DIY Invitation Disaster

The invitations are driving me nuts. I personally don't want to spend a lot on them, I'm not into making them very difficult to put together (ie multiple pieces of paper, maps, pocketfold, etc). I have been trying to make this as simple as possible for myself while still not spending a lot.

WELL I SCREWED UP! And now my DIY Michaels invitations are ruined and I have to start over.

In fairness to myself, it's not really my fault.....it's the "printing store guy's fault". Or at least I am going to blame him to make myself feel better since I'll probably never see him again.

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Here are the problems:

1. He did not use the approved font that took me 2+ months to finalize and printed all of the invitations in Times New Roman......AGH!

2. He accidentally erased a line from the RSVP card.....you know the part that says

__ Number attending

3. He used all of my invitations

4. He didn't give a crap...at all

Greg was pissed and wrote a letter to customer service. I think I have a solution, but the subject is still a sore matter for me since my plan was to have finished invitations this week, and it looks like I'm starting invitations this week. Updates to come once I'm done with work this week.

HOLY MOLY 3 months!?!

I just realized I am getting married 3 months from TODAY!!!! I can't believe we are at the 3 month mark.

Things I've learned along the way:

1. Give people around you something to do....I have been trying to do everything myself and and it wasn't working...I finally delegated some wedding stuff that I was too overwhelmed to do and I am glad I did! Loads off my back!

2. Don't DIY everything. I am DIYing a lot, but I'm starting to realize that this is a bit much....I'm starting to scrap some ideas.

3. I hate invitations! HATE them! I bought some at a great price at Michael's and now they look ugly when I tried to print them on our laser printer....INK jet people!! I'm going to have to go to Officemax now.

4. Love your dress! I love mine and can't wait to wear it!

Dress Alterations...

SO before you get your hopes up...I will not be showing a picture of my dress until after the wedding. It's got to be a surprise right!?

But I can tell you about how I got my dress. I went to different bridal shops all over Denver and Albuquerque and really couldn't find anything I HAD to have. I think I tried on like 60 dresses. I knew I finally would find a dress I loved once my mom came along and that is what happened. However, dear mother picked out a very expensive, totally over budget gorgeous dress.......

So I started to look online for used dresses and almost bought one that I didn't love.....but then I checked ebay and found MY dress, new with tags, for 65% off the price the bridal shop wanted.....one problem.....the dress is a size 10.....and I'm like a 6.....hmmmm........

But I bought it! And since I bought it, I have been having nightmares about it not fitting, or the seamstress telling me she won't be able to size it down enough, or that it will cost just as much as the original to get it altered.

So today I went to The Wedding Seamstress here in Denver and she put my mind at ease. Not only can she fix my dress, but she can do it for about what I was hoping to pay. She told me she does 900 weddings a year and that they now have a waiting list, so I am so glad I got in when I did.

Huge dress crisis averted!

Aisle decorations

Our ceremony site is going to be very simple. It's on a driving range. We will have white chairs and that's probably it. I don't know even think we'll have an altar. I don't think we will need one with the gorgeous view of the Sandia Mountains behind us.

Greg and I decided a while ago what we would do for aisle decorations. Simple buckets with flowers in them hanging off the chairs. I was thinking black pails with white flowers.

However, now that I've decided to DIY the centerpieces and bouquets, I don't know if I want to take this on too. So I started looking at other ideas that are "flowerless".

These are pomanders are made with silk flowers. I like the looks of these and the fact that we can do them ahead of time, but I'm personally not a fan of silk flowers and I definitely will not be making real ones.

But I love the look of pomanders....and I could just see beautiful white flowers with black ribbon. And I just found out we CAN use rose petals to line the aisle.

When I first saw this picture I wasn't too sure about it, but then I realized that I could just use the concept of chair sashes. So if you imagine no starfish or raffia and picture black sashes instead of the blue, I think this could work. Simple black sashes on the end chairs and white rose petals lining either side of the aisle might not took too shabby, plus it would be pretty easy.

Marriage Certificate/Guest Book

If you remember from my previous posts about the guestbook, I have decided not to do a traditional guestbook, but rather a Quaker Marriage certificate. I am all about hanging things on the walls, so I think this will be perfect! Here is what I came up with so far.

I made it using powerpoint and clipart I found on the internet. I am just now figuring out how to print it. I'm thinking about FedEx or something, but I'm having quite a time figuring out to make it look right in a word doc. So for now here is the pdf.

Hair-Wear...It came today!!

My lovely headband came today in the mail and I love it! I kept going back and forth between a hair fascinator and headband, but after a poll on weddingbee I was told to go with the headband. It is beautiful!

Sorry for the crappy pics, I was very excited and took them myself.

I bought the headband from FeathersandFrills on etsy. It took a few weeks to get, but I was informed that it would take that long. I am very happy with my choice, it is beautiful! FYI there are even two little pieces of ribbon on the underside of the headband where you can attach bobby pins to hold it in place.....genius!

Flower Trial #1

I've been stalking the local grocery stores lately to see if they have any white flowers on sale so I can practice some centerpieces. Well today I found some roses, spider mums, and daisies (I think). Here is some of my flower inspiration:

So here is my first attempt at DIY flowers. OK I have to confess, I did color the center of the daisies in with black sharpie. LOL I know.....super ghetto, but it's a trial and if you squint they can almost be anemones!

I really want roses, anemones and ranunculus, but alas this is what Safeway had. I'm hoping the roses open up over the next day or so and fill in some of the empty spots.