Wedding Wednesday: Cake Inspiration

 With a busy weekend full of wedding appointments ahead, I'd thought I'd share my inspiration for our wedding cake. We're doing a small cake for show and doing some sheet cakes that will be pre-cut ready for guests to dig into! My ever adventurous err bland fiance wants marble. I'm totally okay with it after tasting our cake baker's marble. I'll just go buy myself a small cake of an adventurous almond raspberry from the bakery we did not go with for our engageversary . :)  I'm super excited to meet with our cake lady Saturday!!

I love the detail between layers.

 

Ignore the orchids..I just love the round and square together.

 Love, love, love the pearl details on this cake. I may do a ribbon, but if I don't, go back to the first picture.

I really want these forks!

Wedding Wednesday: Checklist Update

It may not seem like a lot of things got checked, but both mom's found and ordered their dresses last Saturday. So glad to have that taken care of. Tuxes have been picked out too! I got appointments set up with our FOCCUS couple, cake baker, and florist so far this week. One more thing will be checked off Saturday with our last marriage prep class. Good thing T's work Christmas party is afterwards so I have something to get me through the day! We're making some progress and with 5 months to go next week there's always something to do!


Finalize guest list
Print & mail save the dates
Meet/Book Cake Baker
Start photography list
Work on timeline (started..not anywhere near finished)
Work on invitations and wedding program with Erica 
Decide on wedding ceremony musicians/music
Call Church to change wedding time and ceremony
Call couple to do FOCCUS
Second marriage prep class - Jan. 26
Research wedding party gifts
Research place to get rehearsal invites done through (etsy, walmart?)
Ask friend to be a program/bubble lady
Select and order groom and groomsmen attire
Look at cake/knife sets and decide if I want to borrow Berkley's
Talk to photographer about ordering guestbook or go through shutterfly
Find out price for hotel block we reserved at AmeriInn
Find wedding jewelry
Look over registries and add missing things/wants
Find garter
Find hairstyle and makeup inspiration
Menu tasting Feb. 2
Waterproof wedding shoes (will do this next time I'm at my parents)
1st wedding dress fitting
Alterations appointment/Find someone to do alterations
Decide on wedding flowers and make appointment with floristAll men wearing tux measured and paid deposit

Wedding Wednesday: Bridal Show Weekend Recap

It was a crazy busy weekend being home and attending two bridal shows. The first one was on Saturday in Dubuque, Iowa where my Senior Prom was held! If I were getting married in Dubuque, I would have wanted the Grand River Center as my reception venue. I found a lot of inspiration for floral and centerpieces, as well as tasted yummy foods and cake! The best part was stopping by the tux shop that works with my bridal shop to find out they're pricing. Kinda torn between which tux place I want to go with at my shop, but it will all work out.

On Sunday, my mom and I went to a bridal show at my alma mater, UW-Platteville. It was nice to be back on campus (not that it wasn't that long ago that I was). I stopped by my shop's booth to say hi to my consultant and to warn her that I'm coming in with the moms. :)  My mom saw a handful of dresses she liked at the fashion show, so I'm excited to go back this time.

Here are some floral inspiration pictures and a cake picture (love Hy-Vee cake!) I took over the two days of bridal show festivities. Enjoy!

Wedding Wednesday: January Update

I hinted at that I saw my dress last week and there was a problem. Well, turns out it came in with this long snag at the butt. I was bummed, but still very excited to see my dress in person. Knowing that I have to wait for my dress take two is hard. I'm hoping next weekend when I go with my moms and future sister in law to look at/pick up bridesmaid dress that they'll still have it so I can try it on. I'm kinda torn though, I want to have that bride moment in my real dress. I have a week to think about it, which helps.

Below is the list compiled back in December that should lead me up to February. 
Book cake baker (sorta - she wants to meet when I have my look figured out)
Finalize guest list
Print & mail save the dates
Start photography list
Work on timeline (started..not anywhere near finished)
Work on invitations and wedding program with Erica 
Decide on wedding ceremony musicians/music
Call Church to change wedding time and ceremony
Call couple to do FOCCUS
Second marriage prep class - Jan. 26
Research wedding party gifts
Research place to get rehearsal invites done through
Ask friend to be a program/bubble lady
Select and order groom and groomsmen attire
Look at cake/knife sets and decide if I want to borrow Berkley's
Talk to photographer about ordering guestbook
Find out price for hotel block we reserved at AmeriInn
Find wedding jewelry
Look over registries and add missing things/wants
Find garter
Find hairstyle and makeup inspiration
Menu tasting Feb. 2
Waterproof wedding shoes
1st wedding dress fitting
Alterations appointment
Decide on wedding flowers and make appointment with florist

Let the Planning Begin!

I am so excited to officially say that T and I are going to North Carolina the week before Easter! It's a big trip for us as we'll be visiting Charlotte, where we are considering moving in the future. T isn't exactly sure what will make him decide Charlotte is the place for us, but I'm all about atmosphere. I just loved our first trip to NC and even though we were mainly in the eastern area.

I think my favorite part of the first trip was sitting on a bench in Union Point Park talking about our future. We went to Little Washington, Greenville, New Bern, Kinston, Topsail Island, and Wilmington in a matter of a week.

I'd really like to explore Topsail Island more. I cannot wait to ride a train from Raleigh to Charlotte!!

Best morning on the beach ever.

Wedding Wednesday: Centerpiece Project

With it being Winter Break the past week I had a chance to tackle some wedding idea projects. I found on Pinterest a how to dye mason jars. This one seemed easier since I didn't have to bake them. My grandma's mason jars are old and I just didn't want to break them!

All you need is a mason jar, mod podge, and icing color/food coloring. I followed directions from here:  http://www.lilyshop.com/lilyshop-blog/item/how-to-make-colored-mason-jars

First, you put enough mod podge in to cover the bottom. 

Then, take a toothpick and stick it into your icing color and put it in with the pod modge. 

Use a popsicle stick to marry the icing and mod podge. 

Next, gently turn the mason jar every which way until it's coated. 

Now you tip it onto the mouth of the jar to allow the excess drip out. This can take up to an hour.

 After the hour is up, turn the mason jar back upright. Let it sit for 24-48 hours until it's dry.

It's not quite dry yet, you can still see the previous gluey orange color. 

All dry!

Centerpiece idea. May sprinkle fake flower petals or the icy sparkler things.

Downer in the project is I can't use water with a floating candle in it. As you can see, it started taking the color out of it. Looks like I'll need to stick a thicker candle inside it and let it burn.

Goodbye 2012

2012 has definitely been a year I could describe as a roller coaster.

January brought me leaving a great group of fifth graders and elementary school where I student taught. I was able to substitute teach and teach summer school for the district, which made the transition easier.

March brought Tim starting a new job and Tim and I got engaged on St. Patrick's Day :)

We moved into our first apartment together in April 

April also brought Amber's wedding where I was her Personal Attendant

 Attended our good friends Mat & Berkley's wedding in June

 Riley Jo came into the world in July! I'm a proud honorary auntie :)
Then, later in the month my world crashed around me. My mother was diagnosed with cancer. 

August came and she had her mastectomy and started treatments in September.

 Meanwhile, I was starting my very first teaching job as a four year old kindergarten teacher.

 In October we celebrated my parents' 25th wedding anniversary. T & I got our engagement pictures taken. 

November brought Thanksgiving and Patrick's 21st birthday.

December came and I made the Christmas card for the first time! :) Dad had another rocky December with his heart, but our family felt so much closer knowing how blessed we were to make it through this year. 

We celebrated the end of the year and the beginning of a new one with our MOH and BM. I know this year is going to be just as wonderful as 2012 has been to T and I!

The Christmas "Vacation"

The time between my snow days and going back to work after Christmas flew by. Saturday morning I literally flew out of bed and packed as quickly as I could. My dad had called and was going to the ER. They kept him overnight for observation and then sent him home since he wasn't having a heart attack. Christmas Eve was a lazy day after the running around that went on Saturday and Sunday.

My brother made Oreo Truffles Christmas Eve - they were yummy!

It's the time of year where visiting the dogs means they come in :)

Christmas the dogs got their gift from us and the rawhide bone gift from Bree.

We had bacon, eggs, and cinnamon rolls for breakfast after opening our gifts. 

Later on in the day we had Christmas lunch/dinner and then I packed up my car to head to T's parents for Christmas night festivities - Monopoly and brandy slushies :)

The day after Christmas led T, Pat, Erin and I to get those day after bargains. I got my icicle lights for the head table and some string lights that I'll wrap with tulle for under the stage. I scored some gift wrap and got a Rubbermaid tub for all our Christmas things.

I went back to work Thursday and Friday to plan and organize the classroom. I found out late on Thursday that my dad was having a procedure Friday to see if he was blocked. Good thing I was planning to work a half day as he was blocked, but he was able to come home and I was his ride.

I spent Saturday and Monday at the bridal shop and shopping. We looked for my mom's dress for the wedding and I tried on and picked up my bridesmaid dress for Erica's wedding. I also saw my dress - I'll have to post all about that on a Wedding Wednesday update!