After Wedding to-do list

during the final days leading up to the wedding, i started to notice that so much of my "normal", non-wedding planning life was on hold...  that got me thinking about what i wanted to do when i got back to life as usual.

well at that point i thought, piece of cake, life will resume once we get outta town and head to tahiti for our honeymoon... haha looking back now i laugh at how naive i was to think that relaxing in tahiti was "normal life" - give me a break!

here's us at the pinnacle of "non-normal life" at our rehearsal dinner

and here we are once again - recovering from the wedding weekend 

on our honeymoon in Bora Bora

we look pretty stress free right?

yes but i realize now that the wedding and then traveling to paradise to "relax" was really more the calm before the storm.

Life has become so crazy for the two of us - J is just preparing for 3rd year law school finals, and here i am with my crazy jobs and trying to run my jewelry & accessory business!

we recovered, then returned, and life never went back to life as we knew it ...

 so in an attempt to retain some type of normalcy i started a list that grows each week.  since i'm a list maker, it helps to know that i'm accomplishing things, no matter how small or trivial they seem - it's just nice to know we're getting things done!

I give you my after wedding to-do list: 

• go to Disneyland - 
• go on a date with J - check (although this is something i'd love to do weekly)
• spend quality time with friends & family - check
• go to the swap meet - 
• look into a business credit card (maybe not such a great idea given the current financial climate) -
• get our apartment organized - quasi check... with the exception of our study
• close out our wedding registries  - check (except Crate & Barrel)
• get holiday items posted in my etsy shop - check
• get caught up on my business blog - check
• get wedding thank you's written and sent - 1/2 check (still have 1/2 the list to go)
• get my credit card paid off - almost check =)
• spend time playing catch up with close friends - 1/2 check
• christmas shopping - almost check!

and the list goes on... did anyone else feel like much of their normal life had disappeared and long to rein it in once the big day had passed!

Recap: DIY Cocktail Napkins

after mastering my beloved gocco machine, i decided that i was going to take on making my personalized cocktail napkins for our wedding. i went to IKEA of all places to buy my napkins since they were having a blow out sale on these, i snatched them up for uber-cheap. i bought them in navy and white - and at that time i had planned on just repeating the pattern i used on the blue.

well needless to say, i got a little creative/ambitious and thought i'd incorporate our paisley pattern from our invitations on the white napkins... and i was really happy with the way they turned out. below is a candid from one of my bridesmaids, the napkins were sitting on the cake table... note to future brides: if you take on DIY projects, give a list to you photographer, i blew it on that, and therefore didn't end up with many photos of my DIY details.

the navy napkins had our sand dollar

Blair & Justus

August 2, 2008

all in metallic gold ink

below is a close up of our sand dollar image

above is our cake with the napkins next to it

here's a close up of the paisley napkins

and finally a shot from the design process: gocco'ing napkins means - very little counter space!

give me some time and you'll be able to view some client's custom cocktail napkins that i'll be posting on my company blog for an upcoming wedding... go to JoiedeVieJewelry.blogspot.com.

I'm back as a MRS

i know it's been quite some time since my last post... let me just say this:

planning a wedding consumes your life, i was barely able to keep up with my family, friends, and fiance... let alone set aside time to blog.  so, let me say i'm sorry for spending so much time away. and to those of you loyal readers - you'll be happy to know that the wedding recaps are about to begin!

i'll leave you with one of my favorite photos from our wedding... it was taken by our photographer - Michael Erdkamp of Memories by Michael.

if you'd like to see more of Michael's work from our wedding, he put together a slideshow of that day check it out here.

Under Pressure... sing it Queen

as my FI and i flew back from our Wedding Open House in SLC, we spent time discussing our 10 mile long to-do list.... which by the way we have 18 days or 2.5 weeks left!

 time to really buckle down.

the past 4 days wass the most time we've consecutively spent together maybe since our trip to Jackson Hole last summer when we got engaged! so, we used most of this past weekend to catch up on all of the "things" we've been meaning to talk about or forget to bring up - in relation to the wedding.

after talking and interupting each other mid thought so we wouldn't lose our own train of thought - it hit us that not only are we rapidly approaching our wedding date (duh!), we still have so many miles to cover on the journey to Aug 2nd.... not to mention we are trying to set up shop for our married lives together after that date... so it's wedding and marriage planning all rolled into one large rolling snowball. (i like visual imagery)

here's a brilliant yet totally lame idea i came up with to help keep me on track - rather than just a huge to-do list i made 3 to work from and i'm filling them in according to the week.

here's an example of a few things per week:

this week (before the bachelor party)

- get keys to apartment/ paint/ get utilities transfered

- get final hotel guest list for OOT Bags & order Bags

- go hunting for OOT goodies

- prep for crazy wedding workshop this weekend

next week (before my bachelorette party):

- finish bridal party gifts (since i'm such a DIY lady)

- make sure all my time off from work is taken care of

- empty my bank account - ie. pay all bills due while we are on our honeymoon

- finalize music & wedding weekend/ day of timeline and distribute to all vendors & bridal party members

week of wedding:

- no more DIY projects! must be complete before leaving for Vegas

- finish HM packing

- get floating rafts for HM =) so cheesy

- go crazy!  jk

it helped me to lay out the weeks this way... and now i'm starting to break down these lists into smaller ones i can use each day of those weeks.  for example the night before i have a game plan of what errands need to be run before or after work, so the next day i can not only conserve gas, but my time and sanity - which could be better used for another task!

do i sound insane or has anyone previously or is anyone currently in the state i am (not quite panic but on the verge)?  sorry for the ramblings of this tired lady, i'm cutting myself off and going to bed.... g'night

a fiance-free, no peeking kinda post

i really mean it...

 Justus - 

under

no

circumstance

 

do 

 

you 

want 

 

to 

go

past

this

point!

! 

!

!

   - ok i think i'm getting a little overboard here  =)

so my wedding dress is done... yippee! it's been done for a few weeks, this is one thing i'm proud to say didn't end up on the procrastination list! and if you know me, you know that's a huge deal

this post is really about my fabulous seamstress than my dress, but i threw in some ivory eye candy for those of you dying to see the dress.

so aside from standard alterations, i was having trouble with this :

in the above pic the fabric kept slouching on my torso (the one feature of my dress that i was not happy with)... not to worry, my fabulous seamstress Thanh fixed the problem!

Thanh works from her home and sews/recreates dresses, and also does alterations in the evenings as a hobby... but her talent is much greater than it should be for someone doing this as a hobby!

She showed us photos of designer dresses she has duplicated, and she's amazing... she is clearly one very gifted lady! 

i came to her as a referral from a friend of mine at work, and when she looked at me in my dress she knew exactly what to do! as when she ran through the laundry list of alterations my dress needed, my mom and i braced ourselves fearing for my wedding budget... but there was nothing to fear, not only did she finish all my insane alterations in 10 DAYS!!! she was so affordable!  so thank you toni for the recommendation.... you're a life saver.

here's the back view: she was showing us how the bustle would look once she was finished.

above: this is just and poor quality up close shot of my train and its details.

we were so impressed with Thanh that my mom dropped off all her materials last night for her to start work on her MOB dress!

have alterations been a breeze or a nightmare for any other brides?

also if you're in the LA/OC area and would like to contact Thanh, i'm happy to pass her info along!

is it too late to apologize?

so i haven't posted since last week... and i most likely will not post until after this weekend.

between our housing hunt, sinus problems, cough, phantom migraines, and this weekend's bridal expo (which i will be a vendor at not a bride to be)... i need a blogging break! maybe i was a tad bit ambitious or crazy to load up my plate with so much during this wedding planning crunch, but that's just what i do!

so, for the sake of my health and sanity, sorry for the delay, but i will be back on the air soon! and between you and me, let's hope i don't post because that'll mean i'm getting distracted from my bridal show prep work.... speaking of, i think this post has been long enough!

b

Hoop Dreams....

on wednesday i went looking at housing options with my parents (since FI is so busy in the office 12 hours a day).  we looked all around in old town orange, since my FI will be finishing his last year at Chapman Law we thought it might be a good idea to live near campus, plus all the cute little craftsman bungalows are to die for!

first we checked out 2 "places" (i won't call them homes) that the University had to offer us, and to be totally truthful, they just aren't the nest i had envisioned for us to live.  

just after viewing these 2 non-options my parents suggested we pray about this housing situation, and my dad and i continued to look for rental signs in the area.

then while driving the neighborhood.... my dad and i called a sign on an adorable gem which was for sale.... not that we will be in a position to buy when we get married, but since i'm a Realtor, we could go in and check out the house!

here it is:

my car would match the house so well! =)

it has so much charm, and is so suited to our taste, that i asked the owner if they would consider leasing it - and they said it could be a possibility....

here's the adorable kitchen with stainless appliances and a farmhouse kitchen sink!

a little breakfast nook off the kitchen where the current owner (a recent law grad) has his study office all set up!

the bathroom with wainscoting on the walls!

last but not least - the yard which would be great for warm summer night BBQ's

this is where i need to come back down to earth... it's for sale, and there's no way we could afford to buy anything even though the market is so low right now.  the owner did say that they would consider leasing it to us, since they love the home and quasi know my fiance... there might be hope!

but if those of you reading this could pray that the owners would consider the lease option for us, it would be a real blessing to live this close to Chapman and in such an amazing place!

any other soon - to - be - newlyweds out there struggling to find their perfect place to call home?

random school spirit?

so i was cruising around on etsy.... not really looking for garters but found the GarterLady shop. after browsing through many of the handmade garters, many of which were team garters... i laughed and thought if only she had an SC Trojans one... 

uh- oh... now that i've found one, i don't know what to do....

very tempting to make this my toss garter and my way of tying in our alma mater....

maybe i shouldn't think about this too much.... but most of our single guys are trojans.... 

am i crazy to even consider this idea?

refreshments

since i am the queen of arriving to an event on what is called california time, we are helping guests out by telling them to arrive just a smidge earlier than they really need to be at the ceremony, that way the ceremony can start at the "secret" scheduled time! wink... while the guests are waiting and chatting we thought it would be nice to provide refreshments since it will be August in CA and about 90 degrees!  above is a photo i found while scouring many wedding photog's blogs in the early planning stages.  

when i started looking for dispensers for our pre-ceremony refreshments, i came across this online company, who had this dispenser featured in Redbook magazine.

these are made by infusion jars

above is the style i'm thinking about ordering, it's called the Messina Jar

when i do finally decide which one to order, i'm getting 2 jars, my mom said after the wedding it'll be one for me, one for her! =)

i also think i'll be switching out the spigot and upgrading to this user friendly chrome one.

i also haven't decided if the dispensers need a stand to sit up off the table, or if it's not necessary.

i do know that my new gocco'd cocktail napkins will be on the table with the beverages... more on the napkins later....

now what to fill the dispensers with...???

i was thinking ice water in one with slices of lemon, lime, and orange wedges,

the other, maybe some sort of blueberry lemonade with blueberries and sliced lemons.

now i just need to find a good recipe for the lemonade!

is anyone else concerned about their guest' pre-ceremony experience? and if you could help me get my hands on some lemonade/ with blueberry recipes, i would be ever so grateful!

image sources: 1 - 2 - 5 

let's hear it for the boys

when i started wedding planning, i had a vision for the boys to wear something very nautical, such a this - 

navy blazers with a khaki pant

sorry, i managed to loose track of which knottie bio this photo was from

cue the record scratch-------- not in this lifetime, my fiance wants to wear a tux he says!

so for the past few months we've been duking it out about nautical vs. formal attire.

and let's just say, i let him win this one, since he did make a valid point: it is his wedding day too, and he'd like to wear something special, like a tux.

 (plus i'm growing less and less interested in decision making as the wedding approaches) 

a place i never thought i'd find myself!

after a failed attempt at MTux (Men's Warehouse's tux store) we tried again at the South Coast Plaza Friar Tux shop... and we were pleasantly surprised by the attentiveness and actual knowledge of the sales guys. 

here's FI looking very dapper in tux coat #1 - a look i like to call California Casual (lame joke)

(this was the most expensive, of course, the guy has expensive taste)

man, i'm really diggin' the shorts and RVCA shirt with the jacket!

look #2  - the skinny/ shinny lapel - this option was quickly ditched for option #1

he appears to not like this paparazzi style of documenting this wedding errand

now for the rest of my groom and his entourage's attire...

i really love the way this groom tied his shirt and tie in with the wedding's color pallet, it also helps dress down the fact that he's wearing a tux 

(i like this idea, i just think a tux is too formal for our wedding)

just to refresh your memory, we have some very bright BM's dresses we're working with here

sorry this dress is no longer available at Jcrew

here are the 2 most "creative" ties offered for rent at Friar Tux, 

which work with our color scheme...

the paisley - we are thinking will be the GM's ties, unless we find something better

and here is the stripe and dotted tie for senior groom, 

and like the GM's this will be his tie unless we find something better

now about that something better.... ideally, we'd love to get the guys ties that they can keep... and maybe have a custom tag sewn into it with the date or our names to personalize it.

in my dreams (from L to R, CW) are the best ties for our wedding, according to my internet hunting! =)

1, 2, 3, 4, 5

four of these ties are made by Thomas Pink, if you haven't heard of him... oh, he has great menswear, but not a cheap price tag! 

i never thought there would be so many elements to picking out what the guys will wear... has anyone else found themselves caring a whole lot more about the guys' attire than they thought the ever would?

showered with butterflies and other beautiful things

ce'leigh, this post is for you, i know you have been waiting ever so patiently! =)

last month i posted about the invitations and inspiration for my bridal shower, which my sis-in-law and 2 bridesmaids were hosting.  the photo i gave the girls was straight from martha stewart, of course, but boy i had no idea how beautifully they would adapt the concept for my shower.  here are the fruits of their labor of love:

above: they set a long table, and at each setting they placed a butterfly notecard which all the guests self addressed, so i could use them to send them shower thank you notes. (sorry folks, i'm lagging in that department at the moment) handing above the table with white paper lanterns with colorful butterflies attached to them.

down the center of the table were potted hydrangea which had long sticks with butterflies on them coming out of the flowers.

here's everyone seated for brunch below

side note: my bro & sis were awesome to open up their home for this shin-dig, even though the backyard is still in the process of completion, it made a great backdrop for the event!

two of the hostesses

the other hostess, SIL Lisa, scoping out the food levels no doubt! 

(she's the one in the white dress) =)

my bro & sis looking on from the door to make sure things are sailing smoothly.

here's a montage of all the food goodies (since we all know i love food!)

starting top left going clockwise:

1 - serving table with more butterfly lanterns, finger sandwiches, 

quiche, fresh fruit salad, and mimosas.

2 & 3 - the awesome cake and mini cakes 

4 - the desert & coffee table (such pretty colors)

5 - my absolute favorite photo of the lanterns - i love how bright and airy they look!

6 - the game we didn't get to play (the ladies were supposed to guess my age in each photo)

just before the gift opening begins...

the Schron ladies discussing my bedding which SIL is making since among other things she's a interior designer and fabulous seamstress - what can't that woman do?

ok and the random expressions montage....

1 - i like the photo album, i promise, i think it was more a face of not wanting to take pics with each gift?

2 - hand cross-stiched gift from grams, no idea why i was laughing so?

3 - this is either me saying "yessss!" about the pillows or showing my army press form?

mommy and me photo op, crazy, i really do think we look a lot alike

here's one of my many super cute gifts - a door mat that say's "welcome to our love nest" - way to go Mich with this off-the-registry pick!

everyone horsing around for group photos 

some of my mamsita's friends from work, i'm so glad they could all make it!

from left - right: my MOH, Wendy and her mom who flew in from Chicago!

BM, Erin and her mom

and of course mom and i

a note about the butterflies: Jess apparently cut, by hand, over 400 BUTTERFLIES!!!! which 

A) i wouldn't have the patience for and 

B) think i would've gone cross-eyed after staring at so many of them! 

So thanks Jess... and Ce'leigh, and Lisa for all the hard work, it came together beautifully and i know everyone, especially me enjoyed the day!

pardon my absence

this past week has been pretty crazy, i didn't think it would take me this long to get back online to post about everything... but unfortunately it has.

here's what you'll have to look forward to:

the 1st batch of invites went out this past week: that means i can officially share them online

my close friend's bachelorette party: my DIY favors i made for the girls (gocco'ing on fabric)

my 2nd bridal shower: probably one of the most amazing and absolutely beautiful showers i've ever attended (and i'm not just saying that because it was my own). =)

my FI's tux shopping adventure: boys don't like shopping..... let's just say that

bachelorette party #1

well we're heading out to las vegas for my good friend's bachelorette party this weekend!

i hope we have smooth sailing on the drive out.... i'll update with photos when we get back...

have a great weekend everyone!

showered with love, laughter and lace

(l - r: michelle, bm - erin, bm - meagan, me, moh - wendy, bm - shayna)

this past sunday, my high school friends/bridesmaids hosted my lingerie shower.  it was a really fun couple of hours.  and since i'm a counry girl at heart it had a western theme to it, from the decor, to the invites, and even the food! 

what's a lingerie shower you might ask? well, everyone showers the bride to be with pjs, lingerie, and other things for the honeymoon and married life.  thankfully my friends know me well (and i asked them to spread the word) and they kept it very tame!  after my maid of honor's lingerie shower, i realized i might be mortified if some of the items that surfaced at her's, showed up at mine.  thankfully everything was classy and 

 modest just the way i had hoped it'd be! =)

above is my SIL's picture perfect ribbon bouquet creation!

a glance of the gifted goodies... they were all so pretty and colorful 

(and i'm talking about the wrapping)!

the FOOD!

i love food and i love deserts, unfortunately, i didn't make much of a dent in the ones at the shower. so sad... we had a salad bar with all the fixin's for a southwestern salad and sweet pepper corn bread (which i need the recipe for), and homemade brownies, and my BM Shayna's famous sugar cookies to match the theme in cacti and cowboy hats!

also - you'll see those buckets above again, i will be using them for potted hydrangea  throughout the wedding decor - they sell for $.97 at Wal Mart! this is just another way i can recycle them after the wedding.... hmm

below: me trying to enjoy the great lunch right as i was told it was time to go inside so they could "grill" me with questions...... 

loving my forehead wrinkles...eeshh

k so i went from stuffing my face with food - to bazooka bubblegum!

let me explain: wendy, my MOH, called my FI earlier in the week and asked him 20+ questions about a variety of things - which she explained she was going to grill me with in front of everyone at the shower!  for each i answered incorrectly i had to chew a piece of gum.... 

the pressure was on!

there were a few "trick" questions, which i called my FI out on after the shower, but wendy still made me take the gum, even though my FI told her wrong answers (i'm just a little competitive, can you tell?)  for example: what day did you and Blair meet?  i said the second week in May, 2002 - well he told her May 5, 2002... we most certainly didn't meet on cinco de mayo, and i know that for a fact! what i do know is we met during the second week USC's spring finals.... o'well...

so glad to get rid of the gum!  so much for my clean feeling teeth... oh and i ended up with 6 pieces of gum to chew... and a very unsuccessful bubble blowing attempt

 (for which i will spare you the photos)

here's BM shayna, the semi - pro photog, and if it wasn't for her i wouldn't have any of these pics - thanks shay!!!

this apron is absolutely ADORABLE! it has little sea-horses (matches our soon to be nautical themed home), has ruffles, and little bows on the pockets too!  and you must be wondering why an apron at a lingerie shower?... well... it's what my friend's mom told me is "lingerie for the kitchen", i kid you not!   

kristin - a febuary bride, next up after me, and the winner of our clothes-pin wedding taboo game!

clearly i'm a big fan of this one, so cute with all the little ruffles.... although my face isn't totally convincing, it was one of my favs after trying it on - thanks cels!

ok so here's the kicker:  my FMIL couldn't make it to the shower, she lives in salt lake city, but she did send a fabulous lingerie item which i opened at the very end.... what was it????

oh Hanes Her Way High Waisted Briefs...... 

**crickets chirping**

just as i was about to die to show them to anyone.... i discovered a note in the card from her saying "just kidding about the first gift" and a Victoria's Secret gift card.... oh heart attack over!

this is also the reason for the laughter in the photo above and the next 3!

phew...

above: the look on rochelle's face (bottom right) 

says it all when we discovered it was a gag gift! =)

the most special part of having a shower of this nature is to celebrate what my FI and i have( well actually have not) done in our relationship.... we're saving ourselves for marriage.  i'm not trying to toot my own horn, but the fact that we've done this at the age of 25 is really somthing to celebrate with a lingerie shower!

so thanks to everyone who made the shower so much fun, and for celebrating this milestone with me!

all the girls after the party

the high school friends again, hamin' it up

** new trend for the ribbon bouquet: my fair lady hat... naahhh that'll never fly**