Tuxedo Deal!

I found this online, seems like a pretty great deal. Travis and I are going to work on the tuxedo/suit situation after he finishes the GRE next week. We looked at Men's Warehouse and weren't too thrilled about their selection - and not to mention the fact that you can't try it on! That's nuts!

Here's a list of locations in Southern California:

Save the Dates

I'm so happy to say our Save the Dates have been created, mailed, and are securely now hanging on everyone's fridges I'm sure :) But really, Travis & I are so lucky and feel so blessed to have the opportunity to share our special day with so many of our friends and family.

Here it is...

...it's a little hard to see the colors because this is a scan of one of the cards. I had the cards printed on a linen cardstock, which I really love.

I've received MANY compliments on our Save the Date cards, so I figured I'd go through a step-by-step of how I created them (or, had them created I should say...) Here was one inspiration I had from Martha:


My initial goal was to make them myself. That idea lasted about ten minutes once I realized how much work that would involve. What I liked about the above picture was the finger STD with the knot. This incorporates nicely with our Invitations. I also liked that it looked vintage-y (is that a word?) with the image, but more modern/contemporary with the type/fonts.

Since I wasn't about to try and tackle designing these myself, I started looking on etsy. I knew I wanted to incorporate a picture from our engagements, and I knew I wanted our cards to coordinate with our invites, so the search began. I stumbled upon Announcing You, and loved Amber's work. The card I saw which grabbed my attention was this Movie Poster Save the Date.

(Side note: this girl must be really confident in her feet/pedicure to have the focus right there) Okay moving on...

I emailed Amber, told her I loved the design, loved the price even more, and had her design me a proof. It was perfect. Travis chose the picture for us to use from our e-shoot, and I really like the way the black and white turned out. Here's the picture he chose for us...

Amber incorporated our colors, the fonts from our invitations, and had them printed and mailed before I knew it. Amber was so great to work with that my mom and I used her services again for a retirement party invitation. She's amazing!

All in all, I payed a total of $85 for our Save the Date cards - I think I ordered 70 of them! This included the design fee, printing, envelopes, and quick shipping! HELLO! No brainier!

After receiving all the STDs in the mail, I got to work on lining the envelopes. THIS was quite a task - but I think well worth it. I took the pattern we're using to line the envelopes for our invitations, and it color copied at Staples. They were also amazing to work with - and put up with my many changes..."Can you make it darker?" ... "Oh, too dark, a little lighter?" ... until it was perfect. Thanks for your patience Staples copier lady!

Here's an example of some other beautifully lined envelopes...you see these all over the blogs. A little detail, which is very time consuming, but SUPER easy and looks great.

I posted a video that I found to teach you how to line an envelope. All you need - a good glue stick (I bought a super strength glue stick at Michael's), a bone folder (Martha! a must!), good scissors, and some patience.

To address the envelopes, I used my printer from home. I incorporated the same fonts which we used on the actual Save the Date, and the invitations.

Overall, I was VERY happy with how they turned out! Like I said, I was so happy to hear all the compliments from our friends and family!

Thanks again to Amber from Announcing You on Etsy and of course, He & She Photography! Check out their amazing new blogsite!

Well hello there...

Yikes, looks like I haven't been here in a while, which is okay. I guess that means I've been busy busy --

Last weekend I went to San Diego to visit some friends, and three of us took the Amtrak to San Clemente to do some "research" for the wedding. It was amazing. We ate at Beach Fire Grill on Avenida Del Mar, where we're having the Rehearsal Lunch. We'll be having a lunch, rather than a dinner, because our wedding is on a Sunday. Therefore, there's a wedding going on that night so we have to rehearse at noon. Which means lunch! Yum!

We drank Zangrias - uhmm YUMMY -- made with Strawberry Vodka & Pinot Noir among other delicious things. I had a salad with chicken and goat cheese, Laura ate a chicken sandwich and side salad, and Kristin had steak tacos, which I was mildly obsessed with. Also, I have to say that Chris, the manager has been great. The ability to answer an email in an appropriate time is definitely underrated. I'm definitely looking forward to having our rehearsal lunch at Beach Fire.

From there, we ventured out to a few local bars to continue our "research". One condition of our venue is that we're out by 10:00pm, so we definitely need a location for an after party. We went to Goody's (which Kristin & I realized we had been to before when we walked in), definitely our kind of place. Dive bar...cheap drinks...pool...Wii...darts...dance floor...giant Captain Morgan in the corner...awesome. Looking forward to giving this place some business with our craziness. See ya Labor Day weekend!

Here we are...with the Captain at Goody's.

And here Kristin & I are waiting for the train...

I love you girls. SOOO much fun :)

grateful

I guess celebrating Valentine's Day this weekend with Travis made me a little nostalgic, or maybe I'm just having a more emotional day than others :) Either way, I've been thinking a lot in the past few days about how very lucky I feel and how grateful I am for everything I have in my life. When I consider the lives of some of my students, the struggles they are growing through at the age of thirteen with their home lives, or when I think about families who have lost everything in the past few years, losing jobs and homes - or even those around the world with less than I have - it makes me feel so humble, and blessed.


I remember thinking just a few years ago about how I *wished* I could have someone to spend my life with, I'd pray every night to let me meet the person I could be with forever...who knew he was under my nose the entire time! The point is, I guess (if there is a point to my typing/rambling) that if you're thinking life sucks - it can get better. I can only hope that I'll continue to be this happy, this much in love, this secure, this peaceful about life for the next 80 years....

lining an envelope

Just received our Save the Date cards in the mail...now to prep them and get them sent! I'm going to line the envelopes myself, so I found this demo video to help. Wish me luck!!

http://www.monkeysee.com/play/7030-how-to-line-a-wedding-invitation-envelope

shoes!

Well, at this point I have most of my accessories figured out for the day...bracelet (christmas gift!), necklace borrowed from my mom (something borrowed!), earrings (I know what I want but haven't found them yet, hmmm...), and my hair piece.

Other than undergarments, to be tackled at a later date and probably in private, I am yet to find my SHOES!

For my dress, since I'm somewhat normal height, I need to find 3" to 3.5" heels - 3.5" preferably. This way I don't have to have my dress hemmed.

Here are some I've seen so far in the SAVE and SPLURGE versions. Just like your dress, you don't need to spend a small fortune for something you're going to wear once. Look amazing in an almost replica without the brand name for less than half the price. LESS THAN HALF! That's just crazyness...Nina at Zappos - reasonably priced - $99.95

Splurge version - Badgley Mischka from Piperlime - $215
RSPVP also at Zappos - only $89


Bagdley Mischka at Piperlime - $215! Do they not look almost EXACTLY the same?!?
Another Nina at Zappos - $89
Kate Spade - Nordstroms - $285

I will find more...to come in another post...I'm determined...

a must see save-the-date

press play... from tim and jane on Vimeo.