Stationary Practice

About halfway through my final semester of school ever, my iBook decided it was time to move on into that great big Apple store in the sky.  This wasn't too difficult for me to accept because Apple stopped making the iBook in 2004, and mine was certainly well past its prime.  I ventured into my local Apple store to purchase a MacBook.  The Mac Genius told me that I could also get a new printer and it would only cost me $30 after a mail-in rebate.  A new printer?  My mind immediately went to wedding planning.  I could design our save the dates on Mac's Pages and then print them on card stock myself!  Think of all the money I could save!  I decided it was definitely worth $30 and I bought it.

I'm not going to lie though...the whole DIY on the computer idea kind of intimidated me.  Michael's I can handle.  This was a new monster.  I decided that the best way to conquer my fear was to practice.  Fortunately, I was graduating in a few weeks.  Making my own graduation announcements would save money and give me an opportunity to practice!

Materials:
A printer that has the ability to adjust according to paper size (look for an envelope feature)
#10 Luxe Fino Flat Cards 25 for $6.25 at Paper Source
#10 Open End Luxe Fino Envelopes 10 for $5.50 at Paper Source
Squeeze Punch - 1/2" Rounded Corner $11.95 at Paper Source

I chose cream as the color for the flat cards, and I chose gold shimmer as the color for the envelopes (gold and navy are my school colors).

I then created a new document in Pages and set the page dimensions to the dimensions of the #10 card.  I inserted an image of my school's logo (don't worry, royalty-free), then inserted a line to divide the card, then I just typed in a pretty font.  I printed them out and used my fancy corner puncher to give it that little something extra.

I'm so sorry I had to blur the name!  It was so pretty!

Close up

Envelopes

The envelopes involved a little bit more trial and error, so I'm glad I bought a few extra.  I only sent 12 of these, so I don't think I saved too much money in the long run.  But if you consider the fact that I'll use the printer and the corner puncher for future projects, it's not that bad of an investment!  Above all, I was really pleased with my work.  It felt more personal than buying something from somewhere, and when I received compliments, it meant a lot more.  I'm officially in love with Paper Source now, and I plan to use them for many future wedding projects to come!  Stay tuned!

Our First Budget Readjustment

You know?  You plan and you plan and you think you cover everything.  But then something comes up and requires a budget makeover.  You see, I was convinced that we didn't need a videographer.  I'm more into still photos, and we had hired an amazing photographer (more on that later).  I changed my mind when I saw this:

Source: Disney Weddings

That's my cousin and her husband, and that's their wedding video montage.  I watched it, I cried a little, and I fell in love with the idea of having one of our very own.  Short, but sweet.  Intimate, but accessible.  It was perfect.  So really, it wasn't that I wanted a wedding video, just a video montage.  Unfortunately, you need to have a wedding video first in order to create a highlights reel from it.

I moved some things around (mostly our floral budget...that category keeps taking hit after hit!  Just not a priority to us, I suppose) to accommodate $2000 for videography.  If that sounds steep to you, you're in for a big surprise.  That's the low end of videography.  Videography is wicked expensive.

I researched potential vendors (via The Knot and Wedding Wire) and narrowed it down to two.  The biggest factor in narrowing it down was price.  The second, if we're being honest here, was the quality of their website.  So many videographers' sites didn't actually have video!  Some did, but either the video quality was mediocre, and/or the rest of the site wasn't really up to par.  Maybe I was being superficial, but the way I saw it, these vendors are artists.  The little bit of extra effort it took to construct their site in a way that complimented their work made such a difference.  Flash was a bonus.

I requested demos from the two vendors that made the cut.  When they arrived, I was a little disappointed with the first one.  When I watched the second one, I realized that I was tearing up at the love stories of complete strangers.  This videographer managed to capture every wonderful, unique aspect of the couple they documented.  It wasn't just about that day, it was about the couple's lives together.  Hive, allow me to introduce you to Three Ring Weddings.

Three Ring Weddings markets themselves as producers of "love stories."  They even interview the couple a few months before the wedding to get to know them.  This helps them come up with a story line so that the wedding video takes on a true storyline.  I ate this up.  Best of all, they actually listed their prices directly on their site.  I know!  Unheard of in the wedding world!  They offer a new "economy package" that was just under budget.  We immediately put down a deposit, friended them on Facebook, and bragged about how they made the Little Black Book on Style Me Pretty.

All in all, I was thrilled with our budget readjustment.  I can't wait to see the results!  Did a new wedding wish force some flexibility into your planning process?

Saying Yes to the Dress

I wanted to get dress shopping done early because I felt that the dress would set the tone and the theme for the entire event.  I began my dress shopping adventure by browsing through bridal magazines in an effort to research designers and to get an idea of what I wanted.  This did not help me at all.  I had a very clear idea of what I wanted, but I wasn't sure how it would look on me.  I went to David's Bridal with a friend who is also wedding planning, and we tried on several very different gowns to narrow down our search.  I found shopping, with no intent to buy, incredibly helpful and I highly recommend it when it comes to wedding dresses.  I came to David's Bridal with A, B, and C in mind; I left thinking of X, Y, and Z.

Attached to the idea of a dress with X, Y, and Z, I began to research bridal boutiques.  I googled, asked around, and narrowed it down to 7 stores.  I then looked at each store's website and viewed their selection.  Some carried more designers than others, and some had more affordable designers.  I narrowed it down again to 3 final stores and made appointments.  All of this involved lots of color coded spreadsheeting, of course!

Mr. Lion, do NOT read any further! 

I went to my appointments with some of my bridesmaids, and found my dress at the first one.  I knew it was the one.  I didn't cry or scream or anything like that, but I kept it on for about 45 minutes and just didn't want to take it off!  I wanted to be sure, so I went to my next appointment.  I found another one that I liked a lot and immediately stressed out.  The other salon had told me that I would get a discount if I ordered it today, so I wanted to make a decision.  I called Mama Lioness on the verge of tears and asked her what to do.  She gave me some of the best advice I've had so far with wedding planning: "If you like both of them, then you need to think about which one HE would like more."  I pictured myself walking down the aisle in the dress I was wearing, and I smiled.  I pictured myself walking down the aisle in the dress I had worn earlier that day, and I smiled wider and burst into tears.  There was the Lifetime movie moment I had been looking for!  We left the salon and called the other store to make our purchase, the Zora by WToo:

Personal photo: Looking pretty psyched.

How did your research and advice affect your dress shopping?  Did it help you narrow it down or did you go a different route?