Mr. and Mrs. Welte!

Last weekend was Kristie's wedding and we had SO much fun! I can't believe it's over already! Thursday we went for manis and pedis with the two MOHs and Kristie's mom. Friday it was a busy day of decorating the hall and rehearsal dinner and then Saturday it was up early for hair appointments, pictures, the ceremony and LOTS of dancing! Here are a few pics from the weekend.

Kristie and I getting pedicures!

Decorating the hall on Friday

At rehearsal dinner

Bridesmaid slumber party!

Getting our hair done!

Me with the beautiful bride!

Gary and I on the party bus after the wedding

Dancing the night away....

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Welte!!!

Wait...Who Will Actually Marry Us?

One of the most important things we had to figure out in the wedding planning was who is going to actually marry us? As I mentioned before, since Gary is Catholic and I am Protestant, we wanted to have a non-denominational ceremony but still have God play a part. I really wasn't sure what to do about an officiant. We don't really know anyone who is ordained...although we played around with the idea of having one of our good friends become ordained (you know, one of those Internet deals). In the end, we decided in order to fulfill our desire for a religious ceremony, we better stick with the people who do it best.

We began our search by simply googling Michigan Wedding Minister. There are plenty out there but it amazes me how many ministers treat weddings as a business. They were offering packages, just like a photographer would. For $300 dollars we get an hour ceremony and no consultation beforehand. (Do you think we really would want someone who has never even met us to perform our ceremony? I think not.) But for $400 we could have an hour ceremony plus a 30 minute consultation. But for $500 we could have an hour ceremony plus a 30 minute consultation and unlimited email conversations. Or, if we wanted the platinum package, for $600 we could have an hour ceremony, a 30 minute consultation, unlimited email conversations AND we could personalize the ceremony to our liking.

I was totally turned off by all of this. So we turned to our recommended vendor list that we got from Mill Race Village and found Phil Rogers. My first phone conversation with him was great so we decided to sit down and meet him face to face. One of the biggest things we were looking for in a minister was someone who wasn't stuffy and would have a little fun with us. Phil Rogers seemed to fit the bill. He's a huge MSU fan and told us all about how he played basketball with Magic Johnson in high school. He and Gary talked sports for a good chunk of our time with him. He's definitely got a sense of humor which fits our style perfectly. So we booked him. One flat fee, no nonsense of what we do and don't get. Check that to do item off the list.

My Dream Ring

I absolutely LOVE my ring. If I were to have gone to the jewelry store with Gary, I would have picked out the exact same ring. But Gary was very adamant about the fact that he wanted it to be a surprise...that meant no ring shopping together. So how did he know?? Well, I may or may not have left some pictures "laying around". I figured if I'm going to wear it forever, I better REAALLLLY like it right? So what sort of things did I leave as hints?

This beauty...

Or this one....

Or how about this one?

This one actually looks remarkably like THE ring!

If you've forgotten, this is the actual ring...love it!! I think he did pretty well, don't you?

Kristie's Bachelorette Party

As you saw in my previous post about the garters, Kristie's bachelorette party was last weekend. We all had a BLAST and I'm so sad that it's over. To quote Kristie "This was the best night of my life"...I'm sure she'll take that back in a few weeks once her wedding day is here. I thought I'd share a few projects - besides the garters - that I did for the party:

Last Fling Before the Ring banner

I used my trusty Cricut to cut out the letters and attached each to different 5"x7" backgrounds. I then attached each letter to a piece of ribbon to hang them.

Silverware Wraps

I had some wrapped silverware leftover from the shower so I removed the pink and green wraps and tied some hot pink ribbon around them. I then added these little strings of black beads - they don't tie but if you twist it like you would a twistie tie, they'll stay put.

Black Satin Tablecloth

I made this a heck of a lot cheaper than I could have bought it. I think the fabric cost me about $4 for 4 yards (I had a Hobby Lobby coupon!) and since I already had my sewing machine out, this was a quick 45 minute project. I also used some leftover hot pink tulle to place on top.

Fishnet Candle Holders

That's right! Those are fishnet stockings!! I simply cut the top of the stockings, pulled them around the candle holder and hot glued them in place. I then added some zebra ribbon and fur trim to snazz them up a bit. I added the same trim to the bottom too. If you're ever searching for hot pink candles, Hobby Lobby is the place for that too!!

And a shot just to show how much fun we had....that's a LOT of ladies!!!

Garter Toss

When it comes to bachelorette parties, quite often all the ladies wear something that ties them all together. Whether it be Hawaiian leis or matching t-shirts, it lets everyone know that you are a part of the rowdy bachelorette crowd. I'm not really a fan of dictating what girls should wear on a night out and we weren't having a Hawaiian theme so I decided that I would make garters for everyone. Hot pink and black garters to be exact. They weren't super difficult, just time consuming. And with the materials I used, they weren't very expensive either! Always a good thing.

First up, the supplies:

1. A few yards of hot pink tulle (I got extra for other decorations I had planned)


2. Scissors


3. Head pins


4. A sewing machine - I suppose you could do by hand but it would take FOREVER


5. Black elastic


6. Black thread


7. 5/8 inch black satin ribbon


8. Two safety pins - one small, one large


9. Hot glue gun


10. Package of rhinestones
    
    

Now for the steps:

• Cut the tulle into strips about 3 inches wide and the full length of the tulle


• Cut pieces of elastic that will fit snugly against your leg (you want them to stay up all night!)


• Measure the black satin ribbon to be three times the length of the piece of elastic you have just cut (this allows it to scrunch enough to look good)


• Take head pins and pin the ribbon down the middle of the strips of tulle you have cut


• Begin to sew on each side of the ribbon to create a "tunnel" to thread the elastic through, pulling the pins out as you go


• Once you have sewed both sides of the ribbon to the tulle, attach a safety pin at each end of the piece of elastic. One should be small enough to fit through your "tunnel" while the other should be large enough to keep the elastic from being pulled all the way through

• Thread the elastic through the "tunnel" scrunching down to the other end as you go

• Once you have the elastic all the way through the "tunnel" hand sew the two ends of elastic together and adjust the ends as needed


• To finish them off, hot glue a rhinestone where the two ends meet. I also did a few with bows made out of extra tulle and ribbon

The finished product!

And the finished product put to good use!

Baby Hold on To Me

One of the most fun parts about planning a wedding is swooning over all the beautiful pictures of bouquets. I didn't inherit my moms love for gardening so I don't really know a ton about flowers. Some girls know from the very beginning that they want all roses or peonies...I am much more concerned about color than type of flower. I was more adamant about what I DIDN'T want then what I did. And as all the bridal magazines will tell you, to help trim some flower costs, you want to stay in season with your flower choices.

After scouring the internet for bouquets I liked, I really didn't find anything that was perfect. Most of the fall bouquets had yellow in them which I do NOT want. And almost none of them have purple in them! I did fine a few I like, and our bouquets will most likely be a hybrid of some of these bouquets with whatever else the florist dreams up:

I LOVE the reds in this bouquet...luscious and gorgeous!! I also like that it has multiple types of flowers. It give the bouquet some lovely texture.

The purple in this bouquet is what I really love. It's so dramatic against the reds and oranges. However, I think they are mini calla lilies which is on my NO THANK YOU list of flowers.

See those little berry things in there? I've learned they are called Hypericum Berries and that they come in green and this lovely burgandy shade. I will definitely have some of these in our bouquets!


Out of all the types of flowers I've seen. I like these the best. They are dahlias and they come in so many great colors - such as the deep orange shown here. I'm hoping that they are in season come November!!

Coming up soon...centerpiece inspiration!!

Hey Mr. DJ

The decision on a DJ was not one I was excited to make. Some DJs can be serious cheese balls who like the sound of their own voice to much or think it's funny to dance with grandma. But its hard to tell how DJs will perform when you're meeting them out of their element. So when we started our search for a DJ, I began by looking for recommendations from other brides. One great site that I have been using throughout the planning process is Project Wedding. They have a great list of vendors for everything from entertainment to flowers to dance lessons...pretty much anything you'd need for a wedding. I also quite often check out the local boards over at Wedding Bee . So it was on positive reviews via Project Wedding that we decided to check out Mike Staff Productions.

I must say I was so very impressed by the way they run things over at Mike Staff. This is not some guy running DJ services out of his basement. This was a full blown business. This is what they do FULL-TIME. When we arrived for our appointment, we were taken upstairs to sit in front of a giant big screen TV. The CEO of Mike Staff, Kurt, would be talking us through how everything works. Basically we got to see a short video of each DJ that was available on our date. The videos had each DJ introduce themselves, explain what their style of DJing is and why they enjoy DJing for weddings. The videos also gave a sample of how they actually MC - announcing the wedding party, the first dance etc. Kurt gave us a little personal insight into each candidate too as he knows them all quite well.

We were there for about and hour and half to make sure we got all our questions answered and we were satisfied with what Mike Staff had to offer. It was actually quite fun, mostly due to the fact that Kurt is one of the easiset people to talk to that I have ever met. In the end, we booked the first DJ we looked at and I think we will be truly pleased with them.

On another note, Mike Staff also does Photography and Videography but we'll touch on that in another post soon...

Registering!!

Although it might seem a little early to be registering for wedding presents, I wanted to take advantage of a free weekend while we had it! So off we went!! It was a little difficult to decide what to register for because when Gary bought the condo about a year and a half ago, he also bought all new stuff to fill it! There are definitely a few things that I would like to upgrade on though so we included those on our list. Gary had a little trouble with the idea that some of the things we registered for we already have but I told him this is the one time in your life that you can get the GOOD stuff! I told him my mom still has the stainless steel mixing bowls she received as a wedding present!!

For those that are curious, we registered at Bed Bath and Beyond and Target. We split it up between Saturday and Sunday because I'm not sure how much shopping Gary could handle in one day :) It was a fun experience and I must admit I look at our registry at least once a week! Yep - I'm one of those brides...

New kitchen towels? Yes please!

Yes we do need a new duvet cover...don't question me...I've got a gun.

Gary thinks we need a Snuggie...