{GASP} Boxed Dinnerware! and other Registry Musings

Seriously Lady, get a life! Like I mean a real life, the kind where kids exist and drop cutlery on the ground. The kind where you heat up leftovers on a microwaveable plate. The kind where you go to your mom's for Christmas dinner and therefore do NOT need crystal glassware. Honestly, I do not live in a world that requires me to own expensive china or flatware or anything of the sort, nor do I even want it!

Can you tell I enjoyed our first registry experience? No joke, when BFF and I said we were not interested in registering for fine china, she replied with a gasp, “No! You don’t want boxed dinnerware for your wedding!” I had to refrain from getting up and walking away.

After spending about 2 hrs with a scanner in hand, the BFF and I only ended up scanning around 10 items! We quickly realized we were not made out for a registry for 2 reasons:

1) We both already have a lot of items as I live on my own and BFF did at one point too! Therefore we simply do not need as many items as someone who lives at home and moves out.

2) We are thrifty people. We buy things on sale and look for deals. We are both having a hard time putting items on the registry that we expect people to buy for full price. (Please, if you are reading this and are going to buy something for us, please try and find the item on the registry on sale, it will give David less anxiety!)

All in all, I know that it is helpful for people to buy items off a registry so they feel they are getting something useful. And I know it helps us so we don’t get items we already own, which to me would seem even more wasteful, possibly almost as wasteful as spending 2 hrs in a department store with a crazy registry lady gasping in disbelief at our practicality. I don’t think we were made me this!

Gett'n Dirty

One of my very first posts on my wedding blog was about the flowers that I enlisted my dad to grow for the wedding. In January dad and I selected a variety of flowers to start from seed for planting around the property and in the trellises (Remember this post?) that will adorn the entrance of the tent. This weekend I spent Saturday morning seeding about 10 trays that will hopefully grow into some beautiful blooms!

Some of the flowers that I seeded were:

Bells of Ireland: Pretty for a tall vase arrangement

Larkspur: So gorgeous, also for tall arrangements.

 

Petunias: A bedding plant for my grandfather's gardens, they also look nice and lush in these baskets!

Impatients: Also a bedding plant for my grandfathers gardens.

Meet my Maids

I'm pleased to introduce my bridesmaids. They are three lovely women who are my sisters for life. Well, one is my aunt, but I like to think of her as another older sister!

Janice

 Janice - My older wiser gorgeous sister! Jan and I are only 18 months apart, so she was only without me in her life for a short period of time. She is married to Derek and has one hilarious daughter, Hailee. Her and her husband recently moved, they are settling in and adding another to their family soon. Jan has always been a constant and loving source of strength in my life. She provides heartfelt insight and has a genuinely caring heart for others.

 Leah

Leah - My younger determined beautiful sister. Leah and I are 4 years apart. When we were younger we shared a room, a bed, she got my old clothes, . . . I think we shared too much because we used to fight like crazy! It's amazing what a little age and space will do for a relationship. :) Today Leah and I have a unique friendship where we can tell eachother any and everything. She frequently comes to visit after work and spends time with Tayson. Leah is a hard worker who sets goals and is determined to reach them. I'm so proud of her and that she learned how to design and create clothing! She's very talented!

Debbie

 

Debbie - My sarcastic caring gorgeous aunt! Deb has always been a constant presence in my life. From when I was very little I remember her being over at our house, mostly babysitting! Deb would agree that I was the perfect angel when she would babysit us! Right Deb? Deb generously gives of her time to her nieces and nephews and is always up for the latest adventure or family outing. There are many fond memories of spending summer vacations with Deb or just hanging out on weekends. She is an important and valued part of my life. 

Not quite on Target

The BFF and I went for a little day trip to pay a visit to our friends south of the border. We hit up Target first as the mall was not open when we arrived early.

As we were heading to the check-out, the last place I poked around was in the scrapbook/paper/crafty section. If only we would have known! They sell beautiful invitation kits that include everything you might need! And they are not just beautiful because of how they look, but also because of the PRICE! We found a few packages of 50 on sale for $17.00! Yes, $17.00! Converted that only about $20.00 CND buckeroos! My mind was doing mental somersaults, debating whether or not to buy them and see if I could return the paper I just purchased, or just go with what I had already set out to create. *Sigh* If I would have known, I would have gone with the pre-made, easy-peasy-put-together ones from Target, but since I did not know if I could return the paper and envelopes I just bought the week before, I was unsure if I wanted to spend more money on something we may not have been able to use. I was seriously kicking myself for spending so much money on invites that could have cost so much less.

So people, lesson learned is, if you are heading to the US of A and are getting married and still need your invites, check out Target FIRST!

We did end up buying some pretty Thank-You cards to send out after the wedding. I am happy with those!

Will you be my Bridesmaid?

I thought it would be a cute gesture to mail my bridesmaids a little something, 'officially' asking them to be in my wedding party. While speaking to my sister a few days ago, she informed me that I never actually asked her...opps! Although she lovingly assumed she was one of my maids, I suppose it slipped my mind to actually ask her the question!

I saw this adorable trio of Matryoshkas doll tags from the lovely ETSY seller Lemon Tree Studio and scooped them up faster than you can say, "Will you be my bridesmaid?"

 

Cute as a button!

  

  

How to send them? Perfect, the bottom of a brown paper bag!

They fit snug as a bug in there!

Ready to be mailed! (blotted out the addresses)

Invitation Experiment {2}

I was so excited to find these buttons! Perfect for the idea I had in mind. Perfect for that small 'antiquey' touch I was looking for. Here is a sample invitation that I just whipped up, close to what I'm assuming will be the final product. The BFF mentioned that he liked the idea of a monogram. So I think a 'D' and 'S' on the front, along with the date of the wedding, may be the perfect touch!

 

  

Something pretty and scrolling like this monogram.

 

I also made a pocket on the inside of the invitation to have a place for a map and any other information that needs to be relayed.

Yipee! It's Feb 7th and my goal for January was to have the invitations figured out. Check!

In the Family - Our Photographer

I believe part of the joy of weddings is sharing it with family and close friends. People who care about you, people who have known you your whole life, people who have helped raise you, seen you grow into the person you are today, people you have come to know in friendship, who hold a place in your heart. I believe that these people are the ones you want to share this amazing day with, and they want to be there too.

Part of that, for me, also transfers into the people who play a bigger role on the day of, and before the wedding. Involvement of those you love is also a big deal to me. I want people to know that they mean something to me; therefore, if they are willing, I want to involve them in some way. Big or small.

How, you might ask, is this leading to our wedding photography? Well, Derek is my brother in law and he is also a gifted photographer. He was also the first one to offer his skills for our wedding! (he also does a great job at graphic design). That is a lot of ‘also’s’, but what can I say, the guys got skills. And I was happy that he was so willing to share them with us for our wedding.

I’m into the artistic side the photographs as well as capturing our personalities. And I know he’ll be able to all that and more! I’d like to share some of his work!

Thanks Steph and Derek for these photos.