wow! haven't updated in a while....

so last i left you we had worked on the card box and i made my hoodie...
since then...
this is the card box now

we found some stars in the scrapbooking section and randomly placed them around to cover the holes in the box....i love it! we have to affix the letters to the box yet....but its done!

next
we got our cake topper!

LOVE!

so we also met with the landmark and went over the details for the wedding and picked out the cake and apparently we get an ice sculpture? so we looked through
a book and we saw a 4 layered square cake that had a bow and the ribbons going down the side...looked pretty much like our inspiration cake...and i gave him the picture i had and said, i guess like this cake with the bow, but no bow and only one "ribbon" piece coming down, to look like this....and he said the bakery can do that! awesome! and no fondant! hooray cuz louie does not like the fondant...
then he mentioned ice sculpture, and i thought we'd have a book to pick from, and he said what do you want? so we came up with a movie projector...hopefully the guy can do it...
and for linens, we went with silver and then with black and white napkins...i think it'll look awesome!

what else....
what else
we got courtney's dress!

its us angels...we got it at babyz and kidz dynamics in sparta (used to be in the rockaway mall)...the lady that works there is really awesome! check it out www.bkdynamics.com...
its an ivory dress and we got a black sash for it....yay!

next!
my jewllery!
i got it from etsy seller saharaamaya....and i LOVE IT! she made it special for me! well the earrings she did...





LOVE THEM!

ok
next
we stickered up and filled the favors!
although, after filling, we realized that when i stickered them up, they may or may not have been completely straight...and we cut the ribbon for it...we realized we need more ribbon too!




speaking of ribbon, i also cut and tied ribbon on to all the bubbles! 12 dozen! oi! and i'm sure we won't even need that many since lou wants rice too, so some people will throw rice and some will blow bubbles...i have a feeling there will be some bubble wands with black ribbon for sale on 10/11...


the week before, my sister and i put the invites together and pretty much assembled most of them, but they're not all together...mom needed to do the addressing, which she did! awesome! so tonight we are going to put the rest of the stuff together...did i show ya what they look like?



so....we also did the centerpieces...well, just the ribbon and the monogram part....we still need to fill them...i think we've decided against the non pariels because it takes effort to put them into the vase just right....so i guess now its black twizzlers...blech...i do not like black twizzlers....but here's what the center one will look like


hmmm
what else
so...i was trying to figure out for ring bearer pillow...i saw these cool ring bearer bowls on etsy, by seller paloma's nest....and i couldn't figure out if i wanted it to say to have and to hold, or with this ring...or something else...so after much conversing with cory, she mentioned something disney...which then my mind ran straight to the wishes song that plays during the fireworks...perfect! so i decided on having the bowl say "...and all our wishes, will come true" and with the date on it....and then cory offered to buy it for me! so sweet! i'm so anxious for it to come in!
this is what one of them looks like


oh! i also had my shower! it was awesome! and i was totally surprised...like for reals...my sister and i were supposed to be going to see the little mermaid on broadway, taking my 3yo niece for her birthday...so one of her friends was getting us tickets through a connection, but my bil hadn't had a chance to meet up with him, so we had to get them from his fiance....she just so happened to be at rivara's at a party for her grandmother.....ok fine...believable...cuz i was so excited to go see the little mermaid again! so we get there and carly goes, she wants to see courtney, hasn't seen her in a while, plus, its probably a good idea if she tries to go potty first...come with me...ok...not a problem...so we're walking to the front door and i, totally jokingly, not serious at all ask if its my shower and carly goes no she wouldn't disappoint me like that knowing how excited i was for the little mermaid....so we get there, go up the stairs and carly says go in first, and i'm all, but i don't know these people, so i open the door, and like, everyone was quiet and i'm thinking "is this a surprise party for the 80yo gramma? do they think i'm her? why would they surprise an 80yo? wait? why is ilissa here? she knows the gramma? wait, lissa, my mom? what the..." totally my shower, and totally awesome!
here are some pictures from my shower

blah
i'm blogged out...i'm sure there's more...but whatevs...

dresses and diy and stuffs.....

where to start...

ok we'll start with the dresses
i got a call last wednesday, the 3rd, that my dress was in!!! yayayayayayyayaayay
so, maureen, the mother, asked if i had my shoes and undergarments for the first fitting (!) i said i had shoes, but didn't think i was going to be wearing a bra with the dress...it holds them in pretty good i think, since its a corset back....os we decided no bra
the veil looks great with the dress
the tiara looks great with the dress
the dress is the perfect length...and since its corset, it allows me to gain or loose weight....ya know? if i gain a few, don't pull so tight, if i loose a few, pull tighter....and so i said "we just take in a bit here at the top?" (cuz my boobs aren't that big) and she said no, we just- and then she pulled tighter
i didn't get any pics...maureen is more of a, no nonsense kind of person...i think had donna been there, i could put it all on and parade around in my wedding garb!
I LOVE MY DRESS!
LOVELOVELOVELOVELOVELOVE!

ok
so when we got there she said "so guess what else is here..."
my bridesmaids dresses! i had asked when she called about my dress being in, and they weren't in yet...and then i called on friday before coming in, and didn't ask, but she didn't say...
so we went towards the back room so she can show me, and there's a dress hanging there that's solid charcoal..and i go "they're supposed to be charcoal and black" and she pulls one off the rack from the back and its right, so i feel better
then she grabs that one and the all charcoal one and hangs them up in the room
but i ordered all 4 black and charcoal and she said they came 2 and 2....and i said no
and she went to check the orders (i remember her writing charcoal/black on each order form)...she ordered it right, but she didn't check the confirmation slip...so carly's and sasha's came in the wrong color...well, right color, but not with black...and ilissa and andrea's came in correctly....it took 4 months for these to come in...hopefully it won't take so long this time...it was her oops...and like carly said...when you go out to eat, it takes 20 mins for the food to come out, but if its wrong, it takes about 5....so...here's to hoping the dresses come quickly, esp since sasha's needs to be shipped to az
omg wait! what if the other 2 come from a different dye lot!
i had a feeling something would go wrong...but i thought the dresses would come black with charcoal trim....i could have lived with that...
ugh!
frustrating....but i'm not as stressed about it as i thought i'd be
for a refersher, these are my dresses



next
i was out sick a couple of days from work a few weeks ago....so carly and i took advantage of that, which i shouldn't have....cuz i was sicker the next day....but we went to ac moore, and found some decorative boxes, round ones...that we plan on making a card box out of...ppl make 'em and sell 'em for like, $50+ whatever....the boxes were on sale, we got 2, different sizes, for $10! sweet! we also went to party city and bought more jars for the favors (there will be more on that later)....we were going to go to michaels, but didn't...spent the rest of the day brainstorming on what to do with the card box itself...so we decided to paint it silverish and use the thicker version of the ribbon we are using on the centerpieces...the black with the white dash grosgrain...and then we thought of getting these wooden letters spelling out thanks, painting them red glitter and putting them on top...carly went to michaels the 2nd day i was out from work and picked up chrome spray paint, the wooden letters, the ribbon and red glitter paint...its been too rainy to spray paint...but we did paint the letters


and then on this past friday, we cut out the bottom of the top box, and top of the bottom box and the slit for the cards...again, too rainy to spray paint! boo

i also did another diy project last week....or 2 weeks ago? i don't know..i wanted one of those rhinestone bride hoodies for getting ready...i know, weird, right? like me? rhinestoney girlyness? but i did....but i didn't want one that just said bride, its only a one shot deal...waste to me....so i had seen on etsy someone making these hoodies that say "mrs. hislastname est. wedding date" and charging $55 for the whole thing! (hoodie included) too much $$ if you ask me....but its great because then i can wear it whenever, on our honeymoon...whatever...so i went to old navy, found a $15 white hoodie...i had a $10 off coupon...sweet...then after much research, found the hot fix rhinestones, and after deciding on what color...found 10 gross (1400!) rhinestones for $9.99 and 2ft transfer paper for $4.15 (both had free shipping).....found some good free fonts on dafont.com and after much deliberation, figured out the font and size...printed it out...and came up with this

i think i put it up a little too high, my hair kinda covers it and the hood almost does...but i love it! and i showed my coworker who just got married (yesterday) and she loved it, so i offered to make her one...so she went on lunch and bought a cami (yay aero and our 50% off discount) and she wanted one that said soon to be

she loved it! i can't wait to see her pictures!! she's in hawaii now

speaking of...david (my boss sue's boss, so he's my boss too) said its ok for me to go then...cuz sue will be on maternity leave....and lou's boss said no, then the next day said yes...so hopefully he got the paperwork for it today so we can book our honeymoon! omg i wanna go to hawaii and i don't want to wait til jan....

so the favors...did i blog about those already?
we're going to do these mini jars with black/grey/white m&ms on them, and i made these stickers...d'oh no pics of the stickers!
but this is what the jars will look like, and the img of the stickers

got this xyron sticker maker...and started to make the stickers...we have just the right size punch..and it looks pretty cool, just didn't take the picture
now before, i said see more on the favors later...wellllllllllll
i went to a bridal shower on saturday for my mom's friend's kid (who we've known forever...she's getting married in july and her bro is getting married in sept, his fiance's shower was the previous week) and carly and i walk in and see mom and mom says something about the favors....THE SAME THING! but they're the ones from like bou-coup or something, the ones that are twice the size...and they had the most amazing cold stone creamery jelly bellys in them...well...at first, i was SO dissappointed...verging on tears...silly i know...but it was my favor! no, they had no idea really...but...my favor! by the end of the shower i was ok with it..i mean, mine are smaller, will be filled differently, and what, only 5 couples there will know? i'll get over it...i mean i know i'm ont the only one out there using these as favors...they sell them in the wedding aisle, online...ya know...but, not someone i know...ohwell....still a bummer

my fmil wanted some save the dates in spanish to send to family in uruguay......here they are

i hope they come out ok...they're being shipped to her....i think its translated right, she did the translation, i'm just worried about the image quality, ya know? i made it a hi res...ohwell..


anywho
what else was i wanting to blog about
that's it i think
off to get some actual work done i guess
oh!

i've gotten 2 bags done, started the 3rd, and mom and i went and bought the lining material for them...gotta get to that part! sweet

homework!

so...my sister is my wedding planner....working for free.....

last friday she gave me homework! what????
i had to take a pic of desired tiara to the bridal salon to get their opinion
make a list of 5 photographers and make appointments
make a list of 5 djs and make appointments

so we went for measurements on saturday so i brought the picture of the tiara, and she said she can get it for me....so i don't have to pay shipping....soooooooo task 1 done...

i have been spending more time at work doing wedding stuffs...that's for sure....but i spent the majority of my work week looking up photographers....i have some what of a list assembled...have to look up more and call....i really wish they had their prices listed....it would make my life easier....ugh....but i haven't called any yet, but i have emailed a few....i need to make appoinments...

carly sent me a link for a dj, next town over....emailed, they called, we set up an appointment for tuesday, we went in and liked what they had to offer....but we're convinced they bugged the room because he came in with our higher offer number....we liked them a lot....but it was our first, so i looked up more, we found a couple with the same sort of packages for the same amount, but i like that the ones we met aren't all up in your face djs....so i went today to put down the deposit...

sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.....carly has declared homework for the week done because booking wasn't assigned.....so next week's homework is to meet with photographers....i have some i'm interested in...i can't believe how expensive everything is....

we have now, church, reception hall, bridal gown, brides maids dresses, DJ, and 60+ vases for centerpieces...

awesome

its been a while.....

and i know noone is reading this....but this is what we've got done for the wedding that is now, what, 260 days away???

we have the church- st anne's

we have the reception hall- the landmark

i have the dress (no comment on this one....)

we picked put the bridesmaids dresses, just need to order them...alfred angelo 6545 in charcoal and black- here is my artists rendtion (ie, just playing with it in paint...)


i saw a cake i LOVE LOVE LOVE! the cake is included with the reception hall package...so i'm not sure how fancy we can get, but i don't think this would be too much to ask

courtesy of weddingstar.com....we'll have to get that cake topper...its just too perfect!!!! i had originally wanted a simpsons cake topper, but, it wouldn't work with a red carpet, and they are about 3x as much as this one....must.have.this.cake! if they won't do it, i told carly she needs to come with some red fondant and add it to the cake when we get there...

i ordered the save the dates from vistaprint.com last week....carly found this thing thru flickr, bighugelabs.com and they have these generators, specifically a movie poster generator....so after much fussing about, i found a picture that would work, and created this

they came in the mail yesterday.....you can't read the writing! i got 100, and then 30 more...the 30 look like shit...kinda yellowy....the 100 came out ok, but, the font is too narrow and hard to read that small....so i called vistaprint today...and the customer service was super awesome...they credited me back like, the majority of what i paid (which wasn't really that much to begin with....i had a lot of half price and free things) and so i created another image last night, just changed the fonts around to be bolder and thicker and re-ordered thoes today...i think these will look better...the white was more white on the 100...just the font was bad....


we still need to figure out invitations...we're thinking of making our own...by we i mean carly and me...she is my wedding planner....i got monograms made for me from pinkdesignsevent.com.... and she is super nice and made me these great monograms....so now i'm obsessed with them...there's one i love i think would look on an invite....so maybe we come up with a design, use vistaprint again, or go to kinkos and have them print and cut for me....not sure....but i did see these ones from rexcraft i LOVE...but, omg invites are so freaking expensive...i can't believe it....noone saves these things, just the family....it seems like a waste, but you also want them to look nice....it sets the tone for the wedding....i don't know....

back to these awesome monograms....which ties in to centerpieces....so for centerpieces....i think we're going with this...3 small rectangular vases each filled with different movie theater snacks....one will be filled with popcorn, one with sno caps (rather, non pareils...they come bigger than sno caps, take up more room, less needed...) and maybe jujubees, or gummi bears? not sure, but something more colorful...i'm thinking of making a window cling with one of the monograms and putting it on the middle vase on the table...we got one with our initials and the date...and is square so that should work...i'm excited!!!! and to top it off...the vases we needed were on sale this week at michaels for $2!!! originally $3.99, $2.56 with the 40% off coupon....so, yeah...score! i already had 5, then i bought 24, carly bought 11 and ilissa bought 23! so we can return the 5 i got with the higher price....sweet!!!! i heart michaels....

what else to do with the monograms? no idea...i have 6 different ones...perhaps on the programs...and maybe upload one to vistaprint for thank yous....not sure...but they're awesome...i love them....and really i just want to use them everywhere....she makes custom ones, but for the same price she makes 5 for you....but i am really tempted to see if she can come up with a cool movie themed one....

what else...i saw this marquee thing online (ok carly found it) and so we need to order it...it comes with the letters and all so we can have a now showing kind of thing going....with our names and stuff...and it'll be fun to have around the house i think....i bought a cheap red carpet at party city for the going from cocktail hour to reception hall...the venue has stantions....and a popcorn machine! omg so i bought all these popcorn buckets at target for $1 that i thought i was going to use for centerpieces....now i don't know what to do with them!

we still need, photographer, dj, limos, flowers...
flowers....i want gerber daisies...just hand tied...simple....white for me, red for the girls....i think the red against the charcoal dress would look pretty sweet....although, i am liking the calla lillies...but they are pricey...but they do come in red....like, maybe 5 white for me and 3 red for the girls? i don't know...

so much time, so little to do...strike that, reverse it...