We missed you...

Our wedding was beautiful. It was better than that...it was amazing! It was a day I will never forget. However, there were a few things missing. Correction, a few people were missing...my grandparents.

It's Veteran's Day, which always makes me think of my grandpa but today I'm remembering all three grandparents and thinking about how much I wished they could have been at our wedding. I was so blessed to have all three of my grandparents as long as I did but it broke my heart that they would not be at my wedding. I wanted to dance with my grandpa, watch my grandparents do the anniversary dance and hear my Grandma Kay make hilarious comments under her breath about people's outfits.

We all know I don't show a lot of emotion, which I can thank my Grandma Kay for since she was the same. I made it to the hymn at the wedding without a meltdown, which was triggered because I couldn't stop thinking about them. Music always does that to me. Dennis got me calmed down though.

Then I realized they were there...in spirit...and in the ways we chose to remember them during the ceremony and reception. It was much colder than we expected, so I wore my Grandma Grace's coat from the 1930's and her pearls. One of the preludes, Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, was one of my Grandma Kay's favorite pieces. The card holder at the reception was decorated with love notes that my grandparents wrote to each other. My favorite part though...the charms with their pictures on the bouquet.

My wish for Dennis and I now is that we will have a marriage as long and happy as my beloved grandparents. We can all learn a lot from our grandparents, including the importance of a strong marriage.

How to Plan a Wedding on a Budget

When I was in college and even after, my dream wedding was to get married a grand old church or cathedral in NYC (granted I thought I would be living there) and then have the reception on the New York Harbor. I probably wated the Today Show weddings way too much. Then reality hits and you realize planning a wedding is not cheap!

 

I'm incredibly budget minded at my current age, so planning a wedding has not been too difficult. Here are a few tips to keep in mind about planning that perfect wedding but remaining within a tight budget.

 

Look for alternative locations for ceremony and reception.

D and I are getting married at our childhood church camp. We were limited because of our large guest list. Many venues that hold that many are extremely expensive. Our ceremony and reception will be at the same location but different venues.

 

Think outside the box as far as catering is concerned.

Order what you like to eat, not what your parents want. I don't want to ruin the surprise of our fabulous menu but catering can be flexible.

 

Wait to take a honeymoon.

We are waiting but not for this reason. Neither one of us has vacation but it is definitely saving us money by not going until January.

 

Hire friends and family to help.

We hired a family friend who does wedding receptions on the side as a DJ. We hired my cousin's wife as the photographer and my best friend and bridesmaid is doing hair and makeup. Not to mention that all the musicians are either family or close friends.

 

Design and print your own paper materials.

I bought a Living Social coupon for the save-the-dates, which save a lot of money and I designed them myself. I also designed the invitation and printed it at Staples. This was cost effective but I was hoping it would be cheaper.

 

And that's my two cents for now...

 

Pinterest Wedding Planning

How did people seriously plan a wedding before Pinterest?

 

It's crazy to think of everything we have done the last nine months and how much of that some how related to Pinterest - engagement photos, favors, signs, flowers, etc. Even before we were engaged! Admit it! How many of you have a wedding blog and you aren't engaged or even dating someone for that matter? I will freely admit that I had a wedding board before Dennis and I were engaged. Once engaged though, I really only used a few things from that board because reality set in with budgets and location. Now, I keep most of my wedding pins in a private board so that there are still some surprises for my guests!!!

 

 

Some words of advice though for you Pinterest lover brides...

...that dress that you pinned most likely won't look as good on you as it does on that model with a completely different body shape. Deal with it. There will be another one that is perfect.

 

...those infographics about who is guest listed don't work if you have a massive family. Figure it out to just invite them all. You will be happy later on that they were a part of your wedding day.

 

...but most importantly, and this is what I keep reminding myself, it's not Pinterest's wedding. It's mine and Dennis' wedding. We can take ideas from Pinterest but ultimately it will be a wonderful day not because of the hundreds of pins. It will be because of the people that are there, the memories that are made and the union that was created. Enough said.

 

I can't deny that I do love Pinterest though. Here's a few of my favorite wedding helpful hints.

 

Use Pinterest for inspiration. I designed both our save-the-date and wedding invitation from examples I had pinned.

 

 

Find more DIY ideas, so that you do not have to pay some one any more of your hard saved wedding fund. Case in point - a monogram can be created very simply in Microsoft Word for FREE.

 

 

Get organization help. I printed timelines, checklists and other worksheets from Pinterest. I also found this great idea for the seating chart. Mine, however, does not look this great.

 

 

Remember. It's your wedding. Pinning is so much fun though, so pin away even if its to your wedding board for your imagainary wedding!!!

 

 



Tuesday Link Love

My attempts to keep up with and maintain my blog better have not succeeded as planned.  I'm trying but life gets in the way.  It's been a busy week as always and its hard to find the time to sit down and write, which is why lunch break blogs work out perfect.

Wish I was sitting here instead of my desk right now...

(Picture Credit: Pinterest)

Right Now

How awesome is this candle from Bath & Body Works?  My friend Claire recently gave it to me.  Not only because it is named Lakeside but look at the picture.  Does it look familiar?  Check this photo out that is one of my all-time favorites of my sisters and our friend Katie.

Running Thoughts

 

Less than two weeks until the marathon...  My thoughts?  A mixture of excitement and fear.  I finally got my running motivation back and then the events in Boston happened and I got scared again. I've decided I'm not going to let those thoughts get in the way of my running. 

 

So, I'm going to run for Boston.  I found this online and it will be my motto:

 

“A run for us to unite and show our strength.
A run for those that were unable to finish.
A run for those that may never run again.
A run for us to try and make sense of the tragedy that has forever changed something we love.”

(http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/run-karla-run/2013/apr/22/runners-show-support-one-week-after-boston-maratho/#ixzz2RJ6KLou0)

 My reward this year for a running...a few days at my other lake, Chautauqua to interest Dennis.

Wedding Inspiration

My sister has been on my case to pick shoes for the bridesmaids.  Granted, I have forgotten but then she made me sit down and actually look at different styles, so I have some ideas.  In the mean time, I thought I would wear the bridal Toms.  I've never worn Toms, I just thought it would be a cool idea.  Then we found these and I fell in love.  Boat shoes are me.  I love them so much!

And that's my two cents for the week.



Tuesday Link Love

The sun is shining and it looks absolutely gorgeous outside.  Too bad the view from my window is deceiving and its cold with flurries.  I just want spring.  Correction.  I just want summer.

 

(Picture Credit: Pinterest)

 

Right Now

 

Another reason I want it to warm up is so that we can sit on our deck!  I pinned this wine glass holder last week and though it would be perfect for parties on the deck.  And the reason its probably not available is Pinterest and everyone that pinned, liked or search it.

 

Book/Library Love

 

Has anyone read Commencement or Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan?  She is one of my favorite authors and I'm so excited that she has a new book coming out in June called The Engagements.  I bought Maine when it came out because I was so excited.  I might have to buy this new one too and I never buy fiction brand new!

 

Running Thoughts

 

Ahh the half-marathon...I feel like I'm definitely lacking motivation again and not feeling quite so confident in my running abilities.  Not sure really what to do since my motivation board isn't really helping.  This is a pretty awesome list though that I found and I might take some of the author's suggestions.  We will see how I feel next week at this time after running eight miles.

 

Wedding Inspiration

 

Just a thought I had... Not really having to deal with the wedding but stemming from it.  Last week I couldn't decide it I wanted to type or write the addresses for the save-the-dates.  I asked opinions.  I read information online.  When it came down to it, I decided to handwrite them.  I don't mind.  I like receiving handwritten mail.  It's more personal.  This is an interesting article about that same idea and a similar blog post I wrote two years ago.

 

And that's my two cents for the week.



DIY Wedding Planning: Save-the-Date

Wedding planning can be expensive and Dennis and I are determined to save money wherever we can during the planning.  We only want to make our wedding beautiful and cut costs by doing what we can on our own.  So the first project we tackled together...the save-the-date.

Save-the-dates can get pretty pricy depending on the how professional you want them to be plus the cost of engagement photos if you are doing a picture.  With Pinterest, there are so many ideas for save-the-dates that I knew I could find a design that I liked and try it out, which I did.

In my opinion, engagement photos are a waste of money.  I would rather save some money and use it later on for wedding photos, which will get more use.  Dennis got me a new Nikon camera for Christmas, so I set it up on a tri-pod and took the pictures at three different sites myself.

We never have off at the same time, so when we did this week we decided to utilize that time wisely and take the photos.  Since our wedding isn't until October, they don't need to be sent until March but I didn't want to wait and then not have time to do it.

Last night, I was bored and decided to play around in Publisher.  I created a save-the-date that we both like, which is key.  It wasn't hard either and I just inserted the photos that I edited from our DIY engagement session.  It still needs some edits but come March it will be ready to go.

No pictures of the save-the-date yet.  I don't want to spoil the surprise for anyone.  You can have one picture tho.  I'll post the rest later.

Goals for the New Year

I normally set New Year's resolutions that as predicted I never follow through with or I do but I'm not happy with the outcome.  This year I'm just focusing on five goals (I'm better with the goals) and I will work on smaller goals each week to accomplish these.  This year I am going to:

Plan a wedding and GET MARRIED.

So far, I've bought a dress and picked my bridesmaids dresses (now I just need to ask them) and we've almost secured a venue.

Run a half-marathon again and IMPROVE MY TIME.

If I could say I was in perfect health right now, I would already be out running; however, until I kick this ear infection for good I'm not officially starting to train until February 10.  Slow jogs for now...

Be a better person and PRACTICE MORE RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS.

This year, I want to strive to be more selfless.  To think less about myself and more about others.  To not complain as much.  To be happy and thankful for EVERYTHING in my life.  And to do nice things for others.

Organize the apartment and MAKE IT OUR OWN.

We love our new apartment but it lacks organization in particular areas (kitchen and office) and personal touches to really make it ours.  Pinterest should help with this one...

Make little changes in my lifestyle so that I'm HEALTHIER.

2012 was not a healthy year.  I had a stomach virus, a throat virus, one or two sinus infections, jaw problems and an ear infection.  I promise to not stress as much, sleep more, eat better and drink more water.  I'm sick of medical bills.

Well, that's my 2013 goals in a nutshell.  Here's to a healthier 2013!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!