December 18, 2011

Christmas tradition

    Every one I know has Holiday Traditions, Doesn't matter if you have a tradition of a huge Christmas morning with presents and stocking or eating pizza and Chinese food on Christmas eve to get out of cooking. Traditions are part of your holiday for some reason or another.
    So now let me tell you about the little tradition I am starting with my little family! So ever sense my oldest daughters first Christmas (this year will be her 5th) We always wrapped up new Pajamas to open up Christmas eve and wear that night of course. Not only do I do it with my children, But it is something my mom did with us when we were little!
There is nothing better than new PJs! And It makes sure that the Little ones are not going to pick out their favorite (and very well worn) PJs To wear and to have lots and lots of pictures taken of them!
    For my oldest Ellie I bought her some panda Pjs. Not the ones pictured but I hate making posts without pictures so I found a pair of Panda Pjs on Google image. (I would post my own pictures but my usb went MIA and I am having a hard time finding it) She a lot like her mommy (Ms.Panda) Loves Pandas. So when I saw Panda Pjs I had to grab them right away!
    For my little one Emma I got her some Hello Kitty PJs. Hello Kitty is a pretty big deal in our house. Ellie even has a hello kitty bike! But with not being able to find much in Emma's size Hello Kitty related I knew she would love having her own Hello Kitty clothes!
   So now you know one of our Family traditions I would love for you to share one of your Family Traditions in a Comment!

December 13, 2011

Free Tacori Jewelry?

Ok so As you know I have been posting about a TON of giveaways so I think this one may take the cake! Tacori Jewelry is Beautiful! And not very easy on the budget But how would you love to get your very own Tacori Jewelry for FREE yes thats right FREE!Kassab Jewelers  In Tigard Oregon is doing that! How do you win your asking Its simple go to this link Here! Follow the directions and you can win THESE!




Good luck to all who enter! And Leave you with a question what piece of Jewelry would you want if you won?

November 26, 2011

Another blog give away!

So I found another blog giveaway and thought I should share! I know most of my posts have been about giveaways but I promise that I will start posting about the wedding again soon! I have just hit a brick wall and I am having a hard time coming up blog post ideas! So if you have any ideas for me to blog about feel free to post! and I am trying to find time to go try on dresses and I promise to do a post when I go dress shopping too!

   Now on to the give away Karen from Karen and Gene: The Adventure begins... Is having a give away Here What is she giving away you ask? Well She is giving away a package of Fresh products (the sugar rose party favors) " The Sugar Rose Party Favor set includes the Sugar Rose Lip Treatment (with SPF 15, and one of my personal favorites!); the High Noon Freshface Glow, a subtle bronzer; the Supernova mascara; and the Soy Face Cleanser" (taken directly from her blog!)
All you have to do is follow her blog and comment on the post about your favorite beauty tip! AND you can get a extra entry just for writing a blog about her give away on her blog! Super easy right? I have to say I hope I win I love trying new beauty products!

November 22, 2011

Godiva Chocolate Wedding Favors give away!

Source
    So I have been trying to post any giveaways I find! So I found another give away you can enter! Godiva Wedding favor give away! Edible wedding favors are always a nice treat as a guest! And almost everyone loves chocolate so why not enter to be one of 10 people to win 300 Godiva chocolate wedding favors at a value of almost 3,000 dollars?
    With so many wedding giveaways just a Google search away. With just a little bit of time you can possibly win some great prizes for you wedding! Have you won anything for your wedding yet?

I found a give away from Little Borrowed Dress!

Little Borrowed Dress
    So I found a give away! BUT.... This is the last day you can enter and you HAVE to be a part of Wedding Bee ! (I know most of you already are) If you are not it is really easy and quick to sign up!
    So the give away is for dresses (for your bridesmaids) But the cool thing about dresses from Little Borrowed Dress is that they are rentals! No bridesmaid dress in your closet that you will never wear again! So I have posted here the dress I would choose for my bridesmaids to wear or try to convince Juan to finally let me do the mismatched bridesmaid dresses. and let the girls choose from the dresses they like the best!
    The site will send you up to 3 free fabric samples! and will also send dresses out for "fittings" for a small fee!
    Good luck to everyone and anyone who enters! Oh and have your bridesmaids enter too so you have more chances to win! I'm pretty sure they wouldn't mind a few minutes out of their day if they don't have to pay for a dress!
    Leave a comment sharing what dress is your favorite!

Thank You Miss Tattoo!

    If you are not already you should be following Miss Tattoo's Blog Tattoos and Lace  Not only is her blog always a good read BUT I won one of her blog giveaways(Yes it was a bit ago but hey what can I say I've been busy)! What did I win do you ask? and where did I get it? Well I am more than happy to share that info with you! Well I won a pretty hair flower from Flower Me Boutique!
Flower from Flower Me Boutique
  The clips Flower Me Boutique sells are just adorable! They are perfect for your little flower girl! Or any little girl really they are just that cute! Now I am sure you want too see a picture (I would at least) This is the one I got! And I have to say I need to buy more my little girls fight over who gets to wear it all the time! They are priced really well! Starting off at only $5
    You can check out Flower me Boutique on Facebook and you can also check out Ms Tattoo out on Facebook!
    I will post about any Blog giveaways or any other wedding related giveaways I come across! And let me know if you hear of any you can post on my Facebook page! Also feel free to like it...

November 20, 2011

I made a Facebook for my BLOG!!!

    So now that I am going to start blogging again without any very long breaks! I thought That a Facebook page could be useful for anyone who like to keep up to date on my blog! Or a place to send a suggestion if you have topic you would like me to blog about! Or you can like the page to make me happy (because it would) So if you would Please click the like button for my page! it is located on the top right side of my blog! If you wouldn't mind leaving a comment on the page I would also like that :) Looks like now I am going to have to make a twitter for my blog too!

Chairs...

    Of all things to be super picky about I am picky about chairs... How is that even possible? Who in their right mind would be picky about chairs. Come on thinking back to the weddings I have been to I don't remember what kind of chair I sat on. I remember one wedding I was kinda mad because I didn't have a chair. But that is another story...
Picture borrowed from
    Why am I picky about chairs you ask? Well because I have always envisioned my wedding looking a lot like like this. As you can see its very simple. And when you have it be this simple a metal folding chair just wont do...
   So yes I am going to spend a little bit more money on rentals to make sure I get the White wooden chairs that I want to badly.
    I know I will probably be the only person to notice the chairs (well maybe another bride will notice but that is about it), but its important to me.
Source
    I know most brides (at least the ones I know and he ones I have met threw wedding planning) If they are dead set on having a certain chair it is a chiavari chair they have on their mind. And yes they are pretty but I think they are just uncomfortable, and if i am going to be shelling out 7-10 dollars per chair to rent for just one day (yes they really cost that much) They better make my but feel like I am sitting on a cloud! And they look just a little too formal for the wedding look I am going for!
    Now I have a question for you brides reading my blog! My unnecessary need for our wedding is my plain white folding chairs, What is the item that you know you really didnt need for the wedding but was not negotiable?

November 03, 2011

Why I have been MIA...

   Sorry to all my blog followers I should probably let everyone know why I have been MIA... Well a picture is worth a thousand words so here is my reason!

   That is my little Emma! She is 2 today! I have been going out of my mind planning the 3 (Yes 3) Birthday parties for her birthday! 2 down only one more to go! 
   I am sure you are wondering why a 2 year old would need 3 birthday parties right? I know I would be... But we wanted to have the birthdays at our home. And our Tiny 2 bed room 1 bath apartment just would not fit everyone for one party (Well even 2). So we had to split them up and it worked out great other than having a ton of leftover sub sandwich that the order was screwed up so I don't even want to eat the leftovers... 
    Well I forgot to take pictures at the parties I know I am bad... But I do have one picture and please dont laugh this was my first attempt at making a grumpy care bear cake for my little princess!

   Yes the head is kinda off and it looks like a really sad care bear but in my defense she wanted grumpy bear. I just made the cake... lol
   So I am sorry I have been MIA I will try to start posting again... BUT what has everyone been up to while I have been gone?

October 12, 2011

Dress Shopping on a budget

     I have what I thought would be a AMAZING dress budget! Well that was until I started dress shopping. I never thought that so many dresses were thousands of dollars. And of course I love looking at those dresses and falling in love with them even though they are so far out of budget.
    There is some amazing and affordable dresses at Davids bridal and Alfred Angelo. And yes I have been to Davids bridal and tried on dresses before But I have not been able to go to Alfred Angelo yet But it is on my list of stores to go to!
    But I am pretty sure I am going to fall in love with a dress that is so far out of budget I couldn't make it work even if I wanted to Like this Martina Liana style number 260.
   But luckily I know if I find a dress that I could not imagine wearing anything else for the wedding I could always find it used on a pre-owned wedding dress site. Here is a list of a few I found with a  quick google search

    And I'm sure that those are not the only ones. But it is a good start! So when I am trying on wedding dresses when I am asked what my wedding dress budget is I might fib a little bit... Because if I find a dress that I am in love with I can just search the preowned wedding dress sites until I find the dress I need! Plus when buying Preowned you don't have a 6 month wait, 9 times out of 10 they already have a bustle and one of the best reasons would be the price difference! You only wear your wedding dress for a few hours anyways right?

    October 03, 2011

    Bridesmaids Dresses

    From TheKnot.com
        I love the look of mismatched bridesmaids dresses. Not only do I like the look of it I also like how easy it is. All you have to do is say Get a Pink bridesmaids dress. Easy as that! No one mad because they don't look good in the dress. Or complaining the dress is out of budget. They get to choose their own dress! You can pull the look together by matching jewelry or shoes. And that would make a great bridesmaids gift! Sounds perfect doesn't it...
        But "Huston we have problem" I am not the only one planning this wedding. Juan has a say in the wedding too. And if you cant already tell what I am about to say Ill just put it out for you. Juan says "NO MISMATCHED BRIDESMAIDS DRESSES"
    wedfully.com
        I almost feel like saying you don't like my idea then you pick a dress that looks good on all 5 bridesmaids, For around 100 dollars that I can just veto your idea if I don't like the dress. But luckily I found a dress that all of the bridesmaids agree on. For under 100 dollars AND Juan and I have come to a decision. All of the girls will wear the same dress but just in different colors. So instead of the picture already posted I will have something like this.
         So what is this magic bridesmaids dress that will look good on 5 different bridesmaids you ask. Well It is from David's Bridal It is the Cotton Sateen Strapless dress with Ruching And it Even has pockets! It is Style # 83312. It looks great on everyone. It is under 100 dollars and I in a a round about way still get my mismatched bridesmaids!
        Now I still have to find a dress for me... I should really get on that...

    September 29, 2011

    Flowers

        Yes I know I have not been posting on my blog... Shame on me. Things have just been so crazy that I kinda forgot about my blog... Sorry...
       So I decided to price my flowers for the centerpieces the other day and ended up with a HUGE SHOCK! I was planning on using Hydrangea in with the Gerber daisies as a filler thinking it would help save money. I was wrong with the price of Gerberas  being so good I would end up spending even more! So I found out that I the thing I was trying to do to save money would end up costing A LOT more in the long run.
       While I was looking at flower prices and trying to figure out what number to budget for flowers I figured out that I do not need 2 vases of flowers on each table just 1 vase and our table number would be good for a centerpiece if I add some tea lights! (and I just started selling party lite so I can get a really good deal on tea lights!) So I basically cut the flower price by more than I could even imagine! And I have a admit I am VERY happy about that!
        And I found the perfect table numbers to go with my new centerpiece idea! These wooden heart table numbers from Lilson on Etsy! How cute are they? And yes that is a chalk board square so I can choose to do table numbers or letters or names and I could change my mind 100 times and It still wouldn't matter! Oh and on the Wedding party table I can have them say Mr & Mrs! I love it!
        I change my mind a lot so its a good option to have! I love the little bows on them but not sure if I would keep them or change it to a fun bright colored bow. Either way I really like them and I am excited that I found them!
    intimateweddings.com
        So you might be asking how I am planning on using this table number. Well I first thought I was going to have to figure out how to add a base to these. Then Juan gave me a great idea we are only having on vase (well really its a mason jar) So we can just add some rocks to the bottom of the mason jar to keep it steady and just put it in with the flowers! What do you think? A mason jar of flowers Like the one pictured With a few rocks on the bottom with one of the tables number sticking out. Do you think It would look good? Or what would you change to make it look better?
        Oh and the mason jars will not be hanging its just the best picture I could find!
    But thank you for reading my blog and don't be afraid to comment!

    September 11, 2011

    I found the almost perfect venue!

       So when looking around for different venues I found the cutest little Chapel! Fi wanted to get married in a church and this is the closest we are going to get! It fits in the budget it is adorable and has a outdoor area where we can have the reception!
       So now the only part of this venue that doesn't work is that it only fits 125 guests. Our guest list is at 200 So to have this venue be a possibility I would have to do a lot of cutting to our guest list. Its worth a shot to see how many people we can cut right? Now you have to be wondering how could a venue be so great that I am willing to cut our guest list almost in half? See for yourself.






        Would you be willing to cut your guest list for the almost perfect venue?

    September 08, 2011

    A change of venue... (Warning Pic Heavy post!)

        I was so excited about my back yard garden wedding but sadly that is not going to be happening anymore. In order to be able to do that we would have to cut our guest list down from 200 to 120 people that is 80 people! So here I am on the hunt once again for a wedding venue.
        We could use Historic Deepwood Estate it is so pretty and manageable on the budget (if we have the wedding on a Friday or a Sunday)! We can use the vendors that we want to, There is a onsite tent that we can use for a lot cheaper than I could get from any rental company, AND there is enough space for ALL of our guests! But because it is a "city park" There would be No Liquor allowed and we would have to get the permit for the beer and wine to be allowed to be served, And if it is hot all of my guests will be hot too and I will be dying in a big white dress.  LOTS of pictures below!












         Another Idea that was brought up to me was doing a Bowling Alley Reception! How fun would that be? They would take care of food (No stress of finding another vendor) They have a full bar! We wouldn't have to get a DJ because they already have music and a sound system! They are remodeling before the wedding so the place will look even nicer than it would now! AND my mom and grandma both work there. I should be able to get some sort of discount right? I have only been there on and off my whole life and the owners have seen me grow up. Well its worth asking right Now there are the awesome pictures that I got Last night from the wonderful ladies on Wedding Bee!

    September 04, 2011

    Finally a VERY ROUGH Inspiration board!

        So I finally put together a inspiration board! it is Very rough and doesn't even have all of my colors on but I did a little one with paint and here it is! The pictures are from random sites from Davids bridal to the knot to random pictures I found on Google! 
        I had A LOT of fun coming up with ideas for the wedding and if you cant tell by the pictures I am planning a Outdoor, Fun, Summery, Bright wedding. 
        I'm hoping to put together another board with all my colors and a more complete look! Ill practice a little more and I hope to post a better one soon!

    August 31, 2011

    SMILE your on candid camera!

    So one of the big wedding trends are Photo Booths. I love them think they are so fun and they double as a favor! The only problem is they are not always very budget friendly...  I figured If decide to spend that much on a strip of photos why not just upgrade and do Flip books? Have you ever seen them? They are AMAZING! 7 seconds of your life in a flip book! Check them out at www.fliptography.net
    So I really want to have the flip books at the wedding and now I just hope I can find some wiggle room in the budget to make them happen.
    Is there anything that you would want to squish in your budget?

    August 26, 2011

    Food for thought...

    rd.com
       So Food has been the biggest drama starter for wedding planning. Juan and I have narrowed down our choices to either BBQ or A taco bar! Both foods are not very "traditional" wedding food.
       But I personally would LOVE to have BBQ and even better they can do the Snow Cones that I so badly want! So not only could I have one of my favorite types of food for the wedding We wouldn't have to rent a snow cone machine and buy all of the syrups and cups and chance having way too much or *Gasp* not enough.
        Now why would food be a drama starter your wondering? Well My grandma thinks that we should do a pot luck reception. And yes that would be great and a real money saver but could you imagine make enough potato salad for 175 guests? I know there is no way I would want to ask anyone to make that much food!
    
    cafepress.com
         Now a few other family members think that BBQ is not a good idea. Why you ask well because of the mess... But my Bridal party LOVES the idea! One even told me she would make me a BRIDE BIB (I can be a little messy at times... well most the time) It would be funny and I think would make a great photo op IF we can get the whole wedding party to put one on! But I don't think mine would look like the one pictured. I would want one in our wedding colors :)
        And when looking into prices I have noticed that BBQ from a place that I know will have great food is less than traditional catering and the BBQ includes snow cones and drinks... How could I go wrong with that?
        I think with a little warning and lots of napkins BBQ would be OK. What would you think if you went to a wedding that had BBQ?