RSVP came in today! So excited! Even though it was from my grandfather, who I absolutely, without a doubt, knew was coming. Plus, he ended up sending it in a new envelope, even though I sent an envelope with it... Mom's pretty sure he lost it.... but oh well... Let the everyday mailbox stalking.... BEGIN!
We also got an invite back because we put the wrong address on it, so we had to called FI's grandmother to get the new address and send it away again. FI also is set to go back to NY around Easter to see his family again. I wish I could go with him, but it's supposed to be the last time he goes up there a bachelor. Plus, I can't afford to. FBIL has already invited FI to go drinking when he's there, because FI's 21'st b-day will be a week or two before he leaves. We have big plans for that. More on that later.
81 Days to go.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Head, meet Mr. Desk
Ok, so the past few weeks have been pretty much a roller coaster. Yes, FI did get a job, but here's the deal:
At the moment, FI and I aren't really paying anything to live at home... which has been a god-send to have such awesome parents (believe me, no complaints). Well, on top of that, my mom has shelled out pretty much for 3/4 + for the wedding. (Again, awesome parents) Well, mom lost her job last week, and despite the rushing around looking for a new job, there isn't really anything. FI finally got a job to pay for the wedding, or so we thought... until we looked over the bill's situation. Needless to say, I really really REALLY hope this tax refund is enough. FI is going to give my dad his paychecks to pay the leftover bills, and either the tax refund, or *fingers crossed* Grandpa will lend us the money till we get back on our feet. It's not like I can turn back now anyway... the invites are sent and I can't just say "Hey everyone, just kidding... the wedding's now NEXT May."
In some good news, which kind of brightened my day, my brother called to ask about some wedding stuff (namely the night before)... it turns out that I already have a maybe! An old family friend said that she received her invite and if she can manage to stay at a family member's house (which is a "duh, of course you can" thing) she'll be able to fly down with her hubby! It made me so excited to hear that she was excited about receiving an invite... I was dancing around the room, squealing with happiness! The RSVP's should hopefully start coming in this week! Time to start mailbox stalking! Oh! And I got our unity candle done tonight! So pics of that going up soon.
84 days and counting.
At the moment, FI and I aren't really paying anything to live at home... which has been a god-send to have such awesome parents (believe me, no complaints). Well, on top of that, my mom has shelled out pretty much for 3/4 + for the wedding. (Again, awesome parents) Well, mom lost her job last week, and despite the rushing around looking for a new job, there isn't really anything. FI finally got a job to pay for the wedding, or so we thought... until we looked over the bill's situation. Needless to say, I really really REALLY hope this tax refund is enough. FI is going to give my dad his paychecks to pay the leftover bills, and either the tax refund, or *fingers crossed* Grandpa will lend us the money till we get back on our feet. It's not like I can turn back now anyway... the invites are sent and I can't just say "Hey everyone, just kidding... the wedding's now NEXT May."
In some good news, which kind of brightened my day, my brother called to ask about some wedding stuff (namely the night before)... it turns out that I already have a maybe! An old family friend said that she received her invite and if she can manage to stay at a family member's house (which is a "duh, of course you can" thing) she'll be able to fly down with her hubby! It made me so excited to hear that she was excited about receiving an invite... I was dancing around the room, squealing with happiness! The RSVP's should hopefully start coming in this week! Time to start mailbox stalking! Oh! And I got our unity candle done tonight! So pics of that going up soon.
84 days and counting.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Follow up on frustrations
Well, after finding out that I was $1300 in the hole for the wedding, I tried my hardest to find a job. I even tried Wal*Mart... only to find out that even THEY weren't hiring. At this point, I was signing up for survey's and mystery shopping. Well, yesterday, my dad came home from his bowling league and told my FI that he has a job starting Friday. It's just menial jobs at the alley, but it gets him some money and retail experience.
As far as school goes, I am really peeved about it. It turns out I could have taken a full load of classes this semester, but apparently the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. When I talked to everyone and their mother's in the beginning of the semester, I got 5 different answers, but they all pretty much said that I had to pay my tuition out of pocket because my aid wasn't coming in till after the payment deadline. I went into financial aid today to find out how I don't have to do that again in the fall, and the lady told me that I could have taken more classes and not had to pay a dime because everyone knew I had aid coming in. Super frustrating. So when I file FI and I's FAFSA's once we get married, things should be much easier in the fall.... we won't have any taxes to file because neither of us worked, we went to school. So maybe, just maybe we'll be able to finish our degree's on time.
As far as school goes, I am really peeved about it. It turns out I could have taken a full load of classes this semester, but apparently the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. When I talked to everyone and their mother's in the beginning of the semester, I got 5 different answers, but they all pretty much said that I had to pay my tuition out of pocket because my aid wasn't coming in till after the payment deadline. I went into financial aid today to find out how I don't have to do that again in the fall, and the lady told me that I could have taken more classes and not had to pay a dime because everyone knew I had aid coming in. Super frustrating. So when I file FI and I's FAFSA's once we get married, things should be much easier in the fall.... we won't have any taxes to file because neither of us worked, we went to school. So maybe, just maybe we'll be able to finish our degree's on time.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Happy Valentines day!
Today's post won't be very long (I promise). Today, I got a cute card and a BIG box of chocolates, while I made him his favorite dinner (T-bone steak, potato pie, and an asiago cheese roll, with cupcakes for dessert). Checks to cross off this week: Cake topper is done, decided on the final favors and candies for dessert, decided on attendant gifts, and I'll be sending out the invites tomorrow, and hopefully I'll be able to finish my rehearsal birdcage veil. Other than that, I'm really just pushing for a job, because I *need* one. I feel like I'm in a bit of a rut... I'm really not that excited right now. It's probably because I've looked over my budget and right now, I can't afford ANYTHING. My mom has been a huge help, paying for everything so far, but with the economy and her quitting her job, there is no buying any extra stuff.
Oh well, hopefully this week I'll be able to get SOMETHING.
Oh well, hopefully this week I'll be able to get SOMETHING.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Aisle Runner
For this project, I got the instructions from here, but I will post the instructions here too.
1. I first printed out my monogram (I did mine in publisher, then C&P'd in paint to make it a JPEG). I printed it out to be about 2 ft by 3 ft, but it was a bit too big, so make sure you measure and figure out how big you need your monogram to be.
2. After you have it printed out, tape it together (it will print out in several sheets), and tape it to your hard surface where you are working. Once you figure out where you want to have it on your runner, tape the area over the monogram. I put mine towards the front so the photographer could get pictures of it.
The monogram under the runner. It was a bit too big but I was able to pull it all together.
3. Use a mechanical pencil to trace the monogram. This part takes a lot of patience. You have to go over the same thing over a few times for you to see it
Tracing the monogram
4. After tracing the monogram, replace the monogram with wax paper. Regular paper will stick, so definitely use wax paper.
5. Start painting. I used an acrylic paint in purple, green, and silver. Start with the edges, and work your way inside, to avoid going outside your lines.
Finishing the painting.
6. Let it dry overnight so there is no chance of any of the paint chipping off.
Final Product
Cost:
Aisle runner: (Wal*Mart) $20
Paints: (Wal*Mart) 1.19/paint- $3.57
Paint brushes: I bought kids paint brushes at Wal*Mart for about $2.50
Total Price: $26.07
1. I first printed out my monogram (I did mine in publisher, then C&P'd in paint to make it a JPEG). I printed it out to be about 2 ft by 3 ft, but it was a bit too big, so make sure you measure and figure out how big you need your monogram to be.
2. After you have it printed out, tape it together (it will print out in several sheets), and tape it to your hard surface where you are working. Once you figure out where you want to have it on your runner, tape the area over the monogram. I put mine towards the front so the photographer could get pictures of it.
The monogram under the runner. It was a bit too big but I was able to pull it all together.
3. Use a mechanical pencil to trace the monogram. This part takes a lot of patience. You have to go over the same thing over a few times for you to see it
Tracing the monogram
4. After tracing the monogram, replace the monogram with wax paper. Regular paper will stick, so definitely use wax paper.
5. Start painting. I used an acrylic paint in purple, green, and silver. Start with the edges, and work your way inside, to avoid going outside your lines.
Finishing the painting.
6. Let it dry overnight so there is no chance of any of the paint chipping off.
Final Product
Cost:
Aisle runner: (Wal*Mart) $20
Paints: (Wal*Mart) 1.19/paint- $3.57
Paint brushes: I bought kids paint brushes at Wal*Mart for about $2.50
Total Price: $26.07
Favor trial
Sorry for the wait, but I had to wait until my dad was able to get the pics on my comp. First subject: Favors. I did a trial run of the lollipops so I know what I'm doing come time for the wedding. I'll include the recipe later in the blog.
My first attempt: burned the mixture and made the house smell like tar
second attempt: double boiler... never even came close to being up to temperature.
How the mixture should look after flavoring and color.
Recipe for lollipops:
3/4 cup cornstarch
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon flavoring
a few drops of coloring
candy thermometer
Boil cornstarch, water, and sugar. Continue boiling until mixture reaches about 280 degrees. At this point, take a glass of cool water and drop a bit of the mixture into it. If the mixture clumps and hardens into a ball, it's done, if not, keep heating. Stir in flavoring and color. Lay out your lollipop sticks, and drop a spoonful of the mixture onto the stick. Let harden completely.
The lollipops should look like the right side.... It was late and mom had let the mixture cool a bit before we dropped the mixture.
Make sure that you put some parchment or wax paper on your cookie sheet before you do anything... it will stick.
Also, don't try to cool off your mixture in a water bath, it will harden in about 5 seconds.
My first attempt: burned the mixture and made the house smell like tar
second attempt: double boiler... never even came close to being up to temperature.
How the mixture should look after flavoring and color.
Recipe for lollipops:
3/4 cup cornstarch
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon flavoring
a few drops of coloring
candy thermometer
Boil cornstarch, water, and sugar. Continue boiling until mixture reaches about 280 degrees. At this point, take a glass of cool water and drop a bit of the mixture into it. If the mixture clumps and hardens into a ball, it's done, if not, keep heating. Stir in flavoring and color. Lay out your lollipop sticks, and drop a spoonful of the mixture onto the stick. Let harden completely.
The lollipops should look like the right side.... It was late and mom had let the mixture cool a bit before we dropped the mixture.
Make sure that you put some parchment or wax paper on your cookie sheet before you do anything... it will stick.
Also, don't try to cool off your mixture in a water bath, it will harden in about 5 seconds.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Lengthly Update
So, after having my little day or so of freaking out about a cake and everything else, things have been set. We (or rather, I) decided to go with making my own cupcakes. The FI isn't entirely thrilled, but I even tried Publix and they were going to charge me $220-$300.... way outside our budget. I figured if I get the lollipops done before Bec gets here, and the bark; Lisa, Becka, Kelly and I can knock the chocolate covered oreos out in a day (maybe two), then I send Kelly back to her house with the red velvet mix and have her do it at her house, while Lisa, Becka, and I knock out the vanilla and chocolate. Then I can get the top tier that we save done, and still (hopefully) have a day to relax and get our nails done before the big day.
In other news, I did a trial run of the lollipops and oreos the other day.... I'll post pictures tomorrow morning, when I am able to get them into the computer. The lollipops were... fun, to say the least. My first attempt, I burned the candy mixture and made the house smell really bad... it looked like tar. The second attempt, my mom started it in the double boiler, but it wouldn't come up to temp, so she eventually just took off the top pot and finally got it to the right consistency. She then thought that the mixture needed to cool off so it didn't run everywhere, which is slightly true, but you don't put the whole pot into a water bath.... the whole mixture hardened before I even counted to ten... Luckily, we were still able to spoon it out into lollipops, but it was interesting to say the least.
The oreos were less messy but still a bit of a pain. Stupid me decided to melt the candy pellets in the "approved" plastic squirt bottles.... the red ended up scorching a bit, but I did eventually put the rest of the candy pellets into bowls and save the day... those will be a bit easier to make, but will take some time. Good thing I have my girls :) JK.
Oh! I almost forgot. I started the cake topper today. Mom just bought us a simple looking "K", and I painted it in a shiny silver, so I just have to get the rhinestones on Wednesday. That, the aisle runner, and my unity candle are my projects this week. Then my dad just has to make the cake stand for us, and a majority of the DIY stuff is done. After that it's just a few more RD invites, programs, and Thank you cards, as well as my girl's tote bags and jewelry. It still sounds like a lot, but I can get all this done in a day... maybe a day and a half.
Well, tomorrow, I'm picking up Lisa and she's getting her dress (it finally came in) so, progress is being made... sort of.
In other news, I did a trial run of the lollipops and oreos the other day.... I'll post pictures tomorrow morning, when I am able to get them into the computer. The lollipops were... fun, to say the least. My first attempt, I burned the candy mixture and made the house smell really bad... it looked like tar. The second attempt, my mom started it in the double boiler, but it wouldn't come up to temp, so she eventually just took off the top pot and finally got it to the right consistency. She then thought that the mixture needed to cool off so it didn't run everywhere, which is slightly true, but you don't put the whole pot into a water bath.... the whole mixture hardened before I even counted to ten... Luckily, we were still able to spoon it out into lollipops, but it was interesting to say the least.
The oreos were less messy but still a bit of a pain. Stupid me decided to melt the candy pellets in the "approved" plastic squirt bottles.... the red ended up scorching a bit, but I did eventually put the rest of the candy pellets into bowls and save the day... those will be a bit easier to make, but will take some time. Good thing I have my girls :) JK.
Oh! I almost forgot. I started the cake topper today. Mom just bought us a simple looking "K", and I painted it in a shiny silver, so I just have to get the rhinestones on Wednesday. That, the aisle runner, and my unity candle are my projects this week. Then my dad just has to make the cake stand for us, and a majority of the DIY stuff is done. After that it's just a few more RD invites, programs, and Thank you cards, as well as my girl's tote bags and jewelry. It still sounds like a lot, but I can get all this done in a day... maybe a day and a half.
Well, tomorrow, I'm picking up Lisa and she's getting her dress (it finally came in) so, progress is being made... sort of.
Friday, February 5, 2010
So, it all kind of comes to a halt
I was planning on getting the stuff for the aisle runner and the unity candle this weekend... yeah, this is what happens when you rely on outside sources for money. I was planning on using the left over money from my school loan (I know, I know, I should be using it for school stuff, but eh.) and paying for at least most of the rest of the wedding. However, I've been informed that I'm not eligible for any financial money this semester... crap. I had to go over the rest of the budget and cut out what wasn't absolutely necessary, and see where I could make more things DIY. Here is my DIY list for the rest of the wedding:
Aisle runner: roughly $27 ($17 for the runner, about $10 for paint and brushes)
Cake Topper: Now I've been seeing a bunch of knotties using someone named crafty eddy. From what I've seen, he just uses wood and cuts out the letter for the topper... I figured, why can't I do this myself? I can stencil the K onto a thick piece of wood, and have my dad cut it out. Then I can paint and bling it out myself. Projected budget-$20, but I can use the left overs of paint and rhinestones for other projects.
Bridesmaid gifts: This should be fairly simple. I'm getting tote bags for each girl (4 girls) and inside, I am putting either a nice candle from Yankee Candle or making one myself, and a DIY pearl necklace. Projected budget: $45, maybe less
Groomsman gifts: These aren't DIY, but I figured I'd post what the plan is. I suggested a Tervis Tumbler (tervis.com) with a patch that personifies each guy. Then he wants to get a shirt for each one from thinkgeek.com that also personifies each one.
Unity candle: This one just needs some ribbon and a K charm to go around it.
Favors: I threw out the daisy seed and ceramic pot idea and we're just doing the candy buffet. This should be more than $25
I'm trying to stay hopeful, but this is really starting to stink.
Aisle runner: roughly $27 ($17 for the runner, about $10 for paint and brushes)
Cake Topper: Now I've been seeing a bunch of knotties using someone named crafty eddy. From what I've seen, he just uses wood and cuts out the letter for the topper... I figured, why can't I do this myself? I can stencil the K onto a thick piece of wood, and have my dad cut it out. Then I can paint and bling it out myself. Projected budget-$20, but I can use the left overs of paint and rhinestones for other projects.
Bridesmaid gifts: This should be fairly simple. I'm getting tote bags for each girl (4 girls) and inside, I am putting either a nice candle from Yankee Candle or making one myself, and a DIY pearl necklace. Projected budget: $45, maybe less
Groomsman gifts: These aren't DIY, but I figured I'd post what the plan is. I suggested a Tervis Tumbler (tervis.com) with a patch that personifies each guy. Then he wants to get a shirt for each one from thinkgeek.com that also personifies each one.
Unity candle: This one just needs some ribbon and a K charm to go around it.
Favors: I threw out the daisy seed and ceramic pot idea and we're just doing the candy buffet. This should be more than $25
I'm trying to stay hopeful, but this is really starting to stink.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
100 DAYS!!!
So, the countdown starts. 100 Days left. Hopefully tomorrow, I'll be able to get the ribbon for the unity candle and the paints for the aisle runner. My weekends are the days I get all of it done. Hopefully.... we'll see.
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