A Callus Builds Character: Invites Part I

From the very beginning of the wedding planning process, I picked out things that I wanted to do myself. Invites were on that list. I, initially, picked out a design from DIY Bride Magazine but it was ruled out quickly. It was almost too DIY for me & looked cheap. I, of course, didn't realize this until I started looking at blogs, magazines, more blogs, and then some more magazines. Soon after obsessing looking at all of these beautiful designs, I changed my mind once four or five times & finally decided!

I've been trying to figure out what the best process was to make the measurements and cuts. After some serious trial and error, I finally found a system! I put a lot of time into them today (while watching WE Wedding Sunday!!) and I feel like I made awesome progress. I'm making them one step at a time and once I get one step done, I'll start the next. That way, I don't have to keep remembering steps & it just makes me feel more accomplished!

I believe that I have the beginning steps of a callus on my finger. That X-acto knife will get you every time! Ha! I'm about 25% done with the first step and this is only my second day working on these beauties and only the first day that I've felt good about HOW I'm making them. It felt good.

Now that I've started a new job *Ehhhhh! :)*, this is going to turn into my weekend (probably Sunday) project for the next few weeks. Hopefully, once I get through this tedious part, it'll be smooth sailing.

Since I think that all blog posts deserve photos, I'll leave you with some invitation inspiration (say that out loud, it's fun).

I <3 Etsy: Katie-Did Designs

This came from WeddingBee, but I don't have the link. Oops!

I <3 Etsy: Little Lady Company

Concepts II Completion

A lot of inspiration! Now, you can see why it took me so long to narrow down what I actually wanted. I can't wait to mail these babies out! .... in approximately 7 months. Ha!

The best of friends... Having so much fun together!

 

If you need the visual to appreciate Disney as much as I do, your wish is my command.

Or maybe you prefer a little Hangover action.

Okay, so here is what I'm getting at: I have the best friends in the whole world. I hope that you all have friends that email you in the middle of the day or late at night to ask you if THEY can make you something amazing for your wedding. Seriously?! Of course you can!

Recently, I had one of my amazing friends email me to tell me that she found something on Etsy & wanted to know if I wanted her to make me one because the price tag was a whopping $200! Uh, yeah... I do. :) I am already visualizing where I'm going to put this masterpiece!

This happens a lot! For the most part, anything that I have wished to have at my wedding (besides a pony.. lol jk.. I don't really want a pony, dad. ;)) has come alive, at least in theory. Even things that I didn't even know I wanted have now been added! Everyone is willing to pitch in! Last night, I went to an American Legion meeting and the women of the Auxiliary ASKED if they could help me.

I don't want to tell you all my wedding secrets, but know that there are a lot of tricks up these sleeves of mine & I can't wait to show you all the DIY awesomeness that I hope makes our wedding unique and lovely. 

I find it completely humbling that people want to take time out of their own, busy schedules to help me make our day perfect. I'm extremely grateful and if somewhere down the road I forget to tell you, I love you and I appreciate all the things that everyone has done and will do to make the day perfect for both Mr. O and I.

Bayside Bride Military Wedding Giveaway

Hi everyone,

I recently found out that Mark and I are finalists in a giveaway to win some pretty awesome prizes from baysidebride.com! I just got an email from them concerning the voting and this is what is said:

"Voting for the Bayside Bride Military Giveaway begins tomorrow morning at 7am on the Bayside Bride website and will continue until 5pm Sunday."

Easy enough, right? I'd love it if you all found a second to visit their website and vote for Mark and I! Some of the prizes include a cake topper, some custom stationary, assistance from a wedding planner, spa treatments, decorations, and more! The total value of the giveaway is $3,700!!! It would definitely be great to win, that's for sure.

Again, just visit Baysidebride.com starting tomorrow at 7am through Sunday at 5pm.Thanks in advance for everyone who finds the time to vote. Wish us luck!!

Raindrops on Roses & Whiskers on Kittens.

.... These are a few of my favorite things! If you got the title reference, you get 10 points!

Had anyone told me a year ago that I'd have a love for some of the most random things I wouldn't have understood. Now, knee-deep in wedding planning, I realize that I develop minor obsessions over some of the strangest things.

The last few days I've been trying to get as much done as possible since I'm starting a new job next week (Yay!). I've ordered the supplies for our invitations. I'm not ready to talk about that JUST yet, but I will tell you that I'm loving it! Well, no one else is going to have the love for them like I do, but I'm okay with that. I can't tell you how many countless hours I've spent researching cardstock. Cardstock! There's that whole "obsession" thing again.

Enough talking. Lets see the goods! These beauties have left me swooning for the past few hours... or days. Okay, months. You got me!

First and foremost, the fuel to my never ending wedding fire: 

If you're planning a wedding & you haven't checked out weddingbee.com you're crazy.

Beautiful Draping - By Invitation Only... (my DOC - Whoop!)

 

Japanese Masking Tape - Sky Blue Pink

Votive Candles - Honey Bee Weddings

Adorable Vintage-Inspired Striped Straw - Make Merry!

Persimmon colored KitchenAid (the staple for all wedding registries) - Amazon

"When the dog bites, When the bee stings, When I'm feeling sad.... I simply remember my favorite things..... And then I don't feel so bad."

"You smell like pine needles & your face is like sunshine."

If you haven't seen Bridesmaids, you must. It's hilarious!  Picture here

When Mr. O & I first got engaged, I knew who I wanted to stand with me. I actually think it was one of the first decisions that I made (I know, I know... all bridal advisers want to slap me on the wrist right now.) Maybe I knew because I'm the cheesy girl that tunes into WE!'s "Wedding Sunday" and have, obviously, thought about the day that I would get married. It also might be because the important ladies in my life just kind of pop out at me. That doesn't mean I don't have a lot of important friends, but the history I have with all of these girls made it just perfect.

I introduce you to my 5 lovey, beautiful, and fantastic bridesmaids:

My Maid of Honor and "Seester." I love her to pieces and couldn't imagine me walking down the aisle without her at the end to hold my bouquet. ;) She's amazing, smart (like really smart), outgoing, and adventurous. I look up to her and I always have. I once wrote a paper about how she was my hero. If she's ever said that she wants to do something, she does it. I can't wait until my "big day" when my seester is my right hand (wo)man.

My bff Kaitlyn. We met late in college, but you'd think we've known each other forever. She was one of the people I called saying, "Omg, I just met this guy... He's a Marine. He makes me feel like I'm in a black & white movie!" She's got a big heart & would drop everything if I called her to say I needed her. Mark likes her so much that he gave her a nickname, Kilo Victor (what a military thing to do). When we got engaged we played a dirty joke on her. I told her that Mark and I had gotten in a fight. She was super sad about it and asked why. My response was, "... because we can't decide on what color your bridesmaid dress is going to be." Her response, "Shut up! Omg! Shut up... Shut up!" haha. Needless to say, she was happy for us.

Chelsea, Chels, Belle. From annual Spring Break trips to Ft. Myers Beach in high school, Taylor basketball camps, and visiting each other in college we've been through a looottttt together. She's ah-maze-ing. She'll be there to say something funny when I'm having a mini meltdown or making some DIY project the day of the wedding that I really wanted to do, but somehow ran out of time. She's a great friend & I heart her face.

Whitney Anne! Now the mommy to the most perfect little man ever, she's makes me so proud to call her my friend. I'm thrilled that we've remained great friends since I can remember and I'm so happy that she's going to be a part of my day. The days leading up to my wedding are going to be full of, "Remember when..." stories and I'm very excited about it. For example, "Remember when we took a random trip to Muncie & ended up at some dance hall thing?!"

My beautiful cousin, Jayln. The little kid that used to come over and let me dress her up in different outfits has turned into an awesome girl. I love her so, so much!! She is headed to Cosmetology school in September and I can't wait to see her become super successful.

Whoop! Whoop! They are fantastic & I can't wait until I get to be with all of them at the same time. Yay!

On this Table You will find;Our Guest Book for You to Sign

I have had a hard time figuring out what I thought would be awesome at our wedding for a guestbook. I, obviously, love diving into one project after another. Therefore, I've been doing some research. I've loved the idea of a photo book that lets people sign on or around pictures. With that said, I've already made one of those. :)

Here are some other things that I really have considered and some I am still considering. I just don't think that the photo book will be enough? Maybe the photo book at the Ceremony and then something more "crafty" at the Reception. Hmm... these are things I like to ponder for long periods of time when I'm bored.

The gorgeous/fun guest book quilt!

The "Guest Bench" - by the same person who made the quilt. Uh, IMPRESSIVE!

I <3 pictures so the Polaroid Guest Book is a fave, but since we're doing a Photo booth it might be too many pictures.

I'm sure that I'll find more things that I enjoy and that I want to do, but eventually one will make more sense to me & I'm sure Mr. O will love it, too. :)

The World Does Indeed Keep Spinning

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Before I start this post I just want to say that today marks the "one year" point before we get married. What happened to those 4 months? Ya know, when I started blogging about how early I started planning?! I can already tell that this time is going to fly by! Moving on...

Decisions have been made! Since my last post I have been rather productive, which is exciting... kind of. It's a been a bittersweet road because I've made decisions without the help of Mr. O. Unfortunately, because of "The Big D," he can't be quickly contacted to see if he is as excited about the decisions as I am. Often times, I feel like this:

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What is almost comforting is that before he left we had a discussion about all of the things that needed to be decided on and he promised me that he trusted my judgment. I say almost because I really would rather he be involved in the decision making because he actually DOES give an opinion & doesn't typically "yes" me (even if I do get my way in the end - hehe). He did say, "If you're happy, I'm happy." Not to mention that I'm not making a decision without having a minor panic attack and thinking about it for, what feels like, 6 weeks longer than I really need to because I'm checking, double checking, and checking again to make SURE I've made the choice with Mr. O in mind!

Okay.. soooo... We now have a DJ and a photographer!! Well, kind of. I'm waiting on the contract from the DJ to make it official and I need to fill out the contract for the photographer and send it back to her. This reminds me of when I committed to play basketball in college "verbally," -- aka no commitment whatsoever and just wait until you sign. Either way, I'm making progress!!!

The best thing about the photographer is we're friends! Her name is Dani and I've known her for about 2 years. For some reason it just escaped me to look into having her take our wedding photos. Once I did, there was really no question (besides the 50,000 about whether Mr. O would be cool with it). She's an awesome person, she takes great pictures, and I know it's not going to bother me to have her in my face for the entire day. Ow! She's also a former combat photographer for the Navy. Military Vet - Whoop!

Check out how adorable these pictures are:

Lovely military photo by Platinum Touch Photos

Yay for feet pictures!! by Platinum Touch Photos

Prettiness by Platinum Touch Photos

So, with the title in mind, the world does actually keep spinning even when you're dealing with "The Big D." My routine has come back to me (because it was definitely lost for a while), I'm interviewing for TWO jobs*, and life is good!

I've also progressed to the labeling stage of the Save the Dates! Granted, I don't have every person's address but I've been able to label over 1/2 of them. I'm doing each step gradually because I'm ahead of schedule, which is AWESOME! As for the invitations, I should probably start assembling those now.... talk about a labor of love! 

*I only need one job and will be very pleased with either one. Just please let one of them work out!! My fingers are definitely crossed.