Updates!

You might notice that I've done a little bit of updating around the blog.  I have updated the Resources tab (up at the top of the page) with some new blogs and websites.  There are some great new ideas and tutorials!  

There are also a few new widgets (trackers, vendors, etc.).  I changed the main photo to be a collage (a few weeks ago actually).  

I also updated the DIY Projects tab (up at the top of the page).  It's got new links and photos for the DIY projects that I have completed (or am in the process of completing!).  

There's much more to come!  Thanks for visiting!  :)

Honeymoon Plans

Me in front of the Trevi fountain in Rome.

This past weekend, Philip and I really started working on our honeymoon plans.  We've known since the day we got engaged that we were going to Italy for our honeymoon.  

I visited Italy in March of 2008 (with a class) but Philip has never been.  I would love to go back and Philip has always wanted to go.  So, it was decided!  

Anyway, this past weekend, we started working on the most expensive part of the honeymoon: the flights.  Our flights are a little more complicated because we have to fly to our wedding destination, then fly to Italy, then fly to my parents' house in Indiana, then fly home to Denver.  Phew! 

Well, I think we've found the right multi-destination tickets for us.  The only layover will be when we come back from Rome.  We have a layover in Charlotte before we fly into Indianapolis.  That seems reasonable to me!  

We still have a lot of planning left to do, but at least we have the big part pretty much decided now.  :)

The *official* chair decision!

It's official.  We have a chair decision!  

You might recall that I was torn about whether to use regular, metal folding chairs with chair covers and sashes:

(Source)

Or if I wanted to use the upgraded white resin chairs with sashes:

(Source)

Well, we have a winner.  We are going to go with the white resin chairs.  They are going to end up being cheaper than the basic folding chair with the chair covers.  That's not the only reason we came to this decision though.  I think the plain resin chairs will be more fitting for the wedding.  The chair covers seem a little more elegant than what we're looking for.  

However, I do think I want the sashes to go vertically instead of horizontally.  Also, I'd like the sashes to be tulle.  So, the chairs will look like this (except they will be white with navy sashes):

 

(Source)

It's nice to have one more decision done!  What do you think?

Rental Companies

Lately, a lot of my wedding planning energy has gone into finding rental places.  We will need tables, chairs, and possibly a tent.  I thought it would be a piece of cake.  Wrong.  

There are a TON of rental places in the Lancaster area.  I narrowed it down by only contacting the places that rented tents as well as tables and chairs.  I still ended up emailing TWELVE companies.  I started getting responses almost immediately.  It was impossible to keep track of the companies and prices, so I had to create a spreadsheet with all of the information.  

Now I know who is cheapest for everything I will need.  My job now is to figure out if the companies are reputable.  Phew!  Even more work!  What did brides do before Google??  It must have been hell!

More Baby's Breath Ideas

You might remember that before I decided I wanted to use Baby's Breath, I thought about using pomanders.  I didn't think that Baby's Breath would look very nice in a pomander, but I still wanted something to hang on the aisle chairs at the ceremony.  On the same website where I found the Baby's Breath bouquets and boutonnieres, I found this:

I like the look of the birch, but it doesn't really fit the look of our wedding.  Today, I came across the 'I Do' It Yourself blog.  As I was going back through the previous posts, I came across this post.  I thought that this was perfect:

It's adorable.  I love the idea of the tin cans or pails.  I thought they'd look great with Baby's Breath.  The right ribbon and they'd be perfect to hang on the aisle chairs.  To try to get an idea, I did a Google image search (of course!) and came up with these:

(Source)

(Source)

I think they're perfect.  :)  What do you think?

Save-the-Date Magnets: Cost Breakdown

I am so incredibly happy with how our Save-the-Date magnets turned out (and that they are finally mailed out and done!).  I'm even more pleased with how inexpensive they ended up being.  I saved an arm and a leg on these things by doing them myself!  Without further ado, here is the cost breakdown for my DIY save-the-date magnets:

Magnet Sheets: $9.99 for 12 sheets

$0.8325 per sheet

5 Magnets per Sheet

$0.1665 per magnet

So, the magnets themselves were only about $0.17 each.

Save-the-Date Photos: $7.50 for 75 photos

$0.10 per photo

So, the photo magnets were only $0.27 each!  That is absolutely unbelievable.  Even with the cards and envelopes added in, they were still a great deal:

Pack of 50 sheets of cardstock: $1.49 (bought at a discount store!)

$0.0298 per Sheet

2 Cards per Sheet

$0.0149 per Card

Holy Moly!  That's less than 2 cents per card!

Box of 100 Envelopes: $10.79 (with free shipping through Amazon Prime!)

$0.1079 per envelope

9 Sheets of Tissue Paper: $1.00
$0.111 per sheet
11 Envelope Liners per Sheet
$0.01 per Envelope Liner

So, for each STD that I made, the total without shipping was only $0.3993.  I basically spent $0.40 for each complete STD.  AAAHHH!!  I'm amazing.  ;)

Before deciding to make these myself, I did some searching online for STD magnets.  I was in serious sticker shock.  The cheapest ones I could find were $1.29 a piece. (because I only needed 75).  That only included the photo magnet and the envelope; not the card.  AND, those magnets were much smaller than the ones I created.  Those were only 2"x3.5".  My magnets are 3.5"x5".  That is $0.89 difference for a smaller magnet and no card or envelope liner.  

The one that I found that was pretty close to the size I made (they were 3.5"x5.5" -- so a half inch bigger than mine) were $1.89 per magnet (since I only needed 75).  Again, they included envelopes but no cards or envelope lienrs and were $1.49 more per magnet.  If I would have bought these, I would have spent $141.75 plus shipping to get them to my house.  And then I would've still had to buy or make the cards and the envelope liners! 

I think it goes without saying that I got an insanely awesome deal by DIYing these photo magnets.  It took a little bit of effort, but I think it was worth it.  I ended up sending out 65 Save-the-Date magnets.  This means that I spent $26 TOTAL on these!  That is a difference of at least (not including shipping, cards, or envelope liners) $115.75!  I don't think I could be any more pleased with them.  :)

And they're off!

It's official.  My Save-the-Dates are gone.  Philip forgot about picking up the stamps for me today, but I got off work early, so I went and picked them up myself.  By the time I finished sealing them and putting on the stamps (only a single 44 cent stamp for each!), it was after 5:00, so they won't get officially mailed until tomorrow.  But, they are out of my house (and out of my hair!).  

The people here in Colorado should be getting theirs by Monday.  The Arizona people will probably get theirs by Tuesday.  And the rest should be arriving on the East coast by Wednesday.  It's so exciting!

Bon Voyage, Save-the-Dates!  May you find your destinations in one piece!

How To: Envelope Liners

As I said in the previous post, these envelope liners are really simple.  They are just a little time consuming.  

First, find the paper that you'd like to use as a liner.  You could really use any kind of paper, but you should probably stick with something light (not cardstock) because the liner needs to be folded.  Also, cardstock probably wouldn't stay glued as easily when it is folded over (harder to keep the envelope closed).  I recommend going with wrapping paper.  It's light and it comes in lots of different colors and designs (so you can easily find something that works for you!).

I stopped by Dollar Tree last weekend and found some tissue paper that I liked.  It was foil lined so it was a little heavier than normal tissue paper.  It was just like normal wrapping paper.

Next up, figure out which envelopes you're going to use.  I went with these.  They are light, but they do the job.  They were also the perfect size for my STDs.

Once you've got your envelopes and your paper for the liners figured out, measure your envelopes.  

Measure from the bottom of the envelope to the point where the adhesive starts (in the center of the envelope).  Then measure your envelope from one side to the other.  Once you have those measurements, cut a piece of cardstock to that size (I just used a scrap piece of cardstock).  

Once you have your cardstock cut out, insert it into the envelope so that the tip of the envelope is at the top of the cardstock.  Then trace the lines for the point of the flap.  Then cut the point out of the cardstock.  

Now you've got your pattern!  Once that is all finished you're ready to cut out your liners.  I didn't do any tracing after I made the pattern.  I just lined up my pattern with the paper and used my Xacto knife to cut out the patterns.  

When the cutting was finished, I had this final product:

Once I had the pattern cut out, I inserted it into an envelope.  Make sure the liner goes in evenly and centered.  Try not to crinkle the paper.  

 

When the liner is in the envelope, crease the paper where the envelope folds over.  Then fold the liner over and place some adhesive on the flap of the envelope (I used these).  

Then fold the flap over onto the liner (making sure the liner is flat!) and make sure the liner sticks to the flap.  You should end up with something like this:

I am pleased with how mine turned out.  They aren't all perfect, but it did add a nice touch to the plain envelopes.  :)  And they looked terrific with my Save-the-Dates:

So, what do you think?  Have you done envelope liners for your invitations or Save-the-Dates?

Save-the-Dates: Envelope Liners Complete!

I finished the envelope liners last night.  I was ready to give up with about 20 to go.  I was tired and they were taking longer than expected.  And, my back hurt from sitting in the same position leaning over the table for too long.  And, on top of that, my adhesive dispenser was being difficult.  Grrr...

Anyway, I did get them finished and stuffed.  They look great!  I didn't take any pictures last night because I was tired and cranky and my camera battery was dead.  So, I'll definitely take some pictures tonight when I get home.  Philip is going to pick up the stamps from the post office today.  When I get home, I'll be stamping those suckers and sticking them in the mailbox.  :)  

And, I will eventually post a "how-to" on the envelope liners.  They were actually really simple... just a little time consuming.  I'm just relieved that it's all finished.  

SEVEN!

Well, we're down to seven months to go.  That seems ridiculously close.  It doesn't seem like it was that long ago that we were over a year away!  Where does the time go?

I am so excited!  The wedding plans are coming along swimmingly.   We have our major vendors set (the baker, caterer, photographer).  I contacted a TON of rental places today to see about getting quotes for the things we will need to rent (chairs, tables, and possibly a tent).   

And, I will be finishing up the save-the-dates tonight.  I would have finished them last night but I was just too exhausted.  I even stopped by the post office tonight after work and had one of the finished STDs weighed.  Even with the card, magnet, and envelope liner, the envelope still weighs little enough to use only a standard 44 cent stamp.  :D  

That is fantastic news!  I thought I would have to spend extra on stamps to get those puppies mailed!  Now I'm off to finish them up so I can get them mailed out tomorrow.  :)

Last Names

There has been a lot of chatter recently on the forums (and bridal blogs) about whether or not to the bride should change her last name, keep her maiden name, or do some sort of hyphenation.

This has never really been a question for me.  From the moment that Philip and I started talking about marriage, I knew that I would be taking his last name.  

It's not that I have anything against my last name.  I'm quite attached to it.  I mean, it's been mine for 25 years now.  Ketcham isn't a very common last name, but there are a few famous Ketchams:  Hank Ketcham, Thomas "Black Jack" Ketcham, Jack Ketchum, and even Ash Ketchum (ha!). 

According to HowManyOfMe.com, Ketcham is the 7,515th most common last name in the U.S.  I enjoy having a slightly uncommon last name.

However, I won't be giving up any uncommonness by taking Philip's name.  His last name is Buch -- which is the 12,273rd most common name in the U.S.  WAY less common than Ketcham!  And, I'll get to be towards the beginning of the alphabet for the first time in my life.  

I am not changing my last name because I dislike my name.  I'm not changing it because I like Buch better than Ketcham.  I'm just changing it because I feel that it makes Philip and I more as one.  It's just my way of thinking.  

I know it's not the right choice for everyone, but I want our children to share the same last name as both of us.  I want our family to be complete and I just think it will be weird if our kids have to ask, "Why does Mommy have a different name than us?" 

It's never been a question for me.  There's never been any doubt that I would be a Buch.  Are you changing your last name?  What are your reasons for changing or not changing? 

Baby's Breath Bouquets

When I first heard that, I thought: bland, plain, ugly.  I mean, surely there is a reason that Baby's Breath has been known as a "filler" flower for so long.  I don't even like Baby's Breath as a filler in bouquets, so I definitely thought I'd hate bouquets of only Baby's Breath.  

That was until I saw this:

(source)

I can't believe how much I love this bouquet.  It is so simple but so beautiful.  The satin ribbon just really sets it off.  As soon as I saw this bouquet, I did a little more research.  Then I found this featured wedding on The Bride's Cafe.  I'm in love.  

I mean, look at this bouquet:

Ahhhh!  I just love it!  The bouquets are just so cute!  And if those weren't enough, just look at these from the same wedding:

I just love the Baby's Breath boutonniere!  It's just right. 

And, if the bouquets and bouts weren't cute enough, how about a little Baby's Breath decor?  So, so, so adorable!

I really want to do these bouquets.  The only problem?  Because of my budget, I'm DIYing my flowers.  I will only be arriving in Pennsylvania on the Thursday before the Saturday wedding and there is going to be a ton of other stuff to do in those 2 days.  I don't want to have to deal with putting together bouquets in that time.  But, I don't like the look of the silk Baby's Breath as much as the real Baby's Breath.  

I've come up with a few options.  I am going to go to the local craft stores and see if I can find any silk Baby's Breath that I like.  If I can't, I'm going to do a little flower drying experiment.  

Sam's Club sells real flowers.  They carry Baby's Breath for incredibly cheap.  So, even if my experiment fails, I won't be out a whole lot of money.  I found a few tutorials on how to dry Baby's Breath (I like this one the best) and I think I can make it happen.  

I'm a little excited to see how it turns out.  I'll be sure to keep you all updated on that adventure! 

How To: Save-the-Date Magnets

These DIY magnets are really simple.  They took some time, but I think they were entirely worth it.

First, figure out the design of your Save-the-Date cards.  As you might remember, It took several tries before we got the perfect one (here, here, here, and here).  I made all of my designs in Microsoft Publisher.  It's really easy to work with.  I used photos from our engagement photo session. 

Before you start designing the card, you need to figure out how big you want the magnet to be.  I chose to go with a 3.5x5 inch size, so I input the size in my Publisher design before getting started.  If you design in a size that you're not going to order, then when you order the prints, the photo will have to stretch or shrink or possibly even get cropped... and that's not a good thing!

Once you have a design you like, order them.  You can order photo prints like I did or you could order postcards from someplace like Vistaprint.  Either way, look for deals!  I got my prints for $0.10 per photo with free shipping from PhotoWorks.  I am on VistaPrint's email list and they constantly send me deals.  I've seen deals for 100 postcards for FREE (plus shipping)!  You can't really beat that!  It's just going to depend on how big you want your magnets to be. 

If you're really on a budget, you can do the 250 free business cards from Vistaprint and buy business card magnets.  I just wanted mine to be bigger because I wanted our photos on them.  It's really up to you!

Anyway, on to what I did with my magnets.  As I said, they were really simple.  However, I wouldn't recommend doing them unless you have a guillotine paper cutter.  I'm sure these would become really tedious if someone did them using regular scissors (your hands would hurt for days!).  And, I don't think that a paper cutter with the sliding blade would be able to cut deep enough into the magnet. 

I have a giant guillotine paper cutter.  Most people wouldn't really have much use for one as large as mine.  I got it when I was doing my pocketfold invitations because I needed something big enough to cut my enormous sheets of paper.  I did a bunch of research and got mine used off of Craigslist for $30.  Super deal!  Of course, I had Philip pick it up for me (I don't willingly go into strangers' homes!).  Again, look for those deals!

Anyway, back to the magnets.  I suggest buying 8.5x11 sheets of adhesive magnets.  I bought mine from Oriental Trading.  They come 12 to a pack for $9.99.  I knew I would be able to get 5 magnets with my 3.5x5 inch size off of one sheet.  I need to have about 70 magnets, so I ordered 2 packs.  They only took a few days to arrive. 

Once they were here, I started my cutting:

I didn't measure anything out.  I lined up the magnet sheet with the ruler on my cutter and just cut, cut, cut!  It didn't really take that long to do the cutting, even though I had 14 sheets to cut.  I was pleased to have all 70 magnets in a nice, neat, little pile:

Then began the sticking.  I peeled the paper backer off of the magnet and lined the photo up with the lines of the magnet. 

Some of the magnets were just a smidge too big, so I had to do a little bit of trimming, but it wasn't a big deal.  It didn't take very long either.  :)

Next up, I put the magnets in the cards I had prepared for the magnets.  If you don't want an actual card, you could probably just mail the magnets by themselves (it would probably also save you in postage!).  I used photo corners to attach the magnets to the top, inside part of the cards.

I think they look fantastic!  I am so pleased with how they turned out.  I ordered envelopes from Amazon and they should be here on Tuesday.  I'm thinking of doing envelope liners for them, but I have to see how everything looks together first.  I'm also thinking about doing envelope seals, but that's not set in stone yet either.  We shall see!

Save the Date Magnets Are Done!

This process is finally over.  It took several hours tonight, but they are DONE!  I was going to blog the "how to" for making the magnets, but I'm exhausted.  I've had very little sleep in the past few days and my fingers are tired from putting the magnets and the cards together.  So, I'll work on that blog post in the next few days.  Until then, here are a few pictures of the finished product:

The finished magnets... all 75 of them.  :)

The magnets in the Save-the-Date cards.

Save the Date Photos Have Arrived!

The photos for the Save-the-Dates finally arrived.  I did my own little happy dance.  :)  Here they are:

You may remember that I ordered them from PhotoWorks.  Well, they were supposed to take no more than 7 business days to arrive.  Not true.  So, I was really irritated with the company.  Especially when I saw that they were shipped over a week after they told me they shipped. 

So, needless to say, I was not pleased with the speed of the shipping from that company.  However, the photos turned out really well.  My only other issue with them is that I ordered 75 photos and they shoved them all into a single envelope.  Some corners were a little smashed on a few of the photos.  

While I did have a few problems with the company, I still think I would order from them if I had to do it over again.  I mean, they are the only company I found that would print the 3.5x5 inch photos.  And, the photos looked the way they were supposed to.  And, the price was great.  I paid $0.10 per photo with free shipping.  I'd say it was worth a little bit of extra hassle.   

We have a caterer! :)

My mom informed me this morning that we have a caterer!  We are going with Enck's Catering in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  They have fantastic reviews and they seem to be reasonably priced.

Looks yummy!  (source)

 

Now comes the fun part: deciding on a menu.  I am so excited for this part!  I kind of really like food.  And, it's one BIG thing that we needed for the wedding.  That makes the day just that much more real.  

So, we are probably going with a basic hot buffet:

Your choice of two meats: Sliced Hot Baked Ham, Roast Beef, Turkey or Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Choice of Potato: Baked Idaho, Gourmet Potato, Red Bliss with Parsley, Scalloped Potatoes, Mashed Potatoes with Brown Butter or Home fries. Rice or Buttered Noodles are also available.

Choice of Hot Vegetable: Green Beans with or without almond slivers, Vegetable Medley, Glazed Baby Carrots, Peas, Pearl Onions, Creamed Corn, Shoe peg Corn, Baked Corn, Succotash, Lima Beans and other seasonal choices

The buffet will also automatically come with the following:

Assorted Salads: Dutch style Potato Salad, Red Skin Potato Salad, Macaroni Salad, Rotini Pasta Salad, Tortellini Pasta Salad, Red Beet Eggs, Pepper Cabbage and Coleslaw

Fresh Fruit displayed in a Carved Watermelon

Rolls & Butter

Ice Cream

Punch

 

We will have to change it up a little bit because we will have a few vegetarians at the wedding (like the bride!).  We are trying to figure out what we want and then we'll submit it to the caterer to get a quote per person.  I'm so excited!  

We have a baker!

That's one more vendor to cross off the list!  We have decided to go with The Flour Child in Columbia, Pennsylvania.  We had Philip's aunt and uncle do a taste test for us and they said her cake was delicious.  :)

I have been emailing back and forth with Alixe Ingoglia for a few weeks now and we are finally at the contract signing phase.  She is so easy to work with!  I sent her a few pictures of cakes that I kind of liked and we incorporated the ideas that I liked from each of them into our cake.  

Our cake is going to be square with 3 tiers: 

• Bottom tier -- French Vanilla
• Middle tier -- Dark Chocolate
• Top tier (the anniversary cake) -- French Vanilla

It will be frosted with Vanilla Buttercream frosting.  The frosting will be white and there will be a navy blue ribbon around each layer.  Along the bottom of the ribbon will be white pearl frosting chains.  

So, it will sort of look like this:

http://bestweddingcakes1.blogspot.com/

Except, I don't plan to have flowers on our cake.  We will most likely use a monogram as our cake topper.  I'm still deciding between that and possibly a glass plaque with our names and the date engraved on it.  I really do not like the overdone bride and groom statues, so that is definitely out.  

Oh!  Also, The Flour Child will be doing a groom's cake for us.  It's a surprise for Philip.  I'm having it made for the rehearsal dinner.  Since Philip is such a Star Wars nerd, I thought he'd get a kick out of a 3-D R2D2 cake like these:

http://www.coolest-birthday-cakes.com/star-wars-cakes.html#c10

http://www.coolest-birthday-cakes.com/coolest-r2d2-cake-34.html

I'm so excited to see his face when he sees his cake!  It's being made in French Vanilla with buttercream and fondant frosting (to get the right shape).  

Also, I wanted to mention that The Flour Child's prices are fantastic.  I think we're getting a great deal on the cakes.  It also really helps that Alixe has been wonderful to work with.  I am so looking forward to the cakes now!  Only 222 days to go (well, only 221 until we get to see R2D2!)!

How To: DIY Wedding Flutes

Philip had to work on Friday night, so I went shopping for supplies.  I stopped by Dollar Tree and picked up two champagne flutes.  I looked for some rhinestone stickers but they didn't have any.  So, I went to Michael's (I had to go there for some other supplies anyway), but they didn't have any either.  Target was right next door, so I stopped in to pick up some other supplies for another project.  They didn't have any individual rhinestone stickers, so I ended up buying a heart-shaped rhinestone sticker.  

The problem with the stickers is that the rhinestones were all attached to each other by a string of adhesive.  I had to cut the string and leave only the individual rhinestones.  

Once I got the rhinestones cut out, I printed the letter B on some cardstock and cut it out (I used one of our fonts -- Edwardian Script). 

I put the piece of paper into the flute to use as a guide for where to put the rhinestones. 

Then I started sticking the rhinestones to the flute.  And, this is what I ended up with:

 Then I took the navy and ivory ribbon that I had leftover after doing the bubbles, and tied it around the stem of the flutes.  

 And, here is the finished product:

 

I'm pretty pleased with them.  The best part?  The price breakdown:

The champagne flutes:  $2.00 ($1.00 a piece)

The rhinestone stickers:  $0.99

The ribbons: FREE (they were leftovers)

So, these flutes ended up being about $1.50 a piece!  That is absolutely fantastic compared to other flutes I found that are similar.  

Like this one:

I found it here for $19.95.  That is almost $17 of savings... and I've seen toasting flutes for even more expensive than that!

I'm pretty pleased with my DIY skills on this project.  It certainly saved me a bundle!  So, what do you think?

Save the Date Cards

I ordered the photos for the Save the Dates on Monday.  I went with PhotoWorks because I wanted them in the 3.5x5 size and they were the only company I could find that still offered that size!  Also, they are currently having a sale on 3.5x5 and 4x6 photos -- $0.10 a piece.  Plus, you get free shipping on your first order.  So, I spent $7.50 for 75 prints.  :)

I placed the order for the magnets today.  I went with Oriental Trading because they were the cheapest I found (by far!) and they had good reviews.  I will have to cut the sheets into the right sizes.  They're 8.5x11 sheets, so I can get 5 STD magnets per sheet.  It's a little extra work, but it's definitely worth it over ordering magnets pre-cut.  They're WAY more expensive.  I also ordered some double sided tape dispensers for the pocketfold invitations because they were really reasonable (and I will need them soon -- saved the additional shipping costs!). 

Since I'll be able to get started on the STD magnets soon, I thought I should figure out the cards for them to be attached to.  This is what I came up with:

[The front of the card.]

[The inside of the card.]

If you can't read the card, I've put a little poem along with the important information:

Our day is fast approaching,
And we can hardly wait.
So, put this magnet on your fridge,
And be sure to Save the Date!

September 24, 2011
Chickies Rock Park, Columbia, Pennsylvania

Please visit our website to find out more!
http://www.theknot.com/ourwedding/Ketcham&Buch

~Formal invitation to follow~

I printed them on some ivory/beige cardstock that I have from the packs of cardstock for the invitation backers. That purchase definitely worked out great! I'm printing the cards 2 to a sheet. Again, I'll have some cutting to do, but it's cheaper than buying cards!

So, what do you think?

New ideas!

I've completed several DIY projects since becoming engaged: the bubbles, the wish jar, the photo frame card box, the sand ceremony frame/shadow box, the aisle runner, along with my in-progress projects (the save-the-date magnets and the pocketfold invitations). 

Even the in-progress projects will be finished in the next few weeks.  However, I have just under 8 months to go until the wedding date.  That still leaves a ton of time for other DIY projects!

In the beginning of my wedding planning, I came across a TON of ideas that I thought would be fantastic, but I tried to pace myself.  So far I've done the major projects that I wanted to get done (besides the programs and the in-progress stuff).  So, I thought I'd add a few projects to the list!

I've been cruising some wedding websites and came across a few ideas that I found before that I really liked:

1.) The "Thank You" Parasol.  The parasol photo will make for an absolutely fantastic Thank You card!  Don't you think?

2.) The Tears of Joy packets.  I absolutely love these.  I mean, I know a bunch of people (MOM!) who will be bawling their eyes out during the ceremony.  I think they're a nice touch!

 

I can't wait to get started on these projects!  I'll be busy this month with the STDs and the pocketfolds, but these will be filling up the month of March for me!  :)