Bridal shows...

Today was a good day for a bridal show! I went as a Bride, but my mom and I started showing off our Tshirt designs and have asked to be a vendor in the next show! Which is a week before my wedding. =) That should be nothing but interesting. I have some pictures from the show, but I have a lot of pictures for our business! I have to find my cable to hook my camera up to save the pictures. Ugh! Uho. I hope I didn't lose it... Let's hope not!

Have a GREAT week!

Have your cake and eat it too.

Ugh. This cake mess has caused me more... long nights than anything! My friend's mom is making it as I said in an earlier blog. She makes gorgeous cakes. So I have to send her a picture of it and a color sample along with what our cake topper is. So problem: I can't draw to save my life, I don't have the color of fabric from the BMs dresses yet, and I know what the topper is, but not where it is or where I'm getting it. So basically it's a cluster ball of stress.

Lucky, my cousin, Stacey, who works at Jubilation Events here in town just posted some cakes on their blog! Yay for not having to draw.

It will be a white fondant with 4 square tier.. like this one. (With out all those leaves).

But I want the Cinderella blue stripes on the bottom and middle tier. Leaving the top blank. And then on the 3rd from top tier have G P S in script. (Making the P bigger than the G and S).

Now.. I must get the fabric and find the topper. Also on the cake the bottom two tiers will be fake =). I like cheating.

Time and Money Saving tips.

Everyone can use more money and cutting coupons and searching for the best bargain can be a pain! I saw this magazine about a year ago and we decided to subscribe to it! It's saved us so much money already and we haven't even tried! The magazine is called ShopSmart.

The October 2009 issue came out not too long ago. The main thing that caught me was the "Online Shopping Secrets". I'm for either the store or online. Some things you just can't find in your town so online is the best option! I've recently been getting more and more into searching those little known websites to find great buys.

This website, Alice.com, is a new favorite! It's mostly used for buying basic needs. You can shop by brand, price, and room. If you buy 6+ items shipping is free! Another great deal, they have coupons already on there so you don't have to do anything. A bonus... You're buying from the manufactures for less, most the time. There are other gadgets you can use like a budget and reminders to order more of a certain product.

For the ladies wanting a new makeup look, Taaz.com, you can upload pictures of yourself (without makeup and hair back with good lighting) and try new make up and hair styles on! They even tell you the best item to buy and where to find it. I love it!

For other things to buy check out, Savings.com (for bargains), UWantSavings.com (for closeout deals), Like.com (to find exactly what you want), and IMshopping.com (to locate obscure stuff).

I found all this in the ShopSmart magazine. It's full of other extra stuff I didn't talk about too!

No ads in this magazine and there are a ton of surveys and product tests. You can get 6 issues for $18 plus the s/h of $4.95 if you do the subscription. (They say the prices differ 39% from subscription to newsstand prices.)

It's been a long time!

So it's been a long time! I have gotten things done though!
My MOH and I put together the shower invitations and I stuffed them!

This is the shower invitation completely done.
These are the "extra" information sheets. It tells people to write a recipe on the recipe card and being it to the shower and it also says where we're registered at!

This is just one of those information sheets with the scissors I used to cut them out. It's fancy swirl. I just printed 10 sheets of 6 info cards on Word on the computer. I used the wedding response template, but there are more to choose from. The scissors we got a long time ago, but I'm sure you can find them at Hobby Lobby, Michael's, Target, or even Wal-mart. If you can't find some there try a speciality store like a scrap booking store.

This is what the sheet looked like before I cut them out.

The cute recipe cards I got! Obviously.. I got them from Hallmark. =) I paid $5 for 36 cards, but I bought 2 packs since we invited more than 36. We had this great idea to have all the guests bring a recipe that they enjoy for me to have to start my collection. At the shower we'll have a basket for the cards to go in and then my girls will help me stuff them into an album viewing thing.

Our wedding theme is Cinderella Winter Wonderland and we carried that over to the shower. The shower theme is more Diamonds are a Girls Best friend, but this invitation with Cinderella and Prince Charming was too good to pass up!

The end result of the shower invitation. We used a black and white photo for more effect and it's one from our first engagement sessions in downtown Wichita. We ordered them from Walgreens.com and picked them up at the nearest store. They weren't expensive at all! We paid $40 for 60 cards. (They come in a pack of 20) So we ordered 3 packs. You can also do this on snapfish.com and have them sent to Walgreen's. If you need more invites than you originally printed, just go to the site you ordered from and it will be saved for you!

So the shower is on it's way to being ALL taken care of. I'll post pics of it when it happens (November 14th). I'm not in on all the details so I can't give ya anymore info! I know it stinks. =)

Up next.. We'll address the invites and mail them out. Also... I WILL start on the unity candle A.S.A.P. I keep putting it off. In the hole are the garters for my BMs!

My mom's project is to make my BM's dresses! AH! We gotta get her moving.

Creative urge.

I work nights so I'm usually up at this time ( 2:30 AM) so this is nothing new to me. =) I've been just wanting to do ALL my DIY projects right now! I bought my unity candle things the other day and can't start until Grant takes a look and understands what I'm doing. So I'll start that soon! I looked up the card boxes, canopy, and tissue paper flowers.

I saw a card box on a weddingbee blog.

It's gorgeous and gave me a GREAT idea!

I'll make a card box.. a castle! It sounds odd, but it's okay I've got it almost all worked out in my head. So tomorrow I'll be trying to make sense of this project. I'll for sure post pictures of the process!

The canopy... I think I'll get my soon to be hubby to assist in this!

The tissue paper flowers... I can do this in the morning! I won't be using them since I don't have the color (white) I need. I have every other color though. ;)

I'll post pictures!

If the shoe fits...

I think I found my shoes!

It goes with the Cinderella theme! I think I like them. Yea? They are from shoes.com and they are Touch Ups by Benjamin Walk Women's Cinderalla. $55.99 with free shipping. I think I'll wait for a sale or coupon!

Save the dates

I forgot to post our save the dates! We got them from magnetstreet.com . It's a photobooth magnet. Other than the Cinderella winderwonderland we also wanted to throw in the photobooth. ;) tricky!

Decorations!

My momma is so smart! She's always been real crafty and kind of past that along to me. We've been looking for cute, simply, cheap decorations for the reception and a little for the ceremony. We found these cute beaded ornament type things at Hobby Lobby and decided to make a ton of them!

We're calling these our Wedding angels. We'll also give these to some of the attendants.My mom made this. We wanted to see what the blue looked like under the beads. It's a Winter Wonderland theme. Hints.. snowflakes! I love these!The crosses. They look better in person. The icicles. We made a ton of those!We're not done making them all. We still have a lot to do! So far so good, huh?

My Dress

I found my dress a little more than a month ago. It's gorgeous and I love it. But I kinda have the problem of being nervous about things so with all the looking I never thought any of the dresses would do. THIS dress on the other hand was just about perfect! We needed some alterations and see if we can add a little more to it. So we took it to my great alteration lady and it wasn't what I expected. I saw a dress in my head... and then what she was going to do was different. Although!!!!!!!!! I don't know what I was talking about, so her way makes much more sense. I stupidly made the comment that I didn't like the dress and I didn't want it. =( Not true. I do want the dress! I really love the dress, but I'm worried the alterations won't work out. (then the dress won't fit and I'd be terribly upset.)

How I got the dress. It's a fantastic story! I looked and looked and it was coming on 6 months away from the wedding and I didn't have a dress and I knew I'd need some alterations and I wanted to make sure to have it before the day of! We couldn't find a dress I even kinda liked. My mom's friend said that she was engaged and had to cancel the wedding, for something unkown, and won't wear the dress and she only wore it once. And that was to try it on at the store. She let me see it and we loved it! I love it more and more when I think about it or look at it. It's exciting! I really feel that the Lord has helped me out with the wedding so much. I know that this dress is a wonderful answer to prayers, so I can't complain!

But.. I do complain. I'm scared! She, the alteration lady, is ripping out the back! Now my mother reassured me that she's wonderful at this and won't mess up.. me.. UGH! I'm scared. lol. So I wasn't the more polite person to anyone. Also.. my mom said that I didn't seem happy to get married at all. I'm not happy with anything... So I thought about that. I really thought that even though there are tons of drama with the BMs and things I was still positive.

My goal... be more positive and pray. Alot. Things will go great and if not.. my supermommy and I can fix it.

Bachlorette Party

So with school starting this week and much to still do for the wedding, I asked my MOH to call the slumber party lady, Theresa, to book her early because she's the best, a friend of a friend, and now pregnant so she wants to get a ton of parties in before the baby so she has enough money. Well.. MOH couldn't call because she's got homework and an almost 2 year old running around her house. I decided that I would call her. Theresa is WONDERFUL! I'm so excited for the bachelorette party!

The day is set for December 12th and we'll start out in the late afternoon at a house doing the slumber party. Theresa assured me that this will be one of the best times ever. My girls can buy novelty items, penis cake pan (to make a cake, which I want lol) and other excited things, for the party itself and me at cost to her! Which is way cheaper than buying anything here in town. So I'm sure we're in for a GREAT time. =) Next, we'll all go to a local comedy club for some more great fun! We'll party there for an hour or so and then my family, BMs, and a few good friends will head back to 2 hotel rooms and finish the night!
I'm more excited about the wedding festivities than ever!

On a bad note... I've had to drop one of my BMs. I'm down to 5 and I'm keeping them that way. No more bringing in drama. These 5 are the best and now I don't have to worry about what's going on and if something bad will happen. I know these lovely ladies will support me.

Wedding Colors

If ya haven't noticed the colors will be a light blue (Cinderella blue), silver, and white accents. We picked a day in January not only so it would come faster and to be different, but also because I love these colors! I'm also madly in love with Cinderella.

The overall theme is a Cinderella Winter Wonderland.

The bridesmaid's dresses will be the light blue with a silver sash.

Like this dress, but with the sash. They will wear their own black or white shoes. I'll decide when the dresses are finished. My mom, her friend, and I are making them ourselves!

The Reception (Part 2)

Our DJ is wonderful! We met them at a small bridal fair and won gift certificates from them and they gave us a great deal so we're happy to have them DJ for our wedding. The company name is Musical Reflections. Derek Haas and his wife own it and are the only DJ's to my knowledge.

Another exciting thing we're having, probably, maybe, I'm not real sure how this will work. It's a candy buffet table. It won't be all the wedding colors, which my mom isn't that happy about, but it will be entertaining. We aren't having a formal sit down dinner. It's not our style and not in our budget. We're having snack and possibly the candy. Of course we're having cake too! My friend's mom is kind enough to make our cake.

Here's a few of the cakes she's done.

Hopefully Callie, my MOH, can have her make my bridal shower cake!

Also we're having a cash bar. I thought that would be 'tacky', but talking to the people at the company they said a lot of people are doing cash bars now days. So, I felt better. It's not really that expensive overall.

I can't think of anything else at the reception I can inform ya'll on yet. =)

The Reception

I'm so excited about the reception! We're having it at the Mid America All Indian Center on Seneca street.

I wasn't sure about it till I saw the inside and it decorated for another wedding.

At night you can see the Keeper of the Plains all lit up and pretty! Hopefully it will sprinkle with snow a little.

We're having the Photobooth Company come in and do that for some favors!I got this from the website. We can personalize the border! It's sentimental for Grant and I since everytime we see a photobooth I insist that we take pictures. It's fun! You can fit up to 8 people in there and they get the copy and we get ALL the photos taken that night on a disk.

Another favor we're doing is Mexican Wedding Cookies.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup butter
1/2 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons water
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup chopped almonds
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

DIRECTIONS
In a medium bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Stir in vanilla and water. Add the flour and almonds, mix until blended. Cover and chill for 3 hours.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Shape dough into balls or crescents. Place on an unprepared cookie sheet and bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove from pan to cool on wire racks. When cookies are cool, roll in confectioners' sugar. Store at room temperature in an airtight container.

And this is similiar to how we will be presenting them.

Thank you!

I've been "friends" with this girl, Laura, on facebook for a while now, but we just started to actually talk and having a ton of stuff in common! One being that we are both getting married in 2010. We talked about sharing our projects because we are both hands on and active in creating our own weddings. She got me started on some other wedding websites and also introduced me to this! I'm very grateful, so thank you to Laura!
I'll add more on this later, just so I can get a nap in before class.