Finished 6x6 Pocketfold Invites!

Here they are, in all their glory. Months of work, waiting, freaking out and gluing tiny gems to paper and here they are! And they are almost ready to mail!

I have to admit that of all the steps: Designing, Printing, Cutting and Assembling - cutting was by far the worst part and the most time consuming!!!

Here's a quick run down of how it all came together.

• After the jewels were glued onto the invite and the invite stuck to the pink backing piece, I then stuck that whole piece into the pocketfold.
• Then I handed off the pocketfold to Mr S, who stuffed in the Drections/ Information card and the Reception/Accommodations cards and set that off to the side.

Now it was time to get the RSVP's in - and since I had 6 different RSVP's, and each one had to be numbered to coincide with the guests number on my Excel spread sheet this step tooo a little longer then expected.

• Mr S would read me the name off the mailing envelope (which I printed up months ago) I would find them on the list, write the number on the back lower corner of the RSVP and he would stuff it in, then lay the whole thing with it's envelope, in a big white box to wait for it's belly band.

The belly band will be the last thing to go on, I tried making the seals at home and honestly gave up cutting them out and simply ordered some sticker ones instead. Sure it was an added $40 for 250, but I'll use them all through out the wedding planning and what not, and it will save me a load of time.
I'm still finding time to take on design projects, be they for invites, programs, thank you cards, Let me know and do it soon if you're thinking about it. Soon I'll be shutting down design until after my wedding and honeymoon - so mid-Sept!!!

Putting On The Glitz!

I started this task last night, as I received the 1's, 2's and 5's RSVP's from my step dad.

I cut it all up, and then realized I still needed to put the crystals on the invites, so I shifted gears and started this process.

In the absence of my actual craft tweezers, I grabbed an old pair of my eyebrow ones, because grabbing the gems and dipping them in glue and properly placing with your fingers is IMPOSSIBLE!

• STEP ONE: Squirt some glue, about a dime sized amount onto a scrap piece of paper. It will be easier to apply the glue to the gems this way.
• STEP TWO: Pick up gem with tweezers and dip lightly only the back, in the glue.
• STEP THREE: dab back of glue covered gem on scrap paper to remove excess, a very little amount is needed and you don't want the glue oozing out the sides.
  

(forgive my photos this time around, camera was having an off day, as was I! UGH!)

When all finished lay the items out to dry, it shouldn't take too long. Especially if you don't use too much glue. Be sure to lay them out flat, do not stack they can and will stick together!

And with Elmer's or the Jule glue I used, you will find that excess will dry clear but it's still better not to have a whole lot because you will still see the clear lump if it's too big.

And then you're all done adding the glitz to your invites!!!

SHOES!

I just couldn't think of a better name for this one. Because after months and months I finally got my wedding shoes! They have everything I wanted, lower heel to help me from NOT falling flat on my face down the slanted isle, sparkle and BLING!

I was supposed to go shopping last night with a Bridesmaid for shoes, but due to some money restraints, I canceled. Then, when Mr S came home from his business trip later in the evening he told me to take the credit card and get them if I really wanted them - and I really wanted them!

I just have such a hard time spending a significant amount of money on myself, being a mom I generally buy Paige and Mr S stuff long before me. Especially on something that I will only wear once....ok if I keep talking about them like this I will return them....

So here they are, my one large self purchase in months, possibly a year....my $74.00 wedding shoes, I bought them from Zappos they are by Coloriffics, style 'Carmen"

Oh I love them, I really do. I think I'll probably try to wear them as much as possibly after the wedding, just think me showing up to drop Paige off at pre-school wearing sweatpants and these shoes. Yeah, maybe not. Maybe I'll just sell them on ebay afterwards....;-)

We Need Another Pool Table

Our poor pool table, has been given a life of providing storage since the wedding planning began. It holds everything wedding related, from the files, to the mock centerpiece. My reception Converse Shoes and the Groomsmen gifts. I've recelntly had to begin stack upwards now and wanted to share with you my chaotic collection of wedding day items - get ready it's a mess:

Here it is straight on:


And from Either Side:


Mr S did not find it funny when I called him at work the other day to tell him I think we needed another pool table. What!? I'm out of room! Now I have to start stacking on the floor around it ;-)

3 more months, and we'll be able to play a game of pool again, that is if I can unload everything that comes back from the reception with me!

Let's Make Beautiful Music Together Part #2

And because I can't for the life of me get to different you tube videos in one blog (tired all day yesterday and now most the morning today! LOL) I will do a separate blog for the song I will walk in to .

I am walking into Bless The Broken Road by Rascal Flatts, which is arguably just as common now as Here Comes The Bride and Cannon in D; however, this song has great meaning to Mr S and I, and since they are also my favorite band and it's one of my favorite songs...so it all works out.

But before you get you knickers in a bunch, don't worry I'm not brining along my Rascal Flatts CD for them to toss in, I will be walking down to the piano version.

Give it a listen here:



Next blog Maybe the song we will be exiting to......keep a look out for Part #3!

Lat's Make Beautiful Music Together Part #1

Let's give this blog another try, I tried to do this yesterday and it went all crazy on me. And no, it wasn't the blog operators error! Very funny!

Anyway, back to the blog from yesterday....

Here' Comes The Bride and all that mess, I certainly will not be walking down the isle to that. More power to woman who does, but it is not me in the slightest!

And you know what? Making a list of the songs I refused to have a part of the wedding was much easier then making a list of the songs I did want in the wedding.

Eventually I landed on a great song for my bridesmaids and a great song for me
For my Bridesmaids they are walking to "If You Believe" by Jim Brickman, it's actually a holiday song from what I've been told, but you can't tell by simply listening to it and it's so beautiful I could care less if anyone knew.

Give it a listen:

Hairy Situations

Yea, lame name - sorry! I couldn't come up with anything else....cut me some slack!

Here's in Inspiration Board for Hair that I came up with. I'm having a hard time figure out what I want, all I know is curls for sure and all up is taking a back seat to half up/half down at the moment.

Personal favs are the top left and right corners....

Now I just have to figure out how the heck I'm going to wear my veil!!! I didn't even stop to think that it's a choice...lol.

10,000!

Woo Hoo!

Somewhere in the depths of night the hit counter passed 10,000!

Thanks everyone who comes by to take a look, listen to my insane ramblings, and follow along as I get this wedding going with the help of so many around me!

I hope I have more the one person coming by, otherwise I hit 10,000 just checking out the blog myself! LOL.

So a question to all of you out there reading this:

What do you want to see next? With 3 months to the wedding, what should I work on now and show you along the way??

Here It Is....

Ta Dah! Here's the ring and the band - the only time I get to wear it until the wedding (though I still have it on as I type, I know he'll take it away soon.....)

Slight issue with Mr S' ring, they apparently can't get the one he wants in a 9, it's Tungsten and they just don't make that one that size. It was a huge issue but he just went with the ring in the photo I posted earlier, the one on the left.

I do have to say - it was a circus act trying to explain to him over the phone what was going on and get him to pick a new one...lol. We're all good, his ring is ordered and I can't wait to see it on his finger!!!!

The Lordess Of The Rings

We got the rings yesterday! Yippie! They come from a mall store which we swore we wouldn't do - BUT they look great.

I couldn't find an exact photo of Mr. S.', and we won't have it for a few weeks, as it's Tungsten they had to order it in his size rather then size it in the store.

So use your mind morphing powers and imagine if you will..... The exact band of the image on the right, ONLY with the 5 diamond spaced out like the ones in the band on the right....

They can't engrave on Tungsten, so he'll have to remember our anniversary on his own, haha. I was considering adding my birthday in there too for good measure, but o-well. He'd better start using his palm pilot!

I'm just so happy he found something he really liked, looks great on him and has diamonds in it - because I figure if I need them then so the hell does he!

Now my ring, which we weren't going to get but the price was great and it looked great with my ring, looks a little like this:
It has 11 diamonds in it. They are princess cut, which is not what my engagement ring is but you can tell due to the size of the diamonds in the band. It looks great with it. I should have my ring on Tuesday, so I'll take picture of the two together then.

In the end, my ring with the band will have 22 diamonds total - HOW OBNOXIOUS! I almost feel snobby wearing it - eh I'll get over it ;-)

Ring Shopping Today

Today Mr. S and I are hitting the....dare I say it....mall, to look for his wedding band. Mr S has been totally against mall jewelers for as long as I can remember, complaints about 300% mark ups and shotty quality.....

Hence the whole reason my ring was hand crafted by a small jeweler, who happened to be a friend of mine. It turned out great and I love it, unfortunately with the cost of metal, specifically the platinum that my ring is crafted from, having risen through the roof - we can no longer afford to get my wedding band from him. In fact, we can't afford to get Mr S.' ring through him either.

In an effort to save money and get us something we both wanted, I hit the mall last week looking to get an idea of what Mr. S. might light. He won't let me get him platinum, so we are leaning towards Tungsten and Titanium. We want something heavy duty that he can wear even when working in the garage with out if bending and what not.

When we get back from our running about, I'll let you all know how it goes and hopefully we'll be coming home with at least his ring!

Our First Wedding Gift

Our first wedding gift arrived in the midst of a total nervous break down, yesterday evening. There was a legitimate wedding crisis, I'm talking Code Red and all that entails. My invites, which I've been slaving over for 6 months, were possibly in need of being completely redone. I was crying, looking for Xanax or possibly a bottle of wine when Alex walked in the door, carrying a giant box from Macy's.

Confused, I asked what he had bought, to which he replied "I thought you bought something". We both realized it must be a wedding gift, but who would have sent it? My invites we're in a chaotic state and certainly had not been mailed. And sure, the names of the places we are registered are on our website, but lets be honest - who reads that thing?

So I tore in with dried tears still on my cheeks to find two beautiful Vera Wang Crystal Wine Glasses, which we had registered for. I stared to cry all over again when I realized who they were from...

The lovely Ms. V - who's invites I recently showed off in design and completed form - sent them as a thank you to us for all my hard work on her invites. In the middle of a nervous break down, I'm reminded how wonderful people can be! A beautiful and unexpected gift! Thank you again Ms V!



PS - Invites are A-OK and have begun printing! Phew!

For The Birds - My Card Holder

When I started looking for something to put my cards in at the reception I quickly realized I was going to have to take things into my own hands, or have the same, tired old white satin covered box that has survived since the 80's. And by 80's I mean 1780's!

I really liked this bird cage idea that I had been seeing on wedding boards, but knowing my family I wondered if they would figure out that the cards belonged in the cage, byu means of sliding them through a slot on the top, and not laying about on the table.

So I just made sure that no one could miss it, and in turn jazzed my cage up a bit.

The Supplies I needed were:

• Bird Cage - here's where I got mine - I paid $11.00 for it!
  
• Glue
• "Cards" 4x6 sign
• Black 6.25x4.25 backing piece
• 1.5 yards of ribbon
• tape

I started by adding the sparkles to the letter "c" on the Card sign. I held the gem with a pari of long tweezers and dipped the back of it into a small pool of glue I had squeezed onto a scrap piece of paper.

NOTE: careful - you really need very little glue, otherwise it oozes out the sides when you press it to the paper.

Then I attached the Card sign to the black backing, using double stick tape.

Then I cut the ribbon strip directly in half and taped it to the back of the card. By cutting it in half I could easily stick each piece through the top of the cage and tie my bow.

It took some playing around with and trimming of the edges of the ribbon but I finally got the right length.

TIP: Want to know how to avoid those ugly frayed edges on ribbon? Grab a lighter and quickly stick the edge (and only the edge) you cut and want the fray off of in, and pull it out just as fast! Only leave it in the flame for a second, just repeat the process until you get the smooth and sleek look you want.

Just don't use a candle or you'll not only de-fray it, you'll get that ugly black residue on it too!

It didn't take much to make this cage what I wanted, and I only did a little thing - you could go all out and weave ribbon through the lower half, hang individual wooden letters from it to spell out "cards" - anything you wanted to make it your own!

Are you doing anything interesting for your card holder?

It's so Rewarding!

Remember a bit back I designed some wedding invites for a fellow bride - well she sent me one, and today it arrived!

Check out the detail on the cascading pocketfold inserts - when lined up they make one fluid image, yet it still appears on the individual cards in full as well.
I was so happy to be able to make these invites, and it's so rewarding to see how well they turned out as a final product. I'm proud to have been a part of this part of her big day!

Stick it To Em'

I got my stamps today...oh yeah...I got my stamps today!!! They look SO cool! I am really happy we ordered them.


I ordered them from Costco, which is like Sams Club. You don't need a membership to order through them, and they had the cheapest of all prices I could find anywhere! I believe, if you do have a Costco membership, you can save an additional 20%!

That's like almost paying regular postage price for them......yeah these were a bit more then regular .42 stamps - but they are so cool! And I don't even care that they cover nearly a quarter of the envelope! I will never again have any other reason to be obnoxious and see my face on a stamp!

Someone is willing to marry us?

Yeah, finally - I have a pastor to marry Mr S and I. I am highly considering taking out a legal and binding contract with her that states she must marry us with out backing out otherwise she will pay us 1 million dollars and buy us each brand new, matching BMW's.

Sound like a bit much? Well you won't think so when you hear what we had to go through to get a Pastor!

We're getting married at a Lutrean Church, what has 6 Pastor employed. SIX, as in 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, - in total SIX!

They ask us to pick one, so we do . Pastor #1 Come On Down, you've been chosen to wed the happy couple.

Pastor # 1 stayed our pastor for a month, yes thats it. I guess he is going to be on a sabbatical the month we get married. Can't blame the guy, so we move on and choose another pastor.

Pastor # 2 Come On Down, you've been chosen as a replacement to wed this happy couple.

Pastor #2 stayed or Pastor for 6 months, actually until 2 hours before we were supposed to meet him for our first pre-marital consoling. And since I'd called months earlier and he asked me to call back after Easter to book something, I was now more enraged at the fact he was bailing because he "claimed" to just realize he won't be in town that weekend. Nope, he will instead be doing a bike marathon of some sort.

3.5 months to the wedding, we've not been in for the consoling and we didn't have a Pastor.

Not to mention the 400 year old woman who is the church's wedding coordinator is almost NEVER in the office and has no clue how to work e-mail.

SO finally I get a call that says one has been chosen for us, but she has yet to call and set anything up with us.....which just makes me more angry....but at least we're on someones calendar for good.

Ug, who would have thought that would be an issue???