Let Them Eat Cake

96 days

212 invited
31 attending
8 declined

Our RSVPs today:
-my college friend Kara
-my best friend from high school and Matt's groomsman, Lars, and his girlfriend, Natasha
-my proxy godfather and his wife, Wes and Linda (declined because their daughters high school graduation is that weekend)
That gives us another 2 spaces to fill so we're inviting my actual godfather, Joel, and his wife.

We had our cake tasting yesterday with Justin (and Lenny)! We're getting a two tier cake like the one in our inspiration photo. The bottom layer will be chocolate cake with a raspberry cream filling. The top layer will be lemon and the whole cake will be frosted in Italian buttercream. It will be amazing! And Matt and I are the only ones eating it! I also asked Justin to make a small grooms cake for Matt. It's going to be chocolate with peanut butter buttercream frosting: just like his favorite candy, Reese's.

I worked some more on the centerpieces as well! We got the globe vases, silver rocks, and silver diamonds from Save on Crafts today. I completed two of the centerpieces, but of course came across a problem. I have to find some time of waterproof Glue Dots to keep the rocks in the bottom of the bowl. (They're styrofoam and so they float to the top.) I'll be on the lookout, but any suggestions are welcome!

I finished the baskets for the ceremony programs! I spray painted them silver yesterday and then added the ribbon today. I'm going to put the programs in them tonight and hide them in the closet away from the cats. Here are the baskets:

I got my registry exchange gift today! I got the set of 6 rainbow stacking mugs and they're awesome!! Here's a picture of them:

Matt and I were searching around the internet for a song to play for the slow dance between the garter and bouquet toss winners (we picked Boyz II Men's "I'll Make Love to You" as a joke) and found another great idea. It's an anniversary dance: all the married/committed couples go on the floor and the DJ eliminates them by how long they've been married (6 hours for us, 5 years, 10 years, and so on) until only one couple remains. The way we saw it, they won the tossing bouquet and garter, but we're going to have another corsage made by Maggie from Etsy and an extra boutonniere I have. We picked "Come Away With Me" by Norah Jones fading into "At Last" by Etta James to play during the dance. I'm really excited about this!

Double Digits!

99 days

207 invited
28 attending
6 declined

RSVPs today:
-Joel DeFelice, Matt's college friend
-Peggy & Alex, friends from Gap back home (declined because Peggy's brother's wedding is the same weekend)
-Brendan, my cousin (declined)
-Matt's parents
-John & Ann Madden

Jess is here for the weekend and we are going to my hair trial tomorrow morning with Shannon! I can't wait to see how it's going to look! I'm definitely bringing my camera!

Jess and I went to Michael's tonight and got the all the rest of the glass for the centerpieces except for the square vases. I came home and ordered them on Save on Crafts instead since they were drastically cheaper! I'm also ordering the black gems and then I'll be done!

I got the Vistaprint order and finished the menus tonight! They look great thanks to help from Jess! I'm so excited to have another DIY project done!

I also got the LAST brooch for Cristina's bouquet! I was going to finish her bouquet tonight until I realized that I needed to get more silver wiring. So...I'll be finishing it tomorrow.

I got the baskets for the programs today! They're a little small, so I've decided to not tie the fans and bubbles onto them. Instead, I'm going to get a big basket for the bubbles to leave outside and probably lay the fans in the pews, depending on if that's okay.

Basket Case

I finally found some baskets for the programs! I originally wanted ones from Save on Crafts, but when I went to buy them today they were out of stock. So I went searching (for literally hours) for a different basket that was similar. Matt helped me decide on a slightly different style from Hobby Lobby online and I ordered them tonight. They were $3.99 each and I got 40% off of one of them, so the total only ended up being $12 with shipping. I'm going to spray paint them silver once they come in since I have leftover paint from the frames and I think they'll look better. Then I'll add some ribbon and they'll be done!

Matt and I also went through our music selections for the reception and updated the lists. We are currently listening to the set that we picked for the cocktail hour and enjoying the tv on mute. We're a little strange.

I ordered a dress yesterday from Forever 21 for the honeymoon and it's already shipped! Here's a picture of it:

Forever 21 "Weekend Islander" dress

I also finished ordering everything from Vistaprint tonight! I finished getting the thank yous (including some extras) and oversized postcards that I'm using for wedding timelines for the wedding party, parents, and grandparents! Here's the timeline:

front

back





Quickie

107 days

202 invited
0 attending
0 declined

Just a quick post on the first day of March (just a little over three months to go). I sent out the invitations yesterday after I left work, so they got to the post office about 6. A couple coworkers that live in the area got them today! I was seriously amazed at how fast they got out! So excited!

Another small tidbit: out of 22 diy projects I have only 7 to finish (not including the newsletters which are spaced out). A small detailed list:
1. bouquets which I have only Cristina's to finish as soon as the brooch comes in
2. ceremony programs which I need to buy fans for and then attach those and the bubbles to each
3. out of town bags which will be done closer to the wedding
4. escort card displays which will be finished once I get RSVPs back and can make escort cards for them
5. menus (for the tables) that I only need the menu insert for
6. centerpieces which will also be done closer to the wedding
7. favors which are another project to be done closer to the wedding

Program Complete

118 days

Currently working on: ceremony programs (200/200 done)

I finished the putting the programs together for the ceremony! However, I still have to tie the bubbles and fans onto them, but I'm going to wait for two reasons: one, I need to order the fans and, two, I want to have the baskets that I can put them in since everything tied together will take up a lot of room (so it'll probably be closer to the wedding, anyway).

I ordered the other two frames for the escort card displays! I changed the one for Matt's college friends since we added some and the other frame was out of stock anyway. I had to spend a little more money, but I've saved money elsewhere so no big deal.

I changed my shower dress! I ordered a new one from Charlotte Russe for the honeymoon and when it came in, I realized I wanted to use it for the shower! (I can still use it for the honeymoon, but I like it better for the occassion than the ModCloth one.) The best part is it goes with my orange shoes, so I can still wear them! Here's a picture:

I was talking to Jess yesterday a little about the bachelorette and she said that we are definitely doing a little black dress dinner. (It was my idea that I had gotten from Pinterest.) However, I saw another idea that I want to do in that I wear a white dress to stand out! I found one I like from AX Paris, but I'm going to look around a little more before I decide. I'll probably enlist Jess's help in the search.

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!

Crown Jewels

Matt and I have done a lot in the last two hours. We got most of our tax returns in and have put them to good use. (I hate how fast money goes.) So here's what we have done thus far (minus paying bills):

We bought our wedding bands!! We had a $50 gift card from my parents from Christmas that we used and we got free shipping, so our total was only about $135. They are simple white gold bands, both the same style since Matt has small fingers and Kay's men's rings start at 9. We should get them in by mid-next week! Here's a picture:

We also ordered our mothers' gifts! We found jewelry from Limoges that we were able to personalize with birth stones. They are beautiful and I know our moms are going to love them! Here are the sample images from online, I'll post pictures of the actual jewelry once it comes in!

My mom

(the top birthstone is October, both for her and my dad, then January for me, December for my brother, May for one of my sisters, and August for my youngest sister)

Matt's mom

(the first birthstone is January for his dad, then June for his mom, November for Matt, and March for his sister)

Next we contacted the videographer to make sure he was still available so we can send in our deposit! I'm so excited that we'll have a video of the ceremony (we didn't want the reception taped and, frankly, couldn't afford it.) We're sending in the contract and deposit on Monday!

I also ordered the rest of our programs from Vistaprint as well as more envelope seals for the favors, and more thank yous. I also bought another Groupon for Vistaprint because we still need to order the menu inserts for the invitations and more thank yous.

Lastly, I ordered the silver candles for the centerpieces! They were slightly more expensive than the white ones, but the came to $35 total. Here are the two different types that I bought:

Chapel of Love

139 days

Currently working on: pocketfolds (62/130 done)

Today Matt and I met with the wedding consultant for the chapel and went over the ceremony basics. We decided on a couple things such as sitting for the ceremony (versus kneeling), who's walking down the aisle and in what order, as well as other small details. We went through a bunch of old programs that Pat had and took a few as inspiration. We finished the programs on Vistaprint once we got home and I'm ordering them right now! Here are what they'll look like:

After we met with Pat, we went to the Priory and met with Father Al, our officiant. We talked for a little while, got his address, gave him the readings we decided on, and talked about our Pre-Cana in February. (Matt registered us for a two-day one on the 10th and 11th. Hopefully it'll be better having it split like that.)

We stopped at Michael's to get more Glue Dots for the pocketfolds as well as more bags for the welcome bags. I also found some really cute ribbon for the invitations since I knew I wouldn't have enough for those as well as the programs. It's white with light blue writing that says "Eat, Drink, & Be Married".

And now Matt and I are off to bed!

It's in the Bag

I received another package from Vistaprint today with lots of goodies! I got the totes for our VIP girls and moms, some of the stickers for the menus, the guestbook signs, the thank yous that I ordered as small gifts for our moms, and the labels for the bubbles for after the ceremony.
Here are the totes:

The pictures of the stationery are on my website here.

I spent an hour early putting the labels on the bubbles. It was easy since they were plain plastic bottles, but I like having the labels on there explaining what the bubbles are for.

The fabric for the flowers for the tote bags should be coming in tomorrow, so I'll probably get started on those using CvilleClaire's instructions!