May 11 TMW Post

Disclaimer: For all y'all not following my wedding planning antics over on TweetMyWedding Tuesdays, I'll try to remember to post them all here.  Unfortunately I've been seriously lagging at that and so there's going to be in flux... apologies!
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Tweet: ARGH! by waiting an extra day, the $501.60 airfare jumped to $621.60 #damndamndamndamn please go back down!!

I have been stalking all the major airline sites to finally buy the tickets out to Vegas. I waited so I could get all my homework turned in, last final exams, everything and when I went back, everything had skyrocketed. Um, airline peeps, we're still 5 months out! Go the heck back down! Seriously! You're giving me a heart attack!! I was so excited that I'd be getting both tickets for pretty much cross country flights (Miami to Vegas) for $500. Now they're considerably over $600 and that's even the discount airlines! I am religiously checking Delta, AirTran, JetBlue and Southwest, plus Orbitz and they're not wanting to dip back down. I am less than amused at this.

Tweet: i have to reboot & since i don't want to lose my @overnightprints cart, i'm ordering everything! 125 of each for $118, incl ship. #wedding

The invitations have been ordered! I had to reboot my computer and since I didn't want to have to re-enter all the pieces back into Overnight Prints' website and find the coupon code again, I ordered them! I ended up getting 125 of everything but the photo dump cards and got 150 of those. It's all my own design and I tried to get a few fonts to carry throughout the entire set, but there's 1 or 2 used on just one piece. As a designer, it's sort of annoying, but whatever, our guests probably won't even notice!

Want to see them all?? All following images are mine!
The official wedding announcement (5x7)

The reception invitation (4x6) (major props to TheDearlyWed for the wording on this one!!)

The RSVP (4.25x5.5)

The photo dump cards (business card)

Tweet: OMG I just got an iphone. My aunt had a "spare" sitting in her car. Happy MBA graduation to ME! & dad's getting my BB ;)

This somewhat relates because I want you to pretty please tell me your favorite free apps! Yes, right now I'm being Cheapy McCheaperson and not spending money on apps. I've got games and stuff, but what are your favorite wedding planning apps? And heck, baby planning ones too. ;)

May 4 TMW Post

Disclaimer: For all y'all not following my wedding planning antics over on TweetMyWedding Tuesdays, I'll try to remember to post them all here.  Unfortunately I've been seriously lagging at that and so there's going to be in flux... apologies!
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Tweet: our wedding photo dump ShutterFly site is all set up. too early to order the cards & invites? i'm totally itching to order my pretties.

Tweet: if i have your email address, chances are you just got the "gimme your mailing address" email. #feelingproductive

This past week has seen a dramatic upswing in actual wedding plans. Sure I play around a lot with DIY projects and dress options, but this week we worked on the reception party guest list. That's huge for us. Up to this point, it's been word of mouth for Vegas invitees. I've made all the paper products already and just need to hit submit on Overnight Prints. However, it'd totally be my luck that I'll order 100 of everything only to go over and have no buffer for mess ups. Right now we have about 55 address labels, but are still waiting for a good chunk of addresses.

Currently the items in my shopping cart, including shipping, total $93.60. Not bad for 100 announcements, 100 reception invitations, 100 RSVP cards, and 200 "photo dump" cards. I really want to order them at the same time to avoid duplicate shipping charges.

Tweet: looks like we're doing soaps as reception favors. yay for trade & crafty friends!

I designed a logo for a friend's business cards and website recently. In return, she offered to make us homemade soaps in our colors and any scents we choose. I'm picturing Japanese lanterns, twinkle lights, cherry blossoms, orchids and other fun touches on our extremely casual Miami reception party. The soap molds I tentatively picked out are flip-flops, palm trees, and an assortment of flowers. I still need to pick the scents as the colors will obviously be orange and blue!

Tweet: do i buy or wait? don't want it to increase, but also don't want to get screwed. 2r/t tickets Ft.Laud-Vegas for $501.80

The airfare really makes me nervous. Our hotel suite is booked already for 4 nights at just shy of $600. Booking another $500 for airfare is just nerve-wracking! I've heard booking mid-week is the best time to book flights, price-wise. What do y'all think, is $500 a good price for 2 round trip airline tickets?

Also, not wedding-related but still a huge accomplishment... I am days away from being an MBA graduate from East Carolina University!! It's been 5 very, very long years in the making. It's significant as I began the program before I even met my wonderful fiancé.

A real update!

I know I do not post nearly as much as I should. But in all honesty, I do the majority of my wedding "planning" on twitter these days. I am also the featured bride on Tuesdays over on TweetMyWedding. The other brides are amazing and you should really go check us all out. :)

sneak peek of the design for all the "invites"

That little plug aside, I've finalized the design for our "invites" and just need the final head count to order them. I put it in quotes because it's a whole package of Vegas wedding announcements, Miami reception invitation cards, Miami reception RSVP cards, and little cards for our photo dump website. Our what? You know... when you go to a wedding, take tons of pictures with your camera then eventually get around to putting them on Facebook. Well, I created a Shutterfly site specifically for people to be able to upload everything there so we can see what everyone has done. We, and anyone viewing the site, can create books, bags, or whatever else from those pictures.

My main reason for posting is that we have been working on the guest list in the last few days. We have a fairly comprehensive list of family and friends. The problem lies in my father's family. To say they're all estranged is probably too harsh of a word. I am good friends with one of my cousin's, and facebook friends with her and 3 others. However, my father hasn't uttered a word to his step-mother, step-brother or step-sister in years. We kinda like it that way. My dilemma is do we be the bigger people and invite the lot hoping the "adults" decline and the cousins I like accept, or just not invite anyone?

What do you think? I can give back story if you want via email.

Thanks!

overdue post

the paper for the ketubah has been ordered and is in my hot little hands! it's white, 12x12, and non-textured. i need to send 10-12 sheets to our calligrapher, Amanda, in Gainesville. unfortunately, she'll be out of town when i'm there next week visiting.

from the same company, Paper & More, i ordered 3 different colors of envelopes for our wedding invites: dark metallic blue, and metallic copper.

blue vista metallic

dark blue metallic

copper metallic

i'm leaning towards the dark blue ones, but the copper ones are in the running as well. whatcha think? keep in mind that our invitations are black with white lettering and the nighttime Vegas skyline, and our colors are orange, blue and ivory.  i also order a sample for my graduation announcements in a deep purple. they're so pretty!

my shoes have been ordered and are about as damn cute as can be! they're turquoise with a small little kitten heel, about 1.5" and they're mary jane's. so effing cute!

Gabriella Rocha Ginger

my veil is coming along really nicely! i'm at row 61 of about 126 rows. the 61st row is 388 stitches. the last row is about 800 stitches. i'm no where near halfway done with it. but damn, it's gorgeous! i really need to take an updated picture of it to show y'all. but not tonight seeing as it's already after 1am! :)