6 Months To Go

Wow...can you believe we only have 6 months to go?!? I sure as heck can't. I can't believe 10 months of planning have gone by so quickly.

Well, here's what we need to get accomplished this month.

- Give bridesmaids information on their attire so that they can order their dresses.
- Meet with officiant to start work on ceremony. (Actually, we're going to meet with her tomorrow.)
- Decide on a cake baker.
- Finalize design of invitations and order them.
- Buy undergarments for dress.
- Contact venues for rehearsal dinner.

So much to do and so little time!

Bridesmaid Attire

I finally decided on bridesmaid dresses! I'm very excited to get that out of the way.

So, tell me what you think?

Food Inspiration

Using Style Me Pretty's awesome Style Circle, I created an inspiration board of our food style at the wedding. I think it fits us pretty well.

Credits: West Park Photography

Uprinting Greeting Card Giveaway Winner!

The winner of the Uprinting custom greeting card giveaway is Gonna Be His Mrs. from Shooting for a $3000 Wedding. Please email me within the next 24 hours to claim your prize.

Thanks to Uprinting Greeting Card Printing for hosting such a great giveaway!

Uprinting Greeting Card Giveaway

Don't forget to enter the Uprinting greeting card giveaway. The giveaway will end at 5pm EST tonight and I will post a winner after that.

Lucy and Leo's Cupcakery Visit

Last week we also met with Lucy and Leo's Cupcakery. They're right smack dab in the middle of Tallahassee. Their store has only been around for a couple months and their business is already booming.


Consultation Experience
My fiance wasn't able to make it on the day we were supposed to meet with them, so we never really had a consultation. We did do a lot of talking through email so I know what they can do and what they can't do. If they are one of our front runners after we meet with everyone else, we will have another consultation with them later on down the road. When I went and picked up the cupcakes, they were really nice and explained that they can dye the frosting different colors and they also have a bunch of different colored sprinkles.

Customer Service
They were very friendly when I was in their store. I was greeted promptly and they gave me an explanation of what each cupcake was. They were also fast to respond to emails.

The Cake
Omg! Their cupcakes were magnificent. We tried 4 different ones and here's the breakdown of each one.

Vanilla cinnamon cake with cream cheese icing and white chocolate curls
This cupcake was to die for. Definitely our favorite by far. The white chocolate curls were a kind of non-existent, but when you did get a bite of one, it went perfect with the rest of the cupcake.
Rating: 8.5 (On a scale for 1-10 with 10 being the best)

Coconut cake with butter cream icing and toasted coconut
This was really good except for the toasted coconut. I think the toasted coconut took away from the rest of the cupcake. The icing was awesome. The coconut flavor in the cake was really subtle.
Rating: 6

Chocolate cake with espresso icing and caramel curls
I'm not a huge fan of chocolate cake, but we wanted to try one because I'm sure we'll have some guests who will appreciate a chocolate option. The cake was kind of dry and heavy, but when mixed with the espresso icing, they really worked together. I could not finish my half of the cupcake because it was way too rich for me.
Rating: 4

Hummingbird cake with cream cheese icing and bling/sprinkle topping
This was a really good cake, but I think the cream cheese icing overpowered the subtle flavor of the hummingbird cake. If we were to use this one for our wedding, we would probably have it made with butter cream icing instead. The blink/sprinkle topping was really pretty and I think it would be a great way to incorporate wedding colors into the cupcakes.
Rating: 7

If we decide to go with them, we'll probably go and buy a bunch more flavors so we can find the perfect combination of cupcakes for our wedding.

Price Quote
100 cupcakes at $1.75 each: $175
Tax: $15

TOTAL: $190

If we use cupcakes though, we will have a small one tier cake made for Jason and I to cut for the traditional cake cutting, so that will add on to the price.

Other Bakeries Visited
Visit #1: The Cake Shop
Visit #2: Myra Jean's Cake Shop
Visit #3: Katie's Cakes

Katie's Cakes Visit

This week we met with Katie's Cakes and Catering. She is located in Havana, FL, which is about 30 minutes north of Tallahassee.


Consultation Experience
We had an 8pm appointment, which worked well for our schedule since she was so far outside of Tallahassee. When we arrived, Katie asked us what our visions for the wedding were, any ideas we had for the cakes, colors, etc. She then drew us two designs. One was a square cake which I went in there imagining and one was a topsy turvy cake which I absolutely love. She is the only person in town that I have found that does topsy turvy cakes.

The Cake
Katie prepared only three flavors for us to try. One was a chocolate (which I hate!), an Italian creme, and then their specialty which is a cream cheese cake. The Italian creme was delicious, but it was one of their premium flavors so it was more expensive. The cream cheese cake was very good, but I think it would have been even better with some kind of filling. I was pretty disappointed that we were only able to taste 3 flavors.

Costumer Service
Katie was really nice and knew what she was talking about. She was the first cake baker that had drawn up a design for us by what we had in mind. I was really impressed by that. She sat down and talked with us for about an hour. I also liked that she was willing to do an evening appointment with us. She quoted us a cake that serves 100 though, when we only have 75 guests.

Price Quote
3 tiered cake that serves 100. Bottom tier cream cheese cake with raspberry filling, middle tier with Italian creme, and top tier with cream cheese cake without filling. All with cream cheese frosting. Square cake with ribbon at the bottom of each tier with a piped monogram on the middle tier.

100 servings with basic flavors ($3 a slice): $300
Premium cake flavor (Italian creme): $24.00
Raspberry filling: $22.00
Cream cheese icing: $30.00
Tax: $28.23
Delivery to Willow Pond: $95.00

TOTAL: $499.23

Other Bakeries Visited
Visit #1: The Cake Shop
Visit #2: Myra Jean's Cake Shop

Uprinting Greeting Card Giveaway

Uprinting does greeting card printing and is offering a fantastic giveaway. They're giving away 250 custom greeting cards to one lucky winner. These cards are 3.5x5" when folded. They would be great as RSVP cards or even thank you card. You can do whatever you want with them.

Here's how to enter:
- Tell me how you would use your free greeting cards. Make sure to leave your contact information in the comment.

For an additional entry, blog about the giveaway, linking both to my blog post and also http://www.uprinting.com/Greeting-Cards-Printing.html. Please leave a comment with your blog link if you complete this step.

This is a short giveaway, so you have until Monday September 28th to enter.

Open to US residents only

What's a Dame to Do Winner

The What's a Dame to Do winner is MAngelBaby11.

Here's the dilemma:

"Ick...I'm a bridesmaid in a wedding and the dress the bride picked is a huge, purple, tiered, upside Xmas tree mess. I will look like Grimace, no joke. What's a Dame to Do?!"

And here's her response to the dilemma:

Buy a purple hat to match and cheese it up for the cameras! might as well go big if you're already going to look like grimace!

Congratulations!

Oh, and I recently reached 100 followers, so keep an eye out for an awesome giveaway coming up in the next week!

Thrifty Thursday

Discounts
GroomStand: $29.99 Personalized Pub Signs
WeddingStand: 20% off Unity Candles
WeddingPaperDivas: $10 off $75 or more, Code: FALLSALE
Oriental Trading: $20 off $75 or more, Code: OTCSTWNTY

Giveaways
SayYourPiece ring dish giveaway at Mr. Jones and Me
$5000 Vistaprint credit giveaway at Vistaprint
$50 gift card giveaway at the GarterMaker

I'm adding a Mr. Linky so you can post a link to your giveaway or special for the week.

Wedding Channel Feature

You remember the contest I won a while ago on Wedding Channel? Well, they're featuring my blog this week!

Here it is if you'd like to check it out.

http://weddings.weddingchannel.com/wedding-planning-ideas/Wedding-Blog-of-the-Week.aspx

ABC

Miss Pug posted this over on her blog and I thought ya'll would enjoy reading it. I hope you will also do it on your blog so we can all get to know each other better.

One Letter at a Time...

A - Age: 22...I'll be 23 in November
B - Bed Size: Queen- unfortunately. We're hoping to get a king after the wedding.
C - Chore you hate: Vacuuming
D - Dog's Name: Tally
E - Essential start your day item: Checking my email
F - Favorite Color: Orange

G - Gold or Silver or Platinum: White gold
H - Height: 5 ft. nothing
I - Instruments you play: Flute and piccolo
J - Job Title: Receptionist
K - Kid(s): None yet
L - Living Arrangements: I live with my fiance in a penthouse style apartment.
M - Mom's Name: Tracy

N - Nickname(s): Ash
O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth: The last one was when I was a pedestrian and got hit by a car.
P - Pet Peeve: Bad grammar and spelling
Q - Quote from a movie: "Because I said so."
R - Right or Left Handed: Right
S - Siblings: I have a couple step and a couple half.
T - Time you wake up: Normally around 9am
U - Underwear: I think I'm wearing polka dots.
V - Vegetable you dislike: Peppers

W - Ways you run late: I don't normally run late, but if I do it's because of parking on campus.
X - X-rays you've had: There isn't a place on my body that hasn't been x-rayed.
Y - Yummy food you make: Country fried steak
Z - Zoo Favorite: Otters

Bridesmaid Questions

I sent a little questionnaire I made up to my bridesmaids to help me get some ideas for bridesmaid gifts. I'm glad I did because I learned little things about them I never knew before, like that after my MOHs seizure, she can no longer have caffeine or alcohol and that one of my bridesmaids doesn't have their ears pierced. I'm glad I asked because I was planning on putting a bottle of wine in each bag with personalized wine glasses and also providing their jewelry for the day of. I would have provided them with these things that they wouldn't have been able to use.

Here's a copy of the questions I asked and the reasoning I asked them in case you want to do the same for your bridesmaids.

What's your shoe size? (I plan on getting them flip-flops to change into during the reception.)

What size shirt do you wear? (I'm going to make personalized tank tops for them to wear while getting ready.)

What's your favorite candy? (I might provide candy in the room while we're getting ready.)

Do you like soda? If so, what kind? (I want to make sure they have soda they like at the reception and rehearsal dinner.)

Would you be interested in getting your hair/make-up done the day of the wedding? (This one is obvious. I want to figure out who would be interested in scheduling an appointment on the day of.)

What's your favorite song? (I wanted to play their favorite song at the reception. No one was able to provide me with an answer to this one though.)

What's your favorite color? (I'm thinking about getting them pashminas and I plan on getting them in their favorite colors.)

Wine of choice: Red, white, or blush? (I was originally planning on getting a bottle of wine for part of their gift.)

What's your favorite kind of sandwich? (I might provide them with lunch on the day of.)

What's your favorite breakfast food? (Or I might provide them with the breakfast the day of.)

Do you have pierced ears? (I plan on getting them their jewelry for the day of.)

Do you have any kind of jewelry or food allergies? (I plan on getting them jewelry and I also want to make sure there's something for them to eat at every event.)

What's a Dame to Do?

Another knottie introduced me to this game the other day and I now have the pleasure to share it with you. Perfect game for a bachelorette party! Get together with your girlfriends and play What's a Dame to Do.

Here's a little blurb from their website.

What's a DAME to do?! Use female intuition and humor to guess how players would react to 'dame dilemmas.' For example--You see an Ex at the grocery store 2 aisles away and you are NOT looking your best, what's a DAME to do?! The answer is in the cards! The laughter begins when players look over their hand of Reaction Cards and give you answers that they think fit the bill. Would you -- Hide in the bathroom? Suck in your stomach? Have a little chat? Pray? Put on your sunglasses? Yell fire?? You secretly choose your answer, then players guess what you chose. So simple and fun! Who guessed you best? Get out the tasty treats and favorite beverages and find out! "It's like 'Sex and the City' meets 'Oprah!' "

The makers of this game have graciously offered a game to give to one of my wonderful readers. All you have to do is give me your best answer to this dilemma:

Dame Dilemma: "Ick...I'm a bridesmaid in a wedding and the dress the bride picked is a huge, purple, tiered, upside Xmas tree mess. I will look like Grimace, no joke. What's a Dame to Do?!"

So, post your answer with a way to contact you. The contest will run until Thursday, September 24th at 9am. So, what's a dame to do?

Oh, and if you want to buy the game and not wait for the giveaway to end, you can get $5 off with the code: TWITTERDAME

Thrifty Thursday

Discounts
My Publisher -- $30 off your order and free express shipping, Code: 65AZ-QHZ4
Adorn Brides -- $50 off jewelry rental, Code: MODERNBRIDE50
Oriental Trading -- 20% off any order, Code: OTCSP2
Wedding Paper Divas -- $10 off an order of $75+, Code: FALLSALE

Giveaways
$25 MyWeddingFavors gift card giveaway at Budget Savvy Bride
$2500 jewelry rental giveaway at Preowned Wedding Dresses
Fall themed ring dish giveaway at Wise Impressions
Party a day giveaway at Party City

Stressful News

I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but my fiance is in the Air National Guard. Well, he just got news that he is going to be leaving for training for 3 weeks. In March. And going to be back a week before our wedding.

AAAAHHH!

I've heard from a lot of brides that the last month is one of the most hectic months in all of wedding planning. You have to call all the guests who didn't RSVP (thankfully my mom already told me she'd tackle this job for me), make the seating chart (which is going to be really hard without my fiance here to tell me who in his family gets along), contact all vendors to make sure everything is settled for the wedding, etc.

We have no family and barely any of our bridal party in town, so I'm going to have to handle all these last minute tasks myself without my fiance's help. I'm definitely not looking for to March now.

Questions and Comments

I love getting comments from all my wonderful readers. It always makes my day. I read each and every one too.

I just wanted to let you know, if you have a specific question, it would be better to email me. That way, I can make sure you get the answer to your question and it doesn't get lost in the comments. I love getting email, so if you ever have a question or just want to chat, feel free to email me at navybaby1113 (at) gmail (dot) com

PS. Katie -- I saw your question on The Garden Club and responded there because I couldn't find any contact information for you. If you want more information, please email so I can help you out!

Beautiful Pink Wedding

Style Me Pretty shared this gorgeous wedding on their site earlier this week. I'm absolutely in love.

All pictures taken by Katie Anderson.


I plan on using a few of these same elements in my wedding. I think it would be awesome to hang the pink pom-poms in the trees (anyone know how to DIY these without a kit?) and I also plan on putting drinks in beverage dispensers.

If you would like to see the rest of the wedding, check out these links:

http://www.stylemepretty.com/2009/09/08/pretty-pretty-pink-wedding/

http://www.stylemepretty.com/2009/09/08/pretty-pretty-pink-wedding-ii

Groomsmen Cufflinks

For part of our groomsmen gifts, we're going to get them each their own personalized cufflinks. I think this would be something they'd be able to put to use again. We're getting them from cuff-tie on ebay. Their cufflinks are $5 each and I've heard great reviews from their products. They have free shipping too!

Here's which ones we're thinking about for each groomsman:

BB -- Best Man









B -- Groomsman








M -- Groomsman









S -- Groomsman/Brother








And I'm getting my FI his own specialized set. He's currently working on getting into med school, so I'm going to get him these to let him know that I believe he'll get in!

Double Trouble Designs Monograms

Since we changed our wedding colors and I'm not too photoshop savvy, I decided we needed new monograms. So, Double Trouble Designs worked up some magic for us and credit these preppy monograms for our new pink and green wedding.

200 Days!!!

I just logged on to facebook and my wonderful ticker told me that we have 200 days until the wedding. Eek!!!

Drink Dispensers

Our caterer is providing us with sweet tea and lemonade with our food. They provide them in gallon jugs though, so I need to find a better way to display them. That's when I came up with the idea of using drink dispensers.

I can set a couple up on the bar and put sweet tea in one and lemonade in the other. That way, guests can get their own non-alcoholic drinks and don't have to worry about getting them through the bartender. Plus, they hold 3 gallons, so when it gets low, the bartender just has to pour a couple more jugs of the drink in there. Easy peasy!

7 Months to Go!

Wow...August went by so quickly. I can't believe we have less than 7 months to go until our wedding. Here's what needs to get done this month:

- Decide on bridesmaid dresses
- Choose a baker for our wedding cake

Not too much to do, so it won't be a bad month. That's good because it's the first whole month back to school and that's definitely difficult.

What do you have to do this month?

Giveaway Winner!

The winner of the Wise Impressions ring dish giveaway is Mismikado! You have 48 hours to contact me to claim your prize.

Great Addition to Thrifty Thursday

Julianne Smith put a lot of her garters on sale. They're all half off and one of a kind. Head on over there and check out the gorgeous garters!

Thrifty Thursday

Here's your deals and giveaways for this week. As always, if there's a deal or giveaway I haven't listed, please let me know.

Discounts
Adorn Brides -- $50 off a jewelry rental, Code: MODERNBRIDE50

Giveaways
Ring Dish Giveaway from Wise Impressions etsy shop.

Wedding Binder

Image from Russel and Hazel

Keeping with my organizer theme from yesterday, I thought I would introduce you to how this bride keeps herself organized. My MOH gave me a wedding planner, but I realized it didn't fulfill my organization needs, so I decided to make my own binder.

All you need is a 3 ring binder (I have a 1 inch one right now, but will probably upgrade to a 1 1/2 inch), dividers, and page protectors or a 3 hole punch.

You should come up with categories that fit your wedding the best. My categories are Basics, Attire, Beauty, Paper, Ceremony, Reception, Photography, and Honeymoon. I think I need to break my categories down even more, so I might eventually create even more dividers. Start off with what you think will work, but be willing to add more or take away some after a while.

My basics category includes stuff like my budget, guest list, and to do list. Attire includes attire for me, my bridesmaids, and the men. Beauty is tips on beauty routines, products, and other stuff I've came across. Paper includes information on what needs to be in each paper product I make. Ceremony includes the order of the ceremony and vows that I like. Reception includes information on catering, bar, decorations, and cake. Photography includes a list of must have pictures. Honeymoon includes excursions we're interested in, a packing list, and tips that I have gathered from Cruise Critic.

I printed off some worksheets from Russel and Hazel and included them in their perspective sections. I also created a bunch of my own worksheets, which I plan on adding to the blog at a later date. Then, every time I found something in a bridal magazine I liked, I tore out the page and hole punched it and put it in a section so I could reference back to it later. You can also put these in page protectors, but that's more expensive.

I definitely recommend keeping a binder with everything wedding related in it. It will help you keep more organized and have more control of your event.

Organizing Wedding Purchases

We don't ever use our guest bedroom, so that is the designated spot for everything wedding related. We had stuff sitting all over the bed until I had a brilliant idea when I was in Walmart one day. I saw different colored storage bins in the college section. I realized those would be perfect for storing all the wedding items and keeping them organized.

Now, my guest bedroom looks ten times better. I got a different color tub for each section of the wedding so that the items could easily be transported to the place they needed to go. I'm eventually going to put a label on them as well, just in case.

Pink -- Bridal suite. Includes everything me and my girls need to get ready.
Blue -- Ceremony site. Includes guest book, programs, aisle decorations, etc.
Green -- Cocktail hour. Includes plates to hold food and decorations for the tables.
Purple -- Reception site. Includes everything else I buy for the wedding including linens and centerpieces.

So far I have a total of 6 boxes, but I'm sure I'll need even more with all the stuff I'll have bought. I'm eventually going to separate the reception boxes into different locations of the site like guest tables, cake tables, head table, etc. That way, it will make it easier to set up on the day of.

How are you keeping your items organized?