Wedding Countdown

So our wedding is in 6 months...  That terrifies me!  We still have so much to do and to do lists galore.  It actually makes my stomach sick.  It would actually be quicker to tell you what we do have than what we do not.  :S

We have:  a ceremony location, a reception location, a wedding coordinator, a photographer, a few half completed DIY decorations, half the centerpieces, half the bridal party gifts, and a honeymoon.  Additionally, I have an idea of how I want basically everything; I just have not had the time to sit down and actually do all the DIY projects and/or hire the vendors.

That's it...  Right now, I am taking a class, so I do not have a lot of extra time to work on wedding planning.  However, once this class is over on August 6, I am going to start kicking wedding planning butt.  That's my plan!  But I need some goals to motivate me, so by this time next month, I want to have all of this done:

Find an officiant.
Complete guest list.
Order invitations.
Add embellishments to invitations.
Complete all DIY decorations for ceremony.
Find cater.
Register for gifts.

That sounds reasonable on paper...  Now to just get down to business. 

Can you believe all the little decisions involved with plannig a wedding?  What tips do you have for me on planning a wedding?  Have you been to a wedding lately and they had some neat idea you have never saw before? 

Homework

So I am currently taking an online course this summer.  As much as I hate online classes, this one is about a topic I am interested in, entrepreneurship communication.  As a part of the final project, we are interviewing social entrepreneurs about their entrepreneurship.  I am very excited about getting to interview them because one day I would love to have my own entrepreneurship.  The two social entrepreneurships I am interviewing are Blessings in a Backpack and Connecticut Food Bank.  They both are doing wonderful things in their communities and both have a backpack program.  If you have not heard about a backpack program it is a program created to help feed children whose families cannot afford to feed them on the weekends or during summer.  I really like this type of philanthropy because I hate to see anyone go without food, but it is very important for many reasons for children to get the food they need.  I can't imagine going to school because it is the only place I know I will get a meal or being able to focus with a growling stomach because I missed dinner and breakfast at home.  It is extremely important right now for these organizations to receive help because it is summer and the children are not in school, but they still need to eat. 

Do you guys have a philanthropy that is close to your heart?  Do you have dreams of starting your own entrepreneurship? 

Stella and Dot Fall Collection is Here!!

So besides working full time, going to graduate school part time, and planning a wedding, I am a stylist for Stella and Dot.  What is that, you have never heard of Stella and Dot!?  Well, S&D is an affordable, couture jewelry line that is sold at in home trunk shows.  Several celebrities have been spotted wearing it and it has really taken off in the last few years.  I LOVE the jewelry!  It is always right on trend with the fashions on the runway.  And yesterday, they released their fall line!  I have to say this launch is probably my favorite launch yet!  Everything is so stylish and on trend with the tribal jewelry feel!  I am having a hard time selecting what pieces to purchase for my samples for trunk shows.  Here are my favorites though: 

 Love the turquoise color of the necklace!  What a great statement piece!

What a fun layering bracelet!

I have a weakness for earrings!

This is a great cocktail ring that will match everything!

What do you all think of my favorites?  You can see the full collection and shop for yourself here.  What is your favorite pieces from the new fall line?

Great Find!

We just moved in May, so our apartment still has rooms that need finishing touches or rooms that need to be started.   I have decided I am going to start room by room and finish decorating the place, so when we are married it feels like a home.  I wanted to start with the guest bathroom first; basically, it has a shower curtain and the rest needs to be decorated, but it is one of the smallest rooms so it is not that intimidating. 

However, this past Fourth of July weekend, I found the perfect lamps for our bedroom that were too good of a deal to pass up.  First of all, our bedroom is another one of those rooms that pretty much needs to be started.  It has furniture and a bed set, but that’s it.  These lamps for our night stands match the bed great!

Kirklands is one of my favorite home décor stores because everything is priced well and they have lots of sales.  Nothing makes me happier than a good deal!  These lamps were priced $29.99 each.  However, that weekend they had a sale for 25% off the lamps.  On top of that, I had a coupon for $5 off your purchase of $20 or more.  To break it down

2 Lamps Originally @          $29.99   $59.98

Marked down to                  $19.99   $39.98

25% discount                        -$5.00  -$10.00

Coupon                                  -$5.00   -$5.00   

Grand Total                             $24.98 + tax

I love my new lamps, but I love them even more since I got them for such a steal!  What do you guys think?  Do they look great with the bedset?  Have you got any great deals lately that you are proud of?  Does finding a great deal make you as excited as me?

Wedding DIY Projects

So for our wedding, we are doing a lot of the decorations ourselves.  One, because I really like the DIY look because I feel it makes the wedding more intimate knowing all the details were handpicked and handmade by the bride.  But also mainly, because we are trying to keep the cost as low as possible since we are paying for it ourselves.  Last week, I had this great spark of creative motivation and started working away on all the projects that need to get done for the wedding.  However, that motivation ran dry quickly.  None of the projects I started on are completely done yet, but hopefully I can find that creative motivation again to finish those and start the rest. 

Here is what I have so far:

The first project I started was a triangle banner that said “Mr” and “Mrs.”  This project is pretty close to being done.  All I have left to do is tie a ribbon through the triangles to make it a hangable banner.  I am pretty pleased with how this project came out!  I love the paper I used for the triangles!  I am hoping to find table clothes with that navy blue damask pattern on it to use for the wedding as well. 

The next project I started was picture frames.  We are going to use the pictures frames at the guest book table for our family members who have passed away, for our puppies’ pictures at the head table since they are not allowed at the venues, wedding pictures of our parents’ weddings on the cake table, and a picture of us on the cake table.  I have finished the picture frames for the family members and puppies, but I do not have the pictures yet for them.  And I have not started the other picture frames yet.  I am waiting on inspiration because I would like to do something different with those frames. 

Family Member picture frames

Puppy pictures frames

The last project is an ongoing project.  I am on the mission to hand selecting all the centerpieces.  Our colors are navy and gold, so I want the vases and candle holders to stay in that color family.  Additionally, we also like the antique mason jars and want to include some of those in our centerpieces as well.  However, the catch is I do not want to spend for than $2 each on the vases and candle holders and $3 on the antique mason jars.  We have been antiquing like crazy trying to find those colors within our budget!  I would have never thought that antique vases and mason jars would be so expensive.  How naïve.  It seems like the going rate for mason jars is $8-$10, which I will not pay because I can’t justify paying that when we are using these once and then throwing them away.  We still have plenty of time until our wedding, so at this point I am not too concerned.  Closer to the wedding, I might be willing to change the budget, but right now I am holding firm. 

What do you all think?  What kind of DIY projects did you do for your wedding?  Do you have motivation problems when it comes to finishing projects around the house?  What do you do to motivate yourself to finish a project? 

My Start at Blogging

Recently, I have become addicted to blogs.  I love keeping up to date with some of my friends by being a regular reader of their blogs and I love receiving wedding inspiration by reading different wedding blogs.  (If you are interested in weddings, here is one of my favorites:  Style Me Pretty Blog.



To make it easier to be able to follow all of my favorite blogs, I have decided I want to start my own blog.  However, I have some uncertainties:

Q.  What if no one wants to read my blog?

A.  Who cares, I can use it as a personal journal during this part of my life.  And to get more readers, I can always throw in pictures of my super cute puppies! 

Wilson




Lucy



Everyone loves cute puppies!

Q.  What can I even blog about?

A.  Well as I mentioned briefly, I am getting married soon.  And my personal goal is to be the domesticated wife, who can do everything!  Including, but not limited to planning a beautiful wedding, cooking, hosting parties, decorating, and sewing.  I guess I can use my blog to write about all the trials and mishaps along the way.  Hopefully, I can write about some wonderful victories too! 

So, now that the minor details are out of the way, it is time to get started on one of these projects!  I think the first thing to start with is some wonderful wedding DIY projects!