Nichole's Wishes PJ 10/24/2011 ~ WP/ADH/SCP ** OUR WEDDING DAY ~ The Reception

[*Pixiedust1438*]

I like dress #2 the best! I think it's very flattering on you!

 

[Princess SarahK]

Joining in!! I cant wait to read more. All of those dresses are simply marvelous, but my favorite is #1. I love what you have so far, how did you make your cry-packs? And your napkins and coozies are LOVELY!!! Youre inspiring me to spend moorre money....eeek! Keep the great updates coming!

 

[Nichole33]

I like dress #2 the best! I think it's very flattering on you!

Thanks!

Joining in!! I cant wait to read more. All of those dresses are simply marvelous, but my favorite is #1. I love what you have so far, how did you make your cry-packs? And your napkins and coozies are LOVELY!!! Youre inspiring me to spend moorre money....eeek! Keep the great updates coming!

The tear packets were really easy to make! I had the small rectangular labels (1.25” x 2.5”) made on myownlabels.com. Then I found some 7/8” ribbon and some #3 glassine envelopes (2.5” x 4.5”) on eBay.

I got a package of tissue packs at Walmart and put 2 tissues in each envelope. Then I secured each envelope with a little piece of double-stick tape.

I cut the ribbon to 7” strips and used double stick tape to secure the ends to the front envelope. The labels covered any space between the ends of the ribbon, so everything doesn’t have to line up perfectly! It was pretty easy and only took about an hour to make 45 of them.

I had the koozies and napkins made by a non-wedding vendor (PrintGlobe, Inc.) and saved a ton! I have found companies that make corporate promotional items to be much easier to work with and less expensive than the wedding vendors! Plus they have great sales on stuff.

 

[Nichole33]

Randy sent us our engagement photos and I couldn't be happier with them! His work is really amazing

He sent us 4 DVDs of photos, so it took a while for us to narrow down some of our favorites!

I was also able to finish our website! We bought the domain www.nicholeanddustin.com and created it using wedding window. It's password protected, so I posted a few screen shots below. PM me if you would like to take a look and I will send you the password.

Next up ... I am finishing the save-the-dates and first newsletter!

 

[Nichole33]

I made a couple of appointments to go dress shopping this weekend. My MOH is back in town, so hopefully I will find something perfect! I already found the perfect shoes and jewelry, so hopefully that will direct me a little bit. I'll post picks once they come in. I am still leaning towards dress #1 above, so we will be going back to that store so she can give me her opinion on it. It's hard with my mom living so far away! I would really love to share this experience with her! We were able to go shopping once this summer in New York, but still, it would be nice to have her around now.

On another note, we got our STD cards in this morning and I couldn't be more excited! They are exactly what I had in mind!! I wanted something a little formal, but that gave a lot of information so people will start their planning -- these are perfect!

Then I elaborated the information in our first newsletter. I "borrowed" a lot of information from everyone else's newsletters and tweeked it to fit what I needed. We are having them printed right now -- I found 11x17" brochure paper on HP's website for half off and the printer is giving us a great deal. The letter-size pages will be printed side-by-side and front-and-back so in the end it will be 2 sheets that we fold like a newspaper. I'm not sure if that makes sense (I'm pretty sure the printer understood me, but I don't think DF got it) -- I'll take a pic when we get them back

I was planning on sending the newsletter as is, but DF thinks people won't realize what it is and will just throw it away with other junk mail. So he wants to send it in envelopes. I can see his point, but then I don't feel like it is much of a "newsletter."

Hope everyone had a great new year! I can't believe I am getting married this year!!!

 

[elleinad16]

Your save-the-dates and newsletter are seriously AMAZING!!!
Your friends and family are going to be very surprised when they get them! Great job!! Can't wait to see more from you.

 

[pixie921]

Nichole, those Save-the-Dates are gorgeous! They turned out beautifully! Definitely something to keep forever!

 

[*Pixiedust1438*]

Nichole, everything is coming together so great! I love the e-pic's they turned out beautiful, as did your STD's and Newsletter. I think you did an especially great job on the Newsletter and I might have to borrow some of your ideas when I do my own! (If you don't mind!)

 

[Nichole33]

Your save-the-dates and newsletter are seriously AMAZING!!!
Your friends and family are going to be very surprised when they get them! Great job!! Can't wait to see more from you.

Thanks! There will be plenty more to come

Nichole, those Save-the-Dates are gorgeous! They turned out beautifully! Definitely something to keep forever!

Thanks so much! I ordered them from Minted.com and am so pleased with them!

Nichole, everything is coming together so great! I love the e-pic's they turned out beautiful, as did your STD's and Newsletter. I think you did an especially great job on the Newsletter and I might have to borrow some of your ideas when I do my own! (If you don't mind!)

Borrow away! That is the greatest thing about these boards!!

 

[Nichole33]

We were snowed-in here in Atlanta all last week, so I wasn't able to get most of the stuff done I was planning on. DF travels for work and I work from home, so we were stuck here together for way to long! Oh well, we all survived, but I could have killed him a few times.

We didn't have mail service all week, so we haven't gotten our postage for the save-the-dates yet. We both had yesterday off so we were able to pick up the newsletters at the printer finally. I am folding all of them now, so hopefully I will be done tonight.

Before the snow I purchased my wedding dress! My MOH and I went to a few more stores, but my mind kept going back to a dress I tried on last time I went shopping, so I went with that one! These pics are not the greatest, but you get the idea

This is my MOH and I

I found these shoes and jewelry. One of by bridesmaids offered to let me use her rather expensive veil as my "something borrowed". I am still looking for some simple drop earrings to finish it off.

We also stopped at Hobby Lobby yesterday while we were running errands and found ribbon and candles at half off! I love great sales! Time to get working on all my other DIY projects

 

[elleinad16]

You look so beautiful in your dress!

And I love those shoes!!!

 

[KristiLyn]

Love the dress, shoes, jewelry, everything!! Where did you find that gorgeous bracelet??

 

[ValerieDFTWBride]

I love your dress, it looks really great on you. I would also like to know where the bracelet is from. It is AMAZING!

 

[*Pixiedust1438*]

Love the wedding dress and accessories, you look great!

 

[Nichole33]

You look so beautiful in your dress!

And I love those shoes!!!

Love the wedding dress and accessories, you look great!

Thanks so much!

Love the dress, shoes, jewelry, everything!! Where did you find that gorgeous bracelet??

I love your dress, it looks really great on you. I would also like to know where the bracelet is from. It is AMAZING!

Thanks! I ordered the bracelet from Bella Tiara (www.bella-tiara.com). They were great to work with and their prices are really reasonable!

 

[Nichole33]

I got a frantic call from my mother on Wednesday evening. As soon as I picked up the phone, I knew something was really wrong -- my horse, Uno, was colicing and it was getting really bad. I started riding horses and competing when I was really young and bought my first horse, Uno, in the 80's. I knew he wouldn't live forever, but it still was something you just don't expect to happen any time soon.

He was my best friend growing up and I needed to say goodbye. So I started packing and decided to make the 15 hour drive to northern Michigan. DF didn't even hesitate, there was no way he was going to leave me alone at a time like that. He dropped everything and we loaded the dogs in the car and set off at 9 pm.

I knew I wouldn't make it in time to see him alive one more time, but I needed closure and I needed to be with my mom through this. DF is the most understanding and wonderful guy. He didn't ask any questions or try to talk me out of it. Times like this make me realize just how lucky I am to have someone so wonderful to spend the rest of my life with!

We got to northern Michigan around noon the following day. He stood with us in below zero weather while we buried him and put his arms around my mother when she broke down. He held us close while we both cried into his chest. I love him so much and just had to share with everyone.

 

[tinkerbell 766]

Oh I am so sorry about Uno!!!
Just be grateful for the many happy memories you have of him!!

 

[KristiLyn]

I'm so sorry to hear that

 

[Nichole33]

Oh I am so sorry about Uno!!!
Just be grateful for the many happy memories you have of him!!

I'm so sorry to hear that

Thank you so much! It was a very hard experience, but talking about it and sharing it with others helps me to come to terms and deal with it.

 

[Nichole33]

Things are starting to get back to normal at home. While we were gone, our aisle runner arrived! I had made a the Custom Aisle Boutique for a fraction of the price other places were estimating! It is hand painted and the runner itself is really great quality. The owner, Flo, was great to work with too - I would highly recommend her to anyone!

Our postage for the save-the-dates and newsletters also came in.

I was able to get all the newsletters folded and ready to send before we left, so now everything is ready to be sent out (finally)!

I am really happy with how the newsletters turned out! Hopefully these will help with everyone's questions and get them to pre-rsvp so we have an idea of how many family members will be coming. It is really hard to guess how many will come - whenever we are sure someone won't come, we hear that they are! Right now we only have room for family and our wedding party. I guess it is a little bit of a sore subject since I have a really small family, but a ton of friends. All of our friends assume they are coming, even though we haven't said anything to them about the wedding! We are paying for the wedding our selves and can't afford more than 60 people at the reception. Oh well, I guess I just needed to rant a little. I know it will all work out in the end!