Check, Check, Check!!

We're getting a lot done! This weekend, we paid the remaining amount due for our wedding rings. Mine got sent out to be sized and should be back by the end of the week. We got to bring Kevin's home, since it was already the right size. It's all been very exciting, it's getting so close. My fiance's ring, taken with his blackberry, lol...

I also ordered our guest book tonight. We are using MyPublisher to create a custom photo guestbook using some pictures from our engagement. I'm very excited to see how it turns out, I'm sure it will be awesome!

Tonight, I finished what I'm calling our "additional info enclosure cards." I previously bought card stock that matches our invitations to create small cards to include in our invitations. The cards will direct guests to our wedding website so that they can find more information about the wedding, accommodations, and directions. I thought this was an important thing to include since there are some invitation recipients who didn't receive Save the Date magnets, which had our website on it.

Finally, we reserved our wedding night hotel room. We're going to stay at the Marriott Raleigh City Center in downtown Raleigh. We got the Romance Package, which was a great deal for an executive room including breakfast for two the next morning, chocolate strawberries and a bottle of champagne upon arrival.

We have a lot to do this week, so check back to see what all we get done!

Bachelorette Party/Lingerie Shower

Some of my wonderful bridesmaids are throwing me a lingerie shower/bachelorette party in April. Kelsey is graciously hosting at her new apartment! I'm very excited, I know it will be a lot of fun!

I have been looking for a dress to wear foreverrr! I finally decided to get the dress from Dillards that I had been eying for a while. It's hot pink and very cute! I think it will go really well with the hot pink and black theme that they're planning. Plus, I believe that the girls are all wearing black dresses/outfits with pink accessories, so it will be perfect!

Here's the dress I picked:

DIY Candle Decor

I'm really excited to be making lots of progress on the semi-DIY project that I'm working on. We're going to put a lot of candles on the fireplaces in the reception ballroom to make it beautiful and dramatic.

As a reminder, here's what the fireplaces look like:

We're definitely doing the votive candles all around the room on the ledge, like in the picture above... we've already bought about 15 dozen pre-filled glass votive candles. But, instead of just doing glass votives or small candles on the fireplace mantle, we'll do lots of alternating shapes and sizes of candles. There will be both pillar and floating candles. I've been collecting glassware and candles every time I see it for a reasonable price. I found really great deals at Michaels (make sure you use their coupons) and the Dollar Tree (3x8" cylinder vases for just $1)!

Here's what I have so far:

I'm not done yet, but I'm hoping it will all turn out like this on each mantle:

Wedding Flowers!

Here are some details about our wedding flowers and some inspiration pictures.

The bridesmaids will be wearing light pink dresses and carrying bouquets with light pink and white flowers: peonies, sweet peas, hydrangea, roses, etc.













I will be carrying a bouquet of cream and blush flowers, including peonies, hydrangea, ranunculas, and roses.

We will have a gorgeous arrangement at the entry table which will hold the escort cards. Using many of the same flowers, there'll also be silver branches that will give the arrangement height.












For the guest tables, we'll have both low and high centerpieces. Both will be similar and have lots of roses, peonies and hydrangea.

Rentals Update!

We met with CE Rental today to look at rental items that we'll need for the reception. Everything looks so gorgeous, I am very excited!

We first looked at linens and decided to go with a beautiful pink (petal) taffeta. We will have these in full length tablecloths on all of the guests' tables. The pink is very shimmery and changes colors in different lighting. We'll have silver satin tablecloths on the tall cocktail tables, sweetheart table, and cake table. The cocktail tables will be used in the cocktail hour and on the edge of the dance floor, they'll have a pink taffeta band around the middle.

For chairs, we picked out a silver chiavari with a white silk cushion. The chairs complete the look of the tables perfectly! Plus, the chairs make it easier to get more people at each table!

I took some of the things that will be at our table to see how everything looks together. Here are some pictures of what it'll look like:

Busy week ahead!

This week is going to be very busy! But, the best part of that is that we're going to get a lot done!

* Tonight we're meeting with our pastor at the church.

* Thursday, we're picking out linens and rentals from CE Rental, doing our food tasting (YUM!), meeting with our reception coordinator, and meeting with the florist.

* Friday, we're hoping to meet with our new ceremony/wedding coordinator.

* Saturday, we're PICKING UP MY DRESS!!

* Monday, dropping envelopes off with the calligrapher.

Today, I confirmed all of the information for the Groom's Cake order. It's going to be fabulous! We're getting a UNC-themed groom's cake for my fiance's alma mater. It's kind of a surprise for my fiance, as he knows there will be a UNC-themed cake, but he doesn't know what it looks like. It will be served at our Rehearsal Dinner at 518 West! Here's a picture of what it'll look like:

We're getting it from Cinda's Creative Cakes.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope everyone had a wonderful day/weekend!

Favors!

We received our Truffle Trolley sampler today. The box had a sample of each of the 18 delicious truffle flavors. We had a lot of fun tasting each of them. There were so many good options, that we had a little trouble deciding which to pick. However, I think we are going to do 2: Peanut Butter and Traditional Milk Chocolate. There were a lot of unique flavors, but we wanted flavors that everyone would like.

I didn't have my camera when they arrived, so I had to take pictures with my cell phone. They included a few sample boxes for us to decide box color and ribbon color. They even printed our monogram on the tags! Here are some pictures, sorry if they're a little blurry!

We're into the double digits!

99 days until the wedding! Wow, back when we got engaged {581 days ago...1 year, 7 moths ago}, I felt like this day would be soooo far away. Well, it's here! We're finally in the double digits, I can't believe how close the wedding is. I'm really glad that we've been getting stuff done almost every day. Yesterday, we picked out the mens' tuxes and today we picked out and put the deposit on our wedding rings!

The groomsmen will be wearing tuxes from Mens Wearhouse with silver vests and bow ties. My fiance will wear the same tux, but with a white vest and bow tie instead of the silver. We really love the classic look that these will have.

We ordered our rings today and were lucky that they had them in stock. So, we won't have to wait multiple weeks for them to come in. I was really relieved since a custom order would have meant getting the rings last minute before the wedding.

Calligraphy and more......

We're dropping our envelopes off with the calligrapher on Feb. 22nd! {We're using Leah from Simply Stated} However, we really need to decide which font we want to use!! I love all of these options, but I'm definitely partial to the first one, which matches the font that we used on the save the dates and a lot of the other stationary that guests will see, including our monogram. But, the others are pretty too! Click here to see our invitations and here to see our monogram.

Which is your favorite?!