The Big Reveal

While Kenny and I aren't exactly after a traditional wedding, there are certain traditions we do want to honor. It is our wedding after all. We are cutting out some of the things we hate doing at other weddings and keeping the things we feel are sacred. One tradition I had wanted to keep in our wedding was the big reveal moment as I walked down the aisle. I didn't want Kenny to see me in my dress before that moment. Except the logistics of this are becoming impossible, and we are playing around with some other ideas.

We are having both the ceremony and reception in the same venue. The venue does not have a designated bridal dressing area. They do have a really nice bathroom with a dressing area, but it would serve as the bathroom for the guests also. If we block it off, guests would arrive before the ceremony with no access to a bathroom after an almost two hour drive. I am guessing this would leave most of my guests squirming through the whole ceremony. Also, we hate that long down period between ceremony and reception, while the bridal party takes pictures. Plus we want to have some pictures outside in some other locations. The only way we can accomplish this is to take pictures before the ceremony.

Lately, I have been seeing couples set up a reveal moment prior to the ceremony with family and bridal party. That way you get that "here I am" moment, but you can still see each other before the ceremony. I could get dressed off site. We could take pictures before in several locations before the ceremony, eliminating tons of pictures between the ceremony and reception. We can all ride together to the ceremony site. It seems to solve all of the problems.

But? Will I regret not having the moment at our actual ceremony?

Score!

Before Kenny and I did anything, we made a strict budget for our wedding. We planned down to the penny what we would spend on every little thing we could think of right down to fast food the days we would be in Galveston before our wedding. We made some educated guesses on some things like flowers, dress, and catering by checking prices on websites. When it came down to actually signing some contracts and getting exact quotes, we kept finding that we had actually over-budgeted almost everything! My dress was hundreds less than we expected, the caterer was less, the transportation. Everything. Only one thing has been more than we expected, and it was seriously a few dollars. Insignificant. I have been so happy that is has been turning out this way. But? I thought for sure something would hit us soon, but so far it just keeps getting better.

I have spent weeks researching the cheapest options for invitations. Now that I have the design in mind, I starting pricing out all of the components. I found an online site that was by far the cheapest place, but I thought I would check Hobby Lobby one last time. I calculated it all out, and figured I could save another $30-60 dollars going with Hobby Lobby. Hey, a penny here, a penny there. I decided to go for it. It would add a little extra headache, as I would need to cut the paper down myself. Time is on my side, though. I grabbed everything I needed, headed to the check out and gasped in disbelief when I saw the total. It was $50 less than I thought it would be. I had stumbled upon a sale! I did a little happy right there in the store, and then called everyone I could think of to share the good news.

Best part? The printer we use for all of the marketing for Kenny's company is going to cut all of the paper down for me!

Your Presence is Requested

I have spent weeks pouring through wedding magazines and websites looking at invitations. I just keep thinking, "I could make that for half that price. In fact, I could make something better." I mean, are you kidding me with some of these prices? Hands down my favorite was the Vera Wang set of 20 for $450 dollars. I don't care how much money you have, that's just plain stupid. The more and more I looked, the more I became convinced that I really could design my own invitations at half the costs. I priced out all of the pieces, and set about working out the deisgn.

This morning, I found a design that clicked. It is far from perfect, as I used a hole punch when I couldn't find my exacto knife. Always good when you loose an exacto knife in house with two kids.... But, you get the idea. It's made with two pieces of cardstock, the white inserted into the black. I want to use a metallic black cardstock, instead of a flat black. Or perhaps, I will cut the "S" out of a metallic cardstock. The words will be printed in black ink, so that only the "S" is in red. There are a few little details to work out, but overall this is the basic idea for the invitations.


Now, how long do you think it will take me to make 150 to 200 of these things?

The Bridal Party

I am very excited about the group of girls I have as my bridal party. They represent the people I feel have been the most supportive of Kenny and I and whose friendship is invaluable to me. They are my sister, my friends from high school, college, and beyond. They are women I admire, people who make me laugh, and those I turn to when I need to vent. I am lucky to have each one in my life for very different reasons.

Only 429 Days To Go

If you haven't figured out that Kenny and I are finally (okay, really, it wasn't that long) engaged, then you are a little behind. While I have not morphed into a complete Bridezilla, yet, I somehow can only manage to talk wedding. My dress. The colors. The band. Blah-de-blah. I am pretty sure half of my friends put the phone down and walk away, only stepping back to murmur "Uh-huh" or "Yep" from time to time.

I get it. I am way more into my wedding than you are. Well. Most of you. So for those of you that aren't bored to death when I "Go Bridal" and can only speak in phrases that begin with "At my wedding," I will chronicle all the juicy details here instead of on I am Trish Marie. Well. Not all the details. I am not going to reveal what my dress looks like or some of the other fun surprises we have in store. But the other stuff? All the craziness, the countless things that are bound to go wrong, and all the fun Kenny and I are having planning our wedding will be here.

So here we go for the next 429 days....