DIY Escort Cards, the Bane of my Existance

I knew my DIY projects were going way to smoothly. I was bound to mess something up. Fortunately, I think I was able to cover my mistake.

The escort cards were supposed to be tented, which means that they were supposed to fold in half and be able to stand up. Unfortunately, I put them through my printer upside down, twice. Which effectively destroyed the back of my tent cards. Third times a charm, I guess. Then, after cutting out all of my escort cards, I realized that I forgot to make them for an entire table. Escort cards are clearly the death of me.

Significantly more time than I was planning on spending later, I had all my escort cards printed and cut. I opted to cut off the back flaps off, because there was really no way to salvage them. This effectively converted my tented escort cards into escort tags. From this point, my project went as planned. I used my hole punch to make holes in the upper left corner of each escort tag. Then I attached each tag to a starfish with some curling ribbon. Overall, I think they came out okay, despite my previous difficulties, and my guests will each have an artificial starfish to take home.

Following up on RSVP's

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I should begin by stating that my graphic is intended to be light-hearted. I understand that schedules can be busy, and that not everyone thinks about me and Tom's wedding on a day-to-day basis. I can accept that. At the same time, I do understand why RSVPs are the top of every bride's list of frustrations. Tom and I could not have made responding to our invitations any easier, we included a self-addressed stamped envelope, printed the names on the RSVP card, and, just in case that proved to be an inconvenience, we have a place to RSVP online with our website. Regardless, our RSVP has come and gone, and we are still in the process of tracking down everyone on our guestlist. 

The number of acceptances has been on the low side, which we were expecting. All of our guests are travelling from out-of-state. While we aren't going to have the large reception we originally planned, we are able to add a bunch of upgrades that we thought were out of reach. For example, our now-smaller wedding cake will be filled with lemon curd, instead of the originally planned almond buttercream. We are also looking at upgrading the bridesmaid's bouquets.

VIP Responses

During the first week of July, Tom and I mailed out VIP invitations to the governors of Maine and Missouri, as well as the President. The governor of Maine mailed us back the RSVP card with "Declines" checked. That is more than I can say for the governor of Missouri, but it would have been nice to get a letter or something. In comparison to the governors, the President outdid himself.

A signed (okay, stamped) letter of congratulations from the President and Mrs. Michelle Obama. We are going to display our letter on the guestbook table at the reception. After that? It will be a nice little momento for the wedding album.

My Newest Obsession, err Hobby, and VIP Invitations

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Tom and I mailed out our invitations last Tuesday, July 12. Since then, RSVPs have started to slowly trickle in. Now, don't get me wrong, I've always had the child-like love with getting mail. It's fun to get Christmas cards, and birthday cards, and just because stuff. Since the invitations went out, the mail has gone from a "yay I got something!" moment to an all out obsession. My mom feels the need to remind me that our guests have a full month to RSVP and that I need to be patient. She is probably right, but patience has never been my forte. Mail the RSVPs back people! I stamped the envelope and everything! I kid, or do I?

In other news, Tom and I had a few extra invitations, so we decided to mail out some VIP invitations. Who exactly are these very important people? Well, aside from our friends and family, we also sent out invitations to the President, Pope, as well as the governors of Maine and Missouri. This is an idea that I took off of various wedding blogs. Apparently the president will mail out a congratulations letter. I'm not sure about the other three. We shall see.

Did you mail out any VIP invitations? Did you get anything back?

Our DIY Invitations

Tom and I mailed out our invitations on Tuesday. By now, it is safe to make the assumption that the invitations have been received by our guests. Without further ado, here are our invitations.

Starting with the envelopes. We wanted the look of calligraphy, but Tom and I both have "doctor's handwriting" and a calligrapher was not in the budget. We opted to print directly on the envelopes instead using a calligraphy font. The end result was gorgeous, and thanks to our awesome printer (Canon Pixma) it took no time at all! We printed our return address on the back flap.

The RSVP card is placed inside the flap of it's envelope and tucked in front of the inserts so guests can easily find it

Under the RSVP, the inserts are neatly stacked.

A close up of the invitation. I love how the black and white picture came out looking like a silhouette.

Our inserts, with seashells and starfish in the background

Invitations are Out!

Tom and I mailed out our invitations today, which means I will be eagerly anticipating the mail for the next month!

Progress is also being made on the DIY front, I finished sixteen more ribbon wands this morning, so I think those are now done. I need to do a final count tonight. I confirmed our ceremony music, which means I was able to finalize our programs. Our wedding arch is assembled, I just need to stitch some things in place. Pictures to come!

DIY Belly Bands

In lieu of inner envelopes, I decided to use belly bands to hold our pocketfold invitations closed. As you can see from the picture to the left, the belly band adds a really nice finishing touch. This is one (of several) areas where the final product differs from our mock-up in that the mock-up used a green ribbon and a star (not a starfish). I switched from green ribbon to ivory organza because I could not find the green in the width or price range that I wanted. The star used in the mock-up was one my mother had on hand, and I always had the intention of replacing it with a starfish stamp. Now that I've completed 80 belly bands I can report that they are easy to make, but it quickly becomes repetitive. I did mine in groups of 20, which was about all that I could stand in one sitting.

The first thing I did was make the starfish squares. This is where many people put their monogram, but I was trying to avoid using the monogram until after the wedding. I use the term "was" because Tom and I purchased a wax sealer for our envelopes, but I digress. Anyways, I cut 80  1.5"x1.5" squares out of ivory cardstock. I used scraps from all of my invitation inserts. I used a paper cutter to do this, but scissors and a ruler will get the job done. Once all my ivory squares were cut, I stamped them with starfish in purple ink. Then I let the ivory squares dry while I cut the green squares, which are 2"x2".


Then I simply used glue stick (the same kind you use for scrapbooking) to attach the ivory square to the green square.

Once all the squares are assembled and the glue is dry, you are ready to make belly bands.

You will need:

• Ribbon  (I used 1" wide organza ribbon)
• Squares (assembled above)
• Scissors
• An assembled pocketfold invitation (with all inserts)
• Glue dots

1. Wrap your ribbon around your invitation. You want about an inch of overlap, you also want to wrap the invitation somewhat loosely so that guests will be able to easily slide the belly band off. Once you are able to figure out the length you need, cut the ribbon and use that length as a template to cut the rest of your ribbon. 
2. Take a piece of cut ribbon and wrap it around an invitation, secure in place with two glue dots. Note how my invitation remains slightly open after the ribbon is wrapped and secured, this is how you want yours to look. 
3. Attach the square over the glue dots used to secure the ribbon with two additional glue dots. 
4. Place the invitation square side down, and repeat for each additional invitation. I found that the weight of the invitations being stacked was enough to crease the ribbon at the sides and hold the invitations closed. Some people also like to stack all the invitations and put a weight on top for 24-hours. 

DIY Invitations- Work in Progress

On Thursday I got a package in the mail, it's contents are pictured to the left: 80 pocketfolds, 100 large and small envelopes, and a package of cream colored vellum. This can only mean one thing, invitation assembling is imminent.

This isn't the very beginning of the invitation project, I purchased ivory coverstock from a local office supply store back in February, and I have been slowly chipping away at printing and cutting inserts. With the exception of editing a couple RSVP cards and cutting out cards with our website information on it, I am happy to say the inserts are almost done.

With any luck, in the next couple of weeks I should have a pile of completed wedding invitations.

Starfish, the Not-Dead Kind

My apparent love affair with starfish started shortly after Tom and I chose our ceremony venue. We decided to go with a nautical theme, and for what ever reason, the starfish became a design element. Thus far, the starfish has primarily made an appearance in graphic form. For example, we have starfish on the belly band of our invitations, starfish are the back drop of our wedding day stationary, and foil starfish make an appearance on our personalized matchbooks.

You'll notice I didn't mention starfish in our decor. This is where I ran into trouble. I love the look of starfish, I don't love the smell of dried starfish. I also did not like the principle of decorating our reception with dead sea creatures. The reality of the dried starfish that people pick up at craft stores is this, live starfish are either farm raised or wild caught, and then kiln dried flat. That's not a very nice thing to do in my opinion. There are also horror stories online about guests contracting food poisoning and other illnesses from handling improperly cleaned starfish and seashells prior to eating dinner. All things considered, I quickly nixed any decor ideas that I had that involved starfish.

Then I went shopping, and I found these:

All the natural beauty of a starfish without the guilt of killing innocent sea creatures. These are artificial starfish made of acrylic. I'm in love. 

Made in China! Not real! 

The larger "white pencil" starfish are about six inches across, the smaller starfish are about three inches across. I bought 18 of the larger ones first (three packages of six), and I was so impressed with the quality that I went back and bought 60 of the smaller ones. The larger ones will be used through out the reception decor, possibly on the tables, on the cake, where ever. I have another plan for the smaller starfish...

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Escort cards! I purchased ivory "print-your-own" escort cards that I will print with guest's names and table numbers, then I'll pop a hole in each one and attach it to a starfish with a purple ribbon.

My starfish love is becoming a cohesive theme! I love it when things work out.

Are you using starfish in your wedding decor? Are you using real or artificial?

Inventing our Own Save-the-Date Etiquette

Tom and I reached a bit of a milestone with our wedding planning on Friday by sending out the save-the-dates, and so far we have gotten a bit of mixed reviews. My future mother-in-law likes the magnet, but keeps telling us that she has never heard of save-the-dates before. Several of our friends have thanked us for the invitation, and others have complimented us for the magnets and "being on top of things" by setting up hotel blocks. I am amused by the mixed reviews, and I would be lying if I said that I did not expect them. Save-the-dates are a new trend. I remember the first time I saw one, I was at a friend's apartment and she had two of them stuck to her refrigerator. I thought to myself, "what a good idea!" and filed it somewhere in my brain. When Tom and I first got engaged, it was the save-the-date magnets that I first started looking at before anything else. When our wedding moved from Missouri to Maine, which subsequently meant that the majority of our guest list would now be coming from out of state, save-the-dates went from being something fun to something necessary. 

In terms of wedding stationary, save-the-dates are definitely the new kid and they are still largely viewed as optional. Due to their novelty, there is very little established etiquette. Save-the-dates did not exist when Emily Post literally wrote the book on wedding stationary etiquette. That being said, Tom and I looked at the "rules" for wedding invitations, and "re-invented" them for our save-the-dates.

Etiquette Rules we Maintained:

• Save-the-dates were only sent to people that would later receive an invitation to the wedding
• We addressed the envelopes with formal titles (Mr., Mrs., Miss)
• We provided hotel information on the save-the-date card as well as on the wedding website. This permits guests that do not use the internet access to the hotel information.

Save-the-Date Rules that we Invented:

• We sent one save-the-date to each household, regardless if adult children lived their or not. Most households consist of one kitchen with one refrigerator. Our save-the-dates are magnets, it did not make sense to us to send multiple magnets to one household. Adult children will each receive an invitation in July. 
• We did not include guests on the envelope. We included the names of people we actually know. For example, if my cousin Beth is dating John, the envelope was addressed to Beth only. The wedding is still 8 months away, things could change between Beth and John, and we want to avoid awkward situations.
• We printed the addresses on then envelopes. The "correct" way is to write each address out by hand, but Tom and I both have horrendous handwriting. I opted to download a font that looks like handwriting. The end result was very nice looking, and legible.

So far, no complaints. We shall see if the proverbial "etiquette police" come after us. 

And they are off!

After numerous hours of cutting, pasting, collecting addresses, and licking envelopes; our save-the-date magnets are in the mail. I fell as though we have reached a milestone in our wedding planning. When we first starting seriously planning in August, the wedding was "ours." Back in December, we brought our wedding party on board by sending out the wedding party newsletter. Now we have added our guests to the mix.

I should mention that we sent our save-the-dates out in two batches. The first batch of about 40 went out at the beginning of the month. Back when I ordered the magnets in October, our guest list was still on the smallish side and was far from being finalized. I ended up about 30 magnets short, so we decided to first send save-the-dates out to the people that would be traveling the farthest so that they could have first pick of our hotel blocks. I made my re-order for the additional 30 magnets at the same time with the plan to send out a second round as soon as they came in. Last night we mailed out the save-the-dates to the more "local" people on our guest list, which we defined as people that would not require a flight to get here. Lesson learned the hard way. To all future brides, I know that you are excited to start planning your weddings. Take a step back, and finalize your guest list and budget before booking/ordering anything. It is so much easier than having to re-do things later.

Did you send out save-the-dates for your wedding?

Vistaprint love

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I got an e-mail from Vistaprint a couple weeks ago that stated that items in my design portfolio would be expiring soon and that I needed to order them or they would be deleted. Not wanting to lose out on the Welcome Brochures that I spent the better part of an evening designing, I immediately dug through my e-mails and the coupons in my wedding planner to see what I could find. I like to think of myself as a good shopper, but this time, even I think I out did myself.

First things first, I ordered my brochures for out-of-town guests. I will probably post more about these when they come in, but basically they contain a welcome message from me and Tom, as well as useful information about the area. I got 25 of them for free with a coupon with a $2.50 photo upload fee.

As a general rule when ordering stuff from the internet or a catalog, you want to order as much as you can each time, because it's substantially cheaper to ship one big box instead of three or four little ones. So I looked into what else I could add.

I made postcards to put in my out-of-town bags with directions to Fort Popham so that guests could have the directions close at hand while they are driving. With a coupon, I got 100 for free. Then I made another personalized pen for the guest book. I'm hoping to order a free pen with each Vistaprint order so that I have a bunch. I also ordered a personalized tote bag that says "The Future Mrs. *insert new last name here*" with our wedding date, of course, that was free too.

Finally, I made invitations for my bridesmaid's tea (more on this later), and got ten of those for free too. So, for anyone keeping count, I got everything for $2.50 plus $9.00 shipping. That's $11.50 total. I couldn't make this stuff for that price.

Just in case that wasn't enough, I also ordered a wedding sample pack so that I can have physical samples of all their wedding products. I can't wait until my orders come in, I love getting packages of wedding stuff in the mail!

DIY Save-the-Date cards... done!

I am happy to announce that the first round of wedding stationary is complete. I made 50 cards to hold my save-the-date magnets. They are only slightly different from my original design. The front is exactly the same, in place of the little poem on the inside, I provided guests with hotel and rental car information. I decided to give this information to guests in written form just in case some one is not able to look at the wedding website. It also gives me a chance to emphasize the fact that only a limited number of hotel rooms are available due to the popularity of our wedding date.

I used three different shades of purple cardstock for my cards. My original intention was to purchase identical shades of cardstock, only when I went to the craft store, I discovered that the cardstock that was sold by sheet was almost a dollar a piece. It was also different on the front and back. My mom found a package of varying shades of purple cardstock for $2.50. All the purples coordinate, and I still have quite a bit of cardstock left over. Besides, I have a variety of purples in the wedding, so I'm quite happy with my choice. I also think they look really nice all grouped together.

The biggest challenge I had was figuring out how to attach the magnets to the cards. I wanted to attach the magnet so that it didn't fall on the ground when guests open the cards, but I wanted to make it obvious that the magnet is supposed to come off the card. The solution was surprisingly simple, I found some removable adhesive squares at the craft store and attached each magnet with one square.

All that is left to do now is to put the cards in envelopes to be mailed out in January. I want to wait until after the holidays to minimize the risk of people accidentally throwing the cards away. Logically speaking, with all the excitement of the holidays, the last thing on most people's minds will be making travel arrangements for next September.

Invitation Mock-Up

I wanted to start by apologizing for not posting in about a week, the stress of the wedding, specifically the stress of not having money to make necessary deposits on the wedding is really starting to get to me, so I spent the last week by focusing on job hunting. I had a job interview today, and it went really well. I am keeping my fingers crossed, and I am supposed to hear back on Monday.

Anyways, the last time I posted, I discussed my invitation inspiration, and commented about how I ordered samples from Paper and More so that I could start working on an invitation mock-up. Fast forward to yesterday afternoon, I checked the mail and a small package had arrived with my name on it. This is what was inside...

I ordered two different thicknesses of cream vellum, a cream linen pocket fold, a purple solid pocket fold, a sand solid envelope, a cream linen envelope, a sand solid 4-bar envelope, two sheets of cream card stock, one sheet of purple card stock, one sheet of cream linen card stock, and one sheet of light green card stock. I pulled out my paper cutter and started to play.

The first thing I did was trim the card stock for my base. Paper and More gives excellent directions on their website. Basically, the base panel measures 5"x7" and they recommend using a 4.5"x6.5" base to achieve a layered look. After playing around with different base panels and pocket folds, and seeking the advise of my mother and Tom, we collectively decided that the best combination was the purple pocket fold with a cream base panel. The purple base on the cream pocket fold did not look right under the vellum. The next step was to add the picture. I printed 4"x6" pictures off of my computer, I used my favorite engagement picture. I printed both color and black and white, but ultimately decided to go with black and white because it looked better under the vellum. I glued the picture to my base panel, lining up the bottom edge (to leave room on top for a bow). Then I cut my vellum. I tried two thicknesses of vellum, both of which went through my inkjet printer easily. The thicker one did smudge a bit, but not enough for me to be concerned, and I did not have my printer on "high quality" printing at the time. I created a template for the vellum such that the verse would be centered when cut out. This template is available on my template page to the right.  Once I had my vellum cut, I carefully punched two holes through the base panel and the vellum, and tied a bow with green ribbon to hold everything together. Then I glued my completed base to the blank panel of the pocket fold. For my mock-up I used a simple glue stick; however, for the actual invites I intend to get a more durable adhesive.

With the base done, it was time to move on to the inserts. I created four inserts for my invitations, a reception card, directions card, accommodations card, and an RSVP card with a coordinating envelope. This was really more a matter of playing around with Open Office in order to develop a template. I played with the margins, such that each insert card was 6" high (per recommendations by Paper and More) and varied in width by 1/2" to create a layered effect. My RSVP card is narrower such that it would fit neatly inside a 4-bar envelope. 

The final step was to create a belly band. This is truly in draft form, but at least I have an idea of how I want it to look. I started with some extra green ribbon that I had from another craft project cut long enough to wrap around the closed pocket fold. I then added a scrap of cream card stock stamped with a star matted on a scrap of the green card stock. For the actual invitations, I plan on using a slightly narrower green gauzy ribbon without stripes in it, I also plan on using a more silvery green for the matting color, and a starfish instead of a star. Like I said, it's a draft, but it gives me an idea. 

Once all that was done, I chose an envelope. I ordered both the cream linen and sand solid because I was concerned that the sand color would not match up with the cream card stock. It matches perfectly. So, I am going to use the sand solid envelope because it is more cost effective than the linen paper, and to be honest, people throw the envelop away anyway. Overall, I am beyond excited with my invitations. If you compare the completed mock-up with my inspiration below, I definitely created what I was trying to achieve. Now I just need volunteers to help me make about 50 of these things before June... 

Invitation Inspiration

Working on some wedding odds and ends today. I ordered a bunch of samples from Paper and More this morning, so in a week or so I get to start playing around with invitation mock-ups. I have two major inspirations for my invitations...

The image on the top is from Rexcraft. I love the idea of using one of our engagement pictures as part of the invitation with the wording written out on a vellum overlay. Below is a generic pocket fold that I found on google images. I love the idea of pocket folds, I like how everything looks so organized with all the inserts so cleanly placed in the pockets, I also love the belly band that goes around the finished product. My plan is to combine the two, to use the design on top as my base for my pocket fold invitation. The dilemma that I am running into is colors, which is why I ordered a bunch of samples.  

My options are: 

1. A cream linen pocketfold, with a purple base (under cream vellum). With cream linen insert cards and cream linen envelopes. The belly band would likely be a green ribbon with a purple square of cardstock behind a cream square that is stamped with either an "L" or a starfish.
   
2. A dark purple pocketfold, with a light green base (under cream vellum). With cream insert cards (not linen), and sand envelopes. The belly band would likely be green ribbon with a green square of cardstock behind a cream square that is stamped with either an "L" or a starfish.

With either color scheme, I'm using a black and white picture.

The dilemmas that I am running into are 1.) I'm concerned about the shade of purple. One of the major jobs of a wedding invitation is to present the wedding colors. I was only able to order a dark shade of purple, and our wedding color is more of a silvery purple. 2.) If I do a cream pocketfold with cream insert cards it will be too much cream, but if I do the inserts on a different color they may not be easy to read. 

So, we shall see how things go. Has anyone else run into dilemmas when designing their invitations?

DIY Save-the-Date cards

Last week I was all excited because my save-the-date magnets arrived from VistaPrint. My magnets are the same size as postcards, so I was trying to figure out a clever way to send them. I mean, I didn't want to just stick a magnet into an envelope and call it good, or, even worse, to "put a stamp on it and see what happens" as my mother suggested. I decided to make little cards to put my magnets in. My mom does rubber stamping, and the first thing I thought when I saw my magnets is that they are about the same size as a handmade card. That is when I started to get creative.

The project is really simple, for each card I simply cut a 8 1/2" by 11" sheet of card stock in half so that I have two sheets that measure 8 1/2" by 5 1/2". I folded each new sheet in half to create a card. For the front of my card, I made a little saying in our wedding colors using the same technique I used to create my monogram. In case you can't read the image, it reads "It may have started out as a friendship, but somewhere along the way, Jenny and Tom fell in Love." For the inside of the card, on the side directly opposite the front of the card I printed a little poem "The day is fast approaching, And we can hardly wait. We want you to be with us, So be sure to Save-the-Date." I printed the wording for the front and inside of my card on standard white printer paper, cut each down to size, and glued it to the card stock with a glue stick. Finally, I placed my magnet inside the card, it fits perfectly, as though the magnet was designed for the card, not the other way around. I am considering putting a piece of some sort tape under the magnet to hold it in place on the card, but I haven't decided yet. Now I get to make another thirty or so of these things before I mail them out in January.

DIY Monograms, using Open Office

A couple of months ago I created a black and white monogram on Microsoft Paint and used it for my aisle runner and unity candle. The monogram did it's job, but it really wasn't the prettiest, and, I'll be honest, I was starting to get a bit jealous of monograms that I have seen online from other brides that were in color. Sadly, I thought a color monogram or one with fancy overlapping letters wasn't in my future, because everyone else that had that type of monogram reported that they made it with Microsoft Publisher. I love Microsoft Office, I have nothing against them, and I have sworn by Word and PowerPoint for years. The only problem is, my new laptop doesn't have Microsoft Office, and I can't justify spending several hundred dollars on a software suite when I have a wedding to pay for.

Enter today. I was checking my message boards, as I usually do, and someone posted a tutorial on how to make a monogram using PowerPoint. Now I can get somewhere. For anyone that doesn't know, Open Office is a free software suite that includes a word processing program, presentation software, spread sheets, and other stuff that I haven't even had a chance to explore yet. It's the program that I have been using for my invitation and stationary templates, and now I figured out how to use it for monograms too! Happy day.

What you need:

• Open Office 

What you do:

1. Once you have downloaded open office, open up "Open Office.org Impress" this is the presentation software.
2. Create a plain slide with no background or template.
3. Use the draw feature (bottom tool bar) to create a text box, enter your letter here. Now you can use the text features to change the font, size, and color of your letter.
4. Repeat two more times with each letter of your monogram, the order should be your first initial, his last initial, and his first initial. Traditionally, the middle initial is the largest.
5. If you select a letter (with the arrow from the draw tool bar) and right click on it, one of the options is to "arrange." I did this on my middle initial and moved it to the back, this way my first and last letters can easily overlap.
6. Now for the tricky part, press the "PrtSc" button on your keyboard (print screen), and open up Microsoft Paint.
7. Click the "paste" button in Paint, you should now have a screenshot of your monogram.
8. Use the select feature in Paint to crop your monogram.
9. Save your monogram as a .jpg file. Voila, monogram!

It sounds like a lot of steps, but it really is easy, and addicting. I made four of them in about an hour. I have no idea where I am going to use them all, but I am sure with my ever increasing mountain of stationary I will find uses for everything. 

Save-the-Dates are here!!!

My save-the-date magnets finally arrived, and once again I have to say that I'm in love with Vistaprint!!! The are sooo much bigger than I expected. I was expecting a magnet the size of a business card, instead I got twice that! I put one on my mother's fridge, the rest will wait until January when I send them out. I think I'm going to put them inside handmade cards, I just have to figure out how to decorate them. I also got my photo sharing cards and my guest book pen, now I'm looking forwards to my next package, my photo guest book from Shutterfly, which should be arriving in about a week.

Short and Sweet Post

Short and sweet post for today. I'm in the process of job hunting and a couple of openings have popped up around the state in the last couple of days, so I'm spending today running around to get resumes out. On the wedding front, I ordered my photo guest book today from Shutterfly and should be getting it in a couple of weeks. I'm excited. I also bought a color ink jet, so I can start working on stationary mock-ups for my invitations. So more is coming. That's all for now, gotta run!

Reception halls, financing, and everyday stress

I haven't posted in a couple of days, so I figured that it was time for an update. I have been working on wedding stuff, I make it a goal to do something each day, no matter how little it is, because I know that that I have less than a year to go, and that year is going to go by quickly. Last week I looked at a couple of reception halls, we also talked to a potential DJ for the wedding. I have found the perfect place for the reception, the only problem is paying for everything and getting deposits down. I hate pity parties, so I'll make it quick. When Tom and I moved to Maine, we were expecting things to be relatively seamless. We expected Tom to be able to maintain the amount of overtime that he was getting in Kansas City and I was expecting to be able to fall right into a job. Unfortunately, that is not exactly what happened, I'm still unemployed, and Tom is struggling to get overtime hours. Fortunately, my mom is perhaps the most generous person I have the pleasure of knowing. On the downside, on the list of priorities, wedding deposits are not at the top of the list. I'm stressing, I'm not going to lie about it. I just feel like every day that passes without a deposit increases the chance that I'm going to lose the people I took time to pick out. I know in my heart that everything will work out, maybe not exactly as planned, but regardless, I will marry Tom on 9.10.11. I just wish that things would improve on the job front for me. That is the end of my rant.

When I'm stressed, I tend to bury myself in projects to keep my mind off of what is stressing me out. So I have a couple of DIY projects in progress. First, a few weeks ago, Tom and I had the pleasure of having our engagement pictures taken while hurricane Earl was out to sea. The rough surf washed up tons of shells, and I brought home a couple dozen large clam shells. I figured that I would be able to do something with them. Well, that something finally came to mind, and I am now in the process of decorating them into unique table numbers. As always, I'll post pictures and directions once they are done. My other project was a thank you banner for the gift table, which I will post pictures and directions tomorrow. 

I have also discovered and fallen in love with Vista Print. A couple of posts ago, I typed up and posted pictures of my save-the-date magnets and photo sharing cards. Since then, Vista Print has sent me e-mails for free stuff! So, I have been taking my time creating custom brochures for welcome packets that I will be giving out-of-state guests. I also created post cards with directions from the hotel to the wedding venue, those are also free. Any one who is planning a wedding, or any type of social function for that matter, should really go check out Vista Print. I'm in love. 

On a personal note, Tom and I took today as a Jenny and Tom day. Tom works a busy schedule, and we are living in my mother's basement, so it has become all too easy for us to neglect each other as of late. Today, we made up for that by spending the entire day together. We watched football games (I'm starting to figure it out), played with our pets, played some old school mario on my mom's Nintendo, and went against the English on Age of Empires (what can I say, we are geeks). We went out for barbecue with my parents, and on the way home stopped at LL Bean for some window shopping. It was a quiet day, but quite possibly one of the most relaxing days I have had in a long time. Sometimes in the stress of life, we just need to take the time and cherish the things that make everything else worth it. In this case, each other.