The Bridesmaids

I officially asked my all of my bridemaids today and they all said yes!  I'm so happy.  My maid of honor and two of my bridesmaids are my three best friends from college.  My other two bridemaids are my two sisters.  In total, my bridal party has 5 people.  My fiance plans to match that and also have 5 people.

So, you might be wondering how did I ask them?  Well, since I wouldn't be able to see any of them in person, I had to think of a way to ask them long-distance.  I deciding that sending something wasn't a personal as I'd like it to be.  If I'm giving them a gift, I'd rather give it to them in person.  Since I'm seeing them in September, I plan to give them a gift then.  However, for now I came up with something to do.

I used kizoa.com to create a slideshow to send to my friends.  I made a slideshow of college days together and added in a poem about memories I had with them.  Each slide was a picture of us and a line of the poem.  The last line of the poem said, "And that's why I'd love for you to be party of by big day and in a very big way."  Then the final slide said, "Will you be my bridesmaid?"  The site was very easy to use and allowed me to send out the slideshow to my friends via e-mail. 

All of the girls loved it!  It brought back such good memories of all of us and left a couple of them crying.  (I know I wanted to when I was making it.)  After seeing the slideshow each of them called me up and said yes!

Now I just need to get my fiance to ask his best man and groomsmen.  Any suggestions?

Feel free to share how you asked your bridemaids and/or how he asked his groomsmen.

Wedding Registry List/Stores

Today Dave and I went to Bed Bath & Beyond to set-up our registry.  We had no idea what we wanted to register for, but we hoped being in the store would spark some ideas.  I think it actually helped.  Below is our most up to date list.  Any thoughts?

• Rice cooker
• Pillows
• Baking sheets
• Sheet set 
• Kitchen knife set
• Digital camera
• Stand Mixer
• Food processor
• Silverware
• Memory foam bath mats
• Memory foam kitchen mat
• Blender
• Cutting boards
• Canister set
• Toaster
• Luggage
• Wine rack
• Hanging holder for pots and pans
• Spoon rest
• Dinnerware
• Salt and Pepper shakers
• Kitchen utensils
• Spice rack
• Vacuum
• Menorah

Bridal Extravaganza/Wedding Bands

We went to the Bridal Extravaganza today at the mall and looked briefly at wedding bands.  For the first time since we had been engaged, it actually hit me - we are getting married.  Looking at the bands and talking about the ceremony made everything seem real.  I was instantly overwhelmed with nervousness and excitement!

When was that moment for you?

P.S. In regards to the bands, Dave is considering a simple solid gold band and I am looking white-gold contour band.

Online Surveys & Market Research

DIY Wedding Binder

I set to work today on creating my own wedding binder - I'm all about DIY and I love the option to personalize it.

Here's how I did it.

Materials:

• 3" round ring binder (I just used one that I already had 2-3" should be plenty)
• 45 sheets of white cardstock ( I found a 150 ct. Pack of 110lb white cardstock at walmart for $5.48)
• white round reinforcement labels ($1 for a pack of 924 at walmart - that is plenty!)
•  20 Post-it note 3" durable tabs ( Like the ones here, but I found a pack of 20 in the store for $6.49)
• 30 Post-it note 2" durable tabs (I bought these in store for $4.49)
• 3-ring hole puncher (already had)
• 17 Clear page sleeves (already had them, but you can get a 100 pack for abour $5 at walmart)

Total spent:  $17.46  

Directions

1.  Insert a sheet of white cardstock into each of the 17 page sleeves.  Place the 3" tabs on the right side of the clear page holders as shown.

                      - Create 6 with the tabs on the top

                      - Create 6 with the tabs in the middle

                      - Create 5 with the tabs on the bottom

2.  Arrange the clear sheets with tabs in alternating order, so that you have one page with a tab on top, followed by one with a tab in the middle, followed by one with a tab on the bottom, etc.  

3.  Next, hole punch the remaining cardstock.  You are going to affix the 2" tabs as needed to this cardstock to create smaller tabs.  

4. Using my list at the bottom of this post or your own list of categories and subcategories, write on your tabs.  Label each 3" tab with a category (i.e. Calendar) and the 2" tabs with the subcategories (i.e. Timelines).   

***Tip:  If you want your writing on the tabs to look neat, do what I did and type up all of the category names on the computer and then print out the list (depending on your font Size 16 and 18 work best).  Then you can place the print-out below your tabs and copy!**

5.  Once you have finished writing on all of your tabs, you are ready to assemble the binder.  I used the reinforcement labels on the hole-punched cardstock so make sure that it holds up through all of the use that it will be getting!  

***I also found a lot of helpful printouts that I included in my Wedding Binder.  I will be adding those soon!***

EDIT:  You can find my post about those links here.

This is an example of using the 2" tabs.  This was my Ceremony section.  

Categories and Subcategories List - Adjust as Needed

• Calendar
• Timelines
• To-Do lists
• Guest List
• Registry
• Budget
• Decorations
• Stationary
• Save the Dates
• Invitations
• Programs
• Other
• Rehearsal Dinner
• Ceremony
• Officiant
• Venue
• Readings and Vows
• Music
• Other
• Reception
• Venue
• Food/Drinks
• Favors
• Seating Plan
• Other
• Flowers
• DJ
• Photographer
• Cake
• Guest Accommodations
• Hotels
• Transportation
• Welcome Bags
• Other
• Gifts
• Family
• Wedding Party
• Bride
• Dress
• Accessories
• Hair and Make-up
• Other
• Bridesmaids
• Groom
• Groomsmen
• Honeymoon

Dates and Colors

Dave and I have officially decided on Fall 2013 for the wedding.  We are thinking of late September or early October of next year.

We will have to keep this in mind:  Wedding Dates to Avoid.

Also, we have decided on colors, well at least somewhat.  I know that we want a dark purple (plum?) as the main color with white or ivory.  We probably need an accent color, but aren't sure what - black, silver, gold, green, orange - so many options.

Any ideas for an accent color?

Also, please share your wedding colors below.  I love seeing the different combinations.

Happiness

Dave and I went out for Chinese food this afternoon with a friend.  Of course, after enjoying the buffet we received our fortune cookies.  Dave's fortune read, "Stop searching forever.  Happiness is right next to you." I guess sometimes those fortunes are true.

Being engaged isn't all about the wedding planning, it's also about my fiancé and I. This reminded me to take a break every now and then from wedding planning and just enjoy being happy with my fiancé.  We spent that afternoon catching up on some of our t.v. shows and cuddling on the couch.

What do you do to take a break from planning?  

The Ring - Part 1

We were out at a bar for Dave's birthday.  While we were waiting for our friends to show-up we were having some casual conversation and somehow the topic of getting engaged came up.  The next day we decided to go look at rings and had it narrowed down to two rings after just a few hours.  The next day, Dave bought the ring.  We had been visiting his family in upstate New York for his birthday and he wanted to get the ring before left for Michigan.  I did not go with him when he got the ring, did not see it, etc.  However, I still knew that he had got it.

For some reason, I assumed that he was just getting the ring now and would wait a few months or more to propose.  The surprise was on me when he proposed just one week after buying the ring.

Did you help pick out your engagement ring?
	Yes
	No
pollcode.com free polls

It's Official

We are engaged! My boyfriend fiancé proposed yesterday at Binder Park Zoo.

Our engagement story: We had planned a trip to the zoo for that Saturday. That morning we also decided that we were going to eat dinner at the Henderson Castle here in Kalamazoo. I had been wanting to do both for a while, so I was more than excited. On the drive there I actually said, "This is the perfect day! I think the only thing that could make it any better would be chocolate." Well, needles to say, Dave had something even better than chocolate in mind.

After visiting some of the animals, we went to do my favorite thing at the zoo - feed the giraffes. Once we fed the giraffes, we went and grabbed some food for ourselves. Then, we went to feed the giraffes a second time before leaving the African Safari visit. On our way back from the giraffes, I stopped in one of the observation huts to look at the zebras. While I was looking at the zebras, I noticed another animal, but wasn't sure what it was and pointed it out to Dave. When I turned around to make sure that he was looking, he had something in his hand. He opened the box and got down on one knee and asked the question - "Will you marry me?"

I immediately responded, “Yes, yes, yes.” According to Dave I followed that response with “Yes a thousand times,” though I don’t remember that. After getting picture together in our engagement hut, we grabbed ice-cream. I immediately decided that I wanted to get a pressed penny with a giraffe on it to commemorate the event, but, of course, we didn't have a penny. We ended up having to get change for a nickel! After getting our penny and finishing up our tour of the zoo, we stopped by the gift shop. I got a t-shirt and a lucky miniature giraffe.

We ended the day by having a fantastic dinner at Henderson Castle.  Of course, desert was a dark chocolate mousse - it was the only thing that could have made the day any better.  :-)

So what's your story ladies?  Feel free to share below, I'd love to hear them.