Licensed to Wed!

Creative title, huh? My brain is a bit lacking on creativity right now because it's officially my wedding week! Which means it's officially crunch time! I'm getting little projects done left and right and we'll be finishing up our programs, the flowers, and other big projects within the next few days.

David and I went to get our marriage license a week and a half ago. We walked in, filled out a short form, took an oath saying we weren't related or married, and were told to come back in three days with a longer form filled out. Not quite as exciting as I was hoping, but I thought maybe it'd be more climactic when we came back.

Nope. We handed her the form, she typed up our information, and then she handed us an envelope. And that was it. But regardless, it still made things seem so much more real, and we were both excited!

I can't believe how close we're getting! I've read so many posts like this one and thought, 'They're getting married so soon! I can't wait until it's time for us to do that!' Well, it's time, and we're going to be married before we know it!

When was everything 'real' for you?

*Recap of my wonderful bachelorette party is coming soon! :)

Bachelorette Party Weekend!

I wanted to check in before I leave for my last weekend as a fiance! My bachelorette party is this weekend and I am SO excited. I've been a bit stressed, so this weekend is exactly what I need. We're going out tonight in Wichita with all of our girl friends from high school, David's mom, and my FSIL. Tomorrow morning we (including my momma!) leave bright and early for KC to meet up with more friends and bridesmaids for a day of laying out and shopping and a night of dinner and dancing! I can't wait!

And in true Laura fashion, guess what I was working on last night around midnight... With the help of David, my lovely MOH, and her boyfriend:

Eeek, please excuse the mess

Bridal party tshirts of course! I apologize in advance - I could NOT get a good picture of any of them! Please believe me that they're way cuter in person. I'm sure I'll have some pictures of them from this weekend!

And mine:

The moms got shirts as well, but they got pins instead of iron-ons:

This project was SO easy - And so much cheaper than the shirts you can buy pre-made. I got each of the shirts, which are cute and fitted, for $2.50 (when they were 50% off at Hobby Lobby) and the iron-ons were $1 each at Michaels. The moms' pins were around $3 (when the wedding stuff was 50% off at Hobby Lobby). It's unnecessary, but it's one of those little touches I've always wanted. :) 

Ok, I'm off for a weekend of fun! I can't believe it's the last one before the wedding - WHERE did the time go?! I'll be back with a recap next week!

A Kid at Heart

I've blogged previously about our kids' table, but I've finally finished all of the details for it so I had to share. I had so much fun putting this stuff together! I told David, 'If kids don't have fun at our wedding they're crazy.' We have soo many things to keep them occupied (and to keep them from bugging their parents so they can enjoy themselves!) and entertained. 

I already shared with you the centerpiece for the table, but I'll post it again to refresh your memory:

Also decorating the table will be these fun arrangements:

(I apologize for the awful quality picture and the mess in the background - It was after midnight which didn't provide me with much natural light and I was tired.)

Included in those are all kinds of fun candy (including ring pops of course!), glow stick bracelets and necklaces, crayons, and colored pencils. The crayons and colored pencils will be used for our activity books that I finally got around to designing last night:

I included more coloring pages since kids of all ages can color, but only the older kids will be able to do the puzzles. I'm happy with how it turned out and I think the kiddos will enjoy it!

Am I forgetting anything? What all did you include on your kids' table?

DIY: Guestbook

I posted a long time ago about our plans for a guestbook, but I finally got around to finishing the project this weekend. I know the signiture mat's not a very original idea, but I found that DIYing it instead of buying one pre-made saved us some money, especially since we needed it to be pretty large.

We bought a 22x28" frame from Michaels. We bought it when it was 50% off (usually every other week) so it was somewhere around $15 or so.

Then we had a mat cut to that size with an 8x10" opening in the middle. I probably could've cut the mat myself, but at this point it's a project I don't need to take on. And it would've bothered me forever if the opening wasn't perfectly centered or the lines weren't straight. The mat, cut to size, was $12. Well worth it.

I had an 8x10" print of one of our engagement pictures printed at Sams which costs around $1.50 and I'll be picking up some fine tip sharpies, hopefully from Dollar Tree. I put the mat and picture in the frame without the glass and I'll put the glass back in as soon as it's back home after the wedding.

All in all the project cost somewhere around $30 and I absolutely love it. It's going to look so good in our house after it's signed by so many of the people that we love!

What did you use for your guestbook?

*Just a sidenote - My bff and MOH who is in the Air Force gets in town TODAY and will be here until after the wedding! I'm sure we'll be getting lots done, but I'm not sure how often I'll be able to post. I'll try to keep updating with the DIY stuff we get finished! This weekend is my bachelorette party (which I am SO looking forward to) so hopefully I'll at least get a recap of that posted early next week.

Flower Power

If you've been following along for quite some time you already know that I plan to DIY my flowers (with the help of my mom). I'm SO excited about it, but she's a little nervous. Basically the look I'm going for with my bouquet is a mix of the two of these:

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And for the bridesmaids a mix of these two bouquets (with no green):

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We've ordered two cases of hot pink roses, a case of hot pink carnations, and a case of light pink carnations. And hopefully we'll have these beauties to add:

My parents have multiple peony bushes in their front yard so we (well, my mom) cut about 100-200 of them just before they bloomed, wrapped them in newspaper, and put them in the fridge. We've "tested" a couple by taking them out and putting them in water and one opened almost fully and the other opened partially. I'm so excited about them - It will be sentimental for me and I'll get to have the peonies I love without paying for them! 

I'm looking for small black feathers to add to the bridesmaids' bouquets, but we'll also be using little pretties similar to these made by my friend Kari!

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And my bouquet will have these added to it:

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You can look at all of the options Kari has available by visiting her etsy shop!

The last little touch that the bouquets will have are charms. I made each of the bridesmaids a charm with their initial. Each of them is a little different, but I love how they all coordinate still!

My bouquet will have a locket charm with a picture of my grandma and some angel wing charms. I haven't found the perfect picture for the locket yet, but I'll be sure to share it with you guys when it's finished! If you're interested in doing the same thing, all of the charms came from Michaels in the jewelry department. They're meant for pictures, but I just printed my girls' initials on white cardstock and cut them down to size. Easy and pretty inexpensive! 

I can't wait to see how it all comes together and I'll be sure to share my tips with all of you after it's all said and done! 

Are any of you DIYing your flowers or did you? If so, do you have any tips?

Ring Ching Ching

It took me entirely too long to come up with a title for this post that I hadn't already used. My creativity is slightly lacking lately! If you've been following my blog for some time now, you've seen several pictures of my ring and you saw a photoshopped version of what we intended for my ring to look like with my wedding bands. If you haven't, here's a refresher:

Well, long story short, it didn't end up that way. We purchased two matching bands and basically wanted them cut and souldered to the sides of my setting. The custom jeweler that we were working with made it sound like that would be no big deal, but I guess it ended up not being possible because the bands were thicker than the band on my engagement ring. He was going to have to set the wedding bands up a little higher, so he needed to space them further apart so it wouldn't be as noticeable. Basically, this is what we ended up with:

I wasn't able to go with David to pick it up, so when he sent me pictures from his phone of it I was a bit disappointed. It wasn't what I'd envisioned. I'd really wanted all of the bands to sit flush with each other.

But then I got home and tried it on. And all of my worries were gone.

I love how it looks on my finger! And more importantly, it will still mean I'm married to my best friend, whether there's space between the bands or not. I can't wait to wear it! But until June 12th, I'll be wearing this 'pretty' (that sometimes turns my finger a bit green):

Don't let the picture fool you, it's fake (like $12 fake) but it works to keep my finger from feeling naked and it will be nice to have on our honeymoon if we decide to go into Cancun to do any shopping or eating. I'm definitely looking forward to having my real ring back, though!

If you had your wedding bands custom made did they end up looking like what you'd imagined? If not, did it turn out better or worse than you expected?

PS - This weeked is a crazy one, last night I had my niece/goddaughter's kindergarten graduation

Here she is saying her name, her favorite Bible story (when Jesus was born), her favorite thing about kindergarten (reading books), and what she wants to do when she grows up ("buy things!" HA! My kind of girl!). She's getting so big!

and tomorrow and Sunday are my new niece and nephew's baptisms! 

On top of all that, David's bachelor party is this weekend. I'm hoping to get a lot done today before all of that starts so I have some projects to share with you next week, but we'll see if I get the posts written and scheduled! I can't believe how close we're getting - My best friend and MOH gets in town on Wednesday and will be here until the day after the wedding! I'm getting soo excited! Thanks for sticking with me through the lack of posting - You guys are the best! :)

Giveaway Winner and Another Guest Post

I'm excited to announce that the winner of my giveaway is...

Tova

(one of my newer followers!) who said she would use the poster print to make a large print of one of her wedding photos for her grandma! Tova, if you could get me your email address as soon as possible I'll have Online Poster Printing contact you!

Also, I wrote a guest post for Kristin at Happily After All for today, so be sure to head over and check it out!

Updates coming soon! :)