You Make My Dreams Come True: Ceremony Details

With the ceremony completely recapped I wanted to share some of the details that were so important to me. I figured I’d include the signing of the marriage certificate in this post too since I only have a few pictures of it. These are some of my very favorite pictures of the day!

 

Tears of Joy Packets – Post here and for sale in my etsy shop here

 

Programs – Post here

 

Sign and guestbook – Post here

 

Bubbles (and gift table in the background) – Post here

 

Memorial Candles – Post here and for sale in my etsy shop here

 

Our card box – Post here

 

 

The church

Letters made by MOH A and her boyfriend

 

Painted monogrammed aisle runner – Post here

 

Mum Pomanders – Post here

 

My bouquet and locket bouquet charm

 

 

Bridesmaid bracelets, bouquets, and bouquet charms – Post here and here and charms for sale in my etsy shop here

And the signing of the marriage certificate – I thought it was interesting that we didn’t sign anything. Only our MOH, best man, and the pastor signed. Is that just a Kansas thing, or is it like that for everyone?

 

 

Whew! We had more details than I thought, but hopefully you enjoyed seeing my projects all come together as much as I did! :)

*All pictures in this post were taken by Brandi Coldwell of Lola Jo Photo Design*   

Need to catch up?

We started on Thursday.

We decorated Friday morning.

We rehearsed.

We got pretty!

I put on my dress. 

We had our first look!

The guys had their turn.

The girls stole the show. 

We got some fun bridal party pictures. 

We took bride & groom portraits.

We took care of the formal portraits.

We took pictures with the kiddos.

We spent time hanging out waiting for the ceremony to start.

The grandparents and parents were seated.

It was finally time for the processional.

A step back to the playing of the slideshow.

The ceremony started. (Part 1)

The ceremony continued. (Part 2)

The ceremony ended. (Part 3)

We had a little fun with our recessional. 

**I shared the news on my new blog, but I thought I’d let you guys know I finally got a job (using my degree!) and started full time today! Your prayers/positive thoughts that my first few days go well and that it’s a good fit are greatly appreciated! :) 

I’m going to do my best to keep up with blogging and finish these recaps – I have a few more that I can write, but I’m still waiting on the pictures from our reception from our 2nd photographer. Hopefully I'll have them soon!

Quick Update

I apologize for my absence! Life has been crazy, but I've been able to get quite a bit done in the last week or so. I've still got quite the to-do list to tackle, but at least it feels like some progress is being made. It's been a little difficult to blog since I've been spending the majority of my time at our new house trying to get things situated and work on my projects that are all over there and we don't have internet yet. Thankfully it's being connected on Friday, so that should make things quite a bit easier. I feel like I should update you guys on some of the stuff I've gotten done, though!

First, I finished the ribbon pomander topiary that will be the centerpiece at the kids' table: 

And I'm working on the rest of the stuff for the table which I'll reveal soon!

I also finished all of our door hangers for the OOT bags: 

My mom and I started on the arrangements for the front of the church:

I bought a (double sided) sign to put out in front of our reception venue and return address labels from Vistaprint for $7 including shipping using this deal. Aren't they cute?!

*I hate having to blur things!*

And David's wedding band was finally purchased! Unfortunately, I don't have the picture of it on my phone anymore because the next day I dropped it in a cup of Pepsi while I was driving. Thankfully I was able to get it replaced for free because of a defect with the model of phone I have, but I lost all of my pictures. But his ring is cobalt and I absolutely love it! I can't wait for him to wear it! :) 

I feel like there's more that I'm forgetting, but I'm sure I'll get around to blogging about it at some point. Don't forget to enter my giveaway that ends Wednesday!

Have my fellow June brides been getting lots of projects done? We're getting down to the wire!

It's Finally Time: Invitation Reveal!

Now that I've built up so much suspense for this I hope our invites don't disappoint! :) If you've been reading my blog for quite some time you might remember that I originally planned to completely DIY our invitations. Yea, I think I somehow forgot that that meant I would be designing/constructing them during the last couple months of my last semester of college. Not going to happen. 

One night David and I were at Wal-Mart and I wandered down the wedding aisle like I always do. These happened to catch my eye:

source
(I apologize for the crappy quality - It's the best picture I could find)

They were strikingly similar to the design of the invitations I had planned to design and it was only $25 for 20 of them. We bought all of the boxes we needed and went on our way.

A couple of months later (before we had printed any of the invitations) I was in TJ Maxx and found their wedding section full of Brides brand stuff. They had a style of invitation kits that was absolutely perfect and they were $10 for 30! I picked up the 4 in the store and decided to look at the stores at home to find another box or two. Well, because things can't ever be easy, I wasn't ever able to find anymore boxes.

I realize that the smart thing to do would've been to return the 4 boxes since there weren't enough for all of our guests. But I loved them. And they were such a good deal! I just couldn't do it. I decided we'd figure something out and went ahead and printed the inserts. And I'm so glad I did. I looove them:

(Just pretend the labels are all one color and not edited)

(Ugh, the editing ruins it. Who needs privacy..)

(I got tired of blurring things out, and I honestly really wouldn't mind if any of my blog friends crashed our reception!)

And THAT is our invitation. Pretty, right? So I'm sure you're wondering what we did about the rest of the invitations. Well, I'll show you: 

Yep, that's right, we used two different styles. I was really worried about it at first, but then I realized people will only be receiving one of the two and they'll never know the other design existed (unless of course they're reading this right now) and a lot of the people we're sending invitations to couldn't care less what they look like. A large majority of our guest list is our college aged guy friends from high school, David's reffing friends, and David's coworkers. I can almost guarantee none of them will look at the invitation for more than a couple minutes. So is it really a big deal in the grand scheme of things? I/we obviously decided it's not.

I'm honestly really happy with both of the styles and I'm even more happy that they're finally done and sent! It was such a relief to get them in the mail, and on my deadline even! I've heard from a couple people that they received theirs yesterday so they rest should be arriving within the next couple days, and I can't wait to hear our guests' reactions.

Here's the cost breakdown (not including postage):

Invitation kits: $80 + tax

Ribbon and tape: $8 + tax

Label sheets for wrap around labels: $10 + tax 

Total cost: ~$110

Cost per invitation: $0.65

That number makes me SO happy! It's way cheaper than I could've done it by making them entirely by myself and I'm insanely happy with them. They were definitely a labor of love, but I had the help of some people I reeeally love putting them together - David, BM M, and my friend Kari! They made things so much better, and they were there to celebrate with me when we FINALLY finished! Love you all!

Our set-up for the final step of the production process and a sneak peek into our *very messy* new house!

So, what do you think? And were your invitations a labor of love?

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?

Sometimes It's Ok to Cry...

...especially when you have a cute 'tears of joy' packet to use! I was undecided about whether I'd add this project to my list or not until I was wandering through the aisles of Hobby Lobby with my mom and found damask tissues. And they were in the wedding section, meaning they were 50% off. I'm pretty sure it was a sign. I picked up like 7 or 8 packs and a couple aisles later found the perfect little packages for them:

(Coincidentally also 50% off!)

Each pack had 10 tissues, so with the help of BM S, I put 3 tissues in each packet. They were just a bit too long for the packet, but we just folded them over a bit at the top - No one will even notice! I designed some cute labels for them and printed them on a sheet of label sticker paper. It ended up looking like this:

And less than an hour later, I had this:

I ended up with about 25 packets for 300 guests. I'm debating if I should make more, not because I think that many people will be overcome with emotion at my wedding, but because I have a feeling my more sentimental friends and relatives will take one just to keep. And I know my mom and I both want one to keep too. Maybe I should double the amount? 

If you made tears of joy packets, how many did you make in relation to the number of guests you're expecting? If you're already married, how many were left over? Or did you run out?

Wedding Projects, Wine, and Weekend Preview

It's been a long week. So an evening filled with lots of wedding projects, wine, and good music in celebration of reaching the 100 day mark was definitely in order. And who came up with the brilliant idea? My fabulous roomie/BM S! 

I must really love you guys - I look a BIT tired. Also, sneak peak of a project I'm working on!

She really is fabulous - She not only helped me with the incredibly tedious coaster project, she also made lots of progress on the 2nd tulle wreath *which is unfortunately equally as tedious*!

It was nice to spend the evening not thinking about school and making some progress on these projects. I finished the one I was working on (post coming soon!) and we're 40% of the way done with the coasters! (Have I mentioned I really like things to be even? She knows me too well - She ended on an even number!) Thanks for all your help, dear! I <3 you!

This weekend David will be in the KC area reffing, so I'll get to see him again and will even get to watch him ref a couple games! I'm spending tomorrow night scrapbooking with my aunt, so I should have another project to post about next week. I love scrapbooking with her - We stay up most of the night chatting and catching up while we work! Hope all of you have equally as wonderful weekends!