Welcome Bags

I've gotten really busy with the wedding recently, because it dawned on me that I only have 4 months left to prepare!  I decided it would be a neat idea to make welcome bags for all of our out of town guests that they can pick up at the front desk.  I'm going to fill it with all sorts of cool things like a list of our favorite restaurants and activities in the area, information about the town, and directions, as well as a few surprise goodies.  I hope everyone likes them!  Also, if you're one of those out of town guests, don't forget to head over to our Accommodations page to book your room at the Hampton Inn.  Remember that the cutoff date for booking is 2 weeks before the wedding, so don't hesitate to reserve your room early!

-- Heather

A Pretty Hanger

So I've been pretty busy lately, but today marks a flurry of wedding activity!  I've e-mailed a videographer in hopes of getting a price list and booking them.  They film everything entirely in HD, which I thought was very cool!  Also, the hotel page for booking at the Hampton Inn is officially up!  Click here if you'd like to book online or just call 256-739-4444 and mention you're our guest.  Either way, you'll get a special discount rate!  I'm also going to work on finishing up the pages of this blog as much as I can.  The Our Story page and the page that's supposed to detail our bridal party are both still under construction, but hopefully that will change soon.

My dress also arrived!  I can make an appointment to try it on and consult with a seamstress any time I like, but I think I'm going to wait a month to see if I can slim down.  I ordered a corset, but if I'm smaller, the corset will make me even smaller than small!  I've also got to order my shoes before I try on the dress, but I'm having such a time picking them out!  Hopefully I can decide on something soon.

But even if I have indecisions about my shoes, there are several things that I know exactly what I want.  Today, I ordered a personalized hanger for  my wedding dress (sample shown below).

I've also got a guest book, card box, cake forks, and a chalk sign for the reception on my to buy list!  It makes me so happy to see everything coming together, and I can't wait to see the final product!

-- Heather

Beautiful Clutch

I've been very busy today!  Mostly with tax stuff (we have an appointment on Friday), but also with wedding things.  Yesterday, I made an appointment to consult with my friend's mom about my cake and contacted the hotel I'll be using for our group reservations.  While I didn't get anything concrete for the hotel, they've assured me that the general manager will be calling me back when she's in (apparently only she can handle it).

I picked out and ordered my garters today, as well as the beautiful clutch I've been eying.  After all, I'll have to put my lipstick somewhere!  Here's the sample photo of the clutch (it's custom made in my colors, so my actual clutch will be slightly different):

So the lady making my cake made a novel suggestion that might not be such a bad idea.  My problem with other bakers I've looked at is that they can't achieve a cake that's even close to perfect; I couldn't in good conscience allow someone to make my cake who I feel lacks the skill to do the details right.

Jana (that's her name) does an amazing job on cakes already, with things looking just right in every way, and she says that if I have a fake display cake made, that the fondant on the cake will look even better.  What this means is that there would be a hollow cake decorated with everything I want, then they will actually cut and serve a series of sheet cakes in whatever flavor I like.  This will also save my guests from having to eat fondant (blegh!).  Below is a pictures of the faux cake she made for her daughter.

It's so beautiful!  I'm thinking about asking her to make the top tier and bottom tier real though, so that we can actually cut our cake and freeze our top tier to eat on our anniversary.

-- Heather

Save the Dates and Flowers

So about a month ago, Mike and I had a photo taken to be used in making our custom save the dates.  I hear that it's custom to send them out about 8 months before the wedding, and here we are!  Today, I finished editing the picture, customized the invitation on the website, and ordered about 120 of them.  I can't wait for everyone to see how they turn out!  In the meantime, here's the picture I used for your enjoyment:

Also, I paid another visit to Stone Bridge Farm yesterday (the site of our wedding) to discuss flowers.  They're an all-inclusive site, so I don't have to worry about outside venders (whew!).  I showed them all the pictures I have saved for inspiration and told them the kinds of things I want to see as far as my bouquet, the arch, centerpieces, etc. go, and they said that it'll all be no problem.  They should be e-mailing me a floral plan soon, and I'm really excited to see how my vision turns out!

Both Mike and I also discussed with them the time before last what exactly our menu is going to look like, and we finalized it this time.  Although I'm not going to be revealing what exactly everyone will be enjoying, here's one thing that I will reveal that I know will please everyone: GARLIC CHEDDAR BISCUITS.

I hope everyone gets to come and enjoy them!


-- Heather