that comes the part where you have to pay! I feel as though we have actually pulled off a LOT with our little wedding budget, but we are definitely over our allotted budget. It's all the little stuff that adds up...even if you try to do a lot of DIY stuff.

I actually think that Brides have the tougher end of the wedding bargain! We have SO much to buy and do in order to prepare for a wedding. I mean between the dress, the accessories, the hair and the nails and the million mile list of everything else, it really does get kind of crazy! The guys have it easy...they just rent a tux and poof they're done!

What does kind of suck about putting so many funds towards personal prep and wedding items, is that it leaves almost no money left to put towards the honeymoon spending. Thankfully, Jarrod's mom has provided us with a wonderful gift and has offered us a trip to Cancun! I am so excited about that and cannot wait to go and relax after these months of stress and planning! I almost see the honeymoon as our "prize" for completing the wedding to-do list...kind of crazy I'm sure?

Wedding Moss Cake Topper

So, since we had only had planned so far the moss trays that the place cards will sit on and the moss that the centerpieces will sit on, I wanted to be sure and incorporate more moss somewhere!

I had found someone on etsy that makes these moss monograms for cake toppers and I thought it was totally cute! I tried to contact them and purchase one since I really didn't want to put another "DIY" project on my plate. However, the owner stopped responding and I wasn't ever able to place an order. So, on with another DIY project!


I first got a small piece of styrofoam from Michaels:







Then I printed up a letter from Word, don't really remember what font size...but I wanted it to be big enough to be legible once it was cut-out and then covered with moss.

Then I laid the "W" on top of the styrofoam (without the packaging), and began to poke holes through the outline of the letter to provide me a guide of where to cut (I probably could have gone a little bigger...but there was NO WAY I was re-doing this again with all the other stuff I have to do):

Then I took a packaging knife (a small xacto didn't work because it was too short to get through the entirety of the styrofoam) and started cutting out my "W".

Once my "W" was cut out, I took my handy dandy hot glue gun and some sheet moss (I got mine at Shinoda). I'm pretty sure you can use whatever packaged moss you can find, but I used the kind that comes in a roll and has a backing so it's easy to cut.

Then I began cutting pieces that fit various parts of the "W" and hot gluing like crazy! It was a stringy mossy mess for a while there ;-)

Here is the finished product:

I had taken some scissors and dug a small hole in the bottom of part of the "W" and I had bought a small wood stick (don't know the proper word for them right now) from Michaels, and hot glued it into the hole for support. This stick will be placed into the cake for support.

This will be going on top of our 3 tiered squared carrot cake, the top tier is supposedly about 6" wide, so this should be a good size for it ;0)

Long Time No Post!

It's starting to get busier...and I don't know that it's so much getting busier with the to-do list or if I just feel anxious and therefore feel as though there are a zillion + one things to do? Either way, I'm stressing! I couldn't really tell you what one thing I am stressing about...I think everything has been thought of or planned out. I really honestly think at this point whatever hasn't been thought of isn't too terribly important enough to stress over. So why can't I relax? I don't know...I literally keep reminding myself to breathe!

Anyways, I am finally uploading a picture of the wedding invitation that we created! For the most part these were sent out in the beginning of September. More recent versions that went out didn't have the die-cut swirls.

Tent Cards?

So, you would think that finding a tent card template online would be an easy thing, right? Nope, not really! I've been searching for a good one for about a month now. Most of the ones that I find are really long (like 2 3/4" x 11"), which is ridiculous for a wedding.

Then I found a martha stewart templates site: http://www.print.marthastewart.com/ website...and although there are templates on there, they don't really provide you a sample so that you can figure out what information needs to go where so that it prints correctly.

It's very frustrating to say the least! I thought that maybe word would have a simple template, but apparantly not. I know that Avery provides one, so I'm now going to try and use their template without their cards and cut them out myself on my own paper...so hopefully that works. If not, then it's back to my trusty Photoshop to create another item from scratch.

In addition to making these, I still need to design the rehearsal dinner invitations, however I still need the wording for those from my fiance. So, hopefully I can get that from him this week since those have to go out SOON!

Yikes...I'm running out of time very quickly!

41 Days and Counting

So, I may have my handy-dandy "to-do" list (thank you to www.weddingwire.com) however, I still feel like there are a zillion and one things to do!

It's so difficult, I sit at work all day thinking of the things that I need to take care of, and then I get home and I'm so tired I can't remember which one I was going to take care of :-(

With only 41 days left, I don't really have room to procrastinate anything anymore...I need to stay motivated and get things done the second that I have time. Often times the trouble is the fact that I sit down to start working on one thing and then i remember something else and I go work on that and then i remember another thing and i go work on that...all the while never fully completing any one thing. Then the anxiety kicks in...

Although, I would have to say is that the "true" stress of wedding planning really doesn't come from the millions of things you have to pick out, buy, pick up, deliver, communicated. Nope, it really comes from EVERYONE else either involved or attending the wedding. My fiance and I have quickly learned that this wedding is not really for "us", it's for everyone else. Sure, it may have the elements that we prefer, but really all the work going into this is to please other people and their expectations. Which makes it even more stressful/disappointing when those people start to complain or disapprove and point out things that aren't going the way they think it should be.

I think at this point, the true motivation that keeps me going is the simple fact of knowing how much I love Jarrod and how much he loves me. It doesn't hurt that we're also getting to spend an entire week in Cancun! I just keep day-dreaming about lying on the beach and a drink with an umbrella in my hand!

Incoming Dress!

I am full of excitement and anticipation and butterflies! Why, you may ask? Because my wedding dress has arrived at the store, and tomorrow I go in and try it on for the first time! The wedding is now 51 days away, so the rush of the countdown is hitting me hard!

I'm hoping that the alterations go quickly and the dress is all pressed and prepped and ready to be in my hands within the next 3 weeks...or I may start hyperventilating!

I'm full of excitement not only because it will be the first time that I will be trying on "my" dress. But, it will also be the first time that I will have ever seen this dress in the champagne color. So, I'm really hoping that I still love it as much as the one I tried on (which was actually too small for me, so I'm also nervous to see how I actually look in this dress).

I wasn't able to lose any body fat or weight like I was trying to do before the dress came in, so essentially the weight I'm at now is the weight I will be for the wedding. Which I'm okay with, naturally I was just hoping to get rid of some tummy pudge and be a little more "tone". C'est la vie! As long as I don't gain any weight moving forward I think we'll be okay!

Another note, we have finally found and bought all the bridesmaids shoes! While my shoes are still a bit tight, I am wearing them constantly in hopes to stretch them out and will be taking them back to Nordstroms yet again for another free shoe stretching (the first time around didn't seem to do much).

While my to-do list is getting checkmarks for items completed...I feel as though more items are being added constantly! Hopefully, I can just remember to take one item at a time and not feel so overwhelmed with it all. I know I still have plenty of time, but for some reason I feel so nervous that I'm not going to get it all done.

I guess only time will tell!

Get it Done!

I'm getting more and more into a "go get it done" mood. The wedding checklist has about 150 things to do on it, and many of them i feel as though I can probably work on right now so that they are done and off of our list. So, that's precisely what I am doing starting tonight! Jarrod and I will be working on the centerpiece containers (we want to make sure that they are nice and water proof/leak proof) and I'll also be making most of the table numbers and stands. Most of this stuff is going to the florist in a few weeks so that she has everything she needs. But, I know in the next few weeks my schedule is going to get CRAZY, so I want to try and knock as many things out of the way that I can so that I'm not overwhelmed when everything else starts to hit.

I must say that is the downfall with having a majority DIY wedding...the time required to put it all together can be daunting at times. Fortunately for me, these DIY projects have come in sporatic spurts, so I have been able to apply plenty of attention to each one as they come up. However, it is starting to get exhausting. Which is why I have opted to purchase our wedding cake topper instead of making it myself. After looking around and determing what I would need to buy (which isn't really very much) and seeing how much time (and probably frustration) would be required, then comparing to the item I was basing my creation on I decided just buying one would be cheaper than doing it myself. Plus, I would be completley frustrated if the one I made didn't come out the way I had envisioned.

Other things off the list are, my shoes (finally) and the flower girl dress! Next are the bridesmaids shoes (I hope) and the tux rental decision. Jarrod still wants to get pricing from one more place before deciding which one to go with.

Shoe Drama

So, it seems like the continuous "issue" in this wedding timeline is the finding of shoes! It's actually been a headache which started about 2 months ago. I first searched and searched for shoes online, not really finding a lot. So, I thought maybe the style of shoe I wanted would be better found in the Fall. Then my sister found a pair of shoes through Nordstroms which I fell in love with. Naturally, however none of the Nordstroms stores within 50 miles carries that particular shoe. So, I had to have the store order them and ship them to my house. I have now had to go through this process 3 times because for whatever reason this particular shoe runs extremely large. I just noticed today that my credit card was refunded the funds for my most recent return...so now I must wait a few days and see if they charge my card for the exchange pair. Right now my fingers are crossed that they have that size available!

Also, the bridesmaids shoes has been extremely difficult to find! We found this great dress that everyone loves, however we can't seem to really find any shoes that match the dresses. Again, we've already returned one pair of shoes because when the dresses came in we realized that the shoes did not go at all! So, now I am waiting patiently for my sister to go to some stores with the dress in hand to be able to better match some shoes.

Needless to say, through all this I have been reminded as to why I do not go shoe shopping...it's always such a headache.

However, if this is the only "hiccup" we have during the wedding planning and the wedding itself...then I'll take it! Worst comes to worst, we are all wearing flip flops!! lol!

Excitement is in the Air Again

It's weird...the excitement of the wedding comes in rollercoaster spurts. Some days you're ready for all the planning to cease and to just get back to "normal" life, while other days you're kind of gitty about it all. Today is one of those days that I'm happy to have the wedding planning distraction to be able to turn to and get my mind off of other things.

Today for instance, I've been working on figuring out what kind of arrangements I want to put together for my bridal shower...which is next weekend! I know...why am I doing the flowers for my own shower? Well, simply put...I know I can get them way cheaper than any florist will charge my mother and my aunt. Also, I know what I want and I know that I can do it all fairly quickly. Plus, I think a part of me just feels weird if I'm not contributing some sort of help with the shower. I know it's for me and I'm "not supposed to do anything", but I can't in good conscience just show up to something that is for me and not help with it in some way.

Oddly enough, throughout this entire planning process I keep having this feeling that I'm forgetting something. There's so many aspects to a wedding, and so many "great ideas" along the way that it is sometimes difficult to keep track of what you've actually decided to move forward with and what was just an idea that you dismissed at one point or another. Doesn't matter how organized you are!

Here We Go!

The pressure and time management has kicked into gear and the cranks of wedding to-do's is underway again. It seems to kind of come in waves...you work on some things, and then you wait. Then you get what you were waiting for, and it's back to work you go!

Recently there was a little bit of "drama" with the bridal shower invitations. Some of them got mailed just fine, while a few others were rejected for not having enough postage. However, the post office did not mark through the stamp that was on there when they returned to sender. So, we added an additional stamp and sent them on their way. A few days later, yup the invitation came crawling back! This time the post office had stamped through both stamps and returned it to me. So, essentially we had to put them in new envelopes and send them on their way!

Other than that, I'm trying to purchase things so that I don't have to worry about them later...such as floral supplies, garter, bridesmaids gifts, etc. I'm finding a lot of things on www.etsy.com and have really enjoyed looking through the reasonably priced handmade goods!

Right now we're trying to also figure out what to do for the bachelorette party...which is kind of difficult being that it's a tough economy and I can't really expect people to fork out money for something like that. I know I personally cannot afford anything with my job situation, so I feel bad expecting others to pay for things! Who knows we may just end up doing a dinner and calling it a night. Part of me doesn't really want to do anything. Is that so wrong?

Do Blogs Ruin the Surprise?

So, I started to think about the fact that often times people like to go to weddings for various reasons. However, one reason in particular is really just to point out what they like or do not like about the wedding. "Oh my goodness did you see those dresses!" and so on. So, I started to wonder about the lack of surprise that a blog can create (for those who actually read the blogs) for a wedding. For instance, there are probably about a million wedding blogs out there, some for the wedding vendors where they communicate items for sale, and other blogs are from the millions of brides like me! Do guests who read the brides blogs get a sense of disappointment when they arrive at the wedding, just to see everything that they had read about? Meaning, should the blogs really be more for venting and brainstorming rather than revealing? Should the actual weddings still present some sense of excitement and curiousity and not give every little detail away?

I guess for me, I wouldn't want everyone to read about every detail of the wedding...I want them to come and experience it for themselves! I mean a lot of thought, sweat, and work goes into putting together a wedding and your guests should get to enjoy some of the "surprise" elements (if you will)! Of course the frustrating thing is that there are a lot of little details, that will mostly go unrecognized until the photographer captures it and you share the images with everyone post-wedding. It's also difficult because you are so excited about what you chose and so excited about what you found that you want to share with everyone! Plus, you spend so long planning out everything that to stay on track and motivated you kind of have to share some things...right?

Making Progress!

I've been working on the DIY wedding invitations for a few weeks now (off and on, naturally). This week I finished cutting everything out; my sister is cutting out the die-cuts still. I also, assembled the main invitation elements together this week. Soon, I'll take a picture of the completed elements and post them for you to see soon!

I also realized that I never did post a picture of the finished DIY Save the Dates that were mailed out. These weren't mailed to everyone, mainly just those who live further away or the people that we know tend to travel or have work events to attend as well as family members.

I had designed the top layer through Photoshop. The inspiration came from a

Save the Date I had found online. The sizing was the real issue here. I had these envelopes that I had gotten for free from one of my temp jobs, and really wanted to be eco-conscious and try to use them rather than buy even more envelopes. The type

of paper that I had purchased was the second issue with these. I had bought a pretty thick linen paper, which I found out does not work well with the digital printers. Finally, I found that I had to print them at home on my little laser printer. Which proved to work just fine as soon as we had ink and everything aligned correctly.

We attached this top design layer to a bronze 80lb paper. This same paper is the backing on the actual wedding invitations and will also be used on the table numbers and maybe some other elements of the wedding (depending on how much paper is left over).

Aside from the invitation hoopla, we've also found the bridesmaids shoes (except for my youngest sister as she would probably kill herself on the 4" heels!). I have also ordered my shoes, which I absolutely love and cannot wait for them to get here! I also found a super cute ring bearer pillow which ties in very nicely with the look and feel of the wedding. I found it at The Wedding Pantry, in Tustin. However, you can also find it on etsy!

The "DIY" is Getting Easier!

So, I'm not sure if it's because I'm unemployed and have a LOT of spare time on my hands or what...but I'm finding some of the DIY aspects of the wedding a lot easier this time around. I've started creating, delegating, and printing the elements for the invitations. I actually like them quite a bit! I feel that they are a little more "simple" than I was originally wanting, but they still have my quirky spin on them.

I'm trying to get as much of these pieces completed so that when/if I do get a job soon, I won't be nearly as stressed out trying to do the wedding details and a full-time job in addition to the other floral event I have coming up next month.

We also recently got our engagement photo's back (online viewing). So, I naturally got very excited about that! Now, I'm just waiting for our CD of all the images to come in so that I can update the wedding website with some of the pictures for everyone to see. I was very happy with Nothing But Miracles Photography and can't wait to see what pictures they provide for the wedding!

Getting into the Details!

Well, the bulk of the planning is pretty much completed at this point! The venue is picked and the deposit is in, the DJ is hired, the florist is hired, the photographer is booked, the dresses (bridal and bridal party) are paid for...now it's time for all the little things!

I'm soon going to start the design of the wedding invitations...if you read my earlier blog you could see that the creating of the "Save the Dates" didn't quite go according to plan! However, this time around I will not be taking on the task of printing the invitations! So, fortunately I only have to design this time (which really just means lay out the copy) and send it off to be printed! I'm going to have the invitations and the response cards printed with the thermography technique. Since the invitations are a bit "plain" I wanted to add the extra detail of the raised print to give it some elegance and dimension.

Aside from the invitations being printed, I also have to do the escort cards, the place cards, the table numbers, etc. I'm actually really excited about the table numbers! I know, weird, right? I am making my own table number stands out of copper wire similar to these. I recently found chocolate brown wire at JoAnne's and it was on sale for about $2.00! This same wire will also be used in the boutonnieres and possibly the bridal party bouquets.

I also need to start finding my accessories/shoes and the bridal party accessories/shoes! This may be my sister (MOH) favorite part...but definitely not mine. I am not very much of an "accessories gal" and I rarely buy shoes (they're so darned expensive). So, I'm not entirely looking forward to this part of the whole "wedding experience"

Stay tuned to see how things go and what sales I find!

Another one bites the dust...

It's amazing that "your day" that you strive so hard to plan and coordinate can have so many "no's" along the way. Eventually they all pile up until you cannot take it anymore. Weeding through the "no's" is probably the most tiring aspect of the planning process, aside from all the research to make sure you have found the best deal. Sometimes it's hard to get through all of those no's and the decisions that have to be made and it makes it difficult to remember the entire reason you're even going through all of it. It's not for the 5-7 hours of celebration, it's not for the guests (although they are important), it's not for the dress, or the food, or the favors, it's not for the photo opportunities...it's for the union of two people. A lifetime union that brings the love of two people together, that is the bigger picture that we often lose site of. I am definitely one of those people who has gotten wrapped up in all the small details so much that it has been stressing me out to the point of the release of bridezilla!

Honestly, with the wedding being so far away, I need to find a way to keep the bigger picture in mind and not let the annoyance of how others do or handle things to bring me down.

It's not like I only deal with the stress of planning and deciding the wedding details, I deal with the expectations of other people (which some days I can handle better than others), I also deal with a full-time job, a part-time side business, daily house maintenance/cleaning, cooking, running errands (both personal and for the wedding), as well as the constant battle of "not bothering others" with the wedding stuff.

Oh where is my balance in life right now and when can I just relax for me?

Team Effort in Productivity!

Yesterday was a very productive day...but naturally I still came out feeling as though all my questions were answered, but I don't remember a single answer!

We went to the wedding/reception venue yesterday to pick out linens, talk about the setup of the venue and the cake, etc. It was a very busy and productive hour and a half and I left feeling very comfortable with everything. Everything, except the favors! Now, I'm on the hunt to find a container to put the favor into, a container that also fits the feel of the room as well as the theme of the wedding. Which honestly, I think the "theme" of the wedding went out the door a lot earlier in the wedding process than I thought it would. I was originally going with a chic, garden, eco-friendly theme. Well, the garden and the eco-friendly part have essentially gone away. Not so much on purpose, but more-so because of budget. No matter what, we will still have the herbs intermingled into the bouquets and boutonnieres as well as the favors...just not part of the centerpieces anymore.

Another discovery that I made last night, was the fact that the Save the Date invitations that I designed, were the wrong size (that's what I get for trying to design things after a day of work and late into the night)! Fortunately, I do not think that the printer has ran those copies yet as I didn't drop them off until almost closing time on Friday evening. So, hopefully I can get it recreated and to them in time to allow for printing, picking up and cutting.

Oh well, it's all a bit overwhelming...but at the same time fun!

DIY or Don't?

In today's economy, brides are definitely looking to do more parts of their wedding "DIY" style...me well I am one of those brides! Although I am a pretty "crafty" person and for the most part creative, I have found the DIY route (with regards to Save the Dates and Invitations) to be extremely frustrating. The reason? Well, there are just SO many possibilities to come up with and ways of putting things together. I think the most frustrating part is executing all of the ideas that you like into one that communicates to everyone what the wedding will be like. I don't know if my creative side just puts too much weight on the invitations and what they "should" look like or if I just worry too much about what all the judging eyes out there will say?

Anyways, I think in the end, it's going to cost us just as much to DIY the invitations as it would have been to just order them through Wedding Paper Divas or something. There were actually quite a few that I absolutely love...and for some reason decided to go with the DIY style. Now, looking back I think I should just order the one's online and be done with it all! Being that we still have several months before the wedding, and since we haven't started putting together anything for the invitations...I may just return what I've bought and order the invitations online.

As of right now, we are making the save the date notifications. Since these are a less formal announcement, I'm not too worried about their presentation. However, I did just spend about 3-4 hours (with breaks) designing my save the date cards in Photoshop. Hopefully, my sister and mother like them and I won't have to change them. Then it's just a matter of printing, cutting, glueing, stuffing into envelopes, addressing, and stamping postage on 'em and then we'll be done. Whew!

What is the priority?

I think the most "overwhelming" part of wedding planning is determining what to work on first and when. So much of wedding planning really is a domino affect, 'you can't do this until you've done that' sort of thing. So, what do you start on first? Well, the most on-going element of our wedding planning has been the guest list. It seems like daily it is changing, constantly adding more and more people. I guess this will continue to be the way it is until we've sent out the Save the Dates. Last night I told Jarrod we should scale back the invitation list...reason being is that I am afraid of it just getting too big and then people don't feel "involved" because they have to sit really far away or the lines for the food buffet will be extremely long or we won't be able to make the rounds and be good host/hostess. Plus, I feel as though we're starting to put people on the invitation list that we NEVER see...if we never see you why should you come to the wedding? Now, don't get me wrong! Long distance family is one thing...but friends that you haven't seen in years or friends that you only talk to maybe once a year?

Hopefully after this weekend (once Jarrod is done working on his car for the races) we can sit down and FINALLY finalize this list. Otherwise, I might lose my mind with the amount of Save the Dates, and the amount of centerpieces, favors, etc. that will need to be created/bought.

Now, I'm in a small delima of trying to figure out who to have do my hair and where to stay the night before. On top of that, one of my bridesmaids has been MIA and not returning my phone calls, text messages, or facebook messages for about 2 weeks. I've left her messages telling her that if she doesn't want to be a part of the wedding that it is completley fine, just let me know. I understand if someone is too busy or just cannot take on the responsibilities of a wedding so I don't blame someone for not wanting to take part...but I need some communication so that I can plan accordingly!

Centerpiece Direction

Well, you would think that doing floral design would play in favor of choosing what to do for our centerpieces...oh how wrong you would be!

Fortunately, I do know what I want...but unfortunately I am not always certain how I want to present my idea! Let me explain, I know I want to incorporate fresh flowers based on the bridal party's bouquets and I know I want to incorporate fresh potted herbs...but how do I present them together in a way that still exudes our personalities and the theme of the wedding? The possibilities are endless! I mean, from the size of the containers, the elements to use, the colors, the textures, the unique qualifiers that meet the expectations! The combinations are endless!

Fortunately, with the encouraging recommendations from my lovely maid of honor (and my sister), Jen we finally put my mind at ease today with a "decision". Based on the images below:

How will these all come together and fit the "elegant touch" I want as well? Well, I guess you'll have to wait and see the wedding pictures for that!

To Invite, or Not...that is the question!

We are now working on finalizing the invitation list, mainly right now it's to have a better idea as to who we are sending save the dates to. Since we will be creating those in the upcoming weeks, I need to know an idea of how many to make. While I have one number in mind, the list is slowly climbing and my fiance keeps adding more people. Which starts to scare me because the venue can only hold so many people, comfortably. I want to make sure that there is enough room for a dance floor and that people have enough space around them while they are eating.

On top of the wedding planning worries, I now have a cold. Being that I am only a temp at my current job, I do not have any sick days or anything either. So, I am sitting miserably at work in the "cave" as we call my department. I work with mostly guys, and they always have the air conditioner blasting and our part of the building is pretty much the only office space without ANY windows. So, it's cold and dark and typically smells bad...

Anyways, I am excited to report that we booked our photographer, Nothing But Miracles. The company is owned/operated by a really sweet couple. The wife is actually a friend of mines, sister. But they're take on photography is so fun and unique and they really make you feel comfortable about it all. We are planning on doing the engagement session towards the end of June. Right now I'm trying to figure out where we should go for the photo session. The only thing that has really come to mind is downtown Fullerton with the train station and maybe CalState Fullerton (being an alumnus and all). I really want some vintage type shots as well as the gardeny romantic shots too.

time ticks by, so slowly

It's amazing...even though there is TONS to do with regards to planning a wedding, there is actually quite a bit of "down" time. So many things depend on so many other people, so the down time happens while you are waiting to meet up with those other people and in between "right now" and "then". And many things rely on one another...it truly is a domino affect!

Fortunately, in my "down time" I am getting to the gym and trying to get in shape to wear my beautiful dress! I love my dress, but it's not one of those that holds everything in place for ya...you really gotta be slim and trim to pull it off! So, I am hitting the gym at least 4 days a week, spending an hour on arms one day (with abs), and spending about an hour the next day (with abs) and then typically taking a day off or I do more cardio that 3rd day. Even though I'm pretty much sore everyday after working out...I still don't see any results! However, Jarrod has reassured me that this is normal, so I will push on and hope that results start happening soon. Fortunately, I have 6 months, but unfortunately that 6 months goes by fast!

Another exciting development is the fact that I am finally getting stuff together to start making the "Save the Date" cards. My sister and I go to Kelly Paper next week to pick out the paper that will be used for both the "Save the Dates" and the wedding invitations. At first I was kind of dreading making them ourselves...but now that I have an idea in mind (thanks to Myrna and Nicole) for the wedding invitations I am getting excited about it! Now, I must decide do I print them at home, or do I spend the extra little bit to have them printed somewhere?

Stress?

So, last night was the first official Erin melt down during post engagment! I know...they happen so frequently for me, I'm sure those of you who know me aren't too surprised. What set it off you ask? Well...as always it was something petty and stupid! I was at 24 hour fitness trying to participate in their "Hot Hula" class, which is tahitian dancing with a twist. Well, I found out that I have no hip action at all and was finding it difficult and frustrating to try and keep up with everyone else...right at my heightened time of frustration, one of the class helpers (you know the ones that do this stuff all the time and are the "example" of how to do it correctly) comes up behind me and puts her hands on my shoulder and tells me: You're not supposed to move your shoulders.

Yep, that's all it took! I tried to stick out the class and forget about it, but by then I was fighting back the tears so much; so I left! This was just the beginning of a several hour spiral down throughout the night.

As always though, Jarrod was right there to comfort me in my time of petty emotions and allowed me to just cry...which I think is what I was really needing. Between the planning and the choosing for all the elements of the wedding, and the full-time job frustrations, and the "try to keep the family happy" and try to meet all the expectations...I really am just worn down!

Anyways, enough complaining! Now onto find some chocoloate brown cardstock to buy for the save the date cards!

Plans, Plans, Plans

I really don't think it matters how long you have to "plan" a wedding...if you have a long engagement that just means more planning, if you have a short engagement that just means you're consolidating all the planning! Either, way you're rushing to find everything that you need and the more you think about what you want, the more you remember about what you actually need.

At least now we have a date for the wedding along with a venue, November 7th, 2010. This is good and bad! Good in the sense that I now have a timeline or at least an end date...bad because it's only 6 months away! With the guest list up to about 100 people, things are getting a little bit "bigger" than I had originally anticipated.

Fortunately, we have a great support system from people who love us and are there to help! Now, it's just determining what we need help with so that we can delegate things out to everyone.

Anyways, the excitement, the stress the anticipation and the stress (did I mention that already) are well underway!