Shower Love / Laura

I am beyond excited to share details about the shower we just held for the beautiful bride-to-be, Laura! Laura is one of my closest and bestest friends ever, and it was amazing to to help plan a day to shower her with love and support. Laura was a bridesmaid in my wedding - and I am so happy to be able to return the favor by being a part of hers! Me and the other bridesmaids had so much fun planning and crafting for this shower - post coming later on some of the easy DIY decorations.

We decided not to play any games or open any gifts, which gave us plenty of time for hanging out and mingling. We wanted to do something a little different by having a wine tasting and demonstration by the well-known Kelly Magyarics. I learned more about wine from Kelly's presentation than I ever have at the numerous wine tastings and events that I've attended. All the guests were raving about her afterwards. We even had a wine decorating station, where guests could personalize their own wine glasses (using oil-based paint pens) to take home with them as a favor.

Laura's shower was held in Arlington, Virginia at a beautifully-renovated party room in an apartment building and the food was catered by the delicious French brasserie Lyon Hall. The bride-to-be loved every little bit of her shower and said something along the lines of "I swear I walked into a live Pinterest board." And if you're looking for ideas for a bridal shower that you're hosting, there are some really great non-traditional ideas on Martha Stewart Weddings.

 Appetizers and the "Tying the Knot" banner.

 Homemade strawberry and salted caramel cupcakes in chevron cake wrappers - topped with paper N+L flags!

 The soon-to-be Mrs. Fraser in a gorgeous white and aqua dress!

Beverages, wine tasting prep station, and (my first) DIY fabric garland!

An assortment of meats and cheeses for the wine tasting.

The crafting committee - couldn't have pulled off the decor without them!

 White painted frames and coral and white flowers.

The bride and her bridesmaids!

A Look Back / The Pupprosal

It’s so crazy to think that on August 6, 2011, we brought home Vega and got engaged, then we planned a wedding for a year - and now we are married! I loved every little bit of the proposal and our engagement, so here’s a look back...

I have always loved dogs and never really had one growing up. So I knew that when the time was right (if there ever was a right time), that I would want to get one someday. And after Josh and I had bought our first home together, I (secretly?) began researching breeders in Virginia. It wasn't secret for very long, because every week (sometimes every day), I would send emails to Josh: Look at this one!..Sooo cute!...I need this puppy!...That face!

We eventually found a breeder and had made plans to finally pick up the newest member of our family that day - a little girl yellow Labrador Retriever puppy! I had been so busy the past few days with puppy preparations, all while Josh was busy on his own with engagement preparations. But seriously - I would have never thought to be getting a ring AND a puppy on the same day!

Prior to picking up Vega, Josh had suggested that we drive to James Madison University - where we both graduated from - because the weather was supposed to be nice in the afternoon. So a few hours later, we finally arrive at our old stomping grounds with our sweet little Vega.

We get to the quad and begin setting up stuff for a picnic. It was a gorgeous day and we pretty much had the quad to ourselves because fall semester had not yet started. It just so happened that it was our monthly anniversary that day, and usually we try to do something each month around that time - rent a movie, make a special dinner, etc. We are always so busy and set in our ways and normal routines, that I like to take note of this date and do something nice for one another. Anyways, after we had had lunch, Josh mentioned that he had a gift for me. Not surprising at all, because I had a gift for him, too (which was a t-shirt!).

I opened my gift and it was a picture frame with a letter he had typed to me. It was about how excited he was to start this new family with Vega and a bunch of other sweet things about us and our relationship. After I finished reading it, I put the frame down and Josh is down on one knee in the middle of the quad. I can’t even begin to describe how amazing those few moments were (and I don’t remember much) - but I said yes! Lots of happy tears and phone calls later, we could not wait to get home to share the news (and ring! and puppy!) with our closest friends and family.

Whenever I see Vega, I never forget how incredible that day was and she will always be my little engagement pup. GO DUKES!

Taking Your Engagement Photos

Engagement photos are not for everyone, but considering how majority of the photos we had together involved us enjoying some alcoholic beverages - Josh and I knew that we definitely wanted to do them! The engagement photo session was also part of the wedding photography package we purchased (sometimes they are an additional fee) - so that was definitely an extra bonus. We decided that we wanted to do our engagement photos in Washington D.C. It was fun, but tiring and a lot harder than I thought it would be. It doesn’t help that I’m so super awkward, and that you’d be lucky to capture a semi-decent photo of me where I’m not blinking or looking like a complete fool. I’ve seen so many different friends’ engagement photos that looked amazing and kept thinking it shouldn’t be too bad - a lot easier said than done!

Addressing Wedding Invitations

Getting ready to send out your wedding invitations means that the wedding is getting closer!

I knew I wanted to do my own addressing of envelopes to save money. I first was going to handwrite on the envelopes, but I was short on time and knew that trying to tackle addressing all 100+ envelopes was going to be somewhat aggressive (especially when I already had a million other things to do). I also remember how long it took me to handwrite the save the dates, which I did staggered over the course of a few weeks. I decide to go with clear labels, but sometimes I’ve seen them and they’ve looked just okay.

I knew it would all come down to the font choice and design for the labels. I picked a pretty script font for the names (Jellyka Delicious Cake) and paired it with an all-caps serif font that I previously had (Trajan Pro) for the address. I also used the same script font for the numbers in the address (street number, apartment number, and ZIP code).

I wanted to use larger labels because the envelopes were 5” x 7”. I went to Staples and bought the Avery Clear Easy Peel Address Labels (size 1 1/3” x 4”) for $12.99. I formatted the labels on Microsoft Word (make sure to use one of the templates), then printed them out. Make sure to do a test run on regular paper before printing on the labels, just to make sure it lines up correctly. Also, make sure to check that the ink has dried completely on one sheet of labels first, or else it’ll smear once you try to put the label on the envelope.

They actually turned out better than I expected! And it was cheap. And it saved me an incredible amount of time. And they still looked professional (which was my biggest concern). I was able to stuff and affix the labels for all of the invitations over 2-3 days. And even better, I can reuse them again when I do my thank you cards. Win, win!

DIY "Be My Groomsman?" Bottles

When I was getting ready to ask my bridesmaids to be in my wedding party, I asked Josh what he was going to do for his groomsmen. He said he didn’t know (typical guy response) and wasn’t sure if guys normally “did that kind of stuff." So, we started to brainstorm ideas and then he thought about how hilarious it would be if he “iced” his groomsmen. If anyone is unfamiliar with the rules of “icing” people, it conveniently has its own Wikipedia page for your reference.

We decided that we would dress them up a bit to make the Smirnoff’s look like little groomsmen. Josh said picking up a 6-pack of Smirnoff Ice was the worst, so he had to buy a case of beer to make it look like he was buying it for a girl!

Josh wanted to make the gift a little more sentimental by adding a few photos of him and the groomsman he was going to ice. So if you wanted to do that as well, make sure to print out pictures!

I had Josh type up a little blurb to his groomsmen - something along the lines of how he wanted them to be a part of our special day, but in the manliest way possible (obviously). Josh typed up his message, I formatted it a little, then we printed it out onto brown card stock.

Help Wanted: Groomsman 

We’re obviously pretty close (see pictures for evidence). Now I’m asking you to prove it and seal the deal with a tangy refreshment.  You’re officially being “iced” into my wedding party. The rules are simple: If you’re in, bottoms up and enjoy that sweet Smirnoff burn. If you’re out, go fuck yourself. 

Love, Josh

Supplies
Black buttons, black ribbon, beading wire, hot glue, scissors

Steps

1. Make the bow ties. Josh made the bow ties all by himself out of the black ribbon and wire (so proud of him!) - all you need to do is cut about 4” length of ribbon, hot glue the ends together, and pinch in the middle with a small piece of wire.
2. Hot glue the bow tie on the neck of the bottle.
3. Hot glue 2-3 buttons on the front of the bottle.

The last step was to pack up these little guys so we could hand deliver them the next day. I was looking for gift boxes that would normally fit slippers or shoes, but it was hard to find boxes in that shape unless you order it online. So, I went to a couple different stores and ended up buying 9” x 9” square boxes from the party store. They ended up working out perfectly! I also got shredded paper (or as Josh said: “What is this stuff?”) to fill in the box. For his groomsmen that were not in the area, he mailed it to them and they took videos of them drinking the (warm) Smirnoff and emailed it to us.

The end result:

Saving on Bridesmaid Dresses

When I was getting ready to look for bridesmaid dresses, I knew that 1) I wanted them to be full-length and 2) I wanted them to be affordable (less than $200). There were a few things I didn’t know as well - the color, the fabric or material (I’ve always loved chiffon but wasn’t sure until I saw other fabrics in person), and the neckline (sweetheart looks good on everyone, one shoulder is always pretty and simple, and I love little sleeves on dresses!).

I remember that for my friend Stephanie’s wedding a few years ago, her sister, Erin, had ordered our bridesmaid dresses online from Netbride for a significantly lower price than you’d find in most boutiques. It sounded like a great idea and right up my alley (I am all about efficiency and doing everything online) - though, the thought of purchasing something as important as the bridesmaid dresses on this world wide web scared me!

When I went to their website, it didn’t look as professional (and if you’re into websites and design, I can tell you a number of things they can do to improve it). It definitely made me uneasy thinking about potentially ordering all eight of my bridesmaid dresses from there.

So I reached out to Erin to get more information. She said that not only did she get Stephanie’s bridesmaid dresses there, but she also got her wedding dress there as well! And she raved about how amazing and legit it was. I kept that in mind as I started to look at dresses with my bridesmaids.

After we had found “the dress,” I decided to submit a quote for that specific designer and style number, which they carry almost every bridesmaid designer you can think of. I received a response in less than 2 days and the price was lower than the stores I had checked - the quote was for $175 and most places ranged from either $200-$275. Another plus: no sales tax!

After talking to Erin and reading some of the thousands and thousands of testimonials - I decided to go for it. And I’m so glad I did! The service was far beyond what I expected.

They sent me an email to confirm my order, called and left me an email when my card number didn’t go through (issue was resolved in a matter of minutes), sent me a handwritten card to thank me for using their service, and the order arrived a little over a month before the estimated delivery time. So now, I am going to be one of those people recommending this place to everyone - it’s great! And even if you can save $50 per dress, it’s still a steal.

And just a few helpful hints:

• Try and pick from designer’s colors first BEFORE the dress style. I did this the other way around and found a dress I loved, but didn’t love any of the colors offered in that style. Me and my bridesmaids had already decided on the dress and I was THIS CLOSE to placing the order after “settling” on a color, but had second thoughts and backed out. Luckily, all of the girls were so supportive with my small breakdown and we were able to find another dress after I checked out designer’s color swatches first!
• Order swatch samples from the designer’s website before you place your order. That way you aren’t surprised with the color when you receive the dresses! If you look at the color of my bridesmaid dresses on the designer’s website, they don’t look anything alike! Swatches can be a bit pricey ($15 per swatch from where I purchased from) and the size is 5” x 7”, so it can be hard to get the full effect of the coloring, but still worth it!
• Make sure to order all of your bridesmaid dresses at once, that way they all come from the same “dye lot” and are all the same color. If you order a few dresses at one time, then another at a different time, they don’t guarantee that the colors will be exactly identical. 

My girls loved their dresses and they turned out amazing and looked great on everyone!

Bridesmaid Dress Style: Dessy Collection 2834 in Taupe
Bridesmaid Necklace: Francesca’s Collections

Say Yes to the Venue

YOU’RE ENGAGED! Now it’s time for one of the biggest steps in your wedding planning (besides searching for THE dress!) - venue hunting! When you begin your search for the perfect venue, there were so many things going on in my head. I’d heard and read (on so many blogs!) that people just jump into locking down a venue because they love a place, and they forget about the little things that are just as important.

Personalized Wedding Hanger

My "Mrs." hanger above (walnut stain, silver wire).

I always knew I wanted to get a personalized "Mrs." hanger for my wedding. When I received it, it really hit me hard. That was going to be my new name. It was crazy!

This Etsy shop has the best handmade hangers that I've seen, and I searched around a lot when I was looking for one. The pricing was reasonable, it shipped super fast, and there's a plethora of different options for hanger and wire colors. Plus, this particular shop has had over 7,000 sales. You'll absolutely love it!

And if you aren't getting one for yourself, this would make for a great gift for any bride-to-be!

Etsy shop: einspanner

DIY Small Paper Bunting

I wanted to make a small paper bunting to hang on my card basket. I've made paper buntings similar to this before and it's so easy, you'll want to make them all the time! They're even perfect for gift baskets for family and friends, and are relatively inexpensive - you can probably just use supplies that you already have at home.

And what's great is that you don't even need a fancy program to make this - I just used Microsoft Word, inserted a triangle shape, and added letters using a font that matched my wedding theme. You could even just cut out your triangle shapes and use letter stickers if you didn't have a printer.

Supplies
Card stock, scissors, paper cutter, string or twine, glue gun (or regular glue would work)

Steps

1. Design your bunting.
2. Print onto card stock. I used Staples Card Stock, which I also ended up using for my programs.
3. Cut out the individual pieces. I used the paper cutter just so that the edges were all straight, but regular scissors should do the trick.
4. Spell or space out the order of the pieces.
5. Hot glue the pieces onto the twine.
6. Attach as desired to your card box or basket.

I usually won’t cut the twine until my bunting is done, just so that the length of the twine is equal on both ends. Also, for the triangle shape I used when designing in Word, I changed the border color to be a very faint gray, that way it wasn’t so heavy and black when it was printed. I usually prefer to print the outlines on the back of the card stock (so that you never see it), but it’s usually a lot easier to do that with larger square shapes.

I Can't Wait to Marry You

photo courtesy of marrygrams.

When I found this adorable Etsy shop marrygrams, I was hooked! I loved their little wedding cards and bought this one to give to my husband on the day of our wedding. They even have cards you can give to your bridal party, parents, officiant, and other important family members. The pricing was the same as a regular card you would get at any store and shipping was quick!

Etsy shop: marrygrams

Vega and Friends

Shower Love / Melissa

Last weekend, we celebrated the beautiful bride-to-be, Melissa! Melissa and (her soon-to-be-husband) Greg's wedding will be the first wedding we attend this year - and I couldn't be more excited! She's been busy crafting day and night for her romantic + rustic-themed wedding and I can't wait to see all of her hard work come together in April! I'm hoping that her pugs, Munchie and Rocco, will make a guest appearance!

Her bridal party threw her a gorgeous shower at a historic mansion in the Northern Virginia area. What a perfect day!

The historic mansion in Alexandria, Virginia.

 The dessert display table. I love the personalized candy dishes and tiered wire stands.

Table setting using white, different hues of pink, and gold.

Congratulations to the bride-to-be!

Utah Rescue Dogs

I love reading stories about dogs assisting and saving peoples' lives. It's pretty incredible. And usually I read more stories about police and military dogs (speaking of, have you watched Glory Hounds yet on Animal Planet?) - but this one is about a team of rescue dogs dedicated to helping people in the snowy mountains. The organization is the Brighton Avalanche Rescue K-9 Unit and it's based out of Brighton, Utah.

One day, my job will be something dedicated to dogs.

Article: Avalance Rescue: Let Loose the Dogs of Snow

 

photo courtesy of Gear Patrol.

The Reveal

I knew I wanted to capture the look on my bridesmaids faces as they saw me in my dress for the first time. And it really was them seeing it for the first time - they had no idea what it looked like until the day of the wedding. It was so hard keeping my dress a secret because I was so excited about it! And because I'm terrible at keeping secrets.

My bridesmaids were all anxiously waiting in the basement before my sister led them upstairs - eyes closed of course - and my photographer was able to capture this truly heartfelt moment when they finally opened their eyes. Their reactions are priceless!

How did you share your dress with your bridesmaids?

Here Comes the Bride

Once I was engaged, one of the first things I did was pull up my secret folder I had buried on my computer of wedding dresses and styles I loved! And honestly, what girl doesn’t do that? I seriously blame Pinterest. I started going through and printing out dresses I wanted to try on while I was at work, bookmarking magazines, sending a bajillion emails to my sister, watching too much of "Say Yes to the Dress," and dreaming of THE DRESS. It was pretty bad. I was a little crazy.

I started to make appointments once we finalized a venue, and then it was game on. I knew the basics (do your research, know your budget, think about your wedding theme, etc.), but there were a few other things that were not in the back of my mind as I was trying on dresses.

Here are a few tips to think about once you begin your search:

For your FIRST dress, try on something you know you will like. It doesn’t have to be the one that you’ve been eyeing in magazines or something unique, just anything you know that you will love yourself in. Almost like a “safety” dress. You don’t want to hate the first dress you try on for the biggest day of your life! I tried on a simple taffeta strapless dress, and I loved it so much, I was contemplating just getting it. And on a side note, my wedding dress wasn’t even close to what I first tried on.

Check out dates for upcoming designer trunk shows. At wedding dress shops that are doing trunk shows, sometimes they offer amazing discounts for the dresses featuring that designer. If you already know which dress you want and a shop is having that designer’s trunk show, take advantage! The discounts sometimes were up to 25% off!

Try to schedule two appointments in one day, but don’t overdo it. If you’re in that mood for trying on dresses, it doesn’t hurt to try and schedule two appointments for that same day. Just don’t kill yourself over it! It gets exhausting, and sometimes, the more dresses you try on, the more frustrated you’ll get. Everything starts to blend together and you start to forget what you like. I had booked three appointments one day, and at the last shop, nothing was really standing out. I ended up being in and out of there within 30 minutes - and honestly, it was just because I wasn’t “feeling it” anymore. The dress could’ve been there but I was too overwhelmed to try anything else on.
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Don’t forget about the extra charges. When looking at the price of the dress, just remember that you’ll have to add tax + potentially hemming/bustle charges (depends on the style of your dress). And after you get the dress, don’t forget about alteration costs and a veil (if you are getting one).

Ask for a discount. Every place we went to, they were willing to offer about 10% off most of the time because they want your business. If you find a better price for the same dress, but you want to buy it from a different store because maybe you liked the customer service better there - mention the price difference. You’ve got nothing to lose.

Check your payment options. We had to put 75% down, and pay the remaining 25% when I went in for my first fitting.

Be aware of how long dresses will take to get made (varies per designer). When I started looking in November for my wedding the following September, one dress that I was on the verge of buying said it would take about 9 months (most take 6 on average) - which means I would have received it in August! Factor in alterations, etc. - that was really cutting it close. I realized I wasn’t dying to have it, then it wasn’t the dress. Some places will almost bully you into buying the dress, so don’t give in to them!

Ask if you can take pictures! Chances are, the answer is no. But you never know! And if the answer is no, then do what I did and my dad secretly filmed me when I came out of the dressing room using his Flip video camera. Granted some shots are of the floor or in his pocket, but at least I had something to look at afterwards

DIY Framed Burlap Monogram

This DIY framed monogram basically set the entire theme for my rustic wedding. It was the first “official” wedding decor that I made after we had set a wedding date - and I loved the way it turned out! I couldn’t find a frame size that I liked, so I ended up buying a black diploma frame from Home Goods and spray painted it white. The only downfall to that option was that the diploma frame didn’t have a built-in stand because it was meant to hang on the wall, so I had to look for a stand to hold this up the day before the wedding!

The inspiration for this came from Love Of Family & Home - and this was all over Pinterest, too. I purchased the burlap fabric, wood letter, and paint from Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts. I basically followed each step exactly how it’s listed in that post, except I didn’t use the same paint colors (something similar though).

Supplies
Frame, burlap, wooden letter, paint, paintbrush, hot glue gun, scissors

Steps

1. Paint the letter as desired (I followed the instructions above).
2. Take apart the frame and cover the frame board with the burlap.
3. Hot glue the burlap to the frame board. I basically pretended as if I was gift wrapping the board, and glued the burlap to the back of the board.
4. Put the frame back together (without the glass).
5. Place the letter as desired in the center of the frame.
6. Hot glue the letter onto the burlap.

The FourNest / Basement

When we moved into our new home, one of the first DIY projects I wanted to tackle was the brick fireplace in our basement. I absolutely loved how the brick went from floor to ceiling. It had a lot of potential, but it just looked drab and boring and was in dire need of a face lift. Not to mention, it didn’t help that I didn’t like the peachy orange walls and copper-colored blinds (hard to tell in the photos, but it is not pretty).

I followed the steps to paint a brick fireplace from one of my favorite DIY blogs, Young House Love. And with the help of my then-boyfriend-now-husband Josh, we tackled it one evening after work.

What a difference the freshly-painted white fireplace makes! I am so in love with it. We painted the walls a greyish blue, switched to a simpler set of white blinds, and added a mantel to the fireplace. We were on a tight budget to furnish this space, and were able to get most of the furniture pieces from Ikea. Because we enter and exit our home through the basement, we wanted this space to be cozy, comfortable, and welcoming.

This is one of Vega’s favorite places in the whole entire house, just because of the shaggy area rug. When we don’t hear or see her for awhile, she is usually fast asleep on the rug with her head underneath the small coffee table - which is a childrens’ playroom table!

Who's Invited to the Wedding?

Weddings are so, so, so expensive! You can only imagine how tough it is for a bride who is on a strict guest list number figure out who and who doesn’t make the cut. People sometimes forget that bringing a guest to a wedding means more $$$ in the bride and groom’s eyes - so don’t be offended if you don’t get that +1 to your family or friend’s wedding.

Our rule was simple: If you weren’t married, engaged, or in a serious relationship at the time we drafted our wedding guest list, then you wouldn’t get the +1. We didn’t want to go back and forth if someone started to date someone a few months before the wedding because if we let that person, then we’d have to let this other person, and so on. I’d rather invite someone that I knew who was on the “maybe” list than a significant other of someone that I’ve never met before. And never ask someone if you can bring someone if it’s not clearly stated on the envelope or reply card - that just puts the bride and groom in an awkward spot (unless it’s an honest mistake).

To specify if our guests were allowed to bring someone to the wedding, we first worded the outside of our invitation as the following:

• Mr. and Mrs. John Smith (married couple)
• Mr. and Mrs. John Smith and Family (married couple plus family)
• Mr. John Smith (single man)
• Ms. Jane Doe (single woman)
• Mr. John Smith and Ms. Jane Doe (engaged or serious relationship couple)

We never put “and Guest” on the envelope because it felt very impersonal. And because we did know (most of) the people that were coming to our wedding and/or guests that people were bringing, we just listed out their name instead.

Now for the reply cards, we wanted to specify even more clearly the number of people that were invited. That way, there would be no guesswork if they were allowed to bring someone or not. I had seen different cards where there would be an option along the lines of “___ seats reserved for your party.”

So, for the “yes” option, we added the “of ___” so they knew how many seats were reserved for them. For our responses, we didn’t want to do the traditional “accepts with pleasure” or “declines with regret” - they both sounded so formal and so unlike Josh and I. Instead, we did:

• ___ of ___ will be joining the party!
• ___ Sorry we can’t be there - we’ll be celebrating in spirit!

Just another helpful tip people have mentioned to me to deal when dealing with all of the incoming replies - number the back of your RSVP cards to trace it back to an invite on your guest list! I heard that there’s nothing more frustrating then getting a reply card back that people are not coming and trying to figure out who it is.

Happy guest listing!

Wedding Tips for My Bride-To-Be's

Now that my wedding is over and because so many of my close friends have recently gotten engaged, people have been asking me for any tips or helpful hints. So, I compiled this little list of things that I've learned from my experience so far that I wanted to share!

If you like them, book them. There are all these guidelines for when you need to book things and so on. I got in touch with the makeup artist that did my friend Jenna's wedding to see what her availability and pricing were. It was pretty average from what I researched around this area. I emailed her, she said she was available - so I booked her for my September wedding. In January! Even before I booked a DJ or caterer. But you know what, one less thing I have to worry about later!

Everything requires a deposit. If you find someone you like, but you're worried about the deposit to book them, always ask if you can either split up the deposit or set up payment plans. Most of the time, people are pretty flexible if they know you're committed. Some may be stricter, it just depends. We were supposed to put 50% down for our wedding planner, DJ, and photographer, but we could only at the time commit to 25%. So we did 25% when we signed the contract, and then the next 25% 3 months later - so it's not a huge hit on your bank account.

Hire a day of coordinator. Even if you're not planning on getting a wedding planner, I suggest at a minimum hiring a day of coordinator. You need someone there to make sure everything is running smoothly and that all the vendors are where they need to be at the right times. You are going to be doing 1,000 other things that day and I highly, highly recommend hiring someone because it will make your life so much easier!

Print out all of your contracts and save all of your email communications. I have a huuuuuuugeeeeee binder with all of the information of each vendor, contract information, all of their proposals, and any receipts from online payments/check images. Your other vendors will probably ask for information about other vendors, so start compiling a list of all of that information as soon as you start to lock down vendors.

Make a timeline of all your wedding vendor due dates. This was something I did once all of the big vendors were set. I ended up making a table of all the due dates and balances for all items related to the wedding on a per month basis. It was helpful to visualize when things were due, how much we had left to account for, and also made me realize that 70% of remaining balances were due 30 days prior the wedding. August will be a tight-budgeted month!

Do as much as you can, but don't overdo it. Be practical and know what your personal limits are. I have all these great ideas in my head of so many DIY projects I want to do - but thinking about time and money, some of it just won't happen. Don't compare yourself to how far along other people are in their wedding planning - you will eventually get there! And ask family and friends for help on little things you don't mind sliding off your plate. If you know me, you know I am a PERFECTIONIST when it comes to these things. I'd rather do everything on my own - but sometimes, it just doesn't work that way!

My Love

Vega beachside in Portland, Maine.

Personalized Return Address Stamps

For someone who sends out mail all the time (not as much as Leila though!) - the best $30 that I’ve ever spent was on a self-inking customized address stamp! I’ve had mine for awhile now and have used it way more than I thought I would - save the dates, wedding invitations (which saved us money), holiday cards - just to name a few.

I searched around on different websites and ultimately found a great selection on Etsy (ranging anywhere from $20-$30) - and the designs were way more creative and prettier than the typical stamp you get from a big name office supply store.

photo courtesy of foryoo stamps + paper.

I love these cute little Etsy shops - foryoo and NoteTrunk - and have also ordered from both of them.

This is a great personalized gift to give anyone that loves stationery, someone who just moved into a new home, or as a wedding gift for the newlyweds!

Best Day Ever

Getting ready on the big day with the other love of my life: Vega!