Music at the Reception

          From the very beginning of planning Matt and I wanted a band at our reception.  His brother had a band at their reception and we loved it.  It was different than a DJ and brings such a lively atmosphere to your celebration.  A family friend of ours is in a great cover band The Friends With Benefits, unfortunately the lead singer was in a wedding the same day.  (errg!)  So we continued to search, but just couldn't find any bands we liked, in our price range.  Before looking too far into DJs in the area, we considered hiring someone to run music through an iPod.  My sister had done this at her wedding, so I knew it could be done.  Nerve racking, a little, if the iPod doesn't work, but it's so cost efficient and there are ways to back up the play list.  Bring 2 iPods and your computer with a back up hard drive to calm your nerves!

          When we decided on this, we had to find the perfect person to Emcee our reception.  Luckily, my brother's friend Abe was the perfect person with his upbeat personality!  I have known him since I was 12 so it was cool to have someone I knew well emcee.

Abe in action at the reception

  And I knew we could trust him!  Abe was all about it and we were so excited!  My brother is very talented with music and put our entire playlist together! (I am incredibly lucky) He had an hour of jazz music on a CD that the Columbia Station played during happy hour and the playlist on an iPod/computer for the reception. 


          I assigned my dad and brother to rent a sound system from the local music store.  ( I like to stress, that people want to help.  You just have to ask)  I think it was around 200$.  My brother picked the sound system up the morning of the wedding and met Abe at the Columbia Station to set it up (and make sure it worked!)

         We met up with Abe and my brother a week or so before the wedding to go over the schedule we had created (after meeting with our wedding coordinator, the Columbia Station provided one for the day of the wedding).  We also wanted to let him know everyone's name in the bridal party so he pronounced them correctly.

Reception Schedule for our Emcee

This could not have gone smoother.  Abe put on a wonderful show and had EVERYONE Dancing! When I say everyone, I mean it, photo proof:

Aunt Debbie bustin' a move

My Father in law on the dance floor!

My best friend and husband on the move

My younger cousins havin' a great time

My mother in law and her brother enjoying a dance!



College friends having the time of their life

College friends having the time of their life



Everyone dancing!

 Our Songs

Bridal Party Entrance- We go together from GREASE!
First dance-Lets Stay Together by Al Green

Father daughter dance- I loved her first by Heartland/remix! (see Father daughter dance entry)

Cake Cutting- All you need is love by the Beatles
Last song- I’ve had the time of my life by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes

Must Have Songs For Your Reception

  SHOUT out to the best Emcee ever, Abe! Full photo proof that an emcee with a great playlist works at your reception!

How to Dye Your Viel with Tea

I had heard the veil should be a shade darker than your dress, so your dress doesn't look dirty.  Well this was my exact problem! 2 weeks before the wedding I noticed my dress looked dirty when I put my veil on.  Can you say "Ahhh!!"

I had ordered my veil online from Simply Bridal.  Great website, with an abundance of choices between one tier, two tier, or three tier, attached comb, length, and trim.

I had always wanted a two tier veil so I could cover my face as I walked down the aisle with my dad. 

The next step to my decision was the length.  I knew 'blusher' was too short and 'cathedral' was too long.  So 'elbow', 'fingertip', or 'hip' it was!  Before narrowing my search too much I considered the trim.  My dress had gorgeous diamond beading and lace overlay at the top of the dress that I didn't want to compete with.  I decided to get a

Two tier, pencil edge, fingertip veil.  I went with an ivory color since my dress was white.  When the veil arrived in the mail, I was so excited! 30$ for a beautiful veil! What could go wrong?  I tried it on and loved it.  One thing I forgot.  To try it on with the dress!  I took it to my last dress fitting (2 weeks before my wedding) and my mom and I jaw's dropped.  My dress looked dirty (the color, it wasn't really dirty people!)  So we went on a mad search for a new veil.  We couldn't order one online, we were afraid it wouldn't ship in time.  We went to a few bridal shops such as David's Bridal and I couldn't cope with paying 130$ for a one tier veil.

A week away and we still had this dilemma!  Wear the wrong color veil.. pay 100$ or more for a veil you wear for 3 hours...  While thinking of solutions we were looking up ways to dye the veil.  Only problem is if it doesn't work, we would be back to square one. 
Remember using tea bags to weather your paper for history class? That's exactly what we did, but with the veil! 

How To Dye Your Veil With Tea

Step 1: Boil water in a large pot.  Add tea bags. The number of tea bags you will need depends on how much water you use and how dark you want to color to be.

Step 2: Rinse the veil in water. Your veil should be wet before placing the veil in the tea water.

Step 3: Try not to bunch or fold the veil, you don't want the veil to stain unevenly.

Step 4: Once the tea water has cooled, place it in a tub or Tupperware and let the veil submerge.  Let the veil soak for about 10 minutes.

Step 5: Remove the veil and rinse with clean water ( I used the shower )

Step 6: Hang the veil to air dry.  Make sure the veil isn't bunched or folded.  I hung it over the shower curtain rod.  I checked on it every couple minutes and changed the positioning of the veil so it dried without blotching.

The whole time we did this we were super nervous, but honestly what did we have to lose?  We made a few jokes "what if I am walking down the aisle and the veil starts to drip tea!?" My Aunt Tania says "It's okay I will just follow you around all day with a glass and squeeze the tea out!" Once the veil dried we held it up against the dress.. held our breath and then let out a sigh!  It worked!

Pencil edge, finger tip, two tier veil

The veil looked great with the dress!

You don't need to spend a fortune on your veil.  The tradition of the veil is to be worn as protection from evil spirits, but now it is a beautiful accessory that completes your bridal look.  Find one that complements your dress.  Don't forget to bring it to your hair trial  and when you get your hair done on your wedding day.  Have the hair stylist show your mom, MOH or a bridesmaid how to take the comb out without messing your hair up. 

I have been to 2 weddings where the veil came out during their ceremony.  One from a hug and one from the wind.  If this happens, just go with it!  It's better to go with it, then to get upset.  Gotta' love a laid back beautiful bride!

Have fun finding your perfect bridal veil!

Anniversary Celebrations

As our first anniversary started to approach we tried to think of ways to celebrate

We decided to start some traditions & make our anniversary special

Here is what we decided

Our Free Anniversary Cake

• Go out to eat and enjoy the same dinner we had at our reception; Filet Mignon and Crab Cakes
• Drink champagne (we saved a bottle of the Cruse champagne we handed out as favors) *This bottle moved 3 times with us, so we were really excited to drink it!
• Eat our free anniversary cake from the Master's Baker
• Take a picture together every anniversary and watch ourselves grow old together.




The beautiful flowers Matt surprised me with

• I saw this idea on Pinterest.  I went on a hunt for a cute chalkboard (doesn't it seem when you want something, you can never find it? I eventually found one at Marshall's Home Goods for 12$ and bought the chalk at Target for 2$!) 
• The next part wasn't planned, but we looked through our wedding cards. It was fun to read the notes, which sparked some memories.

  Take a picture together every anniversary and watch ourselves grow old together

Alternative to throwing the bouquet

         Traditions can be great, but not all wedding traditions are necessary.  What's important is that carry on the traditions that mean the most to you and start new traditions.  I personally love the bouquet toss at weddings.  I really enjoyed the competition of trying to catch the bouquet and now that I am married I love cheering on my girlfriends as they try to catch it. 

        For some reason this idea came to me pretty early on in my wedding planning.  I knew I wouldn't have that many single gals at my wedding and it was my Nana's birthday.  One day I was over her apartment having lunch with my Nana and Pops.  They started talking about a new movie that was coming out.  Long story short my Pops asked my Nana on a movie date.  I quickly thought, wow, this is adorable.  A marriage that has lasted 50 years+ that still includes a man asking his wife on a date.  I quickly thought if Matt and I can be married 50 years and still be going on dates, I will be one happy girl!  So with this story in mind I knew I wanted to surprise my Nana with my bouquet.  I wanted her to know I was happy that she let me share her birthday and that she is an amazing role model. 
       Keeping the secret was hard, but totally worth it.  I gave a short speech and handed her my bouquet.

       Then cued the DJ to start playing 'Birthday' by The Beatles.  One of the sweetest things was watching my Nana and Pops dance like they were newlyweds.

       I also loved the idea of my Nana having my bouquet in her apartment to show all her friends. What a great story to tell!  Think of the traditions that you want to keep and change to make your own.

DIY MR & MRS Chair Decor

I am a big believer that the small details make your day special. 

Tackle a small project like this on a weeknight after work. It's so simple, yet oh so cute.

Step 1: Go to Michael's or AC Mooore. Don't forget to find and print a coupon from online.

Step 2: Buy wood letters, paint, foam brushes, glitter spray (if it fits with your theme), and ribbon

Step 3: Paint the wood letters

Step 4: Once the letters are dry, spray the glitter on

Step 5: Glue or staple (use a staple gun) the ribbon to the wooden letters

    * Make sure to leave a lot of ribbon on either end

    * I brought the letters to one of the meetings at the venue and practiced how to tie them

    * When I dropped off all my decorations to the venue I included a note of where these were to go and how to tie them (most venues set everything up for you, this is something you can ask your venue when you meet with them)

Step 6: Remind your photographer to get a picture of this!

Our sweetheart table (you can see the MR sign on the back of the chair)

Don't forget about your dog!

Your furry best friend might be a part of your big day, but if he/she isn't make sure they are taken care of.  Rusty had never been boarded before because whenever Matt and I went out of town our parents watched her.  Obviously our parents were going to be a little busy that day..so we started to think who would take care of her on our wedding day.  Everyone we knew was going to be at the wedding celebrating.  hmmm....

I heard a horror story of a bride that asked her uncle to let her dog out in between the ceremony & reception and after the reception at night.  Great idea... until they get home the next day and see furniture chewed up and little gifts all over the house!  The uncle forgot to put Fido back in his crate.  Picture the scene in 'Meet The Parents' when they get home from the rehearsal dinner and find that Jinxy had put his 'finishing touches' on the wedding gown.

If you have never boarded your pet ask friends/family for recommendations, look online and do some research.  Try to do this 1-2 months before the big day so you have time to tour the facilities, find a place you feel comfortable with, and take care of any required details such as required vaccines.

Matt dropped Rusty off the morning of the wedding.  This worked for us. It may be easier to drop your pet off the day before the wedding.  Brian, our best man, picked Rusty up Sunday morning after the wedding.  Another perk of having a bridal party ;) I can't say it enough; everyone wants to help, you just have to ask them to help!

Woof Woof ..translation "I'm glad you're getting married, just make sure you make arrangements for me to play, sleep and make new friends at the puppy resort!"

Card Album

DIY Pinspiration Project

You receive so many thoughtfully chosen cards with wonderful messages and words of wisdom.  So, why throw them away? I came across this project on pinterest awhile ago and knew it would be fun to assemble all the bridal shower and wedding greeting cards we received.  It is so simple and chances are you have some of the materials in your craft closet.

Step 1: Gather your cards

Step 2: Separate Bridal Shower and Wedding Cards (I put bridal shower cards then wedding cards)

Step 3: Decorate the covers

•  You can use cardstock, posterboard, anything with some weight
• Decorate with scrapbook paper, stickers, etc

Step 4: Punch a hole in the corner of the cards and covers ( I bought a new 1-hole punch at Staples because some of the cards are thick and my hole punch was on the fritz! )

Step 5: Start with the front cover then place the cards on the loose leaf rings (can be found at staples, office max, office depot, walmart or target)

Step 6: Depending on the number of cards you may need to hook several rings together

Step 7: Add the back cover

voila!

It's a simple project that takes about 30-45 minutes.  I keep mine in a basket under my coffee table and flip through it every once and a while with the biggest smile!