Fold, Seal, Address, Repeat

We've been getting a lot of packages recently.

I think this is the first year ever that I've bought all my Christmas gifts online. So day after day, the friendly neighborhood postman stops by and drops off another box.

But when he showed up with this box, I knew it wasn't something I had bought...


It was something I had won!


In November, I entered one of Weddingbee's many contests. A little while later, I received an email that said I had won 100 free holiday cards from Minted.

Woooo!

After the initial disappointment that we couldn't use the $350 credit toward wedding invitations, Ryan and I were excited to create some custom (and extremely costly) Christmas cards.


The entire suite includes a card, envelope, envelope liner, and wrap-around label.


So if you're considering using Minted for your holiday cards (or wedding invitations), here are my thoughts...

• Pro: The cards are extremely high quality and very thick. Our photos look great.
  
• Con: I am finding it extremely difficult to squeeze the cards into the envelopes. It's a tight fit! I'm not sure if this is typical or not.
  
• Pro: Minted has professional designers who personally look at your card and make adjustments as needed. They email you a proof for approval before any printing takes place.
  
• Con: The envelope liners don't come with any adhesive. I had to hand-glue every single one (and got so annoyed that I almost gave up completely)...

It would be nice if they came with little self-adhesive strips or something. That would have saved me a lot of time!

But I can't really complain. After all, they're free! Free... and adorable.


By the time Ryan got home from work on Friday, I had already completed about half of the cards (we're sending them to everyone on our wedding guest list).


I think he approved. (And was glad he didn't have to do any of it.)

Thanks, Weddingbee!

Gimme, Gimme, Gimme!

Christmas is fast approaching. And while I'm seriously struggling with what to get family and friends, I've had my Christmas list ready for months.

Mainly because it's mostly wedding-related stuff.

It may seem weird... but I figured that asking for things we can use on our wedding day is sort of like killing two birds with one stone (man... that saying is seriously terrible). The giver can get me something I need, we can get something checked our list, and everyone's happy!

Here is a glimpse into the stuff I asked for...

Hair Combs, $36 - I'm not yet sure how I'll be doing my hair for the wedding. But one thing I do know is that I love these beautiful hair combs. I'm not big on headbands, so I think these would be the perfect addition to my [probably] awesome up-do and cathedral length veil.

Source

Personalized Cake Topper, $55 - It's unlikely anyone got this for me because it needs to be personalized with our outfits. At this point, we still don't know what Ryan will be wearing, or how I'll be doing my hair. But if they did, they'd see one excited bride come Christmas morning.

Source

Return Address Stamp, $14.50 - This would be perfect for addressing our invitations. I was originally eyeing some more expensive custom stamps, but I realized it was frivolous to pay $50+ for a stamp that we probably wouldn't be able to use in a year (due to a change in address).

Source

Toasting Flutes, $80 - I love the idea of having our own toasting flutes at our wedding. It will be just one more thing that we can bring out on special occasions and anniversaries that will remind us of our special day. I am weird and I don't like the flutes that are super "V" shaped, so these are perfect (and Ryan approved).

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Personalized Hanger, $25 - I believe when I sent this Christmas list to my Mom, I said something like, "Don't judge me. I'm well aware of how frivolous this is." But it's just so darn cute! I would get one that said "Kelly (heart) Ryan". Awwww!

Source

Sapphire Pendant Necklace, $32 - My taste in jewelry is relatively simple. I chose a sapphire necklace so it would go with our Navy Blue/Pink wedding colors. Also, it could double as my "something blue". While there are extremely expensive versions of this necklace out there, I figured a less-expensive knock-off would work just as well.

Source

It's really a stretch that I'll get any of these gifts for Christmas, but it's still fun to imagine!

Is anyone else using Christmas as a chance to score some awesome wedding loot?

Keeping it in the Family

Back in July, after a full day of dress shopping, my mom and I were in a full-blown wedding dress state of mind (which, btw, is way better than a New York state of mind).

As soon as we got home, my mom pulled out her gown from the depths of her closet. "I don't think this box has been opened since the day it was put in here," she said.

(Note to self: keeping my dress after the wedding is probably pointless.)

After pulling the dress from the box and admiring it for a bit, we just couldn't resist having me try it on. What's one more wedding dress in the grand scheme of the day?

Let's just say it was a hilarious sight to see. My mom must have been a size negative 4 in 1980, because the dress barely even fit my arms. It was tight in all the wrong ways and there was no chance in a million years (or 60 pounds) that we could have gotten it zipped up.


Sorry mom. It looks like your dress seeing a wedding day encore is out of the question.


(And yes... that is a bridal hat. (More like a bridal brim because it was open on top. Ohhh, 1980.))

Good times were had by all, and the dress went back into it's box.

... But not before my mom made a suggestion.

"Maybe this is dumb... but you could use the material for something if you'd like."

Ahh, mothers. Somehow they always know the right thing to say. Because I had the exact same thing in mind. I was eying the dotted lace on her skirt, and had some definite ideas of what it could be used for.

I could use it as a wrap for my bouquet...

Source

Or we could use it to make the ring pillow...

Source

My mom loved the idea, and it was settled.

(Note to self: keeping my dress after the wedding may not be as pointless as I thought.)

The Week of Wedding

With December officially here, and the midwest buried in the white stuff, I thought I'd take a moment to discuss my favorite holiday...

my birthday of course! (You thought I was going to say Christmas, didn't you?)



No, my birthday isn't close to Christmas (Jeez... get your mind off Christmas, already!). But it is close to our wedding. Five days apart to be exact.

This makes for a sad IKEA Bride.


Growing up, I always mocked my parents. They had their anniversary, my mother's birthday, and mother's day all within a week and a half of eachother. Silly parents, I would think... I would never do that to myself.

D'oh.

But it wasn't our fault! Our reception venue only had 2 dates in June, and some of my friends already had a wedding on one of those dates (I didn't want to make them choose).

So why June?

A) Because June is the most awesome month of all. It's still spring, but feels like summer. It's not too hot, not too cold, and everyone is in a good mood.
B) Because June is the beginning of triathlon season. (Did I mention I'm a triathlete?) If we had the wedding in, say, August... it would ruin training for all my best races. I want to be over and done with wedding stuff by mid-summer so I can get back to my real life.
C) Because spring is too rainy and fall is too cold and depressing.

So June it is!

My wedding/birthday week sadness comes from my selfish side. I don't like attention being taken away from my birthday! And the non-selfish side of me feels bad for Ryan who has to buy me two gifts in one week (okay... maybe that's a little selfish too).



Fine. So what? I love my birthday. I love our wedding. I will just have to spin this into a good thing. We get one week of amazingness every year in June. We can use it as an excuse to do some rock star celebrations like going to Las Vegas or throwing a huge party.

I can see Ryan sweating already.

Dressing the Flower Girls

Our flower girls are adorable.

My 5-year-old Cousin

Ryan's 4-year-old Niece

These two cuties need adorable outfits to match.

Back in October, Ryan and I attended his cousin's wedding, where Ryan's niece was also a flower girl. She wore a 4-tiered white dress with a teal sash.


Ryan and I decided it's ridiculous for us to ask them to buy another flower girl dress for our wedding, just 8 months later. Why can't she just re-use that one?

Even more perfect is that her dress was taken in for the October wedding. By the time our June wedding rolls around, we can have it taken out again, and it should fit pretty well.

So we will probably have my cousin buy the same (or a similar) dress, and pair them with navy blue sashes so the girls match.

When I was in Philadelphia for Thanksgiving, Ryan's mom really had her mind set on buying the girls something to wear in their hair. At the wedding in October, Ryan's family was really unsure how they should do his niece's hair. Since his niece and my cousin have very different length hair, I was thinking a headband might work well for both of them.

So we ended up with these...


They were like $3.00 each at Claire's. What a deal!

They each feature a fake white flower with a few scattered rhinestones.


I will now model one for your amusement and mocking...


Yeah... it looks a little stupid on me. But it looked super cute when we tried it on Ryan's niece in the store. And it will be the perfect thing to keep her hair back out of her face.

I haven't yet asked my cousin to be a flower girl. We will definitely do that when we see her at Christmas. As for Ryan's niece... she came up to me at the end of the last wedding and asked, "Can I be a flower girl at your wedding too?"

::Awwwwww::

Staying Organized and Keeping My Sanity

A coworker asked me this afternoon how the wedding planning was going.

That's a pretty dangerous question, and I usually try to answer with something simple and nondescript like "good"... mainly because I don't want to bore people with all the details

But this coworker of mine recently got engaged... so she knows the deal.

I told her we had all our big stuff done and out of the way, and now I'm just procrastinating starting all the little details.

She responded, "Yeah... we're still working on all the 'big stuff'. I don't know about you... but this wedding planning stuff is stressful!"

Source

I nodded politely and mumbled something resembling a "yeah".

Why the cold shoulder? Mainly because I don't agree. I haven't felt any real wedding-related stress since this whole process started 7+ months ago. I've actually had a really good time with the whole thing.

Luck? Perhaps. But more likely it's my obsessive organization.

I've got a massive always-changing Excel spreadsheet. I keep it on a small flashdrive, and bring it with me everywhere. It has a bunch of different tabs where I keep all our important information, links, ideas, etc...

Expenses:

*Click any photo to enlarge*

Appointments and To Do:


Guests:


Budget:


Wedding Day Timeline:


Gift Registries:


What can I say? I love lists!

Every time I'm trying to decide between vendors, I add another tab to my spreadsheet where I can compare the costs, inclusions, and pros and cons of each different company.

I bought a nice wedding planning binder when we first got engaged, but I haven't used it much. First of all, it's huge... and second, my Excel sheet is just way easier. The binder is handy for keeping track of all of our information packets and contracts, though.

If you could use a little organization infusion, you can download a blank version of my magical wedding spreadsheet by clicking here! (Yeah... I'm just that nice.)

What are you doing to stay organized?

Let's Dance!

Ever since we interviewed our DJ, I've been trying to keep a running list of songs I would like them to play. I've got a "Stuff I'm Into" list, a "Do Not Play" list, and a "Possible First Dance" list. I've also got a "Must Play" list... but it's currently empty. It's way too much of a commitment for me to say they must play a certain song.

So for the past few weeks, Ryan has been bugging me to see my music list. But music is personal, I haven't made any final decisions, and I don't want him judging me for my possibly-weird choices.

But that day has come. So right here, right now... I will reveal my thoughts for possible first dance songs.

Let me start off my saying that Ryan and I don't have "a song". Music is big to us, but we don't dance often, so it's hard for me to find songs that are danceable, and still within our taste genres.

Here we go...

David Gray - This Year's Love



The Beach Boys - God Only Knows



Dave Matthew Band - You and Me



Ingrid Michaelson - The Way I Am



Nouvelle Vague - I Melt With You



Paramore - The Only Exception



What do you think? (And what do you think, Ryan??)

What are you using for your first dance song?