What's Left To Do?

What's left to do with this little time before the wedding? Well according to wedding checklists all over the place - this is what I have left to do:

• 2 Months Before
  • Mail the invitations. --->Did that last month
  • Decide on your wedding vows or compose your own. ---> Did this last month
  • Finalize the reception menus. ---> Did this in Feburary
  • Confirm the wedding details with the musicians and clergy or officiant. --->Done
  • Have the programs printed.
  • Purchase gifts for parents and attendants. ---> Half way done.
  • Make appointments for nails and make-up. ---> All booked but nails.
  • Schedule final dress fitting. ---> Done that, it's on the 12th!

So knowing I had all that done, I ventured into the 1 Month Before the wedding, hoping something in there would keep me busy for today, no not really.

• 1 Month Before
  • Apply for a marriage licence. ---> Had it for 2 weeks now
  • Plan the rehearsal dinner. ---> That's been done forever!
  • Meet with photographer and videographer. ---> Finished this last month

So I'm ahead, a little. All I have left on that whole list is to pick up some extra bridesmaids gifts and print off the programs....seriously why am I so stressed out half the time?

Here are a few actual things I do need to get done:

• Figure out WTH I'm doing with my hair
• Find pictures of makeup I like to bring to the stylist
• Finish the seating chart
  
• Figure out WTH to give the kids for favors
• Try to figure out how we'll manage to pay for the rest of this wedding.

What's It Worth?

As I affixed a stamp to one of my B list invites this evening, I wondered exactly how much had we spent on postage so far, with all the mailings we'd done.

The price makes me wish it was proper etiquette to send things out via e-mail.

• 120 Save The Date Large Postcards (sent before postal increase) @ .40 = $48.00

• 120 Custom Made .42 cent stamps @ $15.27 set of 20 + shipping = 76.36

• 120 $1.00 Stamps to mail invite = $120.00

• 25 Thank You Cards for Bridal Shower (1st one) @ .42 = $10.50

• 15 extra stamps for RSVP's @ .42 = $6.30

GRAND TOTAL IN POSTAGE SO FAR = $261.16

Holy crap! All I have to say is, I didn't budget for postage when we started this whole process. I didn't find anything about it in ANY magazine, Martha artical or anywhere else for that matter!

Simply put my advice to any new bride planning - weigh your invites, calculate the postage and budget for it!

The Phone Box

There's a pub in Minneapolis called Britts Pub. It is, as I'm sure you can tell by it's name, a British Pub. No proper English Pub is complete with out a Phone Box, and as you can see by the photo - they have one.

I felt it utterly necessary that we have some of our engagement pictures taken by it since Alex was born and raised in England and because I'm desperate to go back since it's been 14 years since I was there. So one Wednesday back in September of 2007, we went before the dinner rush, assuming it would be a slower time of the day/week and we would have free reign of the area to get the photos.

We were wrong. The series below is awesome but what you don't see is that that patio was packed. I mean the LITERALLY. A hundred people wandering around, there was even at one point a lady in the phone box, which didn't work of course, talking on her cell phone!

I clammed up at the thought of having to pose for a picture in front of all these people, but my photographer - the wonderful Kari Layland, shooed people off at least a little, so we could get this shot. A crowd was still gathered all watching, I was wondering if my smile looked ok of if I flat out looks stupid due to how anxiety ridden I was. Alex was a bit nervous too and didn't want to get in there with a big ol' kiss because of it, and of course the one shot I really wanted was us kissing in front of the phone box.

Kari kept egging us on to kiss and finally someone in the crowd yelled "Do you want me to come over there and show you how it's done" - laughter erupted and suddenly it was all ok, we got great pictures because of how funny the situation was but as you can see by the following photos....people really were pretty close!


It's nice to not only have great engagement photos - but a story to go along with them!!!

FInishing what I started

So I realized while pouring through old posts that I started to talk about my table names but never finished or showed you a photo of them! LOL.

So let's recap, the names of the tables at the reception are named after places that Mr S and I have either been to, or lived in. The majority of the "visited" names are from me, I've traveled to 13 countries since I was 14. And the "where we've lived" options are mostly Mr. S' as he use to live in England and had some really cool sounding places there.

Between the two of us we came up with 24 names, which I printed on 4x6 Rose Quartz Stardream paper I got from Envelope Mall, that I cut myself. I printed them at home on the ink jet and had to lay them out to dry for a bit, as stardream can be fussy when it comes to inkjests.


Then I affixed the crystals...must MUST have the crystals!!!


And lastly I adhered the table name to a black backing piece and - all done! Here it is on my table mock up (never mind the large hand towel where the napkin should be it was all I had pink and small-ish enough to take it's place for color reasons)



I'm really happy with the outcome, and after months of searching I finally found those plate easels in bulk and cheap. They are a little deeper then I would have liked - but the price was right. Find them at Treasures In Display

This is an item that will end up for sale after the wedding, so watch for the blogs about whats up gor grabs in September!

Why God doens't let me have the WE Network

The other week while Alex was away on business I loaded up my trusty Netfix account with girly movies I knew he wouldn't want to watch. One of the movies was Best Of Platinum Weddings. It's a TV show on the WE network, which I unfortunately do not get right now, and after seeing some of these weddings I knew why.

My little heart pounded at the sight of some of the extravagant items at these receptions, dresses so big they barely fit out the door, swans in the pond out front, crystals hanging from everything in the venue that would hold them up. Having a bottomless pocket book of money surely made these weddings a fairy tale like no other.

Not to say my day won't be a fairy tale, but these receptions looked like Miami night clubs and meadows where faeries lived. And to be honest, not everything was "Oh I love it I want it" because I'm reasonable and I know that some things aren't needed...it's a 5 hour party after all.

But one thing, just one....ohhhhh it was the thing of dreams. So trendy and cool and an amazing sight. Every single one of these weddings had one - it must be the new "It" item of high profile weddings....it is

The Martini Louge:

It's simple really, it's an ice sculpture that can really look like almost anything drink related, all with one thing in common. A ice slide/shoot, or in some cases a metal tube descending through the sculpture which dispenses the martini.

You pour the items into a shaker, shake them up and pour them into the top, it's whirls down into your waiting glass - perfectly chilled, and you've also gotten one heck of a show.



I'm not sure why I wanted something that would melt into a puddle of water which no doubt would have an alcohol level of "Dead" by the end of the night. I'm not even sure if many of the guests drink them, I know I do. But it was just that one thing, like asking your dad for a Pony when you were young...you knew you wern't going to get it but it's nice to think about.

At this point it is still a nice thought that will not be at the wedding. I haven't even looked to see what they cost because I'm sure I don't want the sticker shock. So I simply blog about it, mention it's coolness (no pun intended) and maybe one of you will have one and send me photos and I can live my dream through you.

And as a side note: No Auntie Nora....they do not have Bacardi Louges! Sorry love!

A Bridal Shower like you woulnd't believe....

I don't know if what I had can be called a Bridal Shower. I know it started out as one - a proper English Tea Party at that, with sweet fairy cakes, tea, egg and cress sandwiches, and of course Pimms - an incredibly lethal English drink. Everything was labeled on the tables with note cards for the American folk ;-) And I even had a flower arrangement in a large tea cup, for the tea party!

The beginning of the party, all proper and sweet was not how the night ended. My 4 PM tea party began like any other. Beautiful people, lovely gifts, and as the majority of the guests left for their homes to finish their weekends, around 6-7 pm..then the party really started.

It began with my bridesmaids and I telling stupid stories of ourselves, and then we come to realize that my one bridesmaid was shooting photos of me opening gifts, straight up my dress the whole time. (No I'm not sharing one) Then I sat down to read the list of gifts to make sure it was all there and realized my hilarious FSIL wrote things out like:

*Long Candle Thing that looks like a dildo
*Funny shaped glasses and towels
*Scale for when Amber gets fat
*incense to hide smell of pot when brother in law comes to visit
* White Towels and smelly shit
*Wine so Amber can continue to drink
*More fu__ing towels

I laugh each time I try to fill out my thank you cards!

The Gifts

My mom, Bridesmaid Mary Jo, Me and friend Mandy

Mary Jo, Ashley, Michelle and I in front - 3 of my bridesmaids

So after the guests mostly left and it was down to family and few good friends we decided to let the men back in. My step dad, FFIL and Mr S came up to join in the party. We ate what was left of the food, attempted to drink what was left of the alcohol - didn't work too well and all in all had a great time.

Not Typical Bridal Shower Highlights:

*Deacon showing up on his motorcycles with a paper bag of "Naughty toys" he bought on his way up to crash the party - which he bought in all his leathers from riding on GAY PRIDE DAY! Including a rainbow colored penis sucker, a handful of penis straws and other items....haha!

Me with my "toys" from Deacon, after several drinks....

*My Father in Law pretending to open beer bottles with his belly button:

after several drinks.....

*Drinking wine through a penis straw, cracking up my mother in law every time she saw me.


Finally at about 1 am, we were all a bit tipsy and very tired. We cleaned up and went to bed. Luckily I felt great this morning which worked out because we all had to be at my nephews 5th birthday party by 11 am! I have a load of wonderful gifts I can't wait to put away and got a bit of a Bachlorette party tossed in at the end of an amazing bridal shower!

We may not have "normal" parties - but we sure do have a lot of fun!!!!

Let's Party!

Today is Bridal Shower number 1, thrown by my FMIL and FSIL. We're having a traditional English tea party and I can't wait!

For those of you who don't know, Alex was born and resided in England until he was 12, at which time his family moved here to Minnesota. SO a traditional English tea party was definitely in order for the day.

I have had NOTHING to do with this shower other then providing names and address for the guests. I have no idea what to expect, no idea what games will be played, I'm totally in the dark. Which is completely not like me, I'm normally right in the thick of it helping plan and taking care of details. This will be the first party thrown for me with out me having to do a thing. I mean that literally!

So I'm off to get ready and pack up because we'll be staying over at FMIL's tonight with the fam! Catch you all later :-)