Having a blog

Earlier today I read that differences between Wordpress and Blogger. Not sure I agree with all of what I read though. I have a blog on Wordpress, just started it today, and though I imported posts from this blog I am not sure that I'll be posting the same things. Not sure I want to close this one. I'm thinking that I'll keep this one for the wedding. The other will be for other stuff.

Does blogging really pay? Do people really earn a living blogging? Do most people blog just for fun? These are the questions I want answered.

DIY time, re-doing the bathroom

First major project for the home is the main bathroom. Our bathroom is decorated with ducks. I have a duck shower curtain so we chose yellow for the walls. (There is a much nicer duck shower curtain on my wedding registry that I checked as something I wanted and am hoping we'll get it along with the cute little duck towels, etc) so I can finish the look.
I put painter's tape around the trim, we're keeping the trim white and began painting. I also primed the cabinets because they were wood and the stain was messed up, plus we wanted the bathroom to be brighter and more cheery. Everything is almost finished in there. We still have to put the new toilet seat on there, hang the shower curtain back up (I washed it). And then paint the cabinets a white high-gloss once the primer drys.
So here are a few before and after photos...

I lost some of the numbers in translation, but you get the drift. I'm really tired, I've been working on all of this since 3 pm Sat and it is now 3:25 am on Sun. So it's time for some much needed sleep. I'm about to take my sheets out of the dryer so I can put fresh sheets on my bed, and then I'm off to take a shower in my revamped bathroom. Then off to get some sleep...

One room down, and many more to go...

What the wedding is really about

Last night I was looking through some pictures of wedding bands for David, decorations for the reception, and as I looked at a picture of a couple holding hands I remembered something David told me not long ago: "Baby, this is our day and as long as we're married at the end of the day that is all that matters." And that is the truth, plain and simple. 


I've been stressing myself out trying to figure out what will work, what won't work, what will look best, what is the least expensive, what will be the prettiest,  how to create decorations and invitations, and whether or not to worry about chairs and tables and alcohol for the reception. Plus lots more. 


On our first date David got a flat tire and we had to walk from the beginning of his parents neighborhood to their house so he could get his truck (we were David's dad's truck). It was a mile walk. But was we walked David reached for my hand and we held hands while we walked--that mile did not feel like a mile at all. We talked and walked, while holding hands, and the time passed by fast. From that moment, the moment he reached for my hand I began to fall for him. Little by little.  


Last night he reached for my hand while we were sitting on the couch, a simple gesture he does all the time, and I got butterflies in my stomach again, just like I do every time he reaches for my hand, or kisses my forehead or touches the small of my back...It's the simple gestures of love that mean so much, that we often take for granted. My point is:


Our wedding is a celebration of our love, and we want to share our wedding day with our family and close friends, but what matters the most is that at the end of the day we are married. If it rains on our outdoor wedding, if the decorations aren't finished or even if we don't have very many, if only half of the guests show up, if anything or everything goes wrong then it will be okay...We're getting married. 

Groom and groomsmen inspiration

So I've been looking up ideas for David and his best man and the groomsmen. Since my dress is gun metal grey, David wants to wear a silver tie and vest. I found one, but it's not exactly what I want. So while looking for inspirations I came across this one...

This one looks like a darker silver and I like the pattern. The flowers on the right just happened to be part of the pic, but mine would be red...
I also like the red and silver one above (top row, middle), and the red paisley one beside that one.

Bridal Party fashion

Been thinking about the look I want in regards to the bridal party and so far these are some of the looks I like. Since our wedding is outdoors some of the bridesmaids might not want to wear heels, so I thought sandals might be a good idea. Though I did find a site that has heel protectors that you can purchase to help keep your heels from digging into the ground.
In regard to the MOH, she will either be wearing a red and black dress or a black dress with some type of silver on it. I like the red and black dress the most. I also like the little ballerina type flats, might have to get me a pair of those for the reception since my feet are probably going to be hurting after a while in my heels...
Off to find some more inspiration, but this time in regards to the grooms party...

DIY bouquets

This is an awesome blog about bouquets...http://emmalinebride.com/bouquets/fake-flower-bouquets/

More inspiration!!!!

Engagement pics...

 These pictures were taken on Easter, by my Aunt Charmin. She did a great job of taking our pictures! I'm so blessed.

(I'm thinking that I really need to revamp my exercise program so I can tone my arms, and lose a few pounds. I don't feel like I am that big, but evidently I am bigger than I thought I was )-: So it's time to get more serious about exercising!!!!)

I love the pictures though.

We're finally taking engagement photos

We're off to spend Easter with my mom's family at the lake. Great people and food and view. And while we're there my aunt is going to take a few pics of me and David so we actually have some engagement pics. They have a dock and we're going to take a few pics there, and a few pics in front of a tree, and a few with David holding his guitar...I'm excited about David meeting this part of my family (I have a huge number of aunt's and uncles) and he's only met my dad's family so far. So as we sip coffee and finish getting ready I just wanted to take a minute to catch up on things.

One more thing on the "to-do" list done (by the end of the day)....

Outdoor aisle runner

I found this pic on offbeatbride.com...and I really like the way it looks; however, we'll have chairs (though I'm not sure we'll have quite enough for everyone but at least enough for those who will need to sit) so I'm thinking that we'll need something for the chairs and something for the aisle...On to look at more pics of aisle runners... (while I save this to a draft so that I can add more pics as I go...)

As I've looked through various websites I've found quite a few ideas...Let's see how they look...

 Rose petals...

Stones

Small lanterns with lights but I'd use red ribbon...

Organization, planning, creativity

As I research handmade wedding invitations, wedding ettiquette, flowers, ties and socks, and decorations I have realized I need one whole wall in my study just for the wedding. I've also realized I need a "wo-man Cave" instead of a study. I need a big room just for crafts, books, my computer desk, reading chair, inspiration board, sewing machine, etc...The study just isn't cutting it and is going to have to be converted soon into our guest bedroom... So I guess we're going to have to save (after the wedding) for a "jam cave" for David and a "wo-man cave" for me (though I'm thinking it's going to end up being a craft/photography/library/study for me).

The wedding is a work-in-progress. My eyes are crossed right now from all the research and reading, but I wanted to sort of update a few things.

I've decided to create handmade invitations. I won't be making my own paper, though I did find quite a few websites that show you how to do that, but I will be creating the design and handwriting them. I'm actually excited about it. My daughter is an artist, and I'm actually decent when it comes to drawing, but she's AMAZING. I've found an ampersand that I am going to use, and I think I've found a piece of clipart that I really like....see above picture.

Since we're sort of going with the music theme for our wedding, and David is amazing on the guitar (and his voice is truly amazing), I think that will fit perfectly with what I want. Our wedding colors are black, silver, and red. So I think these will be perfect, if I can just get the wedding invitation to look the way I want it to. I'm going to put those two items on pretty much everything that we're using for the wedding (from invitations, program, decor, RSVPs, cake topper (maybe)...

Back to some research and trying to figure out exactly what type of invitations I want to use (fold, box, etc)...

Non-traditional Cakes

Non-traditional Cakes: pWhile it was always known that a traditional cake would be present on our wedding day, I never realized how many variations there were for substitutes to a cake. Take a look at what I found! This tiered strawberry shortcake from Paula Deen gets my mouth watering just looking at it. Cupcakes are a popular [...]/p

That’s a Wrap

That’s a Wrap: pIt’s almost time for us to create and send our invitations, so I’ve been looking for ideas to make ours unique.  One of my go-to sites for inspiration is Oh So Beautiful Paper.  They have examples of gorgeous and fun real save-the-dates and invitations.  Since we’re going to be sending an invitation, rsvp card and making favors I wanted to find some stuff...I like this!!!

Inspiration boards

I went on Project Wedding and created 2 inspiration boards...I'm not done yet. But here goes some of what I'm looking at for inspiration...I'm in the process of trying to put everything together so I can start shopping for decorations for the wedding and reception, and from everything I've read it is much easier if you've got some sort of visual aid to use as a starting point.

Trying to create my own inpiration board

I'm in the process of trying to create my own inspiration board. Looking for photos, etc so I can do that. Music themed wedding, black/white/silver/red weddings, outdoor weddings, non-traditional, 50's theme, vintage...Lots of stuff to choose from. So my search begins.

Might have found someone to make our cake and cupcakes. Thanks to our friend Paige M. And might have found someone to alter my dress, thanks to our friend Tammy. And I think I might have finally created our invitations, thanks to PowerPoint and YouTube. So I'm gonna get back to googling pics and see what I can find for inspiration so I can make my to-do list for the decorations, etc...

More inspiration

David got a new job, he starts Monday, which means I start training for his job today. I'm up, ready, and drinking my coffee while he sleeps in a little. I'll be working at his family's business...it makes me feel so good to be part of his life and his family. What a blessing he has been in my life.

This picture reminds me of what is really important, and to take the time to pay attention to the small things, the simple things in life.

I'm planning a wedding, but it's not just any wedding, it's our wedding...my wedding to the most wonderful man, the most amazing person I've ever met.

Inspiration

My fiance David is a musician. While trying to figure out a theme for our wedding I came across an article that referred to a music/musician themed wedding. I remember thinking, "that sounds cool." I googled and found several images, some decorations for sale, one or two websites, but mostly lots of pics of sheet music inspired "stuff." I love black & white pics, black & white decorations, etc. Since I'd already changed the color of the bridesmaids dresses from dark purple/lapis to little black dresses (not matchy matchy) I thought "this might be IT." I did some more looking. I looked on Etsy, I looked on Ebay, I looked on wedding websites, in magazines, etc.

What it all acme down to was this: I found the niche between the two of us, that thing that helped bring us together (friends and music), and am using it as our theme. Our wedding/reception isn't going to be some formal shindig with a cocktail hour, nor will it be in a church or in a "venue," we're having it at my parents home. The wedding will be in their front yard and the reception in the backyard. We're having barbeque and the fixin's, beer, lots of family and friends, and some flowers and mason jars with tea light candles in them, and probably a couple of  bottles of Jack (my dad will haven hidden in the "mancave" for himself and a few of his close friends/relatives), and we're probably going to have a homemade red velvet cake withe wedding topper on it....and as I sit here thinking about everything (like my DIY wedding invitations that I'm working on, or my gunmetal grey dress that I need to have altered to tea length and my silver Cinderella shoes to match, or how I don't really give a rat's ass about whether or not everyone we invite shows up so long as the important people do, and most of them are either related to us, in the wedding, or both) I realize this just might be my dream wedding come true.

Would I want to have the fancy church, the cathedral train and veil, the sit down dinner and cocktail hour, the wedding planner, florist, etc...? No, not really. I'm a little stressed out about planning it myself, but at least this way I know it is about US.

Wedding angst

I'd only been engaged 2 weeks, and already "the wedding" angst had started. We had trouble picking a date that didn't coincide with anyone's birthday, anniversary, etc; then there were people who were trying to invite themselves into my wedding; then my daughter didn't want to be pregnant when we had our wedding...SO we finally decided on September 8, 2012. 
We wanted something sweet, romantic, fun, and most of all something that was a celebration of our commitment to each other. We checked into a few places, nothing really seemed right. I was talking to my dad and he suggested we have it in their yard. Now you should understand, my dad doesn't just have a yard, it's about 13-14 acres of trees--oaks, pines, gum, etc. The area in the front yard we were looking at for the ceremony has 5 trees that make a nice sized circle-perfect to put an archway in. The area in the back he's talking about has enough trees for shade but would be perfect for tables and chairs, a tent or three, and to even have a dance area.  The picture just shows a small part of the front yard.

David agreed it was a beautiful spot, and genuinely liked the idea. So we had agreed on the When, and the Where, and the Time. Now we just needed to figure out the colors, the Who would be standing with us, along with a lot of other details.

Surprisingly enough, I heard from more than one person that I could not wear WHITE. Both David and I have been married before, but neither of us had ever had a WEDDING. We were both married previously by a justice of the peace...Since I'd been married before I SHOULD KNOW that I CAN"T WEAR WHITE. I know lots of people who've gotten married again and worn white. WTH? Tradition? Well, I researched Tradition, and found that women didn't wear white until Queen Victoria wore white and then it became the "thing."

So I searched for wedding dresses, tried on numerous ones....And all along I kept looking back at several I'd seen that were gunmetal grey. I came close to buying a white one with red trim from David's Bridal that made me feel like a princess...But while we (me, my cousin, and my daughter) we happened upon a gunmetal grey prom dress. It was GORGEOUS!!! My fiance liked the gunmetal grey dresses I'd shown him online, and this dress was prettier, less sexy but more beautiful. SO, I tried it on.

AND WOW!!! I got it because it was the perfect dress, not because people said I couldn't wear white. I got it because once I alter it and make it tea length and it fits perfect it will be THE DRESS I imagined. And the perfect combination of what David wanted and what I wanted.

Who said I had to wear white????

So the color is gunmetal grey! And I'll take a pic of me in it once it's altered, and I also have a pic of the shoes...OMG! They are fantastic...And I'm having the dress altered to tea length, and letting just one inch of the crinoline show, reminiscent of the 50's. I even have a little silver purse to go with it. Now I'll just need to find a midnight blue and silver garter belt, along with lingerie and I'm set...

Engaged and planning wedding

He proposed on Jan 16th, and I said yes. My engagement ring/wedding set was my mothers. My father gave it to her when they got engaged, but what makes it even more special is that my father died when I was 7 years old, so it is amazing to me. The pictures isn't the best quality, I'll have to try to get a better picture to add later. 
 My mom was lucky enough to meet the second most wonderful man in the world, and they were married 2 months before I turned 9. My daddy will be with me in spirit and my dad will be walking me down the aisle on Sept 8, 2012.