When I Say I Do

Music is so powerful. There are certain songs that bring tears to my eyes every single time I hear them. I recently found the song "When I Say I Do" by Matthew West and it's definitely one of those songs. It would be so perfect to use at some point during our ceremony. You must listen: 

We're already using "The Luckiest" by Ben Folds (sung by two of our amazingly talented high school friends - more on that soon!) during the lighting of the unity candle, but I'd really like to incorporate this song somehow. How many songs are reasonable? And what would we do while it was being played? Help me out here!

Do you have special songs you're incorporating into your ceremony? What are they? And what are you going to be doing while they're sung/played?

Everything's Changing

No, don't worry - Nothing about the wedding or the fact that David and I are getting married is changing. But it feels like just about everything else is. Let me explain...

I've never been a big fan of change. It just makes me nervous. The first day of high school, starting a new job, leaving for college without any of my friends, deciding what to do with my life - Terrifying. But the next six months or so will be some of most life changing times I'll ever experience.

First, I'll finish school and become a college graduate. No more nights spent studying until 3 am? Wonderful! Working full-time at my first 'big girl job' instead? Exciting/scary!

Then I'll move out of a cute little house that I've shared with three other girls for the last two years:

And shortly after move into a cute little house with David:

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We'll be back in the same city, living together for the first time, and we'll be homeowners!

We will no longer just be parts of our individual families:

We will have started our own little family:

And most exciting - We will finally be married!

Those are some pretty major changes. The thing is, I feel totally different about these changes. Is it intimidating and a little overwhelming sometimes? Of course! But I don't have the same scared/nervous/sick feeling that I'm used to. And the only explanation I have is that I've never been more sure of anything in my life. I know we'll offer each other support and encouragement that will get us through the stressful times and we'll be there celebrating together in the good times when we realize how incredibly blessed we are.

Are you experiencing other major life changes in addition to getting married?

PS - I reached 100 followers, so I'll have another giveaway starting on Monday! :) And if you haven't already, check out my current giveaway! Thanks to all of you for following, commenting, and offering advice and support - It's made blogging SUCH a rewarding experience! 

Another Opportunity!

If you were disappointed about not winning my last giveaway, UPrinting is offering another one that is just as awesome! This time they're giving away 250 free stickers or labels!

There are so many things you could use these for! Here are just a few ideas:

Return address labels:

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Water bottle labels:

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Favor boxes:

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There are three available sizes: 2" x 3.5", 2" x 4", or 3" x 3" and they're printed on 70 lb Label Matte paper. Shipping is FREE, but this contest is limited to US residents only.

Ready to enter? Receive one entry for doing each of these things:

1 - Leave a comment on this post telling me what you would use your stickers or labels for

2 - Become a follower of my blog if you're not already or let me know if you're already following

3 - Become a follower on Twitter (les852) or let me know if you're already following

4 - Blog about my giveaway and leave the link in a comment

5 - Tweet about the giveaway with a link to this post

You have until February 7th to enter! Good luck!

A Video Save the Date

A friend's mom sent me a video of this save the date and I just had to share it with all of you! If you thought your save the dates took forever to finish (ahem, me..), watch this!

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I have a feeling that will be one crazy cool wedding!

What's the most unique idea you've seen for a save the date?

And the Winner Is....

The winner of my very first giveaway for 100 free postcards from UPrinting is...

NEW MEXICAN BRIDE!

 

Congratulations! Please either comment or email me at lauras07@ku.edu with your email address ASAP, and UPrinting will contact you with the details!

Thanks to everyone for participating, and be on the lookout for more giveaways! I'm planning on doing one when I reach 100 followers, and I'm only 3 followers away! Any suggestions for the prize??

One More Day!

Just a reminder that TOMORROW is the last day to enter my first giveaway for 100 free postcards from UPrinting!

Be sure to enter by 5 PM CST! Good luck!

Blog Friends in Real Life

You may remember a certain adorable blogger bride who looked a little like this:

Or this?

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That's right! I had the pleasure of meeting Miss Ali Joy and her fiance, Chris, last night! Unfortunately Ali isn't blogging anymore, so it was so nice to be able to catch up on everything!  We've been facebook friends for awhile, and I found out she was going to be in Kansas City with Chris, so we decided to meet up and chat about life and our weddings of course (more just Ali and I, but Chris was so nice!). It was great meeting her, and I'm soo hoping she and Chris decide to move to KC - She said they'd been thinking about it and that they love the area. How fun would that be?!

(Yep, she dyed her hair!)

I wish all of my other blog friends didn't live so far away - I didn't realize just how fun meeting 'in real life' is! I never would have guessed how extremely rewarding blogging would be. I've met some great people I never would have met otherwise and the support, encouragement, and inspiration from other women going through the same things has been both helpful and valuable. Blogging has become so much more than just getting my ideas out so I don't forget them - Now I feel like you're all friends who love hearing/thinking/talking about weddings as much as I do! So thank you all for making the experience so wonderful and worthwhile!

Why do you blog? Have you had the chance to meet another bride blog friend 'in real life'?

Confessions of a Young Bride: Part 1

There is one area of our relationship that I've never talked much about -- Our ages. I am officially a "young bride". Both David and I will be 21 when we get married in June. We've been together for over 6 years now, and everyone who knows us and has watched our relationship develop has been nothing but supportive of our decision to tie the knot. Our families are both extremely excited for us, and totally "approve" of our choice - I think both of our moms have known for years that we'd be married eventually.

Honestly, the only people I get comments from are ones I've never met before or don't know well. And what's interesting is that these same people are excited when they hear that I'm engaged. They ask questions about the planning, about David, and about our future plans. But if they happen to find out how old I am, their reaction totally changes. For some reason they become critical and downright rude. I get questions like, "WHY would you get married so young?!" and "Do you realize what the divorce rate is??" (Why do people think that kind of behavior is ok?!) It always seems like the people who know nothing about the situation are the ones most likely to make comments about it.

Do the questions bother me? I'd be lying if I said no. They're hurtful and irritating. But at the same time, I realize that a lot of times people say those things because they're thinking back to themselves at my age - Their level of maturity, their outlook on life, and their level of responsibility. Getting married at 21 wasn't right for them, and that's ok. I realize that what's right for me isn't necessarily what's right for the next person, and I have no problem with that.

While I agree there are couples that are likely too immature to make their marriage successful, I don't think that has anything to do with age. Maturity is so much more important. With maturity comes the realization that marriage is more than being in love with someone and putting a ring on their finger. Marriage is hard work and not always fun, but always worthwhile. It's choosing to love your spouse every morning. It's choosing to encourage and support your spouse in his/her goals and passions, even if/when they differ from your own. It's choosing to compromise and realize your spouse's needs are just as important as yours. It's promising (and then choosing) to be there in the good, the bad, and the downright ugly times. And that understanding doesn't come with age.

One of my favorite quotes I've found about marriage is this one:

"The real act of marriage takes place in the heart, not in the ballroom or church or synagogue. It's a choice you make - not just on your wedding day, but over and over again -- and that choice is reflected in the way you treat your husband or wife. Marriage is not a noun; it's a verb. It isn't something you get. It's something you do. It's the way you love your partner every day." - Barbara De Angelis

The choice can be made when you're 21 or when you're 38. Does being older make your choice more authentic or credible? I don't think so. As long as you've made (and will continue to make) the choice in your heart, age is nothing but a number. 

Are you a young bride? Have you experienced this? 

Opposing Opinions

For the past week or so, David and I have been looking at house listings online. (Yay!) It's been so exciting picturing us in our first home and thinking about having a house to move into after the wedding instead of an apartment or duplex. While it's been fun, it's made one thing very clear: We have entirely different tastes and almost completely opposite opinions.

David definitely likes older houses with lots of brick, like these:

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And I like a completely different style:

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Although we do both like this style in a really cute older part of town:

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It will definitely take some compromsing from both of us to make a decision on something this big. I think we're pretty similar when it comes to big, important things (goals, future plans, religious views, politics, whatever) but there are some areas where we couldn't be more different! And wedding (and life after wedding) planning is really bringing that out.

Have you experienced this? What decision made you realize how different your opinions/tastes are?

A Place of Rest for Out of Town Guests

David and I have a fairly large number of family and friends who will be coming from out of town for our wedding festivities. When we first started talking about blocks of hotel rooms we thought it would be fun to set up blocks at rooms at 2 different hotels - One in OldTown or downtown with lots of fun restaurants, bars, and shops nearby, and the other closer to my parents' house for family/older guests who wouldn't be interested in the activities OldTown offers.

When we started looking into the hotels in OldTown, we first looked at The Hotel at OldTown:

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Unfortunately,  the woman I talked to when I called said that all of the rooms with two queen beds (which would be most practical for groups of our friends sharing rooms) were booked that weekend. They had rooms with a king bed and sofa sleeper or jacuzzi suites available, both of which were more expensive than we were looking for.

After realizing how popular our wedding date is and that we were a little behind on setting this up (who knew?!) we decided maybe it would be better to go with one of the hotel chains instead of the smaller hotels in the area since they would have a greater number of rooms. Right now we're planning on using the Hyatt:

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As for the other hotel, we actually found out about a special they were running at the bridal fair we attended last weekend. The Towne Place Suites by Marriott were offering a special rate of $75/night. They're newly rennovated and all of the rooms have kitchens:

 

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Their sales manager is really friendly and helpful, and I'm planning on calling her tomorrow to finalize everything with the block of rooms.

David and I will both be getting ready downtown with our bridal party. Since we want to stay downtown on our wedding night, we'll likely just reserve the honeymoon suite for Friday night as well so the ladies can get ready there. The rooms at the Hyatt are beautiful, providing a nice backdrop for "getting ready" pictures.

Since we aren't leaving for our honeymoon until Monday morning, David and I want to spend time with our families the day after the wedding. The Towne Place Suites has a free continental breakfast, so I'm going to see if they have any small conference rooms that we could use to open gifts there after meeting our family for a morning after breakfast/brunch.

I'm looking forward to having all of the blocks set up so I can update our website. Our guests are receiving the save the dates (and have seemed to love them!), so they'll likely be checking the website in the near future for information about accommodations.

Are you setting up blocks of rooms for your guests? If so, do you have more than one choice of hotel?

Darling Dress Hangers

Ok, I'll admit, this is another one of those extra unnecessary projects. But I don't care. I love how they turned out, and I'm going to love the pictures of them! I'd seen a couple different super cute bridesmaid dress hangers. I think I first saw these:

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And then I saw these from Miss (now Mrs.!) Gloss:

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So when I found initial 'ornments' at Michaels in the dollar section around Christmas, I knew exactly what I wanted to use them for.

I found black satin hangers on ebay:

And used the letters from Michaels:

To make this:

Here are all of them waiting to have pretty little black dresses hanging from them in June:

I think I'm going to make a hanger for my dress using the same type of hanger, maybe with a damask ribbon bow or something. For some reason, I didn't get an initial for me and I don't think they have them at Michaels anymore.

For a project that cost less than $15, I think it was totally worth it. The pictures will be so cute, and what girl wouldn't like a fancy hanger for one of her favorite dresses?

**I have 5 hangers left if any of you are interested in doing this project for your ladies!

My First Giveaway!

I'm so happy to announce that I'm officially hosting my first giveaway, thanks to my wonderful sponsor: UPrinting! It's a giveaway for 100 free custom postcards! The winner will receive 100 free 4x6 postcards. UPrinting offers a great postcard design template page. They are printed on 14 pt cardstock with a glossy finish, and both sides are in full color. The winner will only have to pay shipping! The offer is valid for shipping in the United States only.

 

Just look at some of the ways you could use the postcards:

Save the Dates:

Mrs. Lab's Save the Dates

RSVP cards:

Mrs. Flamingo's RSVP postcards

Invitations:

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Announcements:

 

 

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So what are you waiting for?! Receive one entry for doing each of these things:

1 - Leave a comment on this post telling me what you would use your postcards for

2 - Become a follower of my blog if you're not already

3 - Become a follower on Twitter (les852)

4 - Blog or tweet about my giveaway and either leave the link or your twitter username in a comment

You have until next Monday, January 25th at 5 pm to enter. Good luck!

Fit Friday

I've always been really self concious about my weight. I remember my freshman year of high school, thinking I was 'so fat' and almost crying when I tried on homecoming dresses. What did I look like then?

A heck of a lot skinnier than I am now! There have been multiple times that I've looked at a picture and remembered how badly I felt about my body back then, when in reality, I was a perfectly healthy weight. However, now, I can't say I'm at a healthy weight, and I want to be. Of course I want to feel and look better than I ever have for our wedding (and our honeymoon!), but most importantly, I want to be healthy. I want to make healthier habits regarding what I eat and how often I work out, which in turn, will make me feel better about my body and how I'm treating it. Now that we're under the 5 month mark (ahh!) it's definitely time to do something about it!

David is in this with me, and we're both setting goals for ourselves. I told him last night that I was going to blog about this so that you guys could help hold me accountable, but what he didn't know was that I'm going to blog about his progress too!

We started yesterday (well, Wednesday night for him) and it's gone well so far! He's planning on changing his diet and going to the gym at least 5 times a week in order to achieve the results he wants. He's at 210 lbs now, and his goal is 185 by May 1st, and then add 10 lbs of muscle by our wedding day (June 12th). While he admits 185 might be a little optimistic, he's going to try! He's had two good workouts so far, and he went grocery shopping for healthier meal options so he's not tempted by fast food. I'm changing my diet as well (no more fast food, pop only once a week, and lots more fresh fruits and vegetables) and am planning on doing some type of cardio every day combined with either an ab workout or push ups as part of the 100 push up training program. I don't have a scale (I'm buying one today, though, and I'll be sure to weigh myself) so I'm not sure of my starting weight, but I did run yesterday and did the initial test for the push up program. I ran just over a mile and did 22 consecutive push ups, so I've got a ways to go!

I figure if we don't keep up with it now, we never will. There's nothing like a wedding a honeymoon in Cancun to motivate you, huh? I'll try to update you on our progress (more for my sake than yours, probably!) and feel free to give me a hard time if you haven't heard anything! It will be good to have several people holding me accountable. :)

Here's one of the most recent pictures of us. I'll post a picture of us each month - hopefully we'll be able to tell a difference soon!

Has the wedding served as motivation for you (or your fiance!) to get in shape? What healthy habits are you starting?

Is That My Dress?

If your name starts with D and ends with -avid, you should go ahead and stop reading right about now. Love you!

Ring-a-ling

No, I'm not talking about my ring again. When David originally started thinking about wedding bands, he thought he linked tungsten. It's strong, durable, and reasonably priced (which is nice, since I'm more than a little worried that he'll lose it). We both liked the look of tungsten too:

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But when we went to discuss the issues with my wedding bands with our jeweler, David saw the new Cobalt rings they have. They're similar to tungsten, but they look more like white gold:

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He ended up finding one he really likes, so I might just end up buying that one even though it's quite a bit more expensive than the bands we looked at online. When he was thinking about tungsten I really wanted to find one on etsy, but it looks like the seller I was going to use no longer has tungsten bands. I do like the titanium bands they have, though:

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David said he would be worried about not being able to try on the band and see it in person, though. I should probably be buying it within the next couple months, so we'll have to decide whether we should go with the more expensive cobalt band he liked at our jeweler (and just take the risk of him losing it), or go with one of the less expensive ones online that has a good return policy for if it doesn't fit or he doesn't like it.

Did you find your fiance/husband's wedding band online? If so, who did you use? And how did it work out for you?

Could It Be?

Could our STDs really be finished?! After multiple layouts, months of indecision, and multiple issues with our supplies and printing, our save the dates are being sent out tomorrow! After we finally decided on and printed a design, I brought them home with me so I'd have some help lining all of the envelopes. We found pink envelopes at Hobby Lobby that were perfect, and I planned to line them with this paper:

The only problem? I left that paper at my house at school, and it was Christmas wrapping paper, so of course, none of the Hobby Lobby stores here had it anymore. I looked at multiple stores for something similar, and after 3 or 4 trips, finally found it. I went back to Hobby Lobby to buy all of our pink envelopes, and... they were out. Of course.

The next night we went to Michaels and found a pack of plain white envelopes and cards. I figured I'd find something to use the cards for, so we went ahead and bought them. I spent the next few days lining the envelopes with pink paper like this:

Bad idea. I should've waited to line them until after we ran them through the printer, because the added thickness was causing them to get stuck and smear the ink.

 Some of the maaany envelopes we ruined

And since we ruined so many of the envelopes, we ran out. So I decided to try Sams Club and Office Max to see if they had bigger boxes of envelopes (sans the cards). I finally found some that worked at Office Max, but didn't realize they were a different size.

Doesn't that look like so much fun?

Normally this wouldn't be a huge deal, but David's computer is having some issues, and isn't able to perform a mail merge, so I was having to do the mail merge on my computer, burn it to a CD, and then put it on David's computer that way (since, of course, my compuer wouldn't print to his printer for some reason). I had to do re-do the mail merge and change the layout so that it was centered on the new size of envelopes. Also, these envelopes had a square flap rather than the pointed one the other one had, so I made a new template for the liners and cut 100 more of them.

 

Just a small difference in size...

By the end of it, I found myself saying, "I don't care anymore" more and more often. No pink envelopes? I don't care. No damask liners? I don't care. Two different sized envelopes? Nope, don't care. Ran out of double stick tape with 3 liners to go? They'll never know they didn't get a pink liner on their envelope. I am SO ready to be done with this project, and to move onto something else! But, all that aside, I really am happy with how they turned out, and I'm ok with them not being exactly what I pictured. No one (except you guys!) will know that they weren't what I originally envisioned.

So, here they are:

 

Have you had a project that ended up taking forever to complete? Did you end up not caring as much as you originally did by the time you finished it?