The Tightwad is Tying the Knot

Finally, Pictures of the Big Day

2010-12-09T06:58:00.000-08:00

Head on over to my new blog, Everyday Ellis and check out a rundown of our big day. Sorry it took so long to post!

Making the Jump

2010-05-12T08:59:00.000-07:00

I officially changed my name at the social security office. I don't know what it is about government offices, but it never fails.

Screaming baby- check

Some guy hacking behind me and not covering his mouth -check

Being there an hour longer than expected-check

Feeling like I won the lottery when they finally called my name -BIG check!

Geez, two hours later, I finally got to get my new card processed. Apparently, you can call and make an appointment so you don't have to wait. Just a little hint, call ahead and schedule a time! You can also go to http://www.missnowmrs.com/ and fill out all the forms you will need to do a complete name change.

So, since the wedding is over, its time to move on from this blog. I will come back and post if my wedding gets picked up by any publication and if it doesn't anytime soon, I will post all the pics from my photog. Until, I'm on to my new blog, Everyday Ellis. I'll post all the new recipes I try, projects around the house, my latest attempts at sewing, and anything else I feel like needs posting. Its not ready yet, but I'm sure it will be up and running in the next week.

The last recipe from the wedding weekend

2010-05-04T06:34:00.000-07:00

This is the breakfast casserole my mom made for Saturday morning.

Chile-Cheese Brunch Casserole
Active Time: 35 Minutes
Total Time: 1 Hour 20 Minutes
Yield: 12 servings

Zesty and cheesy, this casserole is easy to make ahead of time for entertaining.Make Ahead Tip: The casserole will keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Reheat before serving.

RECIPE INGREDIENTS
6 corn tortillas
4 large eggs
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 large egg whites or 1/4 cup dried egg whites reconstituted according to package directions
2 16-ounce containers low-fat cottage cheese
2 1/2 cups shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese
4 4-ounce cans chopped mild green chiles
1 cup prepared tomato salsa

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
Toast tortillas: place one at a time directly on a burner (gas or electric) set at medium heat. Toast, turning frequently with tongs, until golden, 30 to 60 seconds. Cut tortillas into 1-inch-wide strips.
Whisk 2 whole eggs in a large bowl until foamy. Add flour, baking powder and salt; whisk until smooth. Add remaining 2 whole eggs and egg whites and whisk until smooth. Add cottage cheese, Cheddar cheese, chiles and tortilla strips and mix with a rubber spatula. Pour into the prepared baking dish.
Bake the casserole until set in the center and golden on top, 40 to 50 minutes. Let cool for 5 to 10 minutes. Cut into squares. Serve with salsa.

Crafty women can be hotties too

2010-05-03T14:23:00.001-07:00

Did you know Martha Stewart had a brief stint as a model? Geez, really, is there anything Martha can't do? Sigh...

Recipes from the wedding, continued...

2010-05-02T18:31:00.001-07:00

Cherry Cheesecake Bites
1 bar of neufchatel cheese or low fat cream cheese
1 regular size tub of Cool Whip
graham cracker crumbs
salted butter
Splenda for Baking
Topping of your choice-we used no sugar cherry pie pilling and canned cherries

Sorry, this is another one I don't measure. It all depends on if you are making a full size pie (in which, you can actually buy a shortbread or graham cracker crust already made) or cupcake size individual pies. Combine graham cracker crumbs, a little splenda, and enough melted butter for the crumbs to hold together. Press on the bottom of whatever baking dish you decide (if you do cupcake size, make sure to use cupcake liners) and bake for about 10 minutes at 350F. While the crust is baking, combine the cream cheese, cool whip, and a little splenda. Beat with a mixer until all mixed and smooth. Since we did ours in cupcake sized pies, we piped in the mixture into the cups with a big icing tip. If you are doing a whole pie, you can just dump the mixture into the cooled crust and make a well in the middle for the filling. You can put whatever filling on top that you like. We've used blueberry pie filling as well. Since I don't like really sticky filling, I added the canned cherries to cut down the thickness and they turned out great.

Cake Balls from the reception
1 box of cake mix, whatever you prefer including ingredients it calls for
1 small tub of frosting (whatever coordinates with the cake you choose)
1 box of almond bark
double boiler
skewers
Bake the cake according to the directions on the box. We also did a homemade blackberry cobbler since that is Clay's favorite dessert so use your imagination. Let the cake/cobbler cool after baking. Cut off any edges that get overcooked and are hard. Crumble the cake in a large bowl and mix with the frosting. I found that it is a better consistency to roll into balls if you only use half a tub of icing, otherwise it gets too runny and the balls will crack much easier. Let the cake/frosting mixture cool in the fridge for about 2 hrs. Once cooled completely, remove from fridge and roll into balls about the size of golf balls and place on a baking sheet. Once the sheet is full, place into the freezer for at least six hours. At this stage, you can freeze and put in a ziploc bag for a month before dipping them in almond bark. When you are ready to dip, remove from the fridge a few at a time. If you take out too many, they wil start to thaw and get pieces in your almond bark. Place about six pieces of almond bark into a double boiler to melt. Skewer a cake and dip completely into the bark. Move the ball around as it somewhat hardens so that it doesn't drip. We had a long piece of styrofoam to put the skewers in as the balls dried completley. If you don't have one, you can also use a big tub of rice to stick them in until they dry. If you are doing cobbler balls, the juice will drip out of the skewer hole, so you need to go back and add a little bark to close it completley. Once dry, you can refrigerate for a week or freeze for months. If you freeze them, let them thaw a bit in the fridge before serving. When my mom told me there was a ton of my wedding cake leftover, I joked that we should have made cake balls out of it!

Cottage Cheese Pancakes
I didn't make these last weekend, but we talked about them. Soo easy to make and super healthy.
1 cup of oatmeal
1 cup of lowfat cottage cheese
1 dash of vanilla extract
4 egg whites
2-3 tablespoons of vanilla protein powder (I use Lean Body)
Combine everything into a blender and blend until smooth. If the mixture is too runny, I add a little more protein powder just like you would flour in normal pancake mix. Pour onto a hot skilllet sprayed with a little Pam Baking spray. Once cooked, I like to cover a short stack with chopped fruit (bananas, strawberries, etc) and a little sugar free syrup. Yum!

Mom, I'm not sure I still have the link to your breakfast casserole. Could you please add it in a comment or send it to me and I will post? Love you!

Recipes from the Rehearsal Dinner

2010-04-28T14:47:00.000-07:00

Per the request of many, here are the recipes from the rehearsal dinner last Friday:

Clean Eating Spaghetti and Turkey Meatballs

The hard thing is that I don't measure spices anymore so these are an estimate:

1 lb of ground 93/7 turkey

1 cup of whole wheat breadcrumbs

1 whole egg

2 heaping tbsp of finely chopped fresh parsley

2 heaping tbsp of finely chopped fresh oregano

2 heaping tbsp of finely chopped fresh basil

3 cloves of garlic finely chopped

1 tbsp of dried minced onions

fresh ground pepper and sea salt (I like mine a little heavy on the pepper)

for those that like a little spice, add a heavy dash of dried red pepper flakes

spaghetti sauce of your choice

grated parmesan finely chopped- this is up to you, I like about 1/4 cu. in my mix (plus you can use less salt with more cheese

Whole wheat pasta of your choice

Optional- sliced mushrooms

marinated artichoke hearts

Preheat the oven to 400F. Combine all the ingredients until completely mixed. Roll into roughly 1" balls. Bake for 10-12 minutes (until they are brown). Its okay if they are not completely cooked through, they cook the rest of the way when you simmer them with the sauce. I like mushrooms and marinated artichoke hearts in my sauce. If you do as well, slice white mushrooms and cut up the artichoke hearts and cook a bit in a big pot with a little olive oil. Add the spaghetti sauce to the shrooms and hearts and add the meatballs. Cover with a lid and let simmer for about 20 minutes. Boil a big pot of water and cook the pasta. Spoon meatballs and sauce over noodles and enjoy!

Caprese Salad

1 ball of fresh mozzarella

1 bunch of really good (farmers market if available) tomatoes

1 bunch of basil

1 cup of balsamic vinegar

fresh ground black pepper

Slice the tomatoes and mozzarella. Layer on individual plates or on a platter with the basil. You can arrange them however you like but here is an idea:

Boil the cup of balsamic down until its about 1/2 cu and drizzle over the salad. Top with fresh ground pepper and there you have it. Pretty easy!

Registry Must Haves

2010-04-28T14:24:00.000-07:00

So far, there are three things that have really wowed me as far as performance goes in regards to wedding gifts. If you don't personally know me, I am an OCD clean freak. I love the smell of Pinesol and stock up on cleaning products with every trip to Costco. So, as far as cleaning, here are my top picks:

1. The Shark Navigator vacuum- I have no words. Actually, I do, that's why I blog. This thing is amazing. Its lightweight and like the Dyson, doesn't lose suction. I just thought my carpets were clean, but with two small black haired dogs...its a constant battle. The worst is our microfiber sofa. Microfiber is great when it comes to getting stains out, but horrible with dog hair. It holds it in for dear life. The only way I've been able to get hair off so far is with roll upon roll of lint roller sheets. This vacuum has a pet attachment. Its a smaller little vacuum head that has a lint brush on it and the bristles that go about a hundred miles a minute. It got all the hair off my couch with little effort! I was amazed. The only downside is that the size of the actual vacuum head is smaller than normal, so you don't cover as much area with each pass of the vacuum and the dirt canister is rather small as well, but I still think its awesome. Since its only 15 lbs, it makes it really easy to maneuver too.

2. The Shark Pocket Steam mop. I have lots of tile in the house and I only thought it was clean until I swiped it over with this baby. The steam really gets in there and cleans deep down. You can actually feel the difference when you walk on the floors in bare feet. The extra long cord makes it easy to cover large areas without having to unplug it and re-plug somewhere else. Love it!

3. This one is actually just a side note for all you coffee drinkers. Clay and I went this week to get the cappucino machine that was on our registry. He is a coffee fanatic. I like the occassional latte, but not like he does. One, I think its stupid for him to go buy his cafe mochas and spend tons of money on it each week and two, there is a side useage for us new brides with sparkly rings we'd like to keep that way. When we were ring shopping a couple of months ago, the jeweler had cleaned my engagement ring and it looked so much better. At the jewelers, they use steam to get in all the cracks and crevices. You can do the same thing at home with the steamer on a cappucino machine. Just hold your ring under the steam with some tongs and blast away. My ring looked so much better after I tried it yesterday!

Introducing Mrs. Clay Ellis

2010-04-26T19:25:00.000-07:00

So we did it! Finally, after 14 months of planning, our big day came...and went. It was so surreal how fast that last week went. The rehearsal dinner went great (as requested, recipes will be posted soon). It was small and informal, but I loved it. My aunts, cousins, and maid of honor stayed with me at the venue Friday night so we could try to set up some of the tables and poof out the 50 tissue paper poms. We called it a night around 11:30p and braced for the storm. And what a storm it was. The wind and lightning were enough to make me jump outta bed. Then there was some huge tarp on top of the water tower that flapped so hard that it sounded like horses running on the roof. Needless to say, we didn't get a great night's sleep. Saturday was quite the whirlwind. Everything went without a hitch except...
Our venue's septic system either overflowed or was running over. The whole place had waves of septic gas breeze through just as our guests were eating dinner!! It was like someone had lit a pile of rotten eggs on fire. I was mortified. Clay is calling the owner today to work something out. We had guests leave!! If that hadn't happened, I could have honestly said that we had ZERO problems. Its so annoying to think that I busted my butt for 14 months and because they didn't pump the system, it was ruined. Oh well, I think we all still had a great time. Something is always going to happen, but that was a big one.
Here are a couple of things to consider on your wedding day and even before:
1. Make sure that if your venue is on septic, insist that they have the system pumped the week of your event.
2. When deciding on decor, incorporate things that you will use again in your home. I will post pics of this shortly. Our apothecary jars are now candle holders, the moss balls are on top of the cabinets, etc.
3. The framed picture as our guestbook was a huge hit. Now, instead of a book collecting dust somewhere, we have a nice framed picture with all our well wishings on the wall to see every time we walk by.
4. Think outside the box. I really liked the way that almost none of the centerpieces were the same. If they all have a little something that ties them together (in our case, lemons and moss), it works without looking so formal.
5. Cake balls were a ton of work. There were many nights that I cursed the day that I thought they would be a good idea. It was worth it. Everyone loved them and it was something different.
6. If you can provide your own alcohol at your venue, do it. It may be stressful wondering if you have gotten enough, but in our case we had a ton left over. Now our bar is fully stocked for our next party!
7. This is a bit of advice I got from my cousin. Stay with your new spouse at the reception as much as you can. You will get pulled in different directions a million times. She told me its so bad, you might as well hold hands or join arms if you can. Even though I got this advice before the wedding and kept it in mind, it still happened. We got separated way more than we should have.
8. Another tidbit for the reception...EAT! We had dinner really early in the night and then we were starving by the time we got to the hotel. Thank goodness we made it in time to get room service! If you can, have your caterer box up a to go box to take with you when you leave.

I am submitting my wedding to a couple of big sites, but it want a sneak peek of some pictures, there are plenty on my Facebook page.

April Showers

2010-04-18T06:09:00.000-07:00

We are down to t-minus 7 days. I've been checking the weather like a freak as soon as the 10 day forecast was available on weather.com. This time of year is so unpredictable. It poured down rain at my house all day yesterday. All I could picture was my 50 tissue paper poms turning to mush in a storm next weekend. However, it looks like my prayers worked. There is a chance of rain everyday this week...until Saturday! It supposed to be a high of 82 with no chance of rain. I hope it stays that way. I'm so relieved. I really wanted the reception outside and it looks like its going to happen. Karma is finally cooperating. I'm really ready to have a day/night that I'm not up doing wedding projects. Good news is that most of them are done. I have ten more poms to do and about 30 cake balls to dip. Other than that, the rest can't be done until later this week.
Tressa and Paige threw me a bachelorette spa party Friday night. Robin came and did facials and massages for us. I have a major phobia of people touching my face, but after a few glasses of wine, it didn't bother me. She used all natural products that worked wonders. We all looked fresh faced and very exfoliated afterwards. I'm pretty sure I need to get a few massages after the wedding. The knots in my back are ridiculous.
I woke up really early this morning and the to do list started running through my head. Needless to say, I couldn't go back to sleep. I'm getting as much done as I can before Clay gets back home. He's been in Africa for two weeks and gets back on Tuesday. I'm so ready for him to be here and not having to worry about if he makes it back in time! I still can't believe the day is finally going to be here this week!

Shower Time

2010-04-12T09:02:00.000-07:00

I had my bridal shower about six weeks ago hosted by my maid of honor, Tressa, and her mother, Sylva. Since I am HORRIBLE when it comes to taking pictures, I had to wait to get some from Tressa. Can you tell I had mystic tanned that morning? The scary thing is that I just kept getting darker the rest of that day!
Here is Sylva, Tressa, me, my mom:

Delicious buffet complete with quiches, great cheese, fruit, and stuffed mushrooms caps

The carrot cake was to die for! It was washed down nicely with mimosas

I had a very productive weekend. However, I'm pretty sure my dogs are really tired of me ignoring them in order to make tissue paper poms and moss balls. Ugh...moss balls. If I ever have to handmake another freaking moss ball, it will be too soon. What a mess. They are super cute though. I'm to the point that I'm really tired of looking at wedding stuff. My old room at my mom's house has been overtaken with stuff from various weddings as well. I think we are both ready for a clean sweep in a couple of weeks!

Mini Meltdown

2010-04-09T07:33:00.000-07:00

This week has been full of mini meltdowns. I think the thought of my wedding being in about two weeks is really starting to freak me out. Not the getting married part, I mean please, we've been together for almost 7 sevens years, its the getting everything done part. My mom nailed it when she said its because I thought I was so prepared and now all the little stuff is starting to snowball. Clay is gone now and won't be back until four days before the wedding. I miss him tons but I will have lots of time to get it all my projects done. The worst was yesterday. I called Central Market to order my cake. Most brides would say, "what?!", because again my wedding is only two weeks away. Well, when I talked to CM months ago, they told me to give them two weeks lead time and it would be fine. They didn't tell me that they only do one wedding cake a weekend. So when I called, they said they were booked for the 24th. I could feel the rush of panic come over me. I cried...over cake. Ugh, I never thought I'd be one of those brides that cried over stupid stuff. I think it was just a moment of bring overwhelmed. I called a ton of bakeries and they were either booked or wanted to charge me the cost of a kidney to do the cake. My cake stand is 14" and I was convinced that a 14" bottom tiered cake wouldn't work. Even Paige, my friend and coordinator, said we could put flowers around the bottom but in my panic haze I didn't listen. After talking to my mom (mom's are magical, aren't they?) she said that it would be fine since my cake stand sits up on legs if the bottom had flowers all the way around the bottom. So, I called HEB and ordered my three tier cake. Its still about double of what CM would have been, but at this point, I didn't care. I should have done this a long time ago. Check it off the list. I mystic tanned last night hoping to camoflouge some of my stress blemishes. For some reason, waking up with a tropical glow puts a smile on my face. I will be quite the weekend wedding warrior so that by next week I won't feel like I want to throw up all the time!

Wedding Weekend

2010-03-28T17:56:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my sister's wedding. It was beautiful weather here in Austin. The reception was on a boat that goes up and down Lady Bird Lake. We went under the bridges just as all the bats came out. It was pretty cool timing. No major catostrophes and overall a really smooth wedding. I'll have to get pics from some of my family to post. I'm horrible at taking pictures. I must say that my Bump It was a big success again and made for easy bridesmaid hair. You just stick that sucker in and BAM, its basically done.

I figured today that I wouldn't be in the mood for wedding what nots, but we're on borrowed time since Clay leaves for safari in a week and doesn't get back until four days before the wedding. He also got a contract on his house last week and they want to close two days before the wedding. It will be madness. We picked up my wedding band today before he left for Dallas for some meetings so at least that is checked off the list. We'll also go to the county office this week to do the marriage license. After he left, I got started on projects. First, I did the wine cork labels for the food tables:

Then, I cranked out a handful of tissue poms. I'm done poofing them out ahead of time. The rest, I'll just fold and cut and poof out at the venue so they don't get squished. As long as it doesn't rain at the reception, these will be hanging in all the trees

Here is the latest on the candy buffet. I haven't filled up the gummy bear jars yet since I think they'll get funky if I leave them out. I just wanted to get an idea of how its coming together. I do think I need a tone on tone patterned table cloth for this table or a solid color instead of white to keep it bright. The lollipop trees will also have clear rock candy stuck in there as well to fill them up.

Here are my little antique wedding people on the cake topper. She has a veil too, but I'll put it on when its actually at the venue.

Here is a full shot that includes the big monogram my grandpa crafted for me. After the wedding, it will don the shelves in my craft room. I love it. I think it will make for a great back drop. The desk is my little craigslist find that I got for $50. After a little paint and new knobs, it turned out pretty good. It'll make for a great sewing desk once I get all the wedding stuff moved out.

On top of the craziness, we are dog sitting for a friend that has a cockapoo named Penelope. I don't think they have stopped playing for two days. Her and Ruby have been running laps around the house and yard all day. Bruiser just steals her toys and steers clear of the girls.

Layer Cake Shop

2010-03-25T12:18:00.000-07:00

If you haven't seen this website, you are missing out! Layer Cake Shop has the cutest baking supplies ever. They have a great assortment of baking cups, flavoring oils, and cupcake toppers. I love all of their vintage inspired cupcake picks. They are so cute. For my rehearsal dinner, I'm doing individual cherry cheesecake pies so I ordered these cups:

I also ordered some flavoring oil in champagne and orange. I'm going to try to make champagne cupcakes for something. I don't know for what in particular, but it sounds really good. They also have cute colored printable labels for all you DIY brides.

Wedding Swirl and Curl

2010-03-24T09:51:00.000-07:00

When I was little, my sister and I used to have "swirl and curl, a.k.a makeover" with my Grandma Heckmann and anyone else that would let us. My uncle used even let me hairspray his beard! Apparently, letting go of giving makeovers is as hard as giving up the Caboodle. So, after my bridal shower, I went back to my mom's house where after a "little" wine, I started doing makeovers. Gracie (my goddaughter, cousin, and junior bridesmaid) got it first. Poor thing had her brows plucked for the first time.
*Gracie, I know you read this, so just know I did it out of love my little grasshopper.

Then, came my mom. Good thing my uncle was there to capture the shananigans with his iPhone. Click here to see my Facebook page where the videos are posted. Always lots of laughs when we get together.
p.s. and yes, that is my blue Caboodle in the video. I don't think I'll ever get rid of it...

Update

2010-03-24T06:50:00.000-07:00

Geez, another two weeks have gone by without a post. There has just been so much going on. It's like Christmas almost everyday I go home with all the packages of wedding stuff that is waitin on the doorstep. We have gotten so many big checks marked on the 'ole to do list. I still have quite a few craft projects to do but Clay leaves on safari in a week and a half so I will have two weeks of quiet to get lots knocked out. We found wedding bands, which was huge victory. He went for a ring by a designer named Konstantino. Its really different. It has a cross design on one side, and onyx on the other. For me, we found a band to match my engagement ring perfectly and it will be here on Friday since they didn't have it in stock.

I had my bridal shower on 13th hosted by my bestfriend and MOH, Tressa, and her mother. It was great. She is going to send me pics so I can post them. I did, however, find out that day that the new Mystic Tan formulas are way different now. I spray tanned that morning and just kept getting darker all day. I looked like Malibu Barbie by that night...and not in a good way. Obviously, I do not need to add a bronzer to the new formula! Good thing I did a test run before the big day. Wouldn't want to look like Anne Hathaway in Bride Wars:

I did decide on the rehearsal dinner decor. I wanted something that tied into the wedding colors, but didn't want to match it. So, I'm going with the red and turquoise as my color scheme. I found white cloth napkins for cheap at Target. I'm going to tie them with turqouise grosgrain ribbon that has a white hemstitch on it and secure a little fake bright cherry to it. It sounds corny, but I think it will be cute a whimsical. I ordered bright turquoise tablecloths and will put white bud vases down the middle with red ranunculas. For dessert, I'm making individual cherry cheesecake pies in red polka dotted cupcake cups. I think it will all come together nicely. Dinner will be short and sweet since there is a herd of us going to the venue that night to start setting up. Here are some pics from Martha Stewart of the same color scheme:

TODAY OFFICIALLY MARKS T-MINUS 1 MONTH!!

Great

2010-03-10T12:28:00.000-08:00

I guess I'm feeling "bloggy" today or something. I went home for lunch and stepped upon a package on the front doorstep. It's my candy buffet candy! I'm not sure if it was a good idea to order it so far in advance, but I wanted to make I got enough. I have a SERIOUS addicition to anything fruit flavored when it comes to candy. Gummy bears are my enemy. I'm just glad they are wrapped in big bags so it would have to be a really bad day for me to want to rip those babies open. Now I have to stare at this mound of goodness for the next six weeks.

However, I was happy with the mini lollipops. The color is perfect and I love the white swirls. I think they will look great on my lollipop trees that I showed you in this post. Here they are up close:

I also finished the cake topper a couple of nights ago. I'm not sure if I mentioned it, but my cake topper people are antiques that my mom found on Etsy. They are pretty little, so I wanted to make a unique topper that gave them some kind of backdrop. I'll post another pic when I get them secured to the base, but here is the main part:

Its been awhile...

2010-03-10T06:55:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I haven't had a post in almost two weeks! There has been so much going on lately. It seems like every night and every weekend is full of errands to run, things to mail, places to go, and rsvps to log in. The responses are starting to come in. Looks like it will be quite a party! We are down to the nitty gritty. We getting balances paid, rentals done, and final charts made. My grandpa made a huge wood monogram for the candy buffet that turned out so great. I love it. It will don the shelves of my craft room after the wedding. I got the proofs back from my bridal portraits and I'm really happy with the way they turned out. Since most of you have seen my shoes (and tried on by a certain junior bridesmaid), I'll give you one bridal pic sneak peek.

Picture Time

2010-02-25T06:18:00.000-08:00

Yesterday afternoon was my bridal portrait session at Mansion on Judges Hill. I was a little worried that we wouldn't be able to do them since Austin experienced the most snow on Tuesday that I've ever seen and I've lived here just about my whole life. Gotta love Texas weather. It was almost 80 degrees on Sunday and then out of nowhere, 4 inches of snow and sleet two days later! Other than still being a little chilly in the shade, the weather was gorgeous for the pictures. The sun was out and not a cloud in the sky. I loved that I got to see the dress with the veil, the shoes, and jewelry. Everytime that I've tried my dress on at my mom's house, I'm usually looking a bit rough so it was great to see the full effect. I didn't have much time to do my hair but it looked okay and at least I know that its going to take me a bit longer than I thought for the wedding. We also realized that my veil is going to need a little reinforcement in order to stay on. Its sooo long and I think if I don't get another kind of clip or clasp, I'll lose it halfway down the aisle. Overall, I think the session went great and I can't wait to see the pictures.
on a side note... yesterday was t-minus 2 months. Its coming quick!

Smashbox

2010-02-24T06:34:00.000-08:00

So, I get made fun of a lot for being so "thrifty." At the last wedding I was in, I was basically chastised for still using a Caboodle and for all the grocery store makeup it carries. I will defend my Caboodle, but I have to admit that I am cheap when it comes to makeup. The sad thing is, I had two Caboodles up until about a month ago. The one I finally retired to Goodwill had to be at least from 1988. It was the most organized first aid kit in the world but pretty beat up. Anyway, since I am taking my bridal portraits today, I decided to go to Ulta last weekend and pick up some fancy makeup. I mean, can it make that much of a difference? I couldn't bring myself to splurge on a ton of full size products until I figured out which ones I liked. I found this set of Smashbox goodies and decided it was worth a shot. I was most eager to try the photo finish foundation primer. Its supposed to zap all shine and absorb any and all greasiness for a matte finish. This stuff is a miracle. It gave my bare skin a great base for applying my makeup. The lip gloss is good, but I wouldn't say its better than anything I can get at a drugstore. The blush is a great natural color but again, nothing spectacular. The eyeshadows did show up really well which I have to admit is a big difference. With drugstore brands, it usually takes a cream shadow or a heavy hand with regular eyeshadow for it to really show up, especially in pictures.

Silver paper...pretty-yes, practical-not so much

2010-02-18T08:03:00.000-08:00

I LOVE how my invitations turned out. I think I got the right fonts to work just right and all the details turned out great. Then it came time to address them. The envelopes are really shiny metallic silver. I thought, no big deal, any black pen should work, right? Wrong. I tried everything I could find in my house. I had rollerball pens, fine tip sharpies, ballpoint pens, etc. The only thing that I could get to remotely show up was a very fine tip ballpoint pen. If you looked at it when it wasn't in direct light, then it was okay, otherwise they just looked blank. However, I had addressed them all so I sent out two of them to see if the recipients would get them. I got emails yesterday that said they had both gotten them, but were both shocked because they were so hard to read. I was tempted to just send them out anyway, but I was really worried that anyone outside of Austin/Dripping Springs may not have nice postmen and then would be dealing with lost invites, etc. Then, I found the perfect pen. It was one of Clay's black gel pens. Man, I wish I had found that about a month ago. It worked like a charm. So, I sat at the dining room table and traced over the addresses on all the invites and am sending them on their way today. So, just for reference, if you have metallic paper, gel pens are the only way to go. Lesson learned...

Ok, for real

2010-02-11T07:45:00.001-08:00

I FINALLY got a place that wasn't outrageous to take my bridal portraits. Looks like we will be taking them next Tuesday. I kept trying to think of places around Austin or Dripping Springs (where I grew up) that would either reflect growing up in the country or now living in Austin. The place in Dripping couldn't make up their mind if they wanted to offer opening their venue for portraits only and several in Austin wanted to charge around $200 for the session. Then, it came to me...The Mansion on Judges Hill. Duh! I don't know why I didn't think of this one first. Its been in Austin for exactly 100 years. In those 100 yrs, it has been a personal residence, a drug treatment center, student housing, and then was converted into a hotel in 2003. It oozes southern charm. I can't wait to see the pictures! The possibilities are endless at this place.

A Wedding Whirlwind

2010-02-02T08:21:00.000-08:00

Wow, its like a wedding hurricane just hit around me. This coming weekend, I'm the maid of honor in my best friend's wedding. Then, I talked to my sister Emily this morning and she got engaged last night. Looks like they may be doing a summer wedding. Holy moly!

My Mom is the bomb

2010-01-25T12:29:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-22T14:31:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-20T08:51:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-18T08:03:00.000-08:00

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!

2010-01-13T13:00:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-13T04:21:00.000-08:00

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.

An Exciting Year to Come

2009-12-31T10:39:00.000-08:00

As if 2009 wasn't a whirlwind, I can already tell that 2010 is going to blow right by. I will celebrate the first of many 29th birthdays, be a maid of honor in my best friend's wedding, move into a new house, get married, and then BOOM...most of the year will be past us! I'm so excited for this new year and freaked out all at the same time. I know it will come and go faster than I can blink, but all worth it. I just can't wait until the day after the wedding when Clay and I (and all my family that has helped with this wedding) can let out a big sigh of relief!

I wish all of you health and happiness in 2010.

My printer is a liar

2009-12-31T04:14:00.000-08:00

So, since Clay is out of town until the middle of next month, I have lots of DIY time on my hands. I decided to tackle the invitations so that they are at least assembled, addressed, stamped and ready to go when the time comes (about a month). I'm so glad I started early because they are quite labor intensive. Don't get me wrong, I love them, but the time factor is longer than I thought it would be. I've gotten all the outside envelopes hand addressed and stamped (that was one whole night). Last night I was going to finish printing out all the parts that go inside and my computer kept saying that my ink was almost out. I hate buying new ink since its soooo expensive, but $50 later I had a new cartridge just in case. My printer is a liar! I printed out all parts to all 75 invitations and it still has ink!! Geez Louise. Here is a picture of the assembled invite:

Pictures of the New House

2009-12-18T08:51:00.000-08:00

They put up a couple of pictures on the builder's website of our house. Looks like we'll be moving in about a month!

Adding to the Madness

2009-12-17T09:22:00.000-08:00

As if things weren't busy enough, we are buying a house. While I was off work last week, Clay and poked around the neighborhoods just to see what was out there and stumbled on a brand new house just down the street. I had no idea things would move so fast, but we put in an offer yesterday to the builder and they accepted it! They aren't complete with the construction so we won't close until the end of next month. Clay needs to sell his current house so that gives us a little more time. I have full confidence in the new realtor he found and think it will sell quickly. Keep your fingers crossed for us! I'm such a nerd, but we did negotiate for them to redo the cabinets and add a second oven in the kitchen. I'm sooo excited! And, as previously promised, I get to use one of the guest rooms as my own craft room as long as it has some sort of bed in it. I'm wondering if I can find a murphy bed that would work so that when guests aren't using it, its looks like a bonafide, Martha Stewart craft room. We're going by the house this weekend so I'll make sure to take some pics and post them as well.

Here are some craft room pictures that I found that I LOVE. Ugh, I think I'm drooling already.

Engagement Pics

2009-12-16T04:18:00.000-08:00

Here are some of pictures from the engagement session we did last week in the freezing cold. From all of our "kissy" shots, I managed to pass my cold on to Clay! It was great being able to work with our photographer and get to know him. He did a great job and I can't wait for him to do the bridal portraits next.

on a side note, I did figure out that bright colors are a must and so is a little spray tan!! I look like a ghost compared to Clay!

My First Wedding Shower

2009-12-14T12:56:00.000-08:00

I had my first wedding shower yesterday hosted by Paige and her mother, Judy. It was a Christmas themed shower so I was literally showered with so many Christmas decorations! I now have everything from Christmas aprons to guest bath towels and soaps. I got several Christmas cookbooks as well as figurines and ornaments. Everyone made their own ornament and attached it to a wreath for me to take and hang up. They also had everyone bring two dozen of their favorite Christmas cookie along with the recipe. All the recipes will be bound together so I'll have Christmas cookie recipe book from all my friends and family.

Paige's mom's house was decorated to a tee and Paige fashioned a snowbride from carnations and accessories. It was sooo cute! What a great idea. I'll probably steal that idea for my own decorating next year. There was such a great turnout and I had such a fun time. I know Paige checks in on this blog, so THANK YOU again!!

Baby its cold outside...

2009-12-10T07:05:00.001-08:00

We got our first real cold snap this week. Of course, it is the week I took off work. I got all the Christmas decorations up. The tree looks great this year but now one of the stings of lights in the middle has a short so I'm going to have to undo all the ornaments to get to it and fix it.

We also got to take our engagement pictures last night...the coldest day of the week! We met our photographer downtown and took lots of pictures up and down 6th Street. We stumbled across some graffiti that had "until death do us part" on the bottom. It was so bright and colorful that it seemed perfect for some very "urban" pictures. We also hit some spots on South Congress. One of them was in the middle of the crosswalk during traffic in order to get the capitol in the background. I always wondered when people took those pictures when I saw them and now I know. We had lots of honks from people sitting in traffic! They should be ready in about a week and I'm so excited ot see them!

Deal of the Day

2009-11-28T10:33:00.001-08:00

Don't get me wrong, I love a great deal. However, I would rather poke my eyes out than go shopping during Black Friday and the weekend following. I planned on having a weekend full of cleaning, laundry, etc and avoiding any and all retail stores at all costs. But, then came the circular for Michaels in the mail. They had 50% off frames all weekend plus and additional 20% off before noon today. My mom and I had talked about the guest book situation not too long ago and decided that even though they have been done to death, that the framed picture with the large mat for people to sign would be best. That way I can display it with one of our engagement pictures during the reception and then later put a wedding picture in it. I'd like to be able to see all the well wishes that are left for us rather than having to thumb through a book that just collects dust on a shelf. So, after all my discounts...it was only $12!! If you don't know what I'm talking about, it looks a little like this:

Guys are weird

2009-11-24T08:51:00.000-08:00

I guess Clay is finally getting into the spirit of wedding planning. He was cruising through the movie channels a couple of nights ago and actually stopped on Bride Wars because it had just started. He watched the whole thing and made comments about the dresses, etc.!! I also had a BRIDE magazine laying out the other day and he looked through the whole thing and told me dress styles he likes, opinions on bridesmaid dresses, etc. If you don't know Clay, it was a funny sight. He's a 6'5" huge dude so its pretty humorous to hear him talk about ruffles on dresses...

Oh, if you havene't checked Style Me Pretty today, then you are missing out on some sick dresses. They are unbelievable! This latest round of dresses are so amazing with the organza work and beading. I can't imagine how heavy they must be.

Fun o Fun with the Registry Gun

2009-11-22T14:19:00.000-08:00

Clay has been gone a lot lately, so when he's actually home, we have to knock out some of our wedding to do list items. One of those on the list, was for him to go with me to Bed, Bath, & Beyond so he could pick out some stuff and see what I had started. I usually am anti BB&B, but that was the only place we could find bedding that we really liked. Once we saw it in real life, it was even better. Clay was in charge of the registry gun. Um, that should say enough. He was a little trigger happy. Needless to say, I had to edit out a few items online when I got home. We got a great start and picked out a lot of things that will come in handy when we have lots of people over. We decided against china and just chose plain white everyday dinnerware. I know its boring, but we both have huge families, so its more about quantity. You can also dress up white dishes with chargers, pretty napkins, and tablecloths anyway, so those seemed to be the most sensible choice. After about an hour, Clay said he either had to go to Sports Authority or go home and watch football to regain some of his manhood after being in BB&B for so long. Such a guy!

Happy weekend

2009-11-20T14:35:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone has a great weekend! I'm really going to try and make it to The Junior League of Austin's A Christmas Affair. Its a wonderful three day event at the Palmer Events Center. It is basically a huge market with all sorts of one of a kind handmade crafts that make for awesome Christmas gifts. Maybe I can find some bridesmaid jewelry. More info can be found at http://www.jlaustin.org/?nd=aca2009

My friend and coordinator, Paige, has a booth at the show for her other endeavor, Show Pony Designs. They have some freaking cute stuff! I don't how she juggles it all. She has pictures of some of the things they will have at the show on their Facebook page here

Its Been A Long Time

2009-11-14T19:19:00.001-08:00

I can't believe I haven't written anything in almost a month! I guess its because we're at a place where we have things under control. I finally signed a contract with a caterer and am super excited about the menu. I found out that Central Market will do a three layer cake with filling and buttercream design for about $120. What a deal! I don't really plan on eating more than the "exchanged bite" at the ceremony anyway. I'm not much of a cake fan. However, Clay's groom's "cake" is going to be our challenge. I really wanted him to see that I've made a point to have something catered to him. So, we are doing a golf table (he would play everday if he could) for him. My mom and I are going to make cake balls (if you haven't seen them, they are the rage in Austin right now) that look like golf balls and then decorate the table in a golf theme. I wasn't going to show him my sketch of the table, but I wanted him to see it. He LOVED it! I just hope it works out. However, Clay is not a cake fan either, but his favorite dessert is blackberry cobbler. So, we are trying to figure out a way to make cobbler in a cake ball style. I got my Grandma Heckmann's cobbler recipe from my mom and put it in a smaller dish to bake so I would have more of cakey part than fruit. Then, I cooled the cobbler for about two hours, formed it into balls, and froze them for about four more hours. Then, I dipped them in almond bark and they are now cooling in the fridge in the garage. They aren't perfectly round, but that is going to be a challenge with cobbler since the cakey part gets crusty around the edges. Taste test will be tomorrow once they are good and set. So, here is what they look like in the fridge:

And yes, you are seeing that right. I put them in a jar of mixed nuts to set. I needed something for them to settle in so they didn't touch and that's all I could come up with. So, if this works, it will be great. Otherwise, I have much more trial and error ahead of me.

The months keep flying by. We are almost at the five month mark already. We start premarital counseling with the pastor next month and will see him once a month thereafter until the wedding. We have our "engagement" session with the photographer coming up. I hope we can find someone to come with us so we can have a couple of pictures with our little peanuts (aka Ruby and Bruiser). Speaking of them, they were right next to me in the kitchen during the cake ball trials (and followed me to the garage) just waiting for me to drop one:

Other than that, we are set for now. Clay will be traveling a lot from now until the wedding which will give me lots of time to knock out my DIY projects. Before I know it, Christmas/New Years will have come and gone and the big day will be right around the corner!

Find of the Day

2009-10-22T12:47:00.000-07:00

If you are looking for jars for your candy buffets, be sure to check out TJ Maxx and Marshalls. I just scored two big ones for $9 each and two medium, wide mouth ones for $5 each. They also have cupcake towers and platters on sale for pretty cheap too.

Just Pluggin' Along

2009-10-13T03:57:00.000-07:00

When people ask me how the planning is going, my response...its going. I was beginning to get a little overwhelmed (which was quite apparent by the recent breakout of my face) so I just had to take step back and go back to how I always do things. I sit down and make a to do list (a habit I got from my mother) and cross things off one by one. My to do list on http://www.theknot.com/ is a bit ridiculous and causes my head to spin. I'll be at t-minus six months pretty soon and the months keep going by faster and faster. But, it will all get done in time.

I should be able to nail down my caterer this week. I'm waiting on one more proposal and I should get that one today. I have three caterers that I've narrowed down. It will just come down to what we get for the money. Biggest bang for the buck, thats what I'm looking for.

I'm pretty sure I found my photographer too. I had it down to three different ones and actually the one I liked best came the best package. For $1700, I will have two photographers for 8 hrs (wow) the day of, a bridal session, engagement session, all edited photos and copyright release on cd, I think six large prints, and three (yes, you heard that right) albums. What a deal. You can go to his website here.

And the most exciting news lately...

Once I saw that the engagement session is included, my brain started racing with cool places around Austin that would really fit our personalities. Clay and I LOVE old hot rods. There is a hot rod shop here called Mercury Charlies. He's been around forever. A couple of years ago, we went to concert at his shop. That is where I saw Nadine for the first time. She is the most beautiful chopped Mercury I've ever seen. So, I asked Clay what he thought about us taking our pictures in their shop with all the hot rods. He thought it was a great idea but figured the shop owners wouldn't go for it. So, I emailed Mercury Charlie himself to propose this weird request. He emailed me right back (I wish all potential vendors would do this) and said he thought it was an awesome idea and just to call him when we're ready and we'll set it up. Man, that was easy. So, here is Nadine. She'll be the backdrop of our pictures along with lots of old neons and vintage garage signs. I can't wait!

Bridal magazine to close

2009-10-05T12:48:00.000-07:00

The New York Times reported today that Conde Naste is closing the doors on Modern Bride and Elegant Brides magazines. So, I wouldn't subscribe to either of them anytime soon! I guess I can handle one less magazine to thumb through or waste money on in the grocery store checkout line!

Another big check off the list

2009-09-30T08:45:00.000-07:00

So, getting Clay to make a final decision on anything has become quite the challenge. However, I FINALLY got him to give the okay on our band. We are booking an oldies/motown/funk band called the IC Hot Band. Their price was super reasonable and I really like that they aren't a typical cheezy wedding band! You can listen to their demos here.

The bridesmaid material will be here today. I can't wait to see what it looks like. Swatches are so hard to see. I've also got about six catering proposals to sift through. There are so many different options, it can make your head spin!

I WON!!

2009-09-24T14:34:00.000-07:00

People think I'm crazy, but I enter ALL these bridal give a ways on other blogs. I forgot I entered this one, and guess what...I won! Well, kind of. I won a runner up prize of a years worth of Bare Escentuals matte foundation from 100 Layer Cake's contest.

p.s. I'm guessing they misspelled my last name and only put 1 "n" on the end. I'm going to be pretty bummed if it was some other girl that happens to have my name!

Overwhelmed

2009-09-22T17:07:00.000-07:00

I keep thinking I have so long to do everything, but the months keep whizzing past. I am in the process of trying to book the caterer and band (and of course, according to many, I should already have this done). I'm so worried I won't get the BEST deal if I don't compare a gazillion proposals for the caterers. I just want to make sure we are getting the biggest bang for our buck. I'm still waiting on three proposals (which they never have when they say they will) to compare to the two that I already have.

As for the band...ugh. We found the PERFECT band called The Blues Specialists. We went and saw them play at a dive bar a couple of weeks ago and loved them. I'm pretty sure we high fived each other after the first song because we knew they were the ones. However, they are booked. The lead singer gave us the name of another band but their blues music was the really depressing blues and would make everyone just be in dumps by the time their first song was over. So, my mom sent me another website to check out called http://www.bookaband.com/. They have lots of bands on there that I didn't see on http://www.gigmasters.com/ so I'll give it a whirl. Clay is going to be gone traveling for work a lot between now and after New Years so we are in a time crunch and he is bound and determined to have a band. Honestly, I would be okay with a dj as long as he stuck to oldies and motown but that might be the absolute last resort.

I did get my save the dates sent out. I got a great deal on them through the online photo center at http://www.walmart.com/. You can upload your own picture and they have tons of templates to choose from. I didn't see any point in spending a ton of money on them but I think they turned out super cute.

I found the fabric for the bridesmaids dresses at http://www.moodfabrics.com/. The good thing is that it is 54" so I won't need as many yards. It was a toss up between the greener teal and the more turquoise blue, but my mom and decided that the bluer color would be easier to match and coordinate with.

Paige also sent me the jewelry website of the sister in law to a bride who's wedding she did last summer. She makes the best necklaces. They would be perfect for bridesmaids.

http://www.sonyarenee.com/

Paige One Event Production

2009-09-21T10:19:00.000-07:00

She's official! Here is the link to the Paige One Event Production website:

http://www.paigeoneeventproduction.com/

If you are in the Austin and surrounding area, she's your girl!

p.s. I know I've been a bad blogger. These last two weeks have been ridiculous. I promise to update with lots of tidbits in the next day or two.

All Austin Area Brides

2009-09-09T12:09:00.000-07:00

This coming Sunday is the Bridal Extravaganza at the Palmer Events Center from 12-6p. Check it out here. I'll be working the booth with Paige to help promote PaigeOne Events. If you are looking for a coordinator in the area, she is your girl. I'll post lots of pics of her display on Sunday night. I'm also excited to see all the other vendors. I've got most of my stuff nailed down or at least close, but like Paige said, I can probably get some discounts for signing up at the show.

Cheap Finds at Forever 21

2009-09-02T18:47:00.000-07:00

This isn't really wedding related, well kind of. For those of you that don't know the awesomeness of http://www.forever21.com/, let me indulge you. They have really cute and trendy clothes at bottom of the barrel prices. That way I don't feel bad for buying something I know won't be that great the next year. These two hair flowers are only $1.50! They also have some super cute flowered heabands for about $5.

I love this leopard shirt (would look awesome under a pink sweater) and killer bolero. I think they are both under $30 each.

First big delivery

2009-08-31T17:00:00.000-07:00

Well, kind of my first delivery. I did get my box of mason jars that I ordered off Ebay a couple of weeks ago, but today was my first delivery that made me soooo happy. My shoes!! I love love love them. They are awesome. I got them off Zappos. They have such a great selection of fun and colorful shoes. Here are some of favorites. The ones I got are among them, but which ones they are...I will not tell. Can you guess?

You can get lost

2009-08-26T16:50:00.000-07:00

You can get lost on Style Me Pretty's newest website Style Circle. Here, you can browse through tons of reader-made inspiration boards and even make them yourself. Its quite addicting! Here is how my first one came out:

http://circle.stylemepretty.com/rachelanne/blog/2009/08/26/burst-of-springburst-of-spring/

Images from Kristin Vining Photography,Lisa Lefkowitz,La Partie Events,Lisa Lefkowitz,Caplan Miller Events,Cotton Idea Studio,Flowergirls,Lisa Lefkowitz,Lisa Lefkowitz,Details Details

DIY trial run

2009-08-25T18:55:00.001-07:00

I am helping my friend and coordinator, Paige, at her first bridal show in three weeks. I told her I'd make lollipop stands and poms for the booth and candy buffet. I figure it will give me a reason to get some of it done way ahead of time and get in some practice. Here is the lollipop tree from the Martha Stewart website:

For directions, click here.

I made a two bases, and I'm thinking I might need one more. Granted, they will look much better with all the candy stuck in them. I also have to find the right font for the flag on top so it doesn't look lame. Here is a pic of my bases:

I also tried out a couple of tissue poms. I had to learn not to pull them too hard or you end up with ripped "petals." I have them hanging in the hall and its driving my pups crazy when they blow in the air conditioning. I think I heard Bruiser run down the hall and try to jump and eat one. He tries hard to look so innocent:

Change of Mind

2009-08-24T20:16:00.001-07:00

I keep trying not to change my mind over and over, but my maid of honor and I looked through patterns online tonight and found a new one that would be perfect. The Target dress isn't feeling dressy enough and isn't fitting too comfortably on the girls. I love this pattern by Cynthia Rowly and I think its much dressier than the previous one. Maybe I can talk my mom into making one for me! This has been my fav so far and it can switched up to be appropiate for the junior bridesmaid too.

A GREAT weekend!!

2009-08-17T06:44:00.000-07:00

What a productive weekend! Mom and I went to the City Wide Garage Sale on Saturday. We found three milk glass vases and two iron planter boxes. I also got the most perfect frosted green footed candy dish ever! The price wasn't marked and the guy said he'd give it to me for $5 (they usually would be about $35). On the way back to the car, the bag broke and slipped out of my hands. It completely shattered. I thought I was going to cry. The base of it is still intact, so my grandpa is going to see if he can cut it down to be smooth across the top and then I'm going to try and find an old china plate to put on top of it. I think it can be repurposed. Then, we went to a junk shop and found two old wine crates, 2 wrought iron baskets, and an old suitcase for my friend Paige's project. We figured the iron baskets can be filled with moss and then have votives and lemons tucked inside. We also found two more round iron baskets at Hobby Lobby for $1 each and a wicker stacked basket set (usually used for fruit) for $7. Deals and steals, thats what I'm about.

And now for the deal of a lifetime. We stopped by Target to pick up a bottle of wine (which was much needed by then) and just happened to go by the dress department. I pointed out a cute tank dress in this awesome lawn green color. Mom thought it would be a great going away dress, but I thought it would work for the bridesmaids. Its fully lined and has the "wearability factor" that I promised the girls. Best yet...they were only $39.99 and they had all the sizes I needed!!! We'll be able to accessorize them to death and still be on a great budget!! Plus, it would cut down on the sewing for my mom. The color looks awesome with so many colors. Here is a picture, but its on a camera phone and under store lights...

So, keep in mind when looking for bridesmaid's dresses, they can be anywhere!!

Lastly, I tried on the mock up dress that my mom had to put together to see if the shape was right. She used three patterns to get the look we wanted. I must say, she nailed it perfectly. I absolutely love it! I couldn't be happier. We also found all the material for it on Saturday while shopping and it was all 40-50% off!
I hope to have more weekends this productive!

Mason Jar Madness

2009-08-14T13:14:00.000-07:00

I'm in love with blue and green mason jars. I've decided to use them in my centerpieces with some milk glass vases and other vintage what nots sprinkled in. I do plan on using them in my future craft room (yes, my husband to be promised me one...as long as he gets a 3 car garage) as holders for my brushes, pens, notions, etc. but I can't see myself dispersing the 60-65 that I'll use in the reception. That might be a little overkill. Plus, finding that many seemed to be a daunting task. However, my mom sent out an email to all my family and her bunco ladies to see if anyone had some on hand. My mom has seven, I ordered 12 on Ebay, and my Aunt Diane some green to use in the mix. So, instantly I was already at a little over 20. Then, our friend Liz emailed from her summer home in Minnesota and said she found a place that is selling them for $1 each and that she'd bring as many as I needed back with her. What a doll! I think two dozen should suffice. I love deals like that!!

Mom and I are off to the City Wide Garage Sale again tomorrow. We're hoping to find some of the above mentioned vintage what nots for decor and anything else that strikes our fancy. Then its off to the fabric store to see about finding the material for all the layers under the lace on my dress. If we're lucky, we can find bridesmaids material too, but the fabric selections just aren't what they used to be. I'll post my finds on Sunday.

Insert my wedding here

2009-07-29T14:36:00.001-07:00

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the vintage inspired wedding on Style Me Pretty today. Umm, its basically how I have imagined mine to turn out. Its like they picked the ideas right outta me. I think I might be drooling a bit. However, I've already been told several times to go easy on the pink by my other half. Too bad, he looks good in pink. Check out these pics!

There are also some great pics on A Summer Picnic Wedding blog with the same look. So cute.

Love this

2009-07-29T04:27:00.000-07:00

I can't remember where I saw these fabric flowers by Emerson Made, but I love them. I think a scaled down version of the white one would be great against my all over lace dress as something a bit different. Initally, I was going to do a sash the a couple of brooches at the knot, but it seems a little boring and done. In the last edition of Martha Stewart Weddings, they had a whole section on fabric flowers. Some of them were a bit ridiculous, but there are instructions on how to make them on the website. Click here for the how to. I bought some cheap taffeta and organza in super bright colors to try a few out. They are actually pretty simple to put together, its just the cutting took a lot longer than I thought. I'll post some pics when they are done. Here is the pic from Martha:

Here are a few pics from the EmersonMade site. They are a bit bigger than I'd like. I little bit smaller version would be perfect. I love how she puts them on everything!

A Twinkle in my Eye

2009-07-17T10:28:00.000-07:00

Its that time again, Nordstroms is having their Annual Sale. There are a ton of sparkly earrings, bracelets, and necklaces for very reasonable prices. I think I've spotted earrings for my bridesmaids (but I'm not saying which ones).

My mom cracks herself up

2009-07-15T06:36:00.000-07:00

So, I got an email from my mom this morning the title, "The Lace is Terrible." She told me the lace she ordered for my dress was to arrive yesterday evening. I thought, great, it was too good to be true. Then I open the email to read "the lace is terrib...ly great." I'm so glad she cracks herself up! She did have me going. I'll admit, I crack myself up too, so I guess she's the one I learned from. Mom, I know you'll read this, so please correct me if I'm wrong. I think the lace on the top of this picture is what we finally decided on, right? She also ordered some trim lace for the edging in case the lace yardage didn't have a nice edge to it. She said that it has a tight pattern to it which will make it easier to match up along the seams. I can't wait to see it in real life.

On another note, for all of you that have yellow as your wedding color (too bad my bridesmaids don't look good in it). J Crew is having a mega summer sale and almost every style of their bridesmaids dresses in on sale in yellow. As noted on the Junebug Weddings blog, all of the great summer clothes that are on sale for J Crew would be perfect for honeymoon attire. There are some killer deals on super cute (and fancy) tanks, dresses, and shorts. They also have some really cute sandals on sale. I have a J Crew outlet near me that I think I need to visit asap! I love their clothes, but refuse to pay retail for them.

Hi

2009-07-08T09:06:00.000-07:00

So, after not blogging for about a week, I decided I can't help myself. So if you are one of the people that read this and are coming to the wedding, please just act surprised. I have put some planning on hold. I think the big things that I needed to nail down in the beginning are done. My friend Paige is doing the flowers, the reception venue is booked, I got approved to have my ceremony at the gorgeous Lutheran church downtown, and my mom has started piecing the first mock up trial of my dress. I know I need to find a caterer soon and I think I have one in mind. Austin Catering has been one that has stuck in my brain and I found out last weekend from my Aunt Susan that they are the ones they used for my cousin's wedding last May. The food was delicious and very nicely presented.

The latest issue of Martha Stewart Weddings was just a plethora of cute ideas! I decided to forego making my own cake, but I think I can just buy a plain one and decorate it with Necco candies like this and maybe add a big bloom or two:

I love the colors in this picture too:

And, if shoes were made in heaven, they would look like this:

New thoughts about this blog

2009-07-02T10:29:00.000-07:00

I'm having second thoughts on this blog. I don't seem to keep up with it much. Plus, I know that there are several people that read this that will be at my wedding. I want to have all my tidbits and finds be somewhat of a surprise. I don't people to get there and feel like they've already seen it all. I might change my mind but for now, I'm going to keep some of things I have up my sleeve under wraps.

All Tied Up

2009-06-11T18:47:00.000-07:00

I found this website, The Tie Bar, in the latest issue of InStyle Weddings. They have the cutest ties and in so many different color combos. Even better, they are only$15 each. I have been looking high and low for ties for Clay and his party and these are the best yet.

Everyone LOVES Austin

2009-06-05T06:45:00.000-07:00

So, it seems like everyone these days is moving here to Austin. Its been mentioned on MSN.com several times lately on the list of places to move. Sandra Bullock can't get enough of this place and has already built a restaurant downtown and just opened florist/catering company called Waltons Fancy and Staple that is supposed to be a one stop shop for brides. Kathryn from the amazing blog, Snippet and Ink, is moving here this weekend and Amy and Matt from Austin have their wedding featured on Style Me Pretty (one of my favorite wedding blogs) today. I knew I loved this town for a reason!

I love Etsy.com

2009-06-03T14:01:00.000-07:00

I found these super cute necklaces on Etsy by RachelleD. I think they would look really good on the bridesmaids. If not for the wedding, then maybe to wear them with their dress after the wedding (since I'm making sure they can REALLY wear them again). They have a ton a colors and combinations. These are a couple that happen to be in my colors:

Candy buffet genius

2009-05-29T04:15:00.000-07:00

If you need some ideas for a candy buffet at your reception, check out Amy Atlas. This picture is from her blog that she just started. They are so bright and colorful. It looks like she uses a lot of homemade goodies and mixes in some store bought. I've seen some tables that look kind of boring and plain, but her's are so vibrant and fun. I know I bookmarked her website to reference when I'm putting mine together.

I can't make up my mind to save my life

2009-05-27T08:00:00.000-07:00

I came across this inspiration board and was definitely inspired my the color combinations. I love the use of mint and hint of dark green with the teal and lemon. Ahhh, why can't I make up my mind?! I'm taking a break from wedding shananigans while I paint vacation bible school murals for the next two weeks. After that, my mom and I will have to get cracking on the rough trial of my dress with muslin and find fabric for the bridesmaids. She got a book on sewing couture bridal dresses and it said to figure about 100 hours of sewing. Wow.

Craziness of the cake and centerpieces

2009-05-15T09:16:00.001-07:00

I think (maybe) that I've come to the decision to buy my cake instead of baking it myself. I'll just get a three tier plain frosted white cake and then make the gum paste peonies to go on it. I can do those wayyy in advance (just need to teach myself how to do them!). If for some reason it doesn't work out, I'll just keep a couple of real ones on hand. After much mental debate, I figure it will be too much added stress if it doesn't come out right, or if its dry, or if its lop-sided. I really don't want an ugly cake! However, I can still do some homemade candy for the candy buffet. Not all of it, but just some of it. Now, if I could get my peonies to look like this (different color of course) and find a really cool topper, I could check this off the list.

Last night I was wandering around my favorite store...Target. Target has everything and the one close to me is a Super Target with groceries and more importantly, a pretty good wine selection. Anywhoo, I saw these little guys in one of their displays and thought they would make super cute centerpieces without having to use a ton of flowers. They're $16 each at Target, but I'm pretty sure I could make them for much less and much prettier.

Bridesmaids

2009-05-07T18:03:00.000-07:00

I found this dress on Etsy by Amanda Archer not too long ago and after looking and looking for bridesmaid's dresses, I kept coming back to this one. I absolutely love it. Being that my mom is a fabulous seamstress, she will be making them (along with my dress). What is good for her is that I only have two bridesmaids, what is good for them is that they will have a dress tailored to fit them exactly in a pattern that they can actually wear again (for real). I think we'll tone down the collar a bit so it doesn't get clown like. My mom sent me a blurb from the Silk Road site that if you wash silk dupioni, it will lose some of its stiffness and sheen making it a more casual look. Maybe then it won't look so "bridesmaidy." Plus, if its washed prior to sewing it, then you can handwash it from then on instead of dryclean only. Lord knows we all have a ton of bridesmaids dresses we never more than that one day. What a waste! I'd love for them to jazz them up with fun jewelry after the wedding and have a dress to add to their party collection. I'll have to get a swatch of the silk and see how it comes out. My sister also suggested cotton sateen which would make a lot more casual, but I'm not sure if I want it to look THAT toned down. Who knows, it all depends on what fabric I can find.

Tonight's finds that I LOVE

2009-05-05T18:51:00.001-07:00

I love the idea of clustering the paper laterns. They look like colored cloud puffs. Plus, I haven't seen them done like this until now. I'm thinking it would look even cooler with lights strung in random ones...

Photos by martha manning

Here are my yellow ball flowers! They must be very popular right now because they are popping up on wedding websites all over the place. They look so good in this bouquet. I never thought of a whole bouquet done out of them. Its so unique. My friend (and coordinator), Paige, suggested to use these in the boutonnières as something a little funky and not too foo foo.

In the last pic, I found a beautiful centerpiece arrangement that incorporates my two favorite obsessions...lemons and peonies. They would look so good with the soft yellow tablecloths and lace overlays. My mom and I have tried to come up with more centerpiece ideas that don't use a ton of flowers to keep the budget in check. I could probably do a scaled down version of this and use a hurricane vase/candle duo in the middle. I haven't ruled out the idea of using mason jars colored with glass paint as candle holders either. I think they would give a great vintage feel to the table. Oh, how the ideas get jumbled in my head!

Holy Bloggers!

2009-05-05T18:44:00.001-07:00

After a little digging around on the net, I came across blog after blog of super cute ideas! It is an endless supply of information. I added some of the ones that caught my eye to this blog. I hope you all don't get sucked in like I did. I wasted a good hour and a half looking through all of them!

Trip to the flower market

2009-05-03T12:30:00.000-07:00

We went to Austin Floral Co. and Central Market yesterday to see what flowers are in season this time of year. I came across quite a few that I really liked. However, with the lace table toppers, the centerpieces can't be too "heavy" or it will look really weird. I also have come across lots of centerpiece ideas that incorporate fruit other than lemons. It makes it look so fresh! Here are a few of my favorite blooms:

New background

2009-05-01T19:33:00.001-07:00

I found this new blog background this evening. Its almost the same color palette I'm looking to do for the wedding. So cute! Mom and I are going to the flower market tomorrow to see what's in season this time of year. I'll post some pics tmmw of our finds. I have read that sweet pea and peonies are in season...my favorites!
I was reading my to do list on www.theknot.com and it said not to send out save the dates until 6-8 months before the wedding. Bummer. I guess it would be a little overzealous to send them out now. At least I have almost all the addresses together. Oh well, I guess I can wait.
I've been checking out cake decorating classes. I think I'll take the Wilton Cake I class, the buttercream class, and the gumpaste class. I think they might start up next week now that I think about it. The only thing I'm worried about is buttercream getting too hot but there is plenty of room at the reception site to keep it indoors. I'm just hoping that we don't have crazy rainy weather this next year like we've had the last two weeks!!

Todays finds

2009-04-25T13:59:00.001-07:00

What a productive day! After the advice of my friend, Paige, I went to the City Wide Garage Sale with my mom and another bride-to-be, Montana. I wasn't sure what I would find. Maybe I could find the perfect brooch for my sash or a vintage necklace, you never know how these things go. My mom got there before I did and had already scouted out the joint. I found her amongst piles and piles of vintage sheets, pillow cases, and miscellaneous linens. She suggested that we do a colored tablecloth and then use the vintage lace ones as overlays. What a great look for the reception site since its so garden like! What is even better is that they were only $4 a piece!! I can't even rent table runners cheaper than that. I'll definitely be ready to host Easter after all this is said and done with these linens. I've got a little work to do to get out some yellowing in the fabric. I'm trying a Cheer/Oxyclean combo soak. From what I've read, sun drying helps the most for some reason. If anyone has a secret way of getting the yellow out, please leave me a comment on here!

Here is Ruby helping me inspect the linens for spots:
After that, we went to Silk Road to look for fabric. Its not at all what it used to be. Their selection of chiffon was pretty much a bust. I think trying to find the right shade of teal/turquoise is going to be a challenge. There are several websites that I've found but I will have to send off for samples before choosing anything. I've chosen the accent color to be lemon yellow to keep things light and springy. The guys will also have gray suits instead of tuxes. I think I might have actually come up with a color palette! The yellow will allow me to use actual lemons among my flower arrangements at the reception which I had in mind for a long time. Another great find from my mom was the silver cake plate on Ebay. To rent one would have been $50 and then I'd have to give it back. This one was only $35 and I get to keep it. I figured that between my sister and younger cousins, it will get lots of use!
Montana's reception site is quite rustic as well. We stopped at a few antique shops on the way back and found 9 picture frames for $9 and some small galvanized buckets to hold flowers on the tables. They were only $2 each. What a steal. We thought we found an old window shutter that she was looking for but the lady wanted $40 for it and it was covered in ant larvae. I wasn't too thrilled at the idea of it going in my trunk so I'm a little glad it didn't work out. I think we can find one for much cheaper somewhere. Maybe she'll get lucky and find someone that has an old shutter in a barn somewhere. She plans on hanging her escort cards on it for seating which will make for a really cute table. All in all, a great day. It was so much fun finding unique decorations rather than run of the mill stuff that I see everywhere. Who knows what we'll find next.

First contract signed

2009-04-17T09:55:00.000-07:00

I signed what will be probably be my first of several contracts. I had already put down the deposit on our reception site, but its official that we got it. We'll be having the reception at House on the Hill in the Westlake area of Austin. Its a cottage like house with a few bungalows up on the hill overlooking the lake and downtown Austin. Its surrounded by a garden like setting. The pavillion looks like half of an old barn with wooden beams going across the top for the band to setup. There is a swimming pool and waterfall and tons of indoor and outdoor room. The great thing about this place is that you get it from Friday at 4pm to Sunday at noon. No rushing around! A lot of other places I looked at only gave you 5-8 hours total including setup and takedown. That just sounded stressful. It also includes lodging for 20, so I could stay there the night before and decorate ahead of time. So much easier!

Here is a shot of pool at night:

Here is the open room on the inside. Once its decorated, it looks so cute. However, there is a ton of room outside if the weather is permitting.

Maybe I need a break

2009-04-15T18:31:00.001-07:00

I think I'm already in brain overload. This cake thing is going to drive me to drink more wine than I already do. All I think about is cake/flavor combos, decorating ideas, places I could find a vintage toppers, etc. I realized I needed a break from the cake when I thought I could just do a huge Barbie cake like my mom used to make when I was little and have her ginormous dress be the cake. Then, I googled Barbie wedding cakes and came across ones like such:

I started giggling to myself at the idea that I actually wasted time looking at these. Then I got sucked in by all the Barbie cakes. Some of them are really intricate. They were made to look like the bride's actual dress. Then I came across this one and all thoughts of ever having a Barbie cake EVER anytime in the future were quickly erased:

Wow, I think I'm scarred for life...

Today on The Martha Stewart Show...

2009-04-15T08:19:00.000-07:00

Here is what today's wedding show entails:

Tune in today as Martha, Weddings editorial director Darcy Miller, and guests help prepare our audience full of blushing brides for their big day! First, the one and only Vera Wang is here for a fashion show featuring the must-have bridal gowns of the spring season, and she's sharing can't-miss tips on what guests should wear to the ceremony. Then, top hair designer Frederic Fekkai shows you how to coordinate your hairstyle and gown for a perfectly glamorous look from top to bottom. And, celebrity eyelash guru Ja'Maal Buster shows you how to enhance the unique features of your face with just the right set of false eyelashes. Plus, New York City event expert David Monn returns with some inspiring decoration ideas that won't break the bank -- it's a show no bride-to-be should miss.

I was sure to set my DVR!

Save the Dates

2009-04-12T19:28:00.001-07:00

While Clay and I were at my aunt and uncle's house, I had my cousin in law take a picture of us with their beautiful trees in the background. We needed a new picture for our "save the date" cards. I found the template on http://www.walmart.com/ in the photo section. To have 75 of them printed with envelopes was only $24.75 and they'll be ready two days after I do the final order! I loved the idea of the magnets, but they were a bit pricier. This is a pic of the template I chose. I think its quite fitting with the "FINALLY!" since we've dated so long.

Cake trial #1

2009-04-12T17:12:00.000-07:00

I can already tell this is going to be a trial and error process. Even when I find the right recipe, it will take some tweaking to get right. I got the recipe for this Tiramisu Wedding Cake with Berries from http://www.epicurious.com/. The cake layers were a basic butter cake with almond extract. The batter had a lot of egg whites in it so the first two layers got a little crispy on the top. By the third layer, I figured out that if I made a tent out of foil, it would keep it from over baking. The frosting and soaking syrup were relatively easy to make. I changed the frosting to one that I found from http://www.joyofbaking.com/ that was used on a red velvet cake. It had cream cheese as well as marscapone (which is in typical tiramisu). The marscapone cut out the sweetness a little which was nice. I would have even liked it even ess sweet than it turned out. I covered each layer of the soaking syrup (a mixture of coffee, water, and Kaluha), frosting, and sliced strawberries. Once I frosted the whole cake (three layers high), I covered the top with more sliced strawberries and put a border of fresh mint and blackberries on the bottom. After all that work, I went to put the top on my cake carrier and the dang cake was too high! I had to mush it down so the top would lock since I was taking it to my Aunt Paula's the next day. The picture above is obviously not the one I made but I couldn't leave this post blank.

Verdict: This recipe will stay in the running. I would need to sweeten the soaking syrup a bit because it was a little bitter, thicken the frosting with more cream cheese and less powdered sugar, and use a little more vanilla in the cake batter. I did have another idea today. I thought about a vanilla cake with cinnamon based soaking syrup and layer it with rhubarb. I've never heard of anyone doing a rhubarb wedding cake so it would be something totally different!

UPDATE: Thanks to my cousin, Ashley, this is what my first trial run looked like. It got a little smushed in the cake carrier. A lot of the recipe reviews said it even better by the third day, but I beg to differ. The soaking syrup was still really bitter and the cake got a weird taste. I decided I didn't like this recipe at all. Yuck.

I can't believe it

2009-04-10T20:42:00.000-07:00

It's still weird to look down at my hand and see an engagement ring. Clay and I have been dating for almost five and half years, so I wasn't sure this would ever happen! We got engaged about two months ago and have set the date for April 24, 2010. I couldn't be happier and am so excited to start planning not only our wedding, but ours lives together. With the help of my crafty mother, family, and friends I plan to have the best wedding ever while still keeping within budget. The more great finds that I've found, the more I felt the need to share my ideas and experiences. Not all DIY projects go the way they are supposed to, so maybe some of you can use my ups and downs as a resource. My mother and I decided the other night that we can make my cake. So, for the next couple of family gatherings, I will obviously be bringing the dessert (a.k.a small test wedding cakes) to see which recipe is best. My mom says the taste is the most important part, no one wants a dry white plain cake...ugh. So tonight (almost 11pm, I have my first test cake in the oven. I'll take some pics tomorrow to show the result. I'm trying a tiramisu cake with berry layers. It look delicious, but I'm not much of a baker. I'm more of a cook that measures with pinches and dashes, not exact amounts. We'll see tmmw...

So, in short, I hope this serves as a resource for other brides to be that are looking to have the wedding of their dreams without breaking the bank.