Miss Hydrangea

Making the Move...

2008-12-24T10:53:00.002-06:00

Since I'm no longer a Miss, I have decided to make a little move:

Mrs Hydrangea

:)

The posting will be light, as this is mainly just for wedding things. For my everyday blog, visit me here:

This Casita

TTD

2008-12-24T09:52:00.002-06:00

I just found out that our "trash the dress" session made it online!

I didn't even know that www.trashthedress.com existed! It's a pretty cool site and you could definitely get some inspiring photos for your own wedding day/ day after shoots! Thanks to our photographers, Cesar and Tanya, for submitting it and congrats to them for taking such awesome pics that they were chosen to be posted!

Happy Holidays to everyone and we'll see you in 2009 :)

Post Wedding Shoot

2008-12-03T16:38:00.007-06:00

Ok, I keep teasing you with these interruptions from our wedding photos. I apologize for that, but it is always with good reason, right?

About two months after our wedding, we decided to do a "day after" photo shoot. I wanted to put the dress on one last time before storing it away forever, and Mr. H and I wanted some really great shots of the two of us, since our wedding day was so busy and we only got a few posed pics together.

Since we have possibly the coolest photographers ever, Perez Photography, we set out one afternoon in our wedding getup, which, I've never had much luck shooting in. I took my bridal portraits in May to avoid the summer heat and got the hottest day ever, then we scheduled these pics before it got too cold outside only to face a cold front with the chilliest wind I've experienced in a while. Totally worth it, both times.

Oh, I forgot to mention I chopped off my hair :) The day after we returned from the honeymoon I chopped off 10 inches to donate to Locks of Love. My hair had grown at least an inch and a half in these pics from it's original chop!

For some more pics, you can see them here!

Ok, for real this time, celebration pics from the wedding are coming :)

A Break From the Photos...

2008-11-25T22:40:00.003-06:00

Our videographer rocked our socks off with his preview. The final video is coming to us tomorrow, but, being the wedding obsessed Mrs. Hydrangea that I am, I had to share this with you all (and PLEASE note, this is all thank you to Chris Watson Video who, by far, surpassed anything we could have envisioned):

Untitled from Chris W on Vimeo.

I hope that you all enjoy it as much as I did. I promise that the last couple of wedding posts will be here soon, but this sums up our day as about as best as I could. We'll see the full video tomorrow, so don't be surprised if I bring more posts out about it.

09.27.08 Details - Part Two

2008-11-12T22:20:00.006-06:00

I don't know whether it was the blood, sweat and tears , and I do mean a lot of tears, that went into planning our wedding that made me want detail pictures so much, or if it was just so that I could always have these visual reminders of everything that was seen, heard and enjoyed from the most perfect night of my life, thus far. Either way, I am so happy that Perez Photography (all photos below credit to them) went out of their way to capture these images :)

One of the larger table arrangements. I believe that we had a total of five different floral arrangements for the various tables.

The head table :) While everyone else sat at circulars, we got a nice big rectangle with florals that weren't too high, so we could see everyone sitting with us. The damask runner and details in the room were all provided by our florist, Bella Flora. They completely outdid any expectations that I had for the florals and killed (in a good way) that room that night :)

Full shot of the head table.

Our room in green with our monogram on the floor. Lite Dallas (who also happens to be owned by our DJ Andy Austin) did an incredible job at pinspotting the arrangements, the gobo on the dancefloor and the lighting around the room. The colors changed throughout the night and really gave the room a great feeling.

The room in blue.

The cake. By far my only disappointment with our entire wedding. I hate that you can see the foil from the board that it's on. The monogram was supposed to be in fondant, not icing, and the layers were supposed to be more distinct in different sizes. The groom's cake (seen later in pictures) was only black with white borders. It was also supposed to have a monogram on it and, when we cut into it, it was the wrong flavor. My mistake for choosing a lesser known bakery to do our cakes. They looked semi-decent on camera, so oh well. You can't win everything :)

The table numbers designed by me and my final choice of table number stands.

My last minute station signs that were placed in frames on the various food stations.

The cakes. Note the groom's cake. On another note, those cake stands that you see were actually made of steel (and VERY heavy) by my dad. I gave him the task to create the stands and boy did he do that. You can't see the detail of the stand, but they were plain, simple, modern and fit the room well. One is now on our front porch as our pumpkin stand. It holds 3 multisized pumpkins - they were seriously that big!

Yum - food! Many people said that they didn't think that we had enough and in hindsight we probably should have ordered more. We also think that they were used to the station idea so they kept going to the same one instead of wandering around the room.

Up next, a few more details and then we're on to the best part of the night - the entertainment!

Details - Part Three

2008-11-12T22:13:00.005-06:00

As promised, the last bit of details before the final celebration!

*All photos credit to Perez Photography

Last minute I decided to make Bride and Groom signs to be placed at our spots at the table. We wanted to sit right in the middle of the table facing out to everyone who was there, not to the dancefloor. It gave those few minutes, between everyone visiting us to say hello, to really soak in all of the people that came together that night :)

One more shot of the food station signs.

The hallway that led to the pre-function area and ballroom was lined with these vases. At the end of the hallway, right before the entrance, there were white curtains that were tied with beautiful floral arrangements a la Bella Flora.

My 3"x3" escort cards.

The sign-in table next to the escort card table.

Our gifts :) I just love the sculpture on the wall. It makes this picture just so much more interesting.

Mr. H knew from day one that he wanted to have a cigar roller at our event. We ended up using Sabino Sotelo with d'Havana Cigars.

The yummy Paciugo cart that we had at the reception. Mr. H and I snuck out to get some before they ran out and Mr. H was bummed he never got to eat any of his because we got so sidetracked from the cart to our table that his had melted :(

Yes, I even customized the cups for the gelato. I couldn't resist - and, while I thought we'd have plenty extras, we didn't have many at all!

Our favors for the end of the night. Vases of baby's breath. I had intially started with this idea for the escort cards, but they were too big for our guests to carry around during cocktail hour. Many guests had left before these were all in place, and many just walked right by, so we had about 100 of these babies to transport back to my parents' house the next day. Next to all of them was a Thank You sign from the two of us.

Up next? Let's get the party started!

Before We Finish Recapping...

2008-11-06T16:24:00.003-06:00

I just have to make a confession. As on top of things as I was for the wedding, I completely slacked when it came to the thank yous. Yesterday I finally finished my side of the family, and up next is Mr. H's side. I haven't hit the two month mark since the wedding, but it is creeping upon me at a fast rate.

To make myself feel a little better about waiting so long to write them, I took the awesome photos that we received on disk from Perez Photography and made a little collage to print onto a postcard. I opted to use Vista Print because I used them quite a few times and was always happy with the quality. I chose the extra large postcards, knowing I wouldn't save on postage, just so that everyone could enjoy the pics as much as we have! So, without further ado...

The front side ... I chose to do all color except for two of our favorite black and white photos (which are also my fav pics from the wedding...period). There's also a little teaser of the photos to come in my last few posts!

The back side. Yes, I made sure to get our monogram in there one more time. I also added the lines for the addresses because I'm super anal and didn't want to write them in slanted.

Am I the only procrastinator around the hive? How long did it take you all to complete your thank you notes?

A Festive Anniversary

2008-11-06T10:05:00.002-06:00

As I was driving to work this morning I realized that two anniversaries will occur on Thanksgiving this year - which, happens to be two days after my birthday - not that you needed to know, I just find that particularly important :)

Mr. H and I went out on Thanksgiving Eve in 2005 and we both, not purposely, made each other jealous by talking to the opposite sex. It was after this night out that Mr. H decided to kiss me - a night that I will never forget. Since we spent just about every single day together since that night, I consider Thanksgiving to be our pre-wedding anniversary.

(picture from here)

This year, Thanksgiving just so happens to fall on the same day as our wedding, so we will not only be celebrating my belated birthday and Thanksgiving with our families, but also our three year "togetheraversary" and our two month wedding anniversary.

Have any of your anniversaries fallen on holidays and/or other special occasions without intention?

*One a side note - I think it's only fair that you celebrate every month until you've hit the one year mark, then you can just celebrate your wedding annually :)

And Miss Becomes Mrs.

2008-10-30T21:28:00.004-05:00

I was completely surprised that our ceremony was exactly one hour long, maybe even a little less, considering all of the Spanish traditions that we included in our ceremony. We were so on top of things, time wise, that I waited in the bridal room for almost two hours before I could see Mr. H again!

Here are some highlights of when we finally said our I Dos, after 14 months of planning!

*All photos credit to Perez Photography

All of our padrinos, lined up in a row.

Mr. H walking his parents down the aisle before the rest of us make our debut.

I just love this pic because of my bridesmaid - her face says a million words :) Not to mention it shows all of their amazing dresses. Letting them pick what they were going to wear was, by far, one of my best decisions. They all did amazing!

There are a few pics that are our favs from the wedding, and all of them are in this post. This one I love because all three of us were so nervous, but so excited, to get down the aisle. At a couple of points down that walk I had to slow one down and speed one up to make it there. I wanted to enjoy every moment, especially after all of our previous bees' advice, so I slowed it down and truly enjoyed the walk.

One of the best pics of the wedding - Pops H and me. My two brothers are in the background. I have to admit, that is one hilarious face on Brother H in the front. It's almost a sweet, yet totally older brother face to make. My dad's grin, and mine for that matter, say it all. We were happy!

The arras. I am so glad that we chose to incorporate the Spanish traditions into the mass. I made sure to put explanations of all the traditions in the back of our programs, mainly for my side of the family.

The lasso, another Spanish tradition. I chose to use a beautiful rosary as our lasso and am so glad that I did. This will definitely be passed down to our children in the future, along with the arras.

I just love this pic that Cesar and Tanya took during the ceremony. To see everyone holding hands and praying at our wedding is just touching.

Another one of our favorites from the wedding. Just days before, we stood near this same location and lit candles for Mr. H's grandmother, who is very ill and was unable to attend the wedding. Instead of just standing there and talking, Mr. H and I actually said our Hail Marys (good thing, b/c I had no clue that Mr. H was mic'd).

And it's official - we are married! It was a good kiss too, I might add :)

Another one of our favs from the wedding. Our grins say it all, and are so natural. We were toally happy to have finally said our I Dos.

My niece, who attended the ceremony but not the reception, didn't want to walk with her parents, but with her grandparents instead. She might look sad, but she wasn't. While everyone was taking communion, and we were kneeling at the altar, I heard, "Stephanie, Stephanie.... STEPHANIE," and, when I turned around, there she was waving and smiling as big as she could. It was one of the most memorable moments for me. And walking back down the aisle with my parents was one of their most memorable moments as well.

Mr. H's parents. I promise they do smile.

With our awesome Father John. His homily was filled with humor, seriousness and great messages for marriage.

Mr. H's parents and our padrinos. I promise they are happy - they don't smile for ANY pictures.

Mrs. H's family. We aren't a big bunch, but we are a lot of fun!

Our bridal party, once again!

Stay tuned for more details and the party of a lifetime :)

09.27.08 - The First Look

2008-10-26T14:37:00.009-05:00

Mr. H and I opted to see each other before the ceremony. The main reason for this was because our ceremony started so late (6:30 p.m.), was a full hour-long mass and we would still be taking some family pics at the altar after the wedding. We wanted to get some good pics with each other, and with our bridal party, so meeting before was our best option and I'm so happy that we picked to do this because it eased a lot of nerves (especially Mr. H's nerves)!

All photos credit to Perez Photography :)

While I got in one quick shot of myself before the wedding.

Mr. H was experiencing some nerves as he waited to see me for the first time that day :)

The boys waited in the Social Room at The W for all of the girls.

The last of the bouts were pinned onto the boys' tuxes.

The big grin on Mr. H's face prob stems from the evil look on mine :) Instead of just coming up to him to surprise him, I gave him a nice little tap on his rear to lighten the mood...and cause it just looked so cute all dressed up!

I think Mr. H was a little confused as to why my engagement ring was on my right hand and not my left!

First couple shot of the day - you can see how tense we were. All eyes on us in such fancy attire - it took a few more pics, and a lot more jokes to get us to be more natural in front of the camera.

Me and my girls - the blonde one is Mom H, my matron of honor, in case you can't tell :)

This is what our photographer, Caesar, got when he asked the boys to give their "badass" look.

Up next - we arrive at the church and the ceremony is about to begin!

09.27.08 - The first details...

2008-10-20T14:34:00.000-05:00

I'm a sucker for details. I love them so much that, naturally, I asked Perez Photography to take lots of them, and that they did! Here's the first batch of photos that they snuck in while we were getting ready in my room.

All photos credit to Perez Photography :)

The OOT bags. The hotel even sent one up to our room, and then another to the honeymoon suite that night as well :)

My wedding bands. Yes, I had two. No, I am not ashamed.

Mr. H's bling. Yes, bling. I have never met a man as hard to satisfy in the ring department as Mr. H. He wanted diamonds, but not in your face diamonds. I was just about to give up on him until we found this ring. It broke my bank, but it was totally worth it. From the top it looks just like your normal, platinum band, but when you see it from the sides, it has lots of little diamonds. Not in your face, and definitely not your every day ring :)

My mom thought Cesar, our photographer, was nuts for getting up on her bed and trying to hang my dress. She had to go to the other room it made her so nervous. He promised her that it would definitely be worth it and the shot would be great - and he didnt lie.

When our fabulous day-of coordinators at Rebecca Hackl Events brought up the bouquets, we also saw the boys' bouts. Each couple that would walk together had a different type of flower and the girl's bouquet would correspond with the boy's bout!

The coordinators also supplied each member of the wedding party with a mini-booklet that had the entire timeline for the weekend. This came in very handy - and, in the short time they had to get to know me, they realized how anal I was about details and made sure to use the same fonts that I had used throughout the entire wedding!

This is the piece that I won at a discount from Castle Bride Couture. She did an amazing job on it and it looked great with my second dress.

The infamous shoes. You should see how many photos I now have of them :)

My bridesmaid and her husband, also a groomsmen, surprised me with my favorite black & white cupcakes from Sprinkles on the day of the wedding. I love how Cesar got this shot with my engagement ring :)

My extras - the hanky that you see was actually my baby bonnet as a child. My mom couldn't find anyone who would be willing to embroider it because it is so thin and fragile so she hand embroidered our initials and wedding date in navy blue, the same color as all my accessories. She was a little embarassed at how it came out, but it just made me love it all the more. To the left is my present from Mr. H - and sapphire and diamond bangle that I wore that day :)

Coming up - Mr. and Miss H see each other for the first time and we all get some pre-ceremony pics!

09.27.08 - Getting Ready

2008-10-19T11:53:00.007-05:00

The girls' (and I mean all of us, me included) plans to get up bright and early for yoga on the day of the wedding were thwarted by a late night upstairs at the Ghostbar at the hotel. One of my bridesmaids got up and went, and then took a run, but the rest of us found sleep to be much more satisfying.

We ordered some room service and lounged around the hotel room until a knock at the door unveiled our videographer, Chris Watson, and, a few minutes later, the hair and makeup ladies from Elan Make-up Studio.

Once our amazing photographers showed up, Perez Photography, we were all beautified and it was just about time for us to get into our dresses. I'll let the pics speak for themselves.

All photos credit to Perez Photography, unless otherwise noted :)

I started the day out in my robe, but that thing got super hot, so I traded it in for the workout clothes I had brought for yoga.

Everyone got so tired of me walking around the room with my veil dragging around, they put it on a hanger and I was forced to carry it around for a long time - and I'm talking at least an hour.

The ladies were the first to get dressed. While they put on their beautiful dresses, I got to sit around and relax a little more - only I just started to get a little nervous about finally putting on my dress.

I love this shot. I just see us looking at it like, "Am I really going to put that thing on?"

If you notice in these next few photos, instead of having a huge grin on my face, I look a little more serious. I was cool as a cucumber all day until it came time to put on my dress. I started to get a little anxious and nervous for the first time that day.

My bridesmaid tying my ribbon happens to be a fashion stylist in L.A. How lucky am I? During all the pre-ceremony shoots she secured, fastened and posed my dress for me :)

Meanwhile, back in the boys room, my brother snuck up and took this photo and the one below of the boys. Even though Mr. H is smiling, he was super nervous. He barely touched his lunch that day an those beer bottles you see them with were actually the empties from the night before. Mr. H couldn't even drink a beer - that's when you know he's nervous :)

Up next, the first batch of details. I'm a details kind of girl, so we'll have a few of those posts between the people pics :)

Not a Mrs. de Hydrangea :(

2008-10-16T08:12:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I took on the task of changing my name. I collected all of the proper paperwork and headed out to do the following, in this order:

1) Get two certified copies of my marriage certificate.

2) Change Driver's License.

3) Change Social Security.

I'm going to share my experiences with you all but please know that this was only my personal experience in the State of Texas. While I work in the big city of Dallas, I opted to go back near our home, in a smaller town and much smaller county, to avoid lines (which I highly recommend). In total, with all transit times, it took me 3 hours to complete all of my tasks, plus I stopped at home to fill and print out my passport info and get pictures taken at my local Walgreens.

The certified copies of the marriage certificate were super easy, I just went to the county clerk's office in the the same county which we received our certificate. Fifteen minutes, and $14 later, I had my two certified copies.

The driver's license office is where my dreams of becoming Mrs. de Torres were crushed. Because "de" is not legally a part of either of our names, it cannot be added. So this brought me to option number two, my original plan:

First Middle Maiden Last

With my maiden becoming a second middle name. Perfect, right? Not so much. In the State of Texas you can only have one middle name and hyphenate your last name on your driver's license. I'm not one for hyphens (personal preference), so out my lovely middle name went and my driver's license now reads:

Last, First Maiden

For those of you in Texas, all I needed when I went to change my license was my previous license and either the original or certified copy of the marriage license. They gave me a small sheet of paper to fill out when I got there, so I really didn't need to fill anything else out prior. It cost $10 for me to change my name.

Next, I was off to Greenville, Texas, about 30 minutes outside of where we live, to go to the Social Security office. After picking up my ticket and finding a seat, it took about 35 minutes before I was called up to change my name. I asked her what my options were, just in case I might still be able to pull off my "de Hydrangea" idea, but she said no. At first, she told me that I couldn't even have two middle names. However, my nephew has two middle names so I knew it had to be possible and she said she'd try. About two minutes later, my paperwork was printed out and two middle names it was!

I had filled out the paperwork prior to visiting the SS office, however, it wasn't necessary. She simply asked to see my driver's license and my marriage certificate (I showed her the original). She asked me a few personal questions to verify everything and that was it. In five minutes, my legal name was changed and I was headed out the door.

Since I completed everything so fast, I decided to head home and work on my passport. Since we just used all of our vacation days for the wedding, I figured there will be no major traveling for a while. All I did was go here and fill out the application using their wizard. Since I already had a passport, all I have to do is send in my current passport, this application, two passport photos of myself and $75.

Voila! Legally I'm Mrs. Hydrangea! Now it's on to changing the rest of my documents :)

I know that it was pretty difficult for me to find cut and dry instructions on how to go about changing your name. Do any of you have some good resources for how to go about changing your name in your state?

It's only a name...or is it?

2008-10-13T09:50:00.004-05:00

Hello hive! Long time no talk!

I know I've been pretty MIA since our big day, but before I get to posting about the rehearsal, wedding day and honeymoon, I thought I'd share with you one MAJOR compromise that Mr. H and I had right before the wedding.

About two weeks before we were set to tie the knot, Mrs. (then Miss) H got a little nervous about the whole name change thing. Ok, not just a little nervous, I got super duper emotional. I had decided earlier on that I would make my maiden name a second middle name, i.e.:

First Middle Maiden Last

When all of my wedding emotions hit me like a ton of bricks those couple of weeks before the wedding, I realized that one of my biggest emotions was that of losing my last name. I never thought that this would be such an issue, but I guess that finally coming to terms with no longer having the same name that I'd had for 26 years really was more sad then I had thought.

I talked to Mr. H about possibly not changing my name at all - he wasn't into this. I can't blame him, he was excited to have me as his wife and for us to start our new family, with his family name. I, however, couldn't let it go.

Mom H, surprisingly, found the solution. Mom H takes Spanish classes each week and her teacher suggested that maybe we change my name to the old-fashioned Hispanic tradition, i.e.:

First Middle Maiden de Married

I was sure that Mr. H wouldn't go for this idea, to me it's like using a hyphen, but with a "de" instead. I couldn't believe it when not only did he agree to it, he liked it more then any of the options, including me taking his name solely. I do admit, it's quite the mouthful, but it means a lot to me that I get to keep a little of my past while beginning my future with Mr. H. And, most of all, it means the world to me that he realized how important this is to me :)

So now, my only task left is to figure out when I will find the time to make the dreaded trips to change my license, social security number and get my new passport.

Did any of you choose an unconventional way to change your name?

Pssst...

2008-10-06T23:12:00.003-05:00

We're MARRIED!

We just got back from an amazing seven days in Cabo San Lucas, so I'll be back soon with recap posts once things settle down a bit. All I can say is that the day was absolutely incredible and if there was a hitch, I never heard about it :)

*Photo credit to Perez Photography

I hate labels!

2008-10-03T11:10:00.000-05:00

The Avery Labels that I chose to use for our cigar bags, that is.

(The final product)

Our cigar roller provided us with the labels for the actual cigars but, since our guests had to take them home (they couldn't smoke in the hotel), he provided us with baggies and I chose to make the labels for the bags.

I figured I would just purchase some 1" round labels at the local office supply store and then use their template to make a quick and simple label. I was wrong. The template that Avery provided did not match up when I printed it out. No matter how much I adjusted everything, it just wasn't working.

Finaly, I traced the label with a black marker, scanned it, opened it up in Illustrator and traced the image in a new layer. I added the design that I wanted and then printed it out from there. I couple of minor adjustments had to be made, and they never ended up perfectly centered, but the end result was much better then I had when doing the labels in Word.

What was your best success when it came to round labels?

Last Minute Detail

2008-10-01T10:57:00.000-05:00

When I was creating all of the station signs for the food, I decided last minute that I wanted Bride and Groom signs for our seats at the table. All of our guests were assigned tables, but not specific seats. However, yours truly, wanted to make sure our seats were not only distinguishable, but the best in the house as well.

I took an 8.5x11 sheet of black cover stock, cut it in half (vertically), folded it with the bone folder and pasted the white sheets that I created in Adobe Illustrator. I used bits and pieces from the art I purchased on iStockphoto to use for our monograms.

Voila!

What little side projects did you end up adding at the last minute for your wedding?

Get your programs!

2008-09-29T10:41:00.000-05:00

I took it upon myself to also create our programs. To create the "guts" of the program, I opted to use Adobe InDesign with the same fonts that have been consistent with all of our wedding things. I waited to complete these until the week before the wedding, after we had the coordinators review it and the Priest as well.

For the cover, we used black 8.5x11 cardstock that I folded with the bone folder in half.
To spruce it up a bit, I created a white sheet, about half the size, and put our information on the front and our monogram on the back.

I purchased a long stapler from Office Depot for $20 and Mr. H set out to help me create 150 of these babies. I'm not much of a ribbon person, so I opted to go with the stapling route.
About 20 programs into the job, Mr. H realized that I suck at stapling, so I was left to fold everything while he stapled them together.

Talk about a time consuming and tedious job! I'm so happy that we did them though; they are exactly what I wanted. Since the cover paper and the "guts" were all the same size, some of the white pages stuck out. Since I happen to work for a printing company, they let me bring them in and they cut them all to be exactly the same size!

Did anyone else find the programs to be as much, if not a bigger pain, then putting together the invitations?!?

For the rest of the girls!

2008-09-28T10:29:00.000-05:00

I mentioned in my bridesmaid gift post that I created necklaces for all of the girls. I actually made these necklaces for all of the bridesmaids, readers and house party. Now that the rehearsal dinner is over, I can share with you my creations :)

We live in a small town east of Dallas, but the funny thing is that there is this incredible bead store in my hometown, which has caused Mom H and I to dabble in jewelry making for the past several years. We decided to take a quick class at our local bead store and off I went to shop and create. After the class, I purchased sterling silver clasps and chain, as well as pearls (real) and swarovski crystals. I played around with the lengths and with mixing the different beads and these are my results:

Three of the different necklaces. Sorry for the background, but those are the instructions that helped me to wire wrap the beads.

All wrapped and ready for the readers and house party! The black and white bags were found at Hobby Lobby - I love that place :)

Did any of you dabble into jewelry making for your wedding?

Still a Miss!

2008-09-26T07:56:00.004-05:00

But not for long! I woke up early this morning, and the excitement is really starting to get here because Mr. H and I are getting married TOMORROW!!! We are headed to the hotel today to start organizing, primping and rehearsing for this big day, that has been a long time in the making.

Before I pack up my bag, load the car and head out on the road, I just wanted to say a special thank you to everyone here at the hive. Without this outlet, I don't know how I would have made it through the past fourteen months.

To my fellow Bees - you have been an incredible source of support, knowledge and creativity - without which, our wedding just wouldn't be the same. You have supported me, brought me back to earth when I got a little carried away, and entertained me throughout the entire process.

To the readers - it amazes me how a group of people who I have never met in person can become like my good friends. Your thoughts, opinions and ideas are what kept me, and I'm sure a lot of the other Bees, going.

To my bridal party - thank you for your endless support and offers to help during the wedding. I know I didn't take most of you up on the help (I'm a bit of a control freak), but just the offers meant more then you know.

To Mom H - None of this would have been able to happen without you. You and Mr. H have been the only constants in this long journey of planning and I'm so happy that you got to share in this experience with me. I look forward to walking down the aisle with you and Pops H tomorrow and to celebrating afterward. You are truly one of my best friends and not just my mom.

Last, but certainly not least, Mr. H - I can't believe we're finally here. What seemed like it would never come, is now only hours away. What a crazy journey this engagement has been, and I'm so ready to move on to the next stage of our lives together. I never would have imagined our friendship turning into something so much more incredible - and I wouldn't have had it any other way. We've been through a lot - with a lot more to come - and I can't wait to see what our future holds in store for us. I am a lucky girl to have found you, and even luckier to have kept you ;) You are my babe-o and I love you.

I've saved up some posts for you gals while I'm absent around here, and I'll try to pop in one more time after we've said our I Do's and are headed to our honeymoon.

See you on the flip (married) side!

Miss Hydrangea

OOT Bags!

2008-09-25T14:00:00.000-05:00

Following in the footsteps of Miss Sundae, I bought my OOT bags from cheaptotes.com. The first totes that I ordered were entirely too small (math = not Miss Hydrangea's strong suit). So they happily exchanged them for another type of bag and I opted to get these black and white reusable grocery tote bags:

They were a little pricier then the others, coming in at $1.29 a piece, but we have very few OOT bags to create, so we only purchased 25. Luckily, they came in handy for my bridesmaids gifts and I still have some leftover so I can have cute totes for when I go grocery shopping - yay for no more plastic bags!

Some of the padrinos in our wedding happen to have a screen printing company (they do embroidery as well), and they were kind enough to print our monogram on all of the bags. I have to warn you, if you chose to go this route, that because of the type of material these bags are made of, the screen printing process can't be done as well because of the heat. Therefore, there's a chance that the monogram will one day fall off, but I'm so happy with how they look for now ;)

Each bag will contain two water bottles, various snacks that I am wrapping in cellophane bags with our monogram stickers to keep them closed, a copy of the Dallas CVB (convention visitor bureau) magazine and a TRAVELHOST magazine.

What creative things have you done with your packaging for the OOT bags?

Please Freshen Up!

2008-09-24T14:00:00.000-05:00

I decided to put together some simple bathroom baskets for our guests at the reception. Using the boxes that I found at Hobby Lobby, I stuffed them with items that I found at my local Dollar Tree.

I started off by filling the bottom of the baskets with white tissue paper to help with the height. Then I placed some of the black, crumpled paper in to hide the bright white.

For the girls:Tampons, Hairbrush, Hair ties, Tylenol, Tums, Nail File, Bandages, Deoderant, Lotion, Hand Sanitizer, Hairspray, Flossers, Gum, Tweezers, Nail Clippers, Bleach Pen

For the boys:

Hairspray, Hairbrush, Bandages, Flossers, Deoderant, Gum, Tums, Tylenol, Nail File, Nail Clipper, Tweezers, Lint Roller, Hand Sanitizer, Combs, "Manly" Lotion

I forgot to take a picture, but I also made two signs, similar to our food station signs, that say "For the Guest of Mr. and Mrs. Ulises Torres." We had leftover table number stands, so I placed them in those to be put next to the baskets.

Where did you all find the best deals on the goodies to put in your bathroom baskets?

Presents...and more presents

2008-09-23T16:00:00.000-05:00

But this time the presents aren't for us! The presents are for my girls - the four special ladies that will stand by my side on Saturday.

Before I go any further, I have to tell the girls not to read any further...

And I mean it...

Bridesmaids, stay away!

Each girl gets a black robe with their initials, to wear while we get our hair and makeup done. I also got one for myself with my new initials, but it's white with black embroidery.

They each get a huge white, ruffled bag that they can use for laundry, dry cleaning, or to stuff a bunch of stuff in them for whatever need they might have.

Inside these cute damask boxes that I found at Hobby Lobby is a necklace that I made. They are all sterling silver with black and/or white pearls and Swarovski crystals.

Each lovely lady gets some comfort for their feet. Mom H didn't want any of these, so instead I have a framed 5x7 picture that my photographer took of us when I had my bridal portraits :)

Since the bags that I got them were just too big to put the rest of the gifts in, I took extra OOT bags and stuffed them with their gifts :)

All for lined up and ready to go!

We have the blues...

2008-09-22T20:19:00.000-05:00

(image from here)

With the wedding only days away, Mr. H and I are feeling a bit of the blues. We chalk it up to the fact that for the past 14 months, our lives have consisted of work, family and wedding! While we are so excited for Saturday to come, we are sad to think that are wedding planning days are almost over :(

I used to be able to watch wedding shows, like Bridezillas and Platinum Wedding religiously, but now when I see them on the tv I pass right by. The combination of nerves, excitement and sadness that the whole wedding lifestyle is coming to an end is just too much for me to handle.

I know that I'm looking forward to (finally) decorating our house, making some killer meals with the new kitchen tools I've received - and I'm sure Mr. H will be happy to have me spend more time with him then with our kitchen, aka craft, table.

Are any of you experiencing some pre-wedding blues before the big day?

Wedding Signage

2008-09-14T17:08:00.001-05:00

When I woke up last Sunday morning to beautiful weather, after a rainy Saturday thanks to Hurricane Ike, I did a few things around the house and then hunkered down for a day of wedding projects. First up? The signage for the food stations and favor table.

I used the same fonts that are consistent throughout all of our wedding things, from the STDs, to the monogram to the invitations, and created signs to be placed at each food station, nearest the food that is available. Since we aren't having a seated dinner, my coordinators and I decided that the best option was to create a sign for each individual food. Here are the results:

The W Hotel has 4x6 frames, so I took a 4x6 piece of black cardstock and then placed the 3x5 card on top. Voila! Easy as that. I just glued them on and placed them all in a plastic baggie for the coordinators to place in the proper spots on the day of!

I am still a little sad that I didn't get to make menus for each person, but this was probably the best decision (and the least work). What did you all decide to do for your food - menus or cards at each station?

Hibernating Bride

2008-09-14T17:02:00.000-05:00

Last weekend, after spending the whole rainy day (thanks Ike) running wedding errands with Mom H, I came home ready to hang out on the couch and watch some sports with Mr. H. What happened is much different.

(image from here)

I fixed myself a plate of leftovers and headed to our room to take a nap at six in the evening. I didn't wake up until 8 a.m. the next morning. Talk about needing some sleep! All of the wedding projects that I had waiting on our table for me to do were still there come Sunday morning. I knew that the week had left me tired and drained, but I didn't realize I would end up sleeping for FOURTEEN hours!!!

While Mr. H was a little sad that we didn't get to hang out Saturday night, I think that letting myself sleep that much was much needed, and left me with a lot more energy to face my few projects that I had left.

Have any of you needed to take a break - and rest - from the last two weeks of wedding madness?

Double Booking

2008-09-10T19:32:00.000-05:00

This week I've had the unpleasant experience of finding out two weeks before the wedding that one of my vendors is booked for another event on the same day. It wouldn't normally bother me so much, except for the fact that I need them to arrive at our hotel one hour earlier then we previously spoke about, and the vendor threw a fit. That and the fact that I wasn't made aware prior that the vendor would be elsewhere before coming to see us.

(image from here)

The vendor had a not so pleasant phone conversation with my new wedding coordinator that, I could tell after speaking to our coordinator, left a really sour taste in her mouth. I called the vendor to try to resolve the situation myself, and also because said vendor wouldn't speak to my coordinator. Our conversation was not so pleasant as well.

After reading the contract, I realize that when we spoke a month prior the vendor considered the timeline I had then to be the final, agreed upon time. I did not.

I am completely willing to work with the vendor to find a resolution that fits all parties involved, but am still worried that the vendor's behavior will affect how things turn out on the big day. I have requested that they bring extra help, at my expense, otherwise I will have to hire another vendor to also work with us that day to make sure that all is said and done. At this point I would forfeit the entire amount owed if I was to cancel and go elsewhere.

Word to the wise - I wouldn't commit to any specific times (except maybe your venue) earlier then two weeks before the event. Items come up and scheduling constantly changes for the day of the wedding, and this can get tricky if your vendor has more then one wedding booked in the same day.

Have any of you experienced the same change in your wedding day time line that has caused an issue with one of your vendors? If so, how did you go about resolving the situation? Do you think that vendors should let their clients know that they have multiple events in one day?

*Please excuse me for not detailing the specific vendor that this is or getting extremely specific. I would like to keep it as anonymous as possible until the situation is resolved :)

Wrapped and ready to fill...

2008-09-10T10:06:00.000-05:00

This past weekend, after my second shower, Mom H and one of my bridesmaids came over to help me with the (not so exciting) task of cutting ribbon, xyroning ribbon and labels, and, finally, wrapping and attaching them to over 200 3" cube vases for our favors.

Originally, we wanted these vases to be the escort cards for our guests, but, after determining the layout of the room and the size of the vases, we opted instead to make them favors that our coordinators will place on the escort card table once all of those have been taken by guests and everyone is in the reception room.

The labels and ribbon after being xyroned!

Mom H and BM H had the task of cutting the 200 pieces of ribbon, while I xyroned the labels. After a long day at my shower, I was getting a little cranky and tired so we decided that I would finish xyroning everything the next day and they would return to help me wrap. I surprised them both when, the next two days, while Mr. H watched football, I finished xyroning and wrapped all of the boxes (17 total!) of vases all by myself!

The task was a little tedious, but I'm proud to report that all vases are wrapped and securely resting in their boxes to be loaded and delivered with me to the hotel the day before the wedding.

If any of your plan to xyron ribbon, I suggest you use the permanent adhesive. It sticks to the ribbon better and is much easier to work with. If you really prefer the removable adhesive, I recommend that, after you xyron the ribbon, leave it as is for a couple of days. This way the adhesive really sticks to the ribbon and it's easier to apply to the vase (or whatever you are sticking it to)

Wrapped and secure in the box!

The final product!

Did any of you take on a wedding task that, when at first it seemed pretty simple and quick, turned out to be a lot more work then you imagined?

How are you September brides feeling?

2008-09-08T16:03:00.000-05:00

Because I'm starting to feel nervous!

Today was the first day that I really started to get nervous about the wedding. Not nervous as in am I sure I want to marry Mr. H, but just nervous. When I browse through my Google reader and see all the wedding images, I get butterflies and a tingle. It's a strange sensation because it's like a combination of the butterflies and tingle that I first got when Mr. H and I started our relationship, but there are also some nerves in there too. I think it's just the culmination of having over a year to plan this event and now it's THISCLOSE to being here!

The sensations are definitely not bad ones, they are just so strong. I'm excited, happy, nervous, scared ... just about every emotion of the rainbow. I started off last weekend with zero motivation to do any of my wedding projects and, by Sunday, I was a wedding planning machine again. Then, today, the many blogs of featured weddings that I read daily really made my emotions go into overdrive.

I just worry that the emotions will only increase from now until the wedding (in 19 days). Do any of you fellow brides have some good advice for keeping your emotions in check as the wedding gets closer and closer?

FMIL Hydrangea Throws Me a Shower!

2008-09-08T10:13:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday afternoon, FMIL Hydrangea and FSILs Hydrangea threw me a cute shower at a local hotel in our hometown. This shower was mainly for family members of Mr. H (he has a ginormous family) and a few of their close friends.

Mom H and BM H attended with me and we all had a great time! I was a little nervous for my mother as she had not been to one of Mr. H's family events before and many of the women speak little English, just mainly Spanish. While I'm still a little shy to speak it, I pretty much understand just about everything they are saying and it still catches them off guard at times when I answer their Spanish in English :)

We started off by eating - and man was it good! I forgot to take pics of the main spread, but it included ceviche, shrimp cocktail, fruits, veggies...yum yum yum! FMIL H also remembered my favorite cake and she bought a tres leches cake from this amazing Mexican bakery for us all to eat after we stuffed ourselves with seafood.

YUM - Tres Leches!

Then it was on to playing some fun games, where the girls split into teams to create toilet paper dresses. I got to be the judge (of course Mom H won :) )

Mom H in her bridal gear!

The women also has to put a napkin on top of their heads to try to draw a pic of Mr. H and myself (and those were some pretty hilarious drawings)!

A quick game of "hot potato" played with a bouquet later, we were on to blowing up balloons to see who could blow one up the biggest - but there was a little trick being played on yours truly. FMIL H and FSILs H poked holes in my balloons, so each time I tried to blow them up it popped. The first couple of times I really just thought it was an accident, but by the last time I was so scared because I was starting to think that they were playing a trick on me. Turns out, they had put little holes in each one - sneaky, sneaky!

We'll call it "Hot Bouquet"

You can tell I was a little scared to blow another balloon up at this point!

We finished out the day with presents and, although the shower was small and quaint, Mr. H and I made out with some pretty amazing gifts!

I'm really happy that all turned out well and that Mom H finally got to experience a little of Mr. H's culture and get to know his family better. How was it the first time that you introduced your family to you fiance's culture?

Hurricane, Hurricane Go Away

2008-09-08T09:55:00.000-05:00

I check weather.com religiously, but not so much for our wedding day as I do just to see what my week in traffic will be like due to the weather. Today, with the fear that Hurricane Ike will be hitting the Texas Gulf Coast, I have been checking the weather a little more often to stay up to date.

(image from here)

Texas weather can be pretty unpredictable at any time of the year, but the end of September is always a toss up. You could be in 100 degree heat, a nice 85 degree fall day, or, on the rare occasion, freezing your butt off! I'm hoping for the middle of these, or somewhere close. Right now, the weather is really unpredictable as the hurricane season edges towards my home state.

Luckily, our wedding is still sixteen days out and all of our wedding is indoors, so rain won't affect too much ... except the outside photos before the ceremony that I'm coveting!

I just wanted to write this post to gather a little support for my fellow Texans (and really, anyone that is being affected by this weather) and, also, to the brides in these areas. While I know that it's not the most important thing - getting out of there safe is - you can't help but have a special place in your heart for the girls who have planned for so long and so hard to have this unexpected weather arrive so quickly without much warning.

How has the weather affected your wedding - do you all have any good advice/positive words?

*For those of you locals, HERE is a link to help and/or donate.

Obligatory License Pic

2008-09-03T07:38:00.000-05:00

We did it! Yesterday morning, bright and early, Mr. H and I set off to get our marriage license! In Texas, it doesn't matter which county you receive your license in so long as you get married in the state of Texas. We are getting married in Dallas county but, to avoid any long lines or a wait, we went to the county clerk's office in our hometown (outside of Dallas county). We got there at about 8:15 a.m. and by 8:35 a.m. we were out of there!

Twenty minutes and $72 later, we were posing for a pic by the county seal.

As a funny side note, Mr. H's dad has to go to the county clerk's office quite a bit for his work. The women in the office are familiar with him, as they have seen him almost daily for over ten years. When he went in yesterday, they were excited to tell him that they had seen his son and help him with his marriage license. Mr. H's dad played dumb and acted like he had no clue that Mr. H was applying to get married and acted shocked and mad. He totally had them going, but finally fessed up in the end :)

With only three weeks to go, I still kinda feel like it isn't happening. After such a long engagement I've become accustomed to thinking that I have months to go until the big day. I know it's going to hit any day now as more and more wedding tasks are unloaded onto my plate.

How long did it take you to finally "realize" that the wedding was right around the corner?

Scrrrrrrrr...Where'd it go?!?

2008-09-02T12:09:00.001-05:00

Talk about lovely timing. When we decided to create our wedding website with Wedorama, the highest increment of time you could purchase it was for one year. We've been engaged for well over a year now, so I assumed that when the site was up for renewal, we'd receive some sort of a notice. Today, when I went online to check our site, I found this: What a surprise only 25 days out from the wedding! I have a shower this weekend and our registries are listed on there. The last day to get rooms at our hotel for the special rate is THIS FRIDAY, which is listed on the site as well. I don't know how many people are actually referring to our site, but it satisfies me to know that I've made this information source available to our friends and family (and advertised it on just about every piece of paper I've sent them).

I sent Wedorama an email, as they requested, and I went online and paid to renew our site for one more year, and, as soon as I did that, it was back up and running. With the long weekend last weekend, I didn't bother to check up on it quite as religiously as I normally do, so I'm not sure when the site went down. Either way, with the problem now solved, I can breathe a huge sigh of relief!

What minor/major, unexpected glitches have happened to you with only a short amount of time to go before your big day?

Please Say No

2008-08-30T15:48:00.000-05:00

We spent so much time arguing, compromising and finalizing our guest list that I really never took into consideration the size of the room, once we had the stage, dance floor, food etc. I guess I just always figured that a lot of people wouldn't be able to attend the wedding, and that the room was a lot larger then it actually is. I was wrong.

Here sits our stack of returned RSVPs*. As of now, here's the count:

298 Invited
153 Attending
39 Not Attending

We were hoping for only 200 to attend. The room, if we completely change the layout and plan for the night, will fit a max of about 240 people. So, doing the math, we have 106 responses yet to be received and, if all say yes, that's putting our final count at 259!

I'm still hoping to reach only 200 attending, but after a run down of the missing RSVPs, we are estimating that the majority of them will accept the invitation. So, at this point, we're hoping that at least 10 more invited couples won't be able to attend.

The cutoff date for sending back the RSVPs is September 6th. After that date, any that we haven't received we will have to call to find out if they plan on making it to the wedding. We really do hope that everyone can attend and I'm sure that if they can all make it, we will find a way to make it work.

Word to the wise - double and triple check your maximum invited with how many people your venue will hold. This was probably the least wise decision I've made through the whole planning process!

Have any of you come across the same problem when working your final numbers around the size of your venue?

*The one RSVP you see sitting in the opposite direction is the only one that we've received that has more names listed then the number of seats we have reserved for them. I'd say 1 out of 96 cards received isn't so bad!

Prepping the Bride

2008-08-30T15:25:00.001-05:00

I've spent so many weeks (and months) preparing everything for the wedding that this weekend was finally some time to prep myself. I spent my Saturday getting a much needed facial and my hair done. With only 4 weeks to go, I figured that a facial would be good at this point so my skin will be nice and clear for the wedding day.

To demonstrate my reasoning, here's a pic of what I look like now, after having a deep cleansing facial (with extractions):

(A super red, and unflattering Miss Hydrangea)

Usually a facial, for me, means that my face will break out a bit the week after but then is super clear and healthy. The woman who did my facial said it was best for me to do a scrub on my face 2-3 times a week from now until the wedding to rejuvenate my skin and get rid of any dead/dry skin. It made me realize how much I'd been neglecting my poor face!

My hair is naturally dark brown, but every few months I go in to get it colored one solid dark brown. It's super dark at first but after a few weeks it fades into the perfect color, so, after my facial, I headed off to get the hair dyed and trimmed one last time before the wedding.

It was nice to be pampered for a bit (the facial included a foot and neck/upper back rub) and revive myself to finish up those last minute projects that I need to get done. Now, all I have left is a good eyebrow shaping and to get my nails done, which will wait until the week of the wedding.

How long are you all waiting to do your final beauty regime before the big day?

*Facial by Stephanie from Aqua
*Hair color by Gabi @ Richard Hayler
*Cut by Patty @ Richard Hayler
(all were amazing!)

The Final Countdown

2008-08-27T08:30:00.000-05:00

I logged into my other obsession (or time waster), Facebook, this morning to see this on my profile:

That's right! We are officially one month out from the wedding. I'm getting so excited, at times a little nervous and, most of all, antsy. I'm ready to see it all come together, the signs, flowers, lighting, music, decorations, favors - EVERYTHING!

All of our invitations are out - about half of our RSVPs are back (of the 298 invited, so far 145 are attending and 39 are not) - and our rehearsal invites went out this morning. Now all I can think of are the final things to be done:

- Finalize guest list
- Finalize room layout (and flowers, lighting, etc.)
- Make the OOT bags
- Purchase two more parent's gifts
- Favors
- Programs
- Escort cards (which means figure out seating, which I'm not looking forward to)

And that's just the top of the list. As the wedding comes closer, the less organized I seem to be (my motivation to keep up my wedding binder has been lackluster, at best). What are you all planning to do to keep yourself on top of things for that final countdown?

Boudoir Babes

2008-08-25T21:14:00.000-05:00

I want to say thank to everyone for their awesome compliments on my boudoir photos. A lot of you were wondering how to find boudoir photographers in your area and, after Lynn Michelle read my post, she had this awesome link to share with everyone.

(image found here)

If you are searching for a local boudoir photographer, you can find photographers from the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom and Germany at boudoirphotographers.net.

I hope all of you can find a great photographer and have such the good experience that I had shooting my boudoirs.

You all had such amazing things to say, but I especially want to thank GorgesViola, who has been around the hive for a while and remembered my post on my bridal portraits and how insecure I was with myself (not the photos, because our wedding photographer rocks). Thank you for remembering how bad I felt about my self image at the time, and for how far I've come

I hope that this helps some of you find a photographer in your area, but for everyone who has taken these pics, how about sharing your photographer's info below for our fellow readers!

Let's Brunch!

2008-08-25T11:23:00.000-05:00

With my handy new printer, another creation was born.

My parents decided, after we've received so many yes RSVPs from out of town guests, that they wanted to host a brunch on the day after the wedding. Many of these family members and friends, from both sides of my family, will not be in the same place all at once in a long time, if ever, so Dad H took it upon himself to plan the whole shindig. I took this as a chance for me to create more paper goodness for the wedding.

While I'm not as talented as many of our other Bees, I still love to create invitations, so I set off to iStockphoto to find some cute graphics and my idea was born. It went from wedding type pics to pears - the perfect pair to be exact!

I took bits and pieces of the image, change the font, and voila - an invite was done!

I wanted something cute for the wording, so I Googled, found and edited the following:

On Sunday afternoon
don’t pack and run
stay around longer
for a bit more fun
have some food and drink
before you start your day,
and help us toast
Stephanie and Ulises
before they are on their way!

I decided to take the pear image and create envelope labels, mainly because I've been dying to try them since I saw Miss Pom's envelope labels. I created everything in Illustrator and used the Xyron with permanent adhesive to stick the labels to the envelopes (which are Paper Source #10 Moss envelopes). The font is Freebooter script, which can be found on dafont.com.

I'm super happy with the end product (sorry the pics aren't so hot, photography is not my strong suit). Have many of you found new hobbies/creativeness from your wedding planning?

A Bare Hydrangea

2008-08-24T10:00:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that I was going to have my boudoir shots taken. I can't tell you enough how glad I am that I took them. It helped me with my confidence and self image, and in turn, I got some pretty awesome shots that Mr. H will definitely appreciate.

I went after work, which made me a little nervous, because, after being up since 5:30 in the morning, I didn't look so alert and happy. My photographer, Lynn Michelle, did an amazing job of hiding any of those feelings which I might have felt. I arrived to her studio, many outfits in hand, and she did both my hair and makeup and helped me to pick out which outfits would be the most flattering and good for the camera (which, fyi, I learned that the babydoll dresses that we all think hide our bad parts are usually not so flattering on camera).

Here's a little peek of what we ended up with (only PG pics for you to see) - Mr H. if by some random reason you are actually reading this post - STOP NOW:

She offered me a glass of wine to help ease my tensions, which I accepted, but really only ended up taking a couple of sips during the entire session. She was super easy to work with (aka, she made me feel completely comfortable being pretty naked in front of a stranger), got me to make my natural smile more then I would have thought possible, and did a great job with the final photos.

I started off with a hockey jersey, moved to Mr. H's favorite sweatshirt and some cute panties, then a couple of little lacy numbers and ended with the garter for our wedding, my wedding shoes, some Mrs. panties and the tie that Mr. H will wear on our wedding day.

If any of you are considering taking some boudoir pics for your man, I can't tell you how happy I am that I did it - and I encourage you to take the risk and do the same! Here's a few tips from my photographer on what you should bring to your boudoir session!

*all photos credit to Lynn Michelle

It's Taking Over EVERYTHING

2008-08-23T23:06:00.001-05:00

A while back I posted on how the wedding was taking over our entire (previously empty) dining room. I figured it would stay designated to this area, but, I have to say, I was wrong.

It started off with me, innocently, bringing some paper and my handy cutter to get things prepared for various wedding things (escort cards, favors, etc.) into our kitchen dining area so that I could watch a little tv and not be on the other side of the house as Mr. H while I was working on my crafts. It ended up as this:

I have to say, Mom H and I made it worse this past Saturday. If you notice in the pic above, there is a big, black printer on the table now. We made our first trip to the first Paper Source in Dallas and they recommended this awesome color inkjet printer for paper projects. At only $99 (plus the price of a USB cord), Mom H decided it would be a good investment with all the paper projects I have taken on lately, so we headed to our local Office Max and she gifted this to me for all of my creativity (and a promise that I would create a couple different thank you notes for her).

Ahhh, true happiness. Now, not only can I create, but I can print!

It's an Epson Stylus Photo RX595. Printer, copier and scanner, all in one. We went to several office stores until we could find one. Word to the wise - find wherever it is listed at the lowest price and see if the location where it's available will price match. We found this at Staples for $99, but at Office Max it was $129. Turns out, they price match and so we happily left with the printer for the $99 price.

After 14 months of planning, I guess I shouldn't have been all that surprised that our home is now our wedding mecca. Have any of you taken over numerous rooms in your home as the wedding progresses?

Twogether in Texas

2008-08-18T12:46:00.000-05:00

I previously wrote about the marriage license laws that will be going into effect come September 1, 2008, in the state of Texas. However controversial the subject, come September 1, this will be important information for all Texas brides to know.

If the couple chooses to attend the 8-hour premarital class, there will be no waiting period on the marriage license (normally three days) and the fee will only be $12, as opposed to new, raised rate of $72. Today, I searched everywhere online to obtain more information on the rules as to what constitutes as an official premarital class, as Mr. H and I already did a whole weekend of marriage prep through the Catholic church.

I'm still awaiting a response to find out whether or not our class is considered "valid" by the state. Otherwise Mr. H and I will have to decide whether or not it's worth spending the extra money to not take another prep class.

While I was more positive about this concept when I first read of it, knowing that the classes and time we put into our marriage prep this past year might not be accepted by the state, and the raised license rate if we choose not to take their course in addition to ours, is a little perturbing. I can understand the desire for couples to take a more active role in preparing for marriage, but this might be a little extreme.

If you are a Texas bride, you can get more information and find the contact information for your local Healthy Marriage Regional Intermediaries here, or you can contact your local county clerk's office.

Rehearsal Insert?

2008-08-18T07:46:00.000-05:00

As I was addressing our rehearsal dinner invites yesterday, I realized that nowhere on the invitation does it say anything about the actual rehearsal. Dinner? Check. Directions from the church to the dinner? Check. Rehearsal? Not so much.

(Picture of the inside of our church, found here)

I hopped onto Google to see if I could find anything about the proper etiquette for letting your wedding party know what time they should be at the church for the rehearsal, but I couldn't find anything concrete. I checked our boards, but everything I found seemed to leave it all up in the air. My first inclination is to send an insert with the rehearsal dinner invites to those people who need to be at the rehearsal first (we have invited several guests to the dinner who will not need to be at the rehearsal).

I thought about just spreading the word via phone call, etc., but I think that having it in writing somewhere would also help just to make sure people have an idea of when they need to be there (and plenty of warning incase getting off of work early is needed).

How did you all let your wedding party know when/where they needed to be for the rehearsal? If you send in insert with your invitation, what wording did you use?

It's My B-Day

2008-08-14T08:10:00.000-05:00

I'm not talking birthday people - I'm talking boudoir day! After work today, I'll be heading to a session with Lynn Michelle, a local photographer who seems to be very popular at doing boudoir shoots (I found her recommended quite a few times on the Knot boards). Lucky for me, I got quite the loot of outfits at my bachelorette to be able to pick and choose what I'm going to wear for the pics.

(picture found here)

To makes things a little fun I also brought Mr. H's favorite, OLD sweatshirt that I'll probably pair with a cute pair of undies. I really wanted to bring his signed hockey jersey, but if anything were to happen to it, he would be devastated (it's one of his most prized possessions), so I settled for my much to big, unsigned jersey that I'll pair more cute panties. I figure he'll be pretty happy as long as there is something hockey in a pic :)

Another possible outfit that I brought is Mr. H's wedding tie, my garter and my wedding shoes. I want to try to incorporate a few things that are Mr. H's favorite things and something wedding, since that will be his second gift that I give to him on the wedding day. I'm super nervous about the shoot and I hope I relax enough to really get some good pics. I'm not a super shy person when it comes to my body, but everyone is their own worst critic at the end of the day. Let's hope that Lynn Michelle has some mad photoshopping skills!

Are any of you planning a special photo session? What are some creative ideas for the pics?

Cultural Differences

2008-08-10T23:06:00.001-05:00

As our invites have now gone out, and our final guest count is about 100 people larger then what we were aiming for, a concern came up between both sides of our family, but mainly from Mr. H's side. In Mr. H's Hispanic culture, it is not unlikely for invited guests to bring along uninvited friends with them to the reception. At their parties, the more, the merrier.

Unfortunately, we will not be able to afford for this at our wedding, and the room for the reception is already nearing it's max capacity. Another concern was that, although stated as an "Adult Reception" in our invitation suite, Mr. H's mom is still worried that her family will not understand this and they will show up with their children.

After MUCH discussion (heated, at times), Mr. H decided that it would be best for us to send out an individual card to each of his family's guests in order to clarify that no children and no uninvited guests attend the reception. He also wanted to be sure that the note was in both Spanish and English, so this is what we came up with last night:

English:

We are looking forward to
celebrating our wedding with you
on September 27, 2008!

To be sure that there is no
confusion, we ask that you please
do not bring children or any
guests that were not listed on the
invitations to the reception. Due
to limited seating, attendees with
children and uninvited guests will
be asked to leave at the door.

We appreciate all of your
cooperation and can’t wait to see
you next month!

Spanish:

¡Esperamos celebrando nuestra boda con
usted en el 27 de septiembre de 2008!

Para estar seguro que no hay
confusión, nosotros requerimos que haga
el favor de no traer niños y ningúna otra
persona que no fuera enlistados en las
invitaciones a la recepción. Debido a
asientos limitados, los asistentes con
Niños y personas no convidados serán
permitidas en el salon.

¡Apreciamos toda su cooperación y
esperamos su presencia para verle el mes
próximo!

Mr. H's mom decided how the Spanish version would be worded after I came up with the English side. I was super hesitant to send these out, but Mr. H and his mom feel that this would be one further precaution we could take to curb any uninvited guests showing up for the wedding.

Have an of you had to worry about uninvited guests attending your wedding? How did you keep things from getting out of control?

Off They GO!

2008-08-07T07:05:00.000-05:00

That's right, I finally got my invitations off in the mail! I designed it all in Illustrator and had them letterpressed at Mercurio Brothers. When I received my initial RSVP cards, I was unhappy with the way they printed and the addresses on the RSVP envelopes were incorrect, but Mercurio Brothers quickly fixed the problem, reprinted the envelopes and reprinted the cards with a different design that I created all for no extra charge!

Since the colors of our wedding are solely black and white, I opted to keep the invitations simple, but incorporate our monogram into the pieces. I included a simple map with our website address for guests to access full directions and other details.

Last weekend, one of my bridesmaids was kind enough to spend her Friday night helping me to stuff the envelopes, secure the belly bands and make sure that everything was organized. I had originally ordered my postage from Picture It, but accidentally ordered the wrong amount ($0.42 instead of $0.59). Since they don't create postage faster then 8-10 days, I decided to order stamps with Zazzle. I ordered them on Monday and they were at my doorstep by Wednesday afternoon. Nice turnaround! The stamps we ordered from Picture It weren't a complete loss, though, as we'll be able to use them for thank you notes and another card we will be sending to some of our guests (more on that later).

Ok, I'll stop explaining now and show you the pics!

The assembled invitation with belly band.

Reception Card.

Map with our website for further details.

RSVP Card.

The whole invitation suite!

My sister-in-law's mother was kind enough to do ALL of our calligraphy (both inner and outer envelopes) for us for no charge at all. I am really happy with how it turned out! We got her a beautiful Waterford clock to thank her, but I still don't think it's enough for the 175 invitations or so that she calligraphied.

All packed up and ready to go!

I am def no Miss Cupcake (her invitations are incredible), but I'm very happy with how our invitations turned out, considering our wedding has been the only time that I've tried to create invitations.

Did you all opt to DIY for your invites or hire someone else?

Anyone Hungry???

2008-08-04T08:58:00.000-05:00

Last week we had our tasting for the reception and man, it was G O O D! Mr. H and Mom H attended the tasting with me. We were seated at a round table with the same linens and chairs that we will be using for our reception. As the chef brought out different courses based on the items we had previously sent the hotel that sounded tasty, one of the event hosts made sure to keep our glasses filled with wine.

Here's some of the food that we sampled:

smoked turkey taco with queso fresco and mexican crema

Various cheese, fruits, antipasti, veggies , hummus and eggplant dips, foccacia and lavosh

housemade frites and chef selection of dipping sauces

latin marinated beef ribeye

fresh guacamole, tomato salsa, roasted corn salsa, queso fresco and flour tortillas

gulf shrimp wrapped with crispy bacon and jalapeño cheddar sauce

kobe beef slider with white cheddar and applewood bacon

Most of what we sampled, we chose for the menu, except we switched up our carving station. Instead of having a buffet, we are going to have hors d'oevres during the cocktail hour, and then three stations during dinner: 1) carving station, 2) hot station and 3) cold station.

Here's the final menu:

Cocktail Hour
- seasonal exotic fruits, farmstead cheeses, dipping sauce, lavosh, and assorted crackers
- gulf shrimp wrapped with crispy bacon and jalapeño cheddar sauce
- buffalo mozzarella, tear drop tomato, and basil
- asian barbeque chicken with mango on crispy wonton

Carving Station
- roasted beef tenderloin, balsamic glazed red onions, horseradish cream and rolls

Cold Station
- hummus, roast eggplant dip, lavosh and focaccia bread
- vegetable spring roll with snow peas and peanut sauce
- baja style shrimp cocktail with avocado and cilantro

Hot Station
- kobe beef slider with white cheddar and applewood bacon
- smoked turkey taco with queso fresco and mexican crema
- housemade frites and chef selection of dipping sauces

Everything comes in little portions so our guests can try a bit of it all. We definitely have a run of the mill menu, but, to us, it's fun and all of it is tasty! I couldn't believe how hard it was to pick out everything to eat and for each station.

Did you all have a tough time when picking the food for your reception?

Zen Bride

2008-08-01T08:29:00.001-05:00

I always admired that Mrs. Magnolia did something active on the morning of her wedding. Now, seeing that I am no runner, when I came across an email from the W Hotel about their Saturday morning yoga sessions (FREE, by the way) through September 27th, it sparked an idea.

(Image from here)

Each session is from 7:00 am - 8:00 am, they provide the mats and it is held next to their pool on the 16th floor. I know that I won't be sleeping in that morning, and I know, after how nervous I was just for my shower and bachelorette, that I will definitely need something to calm me down a bit. Since all of my bridesmaids and I will be staying at the hotel the night before the wedding, we decided that we'd all get up and go to the yoga session, then head down for some yummy breakfast before we take our showers and begin our hair and makeup for the wedding.

I'm so happy that this all worked out the way it did, because I think that the yoga will really be beneficial for me the entire day through.

Are any of you doing something unique the morning of your weddings to calm the nerves and get the day started?

P.S. - For any of you Dallas brides who want to attend one of the yoga sessions, you can get more information here.

Escort Card Dilemma

2008-07-31T08:30:00.000-05:00

My original plan to have vases with my escort cards has been shot down, and for good reasons. If we passed out the escort cards like this during the cocktail hour, how would guests hold those, their drink AND get some hors d'oeurves. Quite a handful.

My dilemma now is, what in the world do I do with the 200 vases that I've purchased? We had originally planned on having the vases filled with baby's breath, but now I'm rethinking that whole idea. What I've come up with is this:

Since the tables will be relatively clutter free because we aren't having a seated dinner, what if we put round candles inside the vases and placed one at each seat? This would add some ambiance to the room, decor to the tables and each person would still have something to take home. But, then, how will the guests know that the vases are theirs to take? Should I still put name cards on them so they will know that the vases are theirs?

We will still have the escort cards setup at the entrance, mainly for crowd control. We are a little worried that some family and friends will bring uninvited guests, so we are going to have someone monitoring the escort card table and welcoming the guests to (hopefully) ensure that the only people at the wedding are invited guests.

So, now I ask for your help. What do you think would be a good idea to do with the 3" cubed vases/votive holders that we've purchased?!?

A pic of the vases so you can get a better idea of what they look like!

The Dallas Shower

2008-07-31T08:07:00.001-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, I had my shower thrown by the YaYas. It was so beautiful I couldn't even believe it. We all met at Times Ten Cellars, where mimosas, white and rose wine were waiting for everyone. The tables had the cutest little arrangements on it and the food was so fabulous.

The beautiful room ... the food was setup buffet style in the room with all of the wine vats!

We all mingled for about an hour, then go down to business: we ate. There were pulled pork sliders with coleslaw, roasted asparagus, shrimp cakes and various cheeses, etc. I was so nervous so I only ate a small plate, but let me tell you, it was G O O D!

After about an hour, they told me it was time to open up all of the gifts. Since most of the people who attended were my mom's friends, I have to say, she has some generous friends. I got some amazing crystal pieces, along with some kitchen pieces that were much needed! The YaYas, aside from throwing me the amazing shower, got me a beach bag filled with a towel, flip flops and coverups for our honeymoon. I thought that was so creative!

Opening up the gifts!

Here I am with two of my bridesmaids on the right and one of my good friends from college on the left, who wasn't going to be able to make it, but surprised me last minute and showed up to the shower!

When the presents were over, I stood up to say thank you and almost started to cry - seriously, when did I become so emotional? I guess having all of these women make you feel that special really tugs at your heart strings. Then I passed out their presents. They were waiting for a candle, or something along those lines, when one of them pulled out the YaYa dvd. They loved it (they had even signed their card on my gift from the YaYas)!

At the end of the day, one of my mom's closest friends (who played tennis with Mom H when she was pregnant with me) came up to hug me and started to cry as well. They were touched that I had actually put some time and thought into the gifts that I gave them. I have to say, the best part of the day, for me, was seeing those women open their gifts.

Here I am with the infamous YaYas!

I didn't realize how nervous I would be that day. I guess it was odd having all the attention on me, and especially not having a party like this in my honor. Was anyone else, besides me, nervous for their shower?

Big Bachelorette Weekend - The grand finale!

2008-07-28T10:27:00.000-05:00

As with many bachelorette parties, mine included an assortment of underthings from all of the girls. When we came back to the room from the cabana, I was surprised to see that our small room was opened to the suite next door, leaving a huge living area for us to continue the celebration.

I was completely surprised!

The girls hung up all of the lingerie on strings and placed numbers on each piece. This is where game #2 began - I had to guess which person got me each thing. As I was playing both of my games, the girls guessed how many I would get right. The winner out of the guests got a party favor as well!

Let's just say, at this point in the day, and that much champagne down, I failed miserably at guessing who got me what. The girls all bought me some pretty amazing things, that will definitely come in handy for my boudoir photos in two weeks!

At the end of the presents, I was presented with a scrapbook. I opened it up and expected to find goofy pics of me and my girlfriends over the years, but what I got was something much more. When the girls sent out my invitations, it also included one piece of scrapbook paper and asked that each guest design their own page. That morning, after everyone arrived, they put it all in the book and presented it to me. This is where I lost it. I'm not a huge crier, but I was crying like a baby. There is nothing that could have made me feel more special, then to see these pages put together for me.

Here I am opening Mom H's page - she cut out a ton of pics of me growing up all through the years. The top of the page says "My Girl" and the bottom is one of our engagement pics and it says "Now His Girl." It was so awesome.

After I calmed down a bit, the girls handed out an addition to our evening outfits for the night - sailor hats decorated for each person. I was adamant that I didn't want a stripper or any penis paraphernalia on my body, so they made sailor hats, reminiscent to the ones that 4 of us had donned almost five years before when we joined our sorority. I couldn't believe how creative it was!

We topped off the night by having dinner at Tillman's Roadhouse - I had always wanted to go there for dinner so they made an awesome choice! They have quirky dishes like venison frito pie, chicken fried steak, salmon ceviche and brisket quesadillas. It was so yum (especially the mojito and the blood orange margarita)!

Headed out for our night on the town!

After dinner we went to a couple of clubs, Candleroom and Ghostbar. The girls were so prepared that they had our names already on the list so we got to go to the front of the line at both places. When we got to the Candleroom, it was pretty much empty, so we got some drinks and did some dancing. After it started to get crowded, we decided to go to the Ghostbar so the girls who hadn't been there could see it. It was super crowded, so about 1am we all decided it was about time to go back to the hotel, where the leftovers from our lunch at the cabana were waiting for us to munch on.

All in all, my bachelorette day/night was truly amazing. I really have some of the best friends (and mom) a girl could ask for, to have gone to so much trouble for me. I don't know how I'll ever repay them, but I know that several of them are reading this post, so I hope you girls know how much I love you and how truly appreciative I am for all of the trouble you went to to make my bachelorette something I will NEVER forget!

Big Bachelorette Weekend - The Initial Surprise

2008-07-28T07:48:00.000-05:00

All I knew about this weekend was that it was going to be my bachelorette - all of the rest of the details were a complete surprise. I have to say, the girls that helped put on the weekend, and the others who were gracious enough to attend, made it the best bachelorette I could have ever imagined.

I made sure to sleep in a little on Saturday morning because it was bound to be a long day ahead. Mom H picked me up at our house around 11:30, and off we headed to Dallas. I knew it was going to be a night away, and had all of my things packed, when some of the bridesmaids started calling my mom and all I heard her say is "I'll drop her off and then come meet you guys." Drop me off? Alone?

Mom H pulled up to the Hotel Palomar, where one of my bridesmaids was waiting to pick me up and walk me to Exhale, their spa. She told me to check in, and, once I was done someone would come and pick me up.

(photo from here)

After filling out a little form, they told me that I would be heading up to a one hour massage ... much needed after the stressful week I had. One hour of bliss later, one of my best friends from college, who had flown in for the night, was waiting to pick me up and distract me at the bar for a while, so the other girls could finish putting the details together.

After distracting me for about an hour at the bar, 2 bellinis later, we headed up to a hotel room so I could change into my swimsuit and cover up to head out to the pool. We were greeted by my mom and sister-in-law in the room and, when we were about to head out the door, my FSILs and their friend showed up as well!

All the girls in the cabana!

I figured that we would just be hanging out poolside, but, when we walked out there, I was surprised to find the girls hanging out in our own private cabana, and, quickly thereafter, an amazing buffet of yummy sandwiches, pizza, fruit, hummus and pitas were all brought out for us to munch on. It was much needed for me, at this point, because I was working off of one cup of coffee and some champagne.

One of my bridesmaids, who flew in from LA just for the event, brought a stereo w/ iPod hookup and played tunes for us as we all just caught up and enjoyed the day. Then, the first game of the day was brought out. Mr. H had filled out a questionnaire from the girls and I had to try and answer all of his questions (50 of them!). For each question I got wrong, I would be forced to put a piece of gum in my mouth. This game is usually played with shots or drinks, but the girls actually wanted me to make it to the rest of the bachelorette fun, so gum it was.

Up close and person w/ Miss Hydrangea and about 20 pieces of gum.

I have to say, if I don't see another stick of gum for a long while, I will be ok with that. I was sure I'd have all the questions in the bag, but I only got 28/50. At least that's over 50%! When the game was over, we all hopped into the pool and hung out. We topped off our pool time with some champagne ice cream and then headed upstairs for the second game of the day.

Coming up - more games, some tears and our grand finale of an evening!

Still here!

2008-07-24T08:28:00.000-05:00

Sorry for being so quiet this week, but Mr. H and I have had both wedding related and non-wedding related family issues that we had to take care of. It was dramatic, but we seem to have sorted through it all and are relieved, but exhausted to say the least.

Last weekend was my amazing shower, which I promise to write about next week, once I have the pictures from Mom H's camera. This Saturday is my bachelorette surprise, so I'll be sure to give you guys an update on that, as well as some wedding details that I have finished.

To tie me over until next week, I found a couple of cool bridal things on DailyCandy today that are going on in the Dallas area this weekend that local brides might be interested.

1) R.S.V.P. Soiree
This weekend they are selling a lot of their party items that they used for rental (linens, chairs, centerpieces, etc.). You never what you might be able to find for a good discount for your own wedding decor! The sale is on Friday from 9-5 and Saturday from 9-2. 1937 Irving Blvd, Dallas, Texas.

2) Warren Barron Sample Sale
Warren Barron, the store where I bought my second dress for the wedding, is having a sample sale this weekend. Their store is amazing and the dresses are so beautiful, I would definitely check this out if I didn't already have my dress(es)! The sale is on Friday and Saturday from 10-6. 53 Highland Park Village, Dallas, Texas.

And, on a final note, I thought I'd share with you my bachelorette dress. I looked and looked, and finally found this cute number on sale on Bluefly (another one of my bargain shopping addictions)!

I'll be back next week, with loads to talk about and (hopefully) some fun pics to share!

Drumroll Please ...

2008-07-17T08:15:00.000-05:00

My invitations are in! Actually, they came in several weeks ago, but we had to redesign the RSVP card and reprint their envelopes with a different address (more details on this later). Before I share with you the whole invitation suite, I wanted to talk a little more about the RSVPs.

I don't know of any wedding that hasn't had some sort of an issue with people returning their RSVP cards, but Mr. H and I had several obstacles to overcome when it came to this portion of our invitations. Because Mr. H is the first generation born here in the States, a lot of his family is not used to RSVPs. Also, in his family, although they send out invites, it is normal for people to bring along other family members, friends, etc. that weren't given an invitation. Finally, while most are fluent in English, there are still quite a few members who are more comfortable with Spanish.

Because we don't want 500 people at our wedding, and because we want to try to get the maximum amount of returned RSVPs, we chose to try and curb some of this by writing a very detailed RSVP card, which I have below.

We wrote everything in Spanish and English, to avoid any language barrier situations. Also, we chose to put a line saying "We have reserved ___ seats in your honor." As we put the invites into their envelopes, we will hand write in the number of seats that each party has. Finally, we opted to send out our invitations a little early so that the RSVP date is three weeks from the wedding. We figure this would give us ample time to make any calls to people who haven't RSVP'd.

How did you all handle the wording on your RSVPs? Did anyone else have language/culture barriers to work with?

Wrapped and Ready!

2008-07-17T07:40:00.000-05:00

Since I am going to meet Miss Avocado for dinner tonight, I tried to stay on top of things and last night I wrapped up the hostess gifts for my shower this Saturday. Like I've previously mentioned, the women throwing it are some of Mom H's best friends, and they all fondly call themselves the YaYas. They love the play tennis, travel and drink wine. They decided to have my shower at an awesome wine bar in Dallas, Times Ten Cellars, so, based on all of these things, here is what I came up with for their gifts:

A YaYa DVD - for obvious reasons!

Coasters that I made at For Your Party, using their fonts and graphics.

Coasters wrapped with a bow!

A Lolita "Queen" wine glass, painted with a cocktail recipe on the bottom.

A better idea of what the glass looks like.

Each lady will get one of these two kitchen towels as well!

All wrapped up and ready to go!

I think that I am also going to write each lady a thank you note and pass them out when I give them their gifts. Did any of you stick to a theme when buying your hostess gifts?

I Confess ...

2008-07-16T07:42:00.001-05:00

I'm cheating on my shower with my registries! I know it's horrible, possibly tacky too, but I just can't help myself. Knowing that my shower is this weekend, I keep checking my registries to see what has been purchased. It's not about people buying me things, but more about the excitement that those hours spent fidgeting with registries are now starting to come together, and that Mr. H and I are REALLY getting hitched!

(My Bed Bath and Beyond Registry)

I've always been the person who tries to figure out the surprises before they happen ... I keep telling myself, "well, at least I don't know WHO bought me what." The funniest part is that, of the three people I've fessed up to (Mom H, Mr. H and BM H), the only one who told me I was bad was my bridesmaid! I was sure that I'd hear a lecture or two from Mom H and Mr. H.

Am I the only one cheating with my registries?

Oops ...

2008-07-14T22:45:00.001-05:00

I wrote a teaser post a few weeks ago about the bridal event that I attended at The Crescent Hotel in Dallas, but I forgot to share the pics and details of the event. Mom H and one of my bridesmaids met up with me at the hotel, where we had a couple yummy cocktails, tasted a little cake and viewed several rooms decorated by various florists, lighting companies, etc.

Flowers at the entrance of the hotel.

The main ballroom.

The funniest part of the night was walking into the first room, which happened to have the florals done by our florist (Bella Flora), lighting by our dj/lighting company (Lite Dallas) AND the Paciugo Gelato cart like we are going to have at our reception! It was so awesome to see the work of both companies come together in one room.

The room decorated by our vendors.

After walking around for a bit, we went across the hotel to see another space they have for receptions, as well as listen to the one and only Preston Bailey speak. I have to say, he was quite entertaining, very honest and I was FLOORED at how amazing his work is.

Myself and Preston Bailey!

The night ended with a gift bag, which I have to admit, was thoroughly disappointing. I might be a little spoiled because the last event I attended was free and gave the most awesome gift bag, but at this event, which cost $50 a person, the bag was merely a Kate Spade bag with a bunch of coupons thrown inside.

The final highlight of the night was viewing the live band, Signed Sealed Delivered, that was playing in the ballroom. We all enjoyed the music so much, especially Mom H, that we got more information on them and decided to book them for our wedding!

The amazing band!!!

With less then 3 months until the wedding, I'm afraid this was probably one of the last events I'll be attending. While a lot of fun, I'm afraid if I see too many more ideas I'm going to second guess the decisions I've made (not to mention, I need to spend more time finishing up the little details we have left).

Our Lasso

2008-07-10T18:03:00.000-05:00

Several months ago, Mr. H's mom went to Mexico to visit her sister and to look for a few wedding items that we need for the Hispanic traditions in our ceremony. Unfortunately, the lasso that she found we were unable to get, so I set out to search for one online.

Just incase many of you aren't sure what the lasso is, the lasso is a large cord, or rosary, that is placed around the couple after they exchange vows. Someone particularly special to the bride/groom (such as Godparents, grandparents, etc.) places the lasso around the groom’s shoulders, and then the bride’s shoulders. The lasso is worn for the remainder of the ceremony. This tradition is performed to show the love that will bind the couple together for the rest of their lives.

It turns out, finding a lasso online isn't the easiest thing to do. I found many inexpensive ones that would definitely do the trick, but Mr. H was picky and wanted something made of real silver and beads that would stand the test of time, and that we will be able to hand down to our children one day. I love the idea of our future generations using the same lasso for such a significant event, so I made it my mission to find the right one for our wedding.

After many weeks of searching through Google and various links upon links, I came upon one website that seemed to have just what we were looking for. Mary's Rosary had the exact one that we were hoping his mom would find in Mexico (and, coincidentally, it was the site I had found to give his mom a reference picture AGES ago, but hadn't saved to my favorites).

So now, I present to you our lasso:

It's pretty large and heavy, but I am so happy with the end product. Holding out and really searching around was worth the wait.

Are any of you incorporating this tradition into your ceremony and, if so, where did you all find your lasso? I'm sure there are quite a few others out there who would love the links!

Accessories Part Two

2008-07-10T17:53:00.000-05:00

Last month on June 15th, Mr. H celebrated his 28th birthday. It is also the same day that he proposed to me, one year ago. Since we have been spending so much money on wedding things, he told me not to get him anything for his birthday. This I just could not do. So, how did I justify spending the money on a birthday present that he didn't want? I made it wedding related.

Mr. H originally wanted to purchase a nice black suit for our wedding. However, we wanted all of the groomsmen to match and didn't want to ask them to buy a suit, so we opted to rent tuxes instead. Mr. H knew he wanted to wear a white or cream tie and have all of the groomsmen wear black ties, so I found this beautiful tie and decided to splurge for him, since he didn't get his original wish when it came to his attire. The price was a little hefty but, when you think of how much we all spend on our attire the day of the wedding, it was minimal.

Here it is next to my dress and it matches perfectly! Mr. H was so excited (probably the most excited I've seen him for anything wedding related, thus far) and I'm happy that he will have something from his wedding that he will be able to wear again one day down the line, and not have to return the next day.

Accessories Part 1

2008-07-10T17:44:00.000-05:00

I had mixed emotions when it came to the garter toss. Part of me wanted the tradition in the wedding, and part of me thought it was one of those wedding traditions that I could live without. While on the phone with my mom one day during my lunch break, I was telling her that I thought this was something we could leave out of the wedding, when my boss yelled from her office that I shouldn't take the fun out of it and I should keep it in. That, combined with Mr. H wanting it in the wedding, made me decide to go ahead and order a garter.

I knew I wanted something simple, so I searched around and decided on a simple garter from the Garter Maker. When I came home from my daily walk and grabbed the mail, it had arrived. I was eager to see if the navy blue and ivory I had selected would match my other accessories and the dress. Lo and behold, I think it came out quite nicely.

When I opened up the UPS box, it was nicely wrapped with a cute little bride on the sticker!

The finished product! I opted not to get our initials, as we wouldn't be keeping it when the day is done. Seeing it now, I almost wish that I had opted for the two garter option, one to keep and one to toss, but I know it would end up stuffed in a drawer somewhere and , eventually, lost amongst all of our things.

The garter on top of the bottom of my dress to compare the ivories.

All of the accessories: shoes, purse and garter. I think it all comes together quite nicely!

Did anyone else debate including the garter toss in their reception?

Let the Festivities Begin!

2008-07-03T18:34:00.000-05:00

It's finally countdown time ... my shower and bachelorette invites are here!

We'll start with the shower first:

My mom's lovely friends (aka the Ya Yas) are throwing my shower in two weeks at an awesome wine bar in Dallas. I'm soooooo excited!

Party 2:

My bachelorette, like I previous wrote about, will be the weekend after the shower and will be a total mystery me to me until that day. They even sent me my own special invite so that I won't have a clue as to what we're doing!

Knowing the planner that I am, my bridesmaids wrote everything in code, but made sure to give me an itinerary of what I'll need to pack, and what I should wear at certain times (they know me all too well).

It's really starting to hit me that after over a year of planning, everything is starting to HAPPEN!

While we're on the subject...

2008-07-03T12:24:00.000-05:00

I know I've been talking a lot about gifts, but it's the one task I know I can check off the list early so I'm trying to knock it all out.

Mr. H loved all of your input on the groomsmen gifts and it sparked some major ideas - right now we are really thinking about Weddingbee reader KJ's idea of customized Converse, which we'd have the boys change into between the ceremony and reception and maybe a pair of funky socks to go along with the gift. But this is the idea for today, try me Monday, and it could be entirely different!

(Image from Here)

On another note, I have a big question regarding gifts. Did you all also buy gifts for your house party, ushers and readers? At first I was planning on buying them a small token of appreciation, but now I'm thinking that this might not be necessary.

What do you all think - aside from the bridal party and parents - who else do you think it's nice to buy a gift for?

Lagging Behind ...

2008-07-01T15:39:00.001-05:00

I want to apologize if I've been a little absent around here lately, but I have a good excuse.

This week, after several weeks of worrying and contemplating and many months of not being happy, Mom H and I decided to part ways with our wedding coordinator. I think that our communication was bad from the beginning as to what we were both expecting as the clients and as the vendors.

I jumped the gun when we got engaged and thought I HAD to have a planner, but, in all honesty, I ended up doing a lot more of the work then I ever thought I would be capable (or willing) to do. We still intend to hire a day of coordinator, but I won't be posting more on this because I feel like the whole subject is finally water under the bridge and I would like my last few months of wedding planning to be as drama and stress free as possible.

On that note, being the planner that I am, I emailed one of my bridesmaids about the bachelorette party as it is approaching quickly (and Mom H accidentally spilled the beans that we would be going somewhere overnight). We decided to do it about 2 months before the wedding, because I know how crazy things will get and I really want to enjoy my time with them and, once again, I'm a planner. That being said, I emailed her today to find out what kind of clothes I should wear and received this response:

Hey Miss Hydrangea,

I figured someone would spill some details, but I didn't think it would be Mom H!! That's funny!! Don't worry actually Mom H's spilling of details was a planned decoy by Bridesmaid Hydrangea and I ;-)

In regards to attire, I figured you would want to know what to wear/bring, so I sent an invitation especially made for you. Enclosed are details that only you will receive and need to know for the big day. If you have any more questions after receiving the invitation just let me know. It should be arriving this week sometime, so be on the look out. If does not come this week due to the 4th, then I will email you the details if you plan to go shopping this weekend.

I disclosed that this was all a secret in all the invited, so I hope no one else gives any hints. Well hope things are going good and work week okay. I'm sure you are looking forward to a 3 day weekend, which I'm sure will be filled with wedding stuff :-) Oh it never ends until the day. Well I hope this helps and I will ttyl!!

love,

Bridesmaid Hydrangea

Seriously, HOW EXCITED AM I?!?!? I can't wait to see my special invite!

Am I the only one having their bachelorette quite a bit earlier then their actual wedding date?

Mr. H Needs YOUR Help!

2008-07-01T07:31:00.001-05:00

Last night, while Mr. H and I were eating dinner, the topic of groomsmen gifts came up. I've been bugging Mr. H for months to try and come up with some ideas, so we aren't stuck buying everything last minute. With less then 100 day until the wedding, it's looking like it will be last minute afterall. Here are a few ideas I came up with, all shot down by Mr. H:

1) Cufflinks - While a very popular choice, if we bought them sterling silver cufflinks with their initials engraved in them, it would be something they could keep forever, which I think is important.

(Image from JC Penney Jewelry)

2) Personalized Coolers - This is one of my personal favorites - how fun would it be to have a nice cooler embroidered with their initials, filled with their favorite beer and ready to go?

(Image from Bud Shop)

(Image from The Pink Monogram)

3) Ipods - While I think these are a great gift, some of the groomsmen in our wedding are technologically inadvanced and don't even have a computer, which is pretty necessary with one of these.

(Image from here)

I have to admit, none of my ideas are super original. I guess that, while I've been thinking about the entire wedding and cute gifts for my girls, I've kinda let the poor boys get pushed to the back of my mind. When Mr. H and I were talking, and I couldn't think of anything, he asked me to use my best resources - the girls of the hive - to come up with some ideas. What are your fiances planning on giving their groomsmen (or what did your husbands give)? While we are trying to keep the pricing at a reasonable amount, I'd love to hear all ideas from every end of the spectrum!

My Girl

2008-06-25T08:05:00.000-05:00

Last weekend Mr. H and I attended his cousin's wedding at The Oasis in Austin. Talk about an amazing view!

Picture from here. We weren't at this particular part of the Oasis (it's huge), but the views were like this everywhere.

The wedding was intimate and beautiful and you could feel the love everywhere ... it made us so excited for our wedding that we almost we can't stand it anymore! There was one part of the wedding that I wanted to share with everyone, because it was so unique - the father daughter dance.

Picture from here. Not the actual bride w/ her dad, but I love this pic.

When it came to the father/daughter dance, they went out on the dance floor and began dancing to "My Little Girl" by Tim McGraw. This song tugs at my heart strings nearly every time that I hear it, even though I don't really consider myself to be a "daddy's girl."

Half way through the dance, her father cut off the dj and said, "This was how she wanted to dance, now we'll do it my way." The dj immediately broke off in "My Girl" by the Temptations and the two did a choreographed dance that was absolutely adorable. I complimented her father on it later that night and he said that they had watched the Temptations movie to get some moves for their dance, it was adorable.

It was refreshing to see something to unique and different ... and most of all fun with the dances. I have always heard of the couple doing this, but haven't seen the father/daughter dance done like this before. It was great!

Are any of you doing unique dances at your wedding?

Rehearsal Getup

2008-06-19T12:25:00.000-05:00

I've been looking for a rehearsal dinner dress for a long time now. Originally I wanted a white dress, then I wanted a black and white dress, and, finally, I decided on just plain black. A while ago I became a member of the Gilt Groupe website, and every day I get to access some amazing sales. A lot of the items are a little pricey for me, but I've managed to find a couple of great dresses.

Today, I found the rehearsal dinner dress. Ladies, I present to you my new Vivian Tam Flower Petal Bubble Hem Dress:

The dress was originally sold for $495, but I got it for $185 (including shipping). Still more then I was intending to spend, but definitely a steep discount.

What did you all decide to wear for the rehearsal? Did you dress up/down?

So Happy to Meet You!

2008-06-19T00:41:00.001-05:00

Last night I was fortunate enough to attend a wedding event at the Crescent Hotel in Dallas featuring Preston Bailey. I have so much to share about the night, and pictures yet to download, but I just wanted to share a little story about the night.

My mom and one of my bridesmaids were sitting in the room waiting for Preston Bailey to give his speech, when my bridesmaid, Jen, mentioned that she had read Weddingbee for the first time and read through not only my posts, but many of my fellow Bee's posts as well. As we were sitting there chatting, a girl in front of us, Kathryn, turned and asked if I was Miss Hydrangea. I felt so special that someone had come out to the event from my post, but even more special when she shared with me her story.

Kathryn is not yet engaged to her boyfriend, but they are very serious and have been together for about eight years. She reads Weddingbee often and thinks that her boyfriend will be proposing any day now. More importantly, Kathryn is dating a Hispanic man and felt that she could really relate to me, as Mr. H is also Hispanic.

It just goes to show that this site has an impact on every woman who reads it, and, more importantly, it has an impact on each and every one of us bees. We all love the readers, the ideas they share with us, and also their opinions as well.

I am heading out to Mr. H's cousin's wedding in Austin this weekend and I hope to be able to upload my pics on Sunday, and tell you the great stories from last night's events, but, more importantly, I want all of the readers to know how much we really appreciate and value you all. Your dedication to the site, and to our posts, are what make us keep going (and blogging) each and every day.

To Kathryn - I'm sorry that we didn't get to chat a little more, and I hope to in the near future that you make yourself more visible on the site because I know that I personally can't wait to hear about your relationship and how everything unfolds in the future (as well as plan a little DFW get together).

To everyone else - keep sharing, venting and giving your opinions about everything wedding because we all appreciate, look forward to and love everything you all have to say!

Aggravating Wedding Issue

2008-06-18T09:54:00.000-05:00

There is one issue that I've noticed while wedding planning that has become one of my greatest aggravations: parking.

Image found here

When we would go to visit venues, they paid for our parking. When Mom H and I went to wedding events, we usually received a sticker to cover our parking. So why, I ask, do venues charge you for parking? I wouldn't ever ask my guests to pay for their own parking at the event to which I invited them, and, while my venue gives us a discounted rate on parking, I wonder why should we have to pay at all?

Not only do most venues charge for parking, but they charge outrageously. Originally we were asked to pay $10 for each car, when we negotiated down to $5. In the end, if we estimate 180 to come, and we'll guesstimate 90-100 cars, that's a whopping $450 - $500 just for cars. (Excuse me if my guesstimates are not correct, I am no mathematician.)

Now I do realize that it's valet parking and there is probably some public parking in the near vicinity of the area, but I want my guests to be able to pull up, hop out of their car and come right on up to the reception. If the hotels can pay for their own events to have their guests have free parking, why can't they waive this fee for their client who is about to drop a decent chunk of change for one night?

How did you all handle the parking for your weddings?

I Caved

2008-06-18T08:21:00.000-05:00

Last week I posted about my hunt for an inexpensive little clutch to use at the wedding. You all voted and my mind was made up ... I was going to buy this in navy blue:

#24744 - Gathered Satin Clutch, 10″ x 5″ x 2″ for $28 from La Regale

But then, our own Miss Sundae posted about the infamous J Crew clutch that many of us had been eyeing for a long time on sale and, when I visited the site, I saw this:

There it was, with navy blue right in the middle to match my shoes. I think the pop of the purpley (if that's even a word) blue color will be fun and funky. I can't wait for it to come in the mail. To justify my expense, I had the 20% off that they were offering at the time AND a code for free shipping (I'd share, but it's expired now).

Now that I've been searching around for clutches, I'm curious to see what great finds you all have found for your wedding. What fun/funky accessories will you be incorporating into your wedding day getup?

Fancy a Flight?

2008-06-13T16:21:00.001-05:00

I grew up with the understanding that, on the night of the rehearsal dinner, the bride and groom present their parents with gifts of appreciation. I loved the idea and Mr. H and I really like the idea of honoring the people who raised us to be who we are today.

We decided early on that we were going to get nice gifts for each of our parents, individually. One of the hardest people of the bunch is Pops H. Pops H has pretty much everything he could want and there are only so many books you can buy and/or affordable items for his latest hobby.

While my dad has never specifically talked about loving planes, whenever we are at any event and military planes fly by, he knows right off the bat what it is. So, I thought, why not get him a flying lesson?

Well, mainly because they are pricey, but mostly because I know he doesn't have any intentions of taking multiples courses after the initial one and I wouldn't want to see it go to waste. However, while I was searching online for flying lessons in the Dallas area, I hopped onto the Addison Airport site and came upon the Cavanaugh Flight Museum.

Apparently, the museum hosts rides on two warbirds (planes), the N2S-4 Stearman and the AT-6 Texan. I researched a little more and realized that this would be 1) in the budget 2) more interesting then a regular flight lesson and 3) something I could really see Pops H enjoying.

I am so excited that we agreed on this for Pops H and I hope he likes it as much as we are excited to give it to him. What unique gifts are you planning to give your parents for the wedding?

For the Girls...

2008-06-13T08:17:00.001-05:00

Since I'm pretty sure none of my bridesmaids read WB, I wanted to share with you my first gift to them. I knew from the start that I wanted to give them some sort of a bag. My original thought was to create a tote with my Hydrangea logo and put "Bridesmaid Hydrangea" on each one. I still think this would have been cute, but then I saw these:

When I originally saw them, they only came in white and in the large, laundry bag, size. They were out of stock, but I emailed them to see when they would be available again. India Rose told me that they would let me know when they were back in stock and, sure enough, a month and a half later I received an email.

When I got them in the mail they were super cute, way larger then I had imagined, but nonetheless great for the girls. Today, when I went to their site, I saw that they now have them in smaller sizes AND in colors. If I could go back, I'd probably buy the smaller size and get the Grass tote, but that's in hindsight. Either way I think that my girls will love them and be able to use them to take dry cleaning, go on weekend trips, etc.

Another, less expensive, tote that I recently found at La Garconne was this:

I'm a sucker for anything black and white, and for $20 I thought these were perfectly feminine for bridesmaids and, if you're marrying in 2008, a way to always remember that year. According to their site, "Belle Ingenue, a classic French term refers to the beautiful girl-of-the-moment: possessing an innocent air; the original in literature and film."

There will be some goodies inside the bags, but I'll post on those later. Did and of you give your girls bags?

Attention D/FW Brides

2008-06-10T07:29:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to give a little heads up to the local brides around here. There are a couple of good bridal events coming up in the next few weeks that you might be interested in!

1) D Magazine's 4th Annual Bridal Show
When? Sunday, June 22, 2008 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Where? Bass Hall in Ft. Worth
Cost? $15
Details? Join D Weddings and Bass Performance Hall for the fourth annual Bridal Show 2008, an extraordinary display of Dallas-Fort Worth’s bridal industry offerings. Plan your special day at this uniquely upscale event featuring an array of vendors, including wedding planners, caterers, florists, photographers, video services, music, and more. The show is spread throughout the beautiful Bass Performance Hall and its adjacent facility, Maddox-Muse Center, which houses both the Van Cliburn Recital Hall and McDavid Studio. Admission is $15. For more information, visit www.basshall.com or call 817-212-4280.

2) Rosewood Crescent Hotel & Dallas Brides Magazine - An Evening of Luxury with Preston Bailey

When? Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Where? Rosewood Crescent Hotel
Cost? $50
Details? Experience an evening of bridal luxury when Rosewood Crescent Hotel hosts Preston Bailey and celebrates the release of Dallas Brides Fall/Winter issue. Discover the unique bridal experience Rosewood Crescent Hotel has to offer from a one of a kind engagement party to an elegant rehearsal dinner and stunning wedding reception. How to create dramatic events with host Preston Bailey as he discusses how to plan and execute an affair that is sure to leave a lasting impression!

Unfortunately I can't make it to the D Magazine event :( but I'm seriously considering paying the$50 to go to the Preston Bailey event ... the Crescent is a beautiful hotel and they say that there is a gift bag at the end, which will probably be worth as much as the admittance cost anyways.

Anyone interested in going?!?

A Bag for My Things

2008-06-03T10:08:00.001-05:00

Since we are planning to go out with a small group of friends after the reception, I would like to have a little clutch with me, for quick makeup fixes and to keep my id and a little cash in. I don't use clutches very often, so I just want something small, satin and navy blue to match my shoes ... oh yeah, and inexpensive.

When I googled "navy blue satin clutch" I came up with various links, but one that really caught my attention was La Regale. Immediately I found two simple, satin clutches that came in navy blue, but what blew me away more then anything were their prices.

So now, I need you all to help me decide between two, very similar clutches.

1) #24106 - Gathered Satin Clutch, 8" x 4" x 1.5" in Navy for $22

2) #24744 - Gathered Satin Clutch, 10" x 5" x 2" in Navy for $28

So what'll it be?

Option 1 or Option 2

Boxes...and More Boxes

2008-06-02T23:38:00.001-05:00

My final items to share with you all from my Memorial Day wedding planning extravaganza are all of the wedding boxes. Boxes, you might ask?

In order, from top to bottom, are two bathroom boxes (or baskets), a box for programs and, finally, the box for our guests to put cards into. All of which were purchased at my favorite Hobby Lobby for, you guessed it, 50% off!

I chose these boxes because they are simple, modern and, most importantly, look just like the chairs that we will have at the reception. Now, I just need to figure out a cute way to attach signs to them so that our guests will know what they are for.

How did you all label your wedding boxes (baskets), or plan to do so for your wedding? Do you have any inspiration links, because I'd love to see some examples!

It's Taking Over the House

2008-06-02T23:30:00.001-05:00

A little over a year ago, Mr. H and I were fortunate enough to be able to build our first home. We had been apartment dwellers for quite a while and, once we knew that we were going to get engaged, and our leases were up, we decided to take the next step towards getting our own home.

Fastforward to a year after we move in. We have a home, a pup and a wedding to plan. All of our ideas for decorating the house, aside from a few essential purchases, flew out the window. The wedding is even starting to take over our house. Case in point: our dining room. No longer a dining room, it is now a workroom and a storage room. Boxes upon boxes of wedding items, table numbers strewn about, our work table filled with projects that are yet to be completed. Instead of a nice room to eat in, this is what people see when walking into our humble abode:

I can only imagine what it will be like once all of our wedding purchases are delivered and we start to receive gifts. My guess? It'll start to overflow into our office as well. I will admit that the one thing I'm looking forward to after the wedding is being able to finally "settle" into our house and make it more of a home, and not just a place to store our stuff.

How has the wedding taken over your life and/or living quarters?

Five Fabulous Frames

2008-05-30T08:03:00.000-05:00

Another one of my Memorial Day weekend trips was taken to Hobby Lobby. I love this store. It seems like every time I walk in there, whatever I'm looking for is 50% off. This trip was no different! I knew that I wanted to put about five picture frames on the guestbook table, two pics from my bridal portraits, and three from our engagement portraits.

Lo and behold, when I walked in and headed to the black pictures frames, they were 50% off! I chose 2 - 8x10s, 2 - 5x7s and 1 - 4x6 to put on the table. I believe I spent somewhere about $40 with tax for all five frames. Then, I took my cds of pics to the local Walmart and printed them out on the Kodak kiosk. $20 for all 5 photos, not too bad if I say so myself. In about 30 minutes I had all of the pics, headed home to trim them up and put them in their new frames.

Our big e-pic. Some people have complained because they don't get why it's so sunny and orange, but this is one of Mr. H and my's favorite pics, so it was definitely in!

E-pic 2, I love Mr. H's smile in this pic.

1st bridal portrait - I chose this because it's a real smile. A story behind it is that when this pic was taken I was looking at my bridesmaid and completely joking around, which is when I think that some of the best pics come out! Everytime she sees this pic, she says "You were looking at me and no one knows it!"

Had to have the attitude pic, Mom H hates it, but it's just too fun not to show!

2nd bridal portrait.

All of the pics together (and Chango trying to get a little camera time)!

The hardest part of all was choosing which pics to print out, but I'm happy with my final choices. I fought with having them all black and white or in color, but chose color in the end because our photographer did such an amazing job and it wouldn't do justice to the pics to just have them in black and white.

We plan on taking the frames and hanging them in our hallway to our guestrooms at home after the wedding. How are you all planning on using your wedding purchases after the wedding?

Are You Thirsty?

2008-05-27T19:20:00.000-05:00

For our OOT bags, I knew that I wanted to put in a couple of bottles of water with our logo on them. Since water doesn't go bad, I figured I might as well get these knocked off my to do list. I decided to use Nestle bottles of water because the labes are the easiest to remove. I took off a label, measured it, and created a label with our monogram. I put about 6 labels on one sheet, then took them to Staples and had the labels printed on white paper that was waterproof (at $16 for 10 sheets, it was not cost efficient, so I probably wouldn't chose this again in hindsight).

After cutting the labels, I ran 30 of the labels through the Xyron machine for an easy stick. We're only expecting about 15 rooms for out of town guests, so I figured 30 bottles was a good start. It took me all of 20 minutes to unlabel and re-label the bottles. I made more labels then bottles of water, so if I need to get more water, it shouldn't take long to recreate the end product. Here's a little play by play:

A 30 pack of Nestle water, purchased from Sam's Club for all of $4.

All of the labels, removed.

Our monogrammed labels after being run through the Xyron machine.

Labels are on!

Chango wanted some credit for being Mom's helper!

How are you all customizing your OOT bags? What all do you think is most helpful to put in the bags?

Saving My Back

2008-05-26T10:12:00.000-05:00

This post is a little more TMI then I normally like to put on here, but I think it's important to bring up because I know I'm not the only girl who has this problem. I've fought on and off with acne my entire life. Right when things start to clear up in one area, they pop up in another. Right around dress fitting time, this area happened to be my back.

I used to have this problem when I played tennis all the time and sweat up a storm, but never just because. While I would love to get "back-cials," or facials for your back, it's just not in my budget. When perusing the skincare section of my local Walmart (I refuse to spend tons on beauty products, except for shampoo and some makeup) I came across Neutrogena's Body Clear Body Wash. I bought a bottle and figured, what the heck this might help. I used it every morning on my back and, if I took another shower at night, I would use it again.

Let me tell you, this product has worked miracles on my back. Now, I'd be lying if I said that I never had one pop up, but it seriously has helped. So much so, that for my bridal portraits, I was nervous at all as to how my back looked in my dress, especially since you can see quite a bit of it.

What tips/tricks do you all use to take care of the breakouts that happen to pop up at the most inconvenient times?

*Image from neutrogena.com

Please find your seat ... errr table!

2008-05-26T09:13:00.000-05:00

While we won't be assigning each guest to a specific seat, we will be assigning guests to specific tables. Because Mr. H and I come from very different families, and cultures, we didn't want his side of the family on one side of the room and mine on the other. We are having a buffet/stationed dinner so assigning a specific seat wasn't necessary (phew! I know that takes a lot of work)!

I decided that Memorial Day Weekend would also partly become my wedding prep weekend. I got quite a few tasks checked off my list, and the great sales around town definitely helped this. My first task was to make the table numbers. I designed the numbers in Illus trator. Because I think that we will be using 6" stands, my original idea for 5x7 cards seemed to big, so I shortened them to 5x5. Then, I decided that I wanted them double sided, so I bought some black card stock to attach the numbers to.

After my design was complete, I took the document to Kinko's because I wanted to be sure that the print quality was better then just my printer at home (plus I am running out of ink and was too lazy to buy a new cartridge). While the cards printed, I used their paper cutter to cut the black cardstock to 5.5x5.5 pieces.

Once they were finished, I cut the table numbers as well in their 5x5 sizes and headed home. I ran all of the table numbers through my Xyron (such a great investment) and within 20 minutes I had 25 table numbers. Since we haven't even sent out invites or come up with our layout for the room, I made more numbers then necessary just incase.

Here they are in our wedding workroom aka our dining room that we haven't decorated yet:

Printing was about $6 with tax and the black cardstock was $4 for 8 sheets. Overall, pretty inexpensive for the table numbers. Now I just have to get back on ordering those holders!

For My Party

2008-05-24T17:28:00.000-05:00

I keep on forgetting to blog about some of the details for the wedding, but luckily some of the members of the Hive are good at reminding me! A while back, I saw a post on the boards about For Your Party matchbooks from Weddingbee reader, Suzanno. She wanted to know if anyone had ordered from the company because she wasn't 100% sold on the samples that she received.

I decided to use For Your Party to print our cocktail napkins and our matchbooks. I created two logos that incorporated our names (or initials) and the initial of our married name. I have tried to not use our married last name in any of the monograms, except for the reception items, when we are actually married. I went with black napkins with a white monogram and white napkins with a black monogram. I copied these for the matchbooks as well.

I have to say, I am very pleased with the outcome. After sending in the monograms and my product selections, For Your Party sent me proofs and recommended that I changed the shape of one of the matchbooks to better fit the logo. I did, and I'm super happy with the outcome!

Overall, price-wise and product wise, they came out great. Our invite list is at 250, so I ordered 300 of each cocktail napkin. I figure that whatever we don't use, we will have to use in our home until they run out.

I only ordered 50 of each matchbook. We are going to have a cigar roller that will provide about 75-100 cigars, so I figured this would be a good amount. At this point, if they run out, then so be it. They are cute and the people who take them will enjoy it.

For Your Party delivered earlier then I estimated and everything ran very smoothly. I would definitely recommend them to other brides!

Country Chic

2008-05-23T09:55:00.000-05:00

I know that I talk about my photographer a lot on here, but I just can't help it! When browsing through my Google Reader this morning, I saw that a recent wedding he photographed was on Style Me Pretty. What is so awesome about this wedding is how completely unique it is, from cowboy boots to feathers in the flowers, toy guns to chunky turquoise jewelry ... Country Chic all the way.

There are so many incredible little details to this wedding and it is so colorful and fun. It looks like it would have been a blast to attend. Just thought I'd share the love, and maybe inspire a few of you out there who want to have weddings that are "outside the box."

How many of your are incorporating some fun items into your weddings to give it that bit of personality that strays from the norm?

For more pictures of the wedding, you can check out Perez Photography's blog!

My Second Piece

2008-05-20T18:20:00.000-05:00

A couple of months ago I entered for a chance to receive a piece from Castle Bride Couture at a fraction of the price and won! Since I had been debating whether or not to get a second dress for a while, I decided that I definitely wanted one once I ordered the piece for my hair. Last weekend, when I tried on, and bought, a second dress, the girls at Warren Barron happened to have pieces similar to the one that I ordered and it looked awesome with my dress.

So now, without further ado, I introduce you to my beautiful second hair ornament:

She custom made the piece for me, but when I first received it the flower had a lot of pink on it. There was pink on the pic of the flower that I liked from their site as well, but I didn't notice it. I wrote her back and told her that it was awesome, but I wasn't really a pink person. She kindly offered to have me send it back and they redid the flower to a solid ivory.

I am so excited because I think it will be a great addition to my second getup, and fun/funky to boot!

Are you all doing anything fun/different at your reception in terms of your bridal look?

A Million Thank Yous

2008-05-18T18:48:00.000-05:00

Thanks to the overwhelming response to my previous post, I definitely did some thinking about my wedding dress. I have to say, I wasn't sure how my post would be received, but you all were amazingly kind and really made me re-think my doubts about my dress.

On Saturday, Mom H and I went dress shopping one more time to make sure that I had no doubts about my dress for the big day. Our first, and ultimately final, stop was to the Warren Barron bridal salon in Highland Park Village in Dallas.
My wedding coordinator setup the appointment for us, so when we got there the owner already knew that I had a dress and was having some issues. They were amazingly kind to help me out and suggest advice for the dress that I already have.

As I tried on several of their long dresses, we all talked about my existing dress and I showed them my pictures online, to which they all had the same reaction as you wonderful women of the hive! After trying on the three dresses, and realizing that nothing really was "my dress" like the one I already had, they gave me the name of another tailor and said that my dress could easily be fixed to have me feel more comfortable.

Then, I asked to try on the short dress. If you all remember, I had been pondering the possibility of a second dress to wear at the end of our reception and to the little after party we are planning for the wedding. Once I put this on, it was love:

Mom H was kind enough to make me a deal: if I promised to keep my existing dress and not give her another heart attack like I did when I was upset, we could get the second dress for the reception. DEAL!

So now, I introduce you to my new love, but without the flower on the shoulder like pictured. Next, I'll introduce you to the piece that I received from Castle Bride Couture that I will wear in my hair!

In the end, it all worked out for the best, I just wish I hadn't made it all into such the ordeal that I had. I guess it takes us all that one moment of craziness to put it all into perspective (and reality). I just want to say thank you, again, to all of you for your kind words, advice and support ... I really needed it more then you all even know!

Images from here and here.

Bridal Breakdown

2008-05-16T07:34:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I received my bridal portraits from the photographer. He did an incredible job with the photos and I couldn't ask for a better photographer. His subject, however, I was completely upset with. That subject = me.

Last minute I decided to wear my hair down, a good decision, but I wore it curly, which is completely unnatural for me. My makeup, which I told the artist to make smoky eyes, began to smear a bit with the heat and it was just way too much. Basically, I think I wanted to be a little more glamorous then I really needed to be.

The dress, which I have been fighting with or a while, just didn't photograph on me like I would have liked and my qualms about it in general are now more prevalent then ever. While I am not as toned as I would like to be, I have lost a little weight ... in my boobs. In some of the pics I look like I fill out the dress, and in others I totally don't. After a hefty amount (and cost) of alterations, I'm pretty disappointed that it didn't fit me a little better.

I guess the whole process has made me realize how much pressure I've been putting on not only myself, but this wedding in general. I have lost focus of what the day is truly about and am letting these little things upset me way too much. I sit here tearing up as I say this because Miss Hydrangea is thoroughly disappointed in herself for letting it all get this far.

Today, I'm going to start really enjoying this process and not let the small stuff get to me. This is about Mr. H and I wanting to spend the rest of our lives together, nothing more, nothing less.

I want to share with you some of the pics from my photographer, Cesar Perez, and his wife, Tanya, because they are truly great to work with. After hearing how I felt about how I looked, he immediately offered to do another shoot for me, whether I choose to get a new dress or keep the one that I have. His support and understanding is truly admirable since I'm sure it's not the best thing in the world to hear that a bride you photographed is unhappy with her pics (again, I reiterate, because of the way I chose to style myself for the pics, but not the pics themselves).

Even now, as I look back through them, the way I look is starting to grow on me. I think that, with the advice of some of our fellow Bees, I just needed to take a step back and look at the pictures from another perspective, and not be so self-critical.

Bridesmaid Bags

2008-05-12T18:29:00.000-05:00

About a year ago, I had to find a cute gift for a friend having a baby. Now, you might be thinking, what in the world does this have to do with weddings? But, because of my purchase, I now receive a cute childrens catalog in the mail. Today, when I was looking through it, I came upon these cute totebags that would make a great gift for anyone, including bridesmaids, moms, wedding party members, etc.!

At only $20 each, I'd say it's a pretty good deal! They also have these cute towel-in-a-bag options ($18) that, while meant for young girls, I would totally sport myself!

You can find these, and more, at Koo Koo Bear Kids!

Frantic Friday

2008-05-12T08:57:00.000-05:00

Friday I spend the ENTIRE day preparing for my bridal portraits (who knew how much went into it) and then a couple of hours taking them! Here’s a little recap of my day:

8:00 am – 9:30 am Eat breakfast, run last minute errands

9:30 am – 10:45 am Get the nails done

10:45 am – 11:45 am Shower, dry the hair, pack up the car

12:15 pm – 2:15 pm Hair and Makeup

2:15 pm – 4:00 pm Pick up my bouquet, quick lunch

4:00 pm – 5:30 pm Drive to the location, find a room to change and get ready for the pics

5:30 pm – 7:45 pm Photos

PHEW!

It was exhausting. If that’s any indication of how the wedding day will be, I’m definitely going to need a couple of glasses of champagne before all of the festivities to calm my nerves, and learn how to pace my energy throughout the day because it was a long one. I was so nervous the entire day to have everything on me all at once. Up until this point, everything having to do with being a bride had been in the store or in my closet.

A few tips for those of you who are going to take portraits:

1) Take an entourage. – My mom recently had surgery on her wrist so we knew she wouldn’t be able to do much heavy lifting. Luckily, one of my bridesmaids (and best friends) offered to take a half day at work to help. She ended up carrying the back in of my dress for the better half of the two hour session. My mom was in charge of the sheets and veil and, believe it or not, even our photographer’s wife had to help us on the shoot as well.

2) Pack a white sheet. – In fact, pack more then one white sheet. If you plan on taking your pictures outside, near the grass, or in a remote area, this sheet will come in handy to help you keep from staining your dress. It’s inevitable that it will get a little dirty, but this will definitely help.

3) Pack some hand wipes. – We took my pictures in an old cotton mill that was under construction, so there was dust everywhere. That, and the fact that it was humid and 90 degrees outside, led to some wiping of the face full of makeup. The hand wipes definitely came in handy to make sure we didn’t transfer any of the dirty stuff onto my dress.

4) Bring a fan. – Just a paper fan will work fine, but you wouldn’t believe how hot you will get underneath that dress!

5) Bring blotting sheets. – Or tissue, etc. If there is any chance of heat, you will need these to blot your face. Unfortunately, I didn’t have them, so hopefully my face doesn’t look like it’s melting off in the photos.

6) HAVE FUN! – It can be extremely emotional being dressed as a bride in all of its glory for the first time. Remember that these pictures are supposed to be fun and portray how happy and exciting this time is for you. It took me a while to lighten up, but, after I began sweating, all formality was gone and I spent the day joking around with everyone and trying my best to be a model (which is def not natural for me)!

I think the most emotional part of the day for me was not putting on the whole outfit or posing for the pictures, but picking up my bouquet. Bella Flora made the most beautiful bouquet of white peonies and incorporated my cross that, when I picked it up, I seriously almost got teary eyed – not an easy thing to do to me.

I have to give another hand to my photographers, Cesar and Tanya Perez, because they truly made me feel more at ease in front of the camera and I can't wait to see the shots that they got! The teaser pics should be in later this week, so you’ll definitely be hearing more about them soon. All in all, even if you don’t do bridal portraits in your area, I would really recommend them so that you can get some time to adjust to your dress, and to relax in front of the camera.

My last minute bouquet change …

2008-05-08T09:41:00.000-05:00

When we first met with Bella Flora to talk about our flowers, I wanted something modern. I’m still sticking to my guns about the florals for the ceremony and reception … except for one item … my bouquet.

Included in my floral package is a smaller version of what I’ll carry on the wedding day to use during my bridal portraits. As the portraits crept upon me, I realized that I just wasn’t in love with our initial idea of all white calla lilies for my bouquet. In my head, what we had planned looked something like this:

(Image from here)

Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s a beautiful bouquet. But, all of a sudden, I decided that I wanted something a little more romantic and traditional for this one particular item in our wedding. Immediately I thought “Peonies!”

(Image from here)

I e-mailed our wedding coordinator to see if this would be a possibility for my portraits, since the likelihood of having peonies in our late-September wedding didn’t look so hot. Luckily, the florist said he could definitely do a bouquet of all white peonies. I can’t wait to pick it up tomorrow and see the final result with my bridal cross that I purchased for the bouquet.

(Image from here)

My next task is to find a similar type of flower that we could use in September for my bouquet, it just has to be the color white … any ideas?

NOT My Smartest Move...

2008-05-05T01:46:00.000-05:00

Sunday was my FFIL's birthday, so Mr. H and I spent the day at his parent's house. While Mr. H worked on his car, FFIL H and my FBILs worked on a playground for Mr. H's nieces. I took over and played with Heidi, Mr. H's oldest niece (who is two), outside all day so that her mom could get some things done around the house.

We rode around on the wagon, rode around on her bike, chased each other in the yard and had a really fun time, just the two of us. While I wore a long sleeved light jacket so I wouldn't get tan lines for my bridal portraits, I completely ignored my face. Not a good thing.

I now look somewhat like this:

(Image from here)

Ok, it's a bit of an exaggeration, except for the tip of my nose. I've always been a person who tanned in tanning beds (horrible, I know) but for the past year and a half I have quit the fake baking to save my skin for my future. I had realized how bad it was for me, how much it was costing me, and, finally, go use to my paleness and really started to embrace it.

Unfortunately, because I used to tan, I was also used to going in the sun at the beginning of spring/summer and not having to worry about the burn. I haven't learned my lesson yet.

My main concern, now, is, what in the world do I do to prevent myself from some major peeling before I have to take pro pics in four days.

Any suggestions?

Are you excited?!?

2008-05-02T08:57:00.000-05:00

With less then five months until the wedding, almost everyone who I speak to about the wedding inevitably asks, "Are you so excited for the wedding?"

Well, to be honest, not yet. I mean, there are moments where I just can't wait for it to get here, but, for the most part, I'm too worried about finding those table number holders, finishing the design of our invites (or, truthfully, starting them), getting the jiggles on my body to tighten up, finding that second dress I really want, worrying over the little details that most people won't even notice, etc.

And, to top it all off, when I think of the wedding, my first, true thought is, "Holy crap, how am I going to walk down that LONG aisle in front of all of those people?" Followed by, "Holy crap, I hope I have time for a glass of champagne (or two) before I have to dance in front of all of those people!"

Don't get me wrong, with all of the hard work that has gone into planning, I'm so excited to see how everything turns out. Most importantly, I'm so excited for the wedding to be over, for Mr. H and I to be man and wife, and to finally be our own little family, same last names at all.

I just hate to disappoint people when I answer, "Well, not really yet. I'm ready for it to be over." They give me this look of horror, like, how dare I say something like that about my wedding? I'm just being honest.

But try me after my pictures next week, when I've been made-up, worn the dress and veil, and carried a bouquet around. Then, just then, the excitement might really hit me.

Were you all excited from day one? Did it come and go as planning commenced?

Southern Things...

2008-04-30T15:35:00.000-05:00

I mentioned earlier that I will be having my bridal portraits done next week. Several readers weren't entirely sure of what bridal portraits are, so here is my best explanation:

Bridal portraits are taken before the wedding (I would say normally about 1-2 months in advance) and shows the bride in her full on bridal attire, hair, makeup, the whole shibang. There are various types of photography for all of these pictures, just like your normal wedding pictures and engagement pictures, you can be traditional, funky, modern, etc.

I am not sure if bridal portraits are a Southern tradition, but I have always grown up knowing about it. Usually a large sized photo of the bride from her bridal portraits is places somewhere at the wedding, whether it be by the cake or the guestbook, etc. When speaking to my Aunt from California on the phone the other day, she asked me a gazillion questions about the pictures, like she hadn't ever heard of them before.

I am taking my portraits particularly early (5 months from the wedding) only because about 1-2 months out from our wedding will be the HOTTEST time of the year in Texas, and I don't really care to sweat that much in my dress and have my face melt off.

My whole immediate family is from Cali, but they have lived in Texas for so long that some Southern traditions have just become normal to them. My Aunt was surprised, as well, that people really put their announcements in the paper. The groom's cake is always something that people who aren't from the South always get a kick out of as well.

What regional traditions are you incorporating into your wedding that other parts of your country, and the world, are unused to?

*All photos credit to our amazing photographer Perez Photography

All of this for a stand?!?

2008-04-30T12:21:00.000-05:00

Working on all of the little details for our wedding is turning out to be WAY more difficult then searching for vendors. Right now, I'm concentrating on finding the stands for our table numbers. The venue has stainless frames that we can use, and our coordinator has low table number holders we could use, but, of course, neither is what I am looking for.

Now I'm on the hunt for 8-9" black table stands. I don't want anything fancy or theme related. Just some decent, plain looking stands. So far, these options are the only two that I've come up with (found at Food Service Direct):
Both options involve some sort of swirls, which seem a little busy to me, but could easily work for the tables. I know this is me being super nitpicky, so which do you all prefer, option 1 (swirl on the bottom) or option 2 (swirl on the top).

What are some good resources for table stands out there?

Up or down?

2008-04-27T21:06:00.000-05:00

Sunday equaled T-minus five months until our big day. In two weeks, I'll be taking my bridal portraits and my biggest dilemma, for now, is my hair. You'll remember that I had two trials, one not so hot, and the other was a big win. While I know that I want to wear my hear up for our wedding, I'm thinking of doing something different for my bridal portraits.

My whole life I've really had short to medium length hair. Since Mr. H and I got serious, I've been growing it out. Maybe it was because in the back of my mind I thought that we were going to get married and I wanted to have long hair to do whatever with it that I would want on my big day. Right now, while summer is quickly approaching and the humidity in Texas is getting stronger and stronger, all I really want to do is chop it off.

Yesterday, while getting my hair trimmed and colored, I was so tempted to just cut it off. When you are getting ready for work in the morning and end up sweating off your makeup while you blow-dry your hair, you start to wonder if the length is worth it. I was smart enough to tell my awesome stylist (Patty at Richard Hayler, for those of you locals) that she had to wait five months before she could do anything fun with my hair, I started to wonder if maybe I should do something different in my portraits then what I'll do on the Big Day.

I have always loved this local wedding in the Dallas area, for many reasons, but particularly for the way the bride wore her hair.

Would it be bad to wear my hair down for the portraits and up for the big day? This is the longest my hair has ever been, which is quite an accomplishment for me. I think it would be a great way to satisfy myself with two hairstyles, but I know some people like to keep it all the same. What did you do for your portraits?

Undoing A Jinx...

2008-04-25T08:46:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, I got a call from one of my co-workers who also happens to be getting married this year. As I answered the phone, all I heard on the other line was, “You jinxed me with the post that you put on Wedding Bee the other day.”

Uh oh.

A day after my post about the Wedding Cottage that closed down in my hometown, we had some severe storms in areas of North Texas, some of which were in Waxahachie, the hometown of my co-worker.

Yesterday she found out that not only had the storms flooded her ceremony venue, but the historic hotel, which she has already printed and sent out on her invitations, is now condemned. With eight weeks to go, she’s feeling all emotions of the rainbow and is now frantically trying to find a location that will book them last minute.

So, since I jinxed her, I felt at least obligated to get her some help. I told her I would help her in any way, so I’m going to work with her on a new card to send to her guests that will explain the situation and the move of ceremony locations. Not entirely sure what to write on a card like this, my first thought was, “I’m going to the Hive.”

Now, I’m asking you all, because you are so creative, positive and helpful, to not only send some good Karma to the future Mrs. R’s way, but also to see if you all have any great ideas as to how to word the new card. Poems, traditional and non-traditional wording, anything…we’d love to get your input.

And, if any of you are from the Waxahachie area, suggestions for locations would be greatly appreciated as well!

Wish I Could Be There

2008-04-24T13:39:00.000-05:00

You've seen me mention my all-time favorite store in the whole world, Neiman Marcus, a few times in posts. Well, next Tuesday, April 29th, none other then Mindy Weiss will be at the Neiman Marcus in downtown Dallas to have a book signing for her new book, The Wedding Book: The Big Book For Your Big Day.

(image from amazon.com)

According to D Magazine, "there will be champagne, Mindy will speak, and you can even win a Chanel clutch, courtesy of Strictlyweddings.com."

I wish I could go so bad, but the event is during the afternoon at 2:00 p.m. and with all the sick time and wedding time I've had to take off for work, it's just not meant to be :(

Let me know if any of you Dallas brides are lucky enough to attend...or even win the clutch!

A Wuvely Time

2008-04-23T18:55:00.001-05:00

Last week, Mom H and I were fortunate enough to attend the W Hotel Wuv Event. It was exciting because we could finally see our venue setup at night, with the windows to the skyline open and wedding decor in the room. What was more exciting, was the the theme of the event was black and white! While the floral colors at our wedding will be a lot different, the arrangements were also by the same florist that we will be using, Bella Flora.

When I originally started blogging, my wedding was going to be black and white with damask added into it. After having such a hard time finding damask linens that I liked (or fabric to create anything) I gave up. At the event, however, they had damask tablecloths and pillows provided by our florist. So, we have decided to utilize this pattern for the linens that were incorporated into our contract, i.e. the cake table and pillows on the banquettes in the prefunction area!

Upon entering the room, we were offered various hors d'ouerves and either a Purple Haze, Lemontini or Pometini to drink. We tried the purple haze and pometinis and they were delish!

(Mom H enjoying her cocktail)

After getting a prime spot nearest the stage, Mom H and I enjoyed a Carolina Herrera fashion show that seriously left me thinking about a new dress altogether. While not really plausible, the dresses were amazing and it was fun to see all the different styles.

At the end of the event, while exiting, we were gifted with a big purple box and a copy of the latest Brides Magazine. When I got home I was SO excited to open the box, which included: a flower from Bella Flora, a miniature cake that was so moist and yummy, a huge Carolina Herrera candle, a ticket to another Dallas bridal show coming up, a $50 certificate to an eyewear store, some floral seeds, a social survival guide and, if I'm leaving something out, I'm sorry I forgot :(

It was the first bridal event I've attended that I really enjoyed (i.e. no vendors harassing you). I hope that some of you Dallas brides were able to make it to the event as well!

Another Item Off The List

2008-04-22T20:03:00.000-05:00

I previously wrote about the rehearsal dinner invitations that I made for our wedding. I was only able to post the proofs that I received from Vista Print and was a little hesitant about how the printing would turn out because the proof seemed a little pixelated.

Once I received them, I was pleasantly surprised with the end result. The black is a little more faded then I would have liked, but considering the price and turnaround time, it was worth it. All in all, it was a simple process and there's something very satisfying about creating your own invitations.

The great thing about Vista Print is that they are constantly sending you coupons for discounted rated on various items. I decided that I wanted to create menus for the tables that would match the invitations, so after a couple of hours on Adobe Illustrator, I finally came up with a two-sided menu and had them printed at Vista Print as well.

This time around I noticed that they offered a linen type paper and decided to pay the few extra dollars for this feature, as it would probably look a little nicer, and it did!

I opted for Vista Print in the end because it seemed like a simple process for a relatively cheap price. I used them this week to create some simple thank-you notes for gifts that we receive before the wedding as well.

What have you all done for your printing methods? I still have some projects ahead of me and would love the tips and advice!

On a side note: I also ordered some matching stamps from Picture It Postage when I ordered the ones for our save the dates, only I apparently was not thinking straight as the postage changes come May. So, our bills have had some fancy stamps on them this month! I guess that's what happens when you get a little too excited and overzealous!

One of my worst wedding scenarios...

2008-04-22T09:44:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, while making my long commute to work, I was listening to the news on the radio when they delivered the story that might be one of the worst wedding nightmares for a bride: a local wedding cottage, with dozens of weddings booked for the upcoming year, abruptly shuts down, leaving no trace of the owners and no explanation to the customers.

What was more surprising, for me, was that the Wedding Cottage was located in my hometown, outside of Dallas, and I had even attended a few weddings there while growing up. The Wedding Cottage was one amongst a cute little cluster of yellow cottages that, for years, had art galleries, stores, antiques, etc. I have fond memories of having tea with my mom at the tea room that once existed in the cottages. In the past ten years or so, the growing city, and need to expand the roads, has led half of the cottages to be torn down and the remaining ones not in the best of shape.

(photo from: www.chapels.com)

While it is not uncommon to have vendor changes throughout the course of planning, I couldn't even imagine having to pick up the pieces of your major location up and shutting down on you last minute. I had a hard enough time trying to pick our reception venue with over a year to plan, I can't even imagine having to find a last minute replacement for your entire wedding.

The thought of having all your hard work just *poof* disappear stresses me out just thinking about it. So much so, that, for some reason, I woke up in the middle of the night last night thinking about this very story and told myself to blog about it today.

Have any of you had to face a major vendor change during your planning? What is the best way to handle a last minute "hiccup" in your wedding planning?

A Nice Surprise!

2008-04-21T12:00:00.000-05:00

Seeing that every weekend these days is full of things to do, I sometimes forget to check my e-mail. When I opened up my inbox this morning, I received this nice surprise:

While it's not our first gift (we received a few gifts at our engagement party back in October), it is the first from a distant relative and completely unexpected at such an early date from the wedding!

As much as I would like to say I am going to wait until the box arrives, I went to check our registry and found out that this is the item that we are receiving:

We have not purchased our cake cutting knife yet so I am SO excited to receive this! It is such a generous gift and so thoughtful, especially since we will be able to use it on our wedding day. I have a feeling that every gift we receive is going to give me a warm fuzzy inside!

I don't intend on using any of my gifts until after we are married, but I decided to make a couple of exceptions for items that we can use during the wedding and/or ceremony. Did you use your gifts before you were married, or did you wait until after the big day?

It's Party Time!

2008-04-17T11:02:00.000-05:00

Last night, Mom H met up with her lovely friends to plan a date for my first wedding shower! My mom and her friends, who like to call themselves the Ya-Yas, have traditionally given wedding and baby showers to each of their daughters/daughters-in-law in the past.

Mom H had begun to worry because no one had said anything about it yet and she was afraid they might not do one, but I knew they would so I told her to be patient. A couple of weeks ago, Mom H called to say that her friends had told her that they would like to throw me a shower! So, last night they gathered, wine glasses in hand, to plan the date for sometime in July!

I was going to possibly give the ladies homemade aprons, but have now decided to give each of them one nice item, still undecided, and this:

I couldn’t find anything more fitting then to give each of them a copy of the movie that they have so cutely named themselves after. While they haven’t known each other since they were children, they’ve known me since I was just out of diapers, so I couldn’t be more excited to have these wonderful women help me celebrate my big day!

What gifts have you all given your hosts/hostesses for your shower?

Color Blind

2008-04-11T19:18:00.000-05:00

A while back, Miss Canary wrote about what she has faced from both her family and others about dating outside of her race. It’s always interesting for me to learn how others are dealing with stereotypes when you aren’t dating (or engaged, or married) to someone who has the same skin color as yourself.

Until Mr. Hydrangea, I had always dated white men. There was no major reason for this, it is just what I always gravitated towards. My family and I never discussed anything about me dating outside of my race because it was a non-issue. When Mr. Hydrangea (who is Hispanic) and I started dating, my parents weren’t concerned at all…at first. Boys never tended to stick around long so they didn’t think much of it. Once they knew that we were really getting serious, a few concerns came to fruition. None of these, however, had to do with the color of Mr. Hydrangea’s skin, but more about the differences in both our cultures and our upbringings.

Here are a few that we’ve had to deal with:

1) I come from a family that is more economically privileged then Mr. Hydrangeas. That being said, he never had to want for much in his life, but it wasn’t just handed to him as things sometimes were for me.
2) I have a college education and Mr. Hydrangea does not. He did get further education beyond HS, but it did not come with a 2 or 4 year diploma.
3) Mr. Hydrangea is Catholic. My family is not religious at all. My father tends to look down on the Catholic faith (and most organized religion in general) and this became a major issue when I decided to become Catholic myself.
4) Hispanic men have the stereotype of being “macho” men, controlling and jealous. This worried my mother quite a bit because I tend to be independent and do not like to be told what to do.
5) Mr. Hydrangea’s family has very traditional thoughts about raising children, whereas my family tends to be more open-minded. I think this issue sparked the most concern on both sides of our families and it has sparked a few debates between us about how we will raise our children one day, but, surprisingly, we have generally agreed on how we would like this to be done.

Truth be told, the most cultural worries have come with the wedding planning. How the ceremony will be conducted, where we are having our events, if everyone will feel comfortable with what we are doing. To this, Mr. Hydrangea and I just decided that as long as it is what we want for our wedding, then it will work out. The day is about us and our celebration of our love and how we want to share that with the important people in our lives.

I could keep going, but you get the general idea. The apprehension of your child dating outside the norm quickly fades as families tend to bond with your significant other. All in all, our parents calmed down and Mr. Hydrangea and I are very open with each other to the point that we know and share both our worries and the worries of our families. The best thing is that I don’t think that either of our families were crazy about the people we had dated in the past and both Mr. Hydrangea and I feel very lucky to get along with our FILs so well.

There are so many different cultural rants and raves that I could speak about, but these tended to be the most prevalent that have come up in discussion. How have you all dealt with your families concerns over your cultural differences?

My Lucky Day

2008-04-11T12:03:00.000-05:00

Due to the oh so awesome post of Miss Shortcake, I've really become a little obsessed over birdcage veils. While I won't be wearing one for my wedding (my veil was purchased long ago), I have been playing around with the idea of a second dress.

I want the second outfit to be white, a little bit funky, and short, since we are most likely going to be going to a little after party shindig and I don't want to be wearing my actual wedding dress to that. While perusing Castle Bride one day, I came upon this cute little piece (called Samantha) for your hair that I thought would be just awesome for my second outfit:

It turns out that they offer a weekly giveaway for $100 off any one of their veils and yesterday was my lucky day because I was the winner! I spoke to Kirstin on the phone, who, by the way is completely personable and pretty much awesome, and she told me that I didn't have to stick with the veil that I put as my favorite. I still liked the Samantha, but I'm not a butterfly type of gal, so I asked if it was possible to customize the piece. She said yes and asked for my ideas, of which I wasn't quite sure, so we got on the website together and decided to create a piece that was still the same size as Samantha with the netting behind it, but with the flower of the Emma instead of the butterfly:

It should hopefully be here in the next couple of weeks and I'm super excited for this little detail, I'll be sure to post some pics once I receive it!

Now, I just need to find that cute, short dress. Do any of you have any good resources for short dresses at great prices??

*Pics from the Castle Bride website