a very excited thing happened last night! we went to see my fmil, ffil is on a trip and we wanted to see what she was up to, so df and i decided to drive down there and take her to dinner. fmil owns an antiques shop near galveston, tx. because the area that the shop lies in is becoming increasingly unsafe, she has decided to close her shop

. i hadn't been there in awhile, like, probably 2 years. over the course of this wedding planning i've been asking her to look for things for me (cake servers, hair clips, SHOE CLIPS...), so i walk into her shop late last night and i saw began looking for antique clip on earrings for my ceremony ballet shoes. i was searching for an appropriate pair online the night before and couldn't find anything. i'm really particular about what i wear, especially jewelry. buried deep in this pile of brooches and cameo's, i found these...
they are PERFECT. they're vintage, from the 1940's, one of the stones is cracked, but i don't care, i LOVE them. and with the family disocunt, they were very affordable!!! yyyyyaaaaaayyyyyy! i'm soooo happy! i REALLY wanted to find something to dress those shoes up! so exciting!
GUEST DRAMA
we also went yesterday to get our passports (for our honeymoon cruise!!!), mark just had to get his renewed, but i had to do the whole shebang. it took FOREVER. oh well, it's done. while we were standing in the very long line at the post office, i got a text message from one of my friends. he is going to come to the wedding, staying at pofq for a few days-GREAT. then he asked me if he could bring 2 guests. i was slightly miffed by this. #1, i haven't even sent out invitations yet, so he shouldn't assume that he is invited with a guest and #2 that is just plain rude (even though he said please, still rude). i asked him who he planned on bringing, he hasn't answered me. i have a feeling it's one of my old girlfriends and her boyfriend. we all used to work together and she and i had a falling out a few months ago. the fact that he's not telling me who he is bringing is suspect. how to handle this? i just told him that i have family who i am not inviting because our guest list is limited and i would let him know closer to the date, once i started getting rsvp's in. i know this is just a way of procrastinating and putting it off until later, but for right now, that's what i came up with.
i've been battling this guest situation for awhile now. the friends that we are inviting are from all over, not many of them know each other and if they do, it is just in passing. i know that other disbrides have grouped people in rooms so that they will have someone to hang out with etc...but i don't think our guests would go with this idea at all...so i made the decision to invite everyone with one guest. this is a big deal because some of my friends have children that i have become close with over the years and i am not inviting them. our guest count is now at 130. we were hoping to max out at 75.
i feel like all people want to do is criticize EVERY wedding move that you make. several people complained that we weren't registered and that our guests think we are asking for money, so we registered. then, another one of our guests complained that we aren't doing ENOUGH for our guests. we aren't going to have a rehearsal dinner, but i thought that we might have a brunch the day after, but we haven't decided yet. honestly, i want to keep costs down. as soon as ffil gets back from his trip we'll discuss this. this could replace the RD that he wanted to do. i know that everyone says not worry about anyone else's opinions, but it is very difficult. i'm a perfectionist and hearing criticism aggravates me. i feel like we brides work so hard on our weddings, to put together a beautiful day, why can't people just feel blessed that we included them? my mother always told me that, "some people are just b*7^#s" and i think she's right.
enough negativity! i started our thank you notes, here's a pic!
and another one
i'm also debating the whole place cards, table #'s (we've decided to go with #'s instead of names in the interest of saving caryn's sanity) and menu cards...here's what i have so far...
Place Cards-
Here's a pic of what i've bought so far
i feel like the place cards look like post it notes, so i ordered more, in chocolate brown and curry from paper source. i think i'm going to use an oval punch with vellum and the printed name on it and then put a gold # for the table # in the lower right hand corner. I'm going to use one of those flowers at the top left hand corner (there are 2 types of flower, ones that are made of paper and another one with a brad, like a little daisy) and I'm going to add a teeny-tiny crystal hidden mickey near the #...I need to make a mock up and post it...
Menu Cards-
They say that EPCOT can provide them, does anyone have pics? This is what I'm thinking...chocolate brown background with either a yellow or ivory sheet with the menu printed on it. also, i ordered chocolate brown and yellow satin ribbon to go on top...they will be at every place setting.
Table #'s-
EPCOT can provide these as well...pics anyone? Since i plan on buying gold glitter number stickers for my place cards, i feel that the table numbers should match. is this me being overly O.C.D? i have a few options...i can buy wooden #'s from michaels or hobby lobby or i can make them out of styrofoam and glitterize them myelf...what to do what to do...
baking will commence soon. i have to wait until df is not here or he'll eat them as the come out of the oven-not good for the wedding diet...
thanks for reading/listening ladies!