2 Months To Go

Two?! Oh boy.

Ryan and I took an extensive look at our To Do list yesterday (well, okay... it's my To Do list... so it may have been the first time he actually read through it). After we were done, we felt really good about the progress we're making and the amount of projects left for our last two months.

I think I may have mentioned before... but my goal in this whole planning process is to get everything done by the week of the wedding. I have to work Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of that week, and I don't want to be scrambling trying to get stuff done. I want to use that time to organize and pack for our honeymoon (which we'll be leaving straight for from Chicago).

So far, we're totally on track for that goal. Yay, us!

Here's the breakdown...

Past Month Goals:

1) Purchase and create table numbers. Check! I bought 23 IKEA Tolsby frames from a fellow bride for a dollar each. I then spent this past weekend spray painting all of them silver metallic so they go with our colors (pink, navy, and silver). Ryan and I went through all the possibilities for naming our tables, and ended up with specific locations that correspond to photos of us. So I spend yesterday afternoon designing those.

2) Schedule dance lessons. A big fat X for this one. I keep meaning to do it, but then get distracted by other fun tasks. Ryan said he'd do it on Friday (he had off work), but then ended up cleaning the basement. ::shrug::

3) Schedule dress fittings. Check! Yay, finally! I actually had my very first dress fitting last weekend when I was visiting home. A tiny little woman with choppy English scurried around my dress, gushed over how beautiful it was, and crawled in and out of my skirt for an hour. She needs to take my dress in a whopping four inches at the top because of all the weight I've lost. Notice the lack of lacing room...


4) Plan our ceremony. Check! The ceremony was mostly planned by the church, but we figured out what readings we'd like to do, where they would go within the ceremony, and if we wanted any music. After we got all that worked out, I designed the programs. We have to send them to our Officiant to "ok" them before we can print.

5) Decide on aisle decor. Check! My mom and I met with our florist last weekend when I was home. It was nice to actually meet her in person, and she was super nice and accommodating. My mom and I told her we'd like to add aisle decor to our list (we decided DIYing it would be too much of a pain). So the florist is going to add a stem of white flowers tied with ribbon to every third pew going down the aisle.

Photo courtesy my florist, Kio Kreations

6) Print family wedding photos and frame them. Check... sort of. I collected family wedding photos over the past month, and got them all printed 8x10 at Walgreens. Ryan and I have been on the hunt for the right frames, but haven't bought anything yet.

I'm pretty pleased with how we did on last month's list. But that's not all we got done!

Other Accomplishments:

• We met with our reception venue and worked out all the details when it came to our menu, seating arrangements, and cake.
• We confirmed our honeymoon reservations.
• I bought the rest of my handkerchiefs.
• We finally decided on a place to get Ryan's tux.
• We payed off our Photo Booth.
• I bought two mirrors from IKEA and spray painted them with chalkboard paint. We will use them for our seating chart.
• We decided who will greet guests and hand out programs at the ceremony. Although, we haven't told them yet!
• We decided to rent a bus to shuttle guests to and from the reception.

Despite how busy I've been with other stuff, I've been working pretty hard recently to get wedding things checked off the To Do list. It's so satisfying to mark it as "done"!

Goals for the Upcoming Month:

• Decide how I want my makeup to look, and purchase anything I need for that.
  
• Schedule dance lessons. (Seriously!)
  
• Print menus and reception timelines.
• Print table numbers.
• Frame family wedding photos.
• Create activity books for the kids.

I am in disbelief that the wedding is only two months away. I'm not stressed at all, and I haven't yet hit that wall that most brides hit where they just want it to be over and done with. I attribute that to my serious organizational skills and our reasonable amount of DIY projects.

At this point, I'm just getting really excited.

Gifts for Aunts

My mom has three sisters, and all of them were involved some way or another in the planning and execution of my bridal shower.

So to show my appreciation, I gave them each a gift... a box of truffles and a stack of personalized correspondence cards.


The truffles came from a local chocolate company, and the cards were Goccoed by yours truly.

The Gocco-ing may or may not have been so I could practice for our upcoming invitations. And I was excited to put to use one of the other inks that came with it.


It's a vintage typewriter, and their names in typewriter fonts, then tied with bakers twine. I presented them to my aunts at the end of the shower, after everyone had left.

Thanks, aunts!

Showering Me with Love

This past weekend, Ryan and I went back to Illinois for some planning and marriage counseling... but mainly for my bridal shower.

Yay!

It was Saturday afternoon at my aunt's house. I was surrounded by 25 of my family and friends, and way too many gifts!


After everyone said hello and got a drink (mimosas? yes, please!), we started with a couple games. I was so relieved that neither of them was that game where you make a toilet paper dress. Why? I dunno. It's just not my thing.

First, everyone was given a piece of paper with a bunch of trivia questions about Ryan and I. It was rather impressive what detailed tidbits were included. Some peoples' answers were rather funny. For "what is one thing Kelly and Ryan have in common?", one of my friends replied, "bacon".

Funny, but true.


The person who got the highest number of questions right won, and received a prize. That was my friend Rachel, from high school...


After that, we played a "Price is Right" style game where we had to guess the cost of a number of household items. The person who got each price closest won a prize. I did horribly.


After games, it was time to eat! They had a delicious spread of sandwiches, wraps, fruit spears, veggies, chips and salsa, and more...


Immediately following lunch, my aunts passed around dessert. I went straight for the mini cheesecake...


After we were done stuffing our faces, and I was satisfactorily full, it was time to open gifts.


We received so many wonderful things. A glass food storage set...


An apron from Anthropologie...


An IKEA umbrella (an homage to where Ryan proposed)...


And a Simpons figurine of Homer holding Marge (The Simpsons is our favorite show)...


That last one was from Ryan's mom. I definitely want to find a place to display it at our wedding!

Meanwhile, my lovely cousin, Alaina, was hard at work making a bouquet out of all the ribbons...


I think it's usually a job for the bridesmaids, but I only had one there (my MOH, Colleen, who sat next to me and took notes). But Alaina did a wonderful job!


There was a large debate over whether it was a bouquet or a hat. I've never heard of a ribbon hat before. It doesn't even make any sense (at least you can use the ribbon bouquet again!). But they made me put it on my head for a photo op anyway...


On their way out, guests could help themselves to a bag of 2 cookies...


One cookie was a heart with Ryan and I's new monogram in it, and the other was a big white wedding dress...


I had such an amazing time, and it was really great that so many of my friends made the trip out to attend the shower! Ryan and I had quite the time trying to unpack all the gifts and find room for everything (the hardest was our kitchen!).

I'm usually the photographer at family events, but it was really nice to have my younger cousin, Julie, take over for the afternoon. I got so many great photos, and didn't have to stress about it.

Overall: Bridal Shower = success.