Tardy to the Party

It’s been … what’s more than awhile, but, less than forever? That’s what it’s been. Sorry. 

Life has been nothing short of chaotic, and now with my new job, it seems I just don’t have as much extra time on my hands to do, well, nothing. However, in a stroke of Christmas luck and good tidings, I’ve come across a few days between when students finish with finals and teachers send in their grades. This means a less inundated work day and some time to finally blog – and bring you ladies (and gentlemen?) up to speed on all things Team Jamison.

With 2012 a hop skip and a jump away, I feel very confident with what we have locked down (not to mention extremely excited about everything/everyone!)

As of today we have –

Our Bridal Party

Our Church and Ceremony Musician

Our Photographer (and our engagement pictures!)

Our Venue

Our DJ

Our Transportation

Our Videographer

My Dress

Bridesmaid Dresses (selected and some ordered)

Groomsman’s Gifts

98% of our Centerpieces

Rooms blocked for guests and shuttles booked

Materials for Bridesmaid Bouquets

Materials for my bouquet

Various Decor

½ the Cake Topper

Some semblance of a guest list

…And a partridge in a pear tree.

Just kidding about that last part. Maybe.

In the next two months we will be focusing on selecting tuxes, save the dates and delving into the more intricate DIY projects we want to take on. Mike has been ridiculously helpful with every project I’ve thrown at him so far… I just hope he knows he “ain’t seen nothin’ yet…” Luckily, we work a lot better together on wedding stuff than we do on Gingerbread Houses, as was apparent last Saturday at my cousin’s house. Lots of fun, but definitely not a business we’re going to go into…

Hopefully, the new year will hold posts about projects, decisions and a lot of great photos – not to mention maybe a post or two about how I’m using my newly minted Wedding Planner Certification- but for now, I wish everyone a safe and happy holiday (whichever ones you may celebrate)! Eat too much and give lots of presents!

Kids’ Buckets! | Weddingbee

Kids’ Buckets! Weddingbee

I like sharing things I love. And today, I am in love with these Kid's Buckets. They are a bit more simple than what I had wanted to do for kids, but, have decided they will make everyone's life a little easier! (Our potential "kids room" is past the dance floor, up a flight of stairs, and frankly, it made me nervous! Besides, we want the kids downstairs, dancing, and eating lots of cookies!)

Anyway, the above article is great, and I can't wait to start collecting stuff! FH and I had such a blast gathering up little gifts for our Flower Girls (who we get to see THIS WEEKEND!), that I know we'll have just as much fun putting these buckets together!

Also an awesome find today? Personalized Crayon Boxes and Crayons from Oriental Trading. Oh this is gonna be fun!!

Wedding Truths

Because I can't quite get my head in a place to write a real blog entry, enjoy these quippy little pictures -

(Unless you're talking to me, then I am genuinely interested.)

A Twist on Table Runners

Having a fabulous friend, we'll call her "Damask Diva", who is on a constant quest for table runners on the cheap, I have started to pay more attention to them, and begin to fall in love with the concept myself. (Right now, I'm thinking Red Polka Dots, but, it could be a bit too much?) My quest for a cheap, D-I-Y alternative that doesn't involve a sewing machine or pricey fabric allowed me to stumble upon Wrapping Paper Table Runners. They come highly recommended by Martha, so, I trust them. Plus the pictures I've found are so cute! So I investigated the process and the price, and here is what I found!

Items Needed -

Wrapping Paper

• Splurge for the classy stuff - try Party City or Target for 24in by 16ft rolls (32 sq. ft). If you're looking for more specific stuff, a quick Google search will find your exact wishes!
• Retail 6.99 - 9.99

Scissors

• You should have scissors. Be a grown up.

Ruler

• If you don't have a ruler, I will buy you one. It's back to school time so they're cheap.

Once you've picked out your wrapping paper, it's as simple as measuring and cutting a few straight lines!

Traditional table runners (for round tables seating 8-10 people) are 12 in wide and 108 in / 8ft long. 12 to 18 in should hang off each side of the table. Of course, you can customize depending on your personal preference, but, we'll go with wedding standards for blog purposes.

If you purchase the 16ft roll, you will be able to get 4 table runners out of each roll, if you're a good cutter. :) This makes each runner between $1.75 and $2.20 a piece, with very little manual labor!

My suggestion (and what we will do if we choose to do this project!), is to see if your venue will let you come in and utilize their space to create these. That way, you can try them out on the tables, and have a bit more space than you would at your apartment/house.

This is certainly a cute project for anything from a shower, rehearsal dinner, wedding to even your house, or a kid's birthday party! (See, we're versatile here!) Some pictures below!

August? Oops.

I missed July. Sorry Blog. I still like you. I promise.

Maybe some updates?

Right now, we are really on track with wedding planning. We have -

• A venue
• A church
• A hotel block
• A photographer
• A bridal party
• A dress
• A DJ (picked out but not confirmed)
• A trolley (tentatively)
• A wedding website
• Various and sundry wedding decor items
• 446 Days Left (Bummer)

BUT an exciting UPCOMING thing is that there are only FIVE more days to wait until the wonderful wedding of Blue & Orange Bride. Tonight I am headed to her apartment for a crash course in all things Candy Buffet because this wedding will be my first foray into the world of Day-of-Coordinating! I'm so excited that she is giving me this chance, and I just can't wait to see all of her and her fiance's hard work come together on Saturday. They did so much together and have a lot of really awesome ideas and d-i-y projects, it is going to be such a treat to see it all and celebrate :)

And then, two weekends later, we are off to Syracuse for the Engagement BBQ that Fiance's mom is throwing for us. I cannot wait to see all the family up there and celebrate with them! And we are asking our Flower Girls while we are up there and have found the CUTEST little things for them. I'm obsessed. Oh! And my mom and my brother will get to meet everyone we always babble on about too, and enjoy the weekend up there with Fiance's mom and her boyfriend as well. It is going to just be fabulous. We haven't gotten to do much of our own celebrating yet, and selfishly, I am really looking forward to an event just for us. (Blog honesty is the best policy, right?) Also, the day of the party marks 14 months to go! :) (and less than 1 month until E-Pics!!!)

So, to recap - I promise to blog more in August, and can't wait for all the fun it brings. :)

An "Off-Beat" Reading

There's so much to love about 1st Corinthians. We'll use it, and you should too. Love is all those things. And it's great.

But then, you come across readings like this - that don't fall under any conventional heading, but, make you smile and remind you of your relationship and make you smile, big and bright.

And so I share, and hope you're smiling too :)

"Falling in Love is like Owning a Dog," by Taylor Mali

First of all, it's a big responsibility,
especially in a city like New York.
So think long and hard before deciding on love.
On the other hand, love gives you a sense of security:
when you're walking down the street late at night
and you have a leash on love
ain't no one going to mess with you.
Because crooks and muggers think love is unpredictable.
Who knows what love could do in its own defense?

On cold winter nights, love is warm.
It lies between you and lives and breathes
and makes funny noises.
Love wakes you up all hours of the night with its needs.
It needs to be fed so it will grow and stay healthy.

Love doesn't like being left alone for long.
But come home and love is always happy to see you.
It may break a few things accidentally in its passion for life,
but you can never be mad at love for long.

Is love good all the time? No! No!
Love can be bad. Bad, love, bad! Very bad love.

Love makes messes.
Love leaves you little surprises here and there.
Love needs lots of cleaning up after.
Sometimes you just want to get love fixed.
Sometimes you want to roll up a piece of newspaper
and swat love on the nose,
not so much to cause pain,
just to let love know Don't you ever do that again!

Sometimes love just wants to go for a nice long walk.
Because love loves exercise.
It runs you around the block and leaves you panting.
It pulls you in several different directions at once,
or winds around and around you
until you're all wound up and can't move.

But love makes you meet people wherever you go.
People who have nothing in common but love
stop and talk to each other on the street.

Throw things away and love will bring them back,
again, and again, and again.
But most of all, love needs love, lots of it.
And in return, love loves you and never stops.

Team Jamison

Our Team is Assembled!! :)

Fiancé and I have finally completed our Bridesmaid and Groomsmen proposals! It makes us feel just so completely complete to know that we will have them surrounding us on our "Big Day." We ended up with more people than he or I ever anticipated having, but, when it comes down to it, we wouldn't have it any other way. We've taken a lot of flack for how big our bridal party is, and will probably continue to, but who cares? We sure don't! We feel crazy loved and crazy excited! “Drafting” our team was definitely a wonderful experience, no arguments, no questions, and I learned a lot about how much Fiancé really cares about our friends and family.  (warm fuzzies all around!)

I wanted to share a few of the things we did for our Bridesmaids and Groomsmen. Their proposals were our first "D-I-Y" attempt and I really think, just from reactions and personal opinion(!) they went over well!

For all the guys, we decided to make "Team Jamison" Koozies and give them a fun little card. Our guys are a really fun bunch and we thought something like that would really suit each of them, and, if they manage to keep track of the koozie, serve for a good photo-op later on!

To make them, I found foam "Koozies" at Michael's in the Kid's Section. (Of all places... I guess they're for pop too? Who knew!) They are available at most every craft store, and are very reasonably priced!

Then, I purchased a pack of Avery White Internet Shipping Labels. These work perfectly if you are trying to make stickers or labels in different shapes because they can either be used as 1/2 sheets or whole sheets, depending on your preference. And they will load through any printer! Then I made up a little design with the help of Fiancé’s excellent color coordinating skills and we were in business!

 Koozie Labels!

 Card Front

 Card Inside

Card Back

The guys, I will admit, were a cinch. The girls were a bit trickier, but, just because everyone had something a little bit different. I asked my maid of honor with a small gift and created a special deck of “Essential MOH Cards” that she can draw and utilize when I may not be acting my best! (Cardstock and a binder ring do wonders!)

I asked my cousin Jess with a picture frame, and my good friend Anna with a tree (long story, but, I think it went over okay!). For my out of town girls, I made short power points to ask them. I wanted to make them videos with music and sound, but, my technology failed me and ultimately, my desire to get their answer beat out my patience to include a good song.  (A friend had asked me to make a “template” from my PowerPoint’s, so, I will share that once it’s created!)

For four of my girls, I created a wine label (using the same labels as used for the Koozie Decals) to attach to a bottle of wine.  It acted as the card, with, of course, a little poem asking them to be my bridesmaid. (Apparently, when it comes to wedding-y things, I am more Dr. Seuss than I thought…)

Ideally, I will have painted and gifted wine glasses to each girl before the big day. So far, the ones I have attempted haven’t turned out TOO bad, but, I definitely have some progress to make, for sure! More on that later though!

Next Adventure – Flower Girl Proposals!

We received happy blessings from the moms of our 3 flower girls and I am now working on creating personalized Flower Girl Barbies! (And in case that doesn’t go as planned, I have been stock piling little gifts anytime I see something cute!) Can’t wait until August to ask them at our Engagement Party BBQ in Syracuse!