Our Wedding Was On TV!!!

Our wedding was just featured today on an ABC affiliate station in Hawaii during a social segment! Here's the link to the video: Social Wire: Android Wedding - Video - KITV Honolulu How cute is Cade going down the aisle?!?

Our Cake

The cake was definitely a part of the wedding, but I think it deserves to have it's own post.  It was absolutely AWESOME!  When the girls and I arrived through the side door at 10AM that morning, we saw them bringing it in, but it was in pieces still.  I didn't get to see it put together until the actual reception, but I was so impressed!

Not only was he a 2 1/2 foot tall Android, but he held out a miniature two-tiered wedding cake!  Rhys was so pleased. :-)

And a pic of me and Mike Terry, our cake designer, who did a fantastic job!  He is an astonishingly talented designer and was dead on in his creation.  

We're Married!!!

We did it! We got married and everything went exactly as planned.  There were no crashing airplanes, no serenading fools, and everything was perfect!  The guys came in to Sharp Dressed Man in the golf cart limos:

Our 4 ft Android podium courtesy of Shane:

For those of you who attended, you saw Cade come down the aisle in costume (thanks to Marcus, our creative genius!):

There were only a couple people who knew about this.  Cade didn't even find out until the day of.  We should have planned for the other kids to find this hilarious.  They couldn't stop laughing. :-)

Mom walked me down the aisle since Dad couldn't be there, but he's seen photos and video and says it was the most beautiful wedding he's ever seen.  He has to say that since I'm his favorite (and only) daughter, but I believe it to be true. ;-)

My girls look AMAZING!

We exchanged our vows via Android devices of course ;-)

Then off in the horse and carriage with a champagne toast!

On to the reception.  Marcus made us some awesome centerpieces:

My new sisters-in-law whom I absolutely adore!  How blessed am I to be married into this fabulous family!

Everything was absolutely beautiful and perfect!  Thanks to everyone who helped to make the day everything I'd ever hoped it would be!  We love you!!!


Here are additional pics of the wedding, reception and honeymoon.  More to follow! :-)

Wedding and Reception

https://picasaweb.google.com/106083077810495092134/OurWedding?authkey=Gv1sRgCJWj__3dsNqWyQE

Cave tubing in Belize

https://picasaweb.google.com/106083077810495092134/Belize?authkey=Gv1sRgCM-So5mL-oDSsQE

Swimming with the dolphins in Cozumel

https://picasaweb.google.com/106083077810495092134/DolphinEncounter?authkey=Gv1sRgCMPuqay5_63H7gE

Bachelorette Party

Everything about the bachelorette party was secret until right before we left the house.  I was just told to be there by 3:45 and to wear shorts and a tank top then to have a white outfit to change into later.  Strange request I thought, but I went with it.  Where we ended up: Indy Pole Dancers in Greenwood!  We learned the flamingo, the mermaid, good girl/bad girl, and what pole burn is.  We had a blast!  It was so much fun and we all have the bruises to prove it!  

Next up was dinner and drinks back at the house during which I became an angel (albeit with a crooked halo, but still yet) and I coined Charlene the devil.

Next up, I debated punching my entertainment when he tried to "serve" me with court docs.  Talk about pissed!  Nice call, ladies!  Then on to McGilvry's where Rhys and I had our second "first" date.  Equipped with my halo and veil, we attempted to complete everything on a list from kissing the bartender (his girlfriend was a waitress and was cool with a smooch on the cheek) to getting 5 phone numbers (during which Cara and I met a 911 guy) to rubbing a bald guy's head (thank heavens for the door guy!).  We were there until almost 3AM and I was down many drinks and lost count, but I was content.

Not having a bachelorette party before, this was a new experience for me and as Mom said, it was definitely interesting!

Centerpieces!!!

The centerpieces are finally done and they are AWESOME!!!  Thanks so much to Marcus for not only creating them, but also coming up with the idea!  He's a genius!

T Minus 3 Weeks

Everything has been super hectic lately, as you can imagine.  It's been awhile since I've blogged, but we really are getting everything done.  It's all finally coming together and as long as none of my crazy dreams come true, it's all going to be great.  I've dreamt everything from tripping on the carriage to being serenaded by our exes (BOTH of them at once) with Adele's new power ballad to an airplane from the nearby airport crashing into the veranda during our vows.  I'm not sure which is the worst!

I went to pick up my dress from alterations Friday and thankfully, it fit perfectly!  The corset looks great and Mom found the perfect ribbon for it.  We are down to the last three weeks and it has flown by so fast.  From the proposal to finding the venue to choosing the dress to music and flowers and catering, my girls and Mom have worked tirelessly next to me.  My mom actually made the bridesmaids dresses!  Yes, I said MADE the dresses!  She gave them to me for final fittings a couple days ago and they look so awesome.  Charlene and Breanna tried them on last night and they looked fabulous in them.

We have confirmed with the caterer, florist, DJ, cake designer, and of course, the honeymoon!  We are heading to Grand Cayman, Honduras, Belize, and Mexico in a short three weeks!  Aunt Shalee (who is a total lifesaver) is moving in for the week to take care of the kids and keep them in school.  It would be a total bummer to be arrested upon our arrival back in the states for our kids' truancy. ;-)  I'm so blessed to have a sister-in-law like Shalee!

We are meeting with the venue tomorrow to go over the final details for catering, seating, accessories, photography, and the cake.  Can you believe that we are the first ones to request a custom cake in the two years that Mike Terry has been there?  They have a world-renowned cake designer that exclusively designs for Valle Vista brides and no one wants one?  True, it was a few dollars more, but it'll be one-of-a-kind! :-)

Charlene and I went shopping yesterday for an all-white outfit and do you know how hard that is AFTER Labor Day?  I hadn't even thought about it until last week.  We went to Fashion Bug and had no luck, so we went to Goodwill.  I have a love-hate relationship with Goodwill.  I LOVE DEALS.  Anyone who knows me know that I can't pass up cheap and free.  The problem with Goodwill is that you have to go through racks and racks of stained, torn, or otherwise unwearable clothes before you find that one great deal.  While I love to find the deal, I have to really be in a good mood to shop there.  Yesterday, I was in a great mood.  Hanging out with Charlene and Starbucks...just sayin.  Needless to say, we found a complete outfit (white pants, white shirt, white sandals, and even a white purse) all for the low, low price of $13.80 after tax with Charlene's student discount!  Apparently, the whole month of September gets anyone with a student ID an extra 20% off.  So of course, she had to shop as well.  She spent $30 on 5 name brand polo shirts, a cute white skirt, and the most fabulous black and white dress you have ever seen!  Would have fit right in at the bridal shower for sure!  So now you ask why I'm looking for an all-white outfit?  I HAVE NO IDEA!  I'm told that I have to wear this for the bachelorette party, but I'm not sure why.  As long as we're not re-creating the pig's blood scene in Carrie, then I'll behave and wear white. :-)  Can't wait to see everyone this weekend!

Now it's back to work for me as soon as I remove the weekend "rings" from my daisy chain...19 days and counting!!!

So, it's been a while since I put anything on here, so I figured it was about time! From the Maid of Honor's point of view...this stuff is CRAZY!!! Haha! I have been doing so much crafting...card box, thank you cards, coasters, pomander balls, out of town packs, boxes to put in the out of town packs, fold out books with hanging androids in them, and much much more! I have told Vanessa that I am boycotting crafting for the rest of my life once this wedding is over, and I will be sending my kids to her when they want to do arts and crafts projects! Ha! I knew the android idea was going to be cute from the beginning, but I had no idea how involved it was going to be because there is not a lot of android stuff out there for purchase!

But, it really has been fun, and we are getting to the point on the to do list where it says "confirm DJ", "confirm honeymoon reservations", etc! It's a very exciting time.

I do want to say thank goodness for Kat! She has been an absolute life saver in helping me with my maid of honor duties! I live in a 2 bedroom apartment, so I was freaking out about where to have the bridal shower....Kat to the rescue! Kat helped me with everything, crafting, buying, ideas, buying and making food, and then let us use her beautiful home to host the shower! Even Shane stepped in and made our android greeter for the yard, and was our bartender. It was a great shower....if I do say so myself. We themed it black and white...to go along with the wedding...and everyone came in full black and white outfits! Everyone looked so wonderful! We had green drinks to go with the android theme of the wedding (grasshoppers, melon balls, and margaritas) and we even had everyone make an android out of modeling clay and Vanessa got to judge them! Then, to top it all off we had a frozen yogurt (froyo version of android) bar where you took your yogurt and put on the black and white toppings of your choice! Everything and everyone was black and white, food included for the most part! It was beautiful! Pictures to come soon! I would do it myself, but #1 I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off, and #2 I don't know how! hahahaha!

Coming up soon....final dress fitting, final appointment with the venue folks, trial manicures and pedicures, bachelorette party, and all of the various confirmations. I will try to keep hounding Vanessa to put more things on here, cuz I'm sure no one wants to hear from me, but she is so busy, it's tough! At the very least, I will just try to get her to put up a string of pictures of some fo the crafts we have completed!

On Passing Out, Getting Arrested, and Bartenders

Right before I passed out on my alterations lady last night (we'll get to that in a minute), it was brought to my attention that I haven't blogged in a minute.  OK, a month...but I've been a busy girl!  And I say to my ladies in waiting, where are your blogs? ;-)  My mom sort of repels technology (10 points if you caught the Bella reference) so she has an excuse.  The girls have been feverishly working on my bridal shower.  I would love to give you all the juicy details, but they are secretive little things.  I got to work on a craft, but really only because I guilted them into letting me help.  Hey, I really wanted to make those!  Other than that, I don't even have the guest list.  Aside from the few who have told me they are coming, I'll be surprised to even see you there!

So my month hiatus, I've been working on some stuff for our out-of-town guests.  I would do a show-and-tell complete with pics here, but I don't want the recipients to see the contents. (Guess that whole secretive thing is contagious...)  Let's just say that they have a small package of crafted items that welcome them to our fabulous state. I've also been working on survival kits for bridesmaids and groomsmen and I finished my veil.

Last weekend, I wanted to get my crinoline dyed, so I bought some RIT.  Did you know that you have to have a top-load washer to use this stuff unless you do it in the sink or a bucket?  I did not.  Crinoline is way to big to go in a sink, though a 5-gallon bucket could be a possibility.  I thought maybe I would go to Mom's, but then was worried about dyeing the inside of the washer, so we ultimately decided to go to the laundromat.  As you can imagine, laundromats frown on patrons who pour bottles of dye in their washing machines, and in an attempt to not take a trip to the clink, I snuck in with the dye while the lady was out back sweeping and smoking.  I love smokers!  Unfortunately, she was only a one-smoke-at-a-time kind of girl I guess, because she came in right as I was pouring the dye in.  Of course, I had my back turned and my purse blocking my hand from the front desk (and hopefully the cameras) so she was probably staring at me because I made myself look ridiculously suspicious.  The hard part was that you had to wet the fabric before you could put it in with the dyed hot water, so not only was I trying to pour the dye in the machine unnoticed, but I was holding a sopping wet crinoline in my other hand.  Completely normal right?  Mom got there (and being productive, brought a load of laundry with her) and we waited to see the results.  Why did I need to drag my mom out after dinnertime with about 2 minutes of notice to come to the laundromat for this?  I guess I didn't, but it would've been a WAY better story if we'd gotten arrested for vandalism TOGETHER.  To my knowledge, Mom's never been to the clink and neither have I, and I thought we should experience that together.  Or it's possible that I didn't want to be someone's bitch and maybe she'd take one for the team. ;-)  In reality, I just wanted Mom to come hang out with me. LOL

So here I am, not arrested, with blue crinoline.  Yes, I said blue.  Most of you know that the colors of the wedding are black, white, and lime green.  There is NO blue.  Unfortunately, RIT might've mixed a batch of color up, because the bottle I have says green and the crinoline is sky blue.  Very pretty I might add, but clearly not matching.  We'll be repeating this process this weekend, but NOT at the laundromat this time. :-)

Now that we are getting back to the present, we can talk about how GORGEOUS my hair looked yesterday.  Priscilla at Texture Salon did a fantastic job on my hair and it actually stayed through the afternoon and into the evening for a total of 8 hours before the curl fell.  I was IMPRESSED!  We got a glimpse of my "day-of bridal look" when we went to get my bridal gown fitted.  We were having a great time, laughing with Jennifer (my alternations lady), until another bride came in with about 7 people, including 2 kids.  I was already hot in my 17 layers of gown, and the added body heat didn't help.  Talk about sweating profusely!  I was attempting to be very still so she could mark the right hem of the dress and suddenly I got light-headed and swayed a little.  I'd already asked for water and Mom took off to find some, while Charlene stabilized me for a few minutes.  I was in a cold sweat and dizzy and actually had to sit down!  The other bride was measured for a bustle and her bridesmaid was measured for a hem in about 20 minutes and by that time, I was good to go.  I got back up there and finished like a champ.  My dress looks awesome!  I haven't had it on in so long that I almost forgot how totally BEAUTIFUL it is!  I'm so excited and I think Rhys will love it!!!

Well, enough blogging for now.  Going home tonight for some girl time with my MOH and we're banning wedding crafts for the evening.  Charlene will LOVE me for that; her and Kat have been working on "super cool stuff" (I'm told) for the bridal shower tomorrow.  I can't wait to see what they've cooked up for me!  Here's the shower teaser: I heard we have a bartender. (insert raised eyebrows here)

Bottles, Baskets, and Crayons, Oh My!

We've been so busy working on getting the labels off those bottles (and believe me, Cracker Barrel does not want those labels to come off!) along with some of the other items on the "make" list that I haven't had time to blog for a couple weeks.  The bottles are now de-labeled and ready to be labeled with the name of the wines that will go in them.  Mom says this is a horrible idea, because you can tell the difference between drinking it from the bottle fresh rather than drinking from a mini-bottle that was poured the day before.  I say she's a wine snob. :-)  Love you, Mom!!  Seriously, I don't know why I'm obsessed with this whole wine-tasting experience for the out-of-towners, but I'm leaving the uneasily explained, well, unexplained.

Once the bottles were done, I moved on to the kids table centerpiece, which turned out great if I do say so myself. :-)

I'm so glad for my Cricut! Again, thanks Mom! (Christmas gift a few years ago)  It's totally coming in handy for these projects, just wish there was an Android diecut of some kind. LOL  Having to cut all of those by hand though.  The flower girl basket was next up and I finished it over the weekend as well.

Charlene came over last night and we finished the crayons and boxes for the kids activity kits and we now have 3 less things to do on our to-do list.

Sadly, we have an additional 4 things that make now thanks to Wedding Bee.  Don't tell the girls though!  I'm already past the final date when I was supposed to stop adding to the "make" list...

Mini Bottle Mania

As many of you know, Rhys and I took a long weekend in Gatlinburg, Tennessee with his brothers and sister and their spouses.  We had an absolute blast!  Brandon's birthday (we won't mention which one) was this past Monday, so we all took a mini-vacation to celebrate.  We played Cranium and Marcus somehow went straight from amoeba to triceratops when Brandon attempted to sculpt during their turn.  Sounds fishy to me... :-)  We played Euchre, took a ski lift to the top of a mountain (yes, I went as well), relaxed in the hot tub, and went to a murder-mystery dinner.  We all met at the farm and decided on Cracker Barrel for breakfast on Friday morning.  While we were there, a few of us ordered pancakes and an idea was born.  

We had already decided to make some out-of-town packages for those traveling to attend our wedding.  I had the idea to put together a "wine tasting", but wine isn't sold in mini-bottles like liquor is.  I was having trouble finding mini-bottles online even, so we were thinking about canning the idea, but I didn't want to take away all Mom and Charlene's winery trips (a perfect task for the two of them).  Mom talked to Carousel Winery in Bedford and they said they had mini-bottles pre-packaged, but their idea of mini and mine are completely different.  Mom and Sue picked them up last week and I saw them on Sunday.  I was picturing a bottle about 4" in height.  These are mini in comparison to a full bottle of wine, but are about 12"!!!  They won't fit in the packages, but they'll be a great addition and will give them a full 2-3 glasses I think.

So while we were at Cracker Barrel, Stacy and I realized that the mini-bottles of pancake syrup were the perfect size for my "tasting".  We scooped up all the bottles that we'd used and rinsed them out in the bathroom.  When we got back to the table, I mentioned to the waitress that we were collecting them for a wedding project and that if there were any empties, we'd take them.  I love this lady!  She came back with not only about 6 or 7 full bottles of syrup, but also gave me a couple of the little jelly jars.  I'm not sure if we can use these yet, but we may be able to come up with something.  We ended up with 11 jars that morning.

The next morning, we didn't go to breakfast until about 11AM and some of us wanted breakfast and some lunch, so we ended up at...Cracker Barrel again!  Of course, we snagged the couple syrup bottles from our table, but right behind us was the jackpot!  After a table of about 10 people left, Stacy and I went over and grabbed all of the bottles from the table and headed back to the bathroom to rinse them out.  We ended up with 16 that day.  So in all, we had 27 mini-bottles, of which we only needed 25, so our "wine tasting" is on!!

When I went to look for them tonight, we realized that we actually lost the first round.  We think we left them at the cabin, so it's back to Cracker Barrel for us again. :-)

UPDATE: Shalee rescued our other set of bottles!!!  Picking them up on Saturday and will start re-labeling. :-)

Crafty Card Box

My shoes finally came in yesterday, so of course, we bedazzled them last night with my something blue. Since this only took a few minutes and we were feeling productive, we moved on to the card box.  My mom brought this to me over the weekend and it looks AWESOME!  I never could've gotten the corners of the fabric to lay nearly as well as the fabric queen!  It looks like it was store-bought and she even brought a few finishing touches that we hadn't planned on, but were absolutely adorable.  The little flowers are so cute and, to top it off, we had half the package left and that's going into my scrapbook haven.  When I get around to making the wedding album, they'll fit in perfectly!  So we glue-gunned everything on last night, used the Sizzix for some letters, and voila!

I LOVE that he takes my crazy in stride!

As we are nearing October, my obsessive side is coming out.  There are so many things left to do. 103 things to be exact.  Many of those are on my "make" list, which means they take time and that's a luxury most of enough don't have enough of.  Between working and cleaning and laundry and grocery shopping, I'm refereeing fights between the kids, running them here and there, or having "cuddle time".  Breanna just posted a little bit ago the following conversation between the boys:
                                   Cade: "I'm gonna kick your butt!"
                                   Christian: "Oh yeah, say that to my needle!"

Where do these kids come up with this stuff?  Well, we are almost 100 days out with about 100 things left to do, and as my super-optimistic mom says, that's just one thing a day!  Since I know my level of freak out is going to drastically increase in about a month if everything isn't made, I figure I better get on the ball and start working now.  The good news is that I have found my shoes and my veil and I'm awaiting shipment on both.

The vases that will hold the bridal party bouquets are now finished.--Bre's design!!

I also finished the vases for our deceased grandparents that will be going on the altar next us when we say our vows. :-)  Finally found the last vase we needed (I ordered us one less vase than we needed).

The guestbook pages are almost done; if I could just swing by Walgreen's and pick up the photos I need to complete it.  Mom has made great progress on the card box, but no pics yet.  I stopped at Archiver's last night and got some paper and ink to work on cards.  I'm still working on the kids' tables, the out-of-town packages, and the day of "survival" kits.  All this flurry of activity going on and Rhys just kisses me and says, "Relax."  The man can really take my crazy in stride and I love and adore him for that!

Jewelry Update

I found an artist on Etsy and she totally created Android earrings for us!  I am so excited!  She shipped them this morning and I am eagerly awaiting them, but in the meantime, here's a pic:

How flippin cute are these?!?!  I LOVE, LOVE LOVE, THEM!

T - 128 days!!!

Who else thinks that 128 days doesn't sound like very long???  I had a minor freak out on day 130 when I noticed the counter on my phone.  I wanted it on my home screen, but there was no room and now I'm so glad! Thank heavens for the WeatherBug widget that takes up 1/2 my screen!  I opened my to-do list and there are 113 things left to do before the big day.  Mom, being ever so rational, says, "Well that's about one thing each day and some things you can do more than one at a time."  Now the left side of my brain agrees with her and says, "We've got this."  The right, and very creative, side of my brain is simultaneously saying, "That is not near enough time to glass etch champagne glasses with handmade wine tags!

Oh, and what about those cute Swarovski crystal heels I saw and wanted to try my hand at?  

And damn it all to hell, but the there's no way I'll have time to finish the quilling for the marriage certificate in this time frame!"

Yes I'm realize that I'm completely crazy, but I prefer to think of it as an issue of over-creativity without an appropriate outlet.  I want to make EVERYTHING!  And heaven forbid I delegate any of the crafty stuff to my ladies.  It's no fun unless I get to make it. :-)  So Mom and I have decided that we're going to look at it as 4 months away instead of 128 days.  Months make it sound soooo much longer, am I right?  I personally think that she doesn't want to think of it in days, because she is making the bridesmaid dresses, so she's on a time crunch as well.  Either way, I'm going to make a conscious effort to think about the months instead of days from here on.

Album Plus: Our Collaborative Wedding Gallery

Take pictures at the wedding and reception?

Check!

Auto-upload the pictures to an online gallery?

Check!

Visit the site afterward to view the photos and print?

Check!

I came across someone who is creating an app that will allow our wedding guests to check in at the wedding and then as you take pictures during the ceremony and reception, they'll be posted to an online gallery.  Not only do I love this feature because we have many friends with great hi-def cameras on their phones, but we will have a live feed to our gallery during the reception.  We are planning to have a projector that we'll connect to our personal gallery so that our guests will be able to view the pictures as they are being taken.  As a scrapbooker, I love this, because I will have so many candids to crop for the wedding album. So many people take pictures at weddings, but you generally don't get copies of them unless the person taking them wants to forward, and then it's only a few usually.  Instead of having to hunt down all the great photos, we're going to use this new app to gather ours in one place for everyone to view and for me to print!

In my conversations with one of the creators of this app, he mentioned that several people who had contacted him were getting married on 10-01-11.  I explained that we are tech geeks and the reason that we chose it was because it's binary.  I shared our Android wedding plans with him and they have now mentioned us on their blog!  Check it out here: http://blog.albumpl.us/post/5594524569/free-premium-codes-if-your-wedding-is-on

They have an iPhone app already done and Android is coming shortly!  All you have to do is download the app and check in to our location the day of.  We'll make sure everyone has the correct access information prior to the wedding, because we can't wait to see the pictures that you take!

Busy Week(end)

I haven't blogged since last Tuesday, but in my defense, it has been busy around here for the last week.  First, Charlene and I worked on the coasters Tuesday night and finished the final coats.  We are now waiting four weeks for them to cure and then we can put the feet on them and wrap them up.

On Wednesday night, my wonderful SIL, Cara, came up and we attempted to curl my hair...and I mean attempted as in we tried and my hair resisted.  She got the softest, most beautiful curls with a curling iron...and then they were gone in an hour, even though we sprayed the heck out of them.  I know that those stylists have all kinds of secrets, but I figured we could do a half decent job of curling it on our own.

Thursday I worked on our little registry inserts for a little bit, but they take forever to cut out, so they aren't even close to being finished yet.  Pictures to follow.

Over the weekend, I decided to take a stab at making earrings.  I've only made some minor jewelry before, but I love the look of chandelier earrings, so I figured why not.

I gathered up some supplies and I'll be starting to work on those in the next few days in between cutting out more of the registry Androids.

Last night, Kat and I played with my hair again.  She used hot rollers instead of a curling iron and the curls were great, but we decided rather than try to do that the morning of, we should probably hire a professional to just take care of hair and makeup.  Here is the shot from last night next to the pic we were trying to emulate.  How did we do?

158 Days

When I think about how lucky I am to be marrying my best friend, October 1 seems like a lifetime away.  However, when I'm thinking about everything that still needs to be planned/created/measured/altered or otherwise finished before this date, I realize how short a time 158 days really is.  We have planned so much in the last 6 weeks and we have a lot more to go.

We have our rehearsal dinner venue selected and we're working on the menu right now.  Can anyone say pasta bar???  I'm really hoping that they'll work with us on this one, because for some (admittedly very odd reason), I am stuck on a pasta bar.  We have a great one in our building downstairs that Kat and I frequently do not bestow the willpower to resist.  We have lunch there a few times a month and I would love to do it there, but that poses 2 problems: first, they are only open until 2PM, and second, it's downtown (aka there isn't a good place to park).  Our selected location will be...drum roll please...the Painted Hills clubhouse!

Now, some of you are probably wondering where this clubhouse is, but most of our families live in Morgan county and know exactly what I'm talking about.  I have a special place in my heart for the clubhouse, because most of youth was spent there. Rhys and I used to hang out there together when we dated as teenagers, so there's some sentimental value for us.

Next on the agenda, we now have our whole wedding party selected!  We ordered shirts for everyone (pictures to follow), but here is everyone...Androidified!

Introductions to everyone will follow; stay tuned to the blog.  In the meantime, Charlene and I are going to attempt to finish the coasters that we started a few weeks ago.  Tomorrow is going to be dedicated to hair.  Thanks, Cara!

Cake Creations

When we started looking at venues, we came across a well-known cake designer, Mike Terry, who designs for Valle Vista brides.  He was on Ultimate Cake Off in seasons 1 and 2, featured in Slice and American Cake decorating magazine, teaches classes, and has 20 years of experience.  We hit the jackpot!  They have several cakes that are displayed when you tour to give you a better idea of what type of cake you might want.  Then of course, you get do the tasting and decide what it will taste like.  Here are some of the cakes:

I was a fan of the 5-tier black and white cake in the second the best, with the smaller 3-tier black and white in the fourth picture being my second favorite.  I bet you thought that if you read to the bottom of this post, we'd announce our cake.  Sorry, everyone!  You'll have to wait until the reception to see what we picked!

Honeymoon Registry

When we first got engaged, I found a list of things to do on The Knot's website.  There were a million (and on) things to do and as soon as I entered our wedding date, 30% of the list highlighted and a little clock appeared telling me that I was LATE!  We've been playing catch up to get where we are supposed to be and we are almost there, but the registry is one area that we hadn't given much thought to.  We figured that we'd get around to it eventually, but what was the rush?  You don't send out your registry right away anyway, so we were taking our time.  Well, we've heard everyone asking about where we're registering and we weren't sure what to do until my MOH (maid of honor) had a solution.What do you register for after you've combined families and have all the household basics?  A honeymoon!

What is a honeymoon registry?  I had never heard of this before, but when I started researching, I found that they are becoming popular due to the number of blended families these days.  A honeymoon registry is basically the same as registering online for household items, except the items are parts of your honeymoon.  We've decided to go on a cruise through the Western Caribbean and to Central America.  Our honeymoon registry lists our flight, our cruise, shore excursions, etc..  The costs of each are broken down into smaller gifts, so that our guests can gift parts of our honeymoon.  We may not need household items, but we definitely need a honeymoon!

To Updo or To Do Down?

Today's question is the topic of hair.  I agree that it's extremely important to have great hair on your wedding day, but who says it has to be up?  It seems that everyone I know assumed that I'd be doing my hair in some sort of fancy up-do, but I'm thinking about leaving it down.

(Courtesy of Hairstyles for Long Hair)

(Curly Hairstyles Magazine.com)

The only problem with that is that it will get in my face as the afternoon goes on and I'll get irritated as crap pushing it out of my eyes.  So then I came across some half-up-do's that might work.

(Courtesy of HairstylesUp.com)

(Courtesy of Best Celebrity Hairstyles)

(Courtesy of TheKnot.com)

(Courtesy of TheKnot.com)

So I'm not decided yet which style I like best, but maybe I'll play with a few of them.  If I'm lucky, I can get the hair guru (my SIL, Cara) to come up and play with me. (hint, hint)

The Alterations Estimate Has Been Altered

So you know that we originally looked online and found a beautiful dress by Maggie Sottero on WeddingBee, then I found a halter dress that I thought was great, and then we went dress shopping at a brick and mortar store.  I'm a little top heavy for the dress, so they suggested that we have a corset put in when we brought it in to get hemmed since it's a little long for all 5 foot of me.  They quoted us $175 for the alterations, but the price tag on the dress was a little crazy in my opinion, so I went in search of the same dress online.  As you know, I found it online for a few hundred dollars less than the sale price.

Good news!  The dress came on Monday!  I put it on and it's still as beautiful as I remember it.  I went to a store since I was home and the seamstress informed me that it couldn't be done.  When I told her that I already had another estimate and I knew it was possible, she said that it would be easier to just get a different dress.  How rude is that?!  My awesome MOH jokingly offered to burn the shop down.  I declined and instead posted an honest review in response to her extremely rude behavior and inappropriateness.

Today, I called a couple places for a alteration consultation and one shop ballparked me at $400-$500 to put a corset in, hem it, and put a bustle in!  You can imagine my surprise!  I thought this was crazy!  So I went back to David's Bridal, thinking that they were ONLY $175 (previously I had thought this high, but what do I know?)  She informed me that $175 would cover the corset, and then an additional $120 to hem it, then another $35 to put the bustle in.  Grand total: $330.  For alterations.  I never would have know that it would cost that much on top of the dress.  I'm now glad that I didn't purchase the dress for the full price.

I was really ticked off until I thought about paying full price for the dress and then the alterations on top of that.  As it is, I'm still mildly irritated, but my dress after alterations will still be a couple hundred less than the original cost, so I guess I can't complain too much.

Courtesy of My Brother

Gotta love this!  Thanks Ryan!

I am so excited!!! We finally made a decision on the bridesmaid dresses! I will let Vanessa post more about them later, but they are going to be gorgeous and absolutely match the Android theme! Now my mission is going to be to get an Android t-shirt and tote bag so I can have them for anything wedding related that we do, cuz I need to make sure I am always keeping with the theme! :) Stay tuned for pics of the dresses...they will be amazing!

Coasters Galore

We wanted to do something different for favors, but we weren't sure what.  We looked at chocolates, mints, candles, and I even found personalized wine corks.  None of these fit and, of course, I wanted to Androidify them, and that gave me an idea.  I had seen someone who had decoupaged coasters and they looked really neat.  I haven't decoupaged before, but I'm a creative person, so I figured it wouldn't be too hard.  I called my SIL, Sarah, to ask for some advice and she told me what we needed to get.

Mom came over after work and had dinner with me and the kids and then we headed over to look at some fabric we found on Craigslist.  We ended up getting the fabric we needed for the card box, the ring pillow, and the escort card boards.  And all for $20!  What a deal on fabric!

Kat and Charlene came over when we got home and we started the coasters.  Sarah had said that we needed to use a large bottle of Mod Podge and also an acrylic sealer.  The Mod Podge is like a runnier kind of glue.  I had tested the thickness of the paper last weekend with cardstock and we didn't like that at all.  It may have been ok by the time that we put several coats on there, but it was raised a little too much for my taste, so we printed our graphic on regular glossy copy paper.

We started with foam brushes and found that a lot of Mod Podge doesn't work, though the tutorial says apply a thick coat.  We then found that coating the tile, placing the paper on, and then immediately coating over the top doesn't work well, either.  What did work: we put a super thin coat of Mod Podge, centered the graphic, and let it dry.  Then paint the second coat on and the paper doesn't bubble.  Charlene says it's time for a pic and she's right!

So on Tuesday night we made HUGE headway on the wedding favors! They are so cute! Hopefully we will have a picture up soon! It was, BY FAR, the craftiest I have been since I was like 6 years old! LOL! But, despite the fact that I am not very creative and crafty, it was a lot of fun, and a great time with the girls!

I am cracking myself up these days though....I have been telling people about the wedding and of course the staff at the venue knows about it, so now this is "The Droid Wedding" to many people. Now, go figure, it is me, the girl who had no idea that Google did anything except a search engine and email, who is putting my hands on my hips and giving people a dirty look and telling them "It's ANdroid!" hahahaha!

Rehearsal Dinner: Where To Dine

So I'll admit that I'm a bit of a planner...all right, maybe I plan everything...and like to be a teensy bit in control of things in my life.  Fine!  I can be a control freak occasionally, especially when I'm planning one of the biggest events of my life...or even a small family get together.  We are trying to decide on a rehearsal dinner "after party" location.  The bridal party will head over to our venue to do the rehearsal and then when we're done, we want to go out to eat with our immediate families and maybe even have a few drinks.  The problem is that our immediate families combined equate to about 30 people so we need to make a reservation somewhere.  Apparently, chain restaurants don't take reservations anymore and most don't even provide call ahead seating.  His family LOVES the Olive Garden (no wonder we all get along so well!) and so we all head there for lunch/dinner as often as we can.  We love to get the private room, but the wait can be an hour and a half to get back there.  Still, just his family fills that room up.

This morning, Kat made a great suggestion: the pasta bar in the building we work in.  It's like Subway only for pasta and possibly the greatest invention ever for us Italian food lovers!  Brian, the fabulous chef, starts you off with your meats (chicken or shrimp) and then you add all the goodies like green pepper, tomato, olive, mushroom, etc.  Lastly, pasta (tortellini or bowtie) and seasonings (garlic, oregano, etc).  They have a salad bar as well usually with hot and cold pasta dishes and a soup.  I've been here more than 4 years and I never tire of that place.

Most people don't know what a pasta bar is. I stared in confusion the first time the girls asked me to go when I started working here.  It's definitely something different, but they close at 2:00 in the afternoon.  I'm checking to see if they'd open for us, but what other places are out there that can provide reservations?  I'd like to gather a few options for us to decide.

LOL - I showed Andy & Emily a picture of THE dress. After oohing & aweing, they are already envisioning what they will wear and practicing what they will do!

Designer Wedding Gown

SPOILER ALERT: If you want to be surprised or if you are my fiance, stop reading here.

I mean it, Rhys! :)  I love you, but step away from your browser!






We had so much fun dress shopping at David's Bridal!  I brought a "posse" including Diane (my mom), Linda (his mom), Stacy (future sis-in-law), Kat (bridesmaid) and Charlene (maid of honor) came straight from work.  Thanks to everyone for coming! We checked in, got our consultant (Sarah), and started looking at dresses.  I am a little top heavy, so I was looking for something with straps, possibly a halter.  I figured strapless would be hard to keep up, based on my past experience.  Sarah pulled out one with tulle and I immediately said no tulle.  We looked at sleeves and I decided definitely not.  We looked at cream-colored dresses, and I quickly became a huge fan of white. I had 2 dresses in mind when we went in, one that they carried and one that I had a picture of and was hoping they had something similar.  They had the first dress and they had something similar to the second one, with red embroidery instead of black.  Yes, I said black...on a wedding gown.  Relax!  It was just some embroidery and it was soooo pretty!  We pulled out several dresses and started trying them on.  Here are a few:

A beautiful strapless white gown with red flowers embroidered on the bodice that I really wish they would have had in black,

A strapless gown with pickups and a REALLY long train,

A cap sleeve lacy gown that made me say no sleeves at all,

and a halter that I didn't even take a picture of because I walked out of the dressing room, took one look, and said "Uh uh."  Cricket, cricket.  Everyone was completely silent. We all knew that wasn't the one.  When I came in, I said probably not strapless and definitely no tulle.  Several dresses and a couple hours later, it turns out that THE dress is an Oleg Cassini designer gown that is strapless and is an organza ball gown, meaning that it has lots of tulle.

In my defense, the tulle has lots of embroidery on it and I sort of feel like Cinderella in it. :-)  Of course, designer gowns have designer price tags and it has to be altered as well.  The dress was on sale, but by the time alterations were added in, we'd be right back up there.  I decided to look around online to see if I could find the gown for a better price since I want an awesome wedding dress, but since I AM only wearing it for 5 hours...well, you know what I mean.

I found someone in Georgia selling the exact same dress, new with tags, because her wedding was called off. I almost did a dance when I saw this!  Not that her wedding was called off, but that I had found the dress for a few hundred dollars less than the regular price.  Then I emailed her and negotiated a little and got the dress a couple hundred more!  I paid her yesterday and she's shipping it as soon as PayPal deposits the money.  I'll breathe again when I have it in hand.

Dress Shopping

It's time to go dress shopping tomorrow night and I'm so excited!  I don't really consider myself a super girlie-girl when it comes to stuff like this, but I've been looking at dresses for days and I can't wait to start trying a few on. There are so many styles, but empire and A-lines are looking like my style.  Definitely going with white and flow-y, but past that, I don't have a clue, but it's going to be a blast!  We're looking at tea-length bridesmaid dress since it's an afternoon wedding, and longer dress feel a little too formal.  A girlfriend of mine who got married 2 years ago turned us on to a street in Cincinnati with several bridal shops all on one street.  Benson St holds 5 bridal stores and a lingerie shop.  All are on the same block so we might have to take a road trip if we can't find what we're looking for here.  This is the dress I have my eye on.

And the bridesmaid dresses...