Ceremony Programs

Here are some pictures from the construction of the programs! It took a long time to get these together because the order of the Mass was a little confusing for me. You would think I knew the order of a Catholic Mass by this point in my life, but what I realized in this process was that while I know how to go through the motions each Sunday, I have no idea what any of these things are called! When it was all said and done, these turned out exactly as I dreamed. I think they will be really helpful for people who aren't Catholic to follow along. It did take like two days to put them together, though. It was so tedious tying the little bows, even my dad stepped in to help!!

Dad helping to tie bows on the programs! Such a good guy

Mom tying bows.

Some completed programs!

Up close of dad tying bows

Me tying bows 

The first totally completed program!

All packed up and ready to be taken to the church in 23 days!!

All the programs complete!

Me holding our sample/example 

What a mess! Maybe I should have thought this out better and not put so many parts into this!

Let them eat CAKE!

Ever since I have known Jason, he has been a "pie guy". He LOVES pie. I guess that's why it didn't surprise me when he told me he didn't want cake at our wedding reception. Nope. He wants pie.

For our rehearsal dinner, we went to Robert's Catering in Chandler. While we were there planning, the woman helping us, Wendy, inquired where we were getting our wedding cake. Jason explained to her his fondness of pie, but Wendy was relentless. Imagine Snooki from Jersey Shore in 30 years (although Snooki probably won't live that long) and you have Wendy. She is a short, stout woman from Jersey complete with accent, boisterous personality and tanned leather skin. In her infinite wisdom, she convinced Jason to just try the cake from Robert's. He was reluctant, to say the least, but he agreed to make an appointment for cake tasting.

At this point, I start getting REALLy excited! I mean I was willing to have pie because it's what Jason really wanted, but what girl doesn't dream of a wedding cake!?

Have you ever heard the song Yeah Toast! by Heywood Banks? That was pretty much my rection except I was like "YEAH CAKE!"

A couple weeks later we went back for our cake tasting. I have to say, after years and years of making cakes for my nieces and nephews birthday parties, I thought I knew what good cake tasted like. But my cakes are nothing compared to Robert's. The bavarian creme fillings they use are absolutely to die for and the cake itself is so fluffy and moist. It didn't take more than a few bites for Jason to be totally sold on getting a wedding cake. The cake itself will be three layers, with each cake being a different flavor and each filling different as well. I am so looking forward to tasting it in 24 days!!!

Looking through their 'catalog of cakes' was pretty fun! There were so many pretty designs to choose from!

Wendy playing around!

Like I said! He was NOT so sure about trying cake! But it's official, this pie guy has decided on cake!!

Alterations

Each time I get to do something cool (like see my bridesmaids get fitted for their dresses) I can't help but feel a little sadness to. Its just that once alterations are over, thats just one more thing that I have been looking forward to my whole life that is over now. Its a bittersweet feeling. I am so excited for these moments, and I love every second of them, but at the same time, I don't want them to end because I have been looking forward to them so much. I love wedding planning like it's nobody's business!!

Here are some pics from alterations! It's been really fun getting to be there as each of my girls goes through this process. I know I don't have to be there, but I just can't bear to miss a single moment of this whole process!

This is Elaina, our AMAZING seamstress!!

Lettice getting fitted!

Isabel, my Maid of Honor in her dress!

Shoes!!

Helen Melon before alterations!

Me and Iz.

Helen getting her bow measured

Helen getting her bow measured

Megan getting fitted!

Amanda getting fitted! Look at those clamps, girl! 

Amanda shooting me her sexy-beast face. 

Me and Amanda

Isabel getting her dress shortened. Thats my dress in the pink bag, but that's all you get to see of it until the big day!!

DJ

It's hard to choose a DJ when you know one. Both of my brothers had Tom Murray, one of my very best friends from college, as their DJ. A couple years ago, though, I mentioned to Tom I wanted him to DJ my wedding to. I was met with an expression of serious disappointment. The problem was, Tom wanted to be invited to me wedding because he was one of my best friends, not because I wanted him to be my DJ. After that, I couldn't exactly ask him to be my DJ again.

I have been to A LOT of weddings over the years (you know what they say- always the bridesmaid, never the bride), and I have learned that the DJ can either make or break a wedding. I hate weddings where no one dances. I think the more people who are dancing, the more fun the wedding is. Really, weddings are the only place I feel like I can dance without being judged. Even if I get made fun of, at least I made someone else laugh!

So- this choosing a DJ business is hard work. Walking through the bridal expo there were like 95 booths for DJs. And most of them are not so awesome sounding. I was really concerned about where to find the "right" DJ! Then, last summer, my parents went to a party at the community center where they live in Las Sendas. My dad had really good things to say about the guy who DJ-ed the party, and passed on his contact info: http://www.boyerenterprises.com/

I called the DJ, David, and we set up a meeting. I immediately fell in love with his ideas at our first meeting. He was so focused on it being me and Jason's day, and not on him as the DJ which I had seen a ton of at the bridal expo. He really did a good job of making it about Jason and I. I ended up signing a contract with him that day.

David and I looking over the contract

After signing the contract! We're all set for David to DJ our wedding!

Since meeting with David he has been awesome. He sent us an entire timeline of the evening so we know exactly the order and timing of things are going to happen at the reception. We were also able to send it on to our photographer, so he knows where to be for all those key moments. David also met with us again so he could meet Jason and he has customized our playlist and events to fit just exactly what we wanted. I can't wait to get to the reception because David is going to be an awesome DJ!

Reception Shoes

A couple months ago I posted about the shoes I found for me to wear at my ceremony. I love them. I really do! But I'm not sure I can stand them all night! When I was getting alterations, I was able to stand in them for forty five minutes before I couldn't feel my toes. But, like high school yearbook adviser taught me, "Sacrifice comfort for style!" so I am completely ready to wear them anyway because they are stinking cute!!!

Once we get to the reception though, I need some shoes I can bust a move in! I thought about some white ballet flats for a long time. I looked everywhere for flats that I thought looked cute on my feet and cute with my dress, but it seemed like everything I looked at made me feel like I was wearing house slippers. Plus, My heels for the ceremony are so tall because Jason is so tall! I was afraid that in flats, my dress would drag on the floor.

I finally found a really cute pair of white wedge flip flops that were comfortable, tall, and perfect for my dress. I embellished them a little with some flowers and, while I love my ceremony shoes, these will be great for the reception!

So while I was going though this whole process of finding shoes I could wear at the reception, it occurred to me that my bridesmaids might also like some more comfortable shoes to wear at the ceremony. Thanks to Old Nay, it was easy for me to do this for the girls for really inexpensively. I added little embellishments to these too, and I think they turned out really cute!!

Getting our Marriage License!

Last week, Jason and I headed down to the county courthouse to get our marriage license. It's these little things we do as we get closer to the wedding that really make me realize how close the big day is getting.

I stopped to pick Jason up from work and we drove to the county courthouse together. It was amazing how easy it was to park and find the building. We got a spot right outside the door, which of course I translated to meaning we must be meant-to-be!!

There was no line, and we were immediately able to pick up a clipboard and fill out the form we needed to apply for the license. I filled it out for fear they wouldn't be able to read Jason's handwriting. He was pretty good about snapping a picture, though. :)

After we turned in the form, they took both of our driver's licenses and then we had to wait. While we waited, we kind of joked about what big deal this was. I wasn't emotional, but I definitely couldn't stop smiling, I mean, here we were, actually applying for our marriage license!! It was such an exciting moment! We both couldn't stop smiling from ear to ear. You could tell it was kind of a culminating point for us. We have been through a lot, and this was that one document we needed to really seal the deal.

They finally called our names and we had to go to this little cubicle to meet with this nice middle-aged woman. She made us each raise our right hand and swear that what we had put on the form was true and correct to the best of our knowledge. We also had to swear we weren't related and that we hadn't been married before. Jason, of course, though the question about us being related was really funny, but the lady said we would be surprised. Hahaha.

After we answered all her questions, she very sweetly handed us our form and gave us a big congratulations! She was probably the most pleasant public service worker I have ever come in contact with.

The form they gave us is really pretty and even though it is just a souvenir (Only the bottom chunk gets mailed back), it means so much to have it and know we are officially ready to say our "I do's"!!

Making the Invitations!

I can't believe our invitations will get mailed this weekend! That means the wedding in only 7 weeks away which is crazy!

Doing invitations was one of the most fun parts of wedding planning. My mom and i looked all over for the "perfect" invitation, but it turned out I was just too picky! We ventured into the invitation-making business and decided to go at it ourselves. With my background in graphic design, and the contacts I had from working in the print industry, I was able to get exactly what I wanted. The invitations turned out abaolutley perfect thanks to O'Day Pritning in Scottsdale and the handiwork of my mom who helped me construct every single invitation by hand.

In the end, it took us almost three days total to get every one just right. Each invitation is different, with certain elements only going in certain ones, so it took time (and quadruple checking) to get them all just right.

My biggest concern is that I want my wedding to be a vacation for people. I want them to come to Tempe knowing that it is the most beautiful time of year here. I wanted to give information not just about the wedding, but about what people can do here while they visit. So, the invitations come with a ton of 'other' info too. I just hope everyone takes the time to read each piece! :)

I hear this is the "fun" part- when we start to get responses back from people about whether or not they will be attending. I personally have been able to find the fun in all of this. For me, this is when it gets real.

Bridesmaids Lettice and Amanda help proofread all the pieces to the invitation way back in October!

My mom and I got this amazing Groupon to this place called "The Scrabook Cottage" in downtown Phoenix. It was the cutest little place!! They had four different rooms dedicated to everything and anything scrapbook related. Each work station came with it's own architects lamp, cup holders, trash, cutting mat and more. We spent an entire day there in December during our first phase of constructing the invites. This is me putting together one of the invites at the cottage. 

The first bunch of  'completed' invites! This was before we went back through every single one to make sure it had the right insides!

My work station

Working on glue strips

The first totally completed invite. Its supposed to be good luck or something, right?

Round two - working at my mom and dad's to go through every single invitation to make sure it had all the right pieces based on who it was addressed to. It was a good thing we did this! We found two or three major errors, including one invitation that didn't have the actual invite in it!

The first licked, sealed and ready to mail invitation!!

Shoes!

I can't say that I remember any of the shoes look like from any bride or bridesmaid at any wedding I have ever been to. With that being said, shoes are still important to me because it goes against my very nature not to care about the shoes we will all be wearing on the big day.

On Sunday, my mom and I hit up Scottsdale Fashion Square and Tempe Marketplace to look for shoes for me and my bridesmaids. The shoe gods must have been smiling on us, because we found shoes for everyone!

The bridesmaids will be wearing these adorable black knotted shoes with ankle strap:

They work well for all my girls because some of them never wear anything but heels, and some of them never wear heels at all. The heel on these is only 2.5" so they should all be able to manage.


And now for my shoes! Dooooo daaah dooooo!!

We found these gorgeous Enzo Angiolini's at Macy's and I LOVE them! These will be the shoes I wear during the ceremony only. For the reception I will switch to flats, which I have yet to find. These have such a huge heel because Jason is 6'4" and I don't want to look at his belly button the whole ceremony! These heels will put me at just about his shoulder height. And they are pretty comfortable, all things considered!