Give Us Your Pictures... Please!

I have to start by saying I am SO frustrated/stressed/ready to be done with school. I've got a big paper due Monday and a lot of loose ends to tie up before the end of the year and graduation and my to-do list seems never ending. Which isn't good when all I want to do is work on my wedding to-do list. I know there are quite a few of you who read my blog that are in the same position I am and know how much it stinks. I hope to keep up with posting, but you might have to give me a bit of a break until after graduation on the 16th and moving back to Wichita shortly after that!

I posted awhile back about our plan to have people upload their pictures to my laptop of their way out the door. We still plan on doing that (if I can find someone who would be willing to act as somewhat of an 'attendant') but I decided to give in and order cards for anyone who doesn't get around to it the night of our reception to upload theirs to a photo sharing site. 

I researched a couple different options and decided on Shutterfly. You can set up your own share site for free, and you even get some free prints for doing it. The design is customizable and guests' uploads are the full size images, so you're able to print enlargements. The site is password protected and is easy to navigate. It looks like this:

All our guests will have to do is click the 'Add' button and upload the pictures and videos of their choice. No making an account, no logging in, etc. I made folders for 'Rehearsal and Rehearsal Dinner,' 'Ceremony,' 'Reception,' and 'Other' so guests will be able to easily separate their photos. 

I ordered the photo sharing cards from Vistaprint. I think it was around $6 for 250 of them because I wanted one of their more expensive designs. I probably could've waited for a giveaway from UPrinting, but to be honest, I just wanted to get this checked off the list. And I'm happy with how they turned out!

I'm not sure why it looks a little fuzzy - They printed clearly!

I think I'll probably put them at every other seat and then put a stack by the guestbook/card table and put one in each of the OOT bags. I sure hope these lead to lots of fun pictures from our guests!

Did you use a photo sharing site/cards? How did it work out?

**I'll be at home this weekend finishing invitations! I know I keep saying that, but really - We WILL get them done and mailed out by Monday! Get ready for the reveal!

**If you were interested in a cost breakdown for the bathroom baskets project I posted about, I updated the post with that information!

DIY Detail: Bathroom Baskets

I love that bathroom baskets have become so common for wedding receptions. I don't know how many times I've been somewhere and wished I had bobby pins or rubber bands or a piece of gum. I know there's going to be a lot of dancing at our reception, so I have a feeling there might be quite a few individuals in need of the baskets' contents. :) Here's how they turned out:

I found a little poem for the sign and edited it a bit to fit us better:

I wasn't able to find any comprehensive lists that I thought included everything, so I'll list everything in mine. If you're not doing bathroom baskets the lists will probably be a bit boring, but if you are, hopefully they're helpful!

For the ladies' basket:

• Cough drops
• Wet wipes
• Hair bands
• Bobby pins
• Tampons and pads
• Q-tips
• Allergy/sinus medication
• Gas relief medication
• Advil
• Kleenex
• Lint roller
• Wisps
• Brush and comb
• Nail kit
• Lotion
• First aid kit (bandaids and neosporin)
• Deodorant
• Body spray
• Mouthwash
• Hair gel
• Eye drops
• Gum and mints
• Floss
• Clear nail polish
• Hairspray

For the mens' basket:

• Cough drops
• Wet wipes
• Gas relief medication
• Allergy/sinus medication
• Advil
• Lotion
• Wisps
• Lint roller
• Kleenex
• Nail kit
• Q-tips
• Eye drops
• Deodorant
• Body spray
• Mouthwash
• Floss
• Gum and mints

Here's a cost breakdown of the baskets:

-Supplies (I found all of it at either Target or Dollar Tree - Nothing was more than about $1.50!) $41.43

-Baskets - $5 each on sale at Hobby Lobby

-Ribbon and cardstock - Already had on hand

Total price: $51.43

Price per basket: $25.72

So this project ended up being a little more than I intended to spend, but I think they'll be useful and I already have plans to reuse the baskets!

 Are you doing bathroom baskets? If so, is there anything you included that I forgot?

Different Way of Doing Things

Since David is in Kansas City for work for the next three weeks, we'll get to see each other a lot more than normal. This is definitely a plus, but I have a to-do list about a mile long for both school and wedding related stuff, so I've come up with a new way of doing things. It looks a little like this:

Basically I bring all of my wedding/school crap over to his hotel and work on it while he finishes up his work for the day. I'm still getting stuff done and we get to spend time together. Convenient? Not really. But whatever works, right?

And yes, those are our invitations in the picture - I've been working on them so hopefully I'll get to reveal them to you within the next couple days! Although that would be a few days ahead of the deadline I gave myself of getting them out by May 1st and I rarely finish things things more than a few hours before they're due, I can dream! I really do love them, even if they've taken an insane amount of time to print/trim/assemble. They're exactly what I wanted and we came in under budget!

Have you had to improvise to get your wedding (or other) projects done?

Living Our Love Song/Story

I read Kelly's Korner religiously - I love mom blogs and she's awesome! What can I say? - and this week's Show Us Your Life is "how you met your husband/wife/fiance." It's too cute of a topic to pass up, so here we go!

I was born and raised in Wichita, KS and lived in the same house *almost* my entire life. I had 2 older sisters that lived with us, a 'little' brother (who has always been bigger than me), and wonderful parents. I went to a private Christian school preschool - 8th grade.

David was also born and raised in Wichita and grew up in the same house his entire life. He had one older brother, a younger brother, and a baby sister (who, at 12 years old, is still his baby sister and holds a very special place in his heart). He also went to a (different) private Christian school preschool - 8th grade.

Our schools played each other in soccer and both of us played all through middle school, but we somehow never met. We had several mutual friends and we've taked many times about all of the instances where we were probably in the same room or at the same game and didn't even know the other existed.

Thankfully, God led both of us to the same high school and we 'met' at a BBQ before the start of our freshman year. I don't think we actually talked. I just thought he was soo cute, but found out from someone that he had a 'girlfriend'. (What does dating even mean in 8th grade?) They broke up a few weeks after school started, and I developed a bigger and bigger crush. I told my best friend (and now MOH!) that I liked him, and told her not to tell anyone. It's a good thing it all worked out, because not only did she tell someone, she told him! We got to know each other better over the next couple months - particularly in our World History class and on weekends after his soccer games. We have so many good memories from our first semester of high school. 

We started really 'talking' in December of our freshman year. We would stay up until 3 AM chatting on AIM about everything. On Friday, December 19th, 2003 after our high school basetball games (sweats and a ponytail are so romantic!) we became a couple and the rest is history.

We attended all of our high school dances together and really became each other's best friends during the next 4 years. Our high school memories are some of our favorites, and I'm so excited to have a little reunion with all of our friends at our wedding! Senior year we both had to decide where we'd be going to college the next year. It was always both of our dreams to go to KU (I think I've mentioned a few times that we're huge fans!) but God had other plans. David ended up getting a huge scholarship that he couldn't pass up to Wichita State and I decided to follow my dreams of majoring in Applied Behavioral Science at KU. We both knew without a doubt in our minds that we could make it through a few years of long distance.

We graduated in May of 2007 and I moved to Lawrence in August. It hasn't always been fun (you guys have had to put up with my complaining!) but it's been SO worth it. We've both grown a lot as individuals in the last 3 years, and we've grown closer as a couple than I could've ever imagined. While I'd make the same choice again, I am very ready to graduate in just over 3 weeks and move home into our cute new house!

David proposed March 7, 2009 and it was one of the greatest days of my life. I will remember how excited/special/loved I felt that day forever!

And in 50 short days, on June 12, 2010 (a week before our 6.5 year anniversary!), I will be walking down the aisle to marry my high school sweetheart and better half in front of God, our families, and our friends who have shown us all the love and support in the world. It will be a day full of laughter, tears, memories, and love, but it will only be the start of a lifetime of all of those things, and THAT is what I can't wait for! 

People said it would never work out
Living our dreams we've shattered all doubts
It feels good to prove 'em wrong
Just living our love song

 How did you meet your husband/fiance/significant other? What's your story?

**PS - I'm interviewing for a job that would be absolutely perfect for me this afternoon and would really appreciate your prayers/good thoughts! :)

Winner Winner!

Chicken dinner! :) I couldn't help myself. 

Anyway, the winner of 100 free postcards from MyPostcardPrinting.com is....

Shanna!

Congratulations, Shanna! 

I'll get your email address to them and they'll be contacting you within the next few days. Thanks to everyone who entered!

Bridal Shower Recap

I've already shown you the invitation and my shower hostess gifts, but I finally gathered enough pictures to give a recap of my shower this past weekend! I have to start by saying that I felt so incredibly blessed by all of the women who came (especially those who drove over 2 hours just for me!) and was overwhelmed - in a good way - by everyone's generosity! I wish I had taken more pictures of the decorations and gift table and stuff, but I guess I was too excited. The centerpieces were adorable:

And this is about the only picture I have of the gift/food table - Before it was even finished:

It started out with some mingling - I wish I would've gotten to talk to everyone! I felt like I didn't get to have a real conversation with anyone! But every time someone walked in the door I was SO excited to see them - It was so nice to see so many of my favorite ladies!

(You might recognize the lovely lady in the purple dress - It's Jill from We Are Man and Wife... Almost! It was fun having her and my friend J there-in the purple sweater-since they're also engaged and planning weddings!)

Once everyone was there we started by going around the room and having everyone introduce themselves and say how they knew David and me and share a memory/story about us if they wanted to. My aunt/godmother started off and had everyone laughing:

Everyone was so sweet - I seriously thought I was already going to start crying, but managed to pull it together. :) I loved that BM S had everyone do this because I had a lot of family and friends there that David's mom had never met, so this was a way of her 'meeting' them without it being totally overwhelming. 

After everyone had introduced themselves we started with our first game. BM S had made a basket of items that brides are likely to need on their wedding day and end up not having/forgetting. She walked around the room with the basket so everyone had a couple of seconds to look at the contents and then we had to make a list of as many items as we could remember. 

The winner remembered all but one or two of the items! I was seriously impressed. Next we played another game that focused more on how well everyone knew David and I, our relationship, and our wedding. Some of the questions were on the coasters on the tables (that you can see in the first picture and that I blogged about here). There were a few people that paid attention to them and it paid off in the end - Like David's little sister knowing exactly what I said when I saw the ring. :) I was amazed at how many people said 'I saw this on your blog!' or 'I read about this on your wedding website!' I definitely wasn't surprised by the winner - My friend J! We talk weddings/school/house buying/life all the time, so she knew almost every answer. She even knew our new address!

Then it was time for food before starting the present opening. I don't have pictures of this part, but BM S made delicious cupcakes and my sister/MOH made yummy punch. After everyone had their food I started opening the gifts - I was shocked by the generosity of my family and friends. I won't bore you with all of the pictures, but I have to share a couple of my favorites. Reading the cards from David's mom and my mom were the couple times I teared up - Both were SO sweet!

My FSIL (David's brother's wife) wasn't able to be there, but she made us a platter that matches our dishes! And she even put a little message on the back:

(Once I'm married and take David's last name, his SIL and I will have the same name!)

After opening all of the presents I tried to get pictures with most of the guests before they left. First, my absolutely adorable flower girls and ring bearer. Are they not the cutest?!

My momma and FMIL:

David's little sister, K - Our Jr BM:

Most of the women on my Dad's side of the family:

BM S and BM M:

My roommates and my shower hostesses:

I had such a good time seeing so many of my favorite ladies in one place, getting lots of new recipes, and experiencing the kindness and warm wishes of people who love us. The ONLY thing that could've made it better would've been having MOH A (who lives in Louisiana) and my sister/BM R (who just had a baby) there. I can't thank my shower hostesses enough! *Thank you again, since I know 3 of you will read this!! You made my shower SO special!* And to the guests who were there and are reading now - Thank you so much for coming! I felt so loved. Having this much fun seeing everyone at the shower made me even more excited for the wedding!

What was your favorite part of your shower? Or if you haven't had one yet, what are you most looking forward to?

**Don't forget to enter my giveaway! It ends tonight!

Bridal Shower Hostess Gifts

What an original title, huh? I had my bridal shower on Saturday, so I wanted to share with you my shower hostess gifts! Since BM S is the only one of my bridesmaids who lives in the same town as me right now (and my two sisters either have a newborn baby or are very pregnant) she ended up planning most of my shower herself. I/we have fabulous friends here, so a few of them helped out and I am SO thankful. The wedding has really shown me how blessed I am by the people in my life. 

All of my hostesses were college aged girls, so I wanted something a little more fun than some of the ideas I'd seen for hostess gifts for your aunt/godmother/etc. I happened to find these picture frames, and decided to get one that matched each of my hostesses' bedrooms. I filled each one with a picture of one of my favorite memories with them.

And since their gift bags just had to match the theme, I decorated them with my favorite stamp embossed in pink (of course!). 

And then I wrote them each long thank you notes in a damask card. I think they turned out pretty cute:

 BM S will be getting another gift, but I needed my mom's help with it and we've had a crazy last couple weeks, so it's not quite finished. I can't wait to share it with you after I've given it to her, because it's a fun gift and is not hard at all to make! 

I'll be sharing more details and pictures from the shower within the next couple days!

What did you gift your shower hostess(es)? 

*PS - Congratulations to the newly married Mrs. Beever and Mrs. Mojito!!
**PPS - This is my 200th post! I can hardly believe it!!

Just What You Need!

A giveaway for 100 free postcards from MyPostcardPrinting.com! There are so many things you could use these postcards for! 

Save the Dates?

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RSVP cards for your invitations?

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Or thank yous?

source for both and lots more ideas

The winner will receive:

100 4x6” Postcards on a 14 pt gloss cardstock
Full Color Both Sides
FREE UPS Ground Shipping

This giveaway is, however, limited to US Residents only. And you must be 18 years old and up to enter. 

Receive one entry for doing each of these things (please use separate comments):

1. Leave a comment telling me what you would use these 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 the giveaway and leave a link to it in a comment

You have one week to enter! The giveaway will close and the winner will be announced next Thursday evening, April 22nd! Good luck! 

We've Reached a Decision

Well, it was actually more me, but ceremony music hasn't been one of the things David is too interested in. While my mom was here over the weekend we went through my song choices and I decided on almost all of the ceremony music (with the exception of the recessional). It's such a relief to have it done! I can hopefully start working on designing our programs now that it's finished.

We'll have music playing for about 30 minutes before the ceremony starts and we'll have a few of our songs in our slideshow, but I've already blogged about the majority of those.

For the seating of my grandparents (unfortunately David's have all passed away) and our relatives we'll play 'Canon in D'. I've always loved it, and I really wanted the song for our family to be something familiar that they'd recognize. 

For the seating of our parents and our moms' lighting of the unity candle, we'll be playing 'Love Never Fails' by Brandon Heath:

 

And then the bridal party (and me at the end!) will enter to 'Kisses and Cake' by John Powell:

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Right after our vows we'll light the unity candle, so I thought 'When I Say I Do' by Matthew West would be perfect here. The lyrics fit so well:

 

And as we (possibly) take communion and when we give the roses to our moms, our friends will sing 'The Luckiest':

 

The only thing left to figure out is the recessional, and I just can't decide on anything! I want something along the lines of 'Beautiful Day' by U2 or 'Love is Never Ending' by Brad Paisley - Both meaningful, beautiful songs. I'd just like it start out a little more upbeat. Anyone have any suggestions of songs that would fit the 'feel' of the other songs we've chosen??

How did you decide on your ceremony music? Was it a relief when it was chosen?

And Then There Were Two...

Two months to go, that is! I seriously cannot believe we're at the two month mark. I don't know where the time has gone! I looked over my list yesterday of the projects I still need to finish (ahem, start in some cases) and it was a bit overwhelming. I've officially decided that I'm not adding anything else to the list, though, and I plan to get at least one thing done each day - even if it's small. Hopefully this means I'll have lots of project posts coming up and several posts showing how my original inspiration/idea post turned out! My shower is on Saturday, so I'll be posting about my hostess gifts at some point as well! I think I'll feel a lot better about everything I have to do once I'm able to start crossing some things off the list, especially the invitations. I'm going to be working my *not so* little butt off on those this week. And because I haven't shown you anything yet, here's a sneak peek to hold you over until we finally get them sent out:

I can't wait to show you guys the whole thing! And since they're supposed to be going out, oh, any day now, hopefully it won't be too long until I'm able to!

And one more thing I just have to share - The first of the new babies in the family was born and I was able to meet him this weekend! I just love being an aunt. Meet my newest nephew and our honorary ring bearer:

Photo credit

(All of the photos from the birth were incredible - Birth photography is so beautiful!)

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

Honeymoon Must Haves

Since it's been warmer the last week or so I've been getting so excited to start buying cute swimming suits and (more) dresses for our honeymoon. I live in either shorts and a tshirt or a dress/swimsuit coverup during the summer when I'm not working (or sometimes when I am working.. as a nanny) so that's probably about all I'll pack for the honeymoon. I've already bought a couple long maxi dresses to add to my insane collection, but I've recently been reeeally tempted to buy a few more from Old Navy. They're SO cute!

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They have some adorable swimsuits too:

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I think I'll be making a trip to Old Navy this weekend to try a few of them on. So the honeymoon is still over 2 months away.. Can you blame me for being excited?!

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Where are you looking for your honeymoon attire?

*I promise to get around to some project posts this week - I've got 4 etsy orders I'm working on, but I'll hopefully get around to my own projects soon! For those of you that have asked in the past, there is now a link to my etsy shop in the sidebar!