July 28, 2011

Nails Natural or fake?

(life123.com)
    So one thing I have been going back and forth on is do I want fake nails for the wedding or just do a fun polish?
    I should also add in I have never gotten my nails done before. I will be getting them done for the first time in the next week. Not only for my birthday but if I hate them then my going back and forth will be over!
    I Like the way that the fake nails look (well not the cheap press on nails though) Well and then there is the cost of fake nails. Yes it is not a lot but yes it is one more cost of the MANY costs that can go into the wedding. But luckily one of my best friends and one of my bridesmaids does nails! She went to school and all of that and will be doing my hair nails and all all that as a wedding gift YAY!

(luuux.com)
     So My trial run later this weeks should tell it all right? Well then I was thinking how great it would be to just be able to have my nails painted. I could choose any color then I could have that polish to keep and every time I wear it it would remind me of the wedding! Maybe even a HOT PINK! Well Hot pink is one of my favorite colors AND a wedding color!
    I could still do a french tip or a cool design! BUT I could still do this with my toes even if I do choose to do fake nails.
    Never did I think I would be putting this much thought into what my nails would look like on any day...
    How did/do you want your nails on your wedding day?

July 26, 2011

In Memory

http://www.destinationweddingfavors.com/
    How do you include the loved ones who have passed. Do you use a vase? A memory charm on your Bouquet? Have a Reserve seat in honor of your loved ones? There are so many ways to honor your loved ones how do you choose?
    Sadly today I got news of a loved on passing and it took me completely off guard. It is so hard to loose a loved one and you don't want to make your wedding sad. So how do you choose the right balance of remembering and keeping your wedding a happy place?
    I still don't know what where going to do. I wish that Wedding planning was all sunshine and butterflies. But somethings I wish just planned itself...
    Is there any part of the wedding you didn't want to plan?

My name is Shanda and Im a Wedding Addict

 Never did I think that I would become a wedding planning addict... (I'm sure I am not the only one out there) 2 1/2 weeks is a LONG time to stay away but I did make it a week and a half!
    So now I am exactly 1 week until my birthday and birthday BBQ. You think I would be planning that right? Well I really am not I hope Juan knows what he wants to do what food to serve etc... Because I haven't been much help...
    I still find myself stalking Wedding bee (And posting too...) I am a Wedding be addict also... Those of you who haven't put 2 and 2 together I am MsPanda on Wedding bee!

Isadora ann by Maggie Sottero
     But My biggest Wedding obsession right now is Wedding dresses I found a store that has the dress I want to try on! Maggie Sottero's Isadora Ann I LOVE IT! I am head over heals for this dress and I am so afraid that I am going to have the "I loved it until I tried it on moment" So I still haven't made a appointment. (I know I'm a chicken)
    I do feel like the Isadora Ann Is perfect for the Garden/Back yard wedding. But I hope It will still make me feel like a bride. I do love that it is tea length! and that I will be able to dance in it! I just have to get over my little fear and make the appointment.
    Did anyone else get "addicted" to wedding planning? And did/do you have a fear of trying on "the" dress?

July 20, 2011

Taking a break from wedding planning

(Borrowed from http://www.nicolewick.com/)
   YAY! I am giving myself  2 1/2 weeks off (if I actually make it will be interesting) But with my birthday coming up Juan and I have decided I need to take some time and take care of me. We all know wedding planning can be stressful and Ill admit it I SUCK at handling stress (I blame my high school for not ever putting me in stress management even though i requested it all 4 years of high school)
   But to keep this post from being SUPER boring I will share some of my fun 22nd Birthday Details!
    First off my birthday is not until August 2nd So that's why my break is so long.... But on my actual birthday Juan planned a little BBQ inviting some friends and family nothing huge but I love that he is doing it for me!
    Then the Saturday after my birthday one of my best friends and one of my bridesmaids and I are planning a night out. Going out for drinks and dancing and hoping for just a really fun night! And what would a birthday night be without a birthday dress! (the picture shown is not my dress) My dress is the same idea but the straps are one length and not a cap sleeve the hot pink band is thinner and ties in the back and my dress is a lot bigger than 4T lol...

    Did you ever take a much needed break from wedding planning? And if yes what did you use that much needed break for?



July 17, 2011

Wake up and smell the.... Daises?

    What kind of flowers we wanted has changed just a little bit.... One thing I knew I DID NOT WANT ROSES. But as someone who didn't know much about flowers I also didn't know what we wanted. There are so many different kinds of flowers and some of those flowers cost a arm and a leg... Going with our color I wanted bright flowers too! Then I found one "inspiration" picture and now I know exactly what I want!
(TheKnot.com)
   Green green hydrangea and Gerber Daises! To be completely honest I didn't even know they had green hydrangea (Plus even if they didn't they have floral paint) So now the only flowers that will be at my wedding is Gerber Daises and green hydrangea.
    I do know that for my mason jar centerpieces (ill dedicate a whole post to them a bit later!) I will go between having hydrangea and daises and only daises!
    I love flowers and I love our centerpiece Idea and I cant wait to share my (at least I think) AMAZING idea!
    What kind of flowers do you want/did you have at your wedding?

July 16, 2011

The Perfect Headband (easier said than done)

    So now is the start of finding "The Perfect Headband". Well I should say the perfect headband at the perfect price... I have a few "needs" in my headband... I need it to be Ivory (NOT WHITE), Yes I'm wearing a Ivory dress (haven't picked out the dress but I know it will be Ivory) Seems pretty easy right. Well the fact I want a ribbon headband makes that need just a little bit harder. Every Ribbon headband I have fallen in love with has been white.

    Well maybe I can find a AMAZING headband on Etsy and have them just make it in ivory? Well that's my hope. But I have to admit right now I have Champagne taste on a beer budget. So maybe I can just DIY it?  But where do I find the embellishments to put on the headband? The headband in the picture is PERFECT (other than being white) But the store that sells it is no more.
    I am going to have to keep looking but I have to admit I really hope I can find this headband again at a store that actually sells it.
    Have you ever found something "Perfect" just to find out it wasn't being sold anymore? And did you find it again? (please tell me you did)

Hairspiration!


(http://www.hairpedia.com/)
     One thing I knew coming into this wedding planning was how I wanted my hair! So as soon as we started the planning I started growing out my hair. My hair was not short but I knew I needed it longer to get the look I wanted! I want really long curls! ALL the hair down very Taylor Swift!
    I love her hair and I love her music! But I do know my hair is way to thin to get this look so I am going to have to find some really good hair extensions. And I want to add bridal head band and of course a veil! But those will be other posts!
    But you know how there are two dress brides I am going to be a 2 Hair bride... When I told My best Friend/Bridesmaid/Hair dresser. She thought I was crazy. (I bet you think I'm a little crazy right now too!) She started telling me that there wouldn't be enough time to do a change and It would be just a PITA. Until I showed her what I was thinking then she told me it was OK!
(http://www.hairstyle-blog.com/)
  
    Did I mention that I LOVED Taylor Swift's hair? Well this is Hair #2. We will keep in the headband but loose the veil. Then we will move the hair into a side ponytail and maybe have to re curl just a little bit (Fingers crossed).
    Now you are probably wondering why I want to hair styles right? Well I am going to have a outdoor reception in August, So I am not going to want all of those curls down. It would be WAY TOO HOT and I want to dance and have fun so I don't want my hair to get in the way...
    Oh and the fact I'm going to be a 2 dress bride also... Yes I am going to have my ceremony dress and a reception dress! But once again I am going to leave you waiting on that post too!
    How did you choose the hair for your wedding? and who (if anyone) was your celebrity hair Inspiration?

July 09, 2011

Make a wish?


(Etsy seller madebydine)
Favors Favors Favors.... I knew I wanted a unique favor but I didn't want to do a crazy DIY that stressed me out but i still did want to DIY it... I want a easy DIY that I can do ahead of time and I can do on my VERY limited budget. I was searching and searching everywhere and then I was complaining to a friend when they told me I should do wish bracelets. What is a wish bracelet? I didn't know either until she told me along with a quick google search. It is a bracelet with beads that you tie onto your wrist and make a wish and when the bracelet falls off your wish comes true! I thought it was something cute and yes its completely useless but there will be a wish bracelet at every seat! Now I have to come up with a cute little poem to go with the bracelets! Oh and I need to order a ton of string and beads, card stock oh and a hole punch. (how do I not have a hole punch already?)

What are you/have you used as your favors? and what would you think if you got a wish bracelet as a favor?

July 08, 2011

Where is the Ring Bearer?

    You have met my flower girls, My bridesmaids, and even Juan's Groomsmen. So I bet about now you are wondering where is the Ring bearer? Well the thing  is we are ring bearer less... Yes we have adorable little boys in the family that we could ask... Heck we could even ask my little niece to do it.

(leashandpaws.com)
     We are planning on buying a puppy soon so why not use our future puppy? Trust me I LOVE this idea but with us getting married in a church I don't think that would go over very well. Plus my odd fear of the puppy jumping on me and ruining my dress... I wonder if this is a fear of any of the ring bearer dog brides?
    So I think at least as of right now we are going to have a wedding without a cute little boy or dog having stunt rings on a pillow (yep even if we did have one we would only have stunt rings on the pillow)

    How did you choose your ring bearer? Or to even have one?

Wedding colors...

You might think I'm crazy when I say we have 6 wedding colors! The wedding is in August and I knew I wanted fun bright colors! So we decided on Yellow, Orange, Red, Hot Pink, Green, and Turquiose! The green and turquoise are going to be accent colors. (Just add some red to the right picture and there you go!)

Meet the Groomsmen!

I have to start off saying I don't know half as much about the groomsmen as do my girls but I will do my best to make it at least some what interesting...

   Juan is having a best man thought this might be a little odd mostly because I'm not having a maid of honor but its not just my wedding and if he wants a Best man yes Juan is going to get a best man! Now who Juan wants as his best man has changed a little bit so i am going to have to double check who the best man is before I write it and have to stick my foot in my mouth lol! (Edit- Juan is not sure who the best man is going to be so I will have to add that in at a later time sorry)


(personal photo)
     So I will start of with Andrew! Andrew better known as DoDo (sounds like dough dough) Is one of his groomsmen and his step brother! DoDo just graduated from high school! Is planning on going to college and is a pretty cool guy! Just like Juan he likes to play Call of Duty... (in fact I think all his groomsmen do but one) He is a computer tech person If you need to do something on the computer most likely he will be able to do it! (it can come in handy from time to time)


(Personal Photo)
      Now there is Nicholas! Nic is mostly known as Dingo (Ellie and Emma named him) Just like DoDo Dingo is Juan's stepbrother and obviously a groomsmen. He is still in high school and part of the wrestling team! He is actually pretty good! He works out  a lot to stay in shape for wrestling and he does cross country! Dingo is once again a Call of Duty player.... (Have i mentioned yet how much I hate this game)


(Personal Photo)
     Now we have Edgar. He is known as Eddie! Eddie is in Elementary school and Juan's youngest brother! Eddie like video games playing with friends and is very religious. To be honest I don't know much about Eddie but when he was younger like 3 he used to do a impression of "taco Eddie" his alter ego rapper it was actually really cute.. I with he still did the taco Eddie...

    Next on the list is Jordan, We call him Bubba! Jordan is my little brother. He is going to be starting High School this year. He is obsessively involved in baseball. (growing up I was dragged to all the games and I don't like baseball) He is also in love with Call of Duty (Seriously I don't know what is up with the stupid game) He is my younger brother but he is taller than me (I don't think that is fair) Oh and when he was younger we used to dress him up as a girl and do him makeup (Ill have to try to dig up one of those pictures) (I cant find a picture of Jordan right now so ill have to add that later sorry

(Personal Photo)
    Now its the only groomsmen that is not family it is Nestor or as Fi calls him The Boss NC. Sadly the reason he is called this is because that is his name for Call of Duty (enough with the game already right?) He likes to play basketball. He has a Fiance and a little girl (with another on the way) He works at  Walmart and is planning his own wedding! YAY for wedding planning!

   Now you have met the Groomsmen (hopefully ill be able to add some more info later)

   But I have to wonder how well do you/ Did you know the groomsmen at your wedding?

July 07, 2011

Meet the Bridesmaids!

    I have to say I love my bridesmaids! They are some of my best friends and my favorite family members! I should warn you that I DO NOT have a maid of honor. I always would have one but when it came down to I just could not choose... So here they are!

(personal photo)
     This is my sister Tiffanie! She is my only older sister! So i have obviously known her my whole life... She has a daughter herself a adorable little girl named Anna! She is a little less than 2 years older than me.
   The funny thing is that we did not get along until she moved out. when we we both lived at home with our parents we were always fighting. And now she is one of my best friends! If some one would have told me we would end up friends when i was in high school i would have thought you were crazy!
(Personal photo)
   
    And then there is my little sister Tabatha. She is my half sister but we have lived together our whole life so half sister whole sister doesn't make much of a difference.
    She likes to play Softball and is actually really good at it too! Just got into college and i have to admit I'm proud of my little sister...
    She hates wearing dresses and the only way i even got her in the bridal party was telling her she can wear a green dress (green is her favorite color) It should be interesting to see how pictures go because she HATES getting her picture taken. Well unless she is the one taking the picture (see to the right the only one i could find of her she took of herself)

(personal photo)
    This is my Cousin Steff! She is someone I know will be there for me when ever i need her! and if she can help she will be helping! She is only 3 years older than me but growing up I was the "baby" So we didn't really get close until later in life! She is married and has a little one of her own!
    She is day care provider! and her and her husband are the god parents to my children! My daughter Ellie used to say that her husband couldn't marry her because Ellie was going to marry him! It was really cute!


(Personal Photo)
     Now its time to get to Cassi! Or Casso as we used to call her on the dance team. (Funny how one miss spelling on one program can stick) I met Cassi in 7th grade when she moved into the little group of houses that i lived in. She was invited to my birthday party that my Older sister took over. But I just spent the birthday talking to Cassi and we have been friends ever sense!
   Most of your middle school and high school friends I had I don't really talk to much but Cassi is one of the few that I stayed friends with!



(Personal Photo)

   And now Last but So far from the least! One of my Best friends ever Felicia! It seems like i have known her forever 5th grade feels like forever ago! We met one summer when I was forced to go visit my dad. We became joined at the hip. If i wasn't at her place she was at mine. If one of us couldn't do something we both stayed back because We never left each others side EVER! But we lost touch for what seemed like forever until I found her on myspace! YAY Social networking!
    So a little about Felicia she has 3 amazing kids (1 boy and 2 girls) and a amazing boyfriend (yep I was there when they met for the first time lol) She just graduated cosmology school! YAY FELICIA!!! Needless to say she will be my beauty expert on my wedding day!

   Now you know a little about my Bridesmaids Next a post about the groomsmen!

Meet the Flower Girls!


(Picture by picture me)
      One think I knew for sure when starting the wedding planning is my two little girls would be my flower girls!
    I knew that I would have to include them in the day some how and Flower girl would be the perfect idea!
    Now to let you know a little bit about them we will first start with Ellie!


(Picture by Picture me)
      Ellie is the older one of the two (the one laying on the ground) He real name is Elizabeth but we think she is more of a Ellie then a Elizabeth. She just turned 4 June 2011 and had a really fun Dora birthday party (Dora is kinda a big deal at our place!) She is a complete girly girl she loves dressing up and has the little model attitude! You can tell in the picture to the right. Now that me and her daddy are planning our wedding she thinks she gets to plan her wedding too! She has started to pick out everything! When ever i start to look at wedding dresses/cake/flowers well anything wedding related she is very quick to let me know what she will be having at her wedding! oh and she has even found her groom. (but i will make a "Ellie's wedding" post another day)


(Picture by Picture me)
      Now its time to talk about Emma. She is a DRAMA QUEEN. She will eat just about anything (one of her favorite snacks my eyeshadow) Daddy calls her tank. She loves Dora also as i said earlier Dora is a big deal here. But her favorite thing ever is Care Bears! We watch a Care Bear movie at least once a day. To be honest its getting really old... She is a lot like her sister in many ways but there is one thing that sets them apart SO MUCH. Emma hardly ever gets hurt she will fall hit her head and then just get right back up. Like nothing ever happened!
    I have to admit I am one of those moms who thinks my kids are the cutest in the whole world.
   Do you have kids? And if you do how are you planning on including them in the wedding?

The Proposal

    Juan asked me to marry him in August of 2007 and then after a short break a lot of I love yous He proposed again on Christmas eve 2009.

(Personal Photo)
     So first ill tell you about the first proposal It was my birthday and we were sitting on his bed and he hands me a present (I already knew the proposal was coming if I knew about wedding bee back then i would have been a waiting bee) I was so excited because the little wrapped box was the perfect size to be "THE RING" So i slowly unwrapped the paper even though I wanted to rip that paper to shreds and get to the ring. And there was a box (not a ring box) I opened the little box and inside the box was a ring box! I was so excited and couldn't help but open it! But then Juan takes the box from me.. He opens the box and gets down on one knee and asks me to marry him! I said yes right away and was BEYOND excited of course! He put the ring on my finger and then there was No wedding planning no nothing. But we were broke only 18 and Had our little girl only 2 months earlier but It was still kinda sad that we didn't do any planning yet...

(personal photo)
     So now is the break 3 month in between the make up the i love you and then Christmas eve 2009, I am sitting in the living room of our tiny apartment wrapping the last of the Christmas gifts and he comes up to me and sits down with me. I thought he wanted to help wrap presents and was just thinking what is he thinking he knows he is no good at wrapping presents... And he starts telling me how much he loves me and how lucky he feels were back together. and all of that cheesy proposal talk. But me not expecting for him to propose again and not that soon at all, I made a smart ass comment like would you still love me if... He FROZE looked at me like what the hell are you doing. Once he was over being shocked he started saying all the cute cheesy things again and that's when i realized he was proposing (but i was beating my self up too much to even remember what he was saying) He asked me to marry him I said yes and a year and a half later I'm finally planning the wedding!

Candy Bar? Dessert Bar? Snow Cones?


(http://www.theflirtyblog.com/)

    When we first started the wedding planning process I thought one thing i would HAVE to have would be a candy bar! Because come one who doesn't like candy? It could double as the favor and we could make it all cute using our wedding colors. Then i joined the world of wedding blogs and noticed that everyone and there best friend has a candy bar and it was very "wedding trendy". I am already doing cup cakes and I didn't want my wedding to be full of this year trendy wedding ideas so then I though HMMM.... What else could i do?
(http://www.platinumplanningevents.com/)
    That's when Juan came up with the idea of a dessert bar. and not just a dessert bar but a home made dessert bar! My grandma could make fudge, Cousin could make cookies, Mom can make pies, and the list just started growing and growing. So my amazing not as trendy idea of having a dessert bar sounds yummy right. We thought so too! I started talking to family about what they wanted to make and if they would even be willing to make something for the wedding.. And that is when we realized our family is already helping us with 101+ things for this wedding we don't really want to put another thing on there back.

(http://www.celebrityicing.com/)

    I was kinda sad but still looking for a fun dessert idea that would be different, fun, and most important YUMMY! I searched for ideas everywhere and was not having much luck finding an idea then I was randomly looking a catering menu (we are not going very traditional) and saw SNOW CONES!!! We are getting married in the middle of august we want BBQ for the food what could be better? and everyone loves snow cones! It would be a fun way to cool down i could still have them in my wedding colors and it seems like we finally have our "fun" extra dessert! YAY! And yes we have thought about the mess of snow cones and figured out we could do them shaved ice style in a cute little cup with a spoon!
    What do you think of snow cones at a wedding? Did you or are you planning to have a special dessert for your wedding?
    And don't worry I know I'm a little crazy for putting this much thought into a extra dessert!

July 06, 2011

The main wedding cake!


Picture from theknot.com

    I wanted a huge wedding cake to begin with tons of layers lots of different flavors and pretty sugar flowers fondant the whole thing... Until i tasted fondant EWWWW... Not my cup of tea... I know different bakers make there fondant other ways but I think i was scarred for life. Just like how still to this day i cant eat coco puffs. (long story)
    I was looking into different types of NON fondant cakes. and that is when i fell in love with textured butter cream. But Juan wasn't sold. He gets his grooms cake so i get to choose the other cake right? Well I thought wrong he still wants a say in the other cake too.. 
     As a compromise we are doing a little textured butter cream slicing cake with lots of  super yummy cupcakes! The picture is my inspiration! I believe the plan is to find a seller on etsy who can make me a whole lot of the Gerber Daisys for me to just plop on top of some yummy Costco cupcakes and have my amazing baking aunt do the slicing cake for us! Has anyone else had/is having/ever been to a wedding with Costco cupcakes?

Grooms cake


(Picture from http://geeksngamers.tumblr.com/)
     I love Juan! And one thing he insisted on with wedding planning was having a say in the cake. Me and him DO NOT have the same taste in what we want for a cake. So enter in the grooms cake. I asked him if he could have anything as a grooms cake what would it be? And thats how we got the idea for the zombie cake.
    The grooms cake I had no problem with it being all about him and even being zombies because I would be able to get my cupcakes! YAY! But back to the cake.
(Picture from http://themetapicture.com/)
    He wants mini me and him figures on the top of the cake with shotguns. and we would be shooting our bridal party zombies... The above picture  has flowers on it but we will not be having flowers on his cake the cake will be a mix of the one on the top and the one to the right we want it to still be fun slightly creepy and all Zombies... Yes thanks to COD I will have a zombie cake at my wedding but it would be worse right?

All About ME!!!!


(Personal Photo)
       Hey Its me! On wedding bee Im known as MsPanda But my friends and family call me Shanda. So this post is to let you know a little about me! Im 21 almost 22 (in august) I am obsessed with Birthdays and want them to go perfect even though they NEVER do...
     I was Born and raised In Oregon! The only other state I have been to other than Oregon is Washington. So obvioulsy I dont travel... I have a amazingly HUGE family!
     I graduated from Woodburn High School in 2007 (as mentioned in a earlier post same year i had my daughter) I grew up really quickly mostly because i didnt have a choice. I now have 2 amazing little girls they are 4 and 1 1/2. And I have my hands full every single day!
           I am a stay at home mom and I love it! Im planning on going to go back to school so that when my little ones do grow up and move away I still have somthing to do! As of right now the plan is to be a nurse But i change my plan every other week...
         If you want to know anything else about me Just ask!

Juan and Everything i can think of about him


(Personal Photo)
       This is Juan He is 22 (as of today Happy Birthday Babe) this is a picture of him on easter half awake! You notice he is wearing a Captian America shirt? Well if you didn't Im sure you see it now! He is a super hero geek (but its ok I still love him) He was born in Mexico and came to the United states when he was 3. He works for Green Tree enterprises (they own all the McDonalds around here)
        He graduated Woodburn High School In 2007. (well we both did) The same year we had our first baby! He is a AMAZING guy and a great father! He loves playing Call of Duty: Black Ops So much that he wants a Zombie themed grooms cake. What is a zombie themed grooms cake dont worry Ill have a whole post about it later on : )
        So im still Pretty new to this blogging So if there is anything you want me to add or Something you want me to write a post about just let me know!

Me and My Fi!


(Personal Photo)
       I met Juan my freshman year of high school we were just friends. We had acting class together he took the class to get a easy A and I loved acting! One day he told me that he would Marry me (in class freshman year) and I thought he was crazy. I wish I had a picture of us together in high school but they have all gone MIA :(  The oldest picture i can find is from when our daughter was born You can see the picture to the right. We were only 17 and pretty young but now i just feel lucky that i found him so young!                 
                            



(Taken by Picture me)

Now we have 2 little girls and planning our wedding its a little strange to look back and see how far we have come. We went from living with our parents and struggling to figure out how to be parents ourselfs to Having our own place and looking to buy a house, Planning our wedding and just being adults. I have known Fi for almost 9 years and we have been dating fohr almost 7 of them. I have to say its about time we tie the knot!

New to Blog world

Hello this is my new blog Some of you know me as MsPanda and Others of you know me as Shanda. I plan on using this blog to share all of my wedding planning! Im excited to share all of my sometimes crazy thoughts and ideas! And hopefully get some feedback!