QUICK Updates

So here is whats been going on recently:

House- waited 2 months to hear back on a short sale only to find out that the bank will not accept anything lower than 148 because the owner is still making monthly payments. We only offered 130 and aren't going above that so yeah.....the search continues.

Centerpieces- went to Hobby Lobby and bought the stuff to make more centerpieces. This will get us a total of 7 or 8 and hopefully we wont need any more than that.

Jewelry- FINALLY paid for everything in my basket at Fire Mountain Gems. Once everything arrives I will put together the jewelry for the girls and myself.

Ring- Finally bought the "diamond" from Nexus Labs and took it to the jeweler with our idea and got a quote. 1100-1500. This could go up or down depending on the price of gold. YIKES! Richard still wants to go ahead with it. We'll see.....

Thats about it. Off to work :-S

Save The Dates and Cufflinks

So, heres the save the dates we will be sending out (probably in December). Designed them myself with Photoshop and they help of my honey. These will be printed 3.5x5 on magnetic sheets. The photo in the middle was dont my very good and talented friend Maria Fulmer.

Also- I recently purchased and recieved cufflinks for some of the boys. Im still waiting on Richards and still have to buy some from my dad and his brother Zach. In the mean time- heres the ones I got. Purchased them from thepremierlink-au and thenicoshop on Ebay. In truth, they are the same person- one just has more in the store than the other. Please excuse the finger prints all over them :-P

Richards Dad- Silver "grass" on top of cherry wood


Brian (Brother)- Shifter knobs

Barton- Gas gauge and Spedometer

"Save the date"s

While visiting Arizona a few months back, I spotted a very cute idea on my friends fridge- a "Save The Date" magnet. What a great idea! Cards can be lost, misplaced, bent up or thrown away by accident. A magnet on the other hand, just toss it on your fridge and forget about it (sort of).

So, the last few days- after fighting with my computer for an entire afternoon to get Photoshop CS3 downloaded- Ive been playing with designs, ideas, colors, and pictures. Ive been combing the internet for inspiration (and cheap deals of course).

I quickly decided that I wasnt going to pay to the money to have someone else print them. However, I did find a great deal on printable magnet sheets from Amazon.

No previews yet- I will toss one up as soon as Richard and I finalize a design.

In other news- we should be starting our house hunt very soon! We got out good faith estimate yesterday and are just waiting to hear back from the realitor. We're getting there!!

And the count down begins....

It's official. We have EXACTLY 1 year unitl the wedding. Time to get cracking.


Ive actually made a bit of progress since my last posting. Ive purchased my flower girl basket as well as a clip on tie I can take apart to make a pattern for little Darrold. We've (or rather I've) been working on a list of songs for the reception and ceremony. We've decided on our first dance song and also the song I will be walking down the isle to :-)


We've also semi decided on centerpieces. We purchased some supplies to make a "prototype" (Richard thinks its sexy when I say that-hahaha). Im thinking we are going to need larger bowls but we will see. Here's a preview.

As you can see, its a bit crowded but its pretty. Black river rock at the bottom. One fabric lilly in the center with 3 fabric orchids surrounding and a floating candle.

But now for the important part- where am I at on my budget??
Decorations/Other: 47.82
Clothing/Jewelry/Etc: 251.43
Invites/Favors: 63.97

TOTAL: 363.22

:-) Not too shabby if I say so myself.

More updates soon- we should be getting pre-qualified for a home sometime next week!

Frustration and Shoes

A lot of my friends would call me a picky person. And I would have to say that they are dead on. Of course, there was no exception when it came to my shoes. After deciding on wedges due to it being an outdoor wedding and me not wanting to aerate the lawn with my heels, I began to search.

And search.

And search.

And search some more.

What I had in mind was simple, elegant yet casual. All i wanted was a simple design up front and longish straps that I could wrap around my leg and tie. Not too much to ask right? Apparently it was. After searching for (I kid you not) 4 months, finding some I liked only to have them be out of stock, discontinued or unavailable in my size- I finally found a pair that I loved on Lovemyshoes.com. They were a bit pricier than Id hoped considering Im trying to do this wedding on a small budget, but I purchased them.

Like with most online transactions there was a bit of guessing involved. I obviously couldnt try them on so I decided to purchase a size 9 (Im between and 9 and 10 normally). I ensured that they shoes were also available in a 10 just in case but had no concerns. I was told that I would be notified when my order was shipped, would be given a tracking number and that it would take about 7-10 business days to arrive.

Considering we were going to Arizona for 10 day shortly after my purchase, we arranged for Richards dad to come over, take care of the cats and keep a look out for the box. Upon returning home, there were no shoes. So I attempted to contact the company. No answer.

Being the patient person I am, I decide to wait for a while longer. A week and a half later, after I checked up on the order AGAIN I saw that they had shipped. A little twirked by this point because I had never received any sort of notification (it had been almost 2 weeks since I had originally ordered) I was finally beginning to see light. They promptly arrived 7 days later and where of course- too small.

I contacted the company and told them what was going on. The very unhelpful guy on the other end told me that there were plenty of the size I wanted and to check my email and print out the shipping form that UPS would send me. When I informed him that that was impossible since I had a virus on my computer that didnt allow me to access the Internet, he told me to take my computer somewhere that had WiFi. I wanted to scream! After re-explaining my predicament to him he agreed that I could call back and have them fax it to my work, which I promptly did the next day and had the box shipped out.

Then the waiting started again. After 2 more weeks they finally updated their website showing that the shoes had been received and that I had a credit. Again, I received no notification and had no idea what was going on. Again, I decided to be patient to see what was going to happen. Considering it was a Thursday I figured that my new shoes would be shipped out the following week. No such luck.

I had no clue what was going on until I check my bank account Tuesday morning and saw that they had refunded my money. FINE! Ill just go back on and reorder the correct size if these morons cant figure it out. Well guess what- size 10 is no longer available in white. At this point Im livid. Am I expecting too much in this day and age of cell phones and email to think that a company that does business all over the US would notify me and let me know whats going on?!

So screw it. Im done with that company. It took a few days of searching to find another pair I liked from- of all places- Old Navy. Sorry folks, but this girl is not an Old Navy, Gap, Banana Republic, Buckle OR Tillys shopper- its just not my style to wear overly priced preppy clothes. Anyhow, I attempted to purchase them online but the website was screwy so I called the local stores and found one that had a pair in my size.

All of this was yesterday. Now this store that I went to was damaged by a tornado that touched down in the area on Sunday. Not majorly damage, but the AC unit was hit and not functioning. So I call, expecting them to be closed until the unit is repaired or replaced but they were open. The girl that answered was EXTREMELY helpful. I told her what I was looking for, she went in the back, grabbed my size ( I asked for a 10 this time) made sure it was what I wanted by explaining what they looked like and said she would hold them for me for two days (it was the only pair in that size) just in case I wasnt able to make it in last night. I went in, tried them on and bought them. Now thats what I call customer service!!

Im so happy with the shoes and I cant wait to try them on with my dress! Couldnt find a photo of the white ones but this is what they look like :-D

So Really Quick...

As always, been very busy, but here's what Ive been up to :-)

Finished Richards tie. Now just need to get it professionally pressed and have to find a clip on tie I can take apart to make little Darrolds tie.

Bought stuff to make the girls sashes. Yes, that is blanket binding and yes I really am using it!

Found this really cute dress in one of the magazines I got. Probably ridiculously expensive but now its actually go me considering making the girls dresses :-S (sorry its sideways....it wont upload the right way) Bought the frame we wanted from Walmart when it went on sale. The cake topper we want is just the people by them selfs and we are going to etch our own toasting glasses with just the upper porting of the figures.

Found these AWESOME salt and pepper shakers, lol. Theyre on LeWeddingFavors.com. Everything on there is very cute and extremely well priced. Check it out!

Signed up for our first (and probably only) registry :-)Considering Richard and I have been living together for a while, we pretty much already have everything we need. That being said, I never really understood the point of registering for a bunch of stuff that we didnt need or want at overly priced home goods stores so when i found out that American Furniture Wearhouse had a registry I singed up! Its basically a "cash account" where people can contribute how much they want (there is not minimum) and when we are ready we can just go pick out our stuff :-D Genious!

Well, thats about it! Have Fun!

Been Busy

I know, i know....I suck at keeping these things up. With a vacation looming and a recent job change plus trying to figure out this whole houseing market, there hasnt been much new development but I figured Id better update.

First of all, my faith in Ebay has been restored. Ebay and I have a sorted past due to an issue with a certain seller who decided to send my purchase to the wrong address....in the wrong state.

Anyway, I was over frustrated at the thought of spending $25+ per tie for something that will- lets face it- probably never be worn again. So I was looking on ebay for Richards suite when I happened upon the ties I had found on another site, but for $10.99 each! And thats not all- the seller was offering FREE shipping. Now I know this is a great deal in its self, but Im trying to do this fairly inexpensively, so I emailed the guy. I told him that I was trying to outfit my bridal party and didnt want to try to buy from 7 different people. I explained that I was interested in purchasing 3 purple and 3 green ties, and asked if he would be willing to cut me deal. I didnt expect to get anything back, but the next morning I had an email saying he would give me all 6 for the price of 5 :-D After I paid him i started to think that maybe it wasnt the best idea, seeing how we actually went outside of Ebay for the transaction ( meaning if he screwed me there's nothing I could do) BUT, luckily the ties have arrived and they are wonderful! See?!

Next: Rings! Or rather, just mine considering Richard doesnt want another one. When Richard proposed he gave me a plain white gold band. This confused a lot of people because traditionally "A diamond means engaged and a band means married". Well if theres one thing this wedding isnt going to be, its traditional- so why would the engagement be traditional? Richard's philosophy is, the wedding is more important than the engagement so why would you give the diamond that the engagement instead of at the wedding? If you do things the "traditional" way then your relationship has peaked and is now on this way down, where as if you do things the other way around then its a sort of a "the best is yet to come" situation.

That being said, we've been on the lookout for the "perfect" ring. And as you all know, I'm picky but Richard is IMPOSSIBLE to please when it comes to stuff like this! So after visiting a few sites and stores, we've decided on a custom ring. One that we will design and take to a jeweler in the area to have made.

Now that alone is going to cost a pretty penny, so the other thing we are going to do is go with an "immitation" stone until we can afford a real one. Richard wasnt so willing to go this way- he wanted me to have a real diamond- I on the other hand couldnt care less if it was a real diamond or if it was cut glass. As long as we are married and happy, thats all that matters to me.

So I did some research and found DiamondNexusLabs.com. These are high quality created stones- and best of all, the have a Life time product and LOSS warranty. Who can beat a 1 carat loose stone for $104??

And finally: More crafty stuff! Yay! I found a great tutorial on- of all places- MarthaStewart.com that shows how to make roses out of coffee filters! How fun is that? Im going to be buying some filters and water colors this week to try these out. I love real flowers, but if I can make my wedding flowers then that is going to save me a TON of money.

:-)

More to come! (I promise)

Exciting News!!!!

WE SET A DATE!!!! :-D

So a few days ago I was thinking about dates- considering we didnt have one realy set. We just told everyone "late summer/early fall". Im big into having stuff "mean something" so I didnt just want any old day because it happed to be convienant or whatever. Anyway- my idea was to put either our luck numbers- 7 and 13- or our birthdays - 7 and 16- together and make that the date. I asked Richard he loved the idea! So now we actually have a wedding date!!!

Which is.....







....A SECRET! (Laura, I can hear your huffing in frustration)







Ok, For real this time-






July 16, 2010!!!!

Paper Lanterns and New Insperations

OK, so here are the paper lanterns I got from Hobby Lobby. Ive got 4 small ones, 6 medium ones and 2 large ones. Spent appox. $24 for all of them and I love them!! :-D (Please excuse the messy office)

We will probably find a way to string some lights outside and hang these from the lights. I'm sure that the 12 we have will be enough BUT, just in case I'm keeping an eye on their sale adds to see if they go clearance any time soon. :-)

While we were at Hobby Lobby (which by the way has become my new favorite crafty place) I got to thinking about candles. I love candles and the ambiance they create- but they're SO expensive for nice ones! Well, it turns out that they have an entire section for making your own candles. So now I just need to do some research so I don't burn my house down and hopefully we will be able to make our own stuff rather than spending money on candles we don't really like.

Wish me luck!

Caution: Writer is easily excited

Which is obvious to those of you who know me (which my only 2 followers at the moment do) So heres the latest reason for excitement. After i got home from work yesterday, while waiting for Richard to get off work, I decided to browse around on Light in the box. I was originally looking for shoes for myself since I'd purchased my dress from the site. Upon discovering that they dont have much I decided to look at Groom Wear. Richard and I had all but decided that the boys would just wear nice shirts and slacks with purple and green ties because I personally dont like the look of "traditional" tuxs, and because Richard didn't really think he'd be comfortable due to his odd case of Claustraphobia.

Then, I come across this! Different, unique, sexy. Not to mention I really think it will go well with my dress. I LOVE IT! Richard's response: "Anything for you baby". But in all actuality he really likes it. The only thing that has me worried is the price tag- $219.00 for the pants and jacket. Meaning we still have to buy a vest, a shirt, a tie, and shoes. Considering that most tux pant and jacket sets range anywhere from 199-399 (estimates from Mens Wearhouse) I guess its not too bad.

Now I know what you're thinking. Why not just rent one? Well, honestly Ive never really liked the idea of renting a tux. Sure its cheaper, and I guess its fine if youre a grooms man or something, but if I get to keep my dress shouldn't he get to keep his tux?

Ive still got to do some more checking around but I think this is the one we are going to go with.

Next order of excitement: not only have I figured out decorations, but Ive found ties for the guys and a flower girl dress for Oz (Richards youngest sister).

First, decorations. We've been toying with the idea of paper lanters for some time, but I couldnt for the life of me find any in purple and green. I found some white ones at Walmart that we might have been able to paint but wasnt too fond of the idea. Then, Richard takes me to Hobby Lobby. First let me say if you've never been to a "proper" Hobby Lobby, youre missing out. That store is AMAZING! I, literally, almost got lost. Its like Michaels, Joannes and Pier 1 had an orgy and Hobby Lobby was the offspring. They have EVERYTHING! And as I'm sure you've already guessed, they had paper lanterns in purple and green (and yellow, pink, blue, orange and red). Best part is theyre CHEAP! 3 different sizes that range from .97-2.00. I will post pictures once I buy some.

Ties: What a nightmare! I had no idea how much ties cost! $50-$80 in stores for ties that weren't even the colors we wanted. So back to the internet. I found plain purple and green ties at Neckties.com for 24.99 each. Still a little more than I really want to pay, but I guess its worth it to have ties in the color we like without retarded stripes, patterns, or logos. Again, Ill post pictures once we get them.

Last but not least, Oz's dress. First off, who was the genious that came up with the idea that flower girls needed to look like the bride? I mean really- its cute but HOLY CRAP! I looked at a few dresses at "bridal" shops and decided almost immediatly that I didnt want anything like that. So once again, I was pretending to do my job and walking around walmart and found the CUTEST dress. Now considering that it is Walmart, and that I probably wont be able to get it a year down the road I went ahead and bought one that is three sizes larger than what shes in now so hopefully it will fit. Best part: only $18!! For anyone interested, the dress is by George and is available in the girls section like this and in the baby section with out the sweater but includes a diaper cover.

Butterfly Debocal Solved

So I realized today that even though we've only been "offically" engaged for just over a month- I've already got the majority of what we want to our wedding figured out! lol- no procrastination here :-P

Anywho, a while back, I was browsing the magazine section at Walmart while pretending to do my job and aboslutely fell in love with this cake! I took a picture and showed Richard and he actually likes it! So we decided to do the same basic thing- only our cake won't have Fondant (or however you spell it) and we are going to do varying shades of purple and green butterflies.

So heres where the issue comes up. We can not for the life of us find decent looking purple and green butterflies ANYWHERE! I were able to find some ok green ones at Michaels but they only come in a multi pack with 5 other colors that we wouldnt use. We debated buying the multi pack and trying to paint over the other colors but just didn't think it would look right and we would only have 1 size, where we want varying sizes.

So after searching and searching, i was about to give up. Then i found G and G Webstore. They've got a ton of cute stuff for every occaision, including plain, unpainted butterflies in varying sizes :-). They best part is that everything there is CHEAP! A box of butterflies at Michaels would cost about 10. I can get them 12 for about $6.00 in any size i want! Richard has agreed to help me paint them too :-D.

Invitations and Favors

When I first started researching weddings and costs for the little details that go into them I was astounded when I saw how much people spend on invitation printing! $350+ on something that people will probably just throw away in a few weeks? No thank you, not this girl.

Thankfully, along with being overly crafty, I know my way around a computer. So, when the "print in yourself" invites that I'd been eyeing at Walmart I got them. I also got "print it yourself" favor kits and some sticker seals. Why anyone would spend hundreds of dollars on something they can do themselfs for less money (and probably a whole lot less stress) is beyond me.

The invitation kits come with 40 invitations and envelopes, 40 reply cards and envelopes, and three test sheets. The favor kits come with 50 bags, ribbons, tags and 2 test sheets. All you have to do is go on the company website (both kits are by Wilton), download the templates and get printing!

Although I will probably replace the white ribbons that came with the favor kits for green and purple and I havent quite figured out what I am going to put it them, Im sure Ill be spending a whole lot less than someone who goes and buys this stuff already done.

Dress

As previously stated, I'm the type of person who would sooner spend months making something then shelling out a ton of money for it. My wedding dress was not an exception to this rule. My whole plan, due to the fact that I am EXTREMELY picky when it comes to clothes and the fact that I was convinced I wouldn't find a dress I liked for under $500, was to make my dress.

That is, until I got an email from a very good friend telling me about Light In The Box. Now, why she was on this website I don't have a clue (shes been married for a while now) but the message simply said "In case you decide not to make your dress." Ever the sceptic, I was sure I wouldn't find anything but looked anyway. What I found was the most gorgeous wedding dress-THE dress. I cheated a little and showed Richard (because I have to know what he thinks on everything now) and he LOVED it! So much in fact, he told me to buy it before they stopped making it- keep in mind this was a few months ago so we weren't even engaged yet. Price tag for my dress? $82 (plus about $40 insured shipping from China). The dress is beautiful! It fits like a glove and I cant wait to wear it.

Now keep in mind that this is a whole sale web that sells lots and single units, so they don't have the best selection and I believe they hand make and/or alter all the items so it takes a while for shipping (took about a month to get mine) - but if someone as picky as me can find something they love, I'm sure others can too :-)

Mission: Have my dream wedding withough going into debt

First, an introduction: I'm Jayme. Richard, my boyfriend of just over 2 years, proposed to me 3 days ago on my 21rst birthday- something Ive been hoping and wishing for, for a while now. We had discussed marriage before so it was never really a questions of "If" but "When". Needless to say I'm thrilled! As are our families, friends and co-workers.

Like any girl, Ive imagined my dream wedding numerous times. Where it would be, what i would wear, etc. and the one thing I've come to realize is that I do not by any means want to go broke or crazy planning and having it.

I grew up in a dual (both of my parents were active duty) military family. Neither of my parents came from families were what you would call "well-off". Its not that they were poor, but they definatly weren't going to Disney Land every summer. So needless to say I'm a bit frugal. I was brought up with ideas like"why buy it when you can make it" and "why buy it new when you can get a good used one".

With that being said, I've done a little research. According to The Knot the average cost of a wedding in the US is $23,657 not including engagement rings and the honeymoon. I also found the table below that breaks down where all that money goes. So here is my goal: Spend less than one tenth of that.

So, over the next year and a half (we are planning for late summer/early fall of 2010) I will be comparing what I've spent on my wedding against the typical American wedding. I will also post pictures, ideas and tips I find along the way.