Honeymoon's Booked!

We put the deposit down for our Honeymoon!!  Sooo exciting :)  We're staying at El Dorado Royale in the Riviera Maya, it's about 30 min south of Cancun.  It fits our "honeymoon criteria" perfectly:  not a lot of time wasted traveling to our destination, all inclusive, adults only, fits our small budget, and more!  It has 13 different restaurants (and not buffet style either) and 11 different pools (ALL have swim up bars!) and a beautiful beach!  We're leaving the Monday following the wedding and returning the next Monday, can't wait!

Ohhh...and our room has a jacuzzi!

NAME OUR DRINKS!

After tasting some delicious concoctions on Craft Day back in February, I have made the decision as to which drinks we will be serving as our "Signature Champagne Cocktails"

1.  Champagne & White Cranberry/Peach Juice ~ This was pretty much unanimous, everyone loved it!  It was so refreshing and sweet.

2.  Champagne & Blueberry Juice ~This one really surprised me, I did not think I would like it as much as I did but it is delicous!  It was tough to choose between this one and the Pomegranite juice but Blueberry is the winner.   

Now, make your vote for the names!  Feel free to add your own as a comment and maybe YOU will name our drinks! :)

Blushing Bride

Marital Bliss

Something Blue

Love Is In The Air

Signage

Here's my $10 sign I got from a fellow bride and a little easel stand I painted pink.  This will go so perfect with our pretty ribbon wands!

DIY Cake Topper

I got this wood letter "K" at Michael's for $2

 Painted it pink

 Added a little bling (also from Michae'ls-$2)

 Covered the thing in bling

Ta-da!  $4 cake topper, I love it.  I saw one that looks just like this on The Knot's shop, guess how much....$168!  Seriously?

Got babers suit!!

5 months until our wedding :)  Today we got Orrin's suit and it is AWESOME!  He looks SO amazing in it and I seriously got butterflies in my stomach when he had it on!  We could not pass up the deal, we got it from Express and saved $250 with all of our coupons (3 diferent ones we were able to use).  We haven't picked out the groomsmen outfits yet but they will be similar to O's, without the jacket.  A gray pant and vest, I'll be on the lookout soon. 

Ahh, it's so nice to cross things off our list!

Here is the most handsome man alive...I seriously can not take it :)

These aren't exactly the right sizes, different shoes, add a tie but you get the picture.  Sorry I cut your head off babes!

Happy Friday!

Hope everyone has a great weekend, I will leave you with these beautiful flowers.

 Oh, look at this adorable sign I bought from a fellow WeddingBee for $8, it's going to be so perfect for our lovely ribbon wands!!



Banner VS Traditional Flowers ?

How cute would it be if the flower girl walked with this banner that says "Here Comes The Bride" right before me instead of throwing petals down the aisle?  I'm liking it, and it would be pretty easy to make! 

What do you think?

www.loveandlavender.com

Monogram Winner!

We have ourselves a monogram winner....

Thank you to those of you who gave me your input!

Ahhh, ruffles!

Love this ruffle clutch from Nordy's

Strawberry season is here!

Those of you who don't know...I'm OBSESSED with strawberries, always have been.  There's pictures of Amy & I, 3 & 4 years old in Grandma Bub's garden picking, or just eating, them.  Orrin & I both are not the biggest cake fans, but we both LOVE strawberries and he loves blueberries (me too but not as much as strawberries) so when it came to deciding on a wedding cake, really, we just want berries on it :) Haha.  It will be delicous, too, of course!  Grandma Bub (my stepmom, Kelley's, mom) has graciously offered to make it!  We haven't talked much about it but I know that it will be white, will probably be 3 tiers and each tier will be a different flavor.  Oh, and there will be berries on it :)

Something like these maybe...





Shutter Seating Chart

I found my next DIY prjoect :)  My uncle Mike's girfriend, Jennifer, got me old wooden shutters and I'm going to paint them and hang the seating chart on them, kind of like in these pictuers...  Guests won't have to take anything with their name on it, I'll just have all the names alphabetized so they can see what table number they'll be at.

What color do you think I should paint the shutters?  white, blue, green??

More milkglass inspiration

They're so pretty!  Think I need to make another trip to the swapmeet to get some more clear vases and paint them again...last time I got 3 vases for $1!

Wow, looking at that list, I realize I have a lot more to do than I thought...

Lists, Lists & More Lists

Less than 6 4  3 1/2 months to go, I need to start making some update my lists!! :)

DONE:

• Save The Dates (all have been mailed)
• Venue/Alcohol
• Caterer
• Photographer Kristina Cazares
• DJ
• Ceremony decor (ribbon wands, pomander balls, maybe 1 more thing)
• Centerpieces, candles, table #'s, etc
• Scheduled my dress fitting (already arrived and being kept at Bri's house!)
• Hotel blocks Hilton Garden Inn Hotel Blocks
• Invitations (just received them!)
• All bridesmaid dresses are in!  There are 5 different dresses for 7 girls & I love them all

TO DO (APRIL):

• Meet with travel agent, Mom's friend Karol (scheduled for 4/16)
• Meet with Dad & Kelley's pastor who will be marrying us so him and Orrin can meet and we can discuss the ceremony (hopefully do this on Easter Sunday)
• Meet with Matt, the musician I want to play our ceremony music acoustically Check his music out! Not in the budget :(
• Make 2nd payment to Orfila (scheduled for 4/23...yikes!  Double yikes because I just had to pay $500 for my car to get fixed :/)
• Set up Registry (Macy's & Bed Bath & Beyond, maybe a PayPal or honeymoon one as well)-going on Sat!
• Pick out & purchase Orrin's suit
• Pick out some options for bridesmaid shoes
• Book honeymoon & put deposit down!

TO DO (MAY):

• Very Soon- Ask Gracie to be our Flower Girl and pick out a dress :)
• Buy LOVE mugs from Anthro
• Find a creative friend that wants to address our invitations because I have chicken scratch & can't afford a caligrapher :) My mom offered :)
• Give Amy & Kelley guest lists for both bridal showers
• Register, register, register!

TO DO (JUNE):

• Meet with Alisa and her biz partner to discuss flowers
• Make up trial I looooove the make up artist I found, Karina at L' Pretty!  So much more affordable than I thought it would be. Check it out, I'm in the portfolio section
• Figure out who's doing hair for bridesmaids & myself (if they want it) 
• Finalize groomsmen attire and inform them what to do & when
• Pick out wedding bands for both of us
• Talk to Gma Bub about cake
• Go shopping with Nannie & Gracie to find our flower girl a cute lil dress
• Reserve bridal suite for wedding night (free if we book 20 rooms!), room for me (and MOH) night before wedding and room for O (and BM) night before wedding
• Order envelopes for invitations (really don't like the plain white ones I have) & address when mom is here in June...send in July??
• Engagement pictures June 16th!!!  Get outfits, props, etc ready!
• Go to swap meet (come with me, Melanie?), thrift stores to look for more milk glass vases, or clear that I can spray paint white or anything else cool that I can find...any excuse to go.  I know, I'm an old lady :)
• Research where to find the cheapest drinking size mason jars for cocktail hour and purchase

MAKE:

• Seating chart display board
• Tree guest book (get ink pads)
• More chalkboard signs
• Felt pink and white hearts for gray and white cocktail straws
• Programs, menus, signs with chosen monogram (buy a printer!)
• Paint the shutters (to display family pics)
• Cake topper
• Wedding day timeline

START THINKING ABOUT:

• Bridal shoes/jewelry
• Transportation to Orfila for wedding party, free shuttle (that only fits 7 at a time) or something else?
• Specific songs: dad/me, O's mom/O, cake cutting, bouquet/garter toss, first dance, ceremony music, etc.
• Plans for rehearsal dinner
• Asking family for wedding pics so we can display on the shutters

WISH LIST:

• Videographer  (I know I might regret not having a videographer, but really don't think it's in the budget)
• Candy Bar -most likely not in the budget, heard candy can be expensive
• Photo booth (Would love it like no other but for $1,000--not in the budget)  --not happening
• White chairs instead of wood  (Ahh, I think-actually, I know-the white chairs for the reception would look better with our color scheme than the wood but for $2.50/chair, I don't know...)
• Dance floor or cement  (Apparently, half the people get the dance floor and half don't, personally I think a dance floor would be 100% better than dancing on the cement but for $400 we have to think about it)  At this point we got our dream venue and everything else, sadly, might just be "extras" we can't afford.

FAVORS:

• Orfila gives us 1 complimentary wine pass for each guest to come back and enjoy a free wine tasting
• Possibly make jam favors?? ...in 8 oz mason jars