It's the final countdown...

I can't believe July is finally here and the wedding is only 9 days away.  In some ways it seems like it has taken forever to get to this point, but in other ways time has gone quickly.

I have gone in to high-gear wedding planning mode, and I am steadily whittling away at my to-do list.  Today I bought sparklers for the send-off, went with Lee to get our marriage license, finalized the decorating guides and agendas for everyone involved, filled out the photographers questionnaire/worksheet, bought a dress for the gift opening after the wedding, and completed the table assignments for the reception.

There is still a long list of crafts to complete, meetings to attend, and items to buy.  I feel I am taking it all in stride, and I'm somehow still enjoying every minute of it!

I am SO incredibly excited to marry my best friend.  I'm definitely looking forward to the wedding, but most of all, the marriage.  :)

Another wedding!

Today I picked up the bridesmaid dress I will be wearing for my friend Hilary's wedding, which happens to be the week after mine.  I wasn't sure how I would feel about wearing a long bridesmaid dress, but I ended up liking it much more than I thought I would! 

Dress from David's Bridal, in the color "Watermelon"

It needs to be hemmed...just a few inches!

Matching shoes to wear with the dress

With this dress, I will have experienced all of the different bridesmaid lengths: short, tea-length, and long.  My favorites are definitely short and long.  Tea length was just not for me. 

Escort Card Holders

I finished one of the projects that has been lingering for a month or two now.  I made escort card boxes and escort card shutters.  The boxes can each hold 90 cards and the shutters can hold another 60.  If we have 300 guests, there will be another 60 cards or so that will have to be set on the table in rows between the boxes. 

The most tedious part of this project was spray painting the boxes and shutters black.  We got the shutters for $4 from the Re-Store, but they were ivory to begin with.  I found the boxes at Good Will, but they started their life as brown cassette tape holders.  After the painting ordeal was completed, it was only a matter of adhering the different ribbons to the holders! 

One of my last big projects left to do is make up the wedding programs.  However, I can't make them until I have good guest-imate (haha, get it?  instead of guesstimate?!) of the number of people who will be attending.  So far of the nearly 325 people we have invited in the first round of invitations, only 110 people have responded that they are coming and 48 have sent in a "no" rsvp.  I hope the rest of the bunch respond quickly; there is less than two weeks left until the rsvp deadline! 

58 Days!

I was so excited today to find a wedding album on facebook of a friend-of-a-friend who happened to have her wedding reception at the Howard Johnson Hotel.  I got so excited and eager for my own wedding while looking at the pictures that I thought I would share a few with you as well.  It's getting so close, and seeing these pictures makes it seem even more real! 

The couple's first dance.  We will not be doing the chair covers you see in the picture.  Chair covers can be cool, especially if you add a ribbon or sash around them, but I am not in love with them enough to pay to rent them for 300 people. 

Looking out over the main part of the ballroom.  Like this couple, we will be doing uplighting around the room, but in a golden/amber hue instead of purple.  Our head table will be on the dance floor, which is in the right-hand corner of the room as seen in this picture.

Let them eat cake!  We will also be placing our cake table in one of the alcoves of the room.  However, we will be hanging glowing Chinese paper lanterns in turquoise and white over our cake table.  Our cake will be quite a bit taller than this one, too! 

I am so excited for our first dance!  I hope Lee and I get a picture like this! 

The tablescape.  We will be having a floating candles on mirrors surrounded by votive candles as our centerpieces.  Our napkins will be folded as shown in this picture, but underneath each napkin we will have a turquoise "Thank You" card with games on the back.  We will also have a small candy favor in front of each spot. 

This couple put their head table up on the second upper level of the ballroom.  I like the idea, but we will need the extra space up there for guest tables.  We will also be doing the icicle lighting underneath the tablecloth of the head table. 

All Dressed Up!

I have all kinds of dresses on my mind!  I recently purchased a dress for my friend Stephanie's wedding this fall.  She is giving the bridesmaids free reign, and we can pick whatever cream or beige dress we would like.  She is having a vintage wedding, and she wanted each bridesmaid to find a feminine and flowy dress.  I am very excited about the dress I found, and I am even more excited for their wedding this November.

My cream-colored lace bridesmaid dress.  I will be swapping out the ribbon for the wedding!

I realized I don't think I have yet shared the dress I will be wearing for the rehearsal dinner.  I wanted to wear white for the rehearsal, and I found this dress at JC Penney for $40.  The only problem was the smallest size the dress came in was still way too big for me, so I had to get it altered down to my size.  The alterations did significantly add to the cost (they were more expensive than the dress!), but they were definitely worth it.  The dress now fits like a glove.

My rehearsal dinner dress.  If you look closely you will see the 3 tiers on the skirt and the pearl-beaded neckline!

Speaking of the rehearsal dinner, Lee volunteered me to his family to make invitations for the rehearsal dinner.  I made five different options and I am going to have Lee's mom pick which one she likes best.  I am very curious to see which one she will choose.  I am including all five so you can see them all!