Just a few more hours to enter my giveaway!

We're 30 days away. I'm not exactly feeling "on the brink", but I'm definitely getting there. I'm feeling most stressed over the RSVPs/guest list right now. Less than half of our invited guests responded on their own (i.e. without hassling calls and e-mails from parents or myself and Jacob). What I seem to be discovering is that those who did not RSVP independently are not planning on coming. I guess their thought was, "Well, I don't think I'll go, so I guess I don't have to RSVP". This is NOT what I'm thinking. I'm thinking "I have no idea if we're going to have 60 people or 100 people! Please RSVP.... even if it's a no!" RSVPing 'no' at least let's the bride/host know that you have received the invitation, but will not be able to attend. THEN the bride/host knows how much food and wine to purchase, how many tables/chairs will be needed at the reception hall, and if there is room to invite some more friends.

(I've also been getting a number of "maybes". I hate maybes. People got save the dates back in November... they have KNOWN about this. I find it really infuriating that, 30 days out (and with no unforeseen circumstances), they haven't been able to make a decision. Or, if they have made a decision, aren't making it apparent.)

Jacob and I both come from pretty large families. Our initial invite list was 125 people. Our venue will comfortably hold 100 max (and I think that's still pushing it!), so we didn't have time to invite some friends that we would have liked to. But, we figured that once the "no"s starting rolling in we'd send some more invitations. Now I feel like a schmuck sending out invites 30 days before the wedding. I just hope those who get the last minute invites are understanding... and don't already have something else planned. =(

So, yes, that's my "brink" moment for you today. 30 days out... still much to do (DIY stuff that I've been putting off). This next month is going to be CRA-ZY!

Giveaway Time!

It's been awhile, but I have another giveaway for you via My Postcard Printing!



Here are the details:

100 4x6 Flat Postcards
14pt Cardstock Gloss
4 Color Both Sides Printing
Limited to US residents; 18 years old and above

If you haven't tried online postcard printing before you are missing out! I have used these for sooo many different parts of my wedding planning so far (invitations, invitation inserts, thank you cards to include with our favors), and I plan to use my "appreciation prize" for hosting this giveaway to get some wedding announcements printed up to send out after the fact. The quality is awesome, the customer service is awesome, the shipping speed is awesome... they are just awesome! lol

So... what to do to win? Four different ways:

1. Leave a comment telling us what you'll do with them if you win.
2. Leave a comment telling us about what the most stressful part of the planning process has been for you so far (or was) and how you dealt with it (I'm in the "stress out" stage right now, so I'd love to hear others stories! lol).
3. Become a follower or let me know that you already are.
4. Blog about it!

You have until 7 PM (PST) on Thursday, July 15th... that way I can get the winner post out before I go out of town to attend a friend's wedding ('tis the season, right? lol).

The Obamas Approve

We got our card from the Obamas today! =) When I found out that they did this sort of thing, I decided that I kinda wanted the memento. I was pretty excited when we got an envelope HAND ADDRESSED to us in the mail today with "The White House" as the return address. (Jacob was so excited he pretty much ripped the envelope in half! lol ...or, maybe he was just being a boy and didn't know his own strength... either way, ripped right through the return address!).

Our Invitations:: REVEALED!!!

*** SPOILER ALERT! If you are family/member of the bridal party and haven't gotten your invite yet... DON'T RUIN THE SURPRISE! STOP READING HERE! ***


Last weekend my mom, grandmother, 2/3 of my bridesmaids and 2/3 of my brother's girlfriends, helped me put together our invites, programs and favors! As I mentioned in the earlier post, you'll all have to wait to see the favors and programs, but it is been almost a week since I mailed out the invites, and, as we have already gotten some RSVPs, I figure they have pretty much been received by this point and it's safe to share. =)

(Yes, I sent an invite to the President... I want whatever little commemorative note they send back! Believe me though, had this wedding happened a couple years earlier, I probably would NOT have send this invite! lol)

(Our envelopes were "Sand Speck"... we thought that was fitting!)

Without further ado...

Our Invites!
(My apologizes ahead of time for the poor picture quality... doesn't do the colors justice!)

I really wanted pocketfolds... but I could neither afford them, nor rationalize the extra time (and stress) I knew I would put upon myself to make them. So, instead, I opted for a single sheet of blue paper and a paper band.

I really loved the label idea that Aubrey at High-Heeled Love used for her invites... so we stole the idea. =)

Upon slipping off the paper band and opening the blue wrap, our guests found:

I designed the invites/inserts and I'm pretty proud of the way they turned out! I love this wording... we found it somewhere out there in cyberland (though, I've seen a bunch recently, so it must be making the rounds! lol)

Our insert is two sided... the first side gives the guests RSVP and other helpful information, the back side has a map and directions to and between the ceremony and reception sites (I designed the map, too! lol.. totally utilizing my limited Photoshop knowledge!):



Finally, my cousin is acting as our DOC... so lightly taped to the inside of each blue wrap, is one of her business cards... so hopefully people will bug her on the day of the wedding instead of me!

I am not a typical DIY bride. I love the visual/creative aspect of it all... but the actual hands on stuff... well, it scares me a bit. lol Thanks to my family and friends these invites turned out FANTASTIC. I am so thankful. And, they definitely came in within our budget! Here's the run down:

Blue paper wraps, yellow paper for band, and envelopes ordered from Paper and More: $34.30
White paper for band and labels: $0 (lying around the house!)
Invitations and inserts: $0 (BIG thanks to Uprinting's Blogger Sponsorship Program!)

Total cost for up to 100 invites (though we only needed about 65)?

$34.30

With postage, the final cost, per invite, was a whopping 87 cents!

LOVE THIS! And love the way they turned out!

First RSVP!

Well I know the invites made it because we got our FIRST RSVP! =)

(Not counting my dad who RSVP'd yes and left a comment that he thought he had the day off (he's retired) so he could probably make it... lol).

I'll share the invites later this weekend when I know more people have them in their hands!

Woo hoo!

They're Gone!

Our wedding invitations have been let free into the world! =) But not after FIVE HOURS of folding, gluing, taping, and addressing. Thankfully, I was able to get some crafty people in my family involved to help out! And we also managed to finished the programs and about half of the favors! Woo hoo!

Bridesmaids Jessica and Holly, my grandmother, my brother's girlfriend Brittany (two of my three brothers are dating a "Brittney".... it gets confusing) my mother and me.

Third brother's girlfriend, Jennifer (or, as we should probably call her in our family, "Not a Brittney". lol) and my mom working on the favors.

Woo hoo!! Almost done!

Now, off to mail them. Unfortunately, the weather looks like this today (if you can't tell, icky, gross, and raining**), and I walk/take public transit to work... and the post office.

Thus, this is how the invites traveled to the post office! lol I was not going to let them get all spotted! So, 56 invites out there, 120+ guests invited... let's get these RSVPs rollin' (so I can stop stressing out about having too many people show up! lol).

My first DIY wedding project was not so bad. Granted, had I not had help I would have been in tears and tearing my hair out by the end... but, thankfully it didn't come to that. =) Everything turned out a lot better than I was anticipating and the project went by a lot smoother. I will do an invite reveal in a couple days when guests have had a chance to receive them, but you're all going to have to wait to see the programs and favors until the wedding recaps... I don't want to ruin the surprise for anyone coming who may read this!

**I'm hoping that all the rain we're having now means that August 14th will be absolutely beautiful! =)

Dress Up!

85 Days


Can we just DO this already? lol

P.S. This is what I do after a watching a wedding TV show...

P.P.S. This weekend headed "home" for a wedding day with my mom, grandma and two bridesmaids.... invitations, programs, favors, we're gonna get 'er done! (Hopefully I'll have some pictures to share on Monday!)

They're HERE!!!

Sorry... this is all you get until they are mailed out next month! **evil laugh**

I don't want to ruin the surprise for any of my to-be guests who read this blog! =)

P.S. That's my kitty in the background welcoming me home from a hard day at work by begging me to rub his belly. lol

Sometime Today....

...my invitations should be here!! I'm soooo excited and can't wait to see how they turned out. I was so hoping they'd show up before I left for work this morning, but it doesn't look like that's in the cards for me today... but I'm hoping they will be waiting for me when I get home! =)

I have scheduled a "paper party" with my girls, mom and grandma in a couple of weeks to help me assemble, put together and stuff invitations, programs and guest favors. I can't wait to actually get some of the hands on stuff done!

I LOVE Digital Room! (**Giveaway!**)

OK, so, check this out... remember yesterday when I posted about our map inserts and how I really wanted to print out our invites through Uprinting because I was so impressed with the print quality, but that the cost was a bit above what we had budgeted for our DIY invites?? WELL... this morning I e-mailed my contact at Uprinting to ask if there was any way to get some sort of a discount on the larger postcards as a "sponsored blogger". Well... I heard back today and not only are they going to cut me a deal and GIVE me the 5X7 postcards, but they also asked me to host a post card giveaway for my readers!!!!! I AM ON CLOUD NINE RIGHT NOW... There is really no way to wipe this silly grin off my face! lol

So, for all my wonderful readers, here are the giveaway specs for you:

• The giveaway comes from Digital Room printing
• The prize is 100, 4X6 postcards, full color on both sides
• Three business day turnaround
• Free UPS shipping
• Open to US mailing addresses only
• Must be 18 to enter

You can use these for all kinds of fantastic things... map inserts =), Thank you cards, save the dates, menus, recipe cards, invitations... use them for personal or business purposes (you do NOT need to be a bride-to-be to enter this contest!). Designs and uses are only limited by your imagination! =)

Three ways to earn entries (please leave your name and contact info!):

1. Post a comment telling me how you would use them,
2. Blog about it and link back to me and Uprinting/Digital Room... leave me a comment with the link,
3. Ask your blog readers to mention you when they enter this giveaway (earns a entry for both of you!)

You have until Sunday night to get your entries in! The winner will be announced Monday morning! (I love being able to start someone's week on a happy note!)

Uprinting has been one of the best things about wedding planning so far for me. I have been so impressed and SO thankful!

THEY ARE HERE!!!!!

So..... VERY VERY HAPPY TODAY! =) If you remember, a few weeks back I won a Uprinting.com giveaway over at Planning My Purple Wedding. I was sooo pumped because I REALLY wanted to make our map insert cards in color and this was the only way I was going to be able to do it and stay in our budget.

Well... I did it! I designed them, had them proof read by friends and family, like, a billion times, and sent them to print...

THEY CAME TODAY! And I LOOOOOOVE them! =)




One side is a map (which I made!) with directions between the ceremony and reception sites... the other is an informational piece asking guests to visit our website to RSVP and for additional accommodation, registry, and event info. Did I mention I love them? =)

We are so happy with the way they turned out and the quality of the printing that Jacob and I are contemplating having Uprinting print our invitations as well... the only problem is that doing so will be just a bit over budget... hmm.... stay tuned. =)

The Highlight of My Week!

I was absolutely ECSTATICED when I opened my google reader the other day and discovered that I WON Kristal's postcard giveaway over at Planning My Purple Wedding. I have been hoping so hard that I would win one of these (or that Uprinting would ask me to host one so that I could get them for free!) before it's time to create, print and send out our invitations (the time is coming quickly!).

I hosted a postcard giveaway awhile ago and used my "appreciation prize" to create Thank Yous to put in our favor bags. However, after I received them in the mail I thought to myself, I COULD have used these for map inserts! I'm working on a VERY tight budget and not having to pay to print out inserts would be FANTASTIC! Plus, with the postcards, not only do I get them printed for FREE, but I also get full color on BOTH SIDES!

Winning Kristal's contest was the highlight of my week. I spent a few hours last night working on our inserts. I'm going to put a map/directions on one side and "additional information" on the other (pretty much just a note directing our guests to see our website for accommodations/activities/registries/etc.). Now I just have to wait for the end of the month in order to actually claim my prize! lol

One good thing about winning this prize and working on my design last night was that it got my creative juices flowing and I started to think about designs for our programs. Since I have all the needed materials for them now I can start designing the text/interior, get it printed and then start the assembly (what would be my first, REAL, DIY project).

I'm getting excited to see everything finally come together!

Mail Call!

I was home for TWO HOURS today before I realized that we got THREE packages in the mail!

Ate dinner, watched some TV, then wandered into the office to check my e-mail... and there, on our futon were three boxes. Jacob said, "oh yeah... we got those today".

"oh yeah"??!! lol... gawd... being the nerd that I am I was so excited! We got both the business cards I received for hosting a Uprinting giveaway (business cards for my cousin who is going to be our DOC) and the poster printer I won from Shooting for a $3,000 Wedding (it looks FANTASTIC). But I wasn't really sure what the third package was... I couldn't remember what else I'd ordered. lol

Turned out the third package was the best one! I GOT MY PAPER! =) I'm a nerd, yes I am, but I was so excited about it. Paper for invitations and programs. Woo hoo! Now I have 2.5 months to actually put the invites together... I've already told some family and friends that they can expected invitations to a "paper assembly party" soon. *wink*

P.S. Here is the photo we decided to enlarge; which is now on our living room wall:

by Justin @ Sky Blue Iris Event Photography

3 1/2 More Things Checked Off the List!

WARNING! LONG post! =)

Today was a VERY productive (read: spendy) wedding purchase day!* And we managed to check 3 1/2 more things off the "To Do" list! =)

*For those of you who remember the "no spend" pact that Jacob and I made for this month, I should mention that wedding related purchases were NOT covered by that since we're keeping our eyes open for the best deals and don't want to miss something!

Our first stop today was Men's Wearhouse. At the bridal show Jacob and I went to a couple weeks back we put down a deposit for their "Rent 5 tuxes get a free suit" deal they had going on. So, the plan was originally to go look at possible tuxes. However, when we got to the store there was a big sign in the window advertising 50% off all suits. Now originally I wanted a more casual, non-tux sort of affair... but Jacob really wanted a nice suit so the prospect of getting a free $400 suit just by renting tuxes appealed to him. However, when we saw the deal we determined that we could afford to get him a really nice suit and still stay to the original vest idea for the groomsmen. So we went in to look for a suit for Jacob and the shopping began! lol

Jacob tried on about 10 different suit jackets and found "the one". (Funny thing is, it was more obviously "the one" than any of the wedding dresses I tried on! lol)... a 3-button, charcoal pinstriped Perry Ellis suit (the bride-to-be was VERY happy about his selection... couldn't stop grinning... it very much accentuated his gorgeous derriere! lol) He also found a couple shirts, a couple ties, some socks and shoes (all on sale). We went over our anticipated budget a little bit, but that's o.k. I wanted Jacob to look and feel as good on his wedding day as I was going to feel in my pretty dress... it is his day, too after all! And, as he mentioned, his investment can be worn over and over again. Very true... as much as I may want to, I don't think you'll see me grocery shopping in my wedding dress any time soon. =)




So, we bought his suit and accessories and got the alternations to the slacks ordered... should be ready to pick up in a week or two. I told Jacob that he wasn't allowed to wear the suit until the wedding... I think he was a little disappointed and asked if he could at least try it on. lol

Next we went over to Jared's to take a look at some men's rings to get an idea of style that he liked. He has been a fan of titanium or tungsten, I knew this, but I'm glad that we looked together because it turns out he also wanted a carbon fiber inlay... I had no idea about this! He tried on a couple rings, but we were simply "window shopping" at that point, so we left.

We then took a nice hour long forested hike and a picnic lunch to enjoy the BEAUTIFUL day in Oregon! =)

On the way home we stopped at JCPenney's to take a look at vests for the guys... they had a few, but nothing popped out at me. We then stopped by another jewelry store to look at more ring styles. There Jacob discovered black ceramic and he did a little shift on the type of ring he wanted. ;) Again, glad we looked!

Back at home, with the new knowledge I'd gained, I set to work looking for fantastic deals online for what we wanted. On Overstock.com we found a handful of rings and Jacob decided to order one specifically... tungsten with a "spinner" of black ceramic.

After ring shopping, I made a couple calls to Kinkos and Staples for invitation price quotes... I discovered that the quote doesn't change if I bring in my own paper... soooo.... decided not to order white linen paper and save the extra $15. I'm sure I can find something that will work well in Staples or Kinkos supply. BUT I did order paper for the programs and to wrap my invitations in, as well as envelopes, from Paper and More!

I want to design our programs like these from Becoming His Mrs. For the covers I ordered cardstock in cobalt blue and (get this!) sunflower! (I was pretty excited about this one. lol). Thanks to the option to purchase single sheets, I was able to get both colors in just the amount I needed... saves myself about 50% of the cost. I also ordered cobalt blue sheets for the invitation wraps, and recycled sand-speck envelopes to tie in the beach-y theme just a little more. =) I can't wait to start on the invites!

So that's our three things... grooms suit, ring and invitation/program paper. I also did a little research for groomsmen wear and we decided on this vest from Macy's and this tie from The Tie Bar. The groomsmen will also wear black dress slacks of their choice and a solid white dress shirt (no textures/stripes/etc.)



However, I noticed on Macy's website that the current sale on the vest is over TODAY. So, before we send out the e-mail to the guys telling them what to buy, I want to make sure the price doesn't jump TOO dramatically tomorrow and that they are still available. But, hopefully we have this "done" as well!

I'm so excited... and feeling so accomplished! Woo hoo for productive days! =)

I'm a Nerd

When I was in school I used to LOVE school supply shopping time. When I decided to go back to grad school last fall Jacob teased me when I bought myself a cute pencil pouch.

I'm a nerd... I admit it... I enjoy "window shopping" in office supply stores. So, it should be no surprise that I was quite delighted today when my paper samples from Paper and More were waiting for me in the mail.

I ordered samples of card stock and regular paper for our invitations and our programs. And I LOVE them. I got samples of four different kinds of paper for $3 (.50 a sheet plus $1 flat rate shipping). I'm excited to go back to the website and order the actual paper! Not to mention actually MAKE the invites and programs. Yay! lol

P.S. I also got my gift card for my free name change kit from Miss Now Mrs. that I won via The Relentless Bride! It was a good mail day. =)

FREE Save the Dates!

Just ran across this offer for 100 FREE save the dates by Jean M Invitations!

Always Read the Small Print... or Not?

A week or so back I won 250 stickers from the Roddy Bride's sticker giveaway. I had this big plan to use them for our invitation... however, I did not read the fine print. The stickers were only available in three sizes, 2X3.5, 2X4, and 3X3... In order for my plan to work, I needed a 4X6 sticker, which, generally Uprinting does, so I thought I was all set... WRONG! lol

Because I didn't want this free stuff to go to waste, I had to somewhat quickly come up with another idea for the stickers, as I only had about 3 weeks until the prize expired. For inspiration I drew out the sticker size options, revisited the Roddy Bride's giveaway to see what other people were going to do with the stickers if they won (btw, those of you who said you'd use them as address labels, I don't think you read the fine print either! lol... the smallest size available is about the size of a business card... those are HUGE labels!), and then asked my fiance for some thoughts/advice.

I think, together, we came up with a pretty good idea!

Ebonee, at Becoming His Mrs., posted about her DIY accordion programs... I kinda fell in love with the concept. So, Jacob and I decided to make a 3X3 sticker that we could place on the cover of the programs. Then we thought about how we were going to have 250 of these things and probably only make about 75 programs (or less), so we kept thinking.

Another thought we'd had for the wedding was to give away small bags of salt water taffy as wedding favors (perfect for a beach wedding, right?). We figure that we can do double duty with these stickers and make them for the programs AND as labels for the candy bags! So, I went to work creating a simple sticker that could work in both places... and this is what I came up with:

I'm pretty happy with it. For some reason the picture of us looks weird via computer screen, but seems to print out o.k., so I'm hoping this will work out as expected.

Here's the kicker though! I fell in LOVE with the sunflower coming out of the top corner of the sticker, as did Jacob, so we decided to redesign our invitation mock up with the same basic style as the sticker... and we LOVE it! I'm not going to show it quite yet (in case I change my mind again), but, in the end, not reading the fine print actually turned out for the best for us. =)

I Won!

I won ANOTHER giveaway! lol... I'm pretty good at these random drawing things! =) Thanks to The Roddy Bride and Uprinting I am the soon-to-be recipient of 250 custom stickers. I think I'm going to try to use them for my DIY invitations.... I'll let you all know if it works. =)

Wedding Showcase!

Went to my first bridal show today... the Oregon Wedding Showcase. It was an interesting experience... not what I was expecting at all. The vendors weren't pushy (which was fantastic!). And there were a LOT of samples and giveaways! Would be great if I won something! =)

There was also a fashion show and about four bridal boutiques were there with sample dresses to try on (at discounted rates). So, I tried on my first wedding dress today! I found some things that I liked... and some that I didn't. I don't think I found THE ONE, but it was nice to try some stuff on finally and get a feel for what looks good on me.

There was also a company there that rented out photo booths... so my mom and I tried it out! =)

ALSO... lol... I got invite lists from both sides of the family today... so we have a solid invite number! After I told both mothers that it would be great if they could weed out which friends/relatives would be happy just to receive an announcement after the fact, our invite number went down by about 30 people! VERY happy about this!

We should get our Save the Dates soon and can mail them out! Woo hoo!

Good News, Bad News... And More Good News!

Good News!!

I got my paper samples today for invitations! Which means I actually got to play and SEE what my concept is going to look like! So, I went to Target and had a copy of my photo/invite printed.

Bad News =(

The print job SUCKED. lol They only had the option of glossy (I much prefer matte) and they printed it REALLY dark. I'm starting to think I'll have to take it to a print shop rather than going the cheap way and getting it photo printed... or, may have to just print them out at home... the problem with that is that I'll have to figure out how to adjust our printer for paper size... and I don't know how much the ink will cost us! lol

Good News!!

While I was at Target looking around I found the PERFECT photo album to use as our "guest book"! lol So I bought it... and I hope Jacob likes it... and I have one more thing to add to my PWC (With 10 months to go! lol). See, for the guest book I have this idea. Instead of doing an actual wedding Guest Book, I want to have a photo album with a selection of index cards. The photo album will be half full of photos of Jacob and I (interspersed throughout) and then each guest will sign and/or write a note on the note card and slip it into one of the empty slots in the photo album! I think it's going to be fantastic! =)

And did I mention that I LOVE the album that I found? It's a faux tan suede...


With both horizontal AND vertical 4X6 photo (or, in this case, photo AND index card) slots!


AND, what makes it even better, is that I used a gift card that we got as a house warming present last weekend... so it didn't cut into my wedding budget AT ALL! =D

Now I just have to do something about those invitations...