Invitations are out!

We finished them up this morning and they are officially in the mail. We are probably waiting on 10 addresses or so from friends that we have lost contact with in the past few years. But the majority of them are out. I think we sent out just under 200 so we should have a good turnout for the wedding.

Not too often do I hit a goal that I set for myself, but I wanted these out no later than this weekend and they are out. I am so relieved to have that done. Now or never. People are invited, this party is happening!!

All the invites headed to the post office!

Invitation addressing

Wednesday night we started addressing invitations. We had to make a few calls to get addresses for a few of you that have recently moved. But we had most of them ready to go. We numbered the RSVP cards so we can match up the number on the card with the name on our excel sheet, just in case someone forgets to put their name on the RSVP card we will know who is coming.

Randy thought this looked like so much fun, he wanted to help too. Actually he probably would have been fine not helping, but I made him!

First Dress Fitting

Tuesday night I had my first dress fitting. As I put the dress on I kept my fingers crossed that I would be able to get by not have to getting it hemmed, having the dress taken out or taken in. I knew that I would be paying to have a bustle put in and bra cups but I was hoping that would be it and I could save some money on alterations.

The dress fit perfect. I will not have to have it altered much at all. The hem line is absolutely perfect too. My shoes are the exact height they need to be to pull the dress just up off of the floor. Next dress fitting…July 27th. Bustle should be done, my veil should be in and I will be able to see how everything looks together.

Here is how the bustle will look

Here is the veil I ordered

Invitation Assembly

Saturday before the shower, I picked up our wedding invitations…all 230 of them. After my cousin’s daughter was baptized on Sunday, we got busy. My aunt Dawn, cousin’s wife Lyndsay, and mom all pitched in. We only ran out of double stick tape once and had to make a trip to Sioux Falls. And we only put about 10 of them together wrong right away. We fixed those up and kept going. After 5 hours they were completed. All the ribbon was attached and they were ready to be addressed.

Dawn, Lyndsay and Mom – THANKS AGAIN FOR ALL YOUR HELP!!

Here we are working hard and the invitaions ready to go!

Bridal Shower

My first bridal shower was a HUGE SUCCESS! I had a great turnout and a wonderful time. It was great seeing friends and relatives that we usually only see a couple times a year. My family came, my aunt and cousin from Atlanta came, and Randy’s mom and sisters all came. It was great.

It was a Mexican fiesta so everyone was offered a margarita when they arrived. We sat around and visited for awhile then played a game. How well does everyone know Randy and Mary? My hostesses had contacted Randy to get some little details about himself that everyone may not know. Who likes ketchup on their ketchup? Randy. Who has road rage? Mary. Who pushed their sibling into a coffee table causing stitches? Mary. Whose mom was sick during pregnancy? Randy. But found out that she wasn’t really that sick, just sicker than she was with the other pregnancies.

We all enjoyed a taco bar then it was time to open gifts. I got so many nice things, I just cant believe it. I was little worried as so many people I talked to warned me that people buy what they want, not really what is on your registry. Not true for my guests. Everyone stuck to the registry and I have a whole lot of new stuff to break in.

They day really was perfect. At the end I tried to get up and tell everyone how grateful I was that everyone was able to come. I know how busy summer gets with activities and running here and there and it meant a lot to me that everyone took time out of their day for me. I have been invited to a lot of showers and it was a totally different feeling having all those people there for me. The presents the recipes…all for me. I was very touched and felt very fortunate to have the friends and family that I have. I love you guys!

A day like that doesn’t just happen however. I had some great hostesses that put a lot of time and effort into making the day what it was. Dawn, Jane, Donna, and Katie – thank you, thank you, thank you! You gave me the perfect non bridal shower…shower!!!

Bridal Shower

My first bridal shower was a HUGE SUCCESS! I had a great turnout and a wonderful time. It was great seeing friends and relatives that we usually only see a couple times a year. My family came, my aunt and cousin from Atlanta came, and Randy’s mom and sisters all came. It was great.

It was a Mexican fiesta so everyone was offered a margarita when they arrived. We sat around and visited for awhile then played a game. How well does everyone know Randy and Mary? My hostesses had contacted Randy to get some little details about himself that everyone may not know. Who likes ketchup on their ketchup? Randy. Who has road rage? Mary. Who pushed their sibling into a coffee table causing stitches? Mary. Whose mom was sick during pregnancy? Randy. But found out that she wasn’t really that sick, just sicker than she was with the other pregnancies.

We all enjoyed a taco bar then it was time to open gifts. I got so many nice things, I just cant believe it. I was little worried as so many people I talked to warned me that people buy what they want, not really what is on your registry. Not true for my guests. Everyone stuck to the registry and I have a whole lot of new stuff to break in.

They day really was perfect. At the end I tried to get up and tell everyone how grateful I was that everyone was able to come. I know how busy summer gets with activities and running here and there and it meant a lot to me that everyone took time out of their day for me. I have been invited to a lot of showers and it was a totally different feeling having all those people there for me. The presents the recipes…all for me. I was very touched and felt very fortunate to have the friends and family that I have. I love you guys!

A day like that doesn’t just happen however. I had some great hostesses that put a lot of time and effort into making the day what it was. Dawn, Jane, Donna, and Katie – thank you, thank you, thank you! You gave me the perfect non bridal shower…shower!!!

Bridal Shower

Tomorrow I have my bridal shower! I am super excited to see everyone and celebrate a little bit. And I’m not going to lie, I get Christmas in June! Rumor on the street is that my aunt Paulette and cousin Callan from Atlanta are even flying in.

A big thank you goes out to Donna, Jane, and Dawn for thinking of me and taking the time out of your busy schedules to do this for me. You are so nice to think of me and open up your home to let everyone celebrate. Love you guys!

Shoes

My first dress fitting is next Tuesday night. They advised me to have everything that I plan on wearing with the dress with me that day. Hmmm suppose I should have some shoes? I didn’t want plain white shoes, cause come on, I will never wear them again. I wanted something a little more fancy than just flip flops and I didn’t want to spend $80 on a pair of shoes.

Here is the winner…

Invitations are ordered

Not only did I get to vacation for 4 days, but I was even able to get some wedding stuff done. INVITATIONS ARE ORDERED!!! They will be ready for pick up Saturday and then the fun starts. Assembly and addressing – all 230 of them. I asked around at work and found out about some scrapbooking tape that is suppose to work wonderfully to attached the layers together. Pit stop at hobby lobby and we will see how it goes.

Once they are all assembled, I am hoping ot have them out no later than next weekend. Should be a fun week!

Texas was Great!

Our trip to Texas was awesome! The weather was hot, no rain and we got to spend 4 days with Luke and Amy. The great thing about their job is that when you visit, you get to hang out with them pretty much the whole time they are at work. Needless to say, we spent 3 full days at Sea World. Thursday we hit up the shows – Viva, Shamoo, the Ski show. We fed the dolphins, went to the aquarium and walked and walked and walked. We rode a couple rides…water rides…at 104 degrees we needed to cool off somehow.

Thursday night we went to a movie. The movie was funny and the theater served beer and food. That was pretty cool. A waiter keeps coming around and filling your drinks and then gives you a bill at the end of the show…something to introduce to South Dakota? Friday was another day at Sea World. A couple more rides, shows and we rode in the boat during the ski show. After watching the show a couple times, everything is very fast paced and it goes even quicker when you get to cruise around the lake at 35 mpr for 25 minutes. A fake fire drill gave us a chance to jump out of the boats into the lake and we felt refreshed for about 20 minutes…until we dried off. Friday night we headed to downtown San Antonio to the River Walk, went to a piano bar and got home late.

Saturday we floated the river! I had been waiting to do this since last year when we visited. It is the same concept as Apple River, WI – get a tube, get a cooler, float. We started at 2:30 and were off the river at 8:30 – only went ½ way. We later found out that the water level had dramatically decreased due to a reservoir problem upstream. We wondered why it took 2 hours to float past the parking lot, and why we seemed to go backwards more often then forwards.

Sunday was another Sea World day and out last day of vacation. We visited the new beluga whale that was born while we were there, went to the giant water park, and watched the sea lion show. Monday was sad…Amy had to go to work and Luke had to take us to the airport. Our vacation was over...

Luke & Amy – We had a blast. Thank you so much for letting us invade your living quarters and bum around with your for 4 days. We miss you a ton this summer, but know you are having a blast and living the dream in Texas. Wedding planning and going out just isn’t the same without you guys, but we know that you will be home soon. Enjoy your time in Texas – it will be over soon and then you will have to come back to the real world with the rest of us!

LOVE YOU!!!! Mary, Randy & Betty

Asta La Vista Brookings

As I type, Randy, Betty and I are sitting in the Sioux Falls airport ready to board a plane to San Antonio, TX for a few days.

My brother Luke and his girlfriend Amy are once again living the dream and water skiing professionally for the summer at Sea World San Antonio. Excuse for a vacation if you ask us! We leave this afternoon and get back to South Dakota late Monday afternoon. Randy leaves from San Antonio and heads to Chicago for a conference.

Today I also picked up my invitation proof. IT LOOKS GREAT! A few minor changes and they should be ready to order. If I can get them ordered this week, they will be ready for pick up when I get back from Texas.

Have a good weekend everyone! No work...all play for us till Monday!!

Engaged Encounter Weekend

Well, we lived thru it…barely

Oh it really wasn’t so bad. There were about 50 couples all getting married in the catholic church in the next year or so. We met at one of the Catholic schools in Sioux Falls. We each had a work book that outlined the topics for the weekend and a list of questions to answer for each other. Once our presenters finished telling us the situation they were in and how they made it thru successfully, we split up and answered the questions presented. After about 20 minutes or so we met back up in our own classroom, read what the other person wrote and discussed.

Now the first couple went ok, we said a few things and then just hung out. After about the 6th hour though, we were loosing steam. There is just only so much I want to learn about randy in a 14 hour time period. They weren’t kidding on that either. We started at 8 am and didn’t leave until 9:30 pm. A long, long day.

Church was scheduled for 7:30 Sunday morning, so we set our alarm for 6:30 giving us enough time to shower and be there on time. Oh well, nice try. We didn’t hear the alarm go off and woke up at 7:20. Honestly, we had every intention on going to church…especially during Catholic camp. That was our ticket to shame for the last couple hours of the weekend. The only couple to miss church.

We waited until service let out and met back up with our group. I honestly don’t know if anyone knew that we were missing. But we felt really bad that we missed it. Sunday, to our surprise, was a much shorter day. Suppose to run from 8 am to 3 pm, but we were done by noon. That gave us plenty of time to get our registry updated, do a little shopping and back to Brookings early evening.

Invitations

Randy and I sat down on Friday night and made a to do list. Stuff that he can work on with out me and a heads up that there are a few things that I will need his help on in the next few months. Now he knows, no surprises. Invitations – well that was something just on my list as he said he trusted me completely on what I liked.

Monday I left work early to head to Sioux Falls and pick out invitations. As I write this, I know that you all are thinking – wow she doesn’t have invitations picked out yet. Ya, I know. The pressure has been building and as the months, weeks and days grow closer to the wedding I am realizing very quickly that I have a lot to do.

Invitations first on the list. I have been collection invites from past weddings I have gone to, some I have seen on my friend’s fridge and they have saved for me. I had a good idea of what I wanted when I headed down, just a matter of if what I wanted fitted into the budget. Invites are great and something you must have, but after the wedding they get trashed. How much should you really spend?

We looked at several options and variations on the idea I had in my head. Prices ranged anywhere from $1.00 to whatever you wanted to spend. I said $5.00 would be my absolute max and didn’t really want to spend that much. Think about it 250 invitations at $5.00 a piece. We would be looking at $1250 on invitations + tax + assembly. NO THANK YOU!

The one I decided on is $1.92 per invite. We are going to do the assembly and addressing ourselves which saves some money. They are black with lime green and white paper with black font and a polka dot ribbon. You will see them all soon. Mock up takes about 1 week and to save a little time, they are going to email me the final draft. Once we give the final approval and number to make, they only take about a week to print.

Check invites off the list!