Our Wedding Vendor List

I would like to share a list of our vendors. I will obviously continue to update this list as we find more vendors, etc. but here is what we have so far!

Bride & Bridal Party Attire - David's Bridal https://www.davidsbridal.com/HomeView
Groom & Groomsmen Attire - Men's Warehouse http://www.menswearhouse.com
Transportation -  City Wide Limousine http://www.cwlimo.com/
Bakery - Oteri's Italian Bakery http://www.oterisbakery.com/
Ceremony & Reception Venue - Park Avenue Banquet Hall https://sites.google.com/site/parkavenuemediacloud/

DIY: Bride & Groom Glasses (Take 2)

UPDATE:
(PLEASE excuse my messy dresser...lol!!!). If you refer to by prior blog about my wedding glasses, I mentioned that I may be changing the glasses. I loved the design but decided to change the font of our names. The glasses are still exactly the same except for the writing. I have yet to put these in the oven because I may change my mind again and need to wipe something away, who knows...lol. I am also thinking about making glasses for my MOH and BMs as well as my mom and his mom to give as gifts at the rehearsal dinner.

DIY: Hot Chocolate Cone Favor

So, I did say before that I would be using these for my wedding favors. And they actually turned out much better than I expected. This really is an awesome idea especially for our winter wedding and as I said before, you can switch the hot cocoa off for a tea. So here is my tutorial!!!

Supplies:

• Wilton Decorating Bags (3 boxes for 150 favors)
• Mini Marshmallows (# bags is up to you)
• Clear rubber bands (300 for 150 favors) 
• Hot Cocoa Mix
• Scissors
  

Optional*

• Ribbon (I used red) or Twine
• Crushed Candy Cane (you can put whatever else you want inside, I used this because it's red & white)
• A cute label and/or tag

Tutorial:

1. Each favor requires you to use 2 bags. Fill one bag with your choice on the amount of mixture and seal it with a rubber band. The other bag will contain the hot cocoa bag and all of the other ingredients (marshmallows and peppermint, etc.). 

2. Place the hot chocolate bag into the second bag (I already placed the label on the outside bag but you can of course do it your way.

3. Now you fill the rest of the bag with your ingredients (marshmallows and candy, etc) and place another rubber band on this bag as well.

4. Lastly, add you beautiful ribbon and there you have it, an awesome wedding favor!!!!

***Our labels read "A&T....The Perfect Mix....2.23.12". I made them myself, purchased some round labels from papersource and created them on microsoft word.

Long Overdue

So I am just 80 days away from the big day and to answer many people's question, yes I am beginning to feel a bit overwhelmed by it. Well, anxious more than anything! The Mr. says he isn't but he isn't really doing much, except for spending $$$, which is important but I am in charge of all of the details...lol.
 I have been neglectful. I haven't blogged since sometime in October but I have been fairly busy. Dealing with wedding stuff and plus I started a new job!! My fiance also suffered a tragic death in his family in early October, which took a toll on both of us.
I do have much to share! Invitations are done so look out for those!!! Working on my hot chocolate favors and I will be creating a tutorial for those. Lots of fun DIY projects that I will be sharing and much more site  make sure you come back and visit soon :) 

DIY: Bride & Groom Glasses (Take 1)

I was simply excited when I learned how to make personalized glasses via http://diy.weddingbee.com/! I could simply just but a bride and groom set of glasses but I decided on this, and it was probably cheaper this way. I purchased the paint at $1.97 each and a set of 4 glasses for $5.00 both at Wal-Mart. I really liked the wavy/swirly design and decided to use it on the glasses. Our colors are red & white so I obviously wanted to incorporate those colors into the glasses. This is my 1st take because they are not yet complete. I have to finish the bottom of the glasses and I may change our names (I am not too fond of the writing). This is a pretty simple DIY project and if you creative, this can definitely work for you!

Making the glasses are very simple. Purchase some glasses (in any size or type), glass paint and paint brushes. Design your glasses any way that you like. And after you have finished, you must stick them in the oven for about 20 minutes (so that when you wash them, the paint doesn't come off). After you do that, you are good to go! Like I said, this is Take 1. I will be posting a picture of the finished project!

Front view of the glasses

Back view of the glasses

A picture of the bottles of paint that I used, you can't miss them since they have the little glass icon at the top of the bottle.

My Fingerprint Tree Guestbook!!!

So I have created my own and here it is!!! It turned out as nice as I had hoped for :) I used a sheet of paper from my sketch pad and sketched the tree with a pencil. I then brought some paint from Michaels (97 cents a bottle!) and painted over the lines. I was a little worried that the pencil lines might show up through the paint but they didn't, WooHoo!!!! Our names and the date were hand written by me (people say that I have pretty good penmanship...lol) and traced them with a black sharpie. I made the 2 birds red because those are our wedding colors. I purchased the picture frame from Michaels which was $6.99. The green ink pad came Papersource for $4.95. I may get a red ink pad as well. The important thing about the ink pads is to get the chalk type because they are water based. All in all my grand total for my guestbook comes to a whopping: $14.85!!

4 Creative (& Inexpensive) Guestbook Ideas

I have decided to go with a non-traditional guestbook idea. For one, the guestbooks offered in the stores are not only plain and boring but they are also very expensive, in my opinion ($30 - $50 for a little book). So I have been doing some internet research for the past month or so on alternative guestbook ideas. I have found a few and would like to share them with you. I personally have fell in love with the fingerprint tree idea and will be creating one for my wedding! 

1. Giant Letter Guestbook
This idea is pretty neat because there are so many options to choose from. Some couples opt to follow the idea like this picture. You can also do just one giant letter (last name initial), spell out your last name or "Mr. and Mrs". Letters can be purchased in several different fonts and sizes. You can also decorate the letters however you like. Paint them and don't forget to get some nice pens that match your wedding colors. This is also a plus because you can definitely display these in your home after the wedding. Here is a link to a site where you can purchase letters for a reasonable price. <http://www.craftcuts.com>

 2. Jenga Puzzle
This is a great idea for a couple who really loves games! Just buy a Jenga puzzle (or 2 or 3, depending on how big your guest list is), set it up with some pens and have guests sign their names and/or write a special message to you! Pretty inexpensive and creative! And you and your partner will have a great time playing Jenga while reading the messages after the wedding.

3. Birthday Calender Guestbook
This is a really easy and very inexpensive guestbook idea. All you have to do is find a nice calendar and a few pens and let your guests have their way with it! It's also a very nice and helpful way for you to remember birthday through out the year, but we always have facebook to tell us...lol. It can also work as a conversation starter, a way for guests to see who they share birthday months or days with that they hadn't known

4. Fingerprint Tree Guestbook
This is what I'll be using as my guestbook! I am so in love with this idea! I have never been a nature person but this is adorable and is something that I cannot wait to hang in my home after the wedding. Now if you are an artsy person, like moi, then you may be able to create your own. There are also custom made tree on etsy.com and plenty wedding boards that have brides who are more than willing to share their templates with you. Just buy whatever color ink pads you'd like and some pens for your guests to sign their names next to their fingerprints!