Flowers

I think I might just have all of the wedding flowers, now. Yippee! Tiffany and I picked up the last of them yesterday. If anything, we might just need a few more for topiary balls - but we won't know for sure until we get these flowers used up.

Engagement Pictures

Sneak peek of our engagement pictures.
They are beautiful!
Our photographer, Jennifer, was wonderful.
Also, huge thanks to Chelsea for all of her help!!!

I hope i do this right - no sure how to blog BUT i thought i would give it a whirl! after this maybe i can figure out how to post pictures, etc. but chirstina, thanks for the congrats. I normally do not have time to chech out your blog but mom told me i better get on here and see whats going on - thanks mom. so as for thanksgiving, you will have to let me know if i can help out with anything and tell me what i should be doing. seems you are so organized!!ok - can't wait to see what is going on at home in a month.

It's been awhile

Sorry girls - I've been pretty busy lately with school and stuff that I forgot to post wedding stuff. Quick recap:
Picked up Chris's ring today - looks great on him.
Picked up all but one order of flowers - just need 3 more on this order.
I ordered 29 more bouquets for the topiary balls - I bought 34 bunches today - Tiff and Tiff... let's get to work on these - then maybe I won't need all 29 others I ordered. I have a plan to cut down on how many flowers we've been using. :-)
INVITATIONS!!! The invitations are awesome. If I'd just decide on a tab thingy majiggy we'd be good to go on the design. THANK-YOU to Susan, Chelsea, Dawn, Tiffany, Mom, Chris... and most of all Billi for all the help! Thursday night was so productive! Almost done! BILLI - you are a genius and a true leader. You have an amazing talent with cards! Thank-you! Please bring Louis over again soon to play with Calvin!
Also invitations - Mom and Denise please get me your addresses by November 5th. Invitations will go out the first week of December.
BIG news for Dawn D. ---- FIRST, she organized an extremely successful benefit for her mom and step-father who have both fought cancer and beat it... now, her mom's cancer is back. I am confident that this strong woman will beat it again and still feel like she's 25. However, please keep Marilyn in your thoughts and prayers. SECOND... Dawn and Weldon bought a house!!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!
We're still waiting for Alicia to post some of her engagement/wedding info on here and show us all pictures of her ring! I saw it in some pics she emailed and it is beautiful!!!
Anybody know where we can get risers for the head table at???
I got to see Daelyn's "married clothes" last week - beautiful! Wow... really breathtaking. She will be a little princess!

CAKE!!

The cake looks beautiful and sounds really yummy! I love that you guys picked out a flavor different than the norm. Looking forward to the wedding!

The tuxes

We had all intentions of shopping around for tuxes. There are like 3 places around here to go. Well, I overslept this morning - grrr - so we didn't have time to go tuxedo shopping before picking up Calvin from Aaron's. So, after picking up Calvin we went to Weber's. Calvin is a pretty good boy - but, he's two, curious, and has more energy than me on Red Bull. So, trying to look at the tuxedo catalog and chase him wasn't easy. Also, let me say that there are WAY more choices for tuxes than I had ever dreamt of! Anyway, we ended up picking out the tuxes at Webers because we were happy with our choice and didn't want to deal with Calvin at another store. The tuxes are awesome - we couldn't be happier with them. I am sure you all will approve, too. :-)

The Cake

Mom and I picked out a cake last week. I know Chris and I had thought about doing miniature cakes or cupcakes, but the miniature cakes were ruled out by the baker who said it wasn't humanly possible for 1 person to make 400 miniature cakes in a reasonable amount of time - at least 4 days without sleep. I didn't argue. I wouldn't stay up that long! I decided that cupcakes weren't a right fit for our wedding. So, this cake is very similar to what we will have - except the fake flowers will be rolled icing roses in various shades of ivory, champagne, and golds cascading down the cake. The cake topper is beautiful - we picked it out together. It's called the Circle of Love. Oh, and the cake is yellow and strawberry flavored... interesting... but delicious. Anyway, just thought you'd like to see a picture of a similar cake. Cake is exciting. :-)

Soon To Be Bride... Alicia!

Chris's sister, Alicia is newly engaged!!! Congratulations, Alicia! Cole proposed to her last night. Very romantic story, but I'll let her tell everyone. Chris and I are extremely happy for Alicia and Cole. This is a very exciting time for them!
Alicia - post a picture of you guys... and your ring when you get a chance! Can't wait to see you guys over Thanksgiving! CONGRATULATIONS!

Friday's Shopping Trip

Friday's shopping trip to Champaign was successful! Amber and Amanda found their usherette dresses! :-) That was the goal of the day so I can proudly say that we exceeded our goals by getting a lot more done! Shopping in the morning for the dresses - both are adorable! :-) Lunch at Chevy's - yummm! Then, Tiffany P and I did some serious shopping.
First, let me say that Tiffany and I are very similar in our organization skills. So, we went to Champaign with a checklist, calculator, and measuring tape. The day before, we counted all of the flowers to make sure we got everything we needed.
So, on Friday we either bought or ordered the rest of the flowers, decided on decorations for the bar, got 30 yards of tulle, looked for a cake knife, bought the final touches for some of the decorations, bought me clothes for the upcoming engagement pictures and 3 pairs of shoes, and picked up Chelsea's dress. It was a productive day!
I'm hoping I don't have to go shopping again too soon. I will have to drive up there again when the ordered flowers are in and to pick up Chris's ring when it comes in. Otherwise, I think I have just about everything. :-)

Daelyn's Married Dress

We got Daelyn's "Married" Dress yesterday.


She's super excited.


I practically had to peel it off her last night.

Reception

Tiffany P and I spent some quality time at Stone's Throw... not just enjoying tasty strawberry daquiries, either... but they sure were good! We totally got the reception, head table, cake table, etc figured out. With or without risers, we have a good layout for the head table using the alternate dancefloor for the dance. Overall, we thank we have a good layout that will help to make everyone in the L shaped room feel involved. We had to use some serious skills today with the tape measure and cell phone calculator - but we confirmed we're on track with the amount of centerpieces and enough seating for everyone.
I gotta say that "happy" doesn't even begin to explain how I feel about the Stone's Throw experience. Mike, Ross, and Andrea have all been great!
Tomorrow, Amber and Amanda are shopping for their usherette dresses. So, we're heading out for another day shopping! Tiffany P. and I have a long list of things we need to pick up like more flowers, 60 yards of tulle, 10 red candles, etc. I feel like I am so close to having everything we need. Tiffany P. and I joked that after my wedding we'll be ready to be professional wedding planners! :-) hahahaha
Thank-you to everyone for their suggestions and input - it helps so much! Elizabeth... if the we get over 350 RSVP's we might need your architectural skills for the cramped seating space! If we stay under 350 we will be in great shape!

Head table...

Came up with this possible layout with or without risers I think it might work - even thought it will take up a little space. What do you think? Sorry the drawing's not that good - it was in Paint... so I did the best I could! :-)

head table thoughts...

Hey Christina, saw the info about the head table and was wondering if you need to have everyone actually sit at the "head table"? I mean,honestly that's alot of people, and I don't think you would hurt anyones feelings if you had only a few people up there...ya know, maid of honor best man... or how about even just you and Chris, and a little romantic table for 2? After all, it's your day...... Remember, you won't have much alone time with him that day, so having a chance to sit down and eat just with your new hubby might be relaxing....my advice, keep it simple. You could always have a few tables of wedding party people or just mix us all throughout the rest of the tables at the reception....just an idea. I don't think it's a wedding rule to keep everyone together....and to be honest..my feelings won't be hurt if I'm not sitting up in front of everyone! love ya, Amy

head table ideas

I'm looking for ideas on how to set up the head table. There are a total of 24 people in the wedding counting me and chris but excluding Calvin and Daelyn since they probably won't sit at the head table because they will still need help with their food. So... anyway 24 people at a head table is a lot. Any ideas on how to set it up? Does anyone know where I can get risers so maybe there would be 2 or 3 levels? I am planning on having tulle infront of the head table with white lights behind it. Obviously behind it all I will have to have a white plastic table skirt so it looks solid. The picture is for behind the head table - there will be different colored curtains - probably red. The sheers come with it. So... ideas? Rebekah G... I know you read this blogspot and have been to lots of weddings at Stone's Throw so do you have any ideas? Do you think it would look stupid if our head table took up the whole wall by the dance floor? Or make a horseshoe shape somehow? Preferably, I don't want to be infront of the DJ bc he will be playing dinner music. Any suggestions are helpful. Tiffany, maybe we can go over to Stone's Throw this week and get some measurements and a possible layout. I want to have a visual so I know how much tulle and stuff I need to get. THANKS!