Please feel free to add me as a friend! :)

Thanks to Kristen_Tater for the idea for the graphic lyrics banner above. I used the quote from the front of our wedding programs.

We were married on October 28, 2011 - Halloween weekend, baby!

A bit about me -- My name is Karen and I survived 15 months of wedding planning! Haha. Thanks to PW, my husband Daniel and I had our perfect dream wedding and it was the most amazing day.

Our wedding theme was "Vintage Vegas Glam" though it turned out looking more Old Hollywood which was fine by me. I also used a lot of the leaf motif through the designs to incorporate our favorite season. I was able to make the designs swirly and elegant with this choice. Lighting played a large role in the look of the venue. We wanted "a lot of red light" and I was honestly worried that there would be too much black and not enough red in the final look. Ha, that's funny now! We booked an additional lighting company for red uplights and it made all the difference in the world (as you can see). Uplights give you a huge payoff for a small amount of money. 

I really hope I can inspire some other brides as much as I have been inspired here on Project Wedding. I have so many people to thank here for their advice, support and encouragement. It was the most work I have done for anything in my life but it was worth every ounce of it. I love to help people so please don't hesitate to send me a PM or toast to ask me a question.

We recently moved from Virginia to Atlanta so there really was no post-wedding depression for me. I have plenty of new projects to work on, yay!

I found a passion for weddings while planning my own. I am thinking about doing coordination on the side and/or opening up my own Etsy shop for design. 

To all of the new brides: Enjoy every single moment of planning. Time goes by so fast and even faster in the world of wedding planning. Enjoy being a bride and try to laugh through the stress and difficulties. Know that we all went through the roller coaster ride of planning and that you too will get through it and be able to say that the stress was worth it in the end.

Happy Planning! :)

ALL PHOTO CREDIT FOR PRO PICS GOES TO: Innovatory Photography. If you use any of my photos for your inspiration pictures, please credit my photographer and link back to me here! Thank you. :)

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Hubby and I were Space Glampires! :)

Starting off with the right music for the vibe today... Frank Sinatra station on Pandora. This was a surprise from my BM/hair stylist Drea and the coolest way to begin everything. It totally helped me relax and stay calm. :) 

I do not have any photos of ME getting hair/makeup done. This is totally my own fault because I was so worried about running late that I planned it all to happen far before the photographers got there. I knew it would take HOURS to do my hair and I was right. But it was all done on time. :)

It was definitely worth all the time in the chair. My MUA asked me if that was all my own hair and hardly believed me when I told her it was (but it was). LOL Unfortunately, I don't have any pics with my MUA, the amazing Heidi McKenna. 

My MOH Callie is pictured here with Drea's magic fingers.

It was pretty chaotic backstage. We used all of the rooms the venue would let us have access to.

Alcohol was required! This stuff is great, very light, a wine spritz I bought from World Market called Pomula. 

Wine and pizza from across the street. Pizza was for everyone else. My amazing MOH Callie got me Subway because I was afraid of messing up my makeup by eating pizza. My MUA taught me a helpful trick. She told me to take my sandwich apart, roll each piece up and carefully pop it into my mouth. It worked incredibly well! She also provided straws for drinks.

My BM Ebony did a good job of keeping me calm and making me smile because she kept running back and forth between my room and DH's room to check on him too. She gave me reports and told me he was really happy and that she felt love in both rooms. <3

And then the brooch on my shoe came off. So my sister Lyn who was my other MOH helped me glue it back on. Don't you just love my baggy sweatpants? It was fuh-reezing in that room so I was wearing them over my jeans. So classy.

My mom. :)

Callie and I were so excited about her hair that we hugged too!

And then it was time for my sister to help me put on my dress. I loved this because I had just helped her put on her wedding dress 6 months prior. :)

My dress was a little too big the week before the wedding (thanks to pre-wedding stress) so my friend Dana stepped in to help. She did some last minute sewing that morning but still needed to do some adjusting when I put it on. 

I love this next shot because it's me in the reflection of the jukebox.

The GM's were set up in a room adjacent to ours which was called "The James Brown Room" because it was pretty sleazy (in the best of ways). But the boys liked that. They also came to visit us often. :)

Our Best Man Justin held the rings and never wanted to put them down. :)

My handsome DH looks so happy here! =)

I know how much we all love detail shots, ladies! Here are a few but there are MANY more below in the ceremony and reception sections.

I loved my Luichiny shoes!!! 

In action! :)

Garter by HelloDesignCrew on Etsy

Bracelet by DesignbyPris on Etsy

Fascinator custom made by PW's own Woskov. :) Fascinate Me on Etsy. I highly recommend her.

The dress -- from the signature line by Galina

DIY dress hanger made by DH and I

Bouquets custom made by KateSaidYes on Etsy

GROOM DETAILS

We ordered custom made ties for DH and his GM's from Cyberoptix on Etsy. They were perfect! I highly recommend her as well.

DIY unicorn cufflinks made by DH!! He did an incredible job! =)

We did the First Look and Group Pics at Ault Park in Cincinnati. It was the perfect place and perfect time. Not too sunny and no rain. 

Then we said "Now what?" LOL

We were so glad we didn't have to hide from each other or be apart anymore today. :)

Then we were off for formal portraits!

There are so many more pics of the guys because us ladies ran SUPER late. Oh well. LOL 

THE GUYS

I love everyone who was in our wedding party so much! :) It was such a fun, fun day for all of us.

THE GALS

EVERYBODY!

And to get that shot above, there was much stair climbing involved (but worth the effort). Which caused a lot of things like this to happen:

I stepped on my veil and tore my dress! But it was at the very bottom, underneath the top layer so nobody knew but us. 

This one cracks me up. It looks like we are saying "Let's slide down the banister!"

FAMILY PORTRAITS BACK AT THE VENUE

THE BRIDE

THE HANDSOME GROOM

TOGETHER!

We did our "Bride & Groom" photo shoot right outside of the venue, right after First Look. It was pretty cold outside that day but the adrenaline completely overrode the chill.  

I loved that the venue had a marquee! I came up with "Night of the Living Wed" as a nod to old horror movies since we both love those so much. And it was Halloween weekend. :)

Our photographer Joe risked life and limb for this next shot. He laid down in the middle of the busy city street and was nearly run over by a driver not paying attention. He does anything to get the shot!! 

Then my veil fell out and DH fixed it for me. :)

Right after that, our DOC's DH roared up in his 1947 Ford for us to take photos with! That was an incredible surprise from our DOC. =) Something blue!!!

Okay, THESE next few pics were taken later, near the end of the reception. I wanted a photo of us doing ring finger birds to the camera. Our photographer delivered in spades! 

Kicked up one more level (to Level 11, haha!)... our photographer's idea... perhaps my favorite photo of all of ours:

The Seating of the Mothers -- "Love Theme from The Godfather"

Bridesmaid Processional -- "All I Want Is You" by Vitamin String Quartet (U2 tribute)

         Waiting for my music... "Love Story Meets Viva La Vida" by Jon Schmidt. I did a custom edit to shorten the first part of the song and I waited for a few minutes outside the door while the song was playing. Once the song transitioned to "Viva La Vida", I entered the theatre.

I walked down the aisle alone but DH met me at the end of the aisle and helped me up the stairs to the altar.

WINE UNITY CEREMONY -- "Can't Help Falling in Love" by Vitamin String Quartet (our nod to Elvis)

The wines we chose for the ceremony:

• RED: 2008 Leaf Street Pinot Noir because we drank this the night we were engaged 
• WHITE: 2010 Chateau Ste Michelle Chardonnay because it's a wine we drink often  

My BM Ebony sang "At Last" to us and cried while she sang it, which made everyone else cry too. It was so heart warming!

THE KISS!

Recessional -- "We Go Together", the end song from "Grease" :)

♥♥♥ MARRIED!!! ♥♥♥ 

RECEIVING LINE

My new family! :) MIL, BIL's, and DH's niece:

VENUE DETAILS -- 20th Century Theatre in Cincinnati, Ohio

DIY DETAILS

Vow cards with vows written by DH and I -- vows in their entirety here 

This is a display of all of the comments/advice we received back on our RSVP postcards:

OTHER DETAILS

Photo guest book made on Mixbook.com -- I highly recommend them! If you want to see the whole thing in more detail, click here. I put a ridiculous amount of time into each page but it was so much fun for me! 

GRAND ENTRANCE -- "Viva Las Vegas" by Vince Neil of Motley Crue

FIRST DANCE -- "That's Amore" by Dean Martin :)

THE SPEECHES AND CHAMPAGNE TOAST (this was one of our splurges)

CAKE CUTTING -- "Lips Like Sugar 12" Mix" by Echo & The Bunnymen

"Hakiba!!!" LOL

MOTHER SON DANCE -- "Smile" by Nat King Cole

BOUQUET TOSS -- "Single Ladies" by Beyonce

GARTER REMOVAL -- "Cherry Pie" by Warrant

GARTER TOSS -- "Party All the Time" by Eddie Murphy

The open dance kickoff song was "Party Rock Anthem" by LMFAO! Our DJ could not have picked a better song.

"Cupid Shuffle"

DOLLAR DANCE -- "Easy Heaven" (The Commodores VS The Cure Mashup) and "L-O-V-E" by Nat King Cole

Everybody wanted to dance with us and each other. LOL

 Back to open dance... 

Lets do "The Time Warp" again!!!

Later, the music kicked into higher gear with our old school favorites like "Born Slippy" by Underworld and "James Brown is Dead" by L.A. Style. Our guests couldn't stay off of the floor! 

A toast at the bar!

SPARKLER EXIT

This next photo is the entire reason I wanted to do a sparkler exit. =)

VENUE -- 20th Century Theatre in Cincinnati, OH

We named the tables after old Vegas casinos. Facts were included about each casino on the table number. This was meaningful to me as I had spent a lot of time in Vegas as a kid. 

"Buffet Menu for Karen & Daniel's Fabulous Reception"

I know menu cards are unnecessary for a buffet menu but I love the way menu cards look on top of chargers. And I was really excited about making these menu cards! :) 

CAKE by A Spoon Fulla Sugar -- Ridiculous yummy

I drew up the design in Adobe Illustrator and brought it to our bakery. They reproduced it exactly. The sheet music on the 2nd tier is the actual sheet music to "Theme from Love Story" by Frances Lai because we both grew up loving that song. 

DIY cake topper, made by Crafty Eddy (craftyeddy@gmail.com) and blinged out by me with quite a number of hotfix crystals.

Groom's Cake -- a surprise for DH, made by Cathie Shaffer in Virginia (where we lived at the time). It was a huge donut shaped cake, with rainbow skulls as the confetti on top. It was vanilla cake and filled with Bavarian cream because that's DH's favorite donut flavor.

CANDY BUFFET

We bought SOOOOO much candy for this (and still have some left over) but it looked amazing and it was attacked once people realized it was there. We started out with the plan to use all red and black candy but most black candy is gross so we opted to go with Halloween themed candy instead. The candy we used was:

• Halloween Reese's peanut butter cups
• Sour patch kids
• Halloween oreos
• Gummy krabby patties
• Halloween kit kit minis
• Strawberry twizzlers
• Ghost Dots
• Cinnamon jelly hearts
• Smartees
• Halloween sixlets
• Halloween M&M's
• Halloween Hershey's kisses
• Swirly lollipops
• Candy corn
• A tree of dum-dums
• A gingerbread haunted house (not for eating)

"The taste of love is sweet when hearts like ours meet" -- Johnny Cash

Hubby and I were so busy during the reception that we forgot to get a pic together! That's how crazy it was. At least we each got one with a friend.

For sale: 36" sparklers (52 count)

Married last week! I have 52 sparklers left. Each sparkler is 36 inches long and they last 4 minutes when lit. We were able to do our walk-through exit twice because our guests loved doing this so much the first time and the sparklers were still going! These were a huge hit and amazing for photos.

$60.00 for all 52 of them which includes shipping.

PM me if interested.

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PREPPING THE NIGHT BEFORE REHEARSAL DINNER (Hair coloring, pumpkin candle making and gingerbread haunted house making... and drinking)

Wedding cake shots at Lucky's Bar, yummmm!

REHEARSAL DINNER 

GETTING READY PICS

 DETAILS 

 CEREMONY

RECEPTION

• Wedding Ceremony & Reception Venue: Twentieth Century Theater
• Event Planner: Your Wedding by Jen
• Officiant: Steve Means
• Photography: Innovatory Photography 
• DJ: Brian Childs (pchilds1@cinci.rr.com)
• Wedding Cake: A Spoon Fulla Sugar
• Bridal Hair: Drea Naschke
• Bridal Makeup: Heidi McKenna mckenna@fuse.net
• Wedding Dress: Galina signature line from David's Bridal
• Alterations: Leesburg Bridal & Tuxedo
• Shoes: Luichiny gem stone peep toes from Overstock.com
• Jewelry: Etsy (see the pro pics details for specific info)
• Bridesmaids Dresses: Alfred Angelo
• Florist: Etsy KateSaidYes
• Linens: Connie Duglin Specialty Linen Rental
• Save The Dates: DIY printed at Vistaprint.com
• Invitations: DIY printed at 123print.com
• Rehearsal Dinner Venue: Molly Malone's Covington
• Wedding Night Hotel: Marriott 
• Our Wedding Website: http://www.mywedding.com/dankaren

I'm in love with our photographer's talent. I feel SO lucky that I found him!

Photo credit: Innovatory Photography

October 22, 2010

Dan and I met a few times a la Harry Met Sally before becoming the "Dan&Karen" that our friends and family think of. Years before we became a couple we were briefly introduced in the Summer of 1996 by our mutual friend Becky. I had stopped by Becky’s house in Dayton, Ohio where Dan and his best friend Klint were. Dan had just moved back from Augusta, Georgia and was preparing to move to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and I was heading to University of Toledo that Fall. Timing means everything and it wasn’t right yet (though Dan says he still remembers what I was wearing that night). The two of us said polite hellos and goodbyes and went on with our lives. We ran into each other again about a year later, at Becky’s house, and once again went on with our lives. We were briefly sharing the same zip code again.

It wasn’t until a cold snowy night in December of 1998 that we met again for a third time and spent some time getting to know each other. I had just moved back from Atlanta, Georgia. Klint and Dan picked me up from my parents’ house at Becky’s insistence because there was a blizzard and I wouldn’t drive. Dan and I were left all alone at Becky’s house. This night would come to be known as Crunchy Snow Night between Dan and me. The two of us watched movies together, talked, and laughed. We totally clicked but did not exchange numbers. Dan drove me home and we said goodnight as two new friends.

In February of 1999 Becky had an *ahem* wild birthday bash thrown by Tuty’s Inn in Fairborn which was our (Karen & Becky) favorite hangout at the time. We were karaoke queens and had a close knit group of friends there who would gather weekly. Guess who showed up that night? Dan with his friend Bill! Dan didn’t even want to go but Bill had talked him into it. Hooray, Bill!

Dan and I talked and laughed all night, drank many pitchers of Killian’s, and talked more. We talked about bands and discovered that we were both passionate about music (this laid the foundation for the two bands we would form in the future). The night went too fast and the bar closed. We said goodnight and I was sure that Dan wouldn’t call me.

Dan proved me wrong (something that I would have to get used to as it would occur often in the future) when he called three days later on March 2, 1999 and casually asked me to hang out with him and Klint that night. He had gotten my number from Becky. We went to dinner at Applebee’s and attempted to shoot pool at Wallaby’s. We discovered we  both loved the band Social Distortion when "Ball and Chain" by Social D came on the jukebox and we danced to it. It’s amusing that this came to be known as our First Song as it’s an anti-love song. The two of us ended up alone together at Steak ‘N Shake where we talked for hours. Dan asked me out again for two nights later, which happened to be Dan’s birthday.

We celebrated with dinner and drinks at Dublin Pub with a group of Dan’s friends and then we went to 1470 West for the rest of the night. This was a common hangout but we  hadn’t been there together until now. Dan swept me off my feet when he kissed me for the first time that night on the dance floor and we have rarely spent a day apart since then.

Flash forward to 10 years later. My, where does the time go?? Dan had gotten a big promotion as a Financial Analyst and the new position was in Virginia. We were ready for a new chapter together so we jumped on the opportunity to move from Ohio to Leesburg, Virginia on the snowiest day of January 2010.

We had talked of marriage for years and I was doing my best to be patient. I once told Dan that I didn’t care how he asked me and it didn’t need to involve any fireworks or sky writing or JumboTrons. I just wanted to be asked.

We spent our first Fourth of July in the new area by going to Washington, D.C. to a big event called "Freaks United" with 6 bands and 12 DJ’s. It was quite the to-do. We got to watch fireworks over the Capitol Building from afar and it was amazing. Afterward we went back into the club and danced to The Cure’s "Love Song" and sang the words to each other. It was then that Dan spontaneously said those four magic words that I had been waiting so long to hear. I was so shocked that I couldn’t even cry. (I always imagined that I would.) All I could do was hug him and say yes. It was a perfect proposal.

Apparently there did need to be fireworks.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

My DIY ring shot (months later at Halloween, our favorite holiday!)

                                          And the night we got engaged, July 4th, 2010: <3

50's Vegas Glam theme

Colors: (also lots of feathers and rhinestones)

BM dresses - Alfred Angelo #6545, Satin, Chiffon, Crystal Beading, Sequins, A-line, Halter Neckline. We got these for about $117.00 at http://www.pearlsplace.com/.

 

Our tables will be named after old Vegas casinos. This is my mockup. 

I love my ivory Galina dress but I can't wait to get it altered so that it fits. It's too big! It's so much prettier in person. I can't wait to post a pic of me at the fitting. I bought this on major sale and it was the first thing I bought for the wedding, about 3 weeks after the proposal. The jeweled blingy neckline is my favorite part about this.

I scored finding these Luichiny shoes for 45% off on overstock.com for $40!!! So I pounced on them. :D

My first wedding stress came early because of these shoes. I found them for a steal at Overstock.com ($40!) and ordered them. But UPS screwed me and got my address mixed up with a dog salon (yes, really) down the street. They left the wrong infonotice on our door. UPS ended up returning my shoes (even though we showed up at UPS within enough time) and I freaked out when I discovered this as those were the only pair in that size
and I had snagged them.

But FI is amazing and watched Overstock's website like a hawk, re-ordered them, and had them shipped to his office. So they are now mine!!!

Here they are in my possession finally after the UPS debacle. They are perfect!!!!

And I got these for the reception (this is not me):

Whew! Within one week, I focused obsessively on finding the rest of my accessories. This was possibly the most stressful part of planning thus far. Who doesn't want to look like a million bucks on their wedding day? 

I had a bit of an identity crisis while deciding my wedding day look. I don't want to look like a traditional bride so I was thinking about non-white accessories. But you only get to be a bride once in your life and wear white. So with the assurance from my amazing fiance that I couldn't look traditional no matter how much white I wore, I decided on fairly traditional accessories. My luck paid off for me because I found pieces I am in love with.

My bracelet found on Etsy at http://www.etsy.com/shop/designbypris I got it for $25! I love this.

Earrings: These are classic Hollywood Glam which has a strong overlap into Old Vegas Glam. I love the feeling these invoke. $35 from Etsy at http://www.etsy.com/shop/nyjolejewellery

This is the stunning fascinator I chose for $40 that Woskov (I highly recommend her!) made me from her Etsy shop:

This is the sweet note she sent to me with it:

My $8 garter from Etsy shop hellodesigncrew: 

Our cake tasting experience was AMAZING. Everything the bakery brought out to us we loved and we had a hard time choosing. Look at this tray of yumminess!

We are both musicians so music is super important to us and we are going to be picky about this. We are going to plan our entire playlist for ceremony, cocktail hour, dinner background music, and reception. We have probably half of our music decided but still a lot to go.

CEREMONY

Prelude - Prelude music is played prior to the ceremony as guests are being seated. These songs will set the tone for your ceremony. Depending on your timeline, you will typically choose 5-6 songs to be played at this time. (The Knot suggests 45 mins of music before processional.)

1. Finale from Water Music - Handel
2. Love Story (Theme) - Frances Lai
3. Moon River - Mancini
4. Love Theme from Godfather

Processional - The Processional begins as the immediate family members are ready to be seated. 

All I Want is You (String Quartet Tribute to U2)

Bride entrance -

Jon Schmidt - Love Story Meets Viva La Vida (this totally makes me cry!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfH2BY5pdLw

Interlude - Interlude songs are often used during the ceremony to signify a special moment for the couple. This would be a perfect type of song to play during the lighting of a unity candle.

Vitamin String Quartet: Michael Buble - Can't help falling in love

Recessional - Congratulations, you're married! 

We Go Together (Grease) (recently changed from "Everlong" which is super dramatic but not upbeat enough)

Postlude - The Postlude plays at the conclusion of the ceremony, after the recessional. As your guests exit, the postlude music should keep with the upbeat mood.

This Could Be the Start of Something - Jack Jones

Fly Me to the Moon - Sinatra

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cocktail hour = 20-25
dinner = 30-40
dancing = 45 or more

http://schiemerentertainment.com/wpblog/song_ideas/2010-wedding-dj-playlists/

COCKTAIL HOUR - The whole cocktail hour will be Rat Pack and music similar. Also I should check out Vitamin String Quartet music for this so we can have modern songs that sound classy. Or it may be all instrumental swing! (note to self: Check grooveshark saved playlist)

1. Chicago - Frank Sinatra
2. The Way You Make Me Feel - Paul Anka
3. Ain't That a Kick in the Head - Dean Martin
4. Luck be a Lady - Frank
5. Strangers in the Night - Frank
6. The Lady is a Tramp - Frank
7. Young at Heart - Frank
8. Mack the Knife - Frank or Bobby Darin
9. It Had to Be You - Harry Connick Jr.
10. All I Do Is Dream of You - Dean Martin
11. Night and Day - Steve Lawrence
12. Volare (Nel Blu, Di Pinto Di Blu) - Dean Martin
13. Let's Never Stop Falling in Love - Pink Martini
14. Girl From Ipanema – Stan Getz?
15. Let’s Fall In Love – Vic Damone (or dinner)
16. Sway (Quien Sera) – Dean Martin
17. That Ol' Black Magic - Louis Prima
18. Amado Mio - Pink Martini
19. Come Rain or Shine - Billie Holiday
20. Papa Loves Mambo – Perry Como
21. Too Marvelous for Words - Ella Fitzgerald
22. Sittin' On Top of the World - Dean Martin
23. Love Song - Adele
24. Don't Worry Be Happy - Bobby McFerrin

DINNER MUSIC - will be pretty much all from the 40's, 50's, and slower music that was special to us while we have been dating for the last 12 years. 

1. Steppin' Out with My Baby - Fred Astaire

2. I Put a Spell On You - Nina Simone

3. Bushel & A Peck - Doris Day
4. Swinging on a Star – Bing Crosby
5. Be My Baby - The Ronettes
6. (Today I Met) the Boy I'm Gonna Marry - The Crystals
7. The Way I Am - Ingrid Michaelson
8. I Walk the Line - Johnny Cash
9. Try a Little Tenderness - Otis Redding
10. I Love You Always Forever – Donna Lewis
11. 1901 - Phoenix
12. Our Day Will Come - Ruby & The Romantics
13. Sweet Disposition - Temper Trap
14. Under the Milky Way - The Church
15. Crush - Dave Matthews Band
16. Trolley Song - Judy Garland
17. Mambo Italiano - Rosemary Clooney
18. Chapel of Love - Dixie Cups
19. Longer - Dan Fogelberg?
20. Cha Cha Cha D'amour - Dean Martin
21. Catch a Falling Star - Perry Como
22. Bella Notte - Disney (Lady & The Tramp)
23. 1,2,3,4 - Plain White T's
24. Sing - Pink Martini
25. What's New Pussycat - Tom Jones
26. Purple People Eater - Sheb Wooley
27. Sleepwalk - Santo & Johnny (Thanks, Callie!)
28. I'm Yours - Jason Mraz
29. Love Will Keep Us Together - Captain & Tenille
30. Wrapped Around Your Finger - Sting
31. Fly Me to the Moon - Sinatra
32. The Look of Love – Diana Krall
33. Cupid – Amy Winehouse
34. Unchained Melody – The Righteous Brothers
35. Halo - Beyonce
37. Nobody Does it Better - Carly Simon
38. Little Red Riding Hood - Sam the Sham
39. Spooky - Classics IV

-------------------------------------

RECEPTION AFTER DINNER

• Bridal party entrance song: See See Rider - Elvis
• Bride & Groom entrance song: Viva Las Vegas - Vince Neil
• Bouquet Toss: Single Ladies - Beyonce
• Garter Removal: Cherry Pie - Warrant (haha!)
• First Dance: That's Amore - Dean Martin
• Wedding Party Dance: Easy Heaven - Commodores VS The Cure
• Last Dance: Ball & Chain (Honky tonk) - Mike Ness
• Cake Cutting song: Candyman - Sammy Davis Jr.
• Dollar Dance:
  
  • L-O-V-E - Nat King Cole
  • Easy Heaven - Commodores VS The Cure

The rest of the music is going to make people dance! Lots of upbeat music. Some fun 50's rock n' roll. Some of today's hip hop. Some other music but the styles will be all over the map. That's why we need a DJ. To read the crowd and decide when to play what. This list is a work in progress constantly being updated and tweaked. *The ones with asterisks have been "tested" (this means they sounded really good to us while we were tipsy like most of our guests will be!) and approved by us.

1. Time Warp*
2. Monster Mash*
3. Cha Cha Slide*
4. Jump in the Line - Harry Belafonte*
5. The Cupid Shuffle*
6. Brick House - Commodores*
7. Teach Me How to Dougie - Cali Swag District feat. Sean Kingston & B.O.B.*
8. No One Lives Forever - Oingo Boingo*
9. Beyond the Sea - Bobby Darin*
10. Earth Angel - Marvin Berry and The Starlighters*
11. Let the Music Play - Shannon*
12. You're The One That I Want (Grease)*
13. Hot Hot Hot - Buster Poindexter*
14. Don't Stop Til You Get Enough - MJ*
15. Crazy in Love - Beyonce*
16. I know You Want Me - Pitbull*
17. Mambo #5 - Lou Bega*
18. The Way You Look Tonight - Frankie*
19. Bust A Move - Young MC*
20. Forever - Chris Brown*
21. DJ Got Us Falling In Love – Usher*
22. Just Dance - Lady Gaga*
23. Just the Way You Are - Bruno Mars*
24. Club Can't Handle Me - Flo Rida feat. David Guetta*
25. Take if Off - Ke$ha*
26. O.M.G. - Usher feat will.i.am*
27. Poker Face (Glam As You radio mix) - Lady Gaga*
28. Fight for Your Right - Beastie Boys*
29. Baby Got Back - Sir Mix-a-Lot*
30. Poison - Bel Biv Davoe*
31. Love My Way - Psychadelic Furs*
32. Baby I Love Your Way - Big Mountain*
33. I Gotta Feeling - Black Eyed Peas*
34. Boom Boom Pow - Black Eyed Peas*
35. Say Hey! - Michael Franti*
36. Groove is in the Heart - Deee-Lite*
37. Jungle Love - The Time*
38. Sexyback - Justin Timberlake*
39. White Wedding - Billy Idol*
40. Prince - 1999 (the year we got together!) :)*
41. Wang Chung - Everybody Have Fun Tonight*
42. London Bridge (Radio Oh snap edit) - Fergie*
43. Low - Flo Rida*
44. Sea of Love - Honeydrippers*
45. Vogue - Madonna*
46. Rock This Town - Stray Cats
47. True - Spandau Ballet*
48. Hungry Like the Wolf - Duran Duran*
49. She Blinded Me with Science - Thomas Dolby*
50. Cherish (Single Version) - The Association*
51. Photograph - Def Leppard*
52. Car Wash - Rose Royce*
53. Super Freak - Rick James*
54. Just Like Heaven - The Cure*
55. We Are Family - Sister Sledge*
56. Love Song - The Cure*
57. Here With Me - Dido & Moby version*
58. Milkshake - Kelis*
59. Atomic Dog – George Clinton*
60. Feedback - Janet Jackson*
61. Kiss - Prince*
62. My Sharona - The Knack*
63. Show Me Love - Robin S.*
64. Don't Stop the Music - Rihanna*
65. Work It - Missy E*
66. 4 Minutes - Madonna (feat. Timberlake & Timbaland)*
67. Zoot Suit Riot - Cherry Poppin' Daddies*
68. Fly to the Angels, Up All Night - Slaughter
69. September - Earth Wind and Fire*
70. The Tide Is High - Blondie*
71. Thriller - MJ*
72. Like a G6 - Far East Movement*
73. Jump - Kris Kross*
74. Brown Eyed Girl – Van Morrison*
75. Blister in the Sun - Violent Femmes*
76. Get Your Freak On - Missy E*
77. Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You - Frankie Valli & The 4 Seasons*
78. Rock 'n Roll is Here To Stay - Sha Na Na*

http://digitaldreamdoor.nutsie.com

After cake cutting, we go into club mode:

1. This is Halloween (NBC)
2. She Sells Sanctuary - The Cult
3. Under Pressure - Queen w/ David Bowie
4. Unicorn (video version) - Apoptygma Berzerk
5. Strict Machine - Goldfrapp?
6. Come Undone - Duran Duran
7. Underworld  - Born Slippy
8. Shots - LMFAO
9. Spin Spin Sugar (Armand's Dark Garage Mix) - Sneaker Pimps
10. Confusion (edited Pump Panel Construction Mix) - New Order
11. Release It - Hate Dept 
12. Dead Stars (Club Version) - Covenant
13. Chrome - VNV Nation
14. Every Day is Halloween - Ministry?
15. Join in the Chant - Nitzer Ebb
16. Soil & Eclipse - Whispering Trees
17. Beers Steers & Queers - Revolting Cocks
18. Corporate Slave - Snog
19. #1 Crush - Garbage?
20. Hallucination Generation - Gruesome Twosome
21. Mindphazer - Front Line Assembly
22. 1000 Homo DJ's - Supernaut!
23. Machines of Loving Grace - Butterfly Wings
24. CruxShadows - Monsters
25. Die Form - Rain of Blood
26. Clan of Xymox - Jasmine and Rose?
27. Timekiller - And One
28. Days of the Phoenix - AFI?
29. Home or Behind the Wheel - Depeche Mode

I did a mockup of the feather CP's in Photoshop. I used this website and the chargers from HolyMolyMatrimony's wedding photos on PW. We found the red chargers on sale for $4.99 for a 4 pack at Target around Thanksgiving and grabbed them from 2 different store locations. I am so excited about these! Serious wow factor acquired.

GUEST TABLES

• Black table linens
• Black napkins
• Red chair covers with black band sashes
• Metallic Red chargers
• White ostrich feather CP's with clear vases and clear aqua beads and white (or red) floralytes
• Buffet menu cards (DIY)
• Votive candles
• Metallic poker confetti or scattered bling ice?

DECOR FOR HEAD TABLE

• Black table linens
• Metallic Red chargers
• Red chair covers with black band sashes
• (Working on the rest of this still)

We are going to have 2 different centerpieces. The tall CP's will be ostrich feather and the short ones... well, we are working on that. We think we are going to do cylinder vases with water beads and floralytes. We have to do a trial and see how that works out.

We did the trial of the short centerpieces and they are *sings* awesome!!! These are so easy to make. Though now we know we need more beads so one pack per container will not do it. When we do this again, we will make sure the beads fill the container 90% full.

• Red aqua beads (expanding gel beads)
• Red LED lights
• Cylinder vase
• Mirror square

Makeup inspiration (though I am totally undecided on what I want):

Hair inspiration:

I stumbled onto this perfect updo in a salon book one day while waiting for a friend. I quickly snapped pics with my phone to make sure I captured every angle. I love how it's like a "wedding mohawk". My stylist is thrilled to do non-traditional wedding hair. :)

HAIR TRIAL - credit: Drea Naschke of Wright Image Salon in Fairborn, OH

This turned out a little different from the inspiration pics but I love the way she did it. It's more romantic but still glam. We are going to do another trial before the wedding. I am beyond lucky because my wedding day stylist is my regular stylist AND one of my lovely BM's. :)

I designed these in Photoshop with graphics I bought from Dreamstime.com for $24.99. I just had to do some (not so minor afterall) tweaking of the graphics. I am getting them printed through Vista Print. With the discount I had, it was about $28 (and I got free return address labels which I am using as labels for my candy buffet bags). I can't wait to get them back! I plan to mail them in February.

Front:

Back:

In action:

Addressing them, which didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would. Took about an hour.

FI helping me stamp them at the post office to be mailed, yay!

Designed in Illustrator. Printing at 123print.com! :) We ended up doing a different envelope.

This is what I hope I can make my bouquet look like:

I ended up not doing this myself because I decided to go faux-floral and found this amazing seller on Etsy:

Kate Said Yes

She was a dream to work with and made custom bouquets for me and my BM's.

This is what each of the BM's will be carrying:

And this is mine:

I added a band of Swarovski crystals around the base but I don't have a good pic of it. I made fiddleheads out of clay and that was a success, but it didn't look right with the style of the bouquet. So I had to leave them out. 

We started collecting containers and candy. This is what I have so far:

Then we got more containers and a 3 tier tray for truffles:

The 2 carafes on the left side are for our wine unity ritual in the ceremony.

Some candy we bought:

I also have black/white swirly mini lollipops with personalized stickers but I have yet to take pics. Soon!

Here they are!

About half of what we ended up buying:

We are making lollipop displays for these and for another group of lollis. This is what they look like on display though they will look better once they have candies poured on them to hide the floral foam.

Inspiration:

Source

Major credit goes to FI for helping with this:

Our treat bags:

INSPIRATION PICS

Source:

  <------- DIY tried and super easy!!

"The taste of love is sweet when hearts like ours meet." - Johnny Cash (thanks, Shenanigans!)

BLACK:

• chocolate covered oreos
• Oreo wafer rolls - tried and love them!
• espresso beans
• chocolate covered pretzels
• chocolate covered pretzels
• black wrapped tootsie rolls
• mini dark milky ways
• chocolate mousse cat halloween peeps
• pop rocks (strawberry in black package)
• mini Hershey's milk chocolate

RED:

• M&M's
• swedish fish
• red hots
• red licorice
• red & white starlight mints
• red jelly bellies

WHITE:

• M&M's
• white chocolate covered oreos
• large marshmallows
• Peeps ghosts

SILVER:

• Hershey's kisses
• mini 3 Musketeers? (there's blue in this wrapper as well)
• York peppermint patties? (there's blue in this wrapper as well)

HALLOWEEN/ORANGE:

• candy corn
• mini kit kats

This was a blast to create. I can't wait to order it and see it in person!

http://www.mixbook.com/photo-books/wedding/k-d-wedding-guest-book-4988009

Edit: It's here! It's perfect and even prettier than I anticipated.

ESCORT CARD TABLE

Rectangle table

Cards:

• Vegas show tickets to "Night of the Living Wed"

Props:

• red dice to prop up each card (using glue dot to attach card to die)

Table Decor:

• table cover (black linen with design. Pintuck?)
• ostrich centerpiece centered at back of table
• red votive candles: in vertical columns between rows of cards OR just behind in row at back of table on each side of ostrich centerpiece

Aisle:

• Cylinder vases with water, floating rose shaped candle, siam glass stones
• Painted aisle runner
• Rose petals lining each side of runner

Wine table:
wine bottles
wine glasses
wine carafe
candle
table cover

Stage where altar is:
lined with votive candles all the way across

Freeze dried red rose petals scattered where we will be standing

I wanted to have all of this in one place and I realized it could be helpful for other brides to be.

• Bouquets for me and bridal party - FlowerMan florist for arranging, wrap = http://www.waspcreations.com/howtol.htm
• Bridal party hangers
  • http://www.projectwedding.com/wedding-ideas/diy-aj-s-rosette-and-wire-wooden-hangers
  • http://www.projectwedding.com/wedding-ideas/diy-instructions-for-wire-hangers
  • http://diy.weddingbee.com/topic/personalized-name-wire-hanger
  • http://www.weddinggirl.ca/blog/2010/10/03/just-another-chilly-sunday-personalized-bridal-hangers/ (hanger example with “O” as heart)
  • http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to-make-quick-no-sew-fabric-flowers-326293/
• "Amore" wooden letters painted for cake table - no tutorial needed
• Card box
  • http://www.projectwedding.com/post/list/diy-cardbox-instructions
  • http://www.projectwedding.com/wedding-ideas/diy-cardbox
• Painted/etched wine glasses - need to find instructions
• Aisle runner painted
  • http://www.projectwedding.com/post/list/diy-aisle-runner-done-pics
  • http://www.projectwedding.com/post/list/kalenalena-how-on-earth-did-you-get-your-monogram-onto-the-aisle-runner-to-paint
• Bride tank top and bridal party tanks
  • http://www.projectwedding.com/post/list/pw-guide-article-diy-bridal-hoodie-how-to
  • http://www.projectwedding.com/post/list/aj-s-diy-getting-ready-tanks
• Candy Buffet jar signs tied w/ ribbon to jars
  • http://www.hostessblog.com/2010/09/sparkly-pink-navy-candy-buffet/comment-page-3/#comment-83180
• Funkin carving - may be tricky (project for D)
• Cake Topper
  • http://www.projectwedding.com/post/list/aw-i-finally-finished-a-diy
  • http://www.projectwedding.com/wedding-ideas/aj-s-diy-crafty-eddy-caketopper-instructions
• Mini pumpkin tealight holders - Tried and succeeded - easy
• Bathroom baskets
  • http://www.projectwedding.com/post/list/doing-bathroom-baskets
  • http://www.projectwedding.com/biography/list/AnnaB83/our-bathroom-baskets
• OOT baskets
  • http://wiki.weddingbee.com/Out-of-Town_bag (many other links here)
• Save the Dates - I know how
• Programs
  • http://wedding.theknot.com/wedding-planning/wedding-invitations/articles/diy-wedding-program-basics.aspx
  • http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Tie-Ribbon-onto-Ceremony-Programs/
  • http://www.marthastewartweddings.com/article/three-perfect-bows
  • http://www.marthastewartweddings.com/photogallery/25-perfect-programs
  • http://www.do-it-yourself-weddings.com/wedding-program-instructions.html
  • http://design.jodyprouse.com/freebies/templates.html
  • http://boards.weddingbee.com/topic/what-are-some-fun-things-i-can-add-to-my-programs
• Escort cards - I know how
• Table Number Cards & painting frames - I know how
• Envelope for each table with kiss instructions - I know how
• Tears of Joy
  • http://www.projectwedding.com/post/list/diy-tears-of-joy
• Wedding map inserts - will be tricky (get D's help)
• Poster of DK to go outside of venue - will be tricky (may not do this)
• Envelope liners for invites 
  • http://www.projectwedding.com/post/list/diy-envelope-liners
• Vellum & ribbon added to invites - I know how
• Cupcake stand for truffles on candy buffet
  • http://www.weddingbee.com/2010/08/02/cupcake-tower-diy/#more-155268

This poster will be 24x36 and go in one of the outside display cases of the theater.

Cake Flavors 4x6 sign, first inspired by Plumcrush:

Candy Buffet Sign 8x10

Kissing Menus 5x7 to go on each guest table, concept first seen somewhere on PW but I can't remember where:

Decided not to do these:

Welcome Sign 16x20, inspired by SignaturesbySarah:

Decided not to do this either:

Menu Cards (basic concept, but not exact menu yet):

Escort Cards:

Decided not to do escort cards and did table assignment board instead:

Wedding planning is the most exciting thing I've ever done. It's like Christmas all the time. I love getting things I ordered in the mail!

TOASTING FLUTES:

$10 score at Oriental Trading Company! We just wanted black ones so the price was a bonus.

VISTAPRINT HAUL:

I got a $50 credit from LivingSocial.com for merchandise from Vistaprint for (are you ready for this?) $10!!! This is what I got in this haul:

Address labels that we are using for the candy buffet bags:

Tote bag that I personalized with "Lucky in Love D&K" to carry my wedding binder and camera in for all wedding trips:

Vinyl banner for the head table:

I also got other address labels for our thank you cards. And a large rubber stamp that I customized and designed for the back of our invitation envelopes.

VISTAPRINT ROCKS!!!!

WEDDING PARTY GIFTS

For the guys, custom unicorn ties from Etsy and pocket squares:

These are FI's unicorn socks:

For the gals, heart-shaped personalized mirror compacts from TheKnot.com. Poem written by me! :)

Also matching jewelry sets of necklace and earrings from http://www.fashionjewelry21.com/ (amazing prices)

I didn't get a good pic of these but you can see them in our wedding photos:

Our first wedding gift also arrived in the mail: It was so exciting to get gifts!

And we got our RSVP from Mickey & Minnie. :) This was so cool and we displayed the photo in a frame at the reception. Here's how you can invite them (or the President) too! http://www.projectwedding.com/wedding-ideas/how-to-invite-the-president

Other items ordered and tips for where to get things:

- Silk petals from http://www.petalgarden.com - Love this place! Our silk petals looked and felt real. They will send you a free sample of different colors you choose so you can check it out for yourself. We got 2,000 petals for $35.98 and we had more than enough! 

- Diamond ice from http://www.wrapwithus.com/Categories/Wedding-Accessories/Wedding-Reception/Table-Decorations.aspx - We got 2,000 pieces in a bag for $5.99 and got 2 bags. Again, more than enough. 

- Truffles in bulk for the candy buffet - Dan's Chocolates - http://www.danschocolates.com - WONDERFUL company, will definitely be ordering from again. We got 2 bulk trays of truffles (in different flavors) for $39.98 total. We ordered Raspberry Chocolate and Pumpkin Pie truffles. They disappeared fast at the wedding. Glad we tried them out at home before! ;)

I have to say that none of these were easy for me! But I've never been an artsy crafty person. I can design on the PC and but wow, it's so different in real life. Countless times I found myself wishing for the "undo" button. But that's not how it works in real life. Instead, if you make a mistake, you get to start over! I learned so much doing these projects.

AISLE RUNNER:

This was SUCH a PITA! But I love the end result. A word of advice for others doing this!!! Make sure you place a piece of plastic between your design and your runner. Otherwise, your runner will stick to the paper design like mine did. I had to slowly and carefully pull it off. The runner has small tears in it but I am doing some creative repair.

CAKE TOPPER:

The DIY cake topper. I'd seen it a bunch of times online and I quickly added it to my list of things to make. I found a few tutorials.

Crafty Eddy was the one who made it for me. He doesn't have a website, you have to email him. He was super nice and he did this for $14 including shipping. It's a "C" in Edwardian font. Mr. Glampants and I learned that not all scripted "C's" are created equal. Some look like an "E", some look like an "L", and some don't look like anything resembling a letter. Edwardian font is the one that looks fancy but still allows you to decipher the letter. Crafty Eddy cranked this beauty out in a day. I ordered it around 9 AM and he emailed me a photo of the finished carved and sanded product about 7 hours later. Shipping was also fast.

I was ready to start the project! We bought indoor/outdoor spray primer which Mr. Glampants helped me with priming: 

To save money, I opted to use my acrylic paint from the runner. Primed and painted the letter, let it dry, all was good. I also found a new use for a beer bottle.

Fearful of my yet unused hotfix tool, I found some courage and set everything up. Holy cats, those crystals are tiny! Now I know what the tweezers are for. Picked up a crystal in the tool, set it down on the letter, and disaster struck. It was melting my paint! Come to find out, acrylic paint is not heat resistant. I should have checked before I tried it, totally my fault. Lesson learned.

The next weekend was Take 2. We bought spray on paint stripper, and BBQ grill paint. Because we knew that would be heat resistant. We didn't see regular indoor/outdoor Krylon paint. Stripped and painted the letter, let it dry overnight. 

Set up the hotfix tool and the crystals again. This time it worked. But it took some practice with the tool to understand how it worked. It's super neat! Not really easy at first. I burned my fingers a bunch of times using them to slide the crystals over once they were attached. That is until I realized I could do that with the tool itself. Sometimes the crystal would get stuck in the tool and I'd have to use a needle to get it out. I now understand why people say it's "eye-popping back-breaking" work. It is. I didn't want to stop because I wanted it done. I got at least half of it done in about 2.5 hours.

A few more hours another night and VOILA! I wish you could see how sparkly it is. It really blings.

CAKE TABLE LETTERS:

Cake table letters are finished. I had to re-paint them 3 times because I thought I could paint the middle trim in red. But I couldn't do it without making a mess out of it. I'm a perfectionist so I ended up painting the whole letter black. And then I had to re-paint them a 4th time because they got messed up when I'd stored them. It gave me the chance to do the rhinestones the way I wanted to though. FOUR TIMES!? But they are finished and I am glad. 

PHOTO COLLAGES:

I completed 4 of the 5 photo collages I plan on. They were actually pretty easy and I am really happy with them. We have a 17 foot long display case in the lobby/bar area of the venue to use and I wanted to put some cool things to look at it in it. 

Engagement pic collage:

History together 1:

History together 2:

Vintage Vegas Postcards:

I also made cute signs to go above the collages so people will know what they are. I have one collage project left -- pics of the wedding party members with us over the years.

CARD BOX:

Oh my. Finally this is finished. It didn't end up the way I saw it in my head but I like it enough. I actually love the front. But not the sides. I can't wrap gifts nicely. So after tearing the paper off and persuading Mr. Glampants to help me, and after he had to tear the paper off and do it again, the boxes were wrapped. It was supposed to be 3 boxes but I lost the top box and decided I didn't need it. It's very sparkly and very blingy and I love it. 

TEARS OF JOY:

Finally an easy project! Finally a DIY that didn't involve any cursing, yelling, re-dos or wanting to throw the project across the room. Totally inspired by this post by LadyESQ: http://www.projectwedding.com/post/list/modern-tears-of-joy-packets, I assembled our Tears of Joy packs tonight. Well, half of them are finished. I'll finish the other half tomorrow. The rest of the night is devoted to beer with FI. :)

Poem on these was first seen at JonNJen2011's profile.

This was a cheap and easy DIY for $6.50 total cost!

- Business cards from VistaPrint for free (I'm a very loyal customer and they send me offers frequently)

- 2 bulk packs of travel size kleenex from Dollar Tree for $1 each

- Self adhesive plastic bags from Ebay (100 for $2.00, $2.50 for shipping)

INVITATIONS

Oh my goodness. This was a huge project!  

This was a LOT more work than I first planned. After 30 something revisions to the design for each piece, and SO much trial and error figuring out how to execute the project, they are finished. I had the invites printed at 123print.com and the RSVP postcards printed at Vista Print. (I shamelessly borrowed the RSVP postcard back design from msdl, with her permission.) I DIY'd the address labels and modified the wraparound label concept.

FI and I worked our tails off on assembling these in a matter of hours in one night and then we dropped them off at the post office! I can't believe they are done. HOORAY!!! Thank you, PW, for inspiration from so many places here. FI and I love these and they really suit us.

PROGRAMS

I am so so proud of these. Another design project with 3617319 revisions to it. This is the final product. They look so much better printed out.

Outside pages (back and front):

Inside pages:

RSVP Card Display -- I only wish I could remember who posted something similar to this last year. I searched PW for hours earlier trying to remember. If anyone knows, please let me know! I would love to give that bride credit for the inspiration. I love that we got so many great comments and the drawn pics are the best!

Getting ready tank -- rhinestone design found on ebay here. FI was awesome enough to iron it on for me:

Memorial candles:

FI's amazing DIY unicorn cufflinks: (turns out that he is crafty too!)

Programs basket and tears of joy baskets:

Photo Booth mask props: (we found these in Joanne's in the Halloween section and I painted them)

Dress hanger: (not a fun project for me, I think I could have done better but I didn't have the patience to do it again)

Vow cards: (I love these)!!!!

Menu cards:

Table assignments display board:

Sparkler container (joint project with FI):

I'm so overjoyed about this. We bought mine and FI's bands today. They should be here soon. *Squee!!!!!!*

 Mine on me!

I am very pleased with how this went. :)

Fri, October 28 - jocemae 
Fri, October 28 - kittyglampants <------------- Me!!!
Fri, October 28 - Puertovallartabride 
Fri, October 28 - amyroberts14 
Fri, October 28 - aragonsti 
Fri, October 28 - Paige1028 
Fri, October 28 - jmoose 

Thank you, PW, because this is awesome!!!

I love the STD's my MOH sent out!!!!!

I will try to add some more detail later but here are some pics from my shower from September 3rd. It was perfect and so much fun!

My bach party was perfect! I had SOOO much fun. I will try to do a proper re-cap soon.

We started out by meeting up at my MOH's house.

Then we went to the Westin hotel and pre-gamed with more booze in the room than anyone could possibly drink in a night. I drank whiskey sours and High Life. We had an amazing view of Fountain Square from our window:

We had alcohol infused whipped cream shots:                    My sister and me! :)

Then we walked to the Penguin Dueling Piano Bar:

I drank apple martinis...                                           and apparently some shots of something else? LOL

Then we took a taxi van and met up with some of the boys (and FI, not pictured here) at a club we frequent. This is when the night started to get wild. I have only posted the tame pics here. LOL

The girls got me a shirt with a checklist on it of things I had to do. I didn't want to cover up my pretty dress so I wrapped it around my waist. This is me bending over so someone else can read my list, hah! And this is my checklist (I don't remember doing half of these things)!

Then we went back to the hotel room with everyone for more drinking. We did a champagne toast but I don't remember it at all!

And a pic with FI!

The DD drove us back home to our own hotel a little while after this. That was a perfect bachelorette party!

Dan's:

In the past 12 years there's been one thing we've said to each other almost as much as "I Love You" and that's "Everything happens for a reason."

I truly believe this.
From the first time we met, I knew we'd be together forever.
Love should be effortless and ever present.
You are the only one I can truly be myself around.
I can't imagine myself with anyone else.
You are the jelly in my doughnut and the rock in my roll.

So, In the presence of our friends and family,
I take you, Karen, to be my wife and I pledge to you, my absolute belief in us.

I promise to love, to honor, and to listen
to live in truth with you and be faithful
to communicate fully and fearlessly
to work always with you and never against you
to give you my deepest devotion, unconditional love, and unwavering trust
to walk by your side forevermore

I promise to laugh with you when times are good
to comfort you and be your shelter when life is stormy
to remain young at heart
to never let you leave the house without eyebrows

I promise to grow with you
to welcome new adventures and embrace the unknown with you
to overcome obstacles and also enjoy contentment with you

I promise to inspire you as you have inspired me,
to dream with you
to support your passions
and I will be your biggest fan, in all you do

I give you my heart and I promise to keep our home a loving sanctuary
where we will create the most beautiful life we can

You are my best friend, my teacher, my anchor, and my wish come true
I am honored to be your husband and I will love you always. 

Mine:

I believed soul mates were a make-believe part of a fairy tale
until I found you.

When you find The One, you just know.
There is nothing to question.
Everything fits together and falls into place.
You are the companion I always hoped for
but I never dreamed this would be so perfect
You are life’s most precious gift to me
and I treasure the amazing life we’ve built together over the past 12 years.

So, In the presence of our friends and family,
I take you, Daniel, to be my husband and I pledge to you, my absolute belief in us.

I promise to love, to honor, and to listen
to live in truth with you and be faithful
to communicate fully and fearlessly
to work always with you and never against you
to give you my deepest devotion, unconditional love, and unwavering trust
to walk by your side forevermore

I promise to laugh with you when times are good
to comfort you and be your shelter when life is stormy
to remain young at heart
to never let you leave the house with bad hair

I promise to grow with you
to welcome new adventures and embrace the unknown with you
to overcome obstacles and also enjoy contentment with you

I promise to inspire you as you have inspired me,
to dream with you
to support your passions
and I will be your biggest fan, in all you do

I give you my heart and I promise to keep our home a loving sanctuary
where we will create the most beautiful life we can

You are my best friend, my teacher, my anchor, and my wish come true
I am honored to be your wife and I will love you always.

1. Splurge on an amazing photographer. When you know your budget and are looking for vendors, make sure you book the best photographer you possibly can. Your photos will be what's left after the wedding. (Tip: We were super lucky and found our photographer as up and coming talent on Craigslist so check that out for starters.) It's worth it to cut out minor details in your budget in order to have gorgeous photo documentation of your day.

2. A venue coordinator is NOT the same as a Day of Coordinator (DOC), in most cases. Our venue gave us a coordinator to work with but that coordinator only helped with aspects of the venue details. Best advice I ever got was to hire a DOC. Among so many other things, she did our day of timeline, she set everything up for us on the day of (and there was so much to set up!), coordinated all of our vendors with each other the week of and took all of our stress away. Everything you see in our photos as far as the way things were set up... that was all her. You can be a total control freak (like me) and do all of the planning and making things, but a DOC will take all the pieces you give her and put them together in ways you never thought of.

3. Don't sweat the small stuff. Really. If there's anything I learned for life while wedding planning, it was this. Things are going to go wrong. That's inevitable. There are an incredible amount of pieces to this planning machine so life will happen and it won't always work the way it should. But that's when you pause and take a deep breath. Try to laugh about it and then move on. I still try to follow this advice even after the wedding. It makes life so much better!

4. Don't neglect your fiance. Details are great but please don't lose sight of why you are doing all of this work in the first place. It's to legally unite with your best friend. You will be together forever. Trust me, after the wedding is over, you will forget all about the unfounded dress doubt you had. So make sure you focus on your fiance and that the wedding does not become bigger than the two of you.

5. If you get burnt out or feel overwhelmed, take a break. If this isn't fun anymore, there's a problem. If you need to take a break from planning, DO IT!!! I took a week long hiatus after 8 months of non-stop hardcore planning and it was the best thing I did. I came back refreshed, recharged and all excited about planning again.

6. DIY doesn't always mean cheaper. LOL I ended up having to re-do most of my projects because they didn't turn out right the first time or I would do something to screw it up. More materials, more money spent, more frustration.  So think of DIY things as a way to make things the most personal but not always to save money.