My Mom is the bomb

If I haven't told you already, my mom is awesome. She has already finished my junior bridesmaid's dress. Once the wedding is over, I plan on lots of sewing lessons with her! I can't wait to see all three together. I think the color is going to pop in the pictures, especially with bright flowers. I am SO glad I decided not to go with those dresses I found at target that I posted here. We are right at t-minus three months!

p.s. that is my dress in the background, but I think its covered enough that you can't tell what it looks like. I'm still keeping it under wraps.

Ugh

So, Chapel Dulcinea is out. I talked to my photographer and the time slots they have available for portraits are 1-3pm (which is too bright) and 6-8pm (too dark). He is afraid I will sweat (which I would) in the middle of the afternoon and we'd miss sunset if we waited until 6. I also got my sky lanterns in the mail. Apparently, I didn't read the whole ebay listing. The long and short of it is that they are turquoise blue. I mean, they do match my wedding colors, but isn't quite the look I was going for. I'm still going to try one out and see what we can do with them.

We have an open house for Clay's house tomorrow. Its a little tense since we close on the new house on Tuesday. I really hope it goes well tmmw and we get lots of traffic. I can't wait to move next week. We did the final walk through this past Wednesday and its gonna be great!

So you're sayin' there's a chance

So, it won't be long before its time to do the bridal portraits. In fact, they are scheduled for February 18th unless the place where I'd like to do them in unavailable. I had originally looked at this place for a reception venue, but there aren't many amenities which would make my rental bill skyrocket. However, it is free to use and would make for a really pretty backdrop. Its called Chapel Dulcinea. The weird part...its supposedly a wizard academy. I'm okay with it, its not like we are having our ceremony there. Anywhoo, I think there is a chance I can still use the sky lanterns if I do it here because its so out in the open. And, for $12, they will light all the gas lanterns in the chapel for that day. Here are a couple of pictures.



This week should be full of goodies in the mail. I ordered my earrings from Etsy, my bridesmaids earrings, and the send off goods for the reception. Quite exciting!

Shot Down

My mom found a great new send off idea the other day. Instead of doing sparklers, we are having something else (I'm leaving that out for now). They do light up, but I'll share once the wedding is over. For an added bonus, she found these things called sky lanterns. They are chinese rice paper mini hot air balloon type things. They have a small fuel cell that once lit, causes just enough heat for them to rise. They are 100% biodegradable and just beautiful. I found them on Ebay for the cheapest price and lowest shipping. I ordered 20 so we could test a couple. After the fact, my mom suggested checking with House on the Hill to see if they were cool with it. I got an email back that said they looked at the website and considered them to be hazardous to their property. Ugh. Shot down. Oh well, I only spent about $30, so its not a huge loss. I told my mom we'd use them at her house at the next family function for fun. It is a cool idea, just remember to check with your venue first...
p.s. sorry for the lack of posting, things are crazier than ever!

We got a date!

We got notification today from the mortgage company that we will be closing on the new house on January 26th. So exciting!! I drove by today and they put in all the landscaping and fixed the driveway where it cracked. I also took a pic of the kitchen without the paper covering the tile. They did put the appliances in last week but I didn't get a chance to take pics then.

Lots of checks on the to do list

I went over to my mom's house on New Years Day. We were going to have a bonafide productive day. The last couple of times we've tried that, we just end up chatting about stuff and not doing it (maybe it had something to do with wine consumption...). Anywhoo, after some discussion, we decided it would look best to hand write the addresses on the reply cards too. I'm so glad I only had 75 invites! The assembling and stuffing took the longest. It took me forever to get that stinkin' bow to lay right. This is not one of the times that being borderline OCD is in my favor. "Santa" bought me a sweet embosser that I used to emboss the cocktail napkins. They made them look so much fancier. Who knows what I'll emboss after the wedding! We also looked over the list of things that I still need to buy. That weekend was full of New Years Day sales. All the candles at Hobby Lobby were half off. My mom had gotten all the votives there. If you live in a town that has Hobby Lobby, this is the cheapest place for votives. They have 12 votives in glass holders for $4.99! The 2x2 1/2 pillars for my mason jars were only about 75 cents too. I cleaned them out! I also needed frames for all my cake tables and posterboard table. Michaels had all their frames at half off, so I knocked all those out too. I also went to the crazy lady's junk store off Burnet Rd (she has some good junk) and got the two old pieces of china to turn into centerpieces.

The best part of New Years Day was trying on my dress. My mom had it about 90% done. I am in love with it. I wish I could wear it after the wedding! She figured out a bustle that would still keep the mermaid like sillouette. I ordered my earrings off Etsy and they should be in sometime this week. I can't wait to see everything together. My shoes still need a little breaking in, so I wear them around the house when I'm cleaning. It takes cleaning to a whole new level in 4 1/2 inch heels.

We also did a tasting with the caterer. We made a few changes, but I think the end result is going to be great. They made the best beef tenderloin ever. It was soo good. I originally had grilled fruit screwers with balsamic glaze on the menu. But, they do tastings for a reason. There was just something about it that didn't agree with me. So instead, she is making a fruit and prosecco terrine. Its like a wine jello! I love wine, and I love jello so its perfect. They make for a really pretty presentation too.

My grandpa has agreed to let us to have the rehearsal dinner at his house. He is so sweet to let us do that. My mom's house was too far out from the church and if we had it at the venue, then we'd have to worry about renting tables, linens, chairs, etc and get them there for that night. We are keeping the dinner VERY small. Time is of the essence and I have to get over to House on the Hill that night and start getting ready for the next day (unfluffing a bazillion tissue poms, setting up tables inside, etc.) I just don't see any reason to have an extravagant rehearsal dinner when you will have the big reception the next day.

I can't believe January is basically half way over. Where are the days going lately?!?!? We're about three and a half months away already. It makes my stomach hurt as I type! I do feel better after getting so much accomplished. I love making the big checkmarks on the to do list.