Three More Days

So we are getting down to the wire with all the wedding planning - it is in 3 days you know....

This past Sunday I finished one of the last (notice I didn't say the last) wedding craft projects - the flower girl buckets. I was putting this off because I thought it was going to be super difficult but it actually was pretty simple once I got started.

I used some metal pails/buckets found at Hobby Lobby and covered them with scrapbook paper adhered with Mod Podge. Cutting the template for the paper was the hardest part. Once they were covered I just needed to embellish them and I think they turned out super cute!

My nieces, Hannah and Jillian will look sooooo cute carrying these :-)

Then in the afternoon when Noah was finished with his first exam (he's now done with both of them, phew!) we headed to Ann Arbor for some delicious food (buffalo enchiladas and a raspberry margarita!) at The Prickly Pear Cafe,

walking around downtown, and.......

a Ray LaMontagne concert! It was nice to have an afternoon/evening to take a break from all the wedding stuff. The concert was awesome and Ray is one of our favorite musicians. You may hear some of his stuff at the wedding...stay tuned! Just for a little taste, here's his song Three More Days http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcLUIU2-uv8

So, now I'm off to finish up THE LAST wedding craft project....and pack for the weekend and the honeymoon. Thankfully I have all of today and the rest of the week off of work! Can't wait to see you all for some wedding fun!

I think I'll sit right here and have another beer in Mexico!

As the wedding draws nearer (I think we're at T-minus 18 days!) Noah and I just keep saying how excited and ready we are for the honeymoon. We are going to the Riviera Maya in Mexico - near the southern end of the region, about an hour south of Cancun. We'll be staying in an all-inclusive resort called the El Dorado Seaside Suites.

Here are a couple pics to really make you jealous :-p



I am really excited to go to Mexico - the warm weather, the fabulous water and beaches, the delicious food, awesome people, the chance to speak Spanish! I am also really excited to take Noah as he's never been there and it's a chance for him to see my adopted home away from home :-)


We haven't made any solid plans for activities while we're there. I figure we'll play it by ear and just do whatever we feel like. After all isn't that what vacation is all about? We may go snorkeling (it's free at our hotel), take a trip to explore the ruins and beautiful beaches of Tulum, go shopping in Playa del Carmen, and of course the most important part - relaxing on the beach!


We have both done some shopping for honeymoon/beach clothes and Noah was trying his on the other day. I think he's ready to go - the linen pants, tropical shirts and flip flops - he's ready for his role as a beach bum!





I think the first thing on the agenda will be a nap on the beach perhaps - our flight leaves from Detroit at about 6:00 am the day after the wedding (I think we'll get about 2 hours of sleep the night of the wedding!). After all the wedding planning stress (me) and final exams (law school for Noah) we definitely will be ready for a vacation!

The bridesmaid dress saga - finally over!

So last week I finally got to pick up the bridesmaid dresses for the wedding. It only took 4 months for them to come in! I mean give me a break we ordered them mid-November. They were only supposed to take 12 weeks to come in to the bridal shop, Pepe's*, from the designer, Leonardo's* - which would have put us at about mid February for the dresses to arrive. But no - here we are mid-March and the dresses still weren't in. Finally my good friend and bridesmaid Joanne, called the bridal shop and gave them the business about the dresses. This after I had called them several times inquiring about the status of the dresses - and every time they told me "They're in transit." Give me a break, eventually I got to the point where I had had enough, so it's probably a good thing Joanne called because the previous time I had called I probably was a bit less than nice with the girl who answered the phone. Anyway, the bridal shop ended up having to call the Designer who said the dresses were "in transit" (surprise, surprise) from the warehouse in China and would arrive at the designer and then be shipped to the bridal shop. So this time I think they actually were telling us the truth and one short week later the dresses arrived at the shop.

I have to say it was worth the wait though - the dresses are so cute/fabulous/beautiful. And needless to say Elisia, Emily, and Joanne will all look gorgeous in them!

Now it's on to cakeboard painting and decorating, making bridal party gifts, itinerary planning, editing vows, and so much more!

*Names have been changed to protect the guilty - although if you really want to know...

Pierre's bridal shop in Lansing :-\ and DaVinci's designer :-\

Alison's Bridal Shower

Good Morning! My name is Joanne -- I'm a good friend of Alison's and a bridesmaid in her wedding. Alison has graciously allowed me to guest-blog here this morning, and provide you all with a wrap-up of her bridal shower this past weekend. I'm thrilled about all of this -- thrilled to be in the wedding, thrilled to be guest posting, and thrilled to have Alison guest-blog on my craft blog once the wedding is over and she is no longer tied up with all things wedding-related.

We had Alison's shower yesterday in Adrian, Michigan. We were lucky to have probably the nicest day weather-wise that we've had in Michigan so far this year! The weather certainly matched the spring theme of the shower!

Tables were adorned with these cute little vases filled with pink tulips, green daisies, and white carnations, held in place by key limes and lime slices. Such a cute idea!


As favors, guests received a packet of seeds, and a small box containing hand-made chocolates.

We had a HUGE spread of food ranging from Mexican fare to chicken salad croissants and homemade cupcakes and treats for dessert. Yum!





We played a few games, and guests won some great prizes -- all courtesy of one of the other bridesmaids, Emily, who planned games and sent prizes all the way from her home in California. A favorite game was a memory game -- even the kids participated and did well!




After the food and games we sat down and enjoyed watching Alison open her gifts! She had lots of assistance from the little ones in the crowd, and ended up with some wonderful things! She certainly must have had a full car on her way home!







I'll leave you with some photos of Alison and her guests -- including one of her and I (at the very end.) We love you Alison, and had so much fun planning and throwing a shower for you! We wish nothing but happiness for you and Noah as you begin your new life together.

Thanks for letting me guest-post, Alison, and to you all for catching up on the countdown to Alison's wedding. Now we're on the the Bachelorette Party in a couple of weeks... perhaps I'll get to guest-post after that event, too?! : ) Stay tuned!

Pew Decorations

So the biggest dilemma thus far in the wedding planning has been how to decorate the pews in the church. I've seen several things that I liked but for some reason this wreath stuck with me. It just looks so pretty and sweet. However after talking to a florist she mentioned that these wreaths are very labor intensive and therefore somewhat pricey (and cost-prohibitive for me) so we needed to come up with an alternative.

Noah then had the idea to use foam wreaths and wrap them with ribbon. I loved the idea, but in actuality we decided that maybe they weren't "the" thing that we needed/wanted. The first ones we made were too big and turned out somewhat like lifesavers....we kept them though to see if we can use them any where else.

So then we thought that maybe all we need was some smaller wreaths and some different ribbon, but I'm still not sure I like the way they look hanging from the pews.

So now I'm thinking that maybe we'll just do tulle bows on the pews (I got some lime green tulle also - and it's sparkly!) And maybe I'll try this wreath idea (obviously not in black though) to hang on the doors of the church...maybe.

So....what do you think? I welcome the feedback as I'm somewhat at a loss.

Something old....

During the initial planning stages I was perusing the knot and stumbled upon a picture of some floral centerpieces and the vessels had been collected by the bride and her mother at various antique stores. There in lies my inspiration. So last summer while shopping at the longest yard sale on US-12 near Coldwater/Hillsdale I found some lime green depression glass sherbet cups that I though would look lovely on the reception tables. Along the way I found other pieces made of milk glass that I also thought would look lovely.

Here are most of the pieces I have collected so far. I finally finished purchasing all the pieces I need this past weekend while antique-ing with Joanne in South Haven and then on the way home, Noah and I stopped at one last antique store outside Lansing.

The smaller ones will have a single fuchsia-colored flower floating in water and the larger vases will have a full bouquet.

Luckily I was able to find a florist who is willing to work with me on this somewhat complicated floral scheme, and I know it will be fabulous in the end!

Not Too Sharp

So here's where the real interaction comes in.... I need your help! Originally we hadn't planned to have any live music at the ceremony. Just a cd player and some of our favorite music. However, one afternoon we were talking to my dad about this and he suggested maybe his friend, Gary's son, Christian might want to sing at the wedding. Christian is in an all-male acapella quartet called Not Too Sharp. What a great idea - this is something I have never seen at a wedding!

So my dad contacted Gary who spoke with Christian and it looks like they are interested in singing at the wedding. Now the hard part - what will they sing? My original thought was "All You Need is Love" by the Beatles and this is still an option. Unfortunately though we have had no other ideas. Please help! Any thoughts? Song suggestions? Anything? Anything? I am thinking we would like to have popular songs along the lines of the Beatles or old standards (think Sinatra, etc.) and nothing too traditional.....

Please, please share your thoughts and ideas :-)

These are a Few of My Favorite Things

My quest for the perfect pair of wedding shoes started just after the first of the year. The criteria? Must be off white, but not ivory (as my dress is a strange shade of natural silk color), must not have too high of heel - Noah's only a few inches taller than I am - and they couldn't be too outrageously expensive. The shoes I ended up getting had 1 of the 3 criteria. After looking at some old wedding pictures of my parents I realized that my mom wore light pink pumps on her wedding day. Who better to emulate than my beloved mother :-)

I decided that it would be better to not get any shade of white at all and chose a pair of berry colored strappy sandals. I ended up spending about double the price that I wanted to spend, but I figure since they aren't white I can definitely wear them again. The heel turned out to be just the perfect height!
A couple of weeks ago the shoes arrived at my house after I ordered them from Chinese Laundry. When they arrived I of course tried them on to see if they were comfortable and if I could walk in them. Turns out they were in fact very comfortable and I had no problems walking in them. In fact they are so perfect I left them on for about an hour just walking around the house. I was so excited I told Noah that the shoes were my favorite part of the wedding so far. Typical Noah he said, "You mean I'm not your favorite part of the wedding?" So silly. He was just trying to get a rise out of me I suppose. Anyway, I told him that of course he was my favorite part, but that I would have him even without the wedding and without the shoes. And of course I wouldn't have any need for the shoes without him!

Will anyone read this?

Happy Monday!

I have been inspired by my good friend, Joanne, to start blogging. I thought I would start off by writing about planning for my upcoming wedding. There are only 75 days remaining until the big day and it seems like there is so much left to do! Now that the day is drawing nearer, it is coming down to the details and there are so many it is overwhelming at times. I often wonder (sometimes daily) where I will find the time to do it all. I am taking 2 classes (working on my Masters degree) right now that will be done the first week of March. Of course these 2 particular classes are the most work of any others that I've taken thus far. I will be glad when March comes and I will have a month to do nothing but work and wedding planning.

This past weekend on Saturday I had my trial run for my wedding day hair. It turned out great and I shouldn't have to have another appointment except to get a perm and color before the wedding day.

After the hair appointment my mom, Aunt Sharon, Elisia, Joanne and her mom, Susan, went to Toledo to Hancock Fabrics to look for fabric for the flower girl dresses. My nieces, Hannah and Jillian, will do me the honor of being part of my special day. Joanne's mom will be sewing the girls' dresses so who better to have with us than her! We did find fabric - lightweight satin and a sparkly organdy overlay. Hannah and Jillian will be so cute!


After the fabric store we continued shopping - at the mall in Toledo we were able to find some silvery shrug cardigans for Hannah and Jillian to wear and also silver shoes for the wedding day.

Next up - reception room layout, ordering table runners, and scheduling appointments and meetings....Who knew planning a wedding was so much work?!