Homemade Excellence

So, before finals started I did a little shopping for cheap rubber stamps to make a "monogram" because buying a self-inking monogram stamp is ridiculous and I could never reuse it after the wedding. Hence, the rubber stamps.

I've decided to keep it a little off kilter, so not every stamp will be the same so each person will know that it was stamped with looooove. :)

The back of the envelopes will be stamped and embossed on the flap.


Then, for whatever else I decide to use the "monogram" for will be done in two different shades of pink to give some dimension to things. So, some things will have light pink and some will have dark pink. Also, excuse the extra stamp area. I did this quickly and without much precision.

(personal photos)

The best part about it is that the stamping, powdering and embossing took all of thirty seconds for the envelope and the two practice "monograms". Excellence.

Oh. Pain in my...

Well, so I started messing with formatting tonight for my invitations. It went on for about thirty minutes before I just got so frustrated I gave up. I'm not really sure how to get my printer to print on the size I want.

My plan originally was to just cut my white paper to 4"x6" and print on them and then cut them to the proper size for the invites. But, I can't seem to figure out how to make my freaking Word go to 4"x6" and I can't seem to find programs online to create nice response postcards or invitations. I'm getting frustrated and it hasn't even really started.

Perhaps a DIY invitation was a lofty expectation. Maybe I just need to do a DIY kit that already has everything there and I just print off the pages. They include formatting in the instructions with a template and everything. I just really like the handmade feel to the invitations I already wanted, but I think maybe I should just make it easier on myself and do a kit. :/

Continue the Weddingness

Well, much fun was had oh, ten minutes ago. I picked up the embossing heat gun and some embossing powder from Mary this weekend, so I decided that with my afternoon free, I was going to try my hand at embossing.

It was... fun. I think I have a new passion in life. Everything from now on is going to be embossed. Kidding. Kidding. It is pretty cool how it works though. My only problem is that my paper had sort of started to curl and become wavy, so maybe I need to get some thicker cardstock for the invitations. I'll have to look around.

I really like what I'm doing with the invitations, so I don't think I want to mess with it too much and change up paper and everything. I'll just have wavy invitations. Whatever! No one will really care that much. Plus, if I spend this long doing invitations, people should appreciate the handcrafted work rather than if there was something wrong with it. If people have something mean to say about my invitations, well... um, maybe they just don't need to come.

Many more trips to Hobby Lobby are on their way, and lots of sitting around messing with formatting on Word. Megs and I are going to go up to school and try to use Photoshop or InDesign to make response cards or the written font part of my invitations. We'll see.

More to come later. A date will be set soon.

Invitations!

Now that we've chosen a color scheme, invitations were the next step! They haven't been totally done because I don't have embossing powder or a heat gun, but my dear friend, Mary, is letting me use hers from her recent nuptials. But, for everyone who is curious, here is a sneak peak at our invitations minus the embossed stamp. :)

(personal photo)

That's without the embossing powder. So that stamp will be embossed on the final product, and obviously the "Wedding Info Here. Blah blah blah." will actually have information. Then, a black envelope for sending, and also, a response postcard will be enclosed for responses to be sent back to me.

Some Ideas?!

So, after talking it out, and getting very frustrated with the Navy (and sometimes Trenton), he told me I would be safe to "do some non-committal planning" for an early August wedding.

So, I, of course, jumped into wedding websites head first. My "pro-bono" wedding planner/roommate, Meghan and I sat on the couch for a good 4 hours just clicking and looking, laughing and talking. We decided a good color scheme (and not too girly- I'm lookin' out for the boys!) as black, white and pastel pink. The main colors will be black and white, and really the pink will only be in the bouquets, boutonnières, and some of the centerpieces.

I've already come up with some good, and inexpensive ways to decorate! (Hellooooo, Dollar Tree!) Meghan agreed to help out with a lot of the crafty stuff. She, very much in the spirit of me, is also very crafty and beams at the idea of getting glue-y and cutting stuff, and bein' all CRAFTY! :)

My mom came up with some good solutions to the venue question. A huuuuge way to save money is to either 1) Not serve alcohol (SO not gonna happen) or 2) Use a venue that allows you to bring in your own alcohol. (This means getting to shop at CostCo or Sam's for alcohol.)

Catering is another issue as most caterers are quite expensive and we're not very fancy people; very laid-back, actually. I'm cool with pretty much whatever as long as my guests have fun, enjoy the food, and are there to celebrate our marriage. Which, is not hard to accomplish!

I'm looking forward to getting to start all of my crafts and planning. It's all "non-committal" but, basically my ideas can be done at any time of year, in any venue. :)

Sara

Wrench

So, we've been engaged not even a week, and already there's a problem choosing a wedding date.

Because of Trenton's commitment to the military, setting a date will be the hardest part about the planning. His schedule is so crazy, and often unplanned, that there is almost no way to ensure a set date. We were originally thinking of Spring of 2011, but he doesn't know his schedule for that yet, or even if he would be able to come home.

He just got news today that his schedule isn't set for two years like he thought. Now, we're in a fun limbo stage where nothing is set. Plus, he said that over the course of the next two years, he'll only get to come home once a year (which is hard since we've been blessed with him coming home about every 6 months). It throws a wrench into everything because now there is no way to know when he'll get to come home, or even when he'll be on dry land!

It's just another struggle that we have to deal with, it's just this one is frustrating 'cuz I literally cannot do anything about it. We'll just have to see what happens, and I'll keep updating if we start figuring out what to do.
*sigh* So long.

Our Story, Our Proposal

Trenton and I have been dating off and on since senior year of high school. It's been a roller coaster, but it's definitely been worth it.

Trenton joined the Navy after my freshman year of college. It was going to be the best move for him. It was hard to handle at first, but as it goes, distance makes the heart grow fonder. We soon got back to our normal relationship status, even through the hardest parts. It's been an adventure, but it's also been our life.

Trenton proposed on a trip to Seattle. I had flown out from my home in Dallas to see him at his base in northwest Washington. We had taken a ferry across the Puget Sound to Seattle. The sun was shining and we were surrounded by beautiful scenery. I remember thinking to myself "What a romantic place to get engaged!" Little did I know, he was planning that very thing.

We were standing at the front of the ferry, wind whipping by, and he told me we were taking a picture with the Seattle skyline in the background. He gave me a hug and said, "You know I love you, right?" And I answered, "Yes, of course." He assures me he will love me forever, and I started thinking, "Yeah... I know... why is he telling me this!?" I started to move away from the front of the boat and he grabbed my hand and told me I had to stay for a few more minutes because he had an important question to ask.

He got down on one knee and proposed, right there in the middle of the Puget Sound. I said 'yes' and the other passengers on the boat cheered and clapped. I don't remember much right after that besides asking him several times if he had actually asked my mom and if she had actually agreed. He assured me he had, and we celebrated the rest of the afternoon.

The proposal surprised me, and was definitely unexpected. It was perfect and I couldn't have asked for more. I can't wait to be Mrs. Sara Holloway, and to spend my life with him. The wedding planning process will be fun and also exhausting, but there isn't anyone else for whom I would rather be planning a wedding.