I know it's been FOREVER since I posted last, but I had to address all of those darn invitations! At first it felt like a little gift of time spent thinking of each of my guests, but that quickly wore off and I mostly felt bored and overwhelmed. Oh, well, they're out and all is good!

I've been checking tons of things off my list lately, but as a lot of them are gifts, I won't share them here. My computer broke down, so that was a BIG deterrent to posting, though that doesn't account for all of it. Anyway, let me show you what I've been working on lately.

I got my first opportunity to create custom wedding invitation designs for a childhood friend of mine who's getting married next year. Here's what I've come up with so far:

My other creation since my computer's return is also a work in progress:

I know, ANOTHER Herky! But, in my defense, I lost everything when my computer crashed, so I had to completely redraw him. I know he's supposed to point the other way, but I had to reverse him to make the words look pretty. I'm still hoping to learn how to distress him; that's currently beyond my adobe skill level.

I've Had Better Ideas...

I've been working on addressing my invitations, and it's a pain in the butt. Still, I like thinking that I spent at least 10 minutes working on each of the invitations that I send out. I spend the time creating each letter and worrying over how they look. I spend my free time doing something, however small, for all of the people who have supported Jake and me and helped to shape the people we are, for which I am thankful. It's worth it to do this small thing for all of my guests, and I hope they enjoy it! I'm definitely getting back into the swing of calligraphy. I was a little shaky at first, but each invite looks better than the last. I finally finished 20! Only 136 to go! :-)

Ok, I'm back already. I just kept thinking how hard it is to see what's in the image of those sweatshirts, and I wanted to post a closer view. So, here they are:

Still at It! Invites and Apparel Design

Hi, all! I'm so sorry I've been remiss in my posting. Planning has continued, we've checked some items off of our ever-expanding to-do list, and now I'll tell you about a few things!

First of all, I finally got my invitations printed! I'm not going to lie, I'm incredibly proud of the way my design came out. I'd brag a little, but I'll just show you the pictures and let you make up your own mind! Sorry about the glare on the pictures, the invites are surprisingly shiny!

These are all the pieces. The smaller ones are two-sided: the black on the front and the brown on the back.   Taking this picture with the flash off, believe it or not, provided the most visible results.

Here is what the invites look like all assembled. I'm enamored with the envelopes Mom and I picked out! Now, if only they'd address themselves.... I MAY have bitten off more than I can chew deciding to calligraphy all of them myself.

Now that you've seen the invites, let me show you the less concrete things I've been working on tonight! I'm designing the apparel for the wedding party to wear on the day-of while getting ready. I tried to coordinate them somewhat with the invites. Here's what I've got so far:

I sort of feel like, at this point, everyone else's is cooler than mine! Well, we can't have that. I'm the BRIDE, for goodness' sake! I'm thinking I may have to make the diamond part of the ring entirely out of bling. Now THAT would be fabulous! These are a little difficult to see, so I may upload close-up pics of each shirt later. Anyway, hope you like them!

Another Quilt Retreat, and Presto! Guestbook

     Last month Mom, RaeAnn, and I went to another Quilter's Cupboard weekend retreat at the Ankeny Legion. We worked hard, finished a ton of projects, and ate way too much junk food (at least, in my case). The best part? I finished three quilt fronts, one for my guestbook, and two for friends who will be getting married this year. Here are some pictures of what we finished:

As we started packing up, we laid out all of the projects we'd finished during the retreat, and it made quite a spread! The three jelly-roll quilt fronts are my contributions.

Here's what the guestbook quilt looked like to begin with:

And here's what it looks like now:

I've still got a lot of work to do before it's ready: it needs a border, and I'm going to applique some bunting onto the front. I love the combination of light colored patterns; I was a little worried some of them wouldn't go together, but I love it!

Thanks to My Amazing Bridesmaids!

     My bridesmaids have all gotten fitted for and paid for their dresses! They're ordered, and they will be here in a matter of WEEKS! I seriously can't wait (if you remember, we needed to order 5 dresses to get a big discount, so I got a gold and ivory version to wear for the rehearsal dinner)! I know that I told you I wouldn't show a picture of them, but as I've shown you everything else, it seemed silly to hold back this little detail. Here's a picture of Breanna wearing the dress:

I love the dress because I get sort of a Jackie-O vibe from it: it's classy and has a classic style about it, but it's also different from any bridesmaid dress I've seen before. Ours will have purple underneath the black lace. We haven't made an executive decision about the belt yet: it comes with black, but we may switch it to purple. Each bridesmaid will also wear a vintage brooch on the belt. My rehearsal dinner dress has ivory lace over gold satin.

Here's a picture of Bre and I together (that's my ACTUAL dress!):

There was some worry that the two wouldn't complement each other, but I think we look great together!

     I'm getting pretty psyched, but planning is winding down now that we've gotten so much done. To be honest, that's a little sad! Now we mostly have the execution to go, as well as some things I can't post online (bridesmaids' gifts, etc.). Don't be surprised if my entries continue to be few and far between.

Tuxes: CHECK!

     I realize that tuxes aren't the most exciting detail in a wedding. Nevertheless, it feels pretty good to have gotten this done. Not only did we find the best price at the store in Ankeny (Skeffington's Formal Wear), but the price we got was better than we could've hoped! If you're planning a wedding now, they extended a $40 off tux price promotion into February. We got the most basic of the basic: a black one-button tux. With a $5 upgrade to get non-pleated shirts, each tux will cost under $84: shoes, vest, and tie included. That said, I was pretty sure I didn't want a vest and tie, but they explained it would be cheaper to order them. Here's what we chose:

I still intend to not use this vest and tie, but to have the men go vest-less and wear ties I either make or buy. Still, it's good to have a backup! Here are some examples from a cool etsy store (Projector: Tie the Knot) that are close to what I'm thinking:

      I'm thinking either black with a gold image, gold with a black image, or purple with a gold image. I'm trying to design something that would both be masculine and go with the wedding. I'll let you know when I come up with something good!

Paid a Visit to the Linen Fairy

In our never-ending quest to nail down all of the details for this wedding, Mom and I explored a new topic this week: linens. Exciting, no? We have made some preliminary, not-set-in-stone decisions, and they are as follows:

Order ivory tablecloths from Puttin' on the Ritz in Des Moines.

These are all the crazy colors they have. Ivory not pictured.

Order coordinating chair covers for the head table. The chair covers they have are really cool; they don't cover the seat, just the back, and cost only $1 per chair. Of course, that adds up!

White chair cover. The ivory one's on the table.

I think they look a lot better with the sash on them. We'll probably use ribbon.

Create napkins: buy vintage floral bedsheets and cut them to napkin size using pinking shears (no-sew). Ordering colored ones is our backup plan. Here's what they might look like:

I'm almost scared to say it, but I think THIS is my stationary suite!

Of course each piece will require further tweaking and perfecting, but, design-wise, I think this might be it! All of it will be printed on brown paper (the same as the save-the-dates), so where the background's brown, know that's not the exact shade. I'm still thinking about switching the map to a black background, but the RSVP backside has to be something people can write on. So, without further ado, here they are:

We're still trying to figure out size, and I want to create icons for the church and hotel that are a little more fun than boxes. For right now, though, I'm pretty satisfied!

I know, more invites!

     If you've been paying attention at all, you'll know that I've been pretty indecisive about the design for my wedding invitations. I'm having trouble deciding how formal to get, what colors to use, what fonts work the best. I come up with a design and feel pretty good about it one day, then completely change my mind the next. Mom and I have set me the deadline of March 1st to finish my design and send it for printing. In that vein, here are some more invite designs:

If you're finding my abrupt switch from brown to black odd, it's a result of our choice of bridesmaids' dresses, which have an element of black to them. Let me know what you think!

It's all in the little things.

     Craft-a-thon was a major success! It think the fun of a wedding is all in the little personal details. I promised you a wedding that had both handmade and vintage flavors, but it's nice to know that all of the "handmade" parts don't have to come from me. (Well, me and my mom, anyway). I spent probably six+ hours taking paper punches to the top of those cookie take-home bags, but with help from friends they were printed in maybe 2 hours. We started working at 6, and with a host of 14 friends and family members, this is what we accomplished:

We created 250 picks for each guest's slice of wedding cake:

We printed designs on 300 cookie bags (though we probably lost 10-20 to printer paper jams. That bag printing thing isn't as effortless as pinterest makes it seem):

We created 100 colorful ribbon dancers:

We colored in and painted the scratch-off date on 250 save-the-dates:

We had some really cute pictures of our teenaged helpers, too, but I'm pretty sure it's not cool to post pictures of the under-aged on unprotected websites without their parents' consent. Sorry, girls!

     It's amazing to have so many people willing to show up and do this kind of work. Yeah, we're all crafty people, but we're also all extremely busy. Thanks so much for taking a night out of your holiday vacations to help me out! It means so much!

     We've got awhile before another craft-a-thon will be necessary. On the agenda next time? Invitation stuffing and program making, along with the creation of another 150 ribbon dancers (though my sister may have connections that will get us an extra 100 left over from her friend's wedding, which would be awesome). Until then, my major work lies in finally nailing down the invitation design. I'm liking the one I'm currently working on, but we'll see how long it takes me to fall out of love with it!