Save The Date!

Although our engagement has been official for over a year now, there is something about putting it on paper and slapping a (personalized) stamp on there to really seal the deal. K and I got our Save the Dates out this weekend and we are really excited about how they turned out.

Front

back

First we started with a picture from our Engagement Session that my MOH was nice enough to design the actual Save the Date. My vision was a picture on the front with our names and the date and then a cute ornamental frame on the back with all the details.

I then placed them in vellum envelopes and instead of covering up the picture, I placed the label and the stamp on the back to cover up the personal information. Something felt like it was missing, so I actually did a DIY project and made magnets with our initials on them for people to use to hang the STD on the refrigerator!

DIY Magnets
One package of Magnetic Printable paper.
A 1.5 inch Squeeze Punch

I made a quick layout in PowerPoint of a circle surrounded by another circle and then dropped in our initials. I know mine is supposed to go first, but with the script I used, only the K worked first. I did 30 up on a page and then printed on the Magnetic Paper in my home printer. The squeeze hole punch made it so easy because I was able to see the image and then position the punch right over top to cut. Versus the press down hole punch where you cant see your image. They looked a little Happy Hands at Home, but it did the trick.

Not sure why some of my pics are turning sideways when uploaded

Finally, my little splurge was the personalized stamps. I was a little surprised how expensive they were but Kurt approved and I ordered. It is a great view of the Seattle Aquarium. Hopefully people will see that it is a little sneak preview to the wedding location!

The Final Product

I'm baaack

I can't say I'm back in full swing, but I am going to try to give it another go. I love blogging, but the past few months have been insane and I felt like there really wasnt much to say since we were so far away from the wedding. At least it seemed that way. Now that we are 7 months and counting, the wedding fever has started to heat up again.

So here is a snapshot of what I have been up to:

1- Lost my job, which was no fun, but I did get a great summer off and lost 8 pounds!

2- Got my dream job in Oct and gained 5 pounds back!

3- Spent Christmas in Puerto Vallarta with Kurt and my future BIL and his girlfriend. Missed the Seattle snow and got a tan!

4- Bought a fake Christmas tree even though I said I never would. No regrets, Clicked three pieces together and plugged it in, ready to go.

5- Designed my engagement band and moved my Diamond out of its presentation setting into its permanant home!

Lots of wedding To-Dos on the list for this weekend. Need to finalize Save the Dates, book transportation, book ceremony music, and videography!

Sneak Peak: My wedding shoes:

Engagement Pictures-Round One

Warning Picture Heavy! But isn't that the best kind of post! Kurt and I received our Engagement Pictures via disk from April yesterday. I neighbor dropped them off as they were accidentally delivered to the wrong house. Thank God for kind neighbors as I would have died to not receive them! Below are some of our favorites. April and Kelly Chandler followed Kurt and I around downtown for several hours ( I am sure way past a normal shoot) to capture below. It showed so many sides of K and I and really was one of the best days I have had in awhile. Let the photos begin!

First Stop, Purple Downtown

Finally we might Save some $

So far budget has been a funny word for Kurt and I. We have a budget, we try to stay within budget, but we haven't passed on anything because it isn't in our budget, we just add to it. Not really the best approach for wedding spending. But finally, thanks to my FMIL, I think we have found a way to save some money!! After seeing the below post from April's engagement party shoot at the aquarium, we knew low arrangements would be prefect for the room because the fish tank makes such an impact.

I then came across this wedding via Dana Grant Photography and instantly fell in love with the colors. They are the exact colors I have been invisioning. I sent them to my mom and FMIL to find out what the flower was. I know, pretty pathetic, I have a black thumb and no garden knowledge. We have beautiful flowers in our garden only thanks to Kurt, not me!

The following weekend my FMIL showed up at my house with below. I feel in LOVE!! Apparently she has 5 HUGE bushes of these in their new backyard. Somehow I have never noticed, again, Black Thumb! She had bought the below square vase and wrapped it in purple ribbon. We took the ribbon off to look at it both ways, but loved the way the ribbon brought the colors together. Unfortunately the only pictures I took were without the ribbon. So the plan is to cut the flowers the day before wedding and have our wedding planner and a few choice friends arrange them before the reception. We are planning on submerging a few of the blooms in high vases to add some height to the escort and gift table as well as the church alter. Is anyone else doing their own reception flowers? Any advice on transporting or setting them up quickly?

Have a Fun and Safe Labor Day Weekend

I won't be able to post as Kurt and and I and 12 of our closest friends are heading to the lake this weekend. So no wedding talk until Tuesday, but in the mean time.....GO SEAHAWKS!!!

My Groom

Kurt got his Martini pictured as alluded to in this post. He is quite Handsome if I do say so myself!

I Got my Chairs!

I convinced Kurt and my mom that life just cannot possibly go on without Chavarri Chairs at the wedding! I really should thank April because it was her picture here that convinced them that they were a bit more elegant versus the white garden chairs the venue came with. I did have to make a bit of a sacrifice and focus on small flower arrangements for the tables, which I have been secretly thinking all along is the way to go since the fish tank if so traumatic in pictures. I am actually happy to have that decision made that we are focusing on low arrangements. Here are a few of my favorite.

I love these colors

I really love the below Hydrangea bouquet. Kurt and I have one of these in this exact color in our yard and his parents have a few of them. I have been hopping for the Rehearsal Dinner or to decorate the bar and gift table, etc at the wedding that our bushes will be brightly flowering and we can provide our own arrangements

Yellow obviously isn't our color, but my mom had been talking about using Purple shaded Sea Glass in the bottom of the arrangements. This is as close to the aquarium, sea theme that I can possibly go. I love the look of this arrangement. So Simple.
Photocredits: benharrisonphotograhy, la luz photography, brides cafe, triplecord photography, uncredited.

Has anyone else finalized their flowers or won a wedding battle?