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While our wedding date just so happens to be New Year’s Eve, we aren’t necessarily going all out with a New Year’s Eve theme. We are simply adding elements that complement the holiday while trying to avoid going too over the top.
So far, I have shown you our personalized clock and the boutonnières. Next up is some sparkly table decor!
Thanks to Pinterest, I found my next DIY project.
Image via Blowout Party / Photo by Kristen Steele Photography
I knew just where to find those big letters so I skipped my happy booty over to Jo-Ann’s, used my 40% off coupons (they accept Michaels and Hobby Lobby coupons as well!) and scored a bunch of paper mache letters to spell out “NYE,” “MR,” and “MRS.”
Mr. Ball Cap’s brother was married in September of 2010. We are very close to his brother and sister-in-law, and their daughter is our Jr. Bridesmaid. With their wedding not far behind us, they still have many of their supplies on hand. Future Sister-In-Law let me know early on that I was more than welcome to use anything they had left over. It was a sweet offer, but one that I sort of forgot about once I got into the heavy planning stages.
Fast forward a month or so ago, and we needed to make a decision on the card box. This wasn’t something that was a high priority for me or anything I wanted to spend a lot of time or resources on. I just wanted it to blend in with the overall look of the wedding and be practical and useful.
My first thought was to follow the movie “Up” inspired mailbox trend. I find this idea beyond adorable and love the personalized touch.
Image via DisneyWeddingBlog.com / Photo by Wildflowers Photography
(Super cute “Up” inspired engagement shoot.)
The biggest concern about using this type of card box is that the cards could easily disappear.
One of my very first posts was on New Year’s Eve inspiration, and in that post, I shared this photo:
Image via Style Me Pretty / Photo by Scott Lawrence Photographs
I finally got my butt in gear and started the boutonnières using this picture as a reference. Now that the stores are already filling their shelves with Christmas items and Macy’s on State in Chicago is cranking out the Christmas tunes, it is much easier to find holiday appropriate items. MOB recently found a bag of blowouts in colors that would match the wedding.
When envisioning the overall look of our wedding party, I assumed having black tuxes for the men folk would clash with the navy of the ladies. I had a hard time picturing black and blue looking nice together. I needed a visual to help me gain a clear picture of how the entire bridal party would look.
As a reminder, this is what our ladies will be wearing:
Ava Collection by Mori Lee #602 in Mid Night
Featured on Weddingbee
Unique Wedding Favors
“Add a memorable touch to your wedding with unique favors that match your theme.”
It’s a sad day for bargain hunting brides. Filene’s Basement, a subsidiary of discount retailer Syms Corp., has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and plans to liquidate operations. This is the third time Filene’s has gone through bankruptcy and it appears to be the final hurrah. (Read a full article of the announcement at ChicagoTribune.com.)
It is no coincidence the bankruptcy was announced just in time for the upcoming holiday season. There really seems like no better time to liquidate inventory. The word is that liquidation will run through January 2012 and store closings will occur when the merchandise is depleted.
What this ultimately means for brides, and future brides-to-be, is that the famous “Running of the Brides” events are a thing of the past.
Image via Boston.com
The RSVPs are rolling in so I can finally share our finished invitations!
Bridesmaid K has designed and made invitations for several people over the last couple of years, so after my engagement, she showed me her designs in case I was interested in any of them. She knew I wanted to make my own and as luck would have it, one of her designs was perfect! She mocked up the main body of the invite in our colors and it helped confirm this was the route we wanted to go.
MOB ordered multiple paper samples from a company in Gary, IN. I wanted a cream color, but nothing too yellow, as well as a midnight navy paper for the background. We found exactly what we were hoping for and the navy even has a nice shimmer to it to give it a wintery feel.
Drum roll please…
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Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
On Sunday, October 23rd, we had our first bridal shower! My mom (MOB), MOH Sister and Bridesmaid L hosted the event at my dad’s Masonic Lodge in Michigan City.
Mr. Ball Cap and I arrived a little early and I was greeted with a huge surprise! My Aunt from South Carolina (and Uncle) had surprised everyone and drove up the day before. It was so good to see them! We were blessed enough to have guests travel from all over including Illinois, Michigan and Pennsylvania. I couldn’t thank these people enough for the effort they made to be there with us!
There were two games played during the shower:
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Yesterday was our first bridal shower so I thought it would be the perfect time to have a hair trial. Not only would I be testing out a wedding day look, but my hair would look great for the shower!
Mr. Ball Cap’s cousin, L, has been doing my hair since I moved to Dyer. She recently had a baby and now works out of her home. I take every chance I can to get over there for a baby fix!
At my last appointment with her, I gave her a print out of looks I had found online. I was drawn to a similar style over and over again.
Image via TheKnot.com
On Tuesday, October 18th, the U.S. Postal Service announced that on January 22, 2012, the cost of a first-class mail postage stamp would increase from 44 cents to 45 cents. Now while a one penny increase may not seem a lot, when you are mailing hundreds of STDs, wedding invitations, and thank you cards, it could have an impact.
When I created my wedding invites, I knew from the start that my postage would be more expensive due to the 6 x 6 size I chose. Mailing a square envelope costs more. What I didn’t think about was that the gorgeous card stock we used was a little heavier than most invitations. Put those two together and you have one heavy and oddly sized invite.
When I took an invite in for a preliminary weigh-in, the postman had a yikes look on his face when he saw how much it would be. I honestly think he was scared to tell me! I told him I knew it would be pricey due to the size but I was not expecting over $1.00 a piece! Thankfully I have saved a ton of money in other areas of the wedding so this isn’t going to hurt our budget, but I still don’t like the idea of having to pay that much either! Oh the price of fabulous invites.
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Preface: This is a wordy post, but please hang in there with me if you can! I’m in no way offering any medical advice or promoting or advocating any weight-loss program. This is simply my experience.
I’ve been debating writing this post, but I want to be open and honest with my fellow bees.
It is no secret that I am a plus-sized gal. I’ve struggled with my weight most of my life. My weight gain really started my freshman year of high school. Having the freedom to buy whatever I wanted for lunch and the fact that I no longer played sports (I was a cheerleader, played volleyball and softball, and was a dancer in grade school) was a dangerous mix that resulted in way too many calories consumed and hardly any being burned.
I was still under 200 pounds when I started college, but each year more and more weight was added. I went to school full time, worked a part-time job, and left no time to take care of myself. My senior year, I lived in an apartment with three other girls. One of those girls, D, was super into eating healthy and exercising. We started working out together (Tae Bo!) and, soon enough, I had lost some weight and really toned up. I was so happy the day I could make it through the entire tape without stopping for a break!
If you remember way back in one of my earlier posts, I had found some New Year’s Eve inspiration in the form of a clock.
Image via Miller + Miller
I miss this show, don’t you? And not the re-make either, although I haven’t watched it so I don’t have much of an opinion on it. I miss Brenda, Brandon, Dylan, Kelly, Donna, David, Andrea, and even Steve.
Image via Tatertotsandjello.com
But this post really has nothing to do with that famous zip code and instead deals with my own zip code issues.
I just had to go and say in an earlier post that the invitation process was going smoothly. JINX! I found an error. It’s not a huge error, at least it could be worse.
Six to five months before our engagement, Mr. Ball Cap and I decided we should probably visit a jewelry store to educate ourselves about engagement rings and the styles we liked. We knew our first stop had to be Albert’s Diamond Jewelers.
Albert’s has been in business serving Northwest Indiana for over 100 years. Also, their local commercials crack us up! As soon as you walk in the door, they make you feel right at home and you aren’t pressured or hounded to buy. Our consultant, Emery, was awesome. I gave him an idea of what I liked and didn’t like in rings and he was great at steering us towards different styles based on our reactions to what he showed us.
My only firm criteria was that I wanted silver vs. gold and I disliked heart-shaped diamonds. I tended to favor a little more vintage look and didn’t want a super thin band. I got to try on a lot of different styles and I was surprised at how opinionated Mr. BC was about things!
After we left, we both felt there was no need to visit anywhere else. I told Mr. Ball Cap he was on his own from here on out and I wanted the final choice to be all his.
Ladies, he couldn’t have done a better job!
Miss Fox and I were recently on the same wavelength. She wrote this post about her parents’ wedding photos and as I read it, I had my parents’ wedding album spread out on the living room floor!
I was going through their wedding pictures trying to decide if I was going to use them in any way on our day. I’ve looked at their wedding photos many many times over the years, but I had completely forgotten an element of their wedding hits close to home as my life as a bee.
Sunhats!!! The bridesmaids wore sunhats!
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Like many bees before me, I too wanted to honor my Weddingbee moniker on our wedding day. Mrs. Snow Cone’s charm is what really cemented the decision that I just had to have a little sunhat charm of my very own. And I still can’t get over Miss Funnel Cake’s amazing talent. I would have never thought to try and make my own!
I followed in some very smart footsteps and checked out Etsy. A search for “Sunhat Charm” resulted in this:
Image via MixnMatchSupplies Etsy shop
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Mrs. Sunhat, Dyer, IN Age and Occupation: 32, Tax Accountant Fiance's Age and Occupation: 35, Landscape Foreman Engagement Date: September 25, 2010 Wedding Date: December 2011 Venues: St. Andrew the Apostle, Fiesta Palace About Me: I'm a Midwest girl who grew up in the country and now works in the big city! I love cooking, entertaining, reading (addicted to my Kindle) and going to the movies. I don't miss an episode of Hoarders and I start cleaning every time I watch! My profession doesn't call for much creativity so wedding planning has been a great outlet. Mr. Sunhat and I met online three years ago, cheer for rival MLB teams and share a home with our dog, Wrigley. We are planning a traditional, Polish, Catholic wedding with lots of DIY elements and some fun surprises. I'm so excited to be married on New Year's Eve and we can't wait to ring in the new year as husband and wife!
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