Pink Panther

15 days

I finished the last issue of the newsletter! I'm sent it to Staples to have a copy printed for my scrapbook as well as for my mom! And here it is:

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.

Purple Rain

81 days

220 invited
69 attending
14 declined

I finished the purple issue of our newsletter! It's been published on the website and now I'll post it here! I'll be printing my copy soon and then emailing them on April 1! Only one more issue to go!

I got an email today that Matt's gift got sent out today! I can't wait to see them!!

Mail Delivery Failure Notification

130 days

Currently working on: pocketfolds (62/130 done)

I got home, all excited because I'd be able to start working on our programs since they were supposed to come in today, and found a stupid USPS slip that I have to pick it up tomorrow after 10. I have never had a problem with them delivering these packages to us and so I have no idea why this one couldn't be left here. Ugh, now I have to get through another whole day to get the programs and invitation envelopes.

I did, however, go to Staples and pick up the copies of the latest newsletter. While I was there, I picked up a hole bunch for the programs so I can start working on them tomorrow when they come in.

I also got a message back from the Etsy seller doing my corsages and I ordered and paid for them tonight. I'm planning on sending out the fabric scraps tomorrow so she can start working on them!

I don't remember if I posted about this, so I'm going to now. I apologize if it's a repeat. A week or so ago, I got an email saying that someone had purchased an item off of our registry! One of my family members ordered two sets of the silverware that we wanted! I'm so excited!

I also received an email today that our rings were shipped! I can't wait to get them in!

Now I'm going to continue working on the pocketfolds since I've put that off for a while.

Blue Velvet

136 days

Currently working on: pocketfolds (62/130 done)

I sent back my shower dress on Monday and when I checked yesterday, it was out of stock again. I think I'm giving up on it but I've found another. It's ModCloth's Soda Fountain dress in Vanilla and I have been eyeing this style (they have it in 5 colors) for months. It will go really well with the orange heels so I don't have to worry about new shoes. However, I'm debating wearing it for our rehearsal instead and wearing the dress I got for that for the shower. I'll have to get opinions from my mom and some bridemaids to help me make up my mind. Here is the dress:

Speaking of which, I checked on the dress I wanted for the after party and it is also out of stock. I am the opposite of heartbroken, though, since it had lost some of its appeal of late. I found two really cute dresses on AX Paris that I liked that will go with the black and rainbow shoes, so I'm going to get one of those. Here are the two options (I'm leaning towards the first one):

I also finished the fifth newsletter! It's another short one, but most of what's happening right now isn't super noteworthy. But, without further delay, here's the blue issue.

I believe that is all that I have for now. If not, I'll post more later or tomorrow.

Meet the Maids & Moms

153 days

Currently working on: pocketfolds (51/130 done)
                                    frames (0/10 done)

I was surfing through wedding boards on Pinterest and found a really cute idea for the bridal shower: frames with pictures and short bios of the bridal party for people to find out who they are and why you chose them. I loved the idea, so I'm going to do it but also add mine and Matt's moms! I bought ten unfinished wood frames from Michael's that I'm going to paint in each girls' color (of course). I'll write their names on them as well, but I think I'll leave the decorating as a fun activity at the bridal party brunch! I'm going to write the bios and put a small picture of them in each frame, but behind that, I'm going to put a picture of that person and I (Matt's mom will get a picture of her and Matt). They'll get to keep the frames and can display the picture later on!

I also bought more black paper for the invitations as well as honeymoon stickers for my scrapbook. We went to Walmart to get a new cartridge for our printer and I printed out the silver labels for the inside part of the invitations!

I also got a dress for the rehearsal dinner! I have been eyeing this dress from American Eagle for a month or two and it was on sale plus an additional 40% off so I bought it! Then I decided that I would use it for the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner! Here's a picture:

I finished the fifth newsletter today, but I'm not going to publish it here until February 1st!

Off to go craft!

An Elephant Never Forgets

But of course I do. I have completely forgotten about picking up the hard copies of our latest newsletter from Staples. I have also forgotten about writing the next newsletter which is due out at the end of the month. Oops. Hopefully posting this will help me remember that I need to pick them up tomorrow!

Lemon-Lime

I published the next newsletter and I'm going to put it here, but I realized I had forgotten to put up the last one! So here are both!

The Yellow Issue

The Green Issue

Decisions, Decisions

Speaking of them, Matt and I have finalized some things for the wedding. (Of course this means that I have made other decisions that I have to make.) However, here is what we have decided:

Flowers
The bouquets and boutonnieres will be made out of pearls instead of doing real flowers. They are absolutely beautiful and we'll be able to save them without adding an extra cost. Here's a link on how to make them (it's super easy)!
For our mothers' corsages, we're going to hopefully use scraps from their dresses and have them made by this seller on Etsy. (If we can't use the scraps, we'll have them made with new material in a color that matches the dresses.)
*See pictures below!

Tuxedos
We have settled on Joseph A. Bank to rent the groomsmen's tuxedos from. They are highly recommended and have all of the colors for vests that we will need.

I actually think that's all that we have decided on so far. On another note, we have an appointment with a potential videographer this Thursday. We will also be publishing the third newsletter at the end of the week, so I'll be sure to post it here.

Bouquets 

Boutonnieres

Corsgages

Extra! Extra!

I found an article and a website within that allowed me to convert my PDF newsletter files into JPG's. Therefore I can now add them here to the blog!

The Red Issue

The Orange Issue

A Helpful Hint

Hopefully, my last post for tonight, although I'm bound to think of something else to add.

I read on the Knot (the bride's bible) that it's a great idea to have a wedding newsletter for those involved. I decided that they were right, especially since our wedding party is rather spread out among the northeast. I am doing one in each color which gives me seven altogether. I am sending one out every other month with updates. I have thus far put out two newsletters; the red and orange issues. My next one will be going out next month (October) which will be the yellow issue.

I was originally going to print them out and send each wedding party member a copy as well as both our parents, but it would have been too expensive. So instead, I publish the newsletters using Adobe Acrobat (I create them in Microsoft Publisher which has several predesigned templates) and email them to everyone. I send them to Staples Print & Copy Center and have two copies printed; one for my scrapbook and one for my mom (she's sentimental like me).

Here's a recap on the last two issues in case you'd like any ideas.

The Red Issue
Since this was the first issue, I included quite a bit of information. I started with the proposal story and a thank you from Matt and I. We wanted to thank everyone in advance for whatever work and time they were going to contribute. After that I wrote small bios on each member of the wedding party as well as a picture, since quite a few don't know each other. I gave a preliminary overview of the wedding party's dresses and tuxes so they could be prepared for fittings. Lastly, I included a page of everyone's email and phone number, including ours and our parents', as well as a list of helpful sites (mainly articles from the Knot). On the very last page, I included the basic details of the wedding: the date, locations, and tentative times.

The Orange Issue
In the second issue, I led off with an article on my dress shopping (and buying) excursions and a smaller article on our officiant, Father Al. We had already found our photographer, so I wrote about Jess and her new business. We had also sent out save-the-dates which I included in the newsletter. I found a site called NewlyMaid which allows bridesmaids to send in their dresses as a trade-in for a new little black dress. The dresses are either remade into new dresses or the fabric is donated. (Definitly check it out!) I wrote a follow-up article about picking up my dress and gave a tentative date for their appointment. I then wrote about the upcoming engagement party as well as directions to my parents' house from various places that our wedding party is located.

I'll be updating once I finish the third newsletter. Please let me know if you'd like a copy as a sample since I can't post it here!