243 days....

I don't know how it happened but we are already at 243 days.  As I lay here in bed with Louis and my laptop it hit me, we are getting married in 243 days and that's not that far away.  I feel like there is so much stuff to do but lately I feel like I am back in the wedding planning spirit and getting things accomplished.  In my post already from today you can see we checked off our honeymoon from our list but there is much more to do.  Here's the list so far.


*Reception and ceremony venue - check, The Woodwinds
*DJ - check, done by the lovely Duane Wuane
*THE Dress - Found and paid for cannot wait to see it again already. I also have shoes, I just need a veil and the rest on my accessories for the day
*BM Dresses - Picked out, just need to get the ladies together to order them
*Tuxes - Dan is insisting on baby blue and orange, but that obvi is not happening lol :)
*Videographer - Not sure if we want one but a family member has offered to pay for one for us
*Photographer - Met with for initial meeting, filling out the contract on Sept 27
*Centerpieces - Designed and in the process of being made
*Flowers - Still need to pick a florist
*Cake - included in our venue, need to pick a baker tho
*Guest List -- Waiting on FMIL for their side of the family and then it is done
*Music for the day - first dance, father daughter, mother son, cake cutting, reception entrance, etc, etc - all picked out! 
*Wedding bands---Need one for Danny, I know what I want of course lol
*Save the dates -- designed, just need a guest list
*Invitations -- Picked out, again just need a guest list
*Honeymoon--Check, just need our airfare still

Honeymoon booked, check!

Another thing is checked off the very long list wedding to-do list.  We booked our honeymoon....YAY!!! I am more than excited.  Dan and I have never really taken a vacation on our own together, so this will be our first trip together.  We have been to visit family, camping and one very infamous family reunion; but nothing just the two of us, which make our honeymoon that much more special.  Dan's Mother and Father have been gracious enough to let us use their timeshare for our honeymoon, so we were able to exchange it and go to (drum roll please) Punta Cana  in the Dominican Republic for a week after the wedding.  The only thing we will have to pay for is the all inclusive fee and our air fare, which all together should not be too much.
When Dan and I started thinking about the honeymoon we both knew we wanted to do something tropical, relaxing and with some fun attractions to also do.  When looking through the timeshare website we found a few options with the week open we wanted but there was one clear winner.  We will be going to the Moon Palace Casino Golf and Spa Resort in the lovely Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.  When we go though it will be officially the first Hard Rock Resort all more inclusive.  The resort is in the process of changing into the Hard Rock, what is cooler than that.  I can't wait for our honeymoon and I am more excited now that we have a little bit more planned.  I can't wait to be on the beach.

Tattoos - To cover up or not cover up

There seem to be a lot of posts out there on various message boards that talk about tattoos and your wedding day. Just about every episode of My Fair Wedding, David Tuttera covers up the bride's tattoos. I guess its a matter of personal opinion how you want to look on your wedding day but why did you get a visible tattoo if you don't want anyone to see? Just doesn't make sense to me.
I will have two visible tattoos on our wedding day, one on my foot and a small heart on my inner wrist. And I would never think of covering them up. I know they are nothing huge. But even if I did have a sleeve on my arm I still wouldn't cover it. They are apart of me, I got them bc I love them and I'm gonna rock them regardless of what day it is.
I understand some people cover them for religious reasons, maybe they are getting married in a church or other place of worship. Ok then it makes a little bit of sense. But really why did u get tattoos if you don't want anyone to see them.
Tattoos will always be there, that's what they are permanent. They are going to be there on your honeymoon when you take pictures, pictures you take before and after your wedding day, at your bridal shower; would you get them covered up for anything other occasion, prob not. So why on your wedding? I just don't understand. Its not even a thought that crossed my mind. They are apart of me and my life so why hide apart of yourself on your wedding day.

I have SHOES!!!!

Designer shoes at that too !!!! :) I recently received my order from Piper Lime and cannot be more pleased.  My order came in an amazing box look perfectly packed.  They are not to high and comfortable enough I think I could wear them most of the night.  I originally did not want white shoes but these caught my eye and the price was right.  I cannot wait to wear them and I don't know if I'll be able to wait the 9 months to wear them.

Badgley Mischka - Randall

My First Bit of Advice

This will be my first tidbit of advice, of course I now know it afterwards.  This is something I haven't done and wish I had but here it goes, DO NOT start a ton of projects and not finish anything.  Where this seems like a simple idea it wasn't apparent to me at the time when I have started over five different projects for the wedding and nothing is finished.  So right now we have started and not completed; the guest list, DIY centerpieces, DIY STDs, flowergirl basket, and our registry.  Firstly, my room looks like a disaster with a ton of projects started and I just feel like I haven't accomplished anything yet.  Its very frustrating and I don't suggest anyone else do it.  It makes me feel stressed that everything is a disaster and nothing is finished.  So I have now started a list of things I need to get done and I'm going to focus on one thing at a time.  This is what I get I guess for being some what of a DIY bride.  Oh and I just remember yeah our candy buffet is half done too...UGH

I Guess I'm Just Different

When I first began planning our wedding it was difficult to find inspiration or just anyone to talk to that would relate to my ramblings about different colors, dresses and centerpieces etc.  I then found myself on a few wedding message boards.  I liked most of them, they were great for inspiration and just nice to talk to other brides seeing as I'm the only one of my friends getting married and planning a wedding.  I then came to realize that a lot of these people take this crap WAY too seriously.  I just don't understand these brides complaints and frustrations.  I have found myself mainly going with the flow as far as the wedding planning and have been assertive when I need to be.  At the end of all this I know I will be marrying the man I love and want to share my life with, so I'm not going to be complaining about little petty bs.  In reading all sorts of different posts I guess I have found myself to not be the traditional bride and a little different because sometimes I can't even figure out where these people are coming from with their thoughts and ideas.

I guess at the end of the day I'm just different than the average bride.

So I Have Some Things Accomplished

So between today and yesterday I can say I finished a DIY project for the wedding!! Yay.  These are the first finished projects for the wedding.

Little bit of a back story.  I wanted to do as much DIY stuff for the wedding, partly because we don't have a ton of money for the wedding and secondly, I consider myself a pretty crafty person.  So from the beginning I had decided that I would want to do as much as I could DIY.  First things first our centerpieces I would DIY because I didn't want flowers and would cheaper just putting together a candle centerpiece myself.  I came up with this idea, now just how to execute it without it driving me nuts.

So I bought these frames from Target in the dollar section at the front the store, oddly enough, for $2.50 for 3 frames.  They are plain black wood frames.  Now I come up with the brilliant idea to glitter them with purple and silver glitter from Martha Stewart Collection at Michael's.  Well that was a brilliant idea until now that a week later I'm finally done and my house, dog and myself have been covered in this glitter ever since.  Thankfully they are done and I can cross something off my DIY list.

Next thing I finished was done yesterday.  I finished my Ring Bearer pillow and it was another success!  I had originally seen a pillow I had liked done in a David's Bridal catalog.  I don't even know if it was something you could buy but I knew I could definitely make it.  I had seen pillows on Etsy.com and various other magazines and wedding retailers that cost upwards to a $100.  That is just an insane amount of money for something you are going to only use once and shouldn't be that much of and expense.  So all and all mine is made and probably cost me at the most $15.  And you know what I like it better than anything I could have bought and it is cooler anyways because I made it.