The cherry on top

I've been doing light calisthenics (push-ups, sit-ups, leg lifts & squats) before bedtime for about 3 weeks now & I lost 5 more pounds. I'm only 9 lbs away from my ultimate target weight.

July

I know it's not July yet, but I really need pen to paper (or words to blog). Bottom line, I need a list. Because for the last month, my mind has been keeping me up at night, mulling over all the things I still need to do. July 11th marks 3 months until the wedding and I know there will be dozens of little tasks, formalities, practicalities that I am forgetting. I just have to keep remembering what my fiance keeps telling me every time I get stressed "Hey, we have each other to help one another out." {July} -Schedule hair/make-up trials -Book travel accommodations for bachelorette weekend -Assemble the invites -Emboss the program booklets -Follow up on missing family/friend addresses -Pick up bridesmaid & flower girl dresses

It's booked!

We finally put aside some time to book the Hawaiian honeymoon. It was actually really frustrating. I'm assuming that because of the poor economic state of the nation, flights routes are being consolidated. It's pretty much impossible to get a non-stop flight to Hawaii these days. We visited countless travel sites & airline websites. We finally booked our flights through Orbitz - flying out of LAX with one stop in Honolulu (there could be worse places to be layed over) totaling an 8 hour, 40 minute flight. We are staying 4 nights on Hilo at the Volcano Mist Cottage, then hopping over to Maui to stay at the Royal Lahaina Resort, where we booked an ocean view room. We extended our trip one day because of the longer travel time. So, here's the travel breakdown: (3) flights: $1300 Hotel stay: $1100 & $750 Car rental: $570 = $3720 + food, gas, drinks, etc.

On a side note, I'm loving this and this. So adorable. I just love vintage inspired weddings.

Oranges

image source

Such a cute idea - using oranges as place cards. I'm still doing my silver bird place card holders that I got from Ikea last Christmas, but I just think these are cute.

Menu card

Here is the menu card for the reception. Luckily I was also able to cancel my Vista Print order containing the card with the missing RSVP deadline. yay. I reordered everything and saved a little money in the process, as they were having a sale on invites.

It will be folded into the napkin of each place setting, like so.

I'm really glad that we are having a served dinner instead of a buffet. I'm also really glad that it doesn't cost extra for this option. Most of the weddings that I've attended have had buffets - and they are fine, unless you are sitting at the last table to be called up to eat. Somehow I usually end up sitting at that table, so I guess I'm biased.

Productive

I was really productive this morning, despite being sick in the middle of June. I went through all the contracts & made a list of when all the final monies are due for vendors. I also did some wedding website updating. Plus I began laying out the table menus for the reception. And the first thing I realized this morning when I woke up: Forgot to put the RSVP deadline on the invites. Damn. I will be fixing & reordering that card today. So instead of $32 for this card, it is now costing $60.

Finished...finally!

I made some revisions to my original invitation & finally ordered all 3 cards from Vista Print today. The best part- I applied a 50% coupon + free shipping ($95 for 60 sets). They will arrive in 14 days. Can't wait to see how they look.

Sweet.

I just checked our wedding photographer's website for possible new eye candy & found out that all packages include a complimentary engagement session, which can be swapped for a 'trash the dress session'. Not really looking to destroy my dress, but it's more or less an artistic sort of bridal session. I'm a little giddy because I was actually thinking of a doing session with just me, but I then maybe I shouldn't spend the extra money. Now I don't have to.

Bird stamp

Image proof for my custom stamp

I am working with etsy seller Stacey of Asspocket Productions, on a semi-custom stamp for the CD programs embossing project (and anything else I choose to stamp it on). Honestly, I really have no idea how this wedding would look without all the brilliant creations & ideas I've pulled from etsy sellers.

Featured II

My bouquet was featured by Gabrielle of Cross Country Wed today. You can read the post here.

Revisions

{Invite Insert}

After making this insert, I'm kind of liking the design element and new fonts I used. I'm thinking of doing one more revision to the formal invitation to align with these design elements. Creativity is often all about trial & error and also knowing when your art is complete. It's just an invitation - the most important invitation - but I feel that if I'm going to make the effort to personalize with my own design, I need to be happy with the finished product.

I also revised the map a little. Removed the 'zoom' and corrected a spelling error (thanks Wendy!) This, I am happy to say, is finalized.

Un-rehearsal dinner

My FMIL was asking about when the rehearsal for the wedding will be so she can plan the rehearsal dinner. This got us thinking - Do we really need a full on rehearsal? Our venue will only accommodate a rehearsal Monday - Thursday and it's at least an hour drive for everyone. Not to mention, one of my bridesmaids probably won't be flying in from San Francisco until Friday or Saturday. It's just too much of a hassle to drag everyone out there. So we discussed and this is the plan: Have an un-rehearsal dinner Saturday night before the wedding at a local restaurant. Sometime during the week before the wedding on Sunday, I will take a trip up to the venue with my day-of-coordinator (DOC). That way we can meet with the venue staff & discuss everything beforehand.

Venue map

{Invitation Map Insert}

This will be included with the invites. I make maps like this all the time at work, which explains why I've been putting it off. It took a long weekend for me to get going on it.

Embellished votives

{Flower Embellished Votive}

These are the frost patterned votive candles that I purchased from Michaels. They will be placed on the reception tables next to my birdcage candle holders. A while back I purchased 2 tins of ivory-pearl flower confetti on sale for $1.50 each, in hopes that I would use it for something. I think it adds a nice texture to the candles. These were very simple to make - I just bent the flower petals forward, then hot glued to the candle.

I was inspired by these luminaries.

Place Cards

{Wedding Party Place Cards}

I wanted to add a little special touch to the head table. I ordered (8) of these adorable hand-painted bird place cards that are placed on wine glasses. Emily from Timeless Paper was kind of enough to do the dot design in my color. Looks like it's time for me to practice my calligraphy.

Bright lights

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So pretty. Love these large bulb string lights.

Bouquet revisited

{Vintage-Inspired Bouquet}

My fabric bouquet was one of my very first crafting projects. I had no idea what I was doing at the time, and since then I've had a lot of practice with other DIY projects. I finally got around to perfecting it by rearranging the flowers, taking some out, adding feathers & trimming the base. It's finally balanced. I'm really happy with the end result.

Lovely style

I'm getting a little excited about how fantastic my dress is going to look at our wedding after seeing this gorgeous wedding on Style Me Pretty this morning. The bride's dress has corset lace detailing, which is very similar to the back of my dress. I smile every morning as walk into my closet getting ready for work and see my dress hanging in it's little garment bag, just waiting to be worn.

Also loving this bride's hair. Very similar to the Heidi Klum style I posted. I'm glad to see romantic styles with bangs. I think I will bring this picture & the Klum style to my hair appointment on the 26th.

Table runners

{Custom Runners}

These are lovely. I'm thinking of scrapping my DIY table linen idea and just ordering these from etsy seller First Comes Love. She offers free shipping and discounts on large orders. I can get a runner for $17 or a 24x24 inch square for $8. Maybe I'm getting lazy, but I just don't feel like making the runners/squares myself. I've been putting it off for months.

I just love the vintage feel of these fabrics, and in my colors too. I'm leaning towards the one on the left.

A good trend

Source

I am loving this trend of non-matching bridesmaid styles. I'm glad that I'm going this route, but I just hope that the look is achieved using dark colors. I've only seen it done with pastels and neutrals, which are much easier to layer. Although, I have been seeing lots of monochromatic greens lately, so I'm not too worried. Either way, my bridesmaids and flower girls are going to be gorgeous.

Love is free

from Lucky Bluebird Art At least something is these days. Right?

June

So it seems that my brain is still in the romantic stage of planning the wedding, that is all ideas and no action. I need action now. Why? Because things could get really crazy here in a very short period of time. We could be buying a house. We could be moving. We could be laying hardwood floors and painting. I can just see my craft bin of wedding projects being scattered over half unpacked moving boxes.

June to do list 1) Upload invite design to Vista Print 2) Start making invite pockets & such 3) DJ playlists 4) Order CD covers for program booklets 5) Book the honeymoon (fiance) 6) Have a meeting with my MOH Things I will do this weekend 1) My checkbook. Seriously, I haven't done it since January. Why bother, you ask. I like to track my finances old school - but still using Microsoft Money & I don't trust the bank. They do make mistakes sometimes. 2) Organize my desk. Seriously, I can't find a thing.