Monday, April 26, 2010

Finished Memorial Candles

I received the rest of the pictures that I needed to complete my memorial candles, so I thought I would share them with you all. I believe that this will be such a wonderful way to honor our decreased loved ones and really make them apart of our day. =)

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Invitations are DONE!

I'm so relieved that these are finally done. I truly couldn't be any happier with them, and I absolutely love them. My fiance and I had an invitation assembling session yesterday for roughly 3 hours, and then we made a trip to the post office to send them off!




Ready to be mailed! YAY!

Wrap-Around Labels - Check!

These were super easy to complete. I used another handy-dandy Xyron machine, except a smaller one. It is the 1.5" Xyron machine and it can typically be found for less than $10 (even cheaper if your sign up for Hobby Lobby weekly emails and use a 40% off coupon).

Making these was quite simple, and here is how I did it..

Directions:

  1. Open up an 11" x 8.5" document in Microsoft Publisher.

  2. My invitation envelopes measured at 5.25" x 7.25". Insert a text box (this will be the box that indicates the label as a whole.) I made the label 7.25" inches in length since it would still cover a majority of the front of the envelope and stll left some label to wrap-around to the back.

  3. Since my Xyron machine can make stickers up to 1.5", I decided to make my label 1.5" in height. Overall, my label measured at 7.25" x 1.5", and this is what my text box was sized to.

  4. Insert a text box where your guests address will be, and insert a textbox where your return address will be. The return address portion should be on the far left and will be the portion of your label that get folded around to the back of your envelope.

  5. Insert any pictures, wallpaper, designs that you wish.

  6. Type in your return address, and begin typing in your guests address. I was able to fit 6 wrap-around labels onto an 11" x 8.5" document. It will be easier to make the labels if you "group" together your items in Publisher. You can do this by pushing "Ctrl" on your keyboard, then begin clicking on your items in your label. They will all become highlighted and then you will be given the option to "Group."

  7. I printed them off and cut them out with my paper cutter. Then, I sent them through my Xyron machine.


And here is what they looked like when added to an envelope..

Belly Bands - Check!

FINALLY! I finished these little suckers. And here they are!

Now for my directions..

Materials Needed:
  • Ribbon
  • Xyron Machine or some type of adhesive
  • Tape
  • Cardstock
  • An invitation
  • Scissors

Directions for Belly-Bands
  1. Cut your ribbon strips to the size desired to fit around your entire invitation shortways. Mine measured at 5.25", so I cut my strips to 5".

   2. Wrap tape around the ends of your ribbon.


   3. Place the ribbon underneath your invitation evenly.

                            

   4. Place a piece of your already measured out cardstock onto the center of your invite and pull one end of your ribbon onto the cardstock. Tape the ribbon to your cardstock.

                            

   5. Tape the other end of your ribbon onto your cardstock.

                            

   6. Remove the sticker paper from the back of your monogramed cardstock and position it on the taped cardstock.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Part One of the Belly Bands


I finally began my belly bands today. I had been putting them off because I lacked any sense of motivation, but I want to get these invites out by Wednesday, so I kicked my butt into gear! Do you own a Xyron machine? If not, I highly recommend them because they're awesome. It is helping me out tremendously in assembling my belly bands and you'll see why in my next entry. Anyways, check out my progress!


A here's a thumbs up for a job well done! Now, I am off to eat some Taco Bell!

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Photo Stamps!

Finally! A new post! This isn't so much a DIY project since all I really did was just upload a photo, but none the less, I present to you all.. my envelope photo stamps!


Snapfish was having this awesome sale on photo stamps a few days ago, and I was able to get these stamps for $.35 cents each (Thanks Ashley!) after all of the discounts came through. Love them!.

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Venue Issues!

Ughh.. my least favorite part about wedding planning is when things don't work out the way they're supposed to. I've been wanting to share more DIY projects with you all, but we hit a major snafu in our planning this past Monday and I've been too stressed out to work on anything. Basically what happened was..

Our original venue was going to be used for both the ceremony and the reception. When we booked them, they informed us of an approved list of caterers that they provide to all of their couples, however if we weren't able to use any of them or if we just wanted to use someone else, we could. We just had to have them approved and have the restaurant/catering company fax their proper paperwork over to our venue. Awesome. No problem right? Well this past Monday, I decided to email the Events Coordinator at our venue to check in on things and to see if our caterer that we had booked had contacted her yet. She replies with this.. "In the Fall, we sent out an email or letter to all of our 2010 brides, letting them know about our new catering policy. The approved caterers on our new list are the only caterers we allow to cater here now." WHAT?! I never received an email or a letter, and I sent her an email telling her this. This hasn't been the first time that our venue had done something like this and to be frank, they have been awful to work with. So basically, the caterer that we booked and paid a deposit for already was no longer usable.

That was the last straw for me. My fiance was very upset. It wouldn't have been such a big deal if we hadn't found such an awesome caterer that fit into our budget wonderfully, and if the approved caterers list had been condensed since we received our copy of it at our contract signing. Plus, 2 of the caterers are already booked, and 1 of them has a conference on our wedding day. So that basically left us with having to use our venue as our caterer at roughly $21.99-$25.99 per plate on top of a 18% gratuity. Not budget friendly at all. So I was talking to my mom and my older brother about our dilemma, and my brother says, "A friend of mine is the owner of a local reception banquet hall here in town. I could give him a call and see what he could do." Well as luck would have it, the couple that had June 12 booked at his reception hall had canceled their wedding because they broke up that very day about 4 hours prior. So we arranged to go see it the following day (Tuesday). The owner was such an awesome guy, and VERY accommodating. He understood our issue and since he knew my brother, he knocked off $1000 of his Platinum Package deal, which include a DJ, linens, a caterer, day before set-up, next day accommodations, free security, dressing rooms.. I could go on and on. Plus the banquet was sooo nice! Way nicer than what we had booked for our reception already. So my fiance and I booked it.

Now we were at 2 reception venues, 1 ceremony site, 2 DJ's, and 2 caterer's. Oh boy. So yesterday afternoon, my fiance and I decided to perform negotiations and damage control. Basically we still wanted to be married outside, which we still had at our orignal venue. First, I took care of our originla DJ. We never signed a contract with him or gave him a deposit, so that would be the easiest to cancel first. He totally understood our situation, and we ended things on great terms. Now between our prevous caterer and our original venue, my fiance and I decided to each take one. I decided to call the venue, and he took the caterer. We never signed a contract with the caterer, but we did give him a $150 deposit. As luck would have it, he was awesome about the situation as well, and my fiance drove over there today to retrieve our $150. Score! I contacted the supervisor at my original venue. Basically the cost breakdown was as follows: The outdoor ceremony garden cost $500, and the indoor reception room was $400 to rent. So when we signed the contract, we were required to put down half ($450).

I called up the supervisor, and basically just told her due to what we learned on Monday that we decided to switch to a new reception venue since it was a lot cheaper (and a lot nicer, but she didn't need to know that =)). Then, I told her that I was hoping we could negotiate us just using the outdoor ceremony site, and to cancel the indoor reception room. She followed up with, "So you've probably paid $450 already correct?" I told her yes, and I waited for her answer. A few moments later, she replied, "Sure! That is no problem at all. We won't charge you for cancelling the room." What!? Seriously?! No penalty? Nothing? In our contract, it states that if we cancel a site on their property with more than 31 days before the wedding that we would be required to still pay half of the room rental's fee, which would have been $200 since the indoor reception room rents for $400. But she was very nice and understood how the caterer situation kind of put us in a tough position. So she just simply asked if she would be allowed to release the indoor reception room for another couple to rent, and I told her absolutely, and she told us that we just owe $50 to cover the remaining cost to rent the outdoor ceremony space, as well as the rental fee of the chairs that we will need (which we knew about from the beginning.)

So in the end.. everything has worked out!! I couldn't be happier. Now back to those invitations..
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