Working on the Ceremony

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Brad and I worked on our ceremony last night.

The goal was to select our vows, exchanging of the rings, and readings.

We even get bonus points because we talked about our first dance song choices--

which we've narrowed down to two... the two that we've been debating over for months.

Love Song by 311 OR Stay With You by John Legend

So I don't really know if we get bonus points for that. But at least we revisited the topic.

Ah! But we did choose our cake cutting song ... I Wanna Grow Old With You by Adam Sandler.

:)

Back to the ceremony.

I think we're going to stay with more tradition vows.

We're still up in the air on the exchanging of the rings.

We really liked the following two readings.

The Art of Marriage by Wilferd A. Peterson

The little things are the big things.

It is never being too old to hold hands.

It is remembering to say "I love you" at least once a day.

It is never going to sleep angry.

It is at no time taking the other for granted;

the courtship should not end with the honeymoon,

it should continue through all the years.

It is having a mutual sense of values and common objectives.

It is standing together facing the world.

It is forming a circle of love that gathers in the whole family.

It is doing things for each other, not in the attitude of duty or sacrifice,

but in the spirit of joy.

It is speaking words of appreciation and demonstrating

gratitude in thoughtful ways.

It is not expecting the husband to wear a halo or the wife to have wings of an angel.

It is not looking for perfection in each other.

It is cultivating flexibility, patience, understanding and a sense of humor.

It is having the capacity to forgive and forget.

It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow.

It is finding room for the things of the spirit.

It is a common search for the good and the beautiful.

It is establishing a relationship in which the independence is equal, dependence is mutual and the obligation is reciprocal.

It is not only marrying the right partner, it is being the right partner.

Love Is by Susan Polis Schutz

Love is

being happy for the other person

when they are happy

being sad for the other person when they are sad

being together in good times

and being together in bad times

Love is the source of strength

Love is

being honest with yourself at all times

being honest with the other person at all times

telling, listening, respecting the truth

and never pretending

Love is the source of reality

Love is

an understanding that is so complete that

you feel as if you are a part of the other person

accepting the other person just the way they are

and not trying to change them to be something else

Love is the source of unity

Love is

the freedom to pursue your own desires

while sharing your experience with the other person

the growth of one individual along side of

and together with the growth of another individual

Love is the source of success

Love is

the excitement of planning things together

the excitement of doing things together

Love is the source of the future

Love is

the fury of the storm

the calm of the rainbow

Love is the source of passion

Love is

giving and taking in a daily situation

being patient with each other's needs and desires

Love is the source of sharing

Love is

knowing that the other person

will always be with you regardless of what happens

missing the other person when they are away

but remaining near in heart at all times

Love is the source of security

Love is

the source of life

What kind of vows, exchanging of the rings, and readings did you go with or are you going with?

Wedding Band{s} & A Little Photoshop

We're finally getting around to ordering our wedding bands.

We got my engagement ring from one of Brad's fraternity brothers that is a jeweler,

so we're going back to him to get my wedding band.

I'm getting Brad a tungsten wedding band that I got with a Groopdealz.

{$60 for a $200+ ring? I think yes.}

My engagement ring comes with a matching wedding band.

The problem is that I don't like how it curves around the center.

I'm a big fan of symmetry and that clearly isn't symmetrical.

I thought about the possibility of getting two of those bands to make it symmetrical,

but I think it would be too much and take away from my center stone.

So I started playing around in Photoshop.

First, I edited the original photo and got rid of the curve.

Hmm, not bad.

MUCH better than the original.

Then, I played around some more and added another band on the other side...

PERFECTION.

I love how this looks.

It's what I've always envisioned.

I emailed the Photoshopped pics to Brad,

and he's going to forward them to his fraternity brother to see what he can come up with.

Fingers crossed that he can make it happen {and for a good price}!

Woo Hoo! $45 for 16x20 Canvas On Demand!

Want to put an engagement or wedding photo on canvas?

So I LOVE Groupon and I LOVE Canvas on Demand. Today they have a 16x20 gallery-wrapped canvas, plus shipping and handling, for $45 {a $126.95 value}.

I ordered an Alaskan vacation photo on canvas last fall. COD emailed me and said that the photo I submitted was too large for the 16x20, so instead of cropping the photo, they would upgrade me for free to a larger canvas. I thought that was awesome! I love good customer service! :)

The other day I used a $45 16x20 COD Groupon to order one of engagement photos on canvas to hang in our bedroom. I might display it at our wedding location as well.

Here's the link to get the Groupon:

{CLICK}

FYI: This Groupon expires on June 21, 2011.

new blog- two twenty one

I launched my new blog yesterday!

I wanted a place to keep and share my creative and home improvement projects

so I created two twenty one {our address}.

That, and after the wedding I'll be retiring from posting on Chelsea Gets Married.

I'll keep the blog alive and well. I just won't be adding any new content.

I'd love for you to head over {click} and be one of my followers so that we can remain friends

after the wedding!

Flip Flop Basket

I decided to have a flip flop basket at our wedding reception after a friend of mine had one at her reception. Those flip flops saved my poor, aching feet when I wanted to get my dance on. {I had worn my super-cute-but-uncomfortable-after-wearing-for-more-than-3-hours lace heels.}

I purchased 18 pairs of flip flops (9 pink and 9 green) from Old Navy.

I splurged a little on Old Navy flip flops because the flip flops I wore at my friend's wedding were the $1 craft flip flops, and after dancing in them for a few hours they started to break and I had to put my heels back on. :(

Here is the breakdown of the sizes I purchased (we plan on having ~125 wedding guests):

Size 11: 1

Size 10: 2

Size 9: 3

Size 8: 7

Size 7: 4

Size 6: 1

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DIRECTIONS:

I placed each pair back to back. To secure them while I put the ribbon on I used 2 rubber bands (1 on the top, 1 on the bottom). I wrapped the thicker ribbon around the flip flops and secured it in the front with double sided tape. Then I wrapped the thinner polka dotted ribbon around and secured it in the front with double sided tape. I placed the size circles on top to cover up where the ends met. I used a 2" circular punch for the larger circle. I printed the sizes on scrapbook paper and punched them out with a 1" circular punch. I used double sided tape to secure the 1" circle to the 2" circle and the 2" circle to the ribbon

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Ending My Wedding Shoe Search

As you may recall, I've ordered almost 10 different pairs of shoes from online shoe stores. Well, I've decided to call off my search and go with this pair-- Vaneli Madora in ivory.

{They look a lot cuter on than in this pic. I'll try to get a pic of me wearing them

and post it.}

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They're "inspired" by Stuart Weitzman's Gigiritz {or was Stuart "inspired" by Vaneli? Hmm...}. While I would love to have these beauties, I don't want to pay $298 for them.

The Vaneli's cost me $78.75 {but now they're listed as $73.50. What the heck, Zappos?}.

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I really wanted to find cute, blue shoes for my "something blue". But let's face it, with my 11 wide shoe size, and the ever-growing bunion on my right foot, that was going to be quite the accomplishment.

Sidebar: Most people don't know what a bunion really is. They just attribute it to old people because that's all you hear on TV {"Oh, my bunions are killin' me!"}.

A bunion is an enlargement of bone or tissue around the joint at the base of the big toe. The big toe may turn in toward the second toe, and the tissues surrounding the joint may be swollen and tender.

In my case, it's bone, not tissue. It's really painful, especially if I wear tight shoes. Yay, genetics! {My mom said, "You can thank your father for that." Oh, mom...} Since I currently don't have health insurance I just get to suffer through it until I marry Brad, get on his health insurance, and have surgery.

Thanks for letting me clear the bunion thing up. :)

So anyway, I've decided that these shoes are just fine. Plus, I only plan on having them on for pictures, the ceremony, cocktail hour, and the first part of the reception.

Then I'm switching to sandals!

I ♥ Etsy

I'm not ambitious, nor talented, enough to DIY everything for the wedding, which is why I'll be turning to Etsy! :)

I already put down a deposit for our custom cake topper from Lynn's Little Creations.

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I plan on purchasing a custom embroidered wedding dress label.

This will be my "something blue".

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I love the thumb print guestbook tree idea, but I don't want my guests to get their thumbs all inked up. {Plus, after thinking about it, I think it's somewhat strange to finger print your guests.} So, I found this compromise on Etsy. It's a guestbook tree with self-adhesive leaves. Guests sign the leaves, and then place them on the tree.

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I'm going to jump on the hair flower band wagon. :)

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Invitation Mock-Up

I didn't want to DIY my invitations. Seriously. I didn't. I didn't even know where to start. But after looking at what seemed like a million invitations, I couldn't find anything I liked for the price I wanted to pay. Classic conundrum.

{FYI: My budget is $3.00 per invitation suite.}

I saw a bunch of girls posting about Cards and Pockets on TK, so I thought I would check them out. While browsing photos on their facebook page I came across this invitation suite.

I loved the paisley patterned paper!

I decided to order some samples from them to see if I liked everything. I ordered the Signature PocketFold Mock-Up Kit {$10.50}, Panel Card Mock-Up Kit {$5.00}, One Custom Pattern Sample in Candy Pink Paisley Floral {$3.99}, and One Custom Pattern Sample in Candy Pink Swirl {$3.99}. They have free shipping on samples.

I ordered 2 different types of green paper-- matte {medina green} and metallic {fairway} and only one type of pink paper-- matte {candy pink}. I decided to go with the metallic green pocket folder.

I decided that a pocket folder would be best since 95% of our guests will be traveling from out-of-town. I thought that a pocket folder would help them keep all of the information together.

I designed everything in Photoshop Illustrator and Photoshop.

The script font is "Feel Script" and the sans serif font is "Print Clearly".

So how much are these bad boys going to cost?

Well, I broke down the costs and looked into other paper suppliers. I discovered that 100 metallic fairway pocket folders at Cards and Pockets costs $110. However, they cost only $83.98 at Paper and More. So I plan on getting the pocket folders at Paper and More. Everything else will come from Cards and Pockets.

According to my calculations, each invitation {not including postage} will cost around $2.00.

Woohoo, under budget!

I'm trying to get the invitation and inserts fit onto one 8.5" x 11" page. Then, I'll have them printed at FedEx Office on the card stock that I purchase. They charge $.09 per black and white print. They charge $1.49 per cut, but they can cut up to 100 pages at a time. {FYI: They charge $.63 per color print, which is what I'll be doing for our table name cards.}

Now, the fun/interesting/stressful part will be assembling all of these!

Any volunteers?

:)

Who needs table numbers when you can have table names?

I decided a long time ago to name our tables instead of numbering them.

I've seen people name their tables according to years {1999} and then have a photo of the bride and groom from that year at that table. I thought this was a cute idea until I thought more deeply about it. You see, I was a very heavy child/teenager and ultimately lost 85 pounds in high school. I'd rather not have to talk about my "hefty years" at my wedding. Hmm, I could do this and just leave out 1992-2002. Haha!

Ready for a flashback?

{That's me in 2000.}

OK, back on track now...

I've also seen people name their tables "love", but in different languages.

Different types of wines.

National parks.

The possibilities are endless!

I decided to name our tables after places that Brad and I visited together. We've been on 2 cruises together {Alaska and Caribbean} so that knocks out a good amount of places. Right?

Well, we're hoping for 120-125 wedding guests. That's 15-16 tables, thus 15-16 table name cards.

Right now, I only have 11 places. Well, I only have 11 photos of us in 11 places. We've visited more places than those 11, but there are no photos. Make sense?

Would it be weird if we had a table named after the city that we currently live in but we did something really cool together in the city {toured the new NFL stadium before it opened}?

Or if we named a table after the city where we attended college and where the wedding and reception will take place? We did LOTS of stuff together there! :) It is where we met...

I told Brad that perhaps we should look into taking some day trips...

Anyway, I'm crafting these puppies in Photoshop, and I'll have them printed and cut at FedEx Office. I got 18 chrome plated table number holders from another bride that I found on Craigslist. I'll design, print, and attach the menu on the backside.