The Patio

Matt and I finally finished the patio! Well, we are going to put a few flowers in some planters in the back corners but for the most part, it is finished. Matt went to Lowe's early Saturday morning and bought the rest of the stuff while my Mom, Ashley and I went to my final dress fitting. (I'm not posting pictures of my dress because I want you all to be surprised!)

By the time I got home, he had dug out all of the grass, put down the rock in the back and installed the edging. It was way too hot to be outside but we got out there and finished it. We both had to take a couple of breaks between digging the holes, planting the shrubs and adjusting the mulch. The heat was unbearable...we could hardly breath! Matt did not wear sunscreen...I think he may have learned his lesson. Here are some pictures!

This patio furniture is from Matt's apartment. We have found some that we both really like for very inexpensive. Maybe it will go on clearance at the end of the summer.

You can kinda see the Texas stepping stone on the side by the sidewalk.

Here it is big. We love it!

Here is Matt's sunburn. HaHaHaHa!

Final Touches

My goal is to have most everything finished by July 1st. There are a few things that I wont be able to complete before the wedding week like getting my hair done, getting my nails done, buying cheese, buying lettuce ... and I am sure there are many more things that I can't think of right now.

One huge thing that I am anxiously waiting for, are the RSVPs. Many folks do not understand how important an RSVP actually is to a bride. Each person that RSVPs will have a chair at a table. That table has a tablecloth and of course a centerpiece. In order to know how many chairs, tables, table clothes and centerpieces we need, we have to know who is coming. Once my parents get an RSVP back, it goes into a spread sheet so we can keep tabs on who has sent back a response card. (Please do not assume that we know you are coming, if we haven't received a response card, your name has not been checked off.) As July 1st comes and goes, we will then have to call each individual person who was invited but did not send back a response card, to ask them if they are coming in order to get an accurate count of how many chairs, tables, table clothes and centerpieces we will need. Please send in your response cards as soon as possible...if not just because you love us but also for my sanity...please.

Once we know the head count, I can start the finishing touches such as finalizing the Civic Center, the centerpieces, the food, the place settings, the party favors, the bubbles and of course the seating arrangements.

Matt and I are so excited. Our big day is almost 5 weeks away. I can't believe summer is going by so quickly. As much as Matt and I would love to be married, we are trying not to wish away our summer and enjoy being engaged. We are also getting ready to celebrate the official anniversary of when we met. It is so hard to believe how much has happened within the past year and how fast everything has happened. We are so blessed to have so many friends and such wonderful family. We can't wait to see y'all!

Flowers and Other Stuff

Hobby Lobby is my new favorite place. While shopping last week, my mom and I noticed that anything wedding and all flowers were 50% off! We ended up finishing most of the shopping for the wedding. We are lacking cups and the fresh veggies for the taco bar but practically everything else is DONE!

So, looking at the fake flowers at Hobby Lobby, I made a quick decision to do fake flowers for the wedding. They were exactly what I wanted (color and style), they were way inexpensive, I could get them done now and not have to wait for the week of the wedding and it was one more thing I could mark off of my very long list of things to do!

Here are some pictures of the bouquets!

This is my bouquet. I love calla lillies and this is exactly what I wanted.

These are the bouquets for the bridesmaids. We bought the flowers and wrapped them up!

These are the boutonnieres. Matt's is the calla lilly in the front to match my bouquet.

Mom and I bought the baskets and wrapped them and added some color. I burnt my finger bad enough to get a big ole blister. Hot Glue is HOT!

These are the ring bearer pillows. Mom and I sewed them from scratch. We are crafty!

I will be working on the program this week along with the wedding week, wedding day, photography and wedding ceremony agendas. Less than six weeks! I can't wait!

Updates!

I was out of school last Friday and it has been 100% wedding planning since. I was planning on teaching summer school but there were not enough students to make a full class so I wasn't needed. (Oh Darn!)

Last weekend, Matt and I went to Men's Wearhouse to finalize the tuxes. The groomsmen will be wearing an orange vest and an orange tie. The fathers will be wearing a black vest and a black tie. Of course, the most important man of the evening, the groom, will be wearing a purple vest and a purple tie. Here are a few pictures of Matt getting measured and trying on some samples. He is so cute!

Monday, I got up super early and went to my parents' house. My mom and I worked all day on the invitations. Most invitations have already been sent out but there are few addresses and stragglers that are still waiting to be mailed. Overall, they turned out really well.

Tuesday, my mom, dad and I went to Hobby Lobby to shop for odds and ends and then we headed to the Civic Center to discuss the room placement with our contact, Donna. We were all concerned that we are not going to have enough room for all of the people that we have invited. When we arrived, Donna had already been working on some seating arrangement ideas. I was not impressed with her arrangement at first but then it started to grow on me and now I am really excited about it. I like the different size and shape of the tables and the arrangement of the tables.

I know it may be hard to see but there are rectangular tables that will seat 12. There are small circular tables that will seat 4 and large circular tables that will seat 8. The dance floor is almost in the center of the room and the risers are on the far right of the room. The bridal party will walk down the aisle and Matt and I will get married on the risers. The bridal party's table is on the risers also. The buffet tables are on the far left of the room. We still need to switch some things around and add a couple of tables for various things.

Deb, Matt's mom, had a great idea for wedding favors. She is going to do kettle corn with orange and purple M&Ms. I thought they would look super cute on the tables with the bubbles so everyone can take a bag of kettle corn and bubbles on their way out!

After we left the Civic Center, we visited with Matt at the bank and discussed a few more details. Mom, Dad and I decided to take a trip to Sam's Club after leaving the bank. We picked up plates, rice, and taco seasoning at Sam's. We are still on the lookout for the drink dispensers. Apparently, they are a hot item and are on back order. If you see any inexpensive drink dispensers somewhere, let me know!

Wednesday, my parents and I headed out yet again. We picked up Matt's wedding band. He hasn't seen it yet. :) I debated on whether or not to tell him that I had it in my possession but I, apparently, can't keep a secret. It is an 8mm, tungsten, two-toned ring. It is brushed in the middle and shiny on the outside. Here is a fuzzy picture of it!

After picking up his ring, we shopped for other things and picked up the napkins, forks, spoons, knives, more ribbon and the sand for the ceremony! (We have decided to do a salt/sand ceremony instead of a unity candle.)

I have been debating on whether or not to have the table set when the guests enter the room or just have the plates and what-not at the start of the buffet line and how each would look. I think I have finally decided to set the tables so it looks super fancy and then put the program on top of the plate. Here are a couple of examples!

I visualized a purple program but we were having trouble finding ink that would be legible. After setting the table, I no longer like the purple program with the purple napkin, which must be good since we can't find ink that will work!

This is the light orange program which I like just fine.

This is the dark orange program that I like the best.

Here are the books all wrapped up with ribbon. I think I like this arrangement the very best. However, we are still working on it.

More books. If y'all have any ideas, let me know!

Today, we set out again to shop. There are little odds and ends that take up a lot of time when you have to go store to store. My Grandma Brown sent Matt and me money for our cake topper and today we bought the perfect one! (Thanks Grandma!) It is from the Willow Tree collection.

Together

For those who have found their true partner in love and life.

So far, things are moving pretty well. It is way more work than I thought it would be but I am loving every minute of it! We still have a lot to do but I have a long checklist that already has a lot marked off! I can't wait for August 1st to get here!

Centerpieces (Part Two)

Thanks to my very good friend, Ashley, we have now decided that our centerpieces will be books! She gave me a great website and told me about how she had seen books used as centerpieces in weddings! So last weekend, my mom and I went to half price books and cleaned them out of some awesome hardback books. We have titles such as; Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus, Forevermore, From this Day Forward, and The Good Marriage. We also found books about Iowa, Texas, golf, home improvement, science and football. It was very comical when I would pick up a book with the title, The Darkest Evening of the Year, Prey, or Captured! Anyway, we hope to have around 6 books per table arranged in some elegant fashion with ribbon of some sort. (We are still working on the details!)

Matt's mom had a great idea for the wedding favors. We started talking about having a popcorn bar instead of a candy bar. The guests would be able to pick from various colors and flavors of popcorn as their party favor. We have now decided to go with prepackaged kettle corn. Deb and I think it would be a cute idea to have the kettle corned mixed in with the books in some way, however, I think we will have to actually get a table, books and kettle corn to see how to put it all together.

Any ideas are welcome and greatly appreciated! Less than two months to go!

PS-I can't figure out how to underline the titles of the books so I italicized them!