Seventy

70 days

225 invited
94 attending
18 declined

Currently working on: favors (141/192 done)

RSVPs today:
-my great-grandparents, John and Florence, declined because of John's health
-my former Gap coworker, Jackie
-Matt's college friends and roommates, Kate and Kim

Matt and I went to pick up my mom's dress this morning. They still hadn't gotten the skirt in, but at least we got the top which will need more alterations anyway. We also went to Walmart and grabbed some Skittles and Hershey Kisses for the favors. I finished quite a few of them today!

I went to Michael's in search of something to replace the silver glitter rocks in some of the centerpieces since they float. I found river rocks and I'm going to try spray paiting them silver. (Hopefully the paint won't wash off in the water.) I also bought more ribbon for the favors as well as a basket for the fans. Last, I bought a scrapbook for the RSVPs which I've started to glue in.

I ordered the fans for the ceremony favors today! I got 180 total: 14 sets of 12 from Oriental Trading in orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and pink and a set 12 in red from ebay. The ones from Oriental Trading only cost me $35 with the gift card, reward certificate, and free shipping code! I also had a reward certificate for ebay, so I only paid $4 for the red fans! When they come in, I'll start stamping on the actual fan!

And I finally remembered to go to Staples and pick up the hard copies of the Purple Issue! Only took me a week.

Center Spotlight

104 days

202 invited
0 attending
0 declined

Matt and I bought some supplies for the centerpieces today! We went in to Michael's to look for baskets for the programs (which we didn't find) and picked up some of the glasses and fillers. I got three of the cylinder bowls (that's all they had) and two of the low bowls as well as the black sand for the globe vases. When we got home, I bought some of the other things from Save on Crafts: all 5 of the globe vases, the silver diamonds, and silver glitter rocks. I ordered white rose floating candles for the centerpiece on our sweetheart table from ebay. And last I bought the white gems from a different site online that are for the sweetheart table as well. Of course, I'm still looking for two baskets for the programs!

low bowls (2)

cylinder vases (3)

black sand

white rose floating candles (3)

globe vases (5)

silver diamonds

silver glitter rocks (12)

All Brooched Out

129 days

Currently working on: pocketfolds (74/130 done)

I got my package from Vistaprint today from the post office! I understand why it couldn't be delivered; it was huge! In it was the 200 invitation envelopes, half of our ceremony programs and the direction business card inserts for the invitations. I've already started working on the programs! They have to be hole-punched in the corner and tied with ribbon. Later, I'll tie on the bubbles and the fans, once we order them.

Speaking of ordering: I finished ordering the brooches! I bought all of the ones for Cristina and Juliana's bouquets on ebay tonight for about $50! I'm so happy to have that done so I can finally finish the bouquets when they come in. Here are the pictures of which ones I ordered:

I also ordered our dads' cufflinks from Amazon as well as the ushers' gifts. There were only a few of each left and I wanted to get them before they were all gone. Here are pictures of these as well:

my dad

Matt's dad

ushers

I think that's all for now. Matt and I are going to put the addresses on the envelopes that we got in today!

Just Broochy

147 days

Currently working on: pocketfolds (62/130 done)
                                  bouquet pearls (7/8 done)

I FINALLY ordered the last brooches for Jess and Shannon's bouquets! Of course, one of Shannon's won't ship until after the end of the month, but at least I ordered them and can finish those bouquets once they're in. Here are the pictures (let's pray they look this way and I don't have to order any more).

Jess

Shannon

Shannon

Also on the subject of bouquets, I finished the pearls for Juliana's bouquet! I now have only one left to finish which I'm going to do tomorrow! Then it's just the brooches left to buy and put in, then arrange the whole thing and wrap it all up!

I also cancelled my alterations appointment with Alfred Angelo this morning. I'm going to shop around and ask for some estimates before I decide where to get them done. But I'm glad I won't be paying $500 to have material cut off my dress.

Brooch Blues

149 days

Currently working on: pocketfolds (62/130 done)
                                   bouquet pearls (5/8 done)

I ordered my wedding dress label tonight! The money finally transferred to my Paypal account, so I put in my order on Etsy! It's a simple white piece of grosgrain ribbon with my initials and wedding date sewn into it. Here's the sample image that was on the listing:

I also ordered three more brooches for the bouquets which I have started working on again! I finished the pearls for Jess's bouquet and I'm going to start one of the other two. I'm determined to finish the pearls this weekend! Here are the brooches I ordered: the last one for Hannah's bouquet and two more for Jess's.

Hannah

Jess

Jess

I'm planning on buying my bridal shower dress tomorrow before it goes out of stock again, especially since the other one I liked is no longer available at all. I'll update on how that goes.

Cut & Paste

168 days

Another package came in the mail today! It's the paper cutter that I ordered last weekend to use for cutting the invitations! I'm actually going to start working on them as soon as I finish my lunch! I made a mock-up and it came out really good (it's a pocketfold but I had to make it to fit my 6x9 invites) but making 150 by hand will be ridiculously time-consuming. So I bought the paper cutter so that I can cut several at a time wihtout it looking awful. (Well, let's hope it works the way I have planned.)

Mock up (missing one insert)

I will update as I work on them!

The Venue, the Brooch, and the Dress

187 days

I got an invitation in the mail today from the Biltmore for the menu sampling! It's on February 12 from 4 to 7 and we get to sample the menu possibilities and then choose our own menu for the wedding! I'm so excited and it's making the wedding seem that much more real...and closer!!

I FINALLY got the purple brooch that I ordered weeks ago. It's pretty and I only need one more to finish Hannah's bouquet!!

I also found a dress for our after party that I really like! I think I'm going to get it instead of the one from ModCloth. (That one's out of stock and this one is also cheaper.)

Where Art Thou?

So I got my new purse and Ugg insoles in the mail today and, yet, I'm still waiting for a bunch of brooches. I know that most are shipping from China, but I really want them! I need one of them to complete my bouquet and another to complete Nicole's. I want to be able to get these done and this super slow snail mail is preventing me! However, none of them are late since ebay has given them a million years as a delivery range.

Well, that is the end of my vent.

The Brooches and the Bride

I ordered more brooches today and I also received some of the ones that I ordered in the mail!

I got the brooches from this post in the mail, with the exception of the first one (it shipped from a different seller). However, the one that looks orange in the picture is somewhere in between orange and red and won't look right with either bouquet, so I'm not going to use it. (I like it, so maybe I'll wear it but not for the wedding.)

As for the ones that I ordered, here are the pictures:

Jess

(to replace the one that wasn't really orange)

Jess

Shannon 

Hannah

Yesterday I hosted my Lia Sophia starter party (I'm going to start selling the jewelry) and I found earrings that I really want to wear for the wedding. I like the ones that I have, but these are prettier and I love the necklace that matches them. (That means I'll wear them after the wedding.)

Another note: Matt and I were looking at the rings that we had picked out months ago online and they no longer have them. They have replaced them with the exact same thing that is way more expensive. So we went searching for similar ones closer to the price of the originals and found some at Kay! They are only about $10 more than the first ones and are the same thing we were looking at! Now we just need to order them before they disappear too!

mine

Matt's

I also have another addiction: Pinterest. It took me a while to get on the bandwagon, but now I can't stop pinning things! I have gotten some great ideas looking through others' wedding boards, though!

This brings me to my last item: while looking through ModCloth for dresses to pin to my Fashionista board, I found this beautiful off white dress. I think I may buy this as my little white dress for the after party. It's not really clubwear, but it's so simple and I could definitely wear it afterwards (even after Labor Day). I found some amazing orange pumps from Alloy, too, that I think I'll get to go with it!

I think that about wraps up my ridiculously long post for now!

Bountiful Brooches

I bought more brooches today off of ebay and I received the other 5 that I had already ordered! They are all beautiful! Click here for pictures of the ones that I received and here are the pictures of the ones that I bought today; the last two for my bouquet, one for Jess, and the last one for Nicole's.

mine

mine

Jess

Nicole

I also finished the pearls for Shannon's bouquet last night. I now have three of the brooches that I'm going to add in and it's almost done! Yay!

Shakespeare's Boston

Matt and I went to the Boston Opera House today to see Boston Ballet's performance of Romeo & Juliet. It was absolutely gorgeous! The dancers did a phenomenal job and the sets and costumes were gorgeous (and borrowed from the Ballet of Canada)! I am so happy that I bought the tickets and grateful that Matt humors me by coming along. (To be fair, I have a whole season of PC basketball to watch with him.) And now, we are off to a PC hockey game against Alabama Hunstville. We certainly are classy people.

On a wedding related note, I got six of the brooches that I ordered from ebay in today! They are beautiful and will go really well in my bouquet. Tomorrow, Matt and I are going to (a different) Michael's to raid their supply of silver wiring for the bouquets, as well as Walmart and Christmas Tree Shops!! (I have a 20% off coupon that I'm dying to use!)

Brooch Heaven

I got two more in the mail: the green one for Shannon's bouquet and the purple one for Hannah's. Now I just need to get more silver wiring so that I can finish these bad boys up.

Beautiful Brooches

I ordered some more brooches on ebay tonight! One of Hannah, three for Nicole, and two for Shannon! Here are the pictures:

I also received one of the brooches that I previously ordered in the mail today! It's the orange one for Jessica's bouquet and it's so pretty! Click here to see a picture in a previous post!