Countdown

I will be back to share all the great details our special day and more after we return from our honeymoon on 7/2/09.

DIY Fan Programs

Have you been searching the web for countless hours to find affordable fan programs like I did?!? There is a way to make them yourself that does not involved cutting perfect circles! 

Custom Programs offers pre-perforated card stock for just this. This handy paper and template start at just $1.50/fan. Please account for 10% waste when you are ordering though. Let's just say my printer wasn't so fond of my DIY project... 

{Image from Custom Programs}

{Image from Custom Programs}

Crazy about Wedding Day Signs!

When I saw these cute rustic signs popping up from weddings around the country I knew I had to have them!!! Check out how fun these are...

{Photo from Snippet & Ink}

{Photo from Snippet & Ink}

{Photo from With This Ring}

{Photo from With This Ring}

In total I had seven signs made for my ceremony and reception. One for the tree in front of the ceremony (Wedding 6 o'clock), the lemonade bar for early birds (lemonade 2 cents), gift table, cocktail hour is "margaritaville", dinner of course (supper), dancing and cake building (ho down), and a "picture show" where we are running our rehearsal dinner video, on auto loop, in the tiny old chapel. Gee that was one loaded run on sentence!!

I could have made these myself like many others have done, but when I ran across The Back Porch Shop, on etsy. I decided this gal would be the one to make em'.

I attached twine to the ready to hang signs and they are ready to go.

Here is the photo of how the rectangle signs will be displayed with shepherds hooks in front of each building. 

I will be selling these for $10/piece after July 2, 2009. Shipping will be actual cost.

What Color Should The Groom Wear?

If I am wearing Champagne, what color should the groom wear? The guys are not wearing jackets, so the color is more important since there is nothing covering it up. I have searched high and low for an answer online. Maybe ya'll can help me out...

1. White
2. Ecru
3. Ivory
4. Champagne

What do you think?

Destination Honeymoon!

When trying to decide on our honeymoon location, the first thing we had to figure out was our budget. 

My FH and I work on commission so sometimes things are great and sometimes they are just "okay". During one of those great times I had accidently mistaken my budget with Jessica Simpson's and dreamt of staying on a private island in Fiji! I had to put myself in check and did a little rewind in the budget direction!!

After many, many weeks of looking I found this awesome tree house (yes, it is really in the trees) for just $45/night! Saving that cash!!! We booked our honeymoon for 10 days in Costa Rica and I can't wait! By the way, that pool you see if our private pool.

Have you decided on your honeymoon location?

IMPORTANT: If you are planning on honeymooning anywhere in Mexico please contact me so I can fill you in. Apparently, the astronomically horrid things going on down there is only on Texas news stations. Keep us Texans in your prayers in guarding our border from invasion and harm.

Rehearsal Dinner Dress

Lately, I have been scouring the internet for the perfect dress to set sail with. Our rehearsal dinner is on a yacht in Austin. This is very special to me since our first date was in the same setting. I need your ideas on what you think would be the prettiest for my rehearsal dinner. 

Keep in mind I am a size 8, smaller chested, and I will be wearing cowboy boots with this b/c I cannot stand in heels for longer than 5 minutes! :)

Option One: Victoria's Secret Square Neck Babydoll Bra Top

Option Two: Victoria's Secrets Terry Tiered Empire Dress

Option Three: Victoria's Secret Knot Front Curvy-Jersey Dress

Option Four: Forever 21 Floral Halter Dress

Option Five: Forever 21 Knotted Strap Dress

I am going with blue since this is the prettiest color on me, but if you have a better suggestion I would love it if you could post it and throw it my way!

Intimate Wedding Fridays

With the economy at a low, wedding budgets are getting tighter! We don't have as much money to throw around and fear is living in a lot of us. SOLUTION: You don't have to throw away your dream wedding, just alter it! 

Fridays will now be devoted to fabulous weddings...  intimate, on a budget, and more likely than not, destination. I love destination weddings for a couple of reasons. One of the biggest reasons is I can't stand to hurt people's feelings. When you are traveling you can limit the guest list very simply. Co-workers are not going to take their vacation time and spend their money traveling, just to watch you get married. For some reason though we (or maybe just me) feel like we must invite them! Limit your guests to those dearest to you. A college reunion isn't necessary. That is why there are reunions where everyone foots the bill for themselves!

My favorite wedding, I ever attended, was my best friend's wedding with a total guest count of 30! Get elaborate with just a few people and you will save THOUSANDS! Plus, you actually will have time to spend with your guests and enjoy being in their company if there is only 20 or so. With 200 people you can't possibly even spend 5 minutes a person!

To start our very first ever Intimate Destination Wedding Friday, I want to show you this 1861 restored farm home in Canada.

Can you image being wed wed somewhere beautiful on this 100 acres of land?! Open fields, 13 acres of hardwood maple forest, 20 acres of cedar forest, and a small creek are just a few of your options! You can spend the weekend at this dream home for just at $2,000.00. The food doesn't cost much at all to feed only 14 people and when it is that few of people wouldn't it be fun to cook the meal together? Maybe this is just my fantasy (if I were able to re-do my wedding every year!). 

You have no need for the extra frills here... location, bouquets, pastor, and food and I think you have a wedding (well you have to have a bride and groom too!). When you can find a location that takes your breath away, there is no need to spend extra money to manipulate it into a beautiful spot. Let God's masterpiece speak for itself!

If you are interested in Highland Creek Farm in Collingwood, Canada you can find more information here.

365 Day Countdown Party

Have your parents met each other yet? What about the wedding party? Does everyone know whom they will be celebrating your day with? Miss Bruschetta, at WeddingBee, planned a party for everyone to get together BEFORE the wedding (one year exactly) to meet and eat great food.

Obviously if you have a short engagement, an engagement party would work instead; I really love this idea of celebrating the one year date in a very casual way. 

Miss Bruschetta writes,

"...but hosting a one year countdown party proved to be a great way to

A) Introduce our families and friends to each other

B) Share some of our favorite summer recipes, AND

C) Try out some new treats for our guests

We cooked up the idea in late spring, and it seemed like the perfect idea for a longer engagement like ours (21 months!). 

The feel? Casual, backyard celebration. Not an engagement party; rather, a celebration of 365 days until our wedding!

The guests: Both our families and our close friends.

The cuisine? Well, now. Here we were realistic. We ordered to hoagie trays, but committed to making three (huge!) side dishes, two desserts, and one appetizer."

Thank You Notes

Thank you cards are one of those things you just can't get out of. Everyone hates writing them but everyone expects one too! Why not make them fun?

{Source}

Make your notes fun! The majority of my friends would crack up at the when they opened up the envelope to reveal these fill in the blank cards. What are your thoughts? It sure makes it easier!

Don't Start BUGging Me!

The decorations are set, your song has played and it is time to get to the "I Do"s...

Is this bride crying tears of joy...

{Source}

Or did this pesky bug just stab her with it's needle-like mouthparts and she is being eaten alive?

{Source}

Okay, okay, we know the tears are tears of joy. Just look at the way that man is looking at her!! (I can't wait!) Anyhow, I got your attention!

Have you even thought about mosquitoes being at the wedding and the nuisance that would bring to you and your guests!? Many times I catch myself RUNNING for the indoors to get away from those mean suckers, in the summer! I love the outside, but mosquitoes sure have a way of ruining my wonderful outdoor plans.

Ask your venue if they can spray for bugs the day before your ceremony. If not, place a few citronella candles around disguised as decoration. I found some affordable citronella votives and tea lights here.

MY WEDDING BAND!!!

Remember how excited I was when I told you I had found THE wedding band! Well, today it arrived at my door. The worst part about it is I can't wear it until June! Oh yes, that is the only bad part! I LLLLOOOOOVVVVEEEE IT! Oh, how it sparkles! 

What do ya'll think? 

I apologize at the poor quality picture. A friend borrowed my camera so the phone is what I have to show it off to you. I couldn't wait!

If you want a ring like mine, call Bennet Fine Jewelry. The jeweler, Leslie, is SO sweet!

Proposal Without "THE" Ring

Attention Men: I have you planned your proposal yet?

Check this out:

Not only is this WAY COOL but she can pick out her real engagement ring with you. After all, she has to wear it her entire life!

Go get your own wedding proposal ring.

Affordable & Beautiful Wedding Cake

Finding a pretty wedding cake that is also affordable is pretty much unheard of! It is the hours of detail that the baker puts into a cake that make the cost so darn high! You have to admit when you pay those high prices, the baker definitely delivers... but what if there was something simpler and just as breathtaking?!

You just found it!

{Image from Country Living}

This vintage cake stand adds height giving the look of a glamorous, soaring cake. The cake itself is a simple 3 tier with little decoration that the supermarket could make for you. The cupcakes themselves are plain with white icing, something you could bake yourself. Decorate with some leaves from the yard and wah lah! Simply perfect!

Rehearsal Dinner Invitation

I finally finished my rehearsal dinner invitations this week! 

This was a tough one for me to create because I couldn't find a invite I liked (without paying a fortune)! There were plenty of cute invites with pretty background images, but the creators are savvy and you can't just copy the image.

I ran across this invitation designed by Bridget Marshall and I really loved the style!

{Source}

Since there was only text and just a graphics involved I could easily make it...

Here is my version:

There you have it, a very cute invitation formed by finding inspiration and creating! :) What do you think?

You can also see my Wedding Invitations & Response Cards, Save the Date, and Newlywed Brunch Invite by clicking on the name.