What to do?

This weekend is literally our last weekend of "freedom" until Easter. By freedom, I mean that Mr. Tal and I both have some sort of commitment every weekend from now until Easter, and I think that includes Easter. Oy. Don't get me wrong, it is all fun stuff, here's the list: next weekend is our (seperate) bachelor and bachelorette parties, the weekend after that is another bachelorette for those that can't make it to the first and a shower, the weekend after that is an engagement shoot with our new photographer, and the weekend after that is another shower. We are both  really excited about all of these activities. It's just when you have that much scheduled it makes you feel a little overwhelmed. Especially when there are a lot of projects and things to get done for the wedding. So what are a bride and groom to do? I guess I can only answer that question for us.

We decided to take this weekend and make it both work and fun. Today and tomorrow we are going to do something fun, we haven't decided what. Kalahari was thrown out there, which is an indoor water park that's about an hour away but I don't think it is decided, we both just want some alone together time before the weekend marathons begin. Then Sunday, my Mom and sister 'maids are going to go to Momma Tal's house to work our tails off on some wedding projects. I really hope we get a lot checked off the list and we get some project pictures so I have some DIY posts next week.

Anyone else have a boatload of weekend activities before the wedding?

Have a good weekend everyone, I'll be back on Monday to hopefully share some finished projects.

Tune in next time for more tales from a DIY bride.

Torn

(No, not the Natalie Imbruglia song. Do you remember that song?)

Our RSVPs have been rolling in since we sent our invites out a few weeks back. We sent them out a little earlier than called for to give folks a chance to book hotels and make the necessary travel arrangements if necessary. I must say that our guests are pretty creative with the Mad Lib style responses, some have been downright HI-larious (I may have to display the guests creativity at the reception...hmm, I foresee another project in the near future). I have also been a little suprised with the number of our guests who are attending. Not that I doubt that people want to be there for us on our big day, but we are having a Friday wedding and we accepted that some people might not be able to join us. However, out of the 24 response cards we have gotten back so far, only one has been a "no".

I got that first "no" response card yesterday and I felt really torn. I was at first very sad that the person was unable to make it, but then I was also a little happy because we need a few people to decline (like we counted on) to even out our numbers. Then I kind of felt like a jerk because I was happy. Ahh, the feelings involved when you are a bride, me thinks there are way too many emotions running through me at all hours.

Has anyone else felt torn when recieving a "no" response from friends or family?

Tune in next time for more tales from a DIY bride.

Thievery

Most of my ideas for the wedding have been inspired from others. I see things that other people create and I find ways to modify it to fit the vibe of our wedding. I honestly think that is the way most brides are, they search the web, read books and magazines in search of inspiration, take ideas and make them their own. It works for the most part, because every wedding is different.

There have been very few ideas that I have seen and thought, "I must do that exact project!" Except this one:

(Source)

SO CUTE! I have been in desperate need to jazz up the tables at the reception and I saw this and just thought it was too perfect. This was one of the Bee Blogger's on Weddingbee (Miss Poodle to be exact) project. Well they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, I hope she agrees. I showed Mr. Tal and he loved the idea so we ordered the utensils and bought some fabric and we are hoping to put these little beauties together this weekend.

Are there any ideas you have seen and just had to do the exact same thing?

Tune in next time for more tales from a DIY bride.

Working my tail off

Quite literally. In Jaunuary Mr. Tal and I joined one of the gyms in the area. It's not just any gym, it is the mother of all gyms. Pool, Carido Movie Theater (showing a different movie every day), a plethora of classes, a seperate women's area, this gym has the works. It is pretty amazing and I have to say that it makes working out a lot easier. While I run on the elliptical I can watch TV or a movie, when I lift weights I can go to the women's area so I don't feel so self-conscious.

Getting in shape for the wedding was a goal of mine and I have been working my tail off, but I haven't lost a single pound. That's actually a good thing because I met with a trainer he told me to focus on getting in shape rather than losing weight but it is kind of frustrating because I don't know how to measure my progress. I mean my jeans are loose, I feel like I look better and feel better, I guess that is progress but I should really focus on how good working out makes me feel. Working out has become a real release for me, a way to escape for an hour. It makes me feel great when I do it and it relieves some of the wedding stress that has been mounting. I think I am going to go to the gym more with the wedding rolling closer, I think I will need it.

What do you do to relieve wedding stress?

Tune in next time for more tales from a DIY bride.

Creating a calm space

I have a confession. I am a closet slob. Okay, maybe slob is a really harsh word, I am a little messy but (that's a big BUT) I am messy where no one can see it. What I mean is, when I have a guest over I clean everything he or she will see, such as the kitchen, living room, dining room, and bathroom. That leaves the bedroom, which quite honestly, I could care less if it is messy. However, I know that Mr. Tal cares. He can stand a little mess, but he has asked me time and time again to organize the bedroom. He has also asked me to get the wedding stuff (the mountains and moutains of stuff) organized. He also thinks that organizing everything will help to create a calmer space for us to come home to, which I something I actually kind of agree with.

So this week, I am spending my time and energy organizing the bedroom and the rest of the house. I really want to get this place in order before the wedding and honeymoon so that I have a calming space among the craziness. It will be nice when we come home at night not to worry so much about organizing and cleaning, we can just relax together. It's also going to be a nice little suprise when Mr. Tal comes home from his buisness trip later this week.

How do you escape the craziness of the wedding? Is your home a calming space?

Tune in next time for more tales from a DIY bride.

The name song

(You know the one, Manda, Manda, fo-fanda, fi-fye, bo banda...so on and so forth.)

My whole life I have been Amanda Mylastname. My last name has always been misprounced, mispelled and generally a big mess. I thought when I was younger that I would change my last name when I got married, it seemed an easy choice. However, as I've grown, I've learned more about the world and become a not so angsty teenager who loves her family. I have learned to love my name, because it is part of me. I have also come to the realization that my dad's name will not live on, my sister's and I are the last in the Mylastname line. It makes me so sad and that all combines to make my decision to change my name harder.

The feminist in me says, keep your name! It is you! The traditionalist in me says take his last name! You want to be a family unit! The crazy side in me wants to make a new combined last name! It's a compromise!

It's insane all the different options I have. It is good that I have these options but it is frustrating as well. With the wedding right around the corner I know that I need to decide and I know what I am leaning towards. Mr. Tal has been amazing through this process, which hasn't brought out my warm fuzzy side. Conversations like this have taken place more than once: "Why don't you take my last name? Why should I have to bow down to traditional, sexist sandards?"  To which he sweetly replied, "Okay, that's fine." God bless him. He deals with my rants so well. I am leaning towards this combination: Amanda Mymiddlename Mylastname Hislastname having my last name be a second middle name, which Mr. Tal has sweetly agreed that if I ask him to, he will also take my last name as a second middle name. I haven't completely decided, it's really hard, I'll probably end up deciding on the honeymoon.

Have you had a hard time with the name change decision? What have you decided if anything?

Tune in next time for more tales from a DIY bride.

Third time is a charm

Seeing as yesterday I posted about vendor indecision, I decided to continue that theme with today's post.

Remember the first hair trial that lead to a second hair trial? I never really elaborated on what happened at that second hair trial. It went well, the stylist that did my hair was really nice and easy to talk to, they style was good, and the salon is great. Too good to be true of course. The nice people at the salon told me that they would only book us if we booked the entire bridal package for myself and my girls. That was $250 for me plus $99 for each girl. I kindly told the lady that ran the salon that I didn't need all the services offered in that package and neither did my girls. I failed to tell them that my parents were not about to lay down $500 to get myself and my two younger sisters pretty. I was in tears when I walked out. My mom and I went to lunch and talked about our options. I decided to call the salon and try to compromise. They problem with us and the salon is that they didn't want us taking over the salon just to get our hair done. So I asked if they would be willing to schedule us seperately. I waited a day for them to call me back and they said yes. However, when I told my maid of honor, she thought it was unacceptable for us to get ready seperately. I can't say that I disagree, I had always imagined my mom and my girls by my side while I got ready.

My maid of honor, my bestie, took it upon herself to call salons here (she is based about 3 hours away) in search of a place that would do our hair and allow us to be there together. I was so touched by this, it was a moment of above and beyond the call of duty. It only took her a day to find a place. She got quoted for every girl, she made sure they could get us out by 12:30, and she even scored us some food to snack on. Completely amazing. I had a trial there yesterday and the girl that did my hair was uh-mazing. By midnight last night after laying on my hair, head banging a little, walking around outside, only a few hairs were out of place, my hair looked fantastic. And no you don't get to see pictures, I'm leaving the final hairdo for my recaps.  I'm so happy that this is done and I don't have to worry about it anymore.

Anyone else have a 'maid step above and beyond? Were the results awesome?

Tune in next time for more tales from a DIY bride.

Hard Decisions

This post has been a long time coming, but we only finalized the, shall we say, finer details yesterday. I hinted earlier this week about the need for a second engagement shoot. The reason for this is that our new wedding photographer requires an engagement shoot with her before the wedding. Yes, you read that right, I said new. Let me elaborate a bit.

When we started looking into wedding stuff, we looked pre-ring because we knew we were on a tight schedule and budget. We found our first photographer pre-ring, which was also pre-wedding knowledge. I had no idea what I wanted or what wedding photography could be. I only had my parents wedding to reference at the time and things have changed a lot since then. Our first photographer is good, they were a couple that had been in the buisness for a long time and had great packages. The thing is that the more I looked at their wedding pictures on their site, the more doubt filled my mind. It is probably because I was starting to spent more time on Weddingbee and seeing more modern ideas of wedding photography. I fell in love with the photo-journalist type photos and I craved photography that was astoundingly out of my price range. By the time we had our engagement shoot in September, I was already having doubts, but I stuffed down those doubts and went through with our shoot. The shoot turned out good, but not great. I let other people talk me out of my doubts and my fears and convince me that the photographers I had were the rational choice. A word of advice to you ladies out there, go with your gut. Seriously, if you are having doubts there is a reason for it, don't shove those doubts aside, look closely at the reasons for those doubts and make choices that are best for you and your intended.

In January I decided to go with my gut and search for another photographer, one who had a more modern eye and feel. I still had a tight budget but Mr. Tal and I had discussed it and decided that maybe going a little over budget to have photographs that we loved would be worth it.  Every photographer that I had looked into before had insane prices and were way over my budget. Until I found her, it was like a light was sent down from heaven to surround my computer screen. I e-mailed her immediately and she built me a custom package within my budget. We met within a week and I was ready to cross the I's and dot the T's by the next morning when I got to look over an entire wedding she shot. I'm so happy that I decided to look again, because our photographer was still in the process of setting up her buisness when we started looking for wedding vendors. The hardest part of this decision was deciding to let go our first photographer, they are very nice people that are good at what they do, they just weren't what I wanted. I hate hurting people but it was a necessary evil in this case and I realize it was for the best.

Did you have an hard decisions when wedding planning? Do you think you made the right choice?

Tune in next time for more tales from a DIY bride.

WAIT!!!

If you could please pretend to have a Skeksis (from Dark Crystal) voice screaming that I would appreciate it.

I just got an e-mail from theknot.com reminding me that it's 2 months until the big day. Wait, what? Seriously? Umm, yeah, they are serious. Where has all the time gone? I mean it really seems like only yesterday Mr. Tal and I were discussing getting married and now it is getting down to the wire. It feels like we have so much to do still, combine that with two bridal showers and two bachelorette parties in March (Woot, woot seriously!) and our weekend time is really short. I feel a little bit crazed, a little nervous, and a little excited. I mean I'm only two months from my wedding day and my honeymoon (!!!), that to me is amazing and enthralling. I have to get my butt in shape, I have a million little things to do, but it is so worth it because in two months I will be Mr. Tal's wife. How cool is that?

I'll have some more engrossing post later this week, the e-mail from theknot.com just suprised me.

Tune in next time for more tales from a DIY bride.

Honoring Our Family

Mr. Tal and I already have a blended family. We have three wonderful, beautiful little girls.

Muhahahaha

I just had to share this blog. It's called Letters from a Pissed Off Bride and it makes me so (so, so, so, so) grateful that my in-laws are great and supportive, that my vendors are generally great, and that there is a lack of beeotch attitude. But it makes for a very interesting read and I find it entertaining so hopefully you do as well. Have a great weekend and a happy Valentine's Day!

Ding!

(Source)

Insert that over my head and you see what happens sometimes when I am in Hobby Lobby. I will be walking around browsing and I will see something and it just clicks. It's only happened about twice but when it does it is amazing.  I remember the first time it did I was walking through the wedding section and looking at the little floral nicknacks and it was like boom. I think it scared Mr. Tal when it happened.  I just started grabbing things and running around the store looking for all the things I needed for the guys' boutonnieres. The second time it happened was when I was looking for my own bouquet supplies. It just clicked and I bought all that I could for the project. Unfortunately, they didn't have all the flowers I needed at either Hobby Lobby and they didn't get any in the next two shipments. Luckily enough we went down to Columbus this past weekend to see Bestie and Mr. Tal's Brothers and Sis-in-Law which presented a perfect opportunity to check out the flowers at the local Hobby Lobby. They had the last of the supplies I needed for my bouquet, but I had to wait until I got home to put everything together.

Like I said, Monday was a crafting extravaganza for me and I cranked out my vision for my bouquet in no time flat. I actually did a mock up of the bouquet before I trimmed anything up to make sure it is what I wanted. After the mock up and a few "are you sure's?" and pictures, I took the bouquet apart and trimmed all the little extras off the silk flowers and took a few inches off the stalks. I re-assembled the bouquet piece by piece, using floral tape to secure each flower and make sure it didn't shift in the assembly process. I didn't actually take pictures of the assembly process because I got really engrossed in the process. However, I do have the end results and I think it is exactly what I was imagining when I first had the vision in Hobby Lobby.

I'm not entirely sold on the feathers, but only because they don't seem to cooperate. I like the idea of the feathers because I have feathers in my hair piece and the girls will have a small feather in their updos. If I can play with the feathers a bit and see if I can get 'em to fan out a bit. I also need to re-wrap the base with the ribbon and I'm not sold on the silver color, but you get the general idea.

Reader thoughts, comments, concerns?

Anyone else had a project vision that came to life like you imagined? Please share.

Tune in next time for more tales from a DIY bride.

A Home for the Hallmarks

Well, my blog still looks funny but I can't hold back any longer. I've been busy, busy, busy like a really big bee. The knot countdown has been making me a little nervous we are currently 66 days out and that just feels really close. I just can't procrastinate any longer. So yesterday I got my happy feet into Hobby Lobby and Michaels (a.k.a. my second homes) and got the last of the supplies to finish the card box, my bouquet, and one of the bridesmaids gifts. I cranked out the first two projects no problem, the third is taking a little longer because I have four to make. Anywho, without further ado, here is our card box:

This project was so easy that it was a little ridiculous. I got the metal greenhouse type thing (obviously that is the technical name, from here on out it will be known as the box) at Hobby Lobby a few weeks back. I knew it was perfect, especially when the original concept for the card box fell through. Originally I had two hat boxes that I bought in two sizes, the smaller one would be put on top of the larger one and the bottom of the small one and the top of the larger one would be cut out and they would be attached somehow. Well, I did it and it looked bad so it was back to the drawing board.

For this project, I bought the wooden letters and paint at Michaels and I had some floral wire already. All I did was paint the letters (dolphin grey) waited for them to dry. I took the dried letters and spaced them evenly across the front of the box, heated up the glue gun and glued the wire to the letters. I then slipped the wire ends through the sides of the box. The windows of the box are just a flexible plastic which are easy to push in if space is needed to put stuff (like wire) around the metal supports. Now I just need to figure out if we should prop the top open so people can just drop it in cards or if people can figure it out for themselves or if we should cut out the top roof panel. Thoughts anyone?

I really love how this card box looks, it's so rustic feeling and it looks great. I am actually happy that the original card box idea failed because this one is so much better.

Anyone else have a project failure turn into something better?

Tune in next time for more tales from a DIY bride.

P.S. Lauren- I turned on the comments, I think!

Technologically impaired...

Unlike Mr. Tal I am not handy with the coding and all the fancy schmancy internet savviness. I can make my way through the interwebs fairly easy and my blog is easy to manage because well, blogger does everything for you other than write the thing. Well I tried to be cute yesterday and find a great little layout that I could use so that my blog would be more customized. /I thought it would be easy because it had idiot proof directions. Hahaha, well it didn't work and now my blog is screwed up, everything is kind of screwy and I don't want to touch anything until Mr. Tal can come home and fix it. So, I'm off blogging for a bit until I can get everything back to normal here.

Tune in next time for more tales from a DIY bride.

Alternative to bridesmaid bouquet

When I decided to do something else other than a bouquet for the bridesmaids to carry, I had a lot of trouble finding things on the interweb, most ideas included fans and parisols and that doesn't exactly work with a spring wedding in Ohio, so I came up with my own alternative. I decided the girls would carry clutches but the clutches would have a silk flower corsage on the front of it so that it would have a bouquet look and feel but not be a bouquet. So here is what I came up with (I appologize for the crappy cell phone pictures, I don't have a camera right now):

Ridiculously simple but it looks nice. So here is what I did, but anyone could could create something very different, it's just a matter of what look you are trying to achieve. Here are the supplies I used:

Flower of my choosing taken off the stem, ostrich feather, floral tape, glue gun. Not picture is the bar pin that I glued onto the back of the flower once it was complete and the scissors. From here it was so easy. All I did was pinch a bit of the ostrich feather together and cut it off the main feather. Then I used hot glue and floral tape to secure the feather grouping together. From there I glued the grouping onto the back of the flower. I repeated this until I thought that the flower looked good. It was seriously that easy. Once I was done I glued the back of the flower to a bar pin, which in turn will be used to secure the flower to the clutch. Obviously there are so many options for this. You could use smaller flowers in a groups, add pearls, rhinestones, whatever. It's whatever you want and a great alternative to bouquets. Here's the clutch I used and the clutch with the flower attached:

This is the simple look I was going for, I could have just left the flower alone but I think the feathers add just a little bit of sass. The girls will then carry these either clutched in their hand  or by the strap that comes with the clutch, I'm not sure, I have to see someone else carry them and Mr. Tal isn't a willing volunteer. I think it will look nice and it is handy. I can make sure someone has some tissues for me! Best of all after the ceremony the girls can remove the flower and have a clutch to hold any necessities for the night.

Does anyone else have alternatives to bouquets? Please share, I'm sure I'm not alone in wanting something different.

Tune in next time for more tales from a DIY bride.

v(OW)s

Let me tell you a little secret, I am one of the shyest people ever. I dislike public speaking and I loath being the center of attention. Guess what? Weddings require both those things. If you have known me for a long time that is so not the case but if you just met me you would think that I am mute. I am just not a  big sharer, I guess you could say that I am fairly private with my feelings and thoughts. Well at least when it comes to talking. But when I write, oh, it is like a magic. Every thought, every feeling comes out on paper like pure poetry. When I write, everything can sound eloquent and beautiful, because I have the time to think about what I am saying and how I want to say it. My shyness does not translate into my writing.

I am so grateful that I get to write my own vows, grateful and terrified. Grateful because I get to choose my words to tell Mr. Tal how I feel. Terrified because even if I have the time to write out how I feel about Mr. Tal, I still have to say it aloud in front of people. If it were just him and me, then I would have no problem telling him how grateful I am that God brought him and I together, how blessed I feel to be able to share my life with his, and how much I love him. However, that is not the case, there will be a lot of people there, our families and friends. That is so not my scene. It makes me cringe and kind of want to cry. My hands get sweaty, my knees shake, and my mouth gets dry just thinking about it. If I thought that the traditional vows would be enough, I would be more than willing to just stick to those. As it is, Mr. Tal and I both agreed that writing our own vows in addition to reciting the traditonal vows would mean more to both of us. So now I am in the process of creating vows that capture the feelings I have for him perfectly. It is hard, more difficult that I could have imagined, but I think when the time comes the words will come out, albeit with a trembling voice, they will be beautiful.

Does anyone else have a problem with shyness? How does your shyness affect your life and big events?

Tune in next time for more tales from a DIY bride.

Dear David's Bridal,

Thank you for understanding that with happiness comes weight gain. Your alterations department is fabulous.

Love,
FMT

Like I mentioned on Friday, I had my first fitting at David's Bridal on Saturday. (Pause for girly squeals...and moving on) I was super excited, but also super nervous. You see, I ordered my dress last year, and when I ordered the dress I had asked for a size eight. The consultant reassured me that a six would fit me much better and so I believed her. Silly consultant, I know my body best. The six no longer fit. (I know, shock!) but I wasn't too worried about it, I thought taking it out just a smidge would fix it. Well, come to find out that they can't take my dress out, which I found out after my second hair trial on Wednesday, when I went in to see the hair with my dress. By this time I was preturbed with my consultant, but quickly found an eight on the rack and asked if we could trade my dress for the size eight. The nice David's Bridal people held it until my fitting on Saturday so that the seamstresses could have a look first and then decide. Well, at the actual fitting, the eight fit like a glove, whereas the six fit like a corset someone tied too tight. So they traded my dress out with no problems, it was awesome that they were so understanding. There were a few minor alterations and my bustle to pin, but it wasn't bad at all and the bustle is beautiful. I may post pictures after my next fitting so that all you dear people can get an idea of what my dress looks like, I'll just title the post "Mr. Tal buzz off". At the end of the day, I am so happy and grateful  that there was a very happy ending (or middle?) with my dress. To think about what might have happened had my mom and I not gone into David's after my hair trial gives me a little shiver down my spine. It was fate.

Any other readers had acts of fate work out for the best? Please share.

Tune in next time for more tales from a DIY bride.