Buy, Buy, Buy!

91 days

216 invited
42 attending
12 declined

RSVPs (from yesterday): only one and it was a decline from Matt's uncle and aunt from Kentucky. They are going to be out of the country on June 16!

I ordered several things from Oriental Trading last night, totaling $73 (with free shipping). I got the small black gift bags for the groomsmen's gifts, the totes for the kids' bags, sunglasses for the wedding party (for photos), the cellophane cookie bags for the out of town bags, and, most importantly, the boxes for the M&M favors! It was one of the larger purchases I had to make, so I'm glad it's out of the way.

I also ordered another dress from Charlotte Russe for the honeymoon. I HAD to have it since it's ORANGE! Here's a picture:

I'm also ordering little place card holders for the I Spy cards for the wedding. They're from Crate and Barrel and they went on sale! Perfect!

I finally found some argyle socks for Cole! I had bought all the groomsmen a pair in their color from Express and he's too small for theirs. I ended up finding a pair from Brooks Brothers (didn't know they even had a kids section) for $12. They've got just a little pink, so they aren't too much either.

AND I'm ordering the cufflinks for the two readers, Greg and CJ. I found a nice pair on Amazon that are very versatile. Here's a picture:

And I'm ordering the new cufflinks for Matt that I found a couple posts ago!

Shopping Spree

166 days

I ordered more of our stationery from Vistaprint today! I got the rest of the RSVP for the invitations (80 more for a total of 140) as well as the I Spy cards for the tables at the reception plus and twenty more thank yous for the shower and wedding. (We'll still have to get more, but they allowed me to use the Groupon I bought.)

I also bought another Groupon for Vistaprint: $17 for $70 worth of products that we can use for the menu inserts and table menus!

Lastly, I bought the silver mailing labels for the invitations! Since I started working on them, I thought I should have as many of the supplies as possible. (That means I need to hit up Michael's for more black paper for the pocketfolds.)

Bling-a-Ling

So I learned the other day that the ringbearer doesn't carry the real rings, so I found two sterling silver rings on Amazon that I ordered today to go in the ring box for Cole. Along with those, I bought a set of 12 Libbey vases that will be used for the bouquets. I'm going to use the first to make the bouquets (and make sure they fit in it) and then for the reception. They'll be at the bridesmaids' tables so that they have somewhere to put their bouquets after the ceremony. They were $20 for the set and I'll have 5 leftover that I can use around the house.

 Matt's fake ring

 My fake ring

Libbey bouquet vases

I also finished the boxes for the guestbook cards today. They're simple, but they look nice and will match the other decor. Of course, I used the rest of the black ribbon with silver swirls so I'll have to grab some more at Michael's. Here's the finished product:

I'm a Regular Picasso

Matt and I both had the day off today, so I worked on a couple of the DIY projects. We went to breakfast this morning with one of my friends from high school who was in town. After that I dragged Matt to Michael's, yet again, to get some more stuff for the projects. We got two small boxes that we will use to hold the cards for our guest book. (It's from organize.com; click here to see it!) I also bought some silver paint and more silver wiring for the bouquets.
When I got home, I spray painted six more of the frames for the table numbers (and got high off the fumes in the process). They really look great painted versus the original white plastic. I officially have one third of them done!
I also painted the boxes for the guestbook cards; the top is black and the bottom is silver. I'm going to wrap some of the ribbon I used for my tossing bouquet around the bottoms.
Yesterday, Matt and I were debating the card box we originally picked out. We both decided we would rather do a DIY one using three circle paper mache boxes. I ordered the set off Amazon last night for just under $6. I'll probably paint them black, white, and silver and use the various ribbons we have to wrap around them as additional decoration.
I also fiddled around with Publisher and created a monogram for the wedding. Our invitations have a monogram on them, but I wanted one that had our future last initial (for use after the ceremony) and the date. I'm not sure where or how I'll use it, but I really like the way it came out.

I'll be sure to update when and where I'll be using the monogram!

Fancy Fathers

Matt and I were originally going to get both of our dads cufflinks that would match the colors of our moms' dresses. Instead, the other day, I found Marine Corps cufflinks that I thought would be great for my dad. He was in the Marines straight out of high school and stayed in for several years before he was honorably discharged.

I thought that we should do something similar for Matt's dad; getting him cufflinks that meant something to him. Matt's dad is Irish so we found Celtic Triqueta cufflinks that are silver and will match anything!

Gifts for the Girls

I officially finished buying my bridesmaids' gifts today!

Here are the pictures of the clutches and jewelry:

Juliana (Maid of Honor)

Jess (Bridesmaid)

Cristina (Bridesmaid)

Margaret (Bridesmaid)

Nicole (Junior Bridesmaid)

Hannah (Junior Bridesmaid)

Olivia (Flower Girl)

For the Groomsmen

Matt and I decided on and bought his groomsmen's gifts! I had already decided that I wanted to buy jewelry for my bridesmaids (for the wedding but something they could wear afterwards, too) so we thought we should go along those lines for the groomsmen. Therefore, we bought them all cufflinks in the color that they would be wearing in the wedding. We bought them all from Cuff-Daddy through their Amazon store. They are great; elegant and well-priced. Plus, they all came in a nice box which makes for easier gift-giving.

Since I'm on the topic of wedding party gifts, I have also added ideas to my bridesmaids' gifts. (The boys are also getting a six-pack of their favorite beer for those who are legal.) In addition to the jewelry, which I'll post down below as well, I have bought them each a nail polish in their color, something for their hair for the wedding, and a clutch in their color as well. I also made each of them a tank with their position on it in rhinestones. (I got plain black boyfriend tanks from Old Navy and bought rhinestone words from Thread Art which I then ironed on. It was much cheaper than buying premade shirts and I got to choose what the looked like!) I'll post pictures of all of this later.

Here are the pictures (including Matt's, the last picture):

Nick T

Ryan

Nick C

Lars

Rich (my personal favorites)

Devon

Cole

Matt