Thursday

2 days

I have been on my feet today since 6 30 this morning! I worked from 7 to 3 30 today and then went immediately to pick up Cris from the bus station. We came back to the apartment and packed up most of the boxes for the reception. Cris, Jess, and I went to the Biltmore and delivered the boxes. We then went to pick up my dress, which I tried on again and it fits perfectly! After that we went to get pedicures, but had to schedule them for tomorrow before our manicures. Then we went to Walmart and got the rest of the supplies for the escort cards, out of town bags, and honeymoon. We picked up Matt and went to dinner at Newport Creamery and we JUST got back.

However, I am SO excited for the next two days...and the honeymoon!!

Four Weeks

28 days

240 invited
161 attending
50 declined

RSVPs left: 22

RSVPs today from Matt's mom's friends, Dean and Sally, and my college friend, Robert.

I got my exchange from Frederick's in the mail yesterday! It's really cute and has already been thrown into the suitcase for the honeymoon!
We got the rehearsal dinner invite yesterday from Matt's parents! So excited! I also dropped off the deposit for the restaurant today. (Joanne had sent it and it got returned, so we told her we would bring it ourselves.)

I had my meeting with Scott yesterday at the Biltmore. I got there along with at least a hundred prom going high schoolers. Scott gave me a seating plan for the ballroom which I'll fill in for him. It was a really quick meeting and he kept telling me how he loved how organized I am.

I have decided that I'm going to get a tattoo the weekend of my bachelorette! I know I want to have "live, laugh, love" and I think I may go with it on my ankle. It'll be covered for the wedding but is a cute, appropriate place to have it. I'm so excited!

Thirty

30 days

240 invited
157 attending
50 declined

RSVPs left: 24

RSVPs from yesterday and today:
-my college professor and advisor, Bowling
-my former coworker, Chase, and his date, Kelly-Ann
-my college roomie, bestie, and maid of honor, Jules, and her boyfriend, Steve
-my college friend, Paul

I have a meeting tomorrow with Scott, so I'll be sure to update afterwards as to what went on.

Other than that, not much else wedding-related going on. Houston, we've hit a lull.

I'll Have That

32 days

240 invited
151 attending
50 declined

RSVPs left: 28

Two RSVPs today from my coworker, Jen, and her boyfriend, Brandon, and my cousin, Jill, her husband, Shane, and their son, Connor.

I have a meeting with our reception coordinator, Scott, on Friday at 5:45. We're going to go over the final details.

I also emailed Scott asking what the vegetarian meal was: wild mushroom raviolis in a white wine sauce! I may have to go with a vegetarian meal...

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!

On the Menu

109 days

Currently working on: escort card frame labels (7/7 done)

We met with Scott tonight and got the menu finalized! I can finally finish ordering the rest of the wedding stationery from Vistaprint which I'm going to do tonight! Scott is so nice and helpful; he said we were really prepared! For everything else, he asked us questions and took notes and then gave us a matching questionairre to fill out and return the week before the wedding. I can't believe how close the wedding is getting!

My mom texted me today and said she was buying our invitation stamps for us! (She ended up just transferring the money to my account so I can buy them tomorrow.) I'm going tomorrow on my lunch break from work to buy them and start addressing the invitations! Then we'll send them all out! So excited!

Here's a picture of the table menus:

Ring, Ring

128 days

Currently working on: pocketfolds (87/130 done)

Our rings came in today! I love mine, but Matt's is really thin so I want to make sure he likes it. If not, we'll exchange it for a different one. I'm glad that we have them in, now I just need to find a place to put them so they don't get lost or I forget. Maybe I'll post it on here so I have somewhere to look back to.

Matt and I started our reception seating the other night. I made a new document in Access to list everyone in our different groups (of where we know them from) and then a table for each table. We went through and did the basic seating which we'll just tweak once we start getting RSVPs back.

Also for the reception, I started putting together the escort cards last night. We're putting a white card for the guest book in the envelope with the actual escort card as well as instructions for it on a sticker on the outside back. I'll print people's names once they have RSVPed yes.

I also got another brooch for Jess's bouquet in today! I only need one more and I can finish her bouquet! Here's the brooch:

I'm going to make some more pocketfolds and then work on the escort cards before Matt gets home.

In the Spotlight

133 days

Currently working on: pocketfolds (62/130 done)

I ordered some of the candles for the centerpieces today! I bought the small white floating candles as well as the white square floating candles from Yummi Candles. The total, with a coupon and shipping was $18.35! I really want to get the supplies for the centerpieces even though we still have a few months to go. I went through the other things I'll need and everything from Save on Crafts will be just under $200 including shipping (which is $52 but with the savings on all the items, I can justify it). I'm going to order everything from that site since I think it should save me on shipping (I'll have to research that, though) once we have all of our taxes in.

I also found these candles for the centerpiece on our sweetheart table! They're different from the others, but fit in with the black, white, and silver theme!

On another note, I am sick. There's a 24-hour bug going around work and I have caught it (again, since I felt crappy on Tuesday as well). I'm going to see if we have any chicken noodle soup since I'm hungry, or even ramen noodles. I'm also going to look for some cheap nightstands since our makeshift ones are getting more and more aggrivating.

Right This Way

Matt and I have come up with an idea on how to display the escort cards at the reception! I originally wanted to use vintage 1920s frames that would match the decor of the hotel, but that would prove to be WAY out of our budget. So we took that idea and went in a slightly different direction.
We're going to use black collage frames (from Target and Walmart) and put in a mixture of 1920s photos and quotes. Each frame will be for a different grouping of our guests (family, college friends, work friends, etc.) and the quotes and pictures will correspond to theme. We will use glue dots to secure the escort cards (in envelopes) to the frames as well as labeling each with its group and logo.
I think it will make it easier for guests to find their escort card. Plus, we'll get to keep and use the frames after the reception!

Here are the frames:

Both of our families

Bride college friends

Groom college friends



Bride high school, Gap, work, and dance friends

Groom work friends

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

I made my tossing bouquet tonight! (Yes, all in one night!) I followed the same basic steps for the regular bouquets, with the exception of twisting about half of each stem. I used 50 stems in three different size white pearls, 10mm black pearls, and clear beads. I tied it with the same ribbon I'm using to decorate the program baskets.
Here's the finished product:

For more detailed instructions on how to make this, please click here to visit my wedding planning website.

And I finished yet another boutonniere, this one for my page (and cousin) Connor!
Here it is:

Center of Attention

Matt and I have added three new centerpiece ideas so that we have a total of four different ones for the expected 20(ish) tables. Here is what we are going to do (complete with pictures):
1. low bowl with black gems and four round silver floating candles

2. globe vase with black glitter sand and a silver ball candle

3. square vase with silver diamonds and a white square floating candle

4. cylinder vase with silver pearls and three round white floating candles

And for our sweetheart table, we'll have a large low bowl with black and white gems and the leftover white and silver round floating candles.

Extreme Frame Makeover

So Matt and I went to Ikea on Tuesday and bought, among other things, frames to use for the wedding reception tables. They're called Tolsby frames and are hugely popular among brides right now, especially being only 99¢ a piece! They are double-sided, so you can put two pictures (or whatever else) in them. We're using them for our table numbers and have decided to put the number in one side and one of our engagement pictures on the other side.
The only downside to the frame is that they're white plastic. They're not super cheap-looking, but I had originally wanted black frames. Therefore, Matt and I decided to spray paint them. We found metallic silver spray paint at Michael's for $6 and we'll be testing it out today on one of the frames. (We used the one for our table first so that if it's messed up, it'll be on our own table.)
Here are the pictures:

Before

After

Yummy

When we booked the Biltmore, the catering manager there (they have onsite catering) gave us a list of their menu options. First, we decided that we wanted to do a plated dinner rather than stations or a buffet, especially because they provide a huge flambé presentation with a plated dinner. Second, after looking it over, we narrowed down the options (see the list below). However, we won't make our final decisions until after the tasting that the Biltmore hosts in February.

Cocktail Hour (6 of the following)

• Natural scallops roasted in crisp bacon
• Coconut chicken with lemon grass plum sauce
• Wild mushroom phyllo cups with white truffle oil
• Mushroom, caramelized onion, and goat cheese thin crust pizza
• Crispy spring rolls with duck sauce
• Southern whiskey pork on sweet potato gaufrette
• Blue cheese and pear filo star
• Rosemary lamb chops
• Chilled jumbo shrimp cocktail with Citron Bloody Mary cocktail sauce
• Crabmeat stuffed mushrooms
• Maine crab cakes with smoked bacon and minced boiled egg easter tartar sauce

Starters (2 of the following)

• Rhode Island lobster chowder
• Wild mushroom bisque with truffle oil
• The Biltmore Caesar: fresh romaine hearts with garlic and romano croutons
• Mixed baby greens with praline pecans, blue cheese crumble, mandarin oranges, and raspberry vinaigarette dressing

Entrées (2 of the following)

• Grilled petit filet with roasted or stuffed shrimp with a porcini mushroom demi glaze
• Classic chicken francaise with grilled shrimp, tarragon, and lemon sauce
• Mixed Grill: sliced roasted sirloin, crab stuffed shrimp, and chicken fiore
• Pan seared salmon filet with a roasted tomato beurre blanc or a honey soyglaze
• Wild mushroom ravioli with sautéed roasted spinach, tomato, and white wine sauce

Sides (1 starch and 1 vegetable of  the following)

• Roasted garlic and parmesan mashed potatoes
• Vanilla-scented whipped sweet potatoes
• Seasonal vegetables

Dessert (1 of the following flambé flavors)

• Strawberry
• Mixed berry
• Cherry

Color by Numbers

Two updates in this entry:

First, Matt and I had our engagement photos taken yesterday! Our photographer, Jessica Warzoha, came before the engagement party and did a small session with us. I'm so excited to see the end results once she sends us the pictures! I'll be sure to post them in a new entry once I receive the CD!

Second, I have completed the table numbers for the ceremony. I had SO many ideas and it was tough to make the final decision. I was thinking about doing places that were special to us or basing the table names on Peter Pan (Matt and I took Peter Pan buses to see each other for the first two years). After asking Matt, we settled on plain numbers (infinity for our sweetheart table) with quotes about love from movies and books. It works well for us since Matt is always quoting movies and I love to read. I made them with PowerPoint and had them printed at Staples on gray cardstock. We'll put them in 4x6 black frames on each table. (Other signs at the ceremony and reception, such as for the guest book and gifts/cards, will also be done in the same manner with the exception that they will be 5x7.)

Below are the table numbers!