Post Wedding Chop

You may know that currently I’m on my honeymoon (this was written in advance). But what you may not know was that I booked a post-wedding chop for 2 days after our wedding. That’s right, I’m a little bit crazy. Plus I really loved the idea of donating my hair to a child who needs it more. Hair grows right? So here’s my journey from LONG to SHORT!

I promise when our honeymoon is over I will show you prettier pictures of my hair cut. But I haven’t had an opportunity to get any “live action” shots of it yet. Are you doing the post-wedding chop? Do you love or loathe the idea of getting 10+ inches cut off? Anyone else donate/donating to Locks of Love?

We're Married!

Hello readers! Well we did it, we got married! I wanted to share a quick (unedited) teaser pic with you before we depart on our honeymoon. So here it is...

Have a fabulous week!

Wedding Weather Watch

I’ve seen other bloggers mention this in days leading up to the wedding, that they are constantly checking the weather for their venues. Well they’re right. I check it twice a day. Just to double check. And a little more frequently since our very big Monsoon last night. Thankfully our day’s outlook has not changed too much. Want to see the progression? Oh well, I’m showing you anyway!

10 Days Out….5 Days Out… 4 Days Out…   3 Days Out…

(All images from The Weather Channel)

So it seems the humidity has gone up very slightly as has the projected temperature. The good thing about all this is the partly cloudy. Diffuse light = lovely pictures! I’m hoping for a nice semi-cloudy day! I’m happy to report that the www.weather.com has not in fact given me any panic attacks yet! Hooray!

Although I would largely attribute the lack of panic attacks to the fact that our venue comes with a built in back up ballroom. Thank goodness! All I have to do is say the word at 3pm on our wedding day and our festivities are moved inside and upstairs. I cannot stress enough how wonderful that is. I have only has passing thoughts of bad weather because of that back up plan.


Did you stalk your wedding-day-weather too?

Finished: Out of Town Bags

You may have learned from my previous post that I finished our Out of Town Bags (or OOTs for short). I wanted to share with you the design and contents of the bags for some last minute inspiration before I skip out of town on Thursday.
  
So you may remember that we used fabric spray paint to draw the design of Cathedral Rock in Sedona,AZ (also my blog header) onto each bag. We also tied on a little hang tag, printed by www.UPrinting.com, and then attached 3 beautiful buttons. The buttons (Kawaii Cactus, Space Cowboy and Vampire Cupcake) are a Steam Crow design.


Now let’s have a look on the inside…


Contents:

• An information folder with our timeline, restaurant reviews, locations of banks/salons/churches etc.
• 2 bottles of water (essential in Arizona)
• 2 Arizona Chocolate Bars
• 1 package of popcorn
• 1 bag of cookies
• 2 bags of peanuts

What do you think of our Out of Town Bags? Are you doing “Out of Town Bags?” What’s inside yours?

Packing

Well ladies, it’s nearing that time. It’s Monday morning, only 5 days until our wedding, which means we’re packed and crossing last minute things off our list. I wanted to let you in on some of the chaos. You wouldn’t think there would be much to pack, but you would be very wrong.
We have 2 bins just filled with OOT bags, keep this in mind because we only have like 25 of these suckers. They take up a LOT of space. Just a good DIY tip from me to you. We also had a set back learning it would cost us $5 a room for the reception staff to hand these out. But really at this point, another $100 sure!

Then we have bins of presents, decor, sharpies, first aid kits, bathroom baskets. You name it. It’s in there. You can even see my ribbon bouquet for the rehearsal.
 
Now that we’re all packed, it’s time to make confirmation calls, cross our T’s and dot our I’s. Any advice on packing you’d care to share?
P.S. Remember to pack your marriage license! 

Every Bride Needs This

I just finished up my table numbers for the Umpteen Millionth time and I decided to make a fun thing to display at work. Whilst looking up Memes I finally discovered the Origin of the “Keep Calm” meme, which has sky rocketed in popularity this year. I know what you’re thinking “What the hell is a Meme?” am I right?

A meme is a cultural unit that is often the beginning of a widespread cultural phenomenon like the “Keep Calm and Carry On” poster/saying/t-shirt. For a better definition see www.KnowYourMeme.com Anyway I was really bored today and decided to capitalize on craftiness and the “Keep Calm” Meme. Behold the calm/panic bridal gauge…

I think of it as a nice token to remind me how crazy wedding planning is, plus it gives me something to do with my left over Ikea Tolsby frames. I also think it can serve as a warning to if I’m in a normal calm mood or panic mood.

Did you make any non-wedding related crafts out of boredom? What were they, please share!

Showered with Love, Wine & Cupcakes

Okay so I finally got my bridal shower pictures, so I figured I’d share them with you. Let’s start off with the important things: the eats. Who doesn’t love Sprinkles cupcakes? Seriously, if you don’t step away from the blog. They’re decorated with little circles that spell out LOVE and a topper that looks like a bridal gown, or anyway it’s supposed to. Don’t knock it- I made it. 

We sort of had a wine tasting theme, and by sort of I mean 5 bottles of wine later… Anyway my beautiful co-hosts had glasses made with our names & the wedding date as favors. Very cute, now we have approximately 30 of these in our possession due to an over shipment. We shall never run out of pretty wine glasses! Hooray! We’re thinking of giving them away at the rehearsal dinner, why not we’ll never NEED 30 glasses!

Here are my FMIL and FSIL #2 having fun with the crazy games! I swear they are having fun!

And FSIL #1 posing for the camera! I sort of love the contrast of the Lily in the shot. Don’t you adore her spectacles? Got to have love for the Cat-Eye glasses.

Did I mention 1/2 of everyone there was in the medical profession? This is Mandy she’s studying to be a Naturopathic Physician. Yay Mandy! She got me eco-friendly/sustainable Bamboo serving spoons and a big Bamboo bowl. We tease her, she may or may not be a hippie. Not the Dirty kind, that’s her fiancé!

Here’s me “looking funny for the camera”? I seriously don’t know what the eff I’m doing. But it looks like I’m having a good time doing it! Our very talented, new-mother, and co-host, Stacy! The one who made those rockin’ packets with the questions. Seriously that is her precious 2 month old baby girl. Two. Months. Old. The lady is a craft-diva.         

So the spot light was stolen by an adorable 2 month old baby girl. It seems fitting. So why try to upstage her adorableness. I’d rather show you my crazy chipmunk face. Otherwise known as the dreaded “bubblegum game” yes the one where they make fun of you for not knowing questions about your fiancé. BTW I got 4 wrong- the pieces of gum were GIGANTIC!

I hope you enjoyed virtually attending my bridal shower. Are you excited for your bridal shower? Have you already had one? Was there an awesome theme? Cupcakes? Wine? All of the above?

HOT Bride

I’d like to thank Helper of the Bride who nominated me for this award. They are a great site that maps out where your favorite Bridal Bloggers are, so you can read based on location if you prefer! So the deal with this award is that you pass on 7 pieces of advice and then nominate 7 more bloggers.

HOT Bride Award

So without further adieu here are my top 7 pieces of wedding-related advice.

1. Do what makes you happy.
2. Choose your battles.
3. Do premarital counseling, it’s always good to communicate.
4. Don’t be fooled by Say Yes to the Dress, it’s OKAY to have a firm budget. Odds are you will find a dress you love at any price point. You just have to look.
5. Be upfront about your budget with your vendors- it gives you both a starting place.
6. Find your method of dealing with panic attacks, and make sure it works. (I suggest Frozen Yogurt)
7. It’s okay to not love every-little-thing-about-weddings. I don’t photograph well, so I don’t care, and hey – it’s ALRIGHT!

I would like to nominate:

• Alison @ Bride Flu
• Meagan @ Meagan gets her MRS
• Dancy @ Beer Budget Bride’s Musings
• Hollie @ Thrifty in White
• Suzanne @ Eyes Open, Feet First
• Anna @ Anna and the Ring
• Becky @ Delightful Little Mess
  

Showered with Love, Wine & Cupcakes: The Games

While I’m waiting on photos from my bridesmaid I decided to share with you some of the awesome games we played and the cute packet that Stacy made for everyone to write in. I also want to point out on the co-hosts of my shower, Stacy, is also a NEW MOM. Seriously she has a beautiful 2 month old baby girl and still made these amazing scrap-book style packets. Marvel at their crafty glory!

The first game we played was about me, how fitting. Obviously I didn’t participate in the game, I just told everyone the answers. But I thought some of the alternate answers were quite hilarious, except for the alternates to #1- die hard Seminole here! Obviously #5 is just for fun, the answer is false.

The next game we played was essentially Wedding-Related trivia. I should explain that I got every one of these questions right because Mr. AZ and I had originally planned to make trivia cards about wedding superstitions and were going to place them at every table. We instead went with Arizona-Info on the backs of all the table numbers. We found it to be just as interesting!

Okay so you may laugh at this next one. It’s a Wedding Scramble and I swear some of the words were really obvious once she read them. I also realize I spelled Garter wrong, I was in the heat of the moment trying to write out as many as possible. Oh well! I marked myself wrong for it. 


Did your bridesmaids do anything crazy for your shower? How awesome is that packet, seriously? Anyone else know how to scrapbook, because this whole thing baffles me!

Adventures in Spray Paint

You may remember my beautiful, finally tangible, table numbers. Oh you don’t do you? Well let me give you a quick refresher…
 

 Well for some reason or another they just weren’t sitting well with me. They would be the ONLY white thing aside from men’s shirts at the wedding. So I decided to dip into the Krylon and go on a spray painting adventure.

Source

And the result, much more rustic, champagne colored, to match my dress, beautiful table numbers. I now think their journey is complete.


Yes I realize the spray is somewhat uneven on a few of the frames, but the reception is in the evening outside with candle and string lights. So I really wasn't striving for perfection. I was trying to take the "stark white" off.
What do you think? As an aside I do have 10 unpainted backups, because they were $1 each and because frankly I have panic attacks.

Bunting Flags & Burlap: A Love Affair

A while ago I fell in love with the most beautiful rustic banner imaginable… behold the Bienvenue…

 Etsy- Funkyshique

Beautiful no? But very French, and me and Mr. AZ, well we’re not French. Not even a little, not even Canadian. So we had a banner commissioned on Etsy in the exact same style only reading “Celebrate”. My pictures do it no justice so just imagine the above photograph reading “Celebrate”. I love using that word because it can instantly be used at Birthdays, Anniversaries, and Christmas! Love re-usable crafts.
This banner did more than become a banner we will hang at our Rehearsal Dinner and Wedding, it became inspiration for throwing in a little more rustic burlap into the mix for texture at a minimal price.

Ruffled

Just look at the beautiful texture it adds to those tables and the frayed edges- I adore it! Well I should say I adore the no-sewing-involved aspect. Anyway the more I looked for inspiration the more I adored burlap. But natural light burlap not the dark stuff that reminds me of potatoes.

Style Me Pretty

So with it being 2 weeks until our wedding day, I have decided to take no-fuss, frayed edged, burlap runners to go with our beautiful “Celebrate” banner. What do you think of the emerging burlap trend? P.S. Isn’t this when people generally STOP adding things to their to-do lists? I feel like I have crazy amounts of energy at the moment. WEIRD.

Saying Thank You

What are the two things every parent says? “No” and “Say Please and Thank You” right? Well that’s my thought process anyway. So it got me thinking. How many times do you say thank you to the same people in your wedding? Say thank you for the Bachelorette, say thank you for the bridal shower, thank you for the gift, thank you for being part of our day. That’s a lot of Thank Yous- and I hate repeating Thank You cards… so I have a rotation.
Don’t believe me? Check it out…

Gold Glitter Thank You- Bought at Target in a pack of 50 just about a week ago. This is my standard pack of Thank Yous for gifts. I really like it, it’s got just enough glitter to say “Hey THANKS- SERIOUSLY, there’s glitter involved” who lies about glitter?

Silver Polka Dots- bought at Target approximately 3-4 years ago in a pack of 20. (Probably 10 left) Perfect for the casual thank you for your support, love, help, what have you. Contribution, in my mind, should get a thank you all it’s own.

The Queen of Thank Yous- Vera Wang embossed Thank You with matching envelope liner. This was a hefty $19 for a pack of 10, but hey when you get a really awesome gift or a loved one you hadn’t seen in years comes- you should give a really awesome thank you right? I also love spoiling people who like paper products with this one, ooh embossing.

 

This is hands down my favorite Target thank you card. Seriously do you see the cut outs? They are amazing! And I don’t know if you can tell that’s peralized paper. Oh I just adore it.
Do you find yourself giving people lots of Thank You notes? Do you have a rotation you use? What’s your favorite?

Place Cards no Escort Cards

Well, now that we've moved onto the fun-but-not-necessary paper products I figured we would just jump all in with Place Cards as well! Please note I'm probably not using the words "place cards" correctly, as this is sort of a fun hybrid. So it's really more of a place-escort-park-your-butt-card.

What I did first was find a template online for these silly little things. Wouldn't you know it, Martha has a template! Why wouldn't she?

 Martha Stewart Weddings

Anyway, we replaced the ribbon in the template with the fun Spanish tile style border from our Table Numbers. Take a look at round one...

The idea was to make the names really stand out, while integrating the table number seamlessly into the design. I think my MoH did a FABULOUS job! Next up to pick a font that helps that name stand out very well. Which do you think stands out?

They're all really pretty fonts, but in the end we went with the Chancelleresca because it was the perfect blend of calligraphy, bold design, and frankly ease of finding. Plus who doesn't adore those flourishes? We ended up printing 6 to page and then cut them all out. Now it's just about folding them, and bagging them for the wedding! PHEW!

Did you take on any fun/un-necessary projects as you got closer to your date?