Plans

Roy and I just got back from spending Christmas in SC with his parents. On the way home we talked about several things we want to do. We've chatted about these things at some point or other, but we finally laid out everything we want to do around the house.

The sunroom has been a temporary storage, catch-all sort of area. We never wanted it to be that, but things happen. We are going to get some of the junk out of there and put into the garage (AKA the major storage room). We have started growing herbs and will make a table in there a little grow space. We have cilantro and chives in a little starter box. We have lemon grass, sage, and some other herbs from SC. We also have a poinsettia I am going to try to keep alive and then plant it in the spring.

In the sunroom we have a plastic conference table. It's fine for now, but a console table will replace it; the narrower table will be much better for the space. I'd also like a small chair or two out there, as the sunroom gets, well, sunny. It would be a great place to hang out and read.

In the back yard we are making a compst heap. Roy is designing it and I'm kind of just helping right now. We want to start composting everything we can. The first things in there were the decorative pumpkins and gourds! We also got a small, metal trashcan (with removable insert!) for collecting kitchen scraps. The bunnies will even help, since we can throw their litter in there!

Another 'green' thing I want to do is recycle more. We haven't recycled many paper products (although we don't have a ton) so I am going to make a point to recycle paper.

Getting off the topic of being green, Roy and I have decided to move a dresser currently in storage into the house. It will replace two table/storage things we have in the dining area. We really like this idea because it will creat more storage and will just look better. Right now we have three different things all lined up, and it just doesn't look great.

Our kitchen is pretty small, so one idea we are playing with is moving the book cases we have to separate the dining and living areas. It's just an idea right now, but we'll see. Once it is separated, the dining area would kind of become an extended kitchen prep area. This idea is still an idea, though.

So that's what's up! Fun changes. :)

Achoo?

I can't stop sneezing. Every few minutes I sneeze. It's annoying. On the bright side, I've been steadily improving since Monday. That was the worst day of my cold.

The worst thing is that I'm going to SC to my in-law's house. I hope I will be done sneezing by then.

Stuffed

Today I took a long shower. It may have been 10 minutes. For me, this is long. In general, I like to be in and out quickly; maybe I will stand there for a minute enjoying the warmth. Today was different. I have a cold or something. My head is stuffed. My nose is clogged. I took a long, hot, soothing shower. For a few minutes, I could breathe. Then I got out. A minute later, I couldn't breathe again. (Insert long sigh here.)

It's annoying being sick. I've been taking cold medicine and allergy meds for a week now. Why allergy pills? The last time I was sick it turned out to be my sinuses; this relization came after a week of cold meds not working. This time, I'm doing both. The allergy pills cleared up the pressure in my eustachian tubes, thank goodness. My nose is just going down hill. It's bothersome.

However, I can look on the bright side. A couple of people at work got the flu. I don't have that, and I am grateful.

I'd like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. I hope that you are not sick for Christmas.

Merry Christmas!

This yaer Roy and I will be spending Christmas day at his parent's house. They live about 6 hours away. Because of this, Roy and I opted to give each other our Christmas presents early and only do stockings for each other on Christmas day. I got Roy's presents a few weeks ago, and I was particularly excited about one. Roy can be very picky when it comes to gifts, but I was pretty sure he would like this.

I got him a nice long-sleeved, button up shirt from Old Navy. That's not the cool gift. The cool gift is a Lodge Cast Iron stove-top griddle. It's flat on one side and has ridges on the other. Roy likes to seek out Christmas gifts, so I wrapped this one quickly. He didn't even try to guess until we had to move the presents and he chose to move his. He wasn't sure what it was, because it's a really weird thing to hold and pretty heavy. He got that present last night, and tried to reheat pancakes on it today. It didn't work out well (it got too hot).

Roy got me camera items! He got me a remote control, which I've wanted for a while; UV, circular polarizer, and florescent filters (awesome!!), and a second battery! I'm excited. The remote control is great because you don't have to touch the camera: Perfect for long-exposure shots and pictures that you can be in. The filters are awesome and I'm excited to play with them. And who doesn't need an extra battery? Gotta love my man! PLUS I apparently have another gift coming on Monday! Woo!

Merry Christmas!

Crafty

I consider myself a creative person. I am not especially crafty, although I could be if I really wanted. For the past several years I have made homemade Christmas cards. I like doing it, because it's a fun and creative outlet and I love Christmas. In the past, I have made all the cards over winter break from college. It's the perfect time to bang out tons of cards, and cookies in between. This year I am not in college. I'm a married, working girl. I don't have the time to just make Christmas cards. So, I made about 20 for some key people: parents, grandparents, best friends. I don't have time, right now, to make enough cards for my whole family, given that I just gained half a dozen aunts and uncles through marriage. Well, there's always next year! I get the feeling that I am going to have to start way earlier, or do them in summer, or something, in order to make enough for everyone.

I realized that I have no pictorial evidence of past Christmas cards. How this happened is beyond me, but I made the point to take pictures today. Here's a handful of the cards I made.

The ribbon and simple background really stands out to me. I love the how simple and elegant it is.

I think these two are pretty modern and commercial. I love them.

Adding a fun background and those colorful beads are an easy yet awesome way to make a card.

Nothing says homemade and fun like pom-poms!

Another card I really like. I love the big star. I love doing torn edges. I love the festive background.

Do I have to send these?? Haha.

The other crafty thing I do is make presents if I have to make a bunch. This year I made penguin ornaments for my sorority family (my littles, grandlittles, and great-grandlittles). There are so many! I ahd a lot of fun making these ornaments. Sorry they are off by 90 degrees. I fail.

Happy Holidays

Whew. I'm not sure about you, but holidays can be crazy! Last week was Thanksgiving. For the first time ever I didn't attend a Thanksgiving fest; I worked. I work at a Ruby Tuesday, and every Thanksgiving our location is bombarded with Turkey Rod Run: A week-long event where hundreds of antique cars, their owners, enthusiasts, and the curious come together. Right in RT's parking lot. So, no one is supposed to take time off, because RT (and the plaza) is very busy. Well, we certainly were! I really hope we made good money; I managed to get 43 hours, so that's a start!

I did get some cool pictures from the event. Here are a few favorites.






It's my own tradition to make Christmas cards. I'm too busy to make all the normal ones I do yearly, so I'm scaling back. This week I've baked enough for a classroom of hungry teenagers, which is a delicious yet bad idea.

For Christmas we will be visiting Roy's family in SC, then going to NH in January. I'm excited! I love seeing my family.

Decorations at our house are pretty simple. For one, we don't have a lot of room for them (yeah, we have too much stuff, oh well!). Also, we don't have many decorations! We have some penguins up, I put up a garland, got some pinecones, and bought some shiney balls to put into vases. We got a four foot tall Christmas tree to decorate, as that makes the most sense for us and our space.

My stocking is above the little tree. Roy's is at his parent's house. I just realized that I have to fill it. Good heavens. I don't know what to give the boy for a gift, let alone a stocking! This will be nuts.


Happy Holidays! Merry Christmas!

Baking Extravaganza!

For me, the holiday season means friends and family, love and laughter, fun... and BAKING. I love baking. You all know this, because sometimes I write recipes here. Well, not today; just picutres. This past week I was on a baking frenzy. I made a ton of baked goods. Then yesterday, I made cheesecake (a deliciously bad idea!). I actually want to eat some now, but I made myself blog first. (Aren't you lucky!) Here's what I made:

Linzer Cookies (cookie sandwiches with jam filling)










Chocolate Chip Cookies













Toffee Cookie Bars (OH how I wish I liked toffee/milk chocolate!)









Sugar Cookies (a MUST in my family)








Koulourakias (Greek butter cookies)









Crackle-top Chocolate Balls








For my Mum I baked no-flour, no-sugar cookies, which are basically banana, walnuts, raisins, oats, and some milk. They are interesting, and really grow on you! I nice, healthy recipe to play with.

I have no Hair!

I have no hair. Those of you who know me will know that my hair has been long for several years. What you may NOT know is that back in 2004 I chopped off my hair for Locks of Love.

In case you don't know, Locks of Love is a non-profit organization that makes wigs for children who have lost their hair due to any medical-related illness, such as alopecia areata or cancer. Check out http://www.locksoflove.org/ for more information!

I have always been blessed with beautiful hair. Not to boast, but it's true: I've been blessed. My hair is a gorgeous color (people spend lots of money trying to dye it this shade!), it's thick, and it has a natural yet easy curl. If Amy from Little Women were here, she'd say it was my "one true beauty." Still, when I heard a long time ago that I could help poor kids who didn't have hair, it seemed almost selfish NOT to chop my hair off. So, I took the plunge.

I cried; it was such a shock. Still, it felt good knowing that my hair was shorn for a good cause... even if it took a few days to get used to, and even if my then-boyfriend walked past me in the hall because he didn't realize it was me. (I wonder if I even told him of my plans, or how drastic the change would be!)

I've been growing it out since then. Since then it's been in the back of my mind to chop it off again. A few years ago, I decided that I wanted to wait until I got married to cut it off, so that I could do an updo if I wanted. (I decided to do a half-up/half-down 'do.)

June 2010 came and went, and I had my long hair for the wedding. Then I moved to Florida, and the idea of chopping off my hair was even more cemented in my head. Still, I waited, thinking I'd grow it out a bit more. The "get it cut!" feeling was constantly strengthening and ebbing. I knew it would happen eventually.

These past few weeks I've been more anxious to cut it. Indeed, I almost did several times. Yesterday I decided that today, 11/15/10, would be the day. I looked at pictures for inspiration. I stopped by a few salons on the way home from work, but they were closed or didn't have time for a walk-in. So, I went to a salon close to my house. I showed Eva my pictures, we talked about what I wanted, and we got to work.

I LOVE IT. It's so fun. Modern. Sleek. Chic. Sophisticated. Mature. I know I'll love it even more as I play with it (what little there is!)

Money and the Like

Roy and I just took a big step: We've set up three Primerica accounts for our future. We set up a retirement Roth IRA, a mid-term account to save for big items in the near future (i.e. a car!), and an emergency fund. We're also going to be getting life insurance in the next few months.

I feel very grown up. (If only I were tall enough to look it, right? haha) It just feels great to be able to save for our future. Since we're starting at a pretty early age, we have the potential to really build a strong future.

We are going with Primerica because Roy's uncle is in the business, and he is learning it from a man who is like his son. They've come to our house and sat down with us, explaining everything and working with us to choose the right accounts based on what we want. It's great that we have someone to really help us, given how important your financial future it.

Hooray!

My Love

Not going to lie: I have a pretty great husband. He's very good to me. Case in point: He told me he was going to the supermarket and was going to get me a surprise. The surprise is a lunch of homemade chicken noodle soup (with homemade stock broth) and grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches. Roy knows I don't eat grilled cheese unless there is, at least, tomato on it.

Roy and I also have a funny little thing we do, wherein I make some sort of noise ("La la?") and he responds ("La."). Weird, right? Well, it's pretty great, because everyone else just looks at my like I'm a nutcase.

Last night Roy called me worried. We were driving home separately, and I was ahead of him. There was on huge accident, which I must have missed by a minute, but Roy didn't know that and was concerned. It may seem silly to love that he did that; I mean, who wouldn't be concerned, right? Yet it is so amazing to have someone that concerned for you. Everyone should have that. I am very lucky.

Revamp

So! It's been a while, eh? Sorry, I've been busy. First, though, I've decided to change up the ol' blog. Given that I am no longer planning my wedding, it didn't make sense to keep that title. The URL will stay the same, though. One of the things I'm going to do to simplify my blog is to use names instead of nicknames. I mean, it's not like I'm putting dirty laundry out to dry, and I really did that in the beginning to keep the wedding details private.

I'm calling it "Life: Pure and Un-simple" because I'll keep it straight forward, but life is never simple. In fact, I can't remember the last time life was remotely simple. That's neither here nor there, though. Regardless of how difficult life may be, it is an exciting adventure.

I mentioned I've been busy, which is very true. I currently work two jobs: I'm a substitute teacher for my county and I work evenings and weekends at a local Ruby Tuesday. I like both jobs, but it can certainly be a long day when you do subbing 7:15- 2:45 and then go to a restaurant at 4.

I'm also going get my temporary teaching certificate to be an earth-space science teacher. Since I have a bachelor's degree already, you can take a subject-area knowledge test to qualify for the certificate. Then I'll take teaching-specific courses at the local college to get my permanent certificate. At the moment, I'm making a study guide based on the test subjects. This is more intense than I thought it would be: The study guide is already 37 pages long, and I still have two more subjects to cover as well as some Florida-specific topics to research. Luckily I can do a lot of this work while I'm subbing (as long as the class is good and I have good Internet access). Still, it's incredibly time consuming.

At the same time, Roy and I are also trying to find jobs in our industry. Well, he is. I've applied for a job at my Alma Mater, and I am really hoping to get it. It's a job as a dispatcher in the safety office, but it comes with benefits and everything. Plus, people who work at the college get free grad school for them or their spouse. Um, hello, please pick me. Roy and/or I will gladly get a graduate degree.

Petie Bunny

RoyBoy and I have two rabbits: Petie, our older, fat bunny, and Orion, our younger, frisky bunny. Petie is a greedy little pig. He loves to eat, and especially loves to devour fresh-cut veggies. The other day RoyBoy and I had salad with dinner. I had a little left over, so RoyBoy put it on the floor for the rabbits. The next day, Petie wouldn't get out of his cage. Not even for banana.

Now, you have to understand: Banana is like crack to Petie. He LOVES banana, and has some EVERY morning. Not eating banana in the morning makes Petie angry. The fact that Petie was refusing banana was worrisome. I did some research.

Did you know that rabbits cannot have dairy? They can't digest it. It makes them pretty sick. There was some ranch dressing on the salad RoyBoy left for them. I can just imagine it: Petie hops over to investigate the bowl of food, and finds some ranch. "Hm, what's this?" *lick* "WOW! That's yummy! I'm a fat bunny, and I will eat this!" Later: "Ugh, I feel sick."

That whole day, Petie just hung out in a cage. I force-fed him water and let him rest. In my experience, tummy-issues need to sort themselves out. I watched him, of course, to ensure I didn't need to rush him to the vet.

Luckily, Petie felt better by that evening. He left his cage, started drinking more water on his own, and finally ate banana. By the next morning, he was completely better and demanding his morning banana.

Pumpkin Muffins

I love to bake. I love fall. I find pumpkins fun. These three likes mean thing: Pumpkin Muffins! Yeah! I started with the ideas that I wanted to make muffins and I wanted to get a pumpkin. I got a small sugar pumpkin and found a delious recipe online. Then I decided they needed something. By something, I mean cream cheese frosting with honey. Oh. Yum. Delish delish delish!

Pumpkin Muffins with Honey Cream Cheese Frosting
Muffins
1 small sugar pumpkin
3 c flour
2 c flour
2 tsp baking soda
½ tap baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp ground clove
2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp allspice
½ tsp salt
2/3 c vegetable oil
3 eggs

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Cut the pumpkin in half, discarding the seeds and stringy bits. Bake the pumpkin, cut side down, wrapped in tinfoil, until tender: About 90 minutes.
2. Scoop the pumpkin meat from the halves and puree in a blender. (NOTE: The original recipe said to use only 2 cups of the pumpkin puree; I used it all.) Beat in the vegetable oil and eggs.
3. Blend ALL dry ingredients (flour through salt).
4. Mix the puree mix into the dry ingredients.
5. Scoop the batter into muffin pans and bake 20 – 25 minutes at 350 degrees, until a knife or toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.

Honey Cream Cheese
8 oz cream cheese, softened
¼ c honey
-- Blend the cream cheese and honey until creamy.

Sicky-Poo

For the past two weeks I have slowly been getting sick. It started out as something weird with my nose: It was always dry, like it was being drained, but nothing was draining. Then my ears were blocked, causing pain in my Eustachian tubes. Next, my throat started hurting in the morning and evening. Most recently my throat has been hurting all day, but the most in the morning and night.

In the beginning I started taking allergy meds, thinking that was the problem. Then I started taking cold med syrups. Yesterday I got more cold syrup and sinus pills.

This morning I woke up with more throat pain than before. It was bad enough that I couldn't eat breakfast. I made a smoothie and hoped it would help, but it only kind of helped. I cancelled the subsitute position I had and went to back to bed. I feel better now, kind of, but I'm sticking with cold liquids.

I don't have health insurance. I'm not on anyone's plan at the moment. I called an ear, nose, and throat specialist, but it would be $110. At least. Now I'm looking over health care plans from United Health One, Blue Cross Bluse Shield, and Cigna. I can't make heads or tails of it. They seem so similar! RoyBoy will ahve to look at it. I can't get a hold of my parents, or I'd ask them. I'm annoyed. I also have to work tonight, but the manager on duty said she'd try to get me out as soon as she could.

Day Off

I haven't worked out in a few days. I've been really busy. I have worked two jobs on the weekends for the past few weeks, so I didn't really work out this weekend. The past two days I've gotten up at or before six and gone to do substitute teaching at high schools. Then I've come home, had dinner and hung around, and gone to work at 5 at Ruby Tuesday. No time to work out the past two days.

Last night I decided to take today off from sub work. There are things I want to do, and I'm tired of not doing them. I am going to go to Barnes & Noble today and pick out a wedding planning book for my sister, The Koala. (She's engaged! YAY!) I want to send it today. I am going to make cupcakes for my almost-dad and send them today. Perhaps I'll work out. I really need to finish laundary; it's been sitting, clean, in hampers and the dryer. Whoops.

Then there's the living room. We just got a new couch and love seat. Now we have to figure out how to arrange the room, because it's a little small to have the seats together in the typical 'L' shape. Thus, our room is a disaster area, because everything got shoved willy nilly to get the furniture in.

First, though, are the dishes. They've been stacking.

Another reason I'm 'taking a day off' is because I've had a sore throat and my ears clogged for over a week now. It's annoying.

Our Beach House

RoyBoy and I are renting a two bedroom, one bath beach house. It’s an older house (1940s) with lots of charms as well as quirks since it’s older.

The hardwood floors are original to the house and there is a lovely Florida room (like a sunroom but enclosed). The kitchen has a nice tile counter, but unfortunately the grout is very old and missing in a lot of places. The sink is deep, white, and ceramic. I thought this was awesome, until I noticed that it always looks dirty. The appliances are new, which is great.

The living room is an odd sea-foam green. It’s tolerable now that we have furniture and pictures on the wall, but I’d love to paint it a neutral tan. The living room also has a fireplace. However, due to spacing and the fact that I will never be cold enough to use it, and because I don’t want the bunnies exploring it, we have set the couch in front of it.

We were without a washer and dryer for about a month, which was interesting. Then a friend offered a set to us for the fabulous price of $50. Yay! Needless to say, we are thankful: We couldn’t afford a decent set.

An interesting part of the property is the garage, workshed, and mini “spare room.” The garage building is behind the house a little, with a workshop perfect for tinkering and the surfboard RoyBoy was making (and finished). The garage can’t be accessed by a car, given the post and gate in the way. No matter- it is storage! It is holding several boxes of items to be put in a yard sale, non-perishable and bug-tolerant items like vases, and some furniture we are holding for a friend. Attached to the garage is a small room that apparently was a sewing room back in the day. Now, it’s not insulated, has no A/C, and only one light. Why anyone would want to sit out there is beyond me. Thus, we use it to store winter clothes, holiday things, childhood items, and baking and entertainment items not used on a daily basis, such as trays and specialty pans. It’s great because it’s out of the way and lockable yet easily attainable.

The house is not completely insulated nor, I suspect, completely sealed up: Bugs are not uncommon, much to my chagrin. Going on a tangent, I really hate the bugs of Florida. I never really noticed them since I lived in apartments. I hate cockroaches. They freak me out to no end. They also like to visit us. Great. There are also locusts outside, which are fun to watch- they are basically huge grasshoppers. I have no problem with them. On the plus side, there are several butterflies that frequent our yard. No complaints there!

One annoying thing is that all the outlets are inconveniently located and not in abundance. This, coupled with inconveniently-located TV hookups, makes for wiring complications and cables all over. What can you do?

When will you visit? We have a spare room and places to sleep!

Budget Recap

Budget Recap
The whole point of this blog was to document how I was saving money in my quest to plan a great wedding for under $5,000. I am proud to say that, because of the saving and DIY projects and everything I did to keep costs down, we made our budget. Actually, we did better than that. The budget total was… drum roll please… $4,367.52, making us $632.48 under budget! YEAH! I am wicked proud of this and extremely thankful to my parents, my in-laws, my family, my friends, and everyone else who made the wedding perfect, simple, and inexpensive. I am proud to be an example of an inexpensive yet amazing wedding, especially since weddings usually mean debt.


Reception
Food- $1,447.73
Bevs- $138
Cake- $494.42
Tent- $498.13
Chairs- $166.02
Vases, ladles, and tablecloths- $101.40
Balls and other frames- $17.27
Signing frames and pens- $36.32
TOTAL: $2,929.29

The food was, of course, the most expensive. We kept beverages simple: punch, water, NO alcohol. We got an unexpected, greatly appreciated, discount on the chairs. The balls were floating in the pool (so they probably should go in décor… oh well) and the frames were for instructions and to honor grandparents who could not attend.

Attire and Beauty
Gown and alterations- $429
Headpiece/veil- $5
Bride’s accessories- $0
Hair and makeup- $0
Nail polish- $3.50
Groom’s suit- $0
Groom’s shirt and tie- $70
Groom’s accessories- $29.99
Bride’s undergarments- $36.48
TOTAL- $573.97

The gown and alterations are always expensive, yet I was still under $500! Notice all the “$0” items? Those are because I chose not to get new items. In my hair were three daisies instead of the traditional and pricey tiara/barrettes/other flashy items. I didn’t have a veil, because that wasn’t the look I wanted. My accessories were my own and my mother’s sapphire earrings. The Barbie did my makeup, so that was free. Lil’ Fuss did my hair, then The Koala and The Showgirl put the daises in it. RoyBoy’s suit was his own, so we got a nice ivory tie and shirt for him to wear.

Ceremony
Ceremony accessories- $0
Programs- $19.28

We had a very simple ceremony with no decorations; given that we were outside, there was no need to add more flowers. The programs were made by me.

Flowers and Décor
Flowers- $225.63
Wristlets- $9.90
Vases and gems- $7.70
TOTAL- $243.23

The majority of the flowers were ordered from online and bought in bulk. Other flowers for wristlets and corsages were bought at local craft stores. The wristlet holders were also bought online. The vases and gems are so cheap because I had most of the vases donated to me. My aunt and uncle also borrowed some lovely arrangements to place around the yard by things like tents posts. You can’t mess with free.

Stationary
Invitations, RSVP cards, stamps- $193.59
Other stationary- $10
Thank-you card stamps- $26.40
TOTAL- $229.29

The invitations and accompaniments were more expensive than I planned, and I think that is because of not thoroughly planning and thinking things though. If I were to do this again, I am confident that I could make this cost less. I was not careful in the beginning, and wasted time and resources. Oh, well.

Wedding Rings
His ring- $129.94
Her ring- $0

RoyBoy’s ring is a lovely titanium ring from an Etsy.com artisan. My ring was free because it is my great-grandmother’s and I am borrowing it from my mother (when we can afford to get a custom-made ring, I’ll return my ring to mum).

Gifts
Bride’s Maids gifts- $46.94
Groom’s Men gifts- $70
Favors- $14.88
TOTAL- $131.82

The bride’s maid’s gifts were cheap because I made them! I made jewelry for each of them (and had fun doing it). Even the groom’s men’s gifts were inexpensive, but they were still very nice cufflinks. The favors shouldn’t have been more than $5, but we had to get more CDs after ruining half of them. (Sigh.)

Misc.: Telegraph Announcement- $35
I only included the announcement I paid for. RoyBoy’s parents had one in their local paper as well.

Transportation and lodging- $75
I am only including the hotel room that I personally paid for. Everyone else took care of their own hotel rooms, for which I am very grateful.

Photography and videography
I’ll cover this in a separate post.

Reception Recap

It has been over two months since RoyBoy and I got married. I have been procrastinating the wedding sum up, I admit. I’ve been thinking about what to write about- things that stand out, funny moments, what was perfect… I’ll break it into a few segments, though.

Can I say that the wedding and reception was perfect? Because it was. I explained everything I wanted, in detail and with some diagrams, to my aunt (the hostess), my parents, and anyone else who wanted to help. Like many brides, I didn’t see the finished product until I got there, but I wasn’t too concerned. I knew that my aunt, who has hosted many events at her house and is a great planner, would be the perfect person to supervise. I also knew that my parents and family would work together to ensure that our day was perfect.

Here is a breakdown of the reception (mostly).

We set the chairs up the evening before and my family all pitched in. The small tents were set up by my uncle, dad, and a few cousins— VERY exciting to watch. Then we set up the tables, and I was able to convey the end result to my aunt as we set things up.

We had the gift table and a table with colored paper set up near the chairs; the paper was for the guests to make paper airplanes to throw at RoyBoy and me as we entered the reception. The paper airplane throwing was amazing! Everyone had a great time with it and it was just so much fun.

The flowers that my mum made were placed on the tables and looked so simple and perfect. The daisies, being silk, looked perfect all day and provided the perfect burst of color.

We had tissue paper flower/balls on the tent poles and they were a fun accent. The multi-colored, polka-dot tissue flower, made by my second-dad, was displayed by the head table.

Drinks were served in very large vases by my cousins- homemade punch was a delicious, playful option for our guests. The cakes were set up with the drinks and they were all delicious and visually appealing. Nothing like a good looking cake! The food was amazing everyone was able to pick from a variety of dishes. The food was in a buffet style, which was ideal for the laid-back atmosphere.

The dances were held on the pool patio. RoyBoy and I didn’t practice or anything before hand, which I would definitely recommend. We didn’t chose a long song (“1, 2, 3, 4” by Plain White Tees at 3:18), but I got antsy. I decided to spice things up. I had a lot of fun dancing around RoyBoy, who stood there amused. My dance with my father and RoyBoy and his mom’s dance went smoothly and more traditionally.

I climbed up the pool slide for the bouquet toss and had a great crowd below and behind me. One of my crazy uncles, UJ, decided get in the middle of the ladies… and caught the bouquet! It was hysterical and a great moment.

One of the really fun parts of the reception was the photo booth: a large sheet set up on the far side of the lawn, a small tent to protect from the sun, a bunch of funny props, and my camera on a tripod. One of my bride’s maids, the Barbie, helped round up people to make the photo booth a success. The pictures (hundreds of them!) are amazing to flip through because the camera was in continuous-shoot mode. I am so glad that it was fun for everyone, because it gave us great shots of a lot of people.

I think the best thing was that everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves. A lot of people told me that they loved how simple and easy it was- very comfortable and real. That is the perfect compliment, and was exactly what I was going for.

FALL!

OhMyGoodness. I am so excited for this layout. I love autumn, and I get nothing here in Florida. I had no idea you could change it up so much! I would have had a way better background sooner- something relating to the wedding, or at least the colors! Oh well. I love fall leaves! Yay!

Ok, done sharing my exuberance. :D

Long Time, No Blog.

First off, let me apologize for not updating sooner. There’s no excuse, really. I’ve just been procrastinating. As it is, I am going to be changing my blog. Obvioulsy I can’t keep writing about wedding planning – I’m married! – but now I’ll be writing about what I’m up to as a married woman. Here’s what you can look forward to (or dread if you don’t like the topics):

-The wedding summary and budget breakdown, including savings highlights
-The house RoyBoy and I are renting and what we are doing (and not doing) to it, as well as pictures
-Cooking and baking triumphs, tips, and recipes
-Homemade/DIY projects and pointers, such as homemade household cleaners and “green” attempts
-Bunny shenanigans
-If I feel like it, maybe a weekly photo for my portfolio (and when I say portfolio, I mean that in a very lose way)

So that’s it! If you’re interested, keep following me!

CDs and Programs

I had some issues with the favors (CDs) and programs.

First of all, we decided to do CDs with songs for our favors. We had 100 blank CDs, and figured this would be the perfect use for them. Although I wanted this done months ago, RoyBoy only decided what song to dance to with his mother, so we got started on the project last week. I gave half to RoyBoy and started on my half. His computer is faster than mine, so he was done sooner. However, he didn't burn any songs, just an image that did nothing. Thus, we had fifty useless CDs. After getting over my annoyance, I got more and burned the rest. The project was done this Monday.

To make the labels, I had been given a CD stomper -for free!- which included labels, a label-sticker, and software. Sounds great, but the software was too old to use. Luckily, daddy found a template. I made a really cute design, and printed them. Lil Fuss (RoyBoy's sister) then put the labels on and we stuffed them into CD envelops.


The programs were their own issue. I had to get two black ink cartridges, then the color cartridge was threatening to quit! I printed 125 papers, to realize that I needed 10 more pieces, so I went to Staples. Luckily I realized that I was an idiot; I did NOT need more paper, because each sheet had two programs on it. I only needed to print 70 copies, not 130! So I went home and finished the program printing.

Crazy. BUT, the programs and CDs look great!

Feelin' Good

Less than three weeks to the wedding! Ah! I wish I still belonged to a gym; the routines I have are getting old... I need to mix it up. I've ridden my bike to work a few times, which is good, but RoyBoy and I will go by car if we have similar hours. Plus, it's wicked hot down here, and riding a bike at high noon can be hard. Not to mention the humidity! Phew!

I've cut out a few things from my diet this month. For starters, less carbs (not including breakfast and fruit) and sugar. (It's SO hard not eating chocolate and ice cream!) I also am staying away from teas and coffee (teeth stainers). It's been tough, but right now I'm eating a lettuce wrap with tuna, and it's simple and yummy. Plus, lots of fruit. Last night I had a burger, minus the bun. THAT was interesting. I never realized just how much the bun adds!

I need to start doing more cardio, but running outside is horrible and I don't have a treadmill or gym right now. Yeah, excuses, excuses. Still, I am confident that my dress will still fit. :)

Just keep Truckin'

RoyBoy and I will be moving down to FL after the wedding. We will be stopping at my aunt's house to pick up two bed/bureau combos that are from my late Nanna. Then we will travel to his hometown for another bureau and end table as well as wedding gifts. My parents are generously paying for this move, and I just reserved a 16' truck today!

RoyBoy and I have also decided to rent particular house nearby, and tomorrow we begin the paper work! It's all so exciting. I feel rather grown up, really.

Now to just get married...

Checking In

I'm getting married in less than three weeks. Oh my goodness how time flies. Luckily, things are going well. I contacted everyone, and we will be around 130 guests. I had called the vendors and paid them, but now I will need to update a few. That's fine. I think I'll give it a few more days, to see if a couple of other people are coming.

I am now going to print the programs. Here I go!!!


Yeah, lame update. I haven't really been doing that much, besides going, "OMG I'M GETTING MARRIED IN XX DAYS!!!" haha

Budget Review

Today I did a review of my budget. Thus far I've done a great job of organizing reciepts, and today I reviewed and made sure my online budgeter was updated. I'm doing very well so far staying in my budget! I need to call everyone who hasn't RSVPed (um HALF) and find out what they are doing. Then I will be able to pay off the caterer, baker, and chair suppliers. Woo!

Less than 40 days now! Oh my!

Growing Family

RoyBoy and I have a new addition to our family! We recently adopted the bunny of one of my bride’s maids, The Showgirl. He is very cute and very affectionate. His name is Orion. Currently he lives in a cage on a table in my family room, but he will be coming down to Florida at some point. It's crazy how RoyBoy and I are growing our little family so quickly! I hope that Orion and Petie wil lbe good bunny friends!

More Moons of Honey!

RoyBoy and I were given a lovely gift from his parents: Money for a real honeymoon. Isn’t that great?? RoyBoy and I were thinking for a while that we wouldn’t be able to go, because we don’t have the money. With this gift we will be able to.

We have chosen to go to Inn on Covered Bridge Green in Arlington, VT. Vermont is a gorgeous place to visit, and neither of us has, so we are excited to explore. I’m really excited to go on day trips and adventures. The reason we chose this inn is because it has a Honeymoon Cottage with a kitchenette! Since we are planning on staying 5 nights and 4 full days, having the option to eat-in was a big draw to this place.

Tell me how that makes you feel.

My wedding is in 57 days. That is less than two months. As I said in a prior post, I am whittling down my to-do list.

When people talk to me about the wedding, they ask a funny question.

Are you excited?

No, I’m dreading it. It’s going to be a horrible day, and I hope no one comes.

Just kidding. I know that people ask me this to start a conversation, or to make sure I’m not stressing, or even to see where my heads at. Am I excited? YES. Of course.

Then I wonder: What are they really asking? Are they curious about if I am excited for the day? The planning to be done? The marriage itself?

It’s probably a combination of all of the above. It’s still amusing, though!

Honey-Done List

I have been using the checklist on TheKnot.com. Thus far I have found it to be very detailed and helpful. It has really been instrumental in keeping me busy (read: sane) during our year-long engagement. I am now down to the last items, a lot of which I cannot do, because they need to be done closer to the wedding. Some I can't do because they are RoyBoy's job, and others I am still waiting on. It's been great checking things off and seeing what I can do next.

A girl at work said that I am handling everything well. Given that I've only known her for since late February, I think that that says a lot about me. It's not like I've been regailing her with wedding details. She was speaking about me on the whole. I have to admit that I am pleased to hear that others see that I handle stress well and can stay organized.

Of course, I'm not perfect. It's impossible not to feel overwhelmed from time to time. What matters is what you do about it and what you do to prevent it. Stress is critical to life. It helps us prioritize, stay motivated, and keeps our brains going.

I think the best way to handle stress is to be self-aware. I have learned my limits. I review my check list, my plans, and my ideas constantly to see what I can do, but also to know what I cannot do. Reviewing keeps me focused and prioritized. It's also vital to do things other than focus on your stressors. I make myself read, exercise, and watch TV. Your brain and body need to unwind and have a break from stress.

Thus, my list is being narrowed, but my brain is still running smoothly. My blood pressure is normal, and I am not constantly on edge. Ah, weddings. They can make you, or break you.

Sizings

Last night I ordered RoyBoy’s wedding band. It is titanium, and he picked it out. It is a simple, classic yet modern design, and I am very excited for it. We ordered from the Etsy dealer Titaniumknights, and I should get it within a week or two!

In other exciting news, I got my dress back! About a month ago I had my first fitting, and today I went back with my mum, “second-mum,” and “almost-sister.” The dress fits beautifully. The length is now to my knees, which is also great. My goal for the next month is not to lose or gain any weight! Hahaha My other goal is to try to keep it from getting wrinkled!

Drink Me

I have been considering beverages for the wedding. Not alcoholic, but refreshing drinks that are fun and kid-friendly. And cheap. I have all sorts of interesting drink recipes: flavorful fruit drinks, agua frescas, lemonades, and a delicious white tea.

I am still trying to figure out what I want, besides water. I have contains, which can hold at least one gallon each (yeah, I need to re-measure, so sh). The next task was figuring out how much I needed. I looked at several ‘beverage calculators’ but they weren’t helpful. Most involved alcohol, which is all fine and dandy, but not what I wanted.

Then I managed to find Ellen’s Kitchen, which had a VERY useful page, called “Quantities to serve 100.” FANTASTIC. http://www.ellenskitchen.com/bigpots/plan/bevmisc100.html

EXCEPT that this does not say how long these servings are good for. According to a few other sites I can expect each person to drink at least 2 drinks per hour. This gives me roughly 80 gallons, depending on how I do the math.

That is a ridiculous amount of beverages. I am not making that much lemonade. Luckily, I know people with a membership at a local wholesale store. The agua frescas will have to wait. Luckily, I have $480 in my budget for drinks!

Count Down: T Minus 2 Months.

TWO MONTHS! Oh my goodness. In two months we will be getting married. Ah! How exciting! How crazy!

I have to admit, I think I’m doing really well with this thing. I don’t think I’m stressing too badly at this point. It is so surprising that I only have two months left!

RoyBoy and I have come to a very important decision: I will be moving to Florida on May 24th . I do not have a job, but I have a place to live and some job leads. Little things also keep falling into place about moving, so that is very encouraging. It will be great to see RoyBoy again!

In preparation for the move, I will be taking the week before I leave for FL to pack and make sure I do everything I can for the wedding. I will be calling everyone who hasn’t RSVPed and then completing all deposits. I will have to pay the rental folks (chairs and tent), the caterer, and the baker.

Speaking of moving and packing, I have so much stuff! It’s crazy! Yet I don’t want to get rid of it because I want to use it for the rooms of future kids- toys, books, etc. Plus, a lot is from my childhood, and I’m not ready to give it up yet. Sentimentality is great but can be a physical burden! Haha.

April Shower!

This past weekend was my bridal shower! It was so exciting. I had been looking forward to the shower for a while (who wouldn’t?) and I was very touched by who was able to come, the little details of the shower, and just how great it was.

The guests were great. It was nice to catch up with people I hadn’t seen in a while, although I wish I could have spent more time with everyone. I was glad at how many people were able to attend! Everyone participated in the games we played (Stephanie Jeopardy and a MadLib), and it was nice for guests to get to know one another as well.

The shower was planned by my MOH, The Koala, and by a dear friend of mine who is basically my second mom. My bridesmaids, of course, did their part in helping. They did such a great job!

Here are some of my favorite details (well, pretty much everything is a favorite!).

-The theme tied into the theme of the wedding- simplicity; our colors of orange, pink, and yellow; the gerbera daisies; polka dots.

-There were small candies with hand-made wrappers. Some had one of two pictures of RoyBoy and I. Others had small umbrellas, and still others had hearts and said “Love is patient, Love is kind.” Those little candies were so cute and I was touched by the creativity and thought.

-The cake was adorable! The bottom tier was orange frosting with swirls while the top tier was pink frosting with polka dots. Small fondant balls in pink, orange, and yellow lined the bottom- a cute touch! My sister also had them order a small little fondant sign saying “Yay Stef!” It was so cute! (But didn’t taste good, and I know because I took a bite out of it!) The cake also tasted great. The bottom half was almond with raspberry, and the top was chocolate with peanut butter. Delicious!

-The shower was held at our church in a Sunday school classroom. The whiteboards were covered with polka dot wrapping paper, and then pictures of me were put on up as decorations.

-Guests were encouraged to write advice on small colorful hearts. There were some really silly ones, but also some great advice.

-The favors were small pansies for guests to plant in their gardens. Since pansies are the flower for thoughts, I thought it was fitting.


The presents were all great as well. I am SO excited to live with RoyBoy and create a home together! We received great things for entertaining, a picnic basket that we can bring on the honeymoon, and our bathroom is pretty much decked out!

All in all, a great shower! Well planned, well executed, and time well spent.

Cetus Lupidus! Melt down mode MAJOR!

Last night I had a little melt down. It was annoying. First I got frustrated over something I should have been able to shake off, but it just set me off. So then I cried, because when I get frustrated I cry. Then I think about all the other things I am frustrated about, and get even more upset. Then I get ever more upset because I’m so upset. It’s hard to be rational once the tears start. In the end, my mother said it was normal for me to be upset and feel overwhelmed by the whole wedding planning process.

Sometimes it just feels like it keeps adding up. I found out we had to add more guests, which is fine, but then I have to make and mail more invites.

I also found out I need to try to negotiate a change in a contract with a hotel to see if we can get the discounted price extended.

I ALSO need to plan something for an after party of sorts, but I need to talk with RoyBoy about this.

Plus, we are meeting with my aunt and uncle on Thursday- they are hosting the wedding and my uncle is performing the ceremony. So for Thursday, I need to be prepared to talk about the ceremony. RoyBoy and I need to discuss vows, the reading of 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, and what we want for the ceremony. We have established that we want it to be short, and no communion/ candle lighting/ unity candle.

The big problem is that RoyBoy and I aren’t together. This makes him procrastinate, and it makes it harder in general, because we can’t just sit down and talk.

Long story not-so-short, I cried a lot and RoyBoy felt bad. The plus side is, the invitations got printed (my dad went out to Kinkos and printed them for me, since our printer apparently doesn’t do cardstock printing) and RoyBoy picked out ties for his groom's men. To think all it takes is some tears to get things done… just kidding. The headache and aggravation felt was so not worth it.

Keep Suckin' it in!

Last Sunday I had my first dress fitting. The dress comes with three sets of 3 ribbons in a row. This makes the dress come mid-calf on me. When you’re short, as I am, this is a very awkward length. If I were tall, it’d be fine. As I am not, it makes me look even shorter and pretty stumpy. When you’re the bride, you should look gorgeous, not stumpy. We are hemming the dress right below the second set of ribbons, basically taking off some 6 inches. This puts the dress right at my knees, which is a great length.

Can I please tell you how excited I am for my dress to be this length? I’m excited. Really excited. Why? First off, because I don’t look stumpy. Secondly, dress being knee length makes it SO fun and so cute and so flirty and so summery and therefore so awesome. It was really hard to imagine it before the seamstress put all the pins in. After she pinned everything (all 3 or 4 layers) it looked AWESOME. I loved it. It was sort of weird, since I’d only ever seen it at the awkward length, and then it was a totally different dress.

The seamstress also took a little in at the bust, because it was slightly lose.

It’s going to look so great! I have the final fitting on 4/28, and I am really looking forward to seeing it. Then I just can’t gain/lost weight! There’s no room in the budget for more alterations.

Suck it in!

Today I have my first dress fitting. I have to bring my undergarments and shoes with me. When I told a male friend I had been trying on wedding undergarments, and that it was tedious, he was surprised. He thought that wedding undergarments were either sexy pieces or you'd be commando. Oh boys. Aren't they cute?

My dress is strapless and goes down a little in the back, so I can't wear my strapless bra. Instead, I got a strapless, backless, adhesive bra. It's too cups that stick to your boobs. It's so weird. It works alright, though, so I'm keeping them.

I wanted shorts to wear under my dress. However, it was hard to find shorts that wear snug enough and not a ridiculous color. So I opted for a pair of nude, "slimming" type shorts. They can't be seen under the dress, which is the point. I don't really need my lower half slimmed down, because the dress flares out right where my hips are, but like I said, it was hard finding regular shorts that you couldn't see under the dress. Most shorts I found had a waistband that you could kind of see. That's not gonna fly.

So the fitting is today. I guess I should hit the gym for one last little workout. Currently, I'm not feeling it. But I'm going to go anyway. Partly because I'm bored, haha.

So Pretty in White, Pretty When You're Faithful

So a funny note: I definitely thought that the lyric in the title was "pretty when you're painted." haha.

Anyway. I just bought a super cute dress! It will be for Easter and then for my rehearsal dinner. Cute eh?? I love it. I got some yellow accessories which will at least be for Easter. $3 at Claires.

This dress was $70, on sale at JCPenney.com for $50, and I got it on sale from the store for $42. Love deals.

I don't think it's technically a part of my budget, but if it is supposed to be, I'd count it only for half, since I really wanted an Easter dress, then decided after I found the dress that it would work for the rehearsal dinner as well. $23 for a rehearsal dinner and fun accessories? I'll take it!

So Excited!

My bridal shower is coming up soon. It's going to be within a week after Easter, I think. My mother-in-law-to-be and future little sister are going to be coming into town on Tuesday the 6th and leaving on Sunday the 11th. So sometime between then will be my shower. Probably that weekend. Oh, the power of deductive reasoning. Beyond that vague time frame, I'm in the dark.

I'm so excited! I really wish I knew when it was, but the surprise and excitement is pretty great as well. We'll play games, and there will be friends and presents and fun!

The thing I have to get over is that I can't help in any way. I'd love to do something, even bake, but I can't. It's kind of hard not being able to do anything.

But I'm excited!

100 Day

Yesterday there were 100 days left until my wedding. Now, there are 99. Goodness, we are out of triple digits. That's a wee bit intimidating. For my own piece of mind, let's review what is done:

• Location has been "reserved" along with back-up location
• Caterer has been chosen, given deposit, and meal chosen
• Baker has been chosen, given deposit, and cakes chosen
• Tent has been reserved
• Chairs are reserved
• Tables are being borrowed
• Dress is bought
• 4 of 5 bridesmaids have ordered/gotten their dress
• Invitations, etc. have been sent
• Flowers have been acquired and are being worked with
• Officiant and "day-of-planner" are chosen (Aunt and Uncle, haha)
• Vases and punch bowls are bought
• Photographer has deposit, agreement signed
• DJ and Videographer roles have been assigned

That's all the big things I can think of. The pricey things, mostly. The ones that require a deposit. So many other things to do still, but a lot can't be done until much closer. Oh man.

Your 50-Minute Hour

RoyBoy and I have completed our Marriage Counseling sessions. All in all, I think it went well. We are very in tune with each other, which comes from having communication as a strength and from the degree of closeness our relationship has. It was really cool to learn that the exercises we filled out were often similar or had the same end goal. For example, we had to write goals in each category. When we went over them together, we found that one goal in each category was practically the same. This is really good, as far as I can tell. We have a shared outlook on our life together, and we both want to accomplish the same thing. Plus, a lot of it was easy- we had either already talked about the hard stuff, or we were in agreement. There weren't any huge secrets revealed, nor any make-or-break choices to make. Again, this comes from our communication being strong.

We just have one more thing to do- a teleconference with my pastor. Then, we are all set! It's nice to have another thing done.

Spa-Day

I have decided to start giving myself little facials: mask, exfoliate, etc. I will be doing this on a weekly basis. I sort exfoiliate on a daily basis, in that I use a face-loofa everyday. It's gentle enough that my slightly-sensitive skin can handle it.

Still, on a weekly basis I am going to use a scrub that incorporates sugar, baking soda, and sesame oil with perhaps some honey.

Tonight I did my first mask in a long time, and my first mask made at home. All it was was plain yogurt and oatmeal. Sound yummy? My skin feels very soft. I think I was supposed to remove it with a steamed towel, but I was iffy about that because of the oatmeal and gooeyness, so I just splashed it off. It smelled nice... but that was probably because there was a glob on the end of my nose. :)

I have also been trying to take better care of my nails by using a nail hardener. My nails like to peel; both pointer fingers did the other day, and others were on the verge, so I chopped them all off.

They're all little things, I know, but hopefully by starting now I can make those things a habit. I am especially excited to start exercising again! Yay no crutches!

Keep it in the Family... the good way.

This wedding is going to be as inclusive as I can make it, without going crazy. That's the way a wedding should be, right?

There's a family that is like my family- they are basically my second parents, and we kids call each other brother and sister. The two older boys, whom I look up to like big brothers, are going to be in the groom's party. I asked the dad originally to man the video camera, then asked the daughter to help, because she wants to go to college for film. The mother will probably do a reading (if one is done), and that left one son. I asked him to man the iPod and announce people as needed. He won't have to do much, but I did want to include him; he is my little brother, although he's now so tall that I don't even reach his shoulder...

RoyBoy tried to reach an aunt and uncle to see if their kids could be ring bearer and flower girl. I am going to try to reach them, since he hasn't been able to.

I am disappointed that my grandmother and Nanna will not be able to come. My Granma definitely can't, as she had a stroke last summer and has not been doing well since. There's no way she could be here. My Nanna has gotten to an age where traveling is conducive to her health, so she probably can't come. The fact that they won't be able to makes me very sad. They will each get a wristlet regardless, which we be sent to them after the wedding.

RoyBoy has also lost two grandparents. We are considering a way to honor them at the wedding, such as a small table with their photos or something to show that we wish they could be there.

Are you in-tents?

Like I said in a previous post, my future in-laws were very generous in sending us a $700 check to get a tent for the reception. The tents we were looking at were going to be around that much. I talked to my Dad, and he advised going with a 30' x 30' tent. I looked at the three places I narrowed the search to, and eliminated one that may not have included set up. Then I noticed that the two places each had the right size tent, but one company was much more expensive. I'm getting my tent from a Taylor Rental location, and set up and delivery is included because the store is located one town away. I chose a simple party tent, with center poles. I put $900 in my budget for a tent. The tent is $450. Amazing. I'm glad I did more research and asked around, because without my Dad saying to go with this size it would have been $100+ more.

I'm offering to give the extra $250 back to my FMIL. It's only fair. :)

UPDATE: My FMIL said I can keep the $250 left to start an emergency fund. How generous!! :D

Make mine silk.

My mother has started making the boutonnieres! They look nice. Very simple: a single, small, bright gerbera daisy with a leaf or two tucked behind them. We also got some filler flowers for wristlets and corsages. Michael's was having a GREAT deal: buy one, get one free on all stems! KA-CHING! We got a bunch of flowers for $26. lovelovelove. We also got two huge gerbera daisies for the flower girl and ring bearer to carry. They are quite nice and a lot of fun, I think.

We need more daisies for my bouquet. We got the two stems they had, but they aren't nearly enough. I was iffy about them at first, but they've grown on me.

RoyBoy's and Dad's boutonnieres were also made: white for RoyBoy, yellow for Dad (to match me with my bright shoes!) :)

Mum has also started making with wristlet prototypes. She's never made wristlets before, but the one she was designing today was looking nice. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of wristlets. They are kind of large, and I think they are too large for my wrist. A small one I'd be ok with- maybe one flower, instead of the two+ they do. However, I'm not wearing them, so I don't care!

I also picked out which handkerchiefs will be used for each bride's maid. Well, mostly. I think my MOH, the Koala, will have one that has a pink trim. I want to see it with the bouquet first. Mine may have a light yellow trim, but I also want to see it with the finished bouquet. Since my bouquet will be white oxeye daisies with large yellow gerberas, I want to compare a yellow-trimmed hanky to a plain one and see what I like better.

I'm very excited that my mum is doing them. Each one will be special and made to complement the wearer.

Although, I almost had a stroke when mum mentioned ordering some flowers that could be $4 a stem. WHAT??? I told her no way, that's way too much! And I told her that she had to consult me where money is concerned.
Me: "We have a really tight budget!"
Mum: "Then I'll buy them!"
Me: "It doesn't matter who buys them! It's still from the budget!!"
more conversation.
Dad: "Just let it go."
Mum, to me: "Yeah, just let it go."
Dad: "No, I was talking to you."

Crazyness. After I apologized for my little freak out. "That's ok. I'm glad you freaked out. You're the calmest bride I know." lol. Ohhh mum.

So busy!

I've been busy lately. Not with wedding things really, just in general. It's slow going right now for the wedding preparation. Here's what's new:

-My future in-laws sent a generous check of $700 to pay for the tent. Yay! That means I can order it this weekend and pay for it in full, which is nice. Thanks!!

-The rehearsal dinner plans have been started, which is nice! I'm not involved really, but I'm hearing about it and I like it. It will be simple and a low country boil. Yum :)

-My photographer and I have worked out a contract. Now I just need to send him a check and the contract. Sounds good to me!

Beyond that, I've been doing a lot of thinking and little things. S'all good. My mother and I will also be doing flowers this weekend. Hey, they're silk, so why not?

That old rhyme...

"Something old, something new; something borrowed, something blue; and a shiny penny for your shoe."

I got all that, baby.

Something old: My engagement and wedding rings. Both from great-grandmothers.
Something new: My dress! I love it!
Something borrowed: My mother's sapphire earrings and the wedding band I will be wearing until I get my custom-made one.
Something blue: My mother's sapphire earrings, and probably a garter that I got with my bride's maids years ago.
A penny: Well, that's easy.

Ring Around the What? Part 2

After I posted "Ring Around the What?" the other day, I got a message from one of the groom's men and RoyBoy's childhood friend, Mr. T-Cut (mentioned as part of the "Inspirations" post on 10/16/09). He mentioned that they got his ring from Etsy.com for a great price, and that there were a lot of titanium options there. Intrigued, RoyBoy and I checked it out, and found a TON of great wedding band options for him. One seller in particular, Titaniumknights (http://www.etsy.com/shop/titaniumknights), have a great selection of rings, all handmade, and RoyBoy likes a lot of their styles. So, a BIG Thanks to Mr. and Mrs. T-Cut! You made looking for simple, inexpensive men's wedding bands a breeze!

With RoyBoy's ring no longer worrying me, I started looking around for one for me. As I said, I want to find a simple band that we can use temporarily while we are poor. I looked at Etsy.com, but wasn't happy. Then I checked Overstock.com, but they only do whole sizes and I need a size 5.25 or at least a 5.5. Then I looked at ebay.com, and wasn't thrilled. I went to bed disheartened.

I mentioned the predicament to my mum this morning and she said, "I might have a wedding band you could use," and walked upstairs. WHAT? I might not have to get some sterling band or pay a fortune for a white gold band that I don't really, really want? I may not have to worry and freak out about this? Stop. The. Presses. I held my breath. Mum came back with a vintage band that at one point had a design, but is now mostly worn down to a simple band. My engagement ring was Great-grandma Richardson's. The band mum held was my Great-grandma Howard's. I tried it on with the engagement ring. Although it's not what I want in the end, it fit and wasn't overpowering. I won't even need to resize it, because the engagement ring will hold it in place. I'm kind of tickled that I'm wearing two family rings for my wedding. Albeit the band will be replaced, but it's still really neat. Mum said that if those great-grandmothers were still living, they'd be proud of my sister and I and so happy with us. :]

Have a Seat

The other day I reserved chairs for the wedding! We got them from a company right down the road from my aunt and uncle's house, so the convenience is great. Plus, the chairs are normally $1.25, but we got them at a discount of $1 per chair! That's really awesome when you're on a tight budget. :)

We have also decided to move the ceremony from the front yard to a neighbor's side yard. This should be perfectly fine, since the neighbor's yard is also part of the church property. They also don't really use their yard. The move is negligible, and the road isn't as noticable from the neighbor's yard.

Ring Around the What?

As previously mentioned, my engagement ring is an heirloom from my maternal great-grandmother. It is quite beautiful, if I do say so myself, and has filigree around the setting. Because my fingers are not very big and therefore do not have a lot of room between my knuckles, the wedding band will be thin. It will also be simple, because I don't want both rings to be really elaborate; I'd feel like both rings being intricate would be overpowering. I also want the wedding band to be made to fit around the ring, because of the small amount of room on my finger.

The problem is that I want the band to be custom made, which will cost $400-500. RoyBoy (and I) can't afford that. So, in the interim, we are going to get me a thin silver band. This is fine for now, and I can be happy. For a while. :)

I also can't really afford a wedding band for RoyBoy! I'm not sure what to do about that.

Toilet Patrol

Yesterday I was browsing www.projectwedding.com when I came upon an interesting title for a submission: How to Pee in Your Wedding Gown. My curiosity was, to say the least, piqued. I clicked, and read, and was ever so slightly amazed. The problem brides were having, it seems, is that their train is much too long and they were having issues with the back of the seat. I had never thought of this, but it's a predicament. (Luckily, I have a short dress with no train!) They offer a very simple way to solve this peeing problem, without ruining the back of your dress (i.e. it touches the wetness/etc. right behind the toilet, it gets dipped in the toilet... etc.)

1. Make sure the floor is clean. If not, get someone to clean it. Genius, really. lol
2. Go into stall (handicapped stall) and face toilet.
3. Remove Panties completely. (Sucks if you're wearing those full-body Spanx things!)
4. Approach toilet and sit on it facing the wall, so that your train is no where near the back of the toilet.
5. Pee!
6. Wash hands. Actually, I added this step, though I suppose "Put on Panties" should go first.

I thought this was kind of brilliant, especially if you have a huge train. Whodathunkit?

It's like shopping...

The other day RoyBoy and I went to Bed Bath and Beyond to register! I had a lot of fun. It was really cool to just pick stuff out that we both want, and it will be really exciting to see what people get us. Another neat thing is that the registry stays open for a few years- perfect for a housewarming, anniversary, or Christmas! Love it! The rep we walked around with was really nice, and encouraged us to just add anything that caught our eyes. We are also registered at with Cutco for cutlery and pots and pans.

Another thing checked off!

Survey says...

Today RoyBoy and I had our first pre-marital counseling session. It was very interesting, as we went over the results from the inventory survey we took separately. Our strengths include conflict resolution and communication, which is great. Actually, in conflict resolution we answered the same for all questions, and we had 90% agreement in questions regarding communication. Our relationship is one of a ‘vitalized couple,’ which means that our relationship has the potential to last. RoyBoy made the point that we have all the necessary tools; we just need to use them to build something that counts. It was a great session, and we have another on Saturday. We also have a lot of homework to do over the next month or so. Two of the big things will include talking finances (we haven’t because we are unsure of the future, but we need to have a plan) and expectations.

I luff him.

Who's Coming?

I've started to get R.S.V.P.s back in the mail! How exciting! It's like a surprise every day! :D

How does that make you feel?

RoyBoy and I are required to do premarital counseling in order for my uncle to marry us. Given that it’s a simple request, and a good idea, we are doing it with my local pastor. We each take a survey of over 200 questions, separately, and it is analyzed by the person doing the counseling. Then we chat about the strengths, weaknesses, differences, and similarities in the sessions. I just took mine. It was pretty easy, really. I thought it would take an hour, but it took a little under 30 minutes. Not bad! I am very interested in talking about the differences and whatever else it will cover; I think it will be very insightful.

158 days to go, woah!

Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer, do.

I recently ordered flowers from afloral.com. Like I said in an earlier post, we are using silk flowers. Afloral.com had a HUGE selection of beautiful silk flowers (and prices as $0.50 each!), so we went ahead and ordered everything. They came very quickly, and the gerbera daisies are very realistic and beautiful.

We also bought some regular white daisies, but we are sending them back because they look fake, and that’s not right. A funny thing was that they gave me too many of one kind of flower- 12 orange daises with 4 inch heads.

There was a small issue, though… some 40-50 flowers were missing. I called the company, and the rep apologized profusely and told me that they would be shipped immediately. She also said to keep the extra orange daises. Bonus!

For $180.60 we got 20 small gerberas and 30 large gerberas in each color of orange, pink, yellow, and cream. We also got some green floral tape, and then 3 daisy bushes. The daisy bushes will be returned, and I’ll get $23 back (although, I do have to pay for shipping, so we’ll say $10). This covers corsages, bouquets, boutonnieres, and the reception flowers. None needed for the ceremony. Then, we’ll need the parts for anyone who wants wristlets, extra parts for the corsages, ribbons, etc. I’m guessing that the grand total for flowers will be $250. Not bad when TheKnot.com gave me a budget of $480!

But wait, what about the ribbons for the bouquets?? My mother has a TON of cute, vintage hankies that we will be using for the bouquets. To secure them, a simple ribbon bow. Voila. Cute. Classy. Cheap. Beautiful. We actually JUST got done talking about this, and she loves the idea.

Mail Time!

This past Wednesday I checked off a big thing on every bride’s TO-DO list: I sent out the wedding invites! I chose to do this super-early because I know that airline tickets can get expensive, and I wanted people to have the option of booking everything as early as possible. Also, I have guests invited from Sweden, and I would love for them to come. Getting the info to them as early as possible seemed important.

I have to give the USPS props; I sent the invites Wednesday, and some people got them TODAY! Woah! I think that’s pretty amazing, really. A nice woman at the counter also helped me stamp all 187 envelopes. Very nice of her.

The reason I know people got them was because one of the groom's men, who is practically my brother, called me to say he got it. Thanks, Bro! :)

The grand total for the invites, Save-The-Dates, stamps, etc. was $193.95. It was technically over budget a little, but I also had to make ‘test sheets’ and I decided to make small business cards with the wedding website for each envelope. I also made too many of one insert, but oh well. It was still cheaper than a lot of other options, plus I did extra, AND it was exactly what I wanted. So there. $15 of that total also included the stamper I bought to make the border of the invites, but I included it in the total cost, because it was part of that budget. I love DIY.

So… check your mailbox!

Guest List

My guest list is currently at 187, not including a family of 5 who is in Peru and I know won't be able to attend. Phew! This make me all the more anxious to send out the invites, so I know who is coming and who is not. As much as I really want everyone to be there, the budget slightly concerns me. It shouldn't, though. I know that my parents will cover what I cannot. I just don't want them to. I wish I had a job so that I could take care of most of the wedding. And with that, I guess I'll go a) apply for more jobs and b)see if I can work at the deli again. Sigh.

Miscalculation

So I totally miscalcuated my stationary/stamp cost. I got $87. How? I have no idea, because it's $217.46, although that does not include the stamps for the entire invite (STD and RSVP stamps, yes). I'm ok with this, though. Thus far, I am doing OK with the budget. I think. It's hard to guess the two really big things- catering and the cake- because I'm not sure what the total will be! I can guess high, though. So I will. Shake it out, shake it out. Sigh. Crazyness.

Flowers and colors

I have been toying with the idea of silk flowers for a while now. Why? Because it's cheaper, partly because we can do it ourselves. Plus, the flowers won't wilt, or even dry/fade with time. It's more practical. There are some lovely silk flowers out there.

So, I proposed this idea to my mum. First thing she said? "I can do them for you." Hallelujah! One thing I def. won't have to do! Mum used to make silk flower arrangements, so there we go! Boutonnieres seem simple enough, and I like the idea of simple, small clusters for my bride's maids. The groom's men and bride's maids will have opposite colors for attire and flowers: the girls are in pink, so the guys will have pink boutonnieres. Likewise, the girls will have flowers that match the lads. The flower girl's dress will be in either yellow or orange: whichever the groom's men aren't in. I like this.

EDIT: Just talked to RoyBoy, and the opposite flowers idea is out. The guys will have white flower boutonniers and yellow ties. RoyBoy will probably be in ivory, and he will have and orange boutonnier. The flower girl will be in orange, I hope, while the ring bearer will be in a little black suit and yellow tie. awwwwww

I will have white oxeye daisies in my hair. I am not sure about my bouquet, though. I had thought all oxeyes... but I don't know how I feel about white and white. (Well, technically white and ivory, but shhh.) So I want to think more. I probably will stick with the white daisies, so that my bouquet is different from everyone else. Plus, I'll have my colorful shoes...

The bride's maids' bouquets will be gerbera daisies, and the main flower for the boutonnieres will be as well. I guess that corsages will be, for mothers/etc... but I'll talk with mum more about this.

For the ring bearer and flower girl, I think I will just have them each holding an over-sized gerbera daisy stem. I don't like the idea of buying a bunch of flowers just to destroy them and throw their petals, nor do I like the silk petal idea- talk about littering and destroying the lawn! So I think the single flower will work. I even think I could sew a small ribbon to the one for the ring bearer, on the head, not the stem, for the 'rings' to be attached with. It's different, and cute. Oh, and I want them to walk up the aisle together. I think that's cute, too. :)

Shoes Part Deux

Like I said in the post "OHMYGOD. SHOES." I saw a picture of a bride in bright yellow, patent heals. I want to wear either flats or wedges for the wedding, because we will be on grass for the vast majority of the time. I don't want ivory shoes, because I find that boring. I like the idea of orange or yellow shoes. I actually HAVE a pair of each of these, but RoyBoy doesn't like them. So I guess I can't wear them.

I do like all of these, though. They are all neat.

http://www.dyeableshoesboutique.com/showroom.asp?id=8938&catgroup=&cat_id=180

ttp://www.zappos.com/oneill-jade-hot-pink

http://www.zappos.com/mia-jubilee-yellow-patent

http://www.zappos.com/kensie-girl-jessie-sunshine

http://www.zappos.com/betseyville-prosper-fuchsia

http://www.zappos.com/product/7586470/color/3525

http://www.davidsbridal.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplayView?storeId=10052&catalogId=10051&categoryId=-49997463&currentIdx=0&subCategory=-49998498%7c-49997996%7c-49997463&catentryId=6110521&sort=