I’m overwhelmed.

Work has been incredibly stressful lately.  I really have to finish several projects before I leave for the wedding/honeymoon vacation.  I also have a ton of school things to do, including studying for a final, writing a paper, and trying to participate in my group project while I’m on my honeymoon.  Add the two things to my hectic schedule and every little thing I have to do for wedding planning, I’m surprised that I’ve gotten this far without having a breakdown.

That all changed on Sunday night.  As I was getting ready to go into work (yes, on a Sunday) to finish up a few things, I realized that I just had so much to do on my plate.  I got incredibly emotional and upset at nothing, and tears started to leak out of my eyes.  Enter Mr. Butterfly (my hero), who catered to my every whim and just said, “give me everything you need to do for the wedding, and I’ll do it.”  Which just made me cry harder. 

He even offered to come into work with me for several hours, because I hate sitting in this big office suite alone during the weekends. 

I ended up only picking up a few things from work because we wanted to go out and eat dinner.  Afterwards, we even updated our wedding and household budgets, which really made me think of our future together. 

What little things does he do to save you from a meltdown?

---

Please comment on weddingbee!!

Ok….I can barely contain myself as I write this.  My photographer is freaking AWESOME.  We took the pics on Monday afternoon, and he had them uploaded to pictage on Thursday night.  I chose several shots that I wanted to post, and he customized the toning and processed them today!  Isn’t he amazing??

Most of the pics are in black and white, since those are the ones I will be using for the table cards.  But all of them can be turned into color. 

Here is an idea of what my table cards would look like.  They will have a champagne backing, not orange, and the image will be a bit darker and clearer.  But you get the gist….

So of the pictures below, which three do you think I should choose?

Picture 1

Picture 2

Picture 3

Picture 4

Which 3 should I choose for my table cards?

1.  Pictures #1, 2, 3
2.  Pictures #1, 2, 4
3.  Pictures #1, 3, 4
4.  Pictures #2, 3, 4

And here are a few color photos, just for fun!

The last picture – I forced him to do the peace sign.  I rock.  

And yes, that is our dog.  He was so bratty that day!  I’m surprised we got just a few good pictures with him in it.  A tip for anyone thinking of having dogs in professional pictures:  make sure your dog is tired out before the pictures start.  He will be easier to handle and won’t get overexcited by the camera or the photographer.

For anyone looking for a great photographer, who is actually very reasonably priced, here is the info. They also do video!

5 West Studios
email: info@5weststudios.com
phone: 646-280-7033

I know I posted some of these pictures before, but I wanted to elaborate on them just a little bit because I’m on a roll with posts about gifts!

Ok, I have never been a scrapbooking type of person.  But after receiving this scrapbook, I really can see myself getting into it!  Who knows?  I may make a scrapbook of my honeymoon after I get back.




Let-Me-Tell-You Bride-to-Be scrapbook

I took close-ups because you can’t really see how creative this book is from the pictures above.

The scrapbook has two pages of “bridal” stickers, mad libs, a section for your friends to fill out, etc.  The best part is that the pages are bound together with a ribbon, so the whole book can be taken apart and the pages can be put in any order that you like! I mean really, who wouldn’t want to get into scrapbooking when you receive this as a gift along with some cool stickers?

Seriously, I want to buy myself the Me and My Honey scrapbook for a honeymoon keepsake.

The gift below, I have not used…..yet.   A blindfold scarf that doubles as silk handcuffs from Spoylt.  Talk about sexy!

 What is this?

 Ooooohhhhhh!!! Ta-da!!

I will definitely be taking this on my honeymoon!

---

Please comment on weddingbee!!

I cannot thank my bridesmaids enough for my wonderful shower.  I absolutely loved everything about it!  My favorite part?  The shower favors, of course!

I’m not sure, but I think in reponse to my cry for help on my seriously bad habit, the girls came up with such a brilliant idea for shower favors.  Its something that I desperately needed, and yet something that everyone could use!

From left top to right:  A buffing thing, an emory board thing, cuticle oil, base coat, pink polish, top coat, yogurt sheet mask for your face, yogurt foam cleanser, and a sugar glow rub for your hands. 

I wanted my nails to look pretty for my engagement photos, so I used all of the nail products this past week.  Of course, I suck at polishing my own nails and they looked like a 3 year old did my nails, but it did the trick!  My nails are just long enough for a French manicure for my photo shoot!  Yay!

And that concludes my bridal shower.

---

Please comment on weddingbee!!

I’ve been a gooood girl.  I sent out my thank you cards for the bridal shower gifts one week after receiving them.  Aren’t you so proud?  Ok, to be honest, I just really wanted to use my thank you gift box that I recieved from Mrs. Bee.

Delux Bridal Gift Box from Paper Bride

This box contains the cutest, most adorable thank you cards ever!

From “will you be my bridesmaid?” cards to “thanks for being on the frontline” to special thank you cards for each vendor, this set really does contain everything!  It even has a card (not pictured) specifically for your in-laws which says that you are thankful to be adding your name to their family tree.  What a clever, clever way to suck up to your FFIL, don’t you think?

I am saving the cutest ones for later, because many of them refer to things after the wedding.  But overall, I would rate this as one of the best gifts to give to a bride.

Thank you, Mrs. Bee!!

---

Please comment on weddingbee!!

I’m in love with my progams.  Seriously, I never thought of myself as a very creative type, and I haven’t particularly been that creative during my wedding planning process.  But with a ton of help from Custom-Programs, my invitations, programs and menus came out to be beautiful!

Here is the mock-up of my program.

Its so simple and yet, I adore it! 

Adrienne (from Custom-Programs) also sent me examples of two other ribbons which could go with my color scheme.  That’s what I love about her – I didn’t even have to ask.

We decided to go with the gold (on the left), because it seemed to go with our color scheme the best.  What do you think?

---

Please comment on weddingbee!!

Mr. Butterfly picked up the rest of the groomsmen’s gifts today!  Yay!  Another thing off our to-do list. 

We decided to go with the fake business cards for the groomsmen and ushers, with fake wedding titles.  I absolutely loved the idea, but we needed something else aside from just the cards.  At first, we wanted to get the business card holders, but to be honest, most people do not use them.  After months of thinking about it (being lazy about it), Mr. Butterfly found these.

 
WATER BUFFALO MONEY CLIP CARD CASE

This money clip case is a streamlined yet practical way to carry your his money and cards. Two credit card pockets Multi-function pocket Exterior money clip Water buffalo calfskin 4 (L) x 2 3/4 (H) Price: $48

Its a money clip/card case from Coach.  Don’t you love them?  I wish I had one…..*sigh*   Of course, we had to fill the slots with the fake business cards, meaning I had to do the wrapping after we got home.

Ta-Daaaaa!!  Not too shabby for an amateur, right?

If you are thinking about something practical and not too expensive for your groomsmen, these can be found at Coach.com.

---

Please comment on weddingbee!!

This past weekend, I went to Bliss Spa to get a facial.  I don’t usually get facials, but since my friends got me a gift certificate, I figured I should go.  And boy, am I glad I did!

I wanted to get the steep clean, but based on my skin type, my facial person (?) thought I should get the triple oxygen facial with some adjustments.  It included the facial, a mini microdermabrasion, a seaweed mask, and deep extractions.  Since I don’t have sensitive skin, she thought that it would be OK to get this facial only 2 days before the engagement photo session.

Let me just say, there is a reason why this facial costs 300 bucks (I could never spend this much on my own).  Heated tables, arm and leg massage, and 120 minutes of undivided attention to my pores, and voila!  My face is so soft and I had absolutely no redness whatsoever.  I’m hoping the smoothness of my skin will show through on the photos.  I get the pictures back later this week so we’ll see.  I will definitely post pictures, I promise!

Even now, I still have really smooth skin and all my blackheads have disappeared!  I also bought their exfoliating facial cleanser and their light mask to use on my T-Zone 3 times a week.  This was recommended by my technician.

 I highly recommend Bliss for any bride, because what bride doesn’t need to be pampered and spoiled right before the wedding? 

Final Rating:  A++!

---

Please comment on weddingbee!!

In less than a month, I will be getting married.  Woah.  

During the entire engagement period, I never felt the impact of those words.  It just felt like Mr. Butterfly and I were just living together, and we just happen to be planning a wedding.  It didn’t feel like we were getting married…..until Monday.  We both took a day off from work (although I spent a good part of my morning on the phone with my office…but that’s another story), headed downtown to get our marriage license.  A money order for $35, and two driver’s licenses, and 30 minutes later, we had our license.  Yup, it’s now official.  We are getting married!! 

Some funny things happen in that licensing office.  While we were waiting, there was another couple next to us trying to get their license.  I say “trying” because they did not end up getting one.  Why?  Well, in NY State, you must report all of your previous marriages.  The groom in this case, apparently forgot that he was married once before.  He actually didn’t remember until the lady behind the computer pulled up his record to show him. 

Five minutes later, another foreign couple walked in the office, and all I heard them say was “We need two witnesses?”

I wanted to stick around a bit longer to listen, but alas, we had to prep for our engagement photos….

---

Please comment on weddingbee!!

Remember my idea about my mini-bells for the menus?  Well, they’re finally in and I love them!  Look how small they are!

Here is the final product. 

Please ignore the fact that there are about 6 holes where the bells are.  You see, I always imagined that I would have two tiny holes side by side, centered above the “Just Married!”  However, it turns out that the hole puncher doesn’t go in that far.  So I tried forcing the paper in, and that’s how I ended up with the ugly lines on the left side of the page.  I actually got pretty upset over this for about 5 minutes.  Had I known that the hole puncher would not let the paper in more, then I would have moved the “Just Married” over to the left another inch so that the bells would be centered!

Alas, it is not meant to be, as I have already approved the menu for printing.  *sigh*  I shall just have to live with the un-centered bells.

Only brides would notice these things, no?  Hopefully no one else will notice this at the wedding (except obviously the people who read this blog – oops!)

---

Please comment on weddingbee!!