Final Fitting Fit!

My final fitting was yesterday! It went great. The dress fit perfectly...like it was made just for me :) The woman at Sew-It-Seams did a wonderful job, though it would have been nice to know that she only takes cash or check. Mom and Brittany got to learn how to lace it up, and bustle the train, and I got to stand there and look pretty :) We took pictures, which I hope turned out great, and I got an etiquette lesson on how to sit in a chair without falling :) Oh yea...my hair and shoes look awesome with the dress!

After work yesterday, and before my appointment, my department at work had a bridal shower for me! It was amazing! Our developmental kids make custom printed napkins, so of course, they made me some. There was a beautiful, and yummy, cake and they bought us tons of gifts! Rigo especially liked the Shark Pet Perfect Hand Vacuum. It picked up so much hair from the couch! Thanks Rose! It was rushed, but I had a great time :)

Tomorrow, my best friend Sara will be coming down to see me! We're having lunch, going to the mall (I think) to use my Lane Bryant coupon, then heading to my Mom's house to work on wedding stuff! I'm totally stoked :) Maybe I can find a good wedding type movie to put on while we work. My Big Fat Greek Wedding is a definite possibility.

Rigo and I have been making marshmallow treats to bulk up our candy buffet. They are a lot of fun to make! My sister-in-law made them for her wedding in March, and I loved them. We had to call her for a little help when we first started making them, but we got the hang of it! I think we're going to do another bag of marshmallows since Hobby Lobby has their candy making supplies on sale. That will give me something to do next week to keep me busy. I'm so afraid that I'm going to finish everything a few days early and then go crazy from being so nervous about the wedding.

Next Thursday our family will start coming into town. I can't wait to see everyone. We even have people coming from Oklahoma and Tennessee! I'm glad that we get Friday off of work for Good Friday...I might even take a half day on Thursday :)

Oh yea...I've been checking the weather for the wedding everyday. It changes everyday! Yesterday, the internet said that it would be sunny and 80 degrees. I heard on the news this morning that a cold front would be coming in on Thursday, so I ran to check it again...scattered thunderstorms and 83 degrees -Yuck! I'll keep checking. Pray for good weather!

Nerves

The wedding is sneaking up fast! We're down to 11 days! I have almost everything done and I couldn't be happier. I am starting to get a little nervous though...eeek!

We had our final meeting with Karen Jones, with Jones Pavilion, last week. I love her and her husband, Tommy. My mom, sister, Rigo and his parents all went out there. It was his parent's first time to see it, and they loved it. We got all the small details worked out. leaving there, I felt a LOT calmer :)

Last Saturday, my mom and I got our hair done for the wedding. If I can say so myself, we look HOT! :) We've been running our butts off though, and deserved a little down time. We've gone to the Galleria three times, regarding my shoes, which look awesome. We've run to Walmart and Hobby Lobby and had wedding sleep overs to get stuff done. My poor mom is going to need a major vacation after all of this! It's been fun though :)

Most of the little stuff is done, and we made our LAST wedding payment on Saturday (to our wonderful photographer). Sara is coming over next weekend to help me finish some of the little stuff...tying ribbons, hot gluing stuff...the usual.

We've started getting a few wedding gifts in and I am LOVIN' it! Today, when I got home, there was a Shiatsu Foot Massager...I'm using it now....it works REALLY well :)

From the looks of our response cards, we'll be having about 100 people show up to the wedding, and I've confirmed with all of my vendors.

My final fitting is on Thursday, April 2nd, after my mini bridal shower at work :) I hope that goes well.

I know that I'm being really random...I can't seem to organize my thoughts into comprehensible paragraphs....Oh Well!

Supposedly, planning a wedding is supposed to be the most stressful part of your life. If that's true, I don't have much to worry about in life. I'm not saying that I haven't been stressed, but it hasn't been that bad :)

Bridal Shower!

Well Folks! My Bridal Shower was this past weekend. My Mom did an AWESOME job! I got a lot of the things from Bed bath and Beyond that I really wanted :)

I wish we had taken a picture of the cake. Apparently, when it arrived, it was poorly decorated for a baby shower with pastels and rainbows! By the time I got there, they had scraped off the icing, and redecorated it with strawberries It looked fantastic!

My Mom and sister put a game together called Bridal Bingo. I wasn't allowed to play, because I knew all the answers, but it was hilarious watching everyone try to figure out if the hints given were about the bride or groom. At one point, I walked back in the room from answering the door, and my Aunt Jamie, turned around and said, "I WANNA SEE YOUR TATTOO!"

In other news, we have about 70 'yes' responses for the wedding! Today is technically the last day to send the response cards, so I guess I'll be calling people this weekend. I still have a few projects to finish up, but I'll get them done.

Mom and i took my dress to Sew-It-Seams for my bustle alterations, and while we were there, the woman put a holding clips in a few other places, and it made my dress look even better! She's doing all the alterations by April 2nd! I can't wait to see it when it's done!

Well, I'm on Spring Break, and I figure that since I have the house to myself, I might as well go jump on the Wii Fit....Buh Bye!

Home Stretch

Today, my friends, makes 40 days to our WEDDING! Am I excited? Oh yyyyeeaaa!

I've been working on finishing a few small projects, and wedding errands. Things are going great! As of today, we have 53 people attending the wedding!

I found the prettiest flower girl dresses at Jc Penney. They are Cinderella brand, so the girls will definitely love them. I even got a great deal on shoes that match at Payless, thanks to their BoGo sale.

Last Saturday, my Mom and I spent the day together. She bought a beautiful dress to wear, and I FINALLY found shoes :) I'll have to practice walking in them, but I think they're beautiful!

All that's left now is...well ALL of the little stuff :)

My bridal shower is this weekend. I can't wait! I know that my mom and her friend Denise will do a wonderful job! Pictures to follow!

Quick Update

My mom and I picked out my shower theme.

25 RSVP cards returned!

48 DAYS!

Signed Sealed and Delivered!

That's right folks, THE INVITATIONS ARE SENT!!!

Tuesday night, Rigo and I sat down to finish the invitations. Rigo was so much help!

I mailed them out Wednesday after work, so everyone should be receiving them soon!

I already have 4 response cards from people that I hand delivered a card to :)

Today is 57 days until the wedding and everything is coming together nicely. I don't have too much to do. Well, I don't have so much that I can't handle it :)

I've started buying containers for our candy buffet, as well as the candy. Mom and I picked out the flowers, and I'll be paying the deposit on those as soon as possible. I wish money weren't such a big deal, but Rigo and I are really having to cut corners to afford everything. I just hope that everything works out okay. I'm sure it will!

Rigo and I have been doing our best to make time to just relax with each other. Last weekend, we took a trip to see our best friend in Denton. That was great. We played paintball, watched movies and he showed us around the town. It was awesome!!

Since we can't afford to relax like that whenever we want, we chose something different last night. Rigo and I are seriously focusing on our photography business, and it's starting to take off :) We went to Barnes and Noble last night, drank some decaf coffee, and read photography books. This is us on the photography aisle. Rigo is holding the Wedding Photography book that I want by Steve Sint.
By the way, I love this picture.

Sonia, The Cheese Cake Factory Lady

Another day has past, and I'm feeling ever more excited about our wedding day. It seems like everything is coming together smoothly. Every day, I leave work and nearly skip to the car. Just about any song on the radio can make me smile. About a week and a half ago, I began a feel good diet. By that, I mean that I'm eating healthier, and not snacking. I've been feeling great! I don't know that I'm losing any weight, but who cares. I'm happy as long as I feel good :)

Today, my students were released early after their finals, so I met Rigo for lunch at Subway. I managed to navigate my way to the nearest post office to purchase the stamps for our invitations and have one of them weighed. Each one will only need one stamp, HOORAY!

I had a lot of energy, so I decided to take a trip to the mall to walk off some of my lunch. I stopped by Bath and Body Works to check out their sale, and then headed to Dillard's to check out their makeup selection. I found the counter for their Mineral Makeup, and scheduled my sister and me to have our makeup done on the day of my wedding. The woman I spoke to, Wendye, was wonderful, and her makeup matched her personality.

So, Stamps: CHECK. Makeup: CHECK.

After playing with the dogs out side for a while, Rigo came home and took me to dinner. We went to the Cheese Cake Factory to share a piece of Vanilla Bean Cheese Cake. Our waitress, Sonia, asked if I wanted my own piece. I laughed when I said, "No thank you, our wedding is coming up, we'll share a piece." When she returned, she added the cherry on top of my wonderful day...

The Crafty Side to Wedding Planning

One part about wedding planning that I am thoroughly enjoying is the chance to be as creative and crafty as a please. Although I have a separate blog for crafting, that I suck at updating on a regular basis, I decided to post some of my wedding crafts on this blog.

I would so much rather make things exactly the way I envision them rather than compromise with something purchased. Who doesn't want a personalized wedding?

The first craft that I enjoyed doing was a flower pail for my flower girl. Since my wedding will be in the spring, and outside, I didn't want the traditional satin bucket, but a more out doors look that still has a feminine wedding appearance.

Because the pail I purchased was painted with a bright yellow, I first prepped it by sanding down the color. I then put 3 coats of black acrylic paint on the pail to cover the remaining yellow color. The next part was the most fun. I used a simple flower outline scrap booking paper to decoupage the sides. I filled in some of the flowers on the paper with purple acrylic paint that matches my theme. I cut the paper into different sized squares. The decoupage adhesive that I purchased was glittery and ended up looking great, but was very messy during the actual decoupaging. Using the glue and a foam brush, I glued one piece at a time, following the directions on the decoupage glue bottle. I let it dry overnight.
The following day, I hot glued a simple lace around edges, tied purple ribbon to the sides of the handle, and attached white glittery butterflies that I found in the floral area of my local craft store. Not too bad for a personalized pail!

I Night With My Girls

Tonight is going to be FAnTAStic! All of my brides maids, my Mom and me are meeting to see Bride Wars. I haven't seen most of them in a long time. I can't wait to spend some time out of the house and with my best friends!

On another note, last night at about 12:30, I decided to call the Venetian to see if the Blue Man Group tickets for April 13th were on sale yet, and they were! Rigo and I got front row, and seats in the very middle. We were the first to buy tickets! I can't wait for that show. We'll get to wear ponchos because it's so close and I've heard that they come down off the stage and interact with the first few rows! What a steal!

Rigo and I met with the wonderful people that will be making our cake. The cake is going to be SO NEAT! We're keeping it a secret from everyone :) We picked up our cake taster on Thursday and chose our flovors...yumm...Wedding cake is THE BEST cake ever!

Until next time :)

It's Starting to Hit Me

Wow! It has been a while! Christmas and New Year's kept me SO busy! It was so great to see my brother's family and spend time with my mom, sister and step-dad. Rigo's parents even came over! Now that it's January, I've been EXTRA focused on the wedding! Tomorrow will be exactly three months!! Rigo and I are a little worried about being able to afford everything that is needed, but we are sure that everything will work out perfectly.

Most of the envelopes for our invitations are addressed. The printed invitations came in from Swoozies and look wonderful! I should be sending them out in a few short weeks.

One of the most exciting things that has happened was yesterday. After running into trouble with my credit card having a past due amount of 3 dollars and being turned off, I finally got something very important taken care of...

WE BOOKED THE HONEYMOON!

I found our trip to Vegas, including airfare and a four night stay at the Stratosphere hotel, not for 850, but for 650! Gotta love Travelocity. I also booked our wedding night hotel room. We'll be staying at the Hyatt Place in their King Room. It looks wonderful online :)

Mom, Brittany, Rigo and I went to a meeting with our wedding coordinator, Karen, this morning. We got a lot squared away. That made me feel a lot better. I was starting to stress a little about the smaller details. Karen and her husband Tommy are wonderful people. Tommy will be our officiant, and I can't imagine a more perfect person to do the job. We scheduled the rehearsal for Friday April 10th, and figured out who would walk who down the aisle. We also picked out our center pieces and table linens.

After our meeting, Rigo and I took a trip to The Cake Shoppe in Conroe. Jones Pavilion allows us to go to this bakery, pick out any cake up to 4 tiers, and they include it in the cost of our package! We spoke with a wonderful woman who gave us some great ideas for cakes and set up our cake tasting for next Thursday! I can't wait!!

After making one last stop at Hobby Lobby, I went home to make my flower girl's rose petal pail. I got the idea from DIY Bride (page 3). It's made from a metal pail, painted and then decoupaged with a paper that I picked out! I think it looks fabulous.

I'm off to reorganize my wedding planning binder and look through the Oriental Trading wedding catalog. Until Next time!