AHR Invites are complete! MIB supplies has arrived!

Today is a good day so far. Despite the fact that I've had a HORRIBLE week, with Brian leaving for an out of town business trip, and Elyssa back to her dad's last week, I've been here all alone!!! You'd think that I'd be busy with all things Wedding Related huh? Fat chance! I've been moping around.

I did manage however, to get my AHR invites created. Unfortunately Brian took the camera with him, so the best I can do at this time is scan, upload and try to insert it here. We'll see if it works.

So, those are my AHR invites that I created, and the RSVP front and RSVP back. I don't know why the image of the front is so much bigger than the image of the back?!? Weird.

Another good thing about today is that I actually received my MIB order! A huge box with all the glass bottles, corks, sand, shells and mailing boxes arrived today! I am so excited! Now it's almost real! : ) I'm going to have a MIB assembly party at my house very soon!!! : ) Anyone want to join in on some fun? Margaritas???? Jello Shots??? LOL.

** AHR Center Pieces **

These are the first round of my Centerpieces I am going to use at both of our AHR's. As you can see, they're very easy to make. I purchased all the supplies at Michael's and the Starfish, Shells & Sea Biscuits were purchased from a former DW Knottie!

In lieu of a guestbook, I decided that I wanted to do a "Message in a Cylinder" where guest write their words of wisdom, or advice on a note card, then drop them in the cylinder vase! Here's my inspiration photo taken from the Wedding Star Magazine, and the other photo is what I created.

Whoo Hoo, it's THE DRESS

So, I made an appointment at David's Bridal in Roseville because I knew that we were going to be in the Sacramento area early this morning. I found some dresses on line on DB's website and thought that maybe they'd have them in the Roseville store. Brian came along with, and I totally felt comfortable with him shopping for dresses! I tried on several dresses, and he took pictures of each one, so if you want to see them all, you'll have to go to my planning bio to have a look!! (www.mywedding.com/michelesplanningbio )

This dress is the dress that both Brian & I really liked. There was another one that was a close second, and in all honesty, I think Brian liked it better. He said he liked them both, and it was ultimately my decision. I really felt more comfortable in this one than I did the other one, and I think the other one made me look a little fatter than I really am!

What is even more amazing is the fact that the dress was clearanced for $99!!!! SCORE!!!! I really like it alot. I just need to get it hemmed at the bottom and tighten up the back halter top area where it buttons together. I need to make it smaller. It shouldn't be a problem. I am also going to have it dry cleaned and pressed!!!

I am very excited that I've gotten this very HUGE check completed! : ) Woot Woot!

New Motivation

I am making new goals in all things Wedding Related. On Sunday, I am going to start my own private Bridal Boot Camp! I will work out on a daily basis and be disiplined enough to be consistant about it! I'm going to alternate swimming laps and working out in the weight room, utilizing the treadmill the most.

I am making my daily task lists with something wedding related to accomplish each day and going to ensure that I am consistent with getting everything done daily!

I am going to make long term task lists and ensure I assign a date to have said tasks & goals completed by.

I am going to EAT PROPERLY to coincide with my new health & fitness regime.

And that's that! : )

Getting off my duff!!! D.I.Y Projects

I've been slacking the last couple of weeks with anything wedding related. I bought tons of shells, miniature starfish, sea biscuits, more shells and the like from former DW Knotties and the packages have been trickling in. That's pretty much anything wedding related that I've done... sit on my arse and wait for the mail man. My 12 year old, Elyssa, will be going back to her dad's this Saturday, so beginning Sunday, I am going to be a mad woman with everything DIY!!!! Here are my projects:

Debating on any type of "fans" ~ do I need any fans at all? I originally thought these were a very cute idea and would like them and the could double as a "favor" that the guests could take home with them. (The picture directly on the left is from knottie AlaskanAlison) I love the palm fans and the flower she put on them. Then I got to thinking, the ceremony will be in April where it's still a little on the cool side and the ceremony will only be approximately 20 minutes tops. I saw another knottie's program/fan she's doing and really thought, "wow, these could triple as a "fan", "program", and a "favor" for guests. These were from knottie natmcb1983. How easy could this be? However, for the time being, this particular DIY project is on the back burner, but still something I may want to do.

Next on my list of DIY projects is the centerpieces for both receptions. I was inspired by so

many other knotties and their centerpieces that I kept changing my mind as to what I wanted. Finally, I decided that I wanted to do ones similar to what knottie natmcb1983 is doing for her September 2009 wedding. Various sizes of vases with sand, shells and candles. So, now that I have the shells, it's all about collecting the vases, several at a time. So, this will be an on-going DIY project until I have accumulated all of the vases I need. I'm thinking maybe 12 will be more than enough. I'll purchse the ribbon and sand soon to get that done and out of the way!

What can I really be actively doing? I need to order the MIB supplies to get them done. Those need to be mailed by late September / early October so that our guests have enough time to book their cruise before the February deadline! That'll give them 4 months. The Save the Dates all went out in June and all of the cruise information was available then.

I want to get the Welcome bags done and out of the way, but again, we're debating on the bags! Brian is all for the Trader Joe's bags. I originally wanted these too, but now, I'm not so sure. There are so many cute bags to choose from! The good thing about these are that they are re-usable and they're of the "beachy" theme. I think they're a little too big for what we need. If we were going to be putting a beach towel in them, then it would be perfect, but as of right now, we're not. We're only going to put trial sizes of things like kleenex, advil / tylenol, J&J first aid kit, sunscreen, shout wipes, hand sanitizer, crystal light packettes, various snack crackers, and the like. So, I'm still on the hunt for these. I have been picking up things here and there for the bags, so that's a start!

I would like to get both AHR invitations started, done and out of the way! I keep telling myself I have 9 months.... I have 9 months.... but these 9 months are going to fly by from what I've been told. So, I really need a big motivating factor to kick my butt in gear! : )

Message in a Bottle DIY Project

So, yesterday I did a "mock-up" of our Message in a Bottle Invitations. I think they came out rather cute! Okay, so both Brian and I are totally EXCITED about how they came out! To finish out this project, I'm going to look for Caribbean Blue rafia to wrap at the top of the bottle where the cork goes in. Other than that, I think it's a great DIY accompolishment! : ) Woo Hoo!!!

I am so excited that these are done. Well, at least the "prototype". Now, to get all the supplies in and then mass produce at least 50 - 60 of them. It'll be a fun night of Brian and I that's for sure! Anyone wanna come over and have a MIB making party?????? : )

Little things to accomplish

Today will be the day where I will sit down and write out my task list, prioritize them and then just follow the list! I've been writing things down in a notebook as they pop in my head, then I tend to start that project however when a new idea pops up, I go on a frenzy to start that new project. I have a gazillion projects started but not yet completed. SOOOOOO, going forward, I will try to complete one task before starting another. Easier said than done huh? Well, we will see!

First thing's first though. I need to get the ceremony issue figured out before I go stir crazy! I know it will all work out, but I'm a planner, and I need have it figured out so I will sleep easier! : )

Here's what I need to priortize:

*Ceremony wording for invites
*Ordering the MIB supplies
*Ceremony itself figured out
*Cruise bookings / guests
*Dress

Those are the most important.... then comes the little things:

*AHR invites ~ Minnesota & California
*BM Dresses
*Groomsmen attire
*Welcome bags
*Contents of Welcome bags
*BM flowers
*Hair flower

And the list goes on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
*

4th of July

Not much wedding wise is going on today. Just actuallly working on the Knottie Knot list. Wow... so much time is put into this "volunteer" project, it's almost a full time job! : ) Anyway, Brian and I have just pretty much been working on our Wedding Budget. We knew the Cruise was a very inexpensive way to have our wedding "on a beach" and somewhere where family from Minnesota would enjoy traveling to. We have officially picked our wedding party and with the exception of Brian's best friend, it's all family! My three children will be a part of it as well as Brian's brother, sister, niece, nephews and one of his daughters.

We're excited and although most of our planning has been just that,

"planning"

now we've got to put our plans into action and get things done!

The list seems to be getting longer and longer, when actually it shouldn't be a problem at all right? Yeah, right!

Not to mention, we have two, yes TWO, AHR's to plan as well!

So, onward with the plans! : )

Overwhelmed

Today I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with all things wedding concerned. Although the one great check is that we paid the deposit on our Cabin for the Cruise. Woo Hoo. That's kinda important don't ya think? We have tons of little projects left to do and it's just prioritizing these little tasks that are crazy! We're talking figuring out what, if any, company we're going to use on the Island to handle the ceremony; what kind of flowers to use in the bridal party bouquets; dress; veil, if any; shoes; hair flower; groom's shirt; wedding party gifts; Welcome bag contents; MIB invitation supplies; AHR - Minnesota invites; AHR - California invites;........... the list goes on and on!!! It's tough when you don't know how many people are coming to the ceremony! We can't really pick out a "wedding package" from what we were given just yet because we're not sure on how many people will be there! And, these "wedding packages" are designated for only certain amount of people! Grrrrr....