Not so Quickie Update

In the last few weeks, we've had the following wedding progress:

* booked our airfare -- yes, this ranks as the absolute highest since it was such a chore! But alas, we have non stop flights to/from Vegas from the 8th to the 13th for $390.99 including the flights, taxes, fees, airline club fees, AND insurance. I may be taking a risk by booking on Spirit Air, but there's a few reasons why I am OK with it. Namely being in touch with their head of customer service via twitter and email the last few weeks, and also Cat's sister is working for them. Both make me feel good about the decision. Also you can't beat that price for 2 people ON a holiday weekend with a stick! Now the problem is finding a hotel room for the 8th since our reservation in the suite is for the 9th-13th. Also, this puts us $200 under our travel budget!

* guest list -- I finally typed the names from all the labels and the slips of paper mom gave me into Excel. I was somewhat shocked to find out that it added up to 189 warm bodies including children. The reception will be open to all families, totally casual and just plain fun. Honestly, as much as my head is saying no, I think it'd be completely fun to have a bounce house! The whole shindig is in my parents back yard and guests will have roughly 4-5 acres to roam and play on during the party.

* designed and had printed 2 more stamps for wedding/ post-wedding use -- the first is a super fabu address stamp that went through tons of changes before being agreed upon. The other is a stamp for the back of the RSVP envelopes. The envelope stamp says "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference." Love Robert Frost! These 2 and the original one I had printed were done by the crazy talented BlossomStamps.

* purchased clear labels and downloaded loads of new fonts -- yes, I am both lazy and cheap and will be using labels for our invites. The font I finally decided upon is called "MA Sexy" which amuses me, but whatever. It is both easily read and super flourishy. LOVE!

* cupcake tower -- during a shopping trip to Home Depot to get the pieces for the tower, dad pointed out that we can do as many projects for the Miami reception, but not Vegas. His idea is to use short pieces of PVC pipe since I was going to wrap whatever I bought with blue painter's tape anyhow and he has tons of piping. I'm also going to use 2 of the leftover door knobs from our new cabinets since there are a bunch left over.

* cupcake wrappers -- I bought 3 shades each of orange and blue 12x12 card stock from Michael's. After cutting them all out, I'm planning on stamping and embossing the following logo onto each. Steve said he prefers mini cupcakes, so we'll be getting 4 dozen of those from Retro Bakery. I asked and was told we get 2 flavors per dozen, which is great and all, but their flavors are aMAZing and picking 8 will be torture!

* crinoline -- I haven't ordered one yet as I'm sort of hoping to find one locally. The only problem is I can't find a store locally that sells square dance outfits. I might just suck it up and order the one from Petticoat Junction. I want a pale blue one, but think getting white and dying it on my own might be a better option than hoping they sell the right color.

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In totally non-wedding related news:
* ECU finally recognized me as a graduate with 2 degrees (the MBA and the MIS certificate)
* I am officially a Florida drivers license holder, now to get Luna transferred as well
* I am the somewhat proud owner of an iPhone. Somewhat because the signal is horrendous, but that may be due to it being an old phone.

Quotes

I'm working on a project. This project needs quotes. Can you help me?

Movie quotes
Song quotes
Love quotes
Other just amazing fabulous quotes

OK... go!

Wedding Cake Blues

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I love this cake. I love the look and feel of it. It's simple and elegant and just perfect. (Well, without the sprig on top of it, that is.) If i were to have this cake for our wedding, it would be a lighter blue color. and with our own cake topper on it.

I've been in contact with a few bakeries in Las Vegas for cake quotes. Namely Retro Bakery, Amatos Bakery, Freed's Bakery, and a few others.

My biggest problem is the word "wedding" - as soon as i mention it, prices double or even triple. Yes, the wedding industry is lucrative, but i am on a ridiculously tiny budget! With my MBA graduation in May, Steve's beginning grad school in August (hopefully) and a move somewhere in there, we just don't have extra money to spare. It's getting frustrating.

I asked for grocery stores and yummy cake bakeries on Twitter and got a few names. The question will be... do I really trust ordering a cake from across the country without tasting it? And do we really need a cake? Can't we just have dessert at a restaurant after the ceremony?

More Favor Ideas

Well shoot, another super cute idea! maybe we need to make "Vegas survival kits" complete with water bottles, band-aid's and lip balm! What else should go in the kits?

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or maybe this lip balm...
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Water Bottle Favors

Contender #1 for Vegas wedding favors:

In this blue with the logo in the post below imprinted in matte silver. They're from Discount Mugs, which has gotten lots of good reviews.

They're 20 ounces and I can wrap the graphic around the whole bottle for the same set-up cost as just one side. The logo as is, is about 4" wide and 3" tall. And, the best part, it would be about $140 for 25 of them. Oddly, for 20 it was more... darn price breaks!

If you were a wedding guest, would you like one of these? Now imagine you were a wedding guest in the desert, you'd totally want one, right? I know I would. :-)

(if you get this tice in your RSS feeds, it's cuz i was testing out posting to my LJ automatically... sorry!)

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Ketubah's Anyone?

So, I was strolling around blog-land earlier and saw an ad for Ketubah's. I pretty desperately want one. My parents have one, my brother had one, aunts and uncles... you name it, they all have them. I think it's pretty natural that I want one. Oh yeah, and the whole I was raised Jewish thing. I am not a practicing Jew-girl in any way shape or form. I have 5 tattoo's and plan on getting more. I have had body piercings, but will be happy with the ear piercings for the rest of my life. I don't go to synagogue. I am marrying a non-Jewish boy as well. In short, I am a really non-traditional Jewish girl.

I love the Jewish culture and traditions, I just don't believe in organized religion. Neither does Steve. We will be raising our children with all religions for them to choose their own paths. But yet, I still want one of the most traditional things in the Jewish religion.

Of course, the issue of having an Interfaith Marriage sure does add a new twist to this dilemma. It does appear that there are quite a few websites out there that do have Interfaith Ketubah's, so that's good.

A few of the site's that have gorgeous Ketubot:
http://www.ketubah.com
http://www.mpartworks.com/
http://www.modernketubah.com/
http://www.ketubahinterfaith.com/
http://www.galleryjudaica.com/
http://www.treeoflifejudaica.com

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Hand-knit Wedding Veil

Image source: jaeeleutheria/ Ravelry

No idea why, but I was playing on Ravelry* like I tend to do a few times a week. I am already going to be knitting a garter for Miss Abby's wedding at the end of October, so I was looking up other wedding projects. And stumbled across veils. Holy smokes, how awesome would that be?

The above pattern (LJ link) is my favorite one as it can later be used as a wrap, or a home decoration, and definitely an heirloom for future Benaim-Fletcher generations. It can even be sewn together and used as a small lap blanket/ baby blanket.

Whatcha think? I do have a concern with the weight, but already asked the pattern designer.

Yes, I am a huge DIY fan and figure with over a year until the wedding and school ending for good in May, I should be able to actually complete it! What have you made for your wedding/ friends weddings?

*Ravelry is the greatest website known to knitters and crocheters.. it's got a plethora of patterns and well, it's the candy shop to fiber artists.

Potential Dresses (for me)

Remember this post? Well I just got an email asking how much shipping was to a girls zip code out in CA! I emailed her back almost immediately, but who knows if she'll follow through with it.

And with every email I get about the dress, I started looking at other dresses. I found a local store that carries the Dessy bridesmaid lines in Durham and, if the dress actually sells, I'm going to go look at them.

I am currently coveting these, but I dunno in what colors until I see the fabric in person... Oh, I couldn't copy the dresses, only the sketches, so you have to click through to see the actual dresses. They're so pretty! Now for the girl to come through and purchase mine...

After Six Bridesmaid Style 6524

Alfred Sung Style D401

Dessy Bridesmaid Style 2510

After Six Bridesmaid Style 6507

After Six Bridesmaid Style 6280

So... what do you think? :)

image sources for all dresses: dessy.com

Inspiration Board

top row, left and middle row, 2nd pic are possible earring choices for the bridesmaids
top row, middle are the bridesmaids bouquets (purchased flowers to make them all myself)
top row, right i just want to incorporate somehow!
middle row, 1st pic i'm thinking for myself, cuz new + blue! and also ♥ (purchased & wear all the time)
middle row, last pic possibly for table decorations
bottom row, 1st pic i already have these for each bridesmaids as part of gifts (purchased from personal PartyLite shop)
bottom row, 2nd pic i want to make with blue/ cream fabric for each bridesmaids
bottom row last pic is a mirror for bridesmaids gifts (purchased in 5 different designs for myself, 3 bridesmaids, and brother's girlfriend)

best part is they almost all are found on etsy.

Wedding Info Dump from my Journal

Evening my lovelies!

So I have had an online journal for many many years, but it's locked down tight since I discuss everything in the world on it - good, bad and very ugly. There is a good chunk of stuff on it that relates to the wedding, and I've decided to pull all that out and put it into this blog. Prepare for an influx of ideas! :)

since getting engaged in April 2008, we have discussed getting married in port before a cruise (honeymoon) sails, getting married on an island mid-cruise in the Caribbean, getting married in Miami, Chapel Hill, and Vegas; having a big 100++ person bash or having a handful of people in either Vegas or Miami and the reception for 100++ later; eloping to the JoP. in all this discussion, the date just kept getting pushed back and back and back. i think we've actually settled on 10-10-10 finally. we needed a memorable date for Steve - his mind is great with math, but not numbers, whereas i can still remember my first ever cell phone number but am terrible at math.

my wedding ring was ordered on April 22, 2009. Steve's ring arrived on May 27, 2009. mine was ordered through Etsy seller: JewelryByJohan, and his was ordered through Etsy seller TitaniumKnights.

apparently loads of discussion culminated in a definite Vegas wedding on February 17, 2009, according to my other journal. :)

We went to Miami to visit my [entire] family and for Steve to meet them. he asked my dad, very non-nonchalantly!, if he could marry me. dad, of course, said yes since everyone loves Steve! April 5, 2009 from my journal:
daddy said yes. no surprise there though. my older brother likes him. younger one seems to as well. and of course mom and dad do too. pretty much everyone he met this weekend thinks he's awesome and that we're awesome together.

my darling bridesmaids bouquets consist of...

1 stick of red/ orange orchids - palaneopsis i think, 2 bunches mini white Calla Lilies, 3 sticks of Stephanotis (with pearls in the center), 2 things of grass for more green.
the stems are wrapped up and pinned tightly with a dark blue ribbon and a sheer white with silver stars ribbon overlay.

no clue what mine will look like. probably the same flowers with a few deep orange large Calla Lilies. we shall see.

More Vegas Stuff

i was reading one of my favorite wedding blogs this morning, Help Me Pay for my Wedding, and came across this post about tacky weddings. why on earth do people feel they can dictate what is tacky and simply not their taste? The article she has linked actually disgusts me.

we are going to Vegas next October with about 10-15 friends and my brother and his girlfriend. that's it. whenever we can afford the big party, that's when we'll have it, complete with a mock ceremony for my parents, aunts, uncles, grandmother, and the other 150 people that i simply don't want mucking up our amazing wedding day. i have been getting grief from lots of people already. i already know that i will catch a load of crap from ummm most people for going to Vegas. "ugh, how tacky, why didn't they just have a nice wedding?"

i personally think there is nothing wrong with Vegas or a Sunday brunch or an adult-only affair. this is our wedding and we *really* don't want to get married in Miami (where the party will be) simply because that is where the majority of the family is and where we have a free location at my parents 8-acre home. thanks, but no. call us tacky all you want, but i will be having the wedding i want. and at 33 and 39 on our wedding day, we don't need big and lavish anymore. we want pictures along the Strip, tours of the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, and, oh yeah... Vegas for 5 days!

we are already having people exclaim how cool it is that we're going to Vegas. a few have said that if they knew when, they'd be there in a second. so apparently it's not just large "traditional" weddings that have self-invited guests. as it is, Steve and i started working on the guest list a few nights ago. we have 10 definite and 25 possible guests. the definites are bridesmaids and spouses, my brother and his girlfriend, and a few others. the maybes are our immediate families and a handful of other friends.

and because the wedding is in the desert and we love our guests, these are the potential wedding favors. they are stainless steel water bottles from World Market and are currently on sale for $5 each! They have green, blue, orange and silver and we'll probably get an assortment of colors. I am currently thinking of buying caribeaners (sp?) and making some sort of "hey thanks for coming to our wedding" tag to attach to each bottle.

whatcha think?

Vegas Anyone?

There is a very high, like 85%, chance that our wedding will be held in Las Vegas.

I was given the name of a company called Scenic Las Vegas Weddings that performed my friend Jody's wedding last year. I have been in contact with SLVW multiple times and perused their website incessantly. They are an amazing company with loads of wedding packages. We are currently deciding between the $399 and $499 Vegas Strip packages. The only real difference is the number of locations for photographs; 2 versus 3.

What I need from you is locations for the pictures. So send them my way! What are the best, most amazing locations for pictures - wedding or otherwise - and including the Vegas sign, neon graveyard, hotels, landmarks, etc? Once I gather all the info, I'll post a poll to see what everyone thinks. Of course, the final decision will be up to Steve and I. :)

Hit us with your locations!

Wedding Guestbook

I won 2 free books from Inkubook.com. Just wanted to share some of the fun stuff that I've been working on! Here is the most recent version of our wedding guestbook. The final version will be an 8"x8" hardbound book.