Wedding Checklist! 132 days..

Okay, today i feel overwhelmed..

132 days...almost 4 months..

WHAAAT!!??!!??

I am soo excited, but i feel the time closing in on me and making my head want to explode in a giant pile of wedding madness!

#1 we are soo behind on save the dates, my friends are starting to think they aren't invited!

to them i say, you know i take after my mom and run on "tami time", they will be done within the week! Don't freak out!!!

#2 as of now I am DIY-ing the Save the Dates ( i just feel weird calling them STDs!)

I started today with Charlie and my future sis-in-law.

I am done with the one i like, but i messed up on the wedding website and am meeting Della either tom. or tues. to hand them off for printing.

If all goes well we will spend the weekend tying bows and addressing, then celebrating my moms bday with the launch of the STDs (ick!!) on monday!

Sweet Caroline let us take over her living room today to work on them

Thank YOUUU!!!!

I can't wait to show yall!

So on to the wedding checklist!

list from realsimple.com

Start a wedding folder or planner

Work out your budget

Pick your wedding party

Hire a planner, if desired

Reserve your date and venues

Research Photographers, bands, florists, and caterers

Hire photographer and videographer

Book entertainment

Meet Caterers

Purchase a Dress

Reserve a block of hotel rooms for out-of-town guests

Register

Launch a wedding website

www.jessicandcharlie.us

Select and Purchase Invitations -6 months b4 (behind!)

Start planning a Honeymoon

Shop for Bridesmaid dresses

Meet with Officiant-6 months b4 (behind!)

Send Save the Date Cards (BEHIND!!!)

Book a Florist

Start composing a day of timeline

Book the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner venues

Check on Wedding Invitations (4 months b4)

Select and Order the Cake (1/2 way there..)

Send your guest list to the host of your shower

Schedule hair and makeup appts. 

Choose your music 

Finalize Flowers

Finalize Menu (3 months b4)

Make a list of the people giving toasts 

Order Favors

Finalize the Readings

Purchase your undergarments

Finalize order of ceremony and reception

Print menu cards and programs

Purchase rings

Send event schedule to vendors

The rest on the list are 2 months before and are just follow ups that can only be done after all of the bright, scary, red things are completed!!!!!!

This list completely overwhelms me!

But i now have a good idea of where we are and where we need to be.

Well I am going to tackle those nasty red things!

well after sleep and work tomorrow, but then I will tackle them with a chicken wrist hit to the face!! 

(yep thats what we learn in Karate!!)

Ohh Kristi, you are soo on top of things!

I am extremely envious!

We cannot get an apartment until Charlie goes before the March boards for the Navy.

Then we will know where we will be, I am soo excited for you to have an apt. and be well on your way to living in wedding bliss!

Part 2! Stock the Bar!

On saturday night Carson, Allston, and Rob threw Charlie and I

a Stock the Bar shower!

We aren't huge drinkers but it was fun to get different glasses and mixes for entertaining!

Those three sure do know how to throw a part-ayy!!

It was so much fun.

They had it at Carson's house which was probs the most amazing house I have ever seen.

Literally is was beautiful!

The shower was mainly for all of our friends from school.

They are so much fun and we got a lot of awesome gifts!

Carson called me earlier in the day and asked me 10 questions about myself,

she called Charlie and did the same thing.

She asked things like what is your biggest pet peeve, your fav color..etc.

Well lets just say I completely smothered Charlie!

I got two wrong and Charlie probs got two right!

After the game one of my friends pulled me aside and said some of the most kind words I have ever been told.

She said eactly what I needed to hear at the moment.

She told me how wonderful Charlie and I were and that she knows we will make it through anything.

The next few things she said blew me away.

She said Im sure your sister gets upset sometimes but to be okay with that and comfort her because she may feel like she is loosing a sister, but to not doubt her love because she is so excited for us and would do anything for either of us.  Now my sis does not get upset often but i want to please her in each aspect of the wedding because she is such a huge part of my life and I don't want her to feel like she is loosing a sister.

She then said that she hasn't even seen my dress yet, but she knows its beautiful, and to not doubt my choice in the dress.  She said that the moment I first put on that dress I knew it was the one and that feeling of pure happiness should be felt each day in our marriage.

I just couldn't believe all of the things she was telling me because I don't really open up that much to anyone and she just knew how I was feeling inside.

I will always remember that conversation and keep her words close to my heart.

Here are some of the pics from the party!!

Me and Megan!

sistas!!

allston got camera happy!

teddy and I!!

There are many more on fb but they are a little too crazay for here!

someone charlie had a little bit too much fun! ;)

I am so happy that Megan and Jan could come down and spend the weekend with us and go to the shower.

It was absolutely amazing weekend.

Fun filled wedding activities weekend part 1!

This weekend was oh so fun!!!

My bridesmaid Carson and Allston (her bf and charlies groomsman) threw Charlie and I a

Stock the Bar shower!

It was a blast!

Tomorrows post will be all about it and its awesomeness!!!!!

My friend Jan and my other friend/bridesmaid Megan came home with me for the shower.

We went to PF Changs friday night and saturday was a day full of wedding goodness.

My wedding shoes came last week so I got to see them for the first time on friday!

I was soooo excited to open them, i felt like they were made of gold or something!

I forgot to take a pic of them, and they aren't on the website anymore, but i pinky promise I will out a pic up as soon as I can!

So I thought the shoes were perfect when I opened the box,

but when i went to put them on my gigantic size 10 of a foot, they were tinsy winsy...

so we called to see if we could get an ELEVEN.......

which they do not make...

(I had the only 10 in the whole US of A! why must my feet be like the flinstones?)

We decided to wait to return them because my actual WEDDING DRESS came in on saturday!!!!

So we had an appt. later that day to try them on.

Saturday morning we had a cake tasting at 9 AM!

We tried a cake called the White Russian, with nutella in it!

It was yum yum yum!!!!!

Della then took us to the marina inn where the reception will be.

We talked about the layout of the tables and dance floor!

I am sooo excited!

Della then showed us some signs she made for us!

She made a bride and groom sign to go on the back of our chairs!

It is soo cute, with a pretty pink peony~

She also made us some "Mr" and "Mrs" signs that she saw I liked!

Each of these were in the Southern Weddings Magazine if you want to take a look!

This magazine is definitely my fav and I cut one to shreds for my notebook, so I want another to keep!

Seriously..its amazing!

anyway!

Everything looked amazing and we are soo excited to stay there the whole weekend!

Dad says he is more excited about his "daddy-o patio" than the actual wedding!

(which we all know isnt true!)

Then we went to lunch at Pine Lakes (where the ceremony will be).

We had an awesome lunch with megan, jan, caroline, and the rest of mine and charlies families!

after lunch it was finally time to go see MY dress!

I was so excited for jan, megan, and esp. my dad to see it for the first time!

We brought the shoes and veil to get the whole look!

As soon as i pulled the shoes out of the box the sweet ladies that worked there got soo excited!

They loved the shoes!

I tried on the dress and it fit almost perfectly!

Just a few alterations and it will fit like a glove!

We also decided that the shoes were too perfect, and that the length wasn't the issue, it was the width of the shoe at the front.  The owner of the store suggested we get them stretched a little.

So I think that is what we will do, the color matched soo perfectly, i hope it works!!

Oh and the place we normally take shoes to be repaired is kind of sketch..

i swear charlie and I saw a drug deal going down there on day....

So we are looking for somewhere else to take them!

The dress was even more perfect than the first time i tried it on.

I had forgotten so many of the details that  made me love the dress.

Also i think i watch "Say Yes to the Dress" too many times, cause I was sort of doubting my dress picking abilities..

But when I put it all on, I knew I made the right decision!

Megan and Jan loved it!

Dad immediately got his camera out and started snapping away, he also began asking a ton of questions about the detailing and how it bustles..thats how i knew he loved it!!

We had one more wedding errand to run that day,

WE FOUND THE GROOMSMAN SUITS!!!!!!!

We spent the whole day before searching from store to store and finally found the perfect suit at Jos. A. Banks!  The sweet lady said she would give us a sale price that made the suit buy 1 get TWO for free!!!

So we found a suit that is normally $550 and each groomsman is paying less than $200 for it!

Its exactly what I wanted!

Charcoal grey with light blue window pane stiching!

(once again no pic of this....i pinky again I will post it tomorrow!)

So we had to go show our dads the suit at the local Jos. A. Banks!

For anyone who still needs suits, I would 100% recommend trying them, they always have amazing deals on super nice suits!

I had the most amazing first part of the day!

 I promise I will be back tomorrow morning with a post dedicated solely to the amazing

Stock the Bar shower!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whoo Hoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DIY Wedding Keepsakes!

Since we got engaged I have checked Martha Stewert Weddings website almost everyday.

I love all of the ideas she has and all of the DIY projects she makes look so easy!

I ran across some of the following keepsakes in the

15th Anniversary special of Martha Stewert Weddings magazine.

They were too cute not to share!

Hopefully I will get in the creative spirit and take part in some of these amazing DIYs!

Design Partner

Find a pretty binder and fill with your keepsakes from your wedding day.

Stock it with cute envelopes, punched card stock, or folders to hold ribbons and color swatches of the wedding colors.

You can see they even placed a card of makeup. I would love to look back at these different aspects of the wedding planning and wedding day, that you would normally forget all about!

I have a wedding planning notebook that I have been placing different things in to commemorate the wedding planning. I would love to add some fabric swatches and random keepsakes!

Meet the Press

I love this! A way to keep your bouquet preserved and looking pretty!

Martha says: 

Snip blossoms and lay them on newsprint

Fold newsprint over to cover and insert in a flower press, or between the pages of a heavy book

Leave them for 10 to 12 days until dry and papery

Use tweezers to transfer flowers to card stock and arrange

Apply a dot of glue to the underside, then press into place

Let dry and frame!

Sounds easy enough!  When charlie and I got engaged he gave me two dozen roses. I pressed them using wax paper and an iron, and placed them in heavy books.  I had to wait 10 days before removing them and in those 10 days our water heater busted and our whole house flooded!  So all of our stuff was packed up and I have no idea where those flowers are, or if we even have them! Hopefully one day I will open up a cookbook and have a special surprise!

Mat Trick

If my invites have a cute decoration like these, I will definitely be applying them to one of our engagement pics!

Using a craft knife, cut the decoration and apply to a favorite photo of the two of you.

So cute!

Blanket Statement

This has to be my fav! 

Arrange fabric squares and fabric pens for your guests to write a sweet message on.

Collect the squares and follow the wise words of Martha!

I showed this to charlie and the mag and he said that it was a good idea and then questioned me on my quilt making skills! Though I have never in my life even attempted making a quilt, martha makes it look pretty easy! What an amazing keepsake to pass down!

These are just some of the many DIY Wedding keepsake ideas of Martha's.

Check out her website for many more!!!!

Sweet Treats!

I have the biggest sweet tooth everr!

I can never pass up a piece of candy..

so naturally I would love to post up right next to the sweet treats at any wedding!

A sweet treat bar seems super easy to create and a great DIY project!

If I were to create one, some things I would include are:

-Pretty, cheap containers that can be used again around your home or your families home.

(renting is also an option..)

           HomeGoods would probs be a great place to begin the search!

           A neat way to spruce up the container is to add a fun ribbon matching your wedding colors.

-Some candies that were fun, bright, different, and of course, yummy!

-A fun fabric to cover the table and spotlight the sweets!

-Some decorative signs introducing the bar and the sweets around the table.

-Some plastic baggies and ties so the guests can take them home, or carry them around the reception!

My friend Ashley had a sweet treats bar at her wedding and it was AMAZING!!!!

She had everything from rock candy to soccerball sweets in honor of her soccer playin hubby!

My dad and I kept bringing our baggy back to stock up throughout the wedding.

It was a huge hit!

Here are a few pics of some pretty amazing sweet treat displays!

Love these colors! and what cute napkins!

Mix Mingle Glow

Love the ribbon detail!

Project Wedding

This has to be one of my favs!

I love the tall vases in the back with floating orchids and candles!

I also like how the candy is different, and the way they are displayed is so neat!

With the lollipops standing up in the containers!

Amy Atlas Old Fashioned Candy Bar

Be sure to check out The Flirty Guide for glimpse into this Candy Land!

We purchased some of the Susan G Komen m&ms to have out for the wedding, but we aren't quite sure if we will have a full blown candy bar..

We do have a super fun surprise for our guests!

Some pretty happy sticky faced kiddos are enjoying this treat at the fair....

hint hint!

After that post, I am headed down to the fridge to the stash of Crunch sticks!!!

Hiii-yahhhh!!! (thats karate language..i think!)

Jan and I decided to take a Martial Arts class this semester..ya know for an "easy" class.

Well today was our first real class, and let me tell ya..it was NOT easy...at all.

First off let me say that I have been to an actual gym once in my life and that was last year.  

I spend most days sitting on the couch watching tv....

I try to start those wii workout games but I always quit halfway through..

So needless to say I am not someone who is in shape..at all

But i want to be!!!

So Jan and I started this class and we had to do pushups, situps, plank somethin or another, punching, kicking, and a whole bunch of other things I cannot remember right now!

We did this for an hour and 15 minutes straight. It was sooo intense! 

and we have 15 weeks left of this every tuesday and thursday....yay...

Oh and Jan.....made us go to the front of the class because she could not see....

thanks jan....

I'm so glad she is in there though, I would drop that class right now if it weren't for her!

It was kind of fun and I am excited that when I go to the doctor next and they ask if i exercise I can truthfully say YES!!! 

At least we will be wedding ready come June!

What I have been up to....

Wow..

I cannot believe i haven't posted in TEN days...

So sorry..

In these last 10 days I have:

-Met with the florist and signed the contract! Whoo!

-Met with the cake lady..(or the possible cake lady)

-Found my wedding shoes!!! (which should be in this week and I will post pics then!)

-Received the "save the date" part of our engagement pics!

-Started my last semester of college! (kinda sad...)

-Started my spring internship!

-Celebrated one of my bestest friends 21st Birthday!!!

Happy Birthday beautiful girl!!

-and realized that we have FIVE months till our Wedding!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(but mostly I have just been playing farmville...why?..I have no idea...)

FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!

Bridesmaid dresses have been picked!!

Yay!!!

I couldn't completely choose without going to Little White Dress first.

I had to see their collection, because it would be the easiest option, i thought.

When we went I saw soo many cute dresses, but i have such a hard time picking things for other people, that they have to buy!!

It was soo hard.

Before we left I saw a super cute flower girl dress:

Then I saw dresses that matched with little rosettes on them!

I thought they were adorable, but I was not sold on them...

So we went outside and talked about it all.

I have always come back to the jcrew dresses.

After my last post on bridesmaid dresses, I called Jcrew and they said the dress was discontinued for spring in the peppermint color.

But it was on sale then (thanksgiving) for $98.

I was going to call everyone then, but i did not want to risk them running out of sizes and some girls being left out, or something going terribly wrong!

So i decided we wouldn't do Jcrew.

After the Little White Dress visit, I knew those Jcrew dresses are what would work the best.

So we crossed our fingers, went home and checked online.

All of the dresses were still there in all sizes (Yay!)

The price had been reduced to $68.00 on three of them! (Yay!)

There was a code EXTRA20 (which is still happening!) on jcrew.com and you get 20% off! (Yay!)

These were the ones!

So I called up all the bridesmaids and explained what an awesome price it was and how they could choose any style (except the one my sis chose), but that they needed to do it fast.

I am telling you what, I have the most amazing bridal party!

All 9 of them ordered there dresses and called me within the hour!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was soo excited!

So bridesmaid dresses are finally decided on and I think everyone likes them, at least i hope they do!

To make things even better, Jenn's dress, and my dress (of course i just had to have one!) came the very next day!

So did three of the others.

Jcrew is on top of it!

They came while we were at the lake, so as soon as I got home I had to race to open the box and try them on (they are super wrinkled because they just came out of the box!)

This is Jenn's:

and this is mine, Ashley, and Jan's:

and they all have pockets!!! yay!!

Carson and Margaret Ann chose the strapless dress:

Caroline, Sandra, and Lauren's dress is:

I think they are all so cute!

My mom found a her dress at Little also. It is such a pretty green that matches her eyes and hair perfectly!

160 days!

I am getting EXTREMELY EXCITED!!!!!!

btdub: Charlie has been begging me to hurry up and pick these dresses, he literally asks me every single day.

He went back to school for two days because he had to work, so I didn't talk to him while we were trying to decide.

He called later that night and I casually told him that all the girls ordered their bridesmaid dresses.

He was like "WHAT!?!" 

He was so happy that i finally picked the dresses.

Now its his turn to pick the groomsmen outfits...!

(yeah right....)

~Happy New Year!!!~

Whoo Hoo!!!!

Happy 2010!

Hope everyone had a wonderful New Years Eve and Day!

We spent ours at the lakehouse counting down last night and eating New Years Soup today!

Charlie also started off the New Year with a jump in the FREEZING lake..

He is much more brave than I!

We spent the rest of the day playing Lets Dance on the Wii.

Charlie's sis got it for her bday, which we celebrated today but was really yesterday, and she let us all play!

It is probs the most fun game everr.

And everyone danced!

Even the parentals!

We ended the day with blowing out candles and chocolate cake!

I have been taking soo much video on my flipcam and am trying to decide what to do with it!

Im thinking about starting a channel on youtube to go along with my blog.

But we shall see!

We are off to the big city tomorrow to visit Tiffanys and hopefully find a wedding band for Charlie!

and if my dad is in agreement,

CHEESECAKE FACTORY!!!

Hope everyone has a wonderful 2010!