Gustav!

I'm skipping a few days, and jumping to yesterday - I'll back track again don't worry.

We didn't get hit with Gustav, but we got some really cool weather here because of him moving towards Cuba! The wind was so cool and the waves were huge, but pretty far out due to a sand bar about a 1/4 mile off shore. We got a little rain, a sprinkle really and it wasn't enough to get us out of the pool! ;-)

The only really bad part of yesterday was the fact I managed to get stung by a bee! YEOUCH! Luckily I was chatting with a great older couple and they realized the stinger was still stuck in my side and helped me get it out. I was a bit panicked...go figure...me panicked....lol.

Here's some shots of the waves and what not. It really was very cool!!!! The photos don't do it as much justice as I had hoped, the wind was about 40 + miles and the waves that actually did reach the shore still knocked you over, even while sitting as you will see in the video...

Honeymoon Day 2 - A Day of Firsts

I'm a bit of a few days behind....obviously I've been here more then two days but I can only upload so fast.

Day 2 was a day of firsts for me, I ate lobster (if you know me you know that me + seafood = ICK!) I had my first Cuban Cigar, sat at my first swim up bar and I learned to play chess on a huge game board....here's a few pictures.

I have to admit, the lobster was GREAT!

Swim Up Bar

Big Chess Board - the largest pieces weighed about 20lbs! Made for an interesting game, after drinking all day long!

Yes, I know I'm holding it wrong!
And just so you can see a little more of the resort - here's the spa you can swim up to, we will be getting massages on Saturday, and a few other places as well :-)

Here's the stairs that lead down from the main lobby, at the bottom you find The Martini Bar
That's all for now, we have a romantic private dinner on the beach tonight! :-)

Honeymoon Part 1

The flight was scary - but only because I hate to fly. It was well worth it though to get here! Here's a few pics that we took yesterday, our first day here at Excellence Rivera Cancun!

View of room from bathroom

Swan Towels on Bed
Our OUTSIDE Tub!
Our Free Bar (part of it) The guy who brought us to our room said:
"This free, you drink it tonight, we replace tomorrow for you!"
Sweet!
My First Time In the Ocean!
Banner on our Door

One of the 16 some odd buildings here and one of the 10 pools
Okay thats it for now, we're heading to the Cigar Bar, then to a magic show and then to more drinking! Woo Hoo! I love Cancun!!!!

I Can't Believe It's Come and Gone

Wow - it went by SO fast! I rmember the end of the night coming and having our last dance and wondering where the night went. It was the most amazing wedding, the most perfect day I have ever asked for!

My favorite part of the reception was my Father in Law requesting a song called "Welcome to Our World" and being surrounded by all his family and friends - singing along. I cried and cried!

It's not to say that the slideshow my aunt made wasn't to the most perfect and loved filled gift I could have ever gotten, or the dances with my 2 fathers were not beautiful amazing moments either...

I don't have any of the pro pics yet obviously but here's a few from through out the day...Enjoy!

My Step Mother, Myself, my Mom and my Mother In Law
My Beautiful Daughter, my Flower Girl

The Tables All Set to Go


My Bridesmaids

First Dance

Cake Fight!

I will get up more as soon as I can. Tomorrow I am spending time with my daughter before we leave on the 26th at 7 am for our Honeymoon! I'm taking the lap top and will get up photos possibly while there as well!!!

I'M MARRIED!

I don't have much time to write, as I have to pack up and run to the gift opening but I wand to tell everyone how amazing yesterday was!

I was fine until about 15 minutes until I had to walk down the aisle. Then I began to get a bit nervous, but once I was at the front of the church it was fine. I did try to put the ring on the wrong finger though, it was so funny!

The limo, pictures, my coordinator and he reception was fantastic. I had a blast! I can't wait to share pictures so stay tuned!!!! I hope to have some from my camera up tonight! The professional ones will have to wait until after the honeymoon though :-(

Until later!!!

Mrs S.

Todays The Big Day!

Sorry to be MIA the past two days! I had the rehearsal diner/luau on the 21st and it went great! Then I had a million things to run around and do yesterday with 2 of my bridesmaids - including set p the reception hall! And of course, todays the big day!

I stayed at the hotel last night and Mr S stayed with his parents. I had an early night - though a few friends really couldn't understand why I didn't want to hit the bar and stay up to drink?

So I'm getting ready now to head to the salon, and the next time to hear from me I will be Mrs. S!

Saved!

Yesterday was a whirl wind of panic as I ran around the house trying to finish up all the things I knew were left to do, and actually had to be done. I believe I almost hyperventilated!

Thank GOD for my bridesmaid Lynnea who arrived from Montana and saved the day by bringing 2 of her wonderful kids and her husband over to help. We started an assembly line and got the programs done in no time. I don't know why I thought I could have done this alone and finished in a decent time!

Half way through, Logan went to play with my daughter Paige which was a bigger help then you can understand. The guys took to playing the Wii after a while but Lynnea and I only had a few little things left to do and it was no big deal!

After everything was done we went out back to relax a bit, where I got thrown in the hot tub in my clothes by her son Tyler. I never laughed so hard in my life and it was exactly what I needed to help keep me in a good mood the rest of the day!

Here's the finished programs:



I also got the frame for the seating chart spray painted as well as some extra frames and easels for the memory table. I haven't gotten all the photos I wanted for it, but it will do for now I suppose.

And now I'm off for a few to get the other last minute things done and to get ready for the rehearsal that is at 3 pm!

Bridezilla Meets Momzilla

I did something last night I vowed to never do during the course of my wedding planning - I watched WE TV's Bridezilla.

Now I know that they make thing seem worse then they really are, because that's what gets ratings but the one I watched made me so sick to my stomach that I had to try not to track this girl down and scream at her!

I watched episode 10, with a gal named Kristen in it. Typical wedding day stuff, she was always running behind, freaked out because her 5 year old nephew got lost and no one was paying attention to her....whatever.

The bit that got me, and I wish I could have found the clip for you, is when she's in the car going to her rehearsal. Her 2 year old is sitting next to her in the back seat and every other word out of her mouth is the F-Bomb. She swore more in a 2 minute clip then a sailor after a bottle of gin!

Was she just that horrible of a parent that she could have cared less her impressionable child was sitting next to her? Aside from her filthy dirty, trashed house, obnoxious mother and other things, she was slowly teaching her daughter the fine art of Trailer Trash Speak 101. I spent most my time cringing and hoping that it would over soon.

That woman needs some serious parenting help. Obviously what ever she learned from her mother was WRONG! People agravate me! I just had to vent about this one....

Not Funny!

So my bridesmaid from Montana arrived in town today and called to say hello. She said

"I have something really funny you're going to laugh at, I forgot my dress at home"

I stopped breathing!

I think my silence scared her and she said "OMG I'm just kidding! I have it I'm sorry!"

It's funny now but man did I panic for a second....she's lucky I love her so much...hehehe

Hello Crazy...Where've You Been?

It's official, I have had my first, of what I can only imagine is many meltdowns. I can't say that I didn't see it coming, I mean even after dropping back to 50 mg of Zoloft from the 100mg I was taking for a week or so, I have still been much to laid back about things.

It's just before 10 pm, and I've been in bed since 8pm. My stomach sick, my head swirling and my nerves shaking. The phone rang and Mr S came in to let me know my God Mother was wondering if I was still taking my biological son to get a hair cut tomorrow. I think that mixed with the notice of groomsmen not being able to make it to the rehearsal because of his profession, which I can understand - set me clear off my rocker. Suddenly the stress flowed in, tears flowed out and I was desperate to just sleep the whole night with out being woken up by my mind.

I've taken to my Adavan, prescribed by the doctor for stress on the wedding day and the flight, I resorted to them now for just one night of total sleep. I'm tired, I'm stressed out and I've been rather proud of not freaking out before now over something stupid. I guess I wasn't actually handling, rather putting off. And I know everything will be fine I think I needed to get this out of my system and get a good nights sleep.

It's supposed to be the greatest day of my life, why does it come with so much damn stress!?

Make-up Trial

The make up trial went well, I really like the girl who's doing it! Irma is a blast! And contrary to what age you might think she is based on her name, she is actually 27, very pretty and so much fun to talk to!!!

I chose to go with a smokey look for my eyes to make them pop. I tend to feel like my eyes "fade away" no matter how much makeup I have on. I considered have fake eyelashes, and might still the day of, but as of now it's looking great!

I'm sorry I don't have any pictures, I didn't exactly have a great hair day so I opted not to take any...lol.

I'm not feeling the best today. My stomach feels like it's doing backflips continually. I'm actually planning to lie in bed now and relax. The programs still need to get done, but honestly right now I'm so emotionally exhausted, putting it off is no big deal to me right now...

Tomorrow marks 3 days. It's so surreal.

Hair Trial

You'd think I could function a computer by now....no. I screwed something up between the camera and the computer and only managed to get one photo of my hair trial successfully transfered. Ugh!

It's a bit ok because we're altering the actual hair do. Less "poof" on the top and more down on the sides. I thought I would give you a sneak peek of what it's kinda going to look like...here it is :-)

I can't believe I mucked up putting the pictures on the computer...grrr! O-well I'm getting 3-4 blogs done a day because I'm in total need of an outlet!

Tomorrow marks 4 days. OMG 4 days! Breathe in, breathe out......repeat!

Weather Stalking - Cont.

Well I'm still doing it, obsessively looking at the weather web sites to see that pretty little cartoon sun on my wedding day's forecast. 4 days and some odd hours to go and things are looking up:

The funniest thing, is I just ran upstairs to grab my cell phone and as I passed Mr S' laptop sitting open on the couch I noticed that he had the same website open to the same weather page!

Fingers still crossed that thunder storm doesn't show up during our luau or wedding!

4 am

Something strange has been happening. Every night (or early morning I suppose I should say) I have woken up at EXACTLY 4 o'clock in the morning.

I have no idea why, I'm sleeping well although my dreams have been odd....

This has happened 4 nights in a row....any insight?

Wedding Week

I'm sorry I haven't posted anything really helpful lately. My DIY's are mostly done but you have the finished programs to look forward too and the seating chart board that I made. I have yet to spray paint the frame thats around it, I plan to have Mr S do that tonight.

Thing have been crazy busy, most people have wedding weekends and I have a wedding week! Saturday we went on a boat ride with 30 friends all of which are coming to the wedding. We spent the day on the lake!

Yesterday my biological son arrived with his adoptive parents, and I went to my moms for dinner and drinks to celebrate their arrival.

My house is trashed and I have more laundry to do then you can imagine. This week is going to go by fast and hopefully I can get it all done. I want to have all the clothes for the honeymoon clean and set to the side for my trip no later then Friday. This way, the day or so I get to spend with my daughter between the wedding and the honeymoon I can focus on playing with her and not cleaning.

And so it begins. Here we go. Man, this year has flown by!

Let The Stalking Begin

Mr S. is obsessed with weather. You know the type, you're running away from the tornado and he's trying to see how close he can get with out pissing his pants. Yeah, that's him.

Maybe it's the fact that at least 12 times a day he checks the weather, either via his blackberry or laptop that I decided 8 months ago I needed to know what the weather on our wedding was like in the past. It was not a good idea, with how I tend to panic. My checking that, is pretty much the same thing as me jumping off a 10 story building, just to see if it hurt when I hit the ground.

Basically, to sum it up, it has rained on our wedding date every year for the past 5 years. Needless to say I have been waiting for the ability to check the 10 day forecast for quite sometime.

Remember the "jumping off a building" analogy? Yea, I just took a flying leap.

Here's the weather forecast for the wedding day and my outdoor luau rehearsal dinner which is on the 21st.

Now, I know. Weather people are often wrong. And just because it says scattered doesn't mean that it will be all day, in fact it could only rain in the early morning hours. And I wish that knowing that in my heart of hearts calmed me a little. But it doesn't. Not even a little.

Needless to say, I will be stalking the weather website every day, several times a day. And praying as hard as I can that I have a bright sunny beautiful day! I don't know what I will do if I have to take all my wedding pictures inside.

I don't care if they say that rain on your wedding day is good luck. I'm convinced that's something a wedding planner came up with at one point to calm down a panicking bride to be! It's crap!

Get It Together!

I was sitting with Paige this afternoon, watching something or other on Disney Channel, when the phone rang. The caller ID said it was the church and figuring they were calling to go over last minute details I answered.

It was the Wedding Coordinator for the church curious as to where we were, because it was 3 and our rehearsal was starting and we weren't there. Dumbfounded, I asked her what she was talking about, our rehearsal is on the 21st at 3, not the 14th at 3.

She said her paper work indicated that this was the day that we requested, and I explained that it was the FIRST day we requested but due to out of town and out of country participants in the wedding it was impossible and we changed it. I even have the paper work to back it up.

She looked over her calendar and said "Okay well the 21st isn't going to be a problem" Damn skippy there's no problem! Had she told me we couldn't do it now I think I would have went Bride-zilla on her!

This isn't the first time she's made a mistake. Last month she try to charge us the remaining $800 for the church fee -AGAIN! Thankfully I had the receipt and the paperwork to prove that as well.

To be honest I can totally see why she screws up so much, first of of all she's like 70 and I don't discriminate against the elderly at all - but if you have a job and a really important one at that....ugh! And she's only in the office for 2 days a week for 2 hours at a time....

I'm laughing about this now, only because it worked out.

A Little Too Calm

You know me, I'm a nut case. All the time. Running around, multi-tasking in only a way that I can. But lately, it hasn't been that way. I've been calm. Very calm.

I've heard about 75 times in 2 days "Are you getting excited about the wedding?", and the sound in their voice when they hear my response is of pure disappointment. Don't get me wrong, I am VERY excited. VERY VERY! It's just not flowing out of me in my normal, bubbly and sometimes annoying way.

Gifts are arriving, the dress is done, hell even guests are starting to arrive. Yes, this early - the ones from out of the country who are making a trip of it and all. I should be jumping up and down and in constant lunatic mode all day. But I'm not.

Is there something wrong with me? Is this the calm before the storm? Or am I just totally exhausted of a year of planning this wedding that I'm finally running on empty? Whatever it is is very strange to me indeed.

Now, I won't be stupid and not say that the Zoloft isn't a key role in this whole thing. It's definitely leveled out the chaos in my head. And it's not to say that I would rather be a raging freak show, barking direction at everyone and going from happy to sad 457 times a day either. Who would? It's just weird.

I'm really hoping that the overly happy comes out soon before people start to think I don't want to get married. And, though helpful I will stop taking the Zoloft a few weeks after the wedding. I like being calm but I also miss being a nut case ;-)

Until then I will remain a QUIETLY happy and medicated bride :-)

And On The Doorstep She Found...

ANOTHER WEDDING GIFT!

During my lazy day with my daughter I heard the screen door to the breezeway close. Knowing it was much to early for Mr S to be home, I figured it was a gift, or I hoped it was anyway ;-)

The UPS truck was just pulling away when I got there and found a rather large box. Totally excited I hauled it into the kitchen and ripped it open like a kid on Christmas.

Inside I found a large blue bag tied with a lime green ribbon

The card attached was simple and to the point, and had no name as to who it was from:


And inside the bag was this:



It's a combo 2 CD player and and iHome in one! I'm super excited! I had to go and see who it from, so that I can send a thank you card, it turned out to be from Mr. S' Brother! What a nut, why wouldn't he put his name on any of the info in the box!

U-G-L-Y You Ain't Got No Alibi!

I'm not having a bachlorette party. GASP! Right? Not really.

I don't do the crowded bar with over priced watered down drinks thing, or squeezing into my old clubbing clothes. It's not that I don't like them or think that they aren't fun. I'm just not doing it because it's not me, where I'm at in my life.

However; at one point, back before I was actually engaged or even considering marriage I did have a really great idea, I swore I would do when it was turn for my Bachlorette party.

I wanted to have a totally bad prom dress themed bachlorette party! Swing into Goodwill or hit up eBay, grab the most outdated or totally ugly dress, accessorize the part and hit the bars!

My reason was because in high school I never got to go to prom for one reason or another. So I was determined that my wedding would make up for the 4 missed proms and to kick it all off, dress up in other peoples discarded fashion disasters!

In honor of my, never used yet brilliant idea here is a collection of the ugliest dresses I could find.

The Hello Kitty Dress

The Red Disaster!
Not Everything Pink is Cute

And last but not least The Green Monster


To see these and other ugly dresses please vists www.uglydress.com
Please credit UglyDress.com for having the time, patience and stomach to gather all these dresses into one place!

Last Minute Stresses...

11 days out from them wedding, and for the most part everything wedding related is taken care of. My programs are not yet printed and I have to order the sand for the sand ceremony. Aside from that the only thing that's really getting under my skin is the guest list....

I had all the RSVP's in, or not heard from phone, e-mail, myspace or heck even smoke signal if the remaining few were attending. It stands to reason that more then likely they would not be. So I sent in final numbers, and did my seating chart, the chart board for the reception, and all that jazz.

Then guess what happens, just guess....oh yea I get an e-mail telling me that I had missed several phone calls (which I didn't mind you) as this guest was ever so hard trying to get a hold of me....yeah right. So now, since he is coming and wants to being an undisclosed guest - which I'm not happy about as I need a name for the place card and seating chart. So I have to re-do EVERYTHING! The bit of the seating chart that will be effected by moving people around, call the venue, add more meals.

UGH! I'm so irritated. And of course the guest isn't responding to my e-ails again. I half tempted not to change anything and let him suffer....lol.

Vendor Reviews Part 1

As I've had so many vendors so far I want to get this vendor list started for everyone!!!

I'm giving a grade to each vendor based on my experience and MY experience alone This is simply my opinion and I am not intending on "slamming" anyone, simply giving honest information based on my use of the vendors listed:

A/A+ = Exceeds Expectations
B = Great
C = Average and/or information unavailable as it wasn't needed
D = Not was expecting/Poor
F = Not recommenced by me and my experience

Candles for all items at wedding:

Candles For Less
Awesome customer serviced and fast shipping! When my box of candles was going to be late, they called, apologized gave me an exact date and even makrked my wedding date down ao as not to miss it if something happened!
BEST DEAL: 72 votives with candles for $36.99

A+ Customer Service rating
A+ Product Quality
A+ Price

Accessories for reception (toasting flutes, cake topper, cake cutting set, personalized napkins)

Exclusively Wedding
Ordered everything online. Website was very easy to use and navigate. Shipping is regular - not super fast, but also not incredibly slow. Replaced 2 mugs with scratched etching on them with no questions or return needed.
BEST DEAL: Toasting Flutes - $39.99 a set (yes they come cheaper other places, but I couldn't find these anywhere else)

A Customer Service
A Product Quality
B Price


Accessories for Reception (cont.) (bird cage for cards, glass bowl for guest book)

Save-On-Crafts
Possibly one of my favorite places to shop online for crafty things! Awesome selection at amazing prices! You may need to have a little DIY Diva in you to create - but it's worth a look and I highly recommend them!
BEST DEAL I FOUND: Bird cage for the cards for only $11.99

A+ Customer Service
A + Product Quality
A+ Price

Black 6x6 Pocketfolds for Invitations

LCI Paper

Great quality product, met all my expectations. Sturdy and beautiful. After looking around more after buying items I found cheaper pocket folds at www.CardsandPockets.com

A+ Customer Service
A+ Product Quality
C/B Price

Stardream Paper for Invitations (Rose Quartz)

Envelope Mall
Great website - easy to understand and navigate. Shipping was quick and packaged properly with no damage upon arrival. As far as price, I have not been able to find Stardream paper cheaper anywhere else in store or on the internet!

A Customer Service
A+ Product Quality
A+ Price

Stardream Paper for Invitations (cont.) (Crystal)

Paper Depot
A Minneapolis based shop that carries all the Stardream line, was the only place I could find that actually sold the Crystal color, the whitest of the line. I had to order form them and though they had major shipping prices on the samples I ordered, in the end trying to drive there with the 35W bridge being down - it was worth it to save the stress and gas.

A+ Customer Sservice (store and web site)
A+ Product Quality
B Price


Favors

The Knot
A popular wedding site, I managed to find the best deal on the "Love" coasters that I wanted at $1.99 for set of 4. Now I must note that they were on special at the time so don't expect this item at that price all the time.
I broke them down to 1 per person and packed them in organza bags (see below)

C = Customer Service (never needed it, no opinion)
A = Product Quality
A+ = Price



Favors (cont.) Organza bags and Acrylic Ice Crystals for Centerpiece

efavorMart
By far the best price anywhere for these! Packs of 10 for $2.49! Website is great and very easily manageable. The crystals reall add a lot to my centerpiece! Love them!

C = Customer Service (never needed it/no opinion)
A+ = Product Quality
A+ = Price


All right, thats' all for now - I will add more as I have them!

Travel Agent Update

After exchanging many e-mails today that really got me nowhere at all, I finally was able to decipher what it was exactly that I was getting.

Her first e-mail, the one that sparked my whole previous rant went like this:

Hi Amber,

Your travel documents are ready for your pick up. We are open until 6pm on Monday and Thursday. Five pm on tuesday, wed and friday.

Obviously from that I gathered that my travel documents ( which I was told that I already have) would be ready....duh, right?

So I then asked her if she could mail whatever it was to me so that I didn't need to go in, and to clarify what exactly it was that I was picking up.

Her only response was that she would mail them. Didn't bother to answer the other question.

When I again sent the question via-e-mail she finally sent this to me:

Amber,

You received a nice leather bound travel document holder for your honeymoon from NW World vacations. I can put it in the mail if you want.

Now would you kindly explain how I was supposed to gather from that first e-mail there were no actual documents there for me, but a leather travel case? Seriously, I am the only one who managed to miss it, or is it really that she's just that crazy?

The Terrible Travel Agent Strikes Again!

Seems that the closer to the wedding we get the faster little things are going wrong. Like the DJ not responding to me yet, and now my stupid travel agent!

You might remember me venting here or on Wedding Bee (if you visit there) about the agent from hell who was so terrible at her job that I wanted to scream! Friendly, upfront and informative is what I got until I announced that we were booking our trip and then once the commission bells went off in her head, it was bye bye customer service.

To recap - the first thinng she did was totally mangle the terms of our travel insurance, so much so that we thought we were covered to get back 100% should anything come up that we needed to cancel. Yeah that was totally wrong! 50% back IF we are ON the honeymoon and have to go home. Yeah, it's her job to know this...and this is what I get.

So anyway, I called them a few months back asking for a receipt that showed everything was paid. They said they don't send them, the ones they send look like invoices and then the "just know" it's paid off. Unhappy with that, as any normal person would be I asked if they could just make one up for me and they said sure. Did I ever get it - no.

Then I asked them where our tickets were and how I would go about getting them. I was informed that all I needed was the info they mailed me, to present it at the airport and my tickets would be there. I don't travel much anymore, and when I did I was young so my dad took care of it all. Not to mention that I never have used a travel agent in my life! Needless to say this made sense to me and I planned to do what she said even though my paper work looked like nothing more then an itinerary to me.

Just now, in my e-mail I get a letter from her saying that my travel documents were ready to be picked up. WTF!?

Okay, I'm busy so I asked if whatever this is if it could be mailed to me. I'm sure I can take a few minutes to run there but I think that if I see her in person I might scream at her and cause a scene.

I can not for the life of me figure this lady out. Ugh! How does she even keep her job with all the mess ups. I mean getting an e-mail that I needed to pick something up is better then her totally forgetting, but how hard is it to answer simple, normal every day questions related to your job?

ARGH!

Where's The Music....

I'm waiting to hear from my DJ. Yes, I know that my wedding is in 13 days, hence why I'm a bit worried.

I talked to them a month ago and was assured that they just tend not to assign a specific DJ until a month before the wedding, and that they would go anywhere and meet me at a any hour to take care of things. This eased me a bit but I was expecting to hear from them sooner then this.

I like to be on top of things, and this last minute issue is going to drive me insane until they call. I did e-mail them on Thursday with no response yet. I'm giving them until next Wednesday and then I will start looking for a back up. I've paid the $225 deposit with another $400 going to them if they hurry the heck up.

I'm really worried that I'm not going to find a back up if something should happen. Now, I should add that while I'm not ready to list the DJ's name because I have no ill fee lings towards them as of yet - they do not have anything on their BBB that is negative. So, as far as that I shouldn't worry too much about it - but that's what I do and I am good at it!!!

I'll keep you updated on things....fingers crossed people!

The past few days...

This is the first blog written from my new laptop! KNowing that we wanted tot ake one on the honeymoon,but not wating to take Mr S. very expensive Alienwear laptop - we popped into best buy yo pick up a more portable and cheaper lap top. Though I did really want a pink one, it just wasn't in the cards - and I ended up with black,. I do intend to put one of those sticker things on the front of it to change the color at some point ;-)

So reat assured you will be getting updates and photos from the honeymoon! Even though Mr S is trying to make me promise not to do it at all, I informed him that me readers deserve updates ;-)

I also, yesterday attended a wedding for our good friends Mr and Mrs F, if you recaall I made table name cards for her a few months back. Her wedding was amazing and left me overly anxious to have my own day. Until seeing hers, my days was still a bit of a dream . Even with all the planning, talk and money spent it was yet "real".

I soi enjoyed sharing my wedding month with her. I read a lot on Wedding Bee how some people have a hard time sharing it thinking that it's "stealing thunder" and what not, and I just don't get how that is!!! Mrs F was one of my greatest support systems throughout and still is even though her day is now past. I loved sharing it with someone else, and more over I'm happy she went first because now I know that I too can make it with out freaking out and needing to breath into a paper bag most of the day :-)

I will upload pictures from her day soon. As I'm on the laptop and with out my trust Photoshop (sigh) I haven't a clue how to make my digital images smaller for use on the blog page.

Today I am off again, no wedding stuff in sight for me. I am going to hang out with other friends from Denmark and the in laws for what will be I'm sure a very interesting BBQ!

Later ladies!

"The Good Wifes Guide"

My step mom sent me the check for what she and my dad are contributing to the wedding today. When I opened the envelope, tucked inside was a photo copy of a clipping from "Housekeeping Monthly" dated May, 13 1955.

It totally cracked me up to see how things have changed, can you imagine if this was coming out in a magazine in this day and age! Holy uproar! Haha! Check it out...

• Have dinner ready. Plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious meal ready on time for his return. This is a way of letting him know that you have be thinking about him and are concerned about his needs. Most men are hungry when they get home and the prospect of a good meal is part of the warm welcome needed.
• Prepare yourself. Take 15 minutes to rest so you'll be refreshed when he arrives. Touch up your make-up, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh-looking. He has just been with a lot of work-weary people.
• Be a little gay and a little more interesting for him. His boring day may need a lift and one of your duties is to provide it.
• Clear away the clutter. Make one last trip through the main part of the house just before your husband arrives. Run a dustcloth over the tables.
• During the cooler months of the year you should prepare and light a fire for him to unwind by. Your husband will feel he has reached a haven of rest and order, and it will give you a lift too. After all, catering to his comfort will provide you with immense personal satisfaction.
• Minimize all noise. At the time of his arrival, eliminate all noise of the washer, dryer or vacuum. Encourage the children to be quiet.
• Be happy to see him.
• Greet him with a warm smile and show sincerity in your desire to please him.
• Listen to him. You may have a dozen important things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first - remember, his topics of conversation are more important than yours.
• Don't greet him with complaints and problems.
• Don't complain if he's late for dinner or even if he stays out all night. Count this as minor compared to what he might have gone through at work.
• Make him comfortable. Have him lean back in a comfortable chair or lie him down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him.
• Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in a low, soothing and pleasant voice.
• Don't ask him questions about his actions or question his judgment or integrity. Remember, he is the master of the house and as such will always exercise his will with fairness and truthfulness. You have no right to question him.
• A good wife always knows her place.

Candle Depot, How Can I Help You?

Holy crap! I knew I had a bazillion candles on my pool table waiting to be used for centerpieces, but OMG I didn't really know there was this many!
Never mind the mess of toys behind me! I'm a stay at home mom, 2.5 weeks before her wedding! The house is a mess, deal! LOL.

Mr S and I took advantage of Paige going out with her father for dinner last night, to sort out the centerpieces and box them up. My biggest fear is I won't be able to get into the reception hall the night before the wedding to set up, and I will have to leave it to other people. If that should happen, I want the set up to be as easy to understand as possible! So we boxed up each tables items in separate boxes. Each one will also have a photo of the "general idea" of the centerpiece layout, and all the place cards, table name and holder.

As you see in the photo - it's not like I'm drowning in candles, but we didn't shouw you the head tables set up. 7 of those tall glasses and 36 votives, not to mention the flower vases for our bouquets well be there as well.

When all is said and done, it will be just a little over 300 candles to fill the room with candle light! I can't wait it's going to be GREAT!

This is the "general idea" for the candles. Randomly laid out, there will be crystals scattered amongst it as well to add some "bling". Bear in mind that my reception tables will not be toddler sized ;-) I was working with what I had around me at the time.

About 14 candles per table, should keep things lit up nicely for the evening! And for those of you wondering, since my pillars and medium holders are in fact NOT really candle holders, but glasses from Ikea - I did a burn test last night and they were FINE!

I CAN NOT WAIT!

We booked our Sea Life Discovery Adventure today and I am so so so excited! It was a bit spendy but for how much I have always wanted to swim with dolphins and how much Mr. S loves animals, it is totally worth it!

We'll be visiting Dolphin Discovery at their Puerto Aventuras location. We're doing the Sea Life Discovery Plus which will give us a swim with dolphins, sea lions and manatees! How friggin' cool is that!

Paige is having a temper tantrum right now because she wants to come with us. I'm talking full on the floor screaming and crying! It's quite a lovely noise....ugh! Poor sweetie!