Wedding Supplies everywhere!!

I've noticed lately that every store I go into seems to have a big display of wedding items!! Today I ran into The Dollar Tree to buy some ballons and candy for school (we're throwing a surprise party tomorrow for one of my students who is a leap year baby!! he'll be 3! Shhhhhh!!), and noticed they have a whole half an aisle of stuff! They actually had some decent DIY invitaion stuff! Not the kind I want (Mine just has to have some blue!) but they had lots of extra letters/designs that you could add to the invitations!

Even Dollar General has an aisle of stuff! I saw the cutest silver confetti that's in the shape of teeny hearts and diamond rings!!

I've also seen cute stuff at Walmart- especially the bachelorette party stuff!! I absolutely cannot wait for my bachelorette party!! Glad I have a few friends I can trust to keep the rest out of trouble!! :o) I love all the pink stuff! Even though  my wedding is blue-themed, I def want the pink stuff for the party supplies!! They also have lots of similar stuff/some of the same stuff at Party City.

 



Speaking of decorations, etc.....I had the WORST dream last night!! I've been thinking a LOT obviously about decorating lately, and last night I dreamt about my wedding reception. It was AWFUL!!! These lanterns appeared in the dream....



But they were opened, the candle was in the lid and the lantern part was filled with weird blue rocks! And the tablecloths had these weird brown, orange and red stripes. The entire room was filled with primary colored mylar, heart shaped ballons like this...



And instead of a cake (which apparently I'd failed to tell my friend Jen- who really IS making the cake- what I wanted!), I had teirs of cinnamon rolls and other breakfast type pastries!

I was so horrified by it all that I ran frantically throughout the room popping all the ballons while jumping in my dress, and didn't hardly eat a thing or talk to anyone at the reception...and it was all over!!

It was such a real dream that I woke up thinking it had really happened and wanted to immediately call the director of the country club and tell her what I thought about her awful work!! Which is really funny, because I've already seen how well she does and how she follows just what her client wants- and that's one of the reasons we chose Old Natchez Country Club!!

Thankfully, it WAS a dream and my wedding will be nothing like that!!!

Snow day!! = Extra wedding planning time!!

Don't laugh if you're from up north! This is a big deal here! Along with all the ice that comes with it!!

The view from my fiance's truck is much more impressive!!



I thought today would just be another one of those days where no matter how hard I hope and pray that my school (where I teach Spanish!) would be out today....it just won't happen!! In FIVE years of teaching, we've had ONE snow day......until today!!! :o)  No matter how much I know that we most likely won't get out of school- a girl can still dream!! It's like being a kid all over again!! And today, this girl's dream came true!! Haha!! I didn't believe it at first....and neither did my friend Jen who I sent a text message to when I saw she was out of school too (and good thing because she doesn't have a TV in her new house!!). We know it's a BIG deal when our two schools get out!! A HUGE deal!! It almost NEVER happens!!

So, I'm excited to have a day to do nothing at all....but of course, I'll actually do lots!! Now that I have a place for the wedding, I can start searching for more details!!

Like these which I need to order....



And holy crap!! Just realized they discounted them even more!! These are $29.88- final sale from Ann Taylor Celebration's Collection...They don't have many sizes left, but I've already ordered one, along with sashes (which are $5.44 clearance!) and this color actually looks closer to this (navy sash, separate!).



They do have several sizes in this color......



Ann Taylor currently has some cute dresses in store....but I wasn't a big fan of how the weird silk kind of made you look a little frumpy when you actually put it on! The designs are adorable though! In this pic, the material looks like the same silk as the ones above, but it isn't! It's actually made of silk dupioni- if that means anything to you!! It wouldn't to me if I hadn't seen it!



They also have tons of other dresses on clearance that you can see here.

Ok....time to step away and do some school work (so thankful for the snow day because I don't know when I was going to find time to prepare lessons for March this week!!), and then maybe relax a bit....after I order the dresses, of course!! :o) If they happen to not work out.....I can always cut them up to use another way!! :o) You could make dresses this cheap!!

You might even see another post from me today!! :o)

My current ABSOLUTE FAVORITE!!!

I am sooooo happy, excited.....thrilled....pleased beyond words to ACTUALLY HAVE a church and a date for my wedding!!!! I won't announce the date on here!! :o) If you know me...you already or will soon know!! But it is going to be at St. Paul's Community Church in Green Hills area of Nashville!!! It is a gorgeous church!!!! Center aisle....big windows, white walls and pews and blue carpet!! It's just about the perfect size! Although the reception might be a bit tight in their fellowship hall- that will just make it even more fun!!  We're also having a very SMALL- just family dinner afterwards at Old Natchez Country Club which is just down the road!!

I was squealing with joy today to actually have an answer to all the questions about when and where our wedding will be!! Ray is also thrilled beyond words!! He hasn't seen the church, but has seen lots of pictures and he loves churches with just two rows of straight pews facing front. It's so cute!!! And the outside is beautiful too!! I have picures but can't post them right now as I don't have my cord with me to connect my camera!! But I will post them tomorrow!! YAY!!! I'm soooo excited!!

And I *might* have picked out bridesmaids dresses, which is the other big thing I've been fretting over!! Here are the colors....



Although, the sea blue color is actually more blue than it's showing up!! I got a GREAT deal on the dresses that I will share soon!!

More fun finds at Kohl's!

So, I wrote the other day about how I found these adorable lanterns at Kohl's.....



Well, my mom scooped up the last 4 in the Hermitage Kohl's while I bought out the Cool Spring's Kohl's, and she went back to look the next day and noticed they were 50% off!! They're totally out of them at both Kohl's- but if they had them, they'd be 50% off! So even though we got them at about $25...down from $35....we were both able to take our receipts back and get them for $17.50 each!!! Hopefully, they'll get more in, but if you like them....just make sure you go to a different one!!

When I went today to get my refund, I walked past the place I'd found them just to check if they had any more...they didn't, but I did see these adorable things that are also centerpiece possibilities!! I think they are too dark/not really the look I'm going for...however they are adorable! Here's some pics I snagged with my phone! Sorry they aren't clearer!







And then I saw these totally adorable picture frames....and matching bride/bridesmaid bags! (which I was surprised to find in the photo section!) The collection is called "Always & Forever" and they have totally sweet photo albums, picture frames, luggage tags, and make-up bags in brown and pink or brown and cream.  They say things like "We said yes", "Me and my maids", "Honeymooners", "Girl's night out" and on the make-up bags- Bride and Bridesmaid, of course! Totally cute!! I had to refrain from snagging them all....especially since I had to hurry to go meet my mom to pick up a bridesmaid dress I'd ordered (to try out!!).

Here's some more pics from my lovely camera phone!!

Bride/Bridesmaid bags, and Honeymooner luggage tags



Photo frames and albums



I think the Honeymooner luggage tags are my faves!! I'm already planning to make bags for myself and bridesmaids, or I'd scoop these up!! :o) You never know what you can find when you are browsing through your favorite stores!! :o)

**ALL of the things in this post are currently 50% off at Kohl's as of 2/26/08....and hopefully will be for awhile longer!!**

Fun finds at Walmart!

I know some people hate it....and yes, I like other stores better than Walmart, but sometimes you just CAN'T beat the deals there!! Today my mom and I went shopping for some plants! I'd seen some palm trees on sale for $10 and wanted to check them out- to see how good they were AND to see if they'd last until July!! Well, they only had 3 left, and they were just ok, but they have a 1 yr. guarantee so if they did die or something, we could get more! AND they said that they should be getting more in soon!  We decided to just wait and get some closer to time, but did find some adorable tropical looking plants that could be great for ceremony or reception!

They had pineapple ones similar to this pic that were super cute!



And some like this...



 Sorry I can't tell you the names! But they really weren't that expensive! And I'm sure that you can find cute ones somewhere else too! I can't find a picture of the bigger ones (should've taken a pic myself!), but they would be great to put on the altar during the ceremony!

After we got done looking at plants, I noticed some great vases on clearance for $.75!! Wow, how great is that??!! So I bought 8! Figured I can alternate them with the tables with lanterns maybe?? Here's what they look like....



And I'll either do something like this...



Or something along these lines.....This vase that I already had is exactly like the ones I just bought....I'd put sand in it, then a tall candle in the middle, then dropped seashells along the sides...It looked better before it melted down and around the shells, which you can't really even see anymore! I'd do something like this but BLUE definitely not orange!! :o)



I love that while I'm out shopping for nothing wedding related, or something wedding related but completely different...I'm running into all this great stuff! :o)

And an update on other plans--- I've picked out a church YAY!! Just waiting to see if they are available when I need them- so more on that later as soon as I hear back from them....AND I might have found my bridesmaid dresses!! Whoooohooo! Things are looking up!! Let's just hope it stays that way!! :o)

Unity ceremony

I love the idea of unity ceremonies at weddings. They represent an important and lasting bond. I do like the traditional unity candle.....BUT I do think it is overdone, and haven't really had a desire to do it myself! My brother, Craig,  and his wife got married in Aug. of 2006 and used unity cords. It was pretty fitting for them, since they are more of "outside of the box" type people. I don't want to copy them, but also wanted something different.

This is right after they braided the cord. You can see it behind them as they spend a sweet moment afterwards. (You'd probably see me too, behind them, if it wasn't for the pole!!)



Then in one of my many visits to The Knot, I came across this....



It's a Unity Sand Ceremony Kit! Looked PERFECT for me....especially since this one has MY colors AND sand- great for the semi-beach thing!!! I thought it was something brand-new....but apparently it's only brand new to me! When I mentioned it to my mom she said "Oh yeah! They had that at the wedding we went to just the other day!" Well...I guess I'd better get in on it before it's as over-used as the candles!!  I'll probably make a DIY version of it. Basically the white sand represents the spiritual foundation, then the two colors represent each of you, and they mix at the top to represent the two families coming together. I thought it be neat to have the officiant pour in the bottom layer, our mothers (maybe with dads) do the other two layers, and then have Ray and I pour and mix it in the top along with our officiant pouring the spiritual layer again. Now that I've been searching online for it, I see there are lots of ways to do it...I like my idea for me though!

Speaking of the unity candle...I just have to mention how funny my best friend is! At her wedding last Sept., she and her hubby Adam, lit the unity candle, set their individual candles down and kept them lit! :o) To me...it was rather amusing! Kerri is what Jennifer Lopez as the Wedding Planner would say- "N.I.D." not-into-details, which is usually the groom's role, but at times, my BFF takes on more characteristics typical of a boy! She'd never even thought about needing to blow out the candles. At least it was some amusement for me as I stood tortured by the torn ligament in my foot which had just come out of a cast 5 days before the wedding AHH! It was even funnier when the pastor said something to the effect of "Now that you have lit the unity candle to start your new life together and blown out the candles that represent your past..." Hehe....I had some good giggles to myself!

Here's a pic of Kerri, Meredith (her sis), and myself in the chapel on Bald Head Island, NC just after the wedding. If you look at the tapered candle in the background....still lit!! (BEAUTIFUL place to get married by the way, if you are into destination weddings!!)

Starting my beach theme!

If you know me at all...you know two things for sure- I love the beach and I love the color blue!! Therefore, these two things are going to be part of my wedding theme, of course! Since we're no where near the beach and it's pretty impossible for me to do a true beach wedding if I want lots of people to come, I've decided to subtly decorate with classy, sophisticated ocean tones and accessories! I haven't gathered much yet, but am thinking pretty shades of blue, seashells, and sand.

My apartment has been a big source of inspiration. It's my oasis from the crazy world filled with beach pictures, real and artsy ones, shades of blue and brown, and seashells abound! I created a couple of these awhile ago, and thought about doing them on a bigger/better scale for table centerpieces at my wedding.....



Then last night on my way home from spending lots of time brainstorming with Chaundra about wedding plans...and asking all FIVE of her kids to be in my wedding (Gabby, age 3, promptly said "No!" when I asked her to be the flowergirl, but after I explained what that meant, she said, "Ok!"), I decided to shop at Kohl's! Partly to remind myself that I can- because I don't have 5 kids tagging along with me, and partly to search out their special deals for the early bird/nightowl specials going on this weekend (you know...in case there was anything wedding related!!). I'm as about as obsessed with their clearance as I am with Target's. Maybe even more so, which is why I'd avoided going for a long time- I can't go without scouring the whole store for something on sale/clearance!!

To my surprise, I came across the PERFECT wedding centerpieces!! They totally fit my original idea- but also surprisingly another object I've seen and loved, but didn't know how to make them work together! I've loved the "wrought-iron" lanterns I've seen lately, but didn't know if they would fit with my theme!! Well, these aren't wrought iron but are  perfect....AND come with sand, shells, AND candle!! They're on sale too! At $25 each, I'm probably saving myself a lot of time finding each different element separate! I probably would've wanted one even if they weren't on clearance...but knowing me, I'd have waited to see if they stuck around until clearance time! Instead, armed with a new debit card for my wedding account, I promptly called my mom to share the great find (and ask her to search her Kohl's for more!), and then headed for a shopping cart and loaded up all 4 that they had!!

In the package-



Had to take it out as soon as I got home....it was all neat and orderly!



Here's what the stuff inside looked like. The sand looks a little more like salt (the margarita kind) but it should work! It actually looks better than what it looks like in the pic!!



So...here's to actually getting something accomplished this week!! I've got my dress, and my centerpieces picked out and that's about it!! I have soooo many ideas, but I haven't been able to find that perfect place for the wedding, or the perfect dresses for my maids!! After those two things, it should make lots of the other pieces easy!

Hopefully, I'll find more of these lanterns to actually use one on each table, but even if not- I'll still use them in some way at the reception and/or wedding!! :o) So exciting!

**Update Sun. Feb. 24th** My mom went to the Kohl's near her yesterday and bought 4 more!! So we should just need 4 more to have enough for the tables. If we don't find more or end up with more tables, we'll just use something else,maybe closer to the original idea on the rest of the tables! I think spending $300 on these is plenty!! :o)

Scrapbooking!

I am currently obsessed with (among other things!!) searching for wedding scrapbook items! I have been collecting things for awhile now to do some stuff for friends, and now I get to do something for myself!! I have spent countless trips to Target, JoAnn's and many other places, searching for sales and clearance items- because I just refuse to pay so much for stickers and paper!!

Just yesterday, I found some cute stuff at Target that was on clearance! I have a secret love affair with Target clearance shopping! I'm addicted! I love shopping the aisle end caps that are piled up with lots of stuff I don't need, but totally want! And peeking down the aisles looking for those magical little red signs sticking out to indicate an item I just have to have because it's just so cheap!

I also found some great paper that included some stickers at Target awhile back...there were lots of themes, like wedding, mod theme, baby themes, and lots more. A huge stack of paper and lots of cute stickers for only about $4.50!! I went nuts! Just wish I'd gone a little MORE nuts because they were up to $6 something a few weeks later at another Target...and yesterday there were none on clearance. But I'm pretty sure I have more than enough!! Now it's time for me to get started on some projects!!

I've also found that sometimes you can get cute stuff at The Dollar Tree and Dollar General. JoAnn's has the BEST selection, and is good when they have all their scrapbooking stuff 40% off! They have some ADORABLE bride stuff!!

I'm also loving the ideas for wedding scrapbooks as guest-books, or taking Polaroid pics or photo-booth pics at receptions to put in a keepsake book, or as another type of guest-book! I think it's an adorable idea!! Not sure I'll be creative enough by then to make one as a guest-book myself, but I'm thinking of doing Polaroids to have people place on already made pages, which they can then sign! Like this cute idea from the DIY stuff on Style Me Pretty.



I'm thinking about doing something similar...especially since I know a great lady who just happens to still be in love with Polaroids!! That would be my grams!! :o) That would be one of the things she'd write about if she had a blog about her "favorite things" (that is if she knew how to use a computer!!) She adores her ancient Polaroid camera and how quickly she gets the pictures.....and I have to admit...although I'm much more a fan of the "new" (hehe) digital camera, it does take forever to hook up the camera, download the pictures, edit them, then print-- if you ever get around to it!! I've currently got all my pics online, but am backed up to Sept. '07 from of things I need to print out!! Wait...let's make that last Aug since I've only printed out pictures of my Mexico trip just for Ray- none for me! And it's true...Polaroids are super fast!! (albeit not great quality!) I think it would make Grams happy if I asked for her camera!! :o) But if I have any extra money in the wedding budget (ha!!) I think an even better idea would be to rent a photo-booth!!

My wonderful Grams!!

 

My fab Target finds! These are ones I'm keepin for myself!! :o) Love the blue colors!! (and the orange price stickers!!)

Bridal wear

I'm so excited that its finally my turn to be able to buy/wear all of this cute stuff that's out for brides right now! All the cute tanks that say "Bride" and the matching jackets, underwear, bags....the list goes on and on!! It's sooooo expensive though!!! At least it's much cuter than the old plain white t-shirts that just said BRIDE in black!

This stuff from Selah is super cute!!! For my tastes, it still cost a lot (I'm the queen of cheap and hate paying full price!)! however, it is some of the cheapest stuff I've seen out there! They have lots of accessories too! (And if you're interested in them, check out the ABG blog for a discount. I'm also in love with the new stuff that comes in blue (my fave color!!) from Victoria's Secret! I love the pink stuff you see so often, but am very fond of this new blue idea!! (Note- the stuff on the website may be different from in stores- it seemed more blue in the store and possibly different! Either way, its still darling!!

With the price tags on this stuff, I could end up spending a fortune on stuff I'll only need for a little while!! Yipes!! Maybe I can talk Chaundra into designing a bridal line! She already makes great monogramed bags, how hard could putting "Bride" on it be?!! Or on a tank top??!! :o)

My Baby Bro

This is a little more serious than I intended my posts to be, but today and ALWAYS one of my favorite things is my baby brother! Everyone is FINE, but they gave us quite a scare today after he, his wife and baby-t0-be were in a car accident last night up in Michigan after skidding on ice! Craig has really overworked his angels in that department, but THANK GOD he was given good ones!!! All are safe and sound back at home- and baby Mac is fine!!

This leads me to post today that one of my all-time IMPORTANT favorite things is being a sister and an aunt! I already have 2 fantastic nieces, and can't wait to meet my nephew in a few short months!! I love playing with them and spoiling the babies (the older ones are spoiled enough already on their own!! haha!!). And I LOVE being a sister!!! From the time my baby bro came home from the hospital and I said "Hi, baby, nice baby..my baby!" while 'petting' him to meeting my older brother for the first time, what seems like AGES ago!! I love them both dearly!!!

I also LOVE the fact that I finally have sisters (in-law!!). They are fantastic!! And in a few short months, I'm going to be even more of an aunt and sister, with 2 new brothers (in-law!) and 3 new nephews and a niece after Ray and I get married!! I've already started to insist that they call me Aunt Stacey-- because it was Miss Stacey for a long time- which hey is nice and respectful and all, but I'm going to be their AUNT!! :o) Yay!!

Here's some family pics!!

 Brothers, sister-in-laws, and nieces!!



 Fiance and future nephews!!

Confetti fun!!

I've always been a huge fan of confetti! You can usually find me with some crazy assortment of it that I've recycled and used again and again! I used to put it in letters I used to exchange with Becca- my old best friend in KY and ...the kind that was really just teeny bits of cut up paper, so when she opened them the confetti would dump out all over her!! She often re-payed me by sending the exact confetti back in a return letter!!

Just this past weekend, I gained a new obsession- custom made confetti by Designs in Paper which is a local, Nashville company. I'd seen Ashley raving about it on her website, and Sunday saw it in person! It's amazing!! It's the cutest stuff!! They make it with a couple's names, monograms....just about anything you can imagine!! Kelley was with me at the Perfect Wedding Guide show and saw a piece that said "Michelle and Todd" which just happens to be the names of her best friend from college and most likely "soon-to-be" fiance! They were so nice and let Kelley take that piece with her to give to Michelle! They also passed out these ADORABLE pins that said "The Future Mrs. H" or whatever the initial of your future last name! I proudly pinned mine to my purse to show it off....only to discover last night that I'd lost it!!! Waaahhhh!! Here's hoping they're at another show soon so I can get another one!!!

Even though I probably won't order invitations through them, I am definitely and strongly considering the confetti! Maybe with "Stacey and Ray" and the date or maybe hibiscus flowers?? :o) I wish I could afford their invitations, but I want something very basic and simple that I'll probably do myself- after all, who's going to keep it but me and my mom!!

Take a peek at DIP's confetti- this is the kind they made for Ashley at her booth at the Frist

Welcome to my blog!!

Well, here is my little attempt at conquering the "blog-world." I am by no means a pro at this, but I LOVE reading blogs- especially those of people I know and at the moment, I'm currently obsessed with WEDDING blogs!! Hmmm....could that have anything to do with the fact that I am getting married in a few short months??  I figured this might be a good way for me to record all of the amazing things I find while surfing the net hour after hour searching for the perfect accompaniments to the biggest day of my life! Some of them will be WAY out of my personal reach, but things that I just absolutely adore and can only dream of! Others may be things that I actually turn into reality for my big day....and still others will have NOTHING to do with weddings, but will still probably be pretty girlie!!!

So welcome! And please leave me comments and check out the blogs that I have linked to!! And a shout out to them (even if they don't ever read this!!) If you are planning a Nashville wedding, DEFINITELY look up Mary Alice at A Delightful Day to get help planning your big day, and also check out Ashley's awesome website, blog and message boards at Ashley's Bride Guide. Mary Alice and I sang together in choir back in the day at DCA (and now work together!), and this past weekend I got the chance to meet Ashley (whose booth was right next to Mary Alice!) at the Perfect Wedding Guide bridal show at the Frist. She's awesome!! So currently......those two blogs are some of my favorite things!!

Look for more soon!!!!