Need help finding shoes??

I was at Kohls today and saw some super cute purple heels if anyone is having trouble finding shoes (*cough- Candice-cough*) you should check them out =)  I actually found 2 pairs that I loved but they didn't have my size, so I'm thinking of heading over to the Machesney Park store just to see if they have them!  These wouldn't work with my dress but I'm thinking they would be awesome for a shower or rehearsal type event...And I couldn't even find a pic on the website, so I guess you'll just have to go see for yourselves...=)
I'm hoping this is just a sign of more purple to come- what do you think?

I'm such a slacker

Hello ladies- I have been a major slacker over my break from school.  It's like as soon as my semester ends my brain decides to shut off for a little while...I think it got fried at the end and needs a break... Anyways I don't really have much new to tell anyone except I did order my shoes (finally decided!)- what I did was order the Nina shoes I have pictured below, but I got them in purple and in ivory so I don't have to decide yet which to wear for what parts of the day...
I love the idea of wearing the purple all day but I don't want my mom to be spazzing the day of.  (Is spazzing even a word??  I think it should be if not...)   So I have both and maybe I can wear the ivory at first and then change immediately after the ceremony.  And if I decide to do that- its only fair to give you ladies a chance to wear black shoes to the ceremony if you want.  But I def want some purple shoes for pics (Caurie found Old Navy has purple flipflops 2 for $5 so I may be picking those up in the near future...Awesome reception shoes anyone? =)
The only other update I can think of was an awesome end of the year clearance at this linen website where I picked up black satin table overlays (I think they are 85" square) to go over the white and make me feel better about the whole white linen thing.  Less than $3.25 a piece and Free shipping- I can sell them for more than that after the wedding so I'm super pumped about that purchase! 
We are still searching for a limo so if anyone has any insider connections let me know!  The one I thought we were decided on now has not responded to my call or email, so its kinda up in the air for me now. 
Beauty update: I did a "trial" spray tan (and eyebrow wax!) for the first time, and while the eyebrows make me feel more grown up and polished, the spray tan not so much.  I like being tan and all but it feels kinda funny to be bronzed in december when I haven't been on vacation...So I'm going to search around for other tan options, maybe more of  a build my own or not so dark at once type thing.  What do you ladies do for tanning?

Shoe Check...

I hear all are in for finding purple shoes. Mine are darker purple with a little lighter bow on the toes, peep toe. They are kind of higher heeled, but still comfortable for the day...and we all know we will take them off during the reception so I think I can survive a couple hours. Candice and myself went to check my shoes to my dress today and they looked lovely! Candice liked them so I hope you guys can find some cute shoes too! I have a link to the shoes in an earlier post if anyone wanted to check them out. I also continue to look at different shoes so if I come across other that you may like I will post them.
I am def in for some airbrushing make-up, flawless pictures please! haha
I may also have another hair dresser (or two) to come do our hair, I have to ask for sure though.
Can't wait to see everyone for our invite/cootie catcher/kleenex things/ drinks get together whenever we can!!

Busy busy

I haven't posted in a while, so I thought I would give an update...I have been busy working on invitations- with the pocket cover, invitation mat, invitation itself, 3 inserts each with a backing, that is a hell of a lot of paper to cut!!  Everything is printed and cut (I hope!!) barring any disasters where I need to redo or if my counting was off!  I am now working on the folding of the pocket cover and glueing that together, and I've been working on the best way to stick the backing paper to the ivory paper inserts.  double stick tape seems to work the best but I keep placing them slightly crooked and then I can't adjust it without ripping it, so I'm going back and forth with methods...
I have to say they are coming along, and as much as I feel like I'm getting a lot done, there are SO many more steps to do, so I'm trying to keep trucking along on them!

Also to update, I've been getting pics of the bouquets as they go through the process of being put together and I just got a new pic I thought I would share as they show the bouquets in our style (not the smaller toss style I had a pic of before!)

From left to right- Brides, MOH, BM

What do you guys think? I'm totally in love with them!! =)

I also made up some cards for a photo scavenger hunt type thing for the kids- my plan is to put together some sort of kids activity bag where I will put things like snacks, juice box, personalized coloring book (I have tons of pages saved from different websites that I can personalize with our info and then just put them together myself!) some random goody bag toys, and a disposable camera with this printout:

Hope you can read it ok!  I thought it was cute and would be fun for the kids to take some random pictures to keep busy- any thoughts/ideas?  I also have an adult photo scavenger hunt I haven't decided yet what to do with it, but our initial idea was to put disposable cameras on the tables with these signs:

But as I'm sure you can tell, it is rather small print and might not work out so well, so I need some suggestions for this...I have another list, slightly different, but you get the idea.  I had wanted to try to get as many pics as possible, since we are saving some money on a less expensive photographer, but now I'm thinking the cameras might be too much...Oh well I have some time to figure it out I guess!

Besides getting as much of the invitations done as I can, other projects I wanted to plan/start/complete/work on over my christmas break are:

Card box (have supplies but haven't started yet!)
Tissue packets (started but not complete)
Pinwheels (at least get rest of paper cut- started already but lots left!)
DJ list of Must play/Do Not play (haven't even thought of- any suggestions?)
Inserts for photobooth pic sleeves (kinda started)
Table numbers (started planning)
Gather pics for slideshow (barely started!)
Format for place cards (need to pick questions/layout for cootie catchers!)
Pretty up baskets I bought super cheap for bathroom baskets (have supplies)

I'm sure there is more, but its late and my brain is fried!  Ambitious, yes; Likely, no.  But at least it helps me get an idea of how much more I have to do!  Keeps me motivated to work on the endless piles of invites.  127 x invite x mat x insert1 x insert 2 x insert 3 x 3 mats for inserts x pocket cover x bellyband x monogram squares = LOTS OF HOURS
Ha =)

shoes/hair/makeup

I am in for Caurie's purple shoes but if they are the ones with the huge heel I need to get them now so I can practice (I'm not worried about falling, I'm worried about staying upright in general).  Also, I will def need to have my hair done as I am hair challenged.  My cousin does hair so if need be I can have her do it.  Next-Nikki's airbrushing makeup person sounds awesome!

Finally-are any of the ladies planning on tanning before the wedding.  I am shockingly pale year round so if everyone is planning on tanning I will start looking into sunless alternatives.  

Candice- I am so excited Katelyn got her ears pierced!  That jewelry will look so cute with her dress!

I'm in! I'm in!!

Ok. I just figured out how to become a contributer to the blog instead of just a follower. woohoo!
So, I love the idea of the purple shoes! LOVE IT!! I am also in for getting my hair done. And just let me know about a get together - I am pretty open and pretty flexible.

Not sure what people (or Candice really) was thinking about jewelery - I found this cool site that has crystals - although they only offer copper chains . I really liked the simple one:
http://wedreamincolour.com/jade/chandelier_000.html

Candice, if you don't like it - I am not offended at all! I just wanted you to know that I am taking an active role here!

:)

wow.

Ok, so I thought it would tell me when there were new posts, but I guess not! I finally caught up. Here are my thoughts...
Shoes: purple shoes sound really cool, I am for it. Just tell me which kind and I will get it. Candice, for your shoes, you may want to get something with a strap, it will help you feel more stable and minimize the chance of falling, which you won't.

Get together - I am for it, its just a matter of finding time to get to rockford! I believe I have weekends booked through January at this point! But since the engagement party is on the 16th, would anyone like to get together the day before?

Hair - Candice, sign me up, I will get my hair done by whomever. as for Makeup, my friend Angela did Lindsey's makeup and I believe she was only 25$ more (or maybe even cheaper if we have more girls do it) and would come to your house. She also can do airbrushing, which makes you super photogenic - its used on runway models to achieve the flawless look. Trust me, it is not easy to run around all morning long. Also, I have done the makeup counter before and it depends on the counter, some only require that you buy something, not a set price.

Since things come up so fast, can we try to set a tentative date and plan for the bacholorette party? Candice, what would you like? Did you want to do vegas, or a crazy night in chicago? A spa weekend somewhere? Stay in Rockford? Let me know! Ladies, are there any weekends that don;t work? I will have class on some weekends, but by March I should have an idea of when classes will be so I can be free for both the Bacholorette and the wedding!

OOPS

I just realized that I posted about the flower girl just then, but I never officially did any sort of intro for the little ones in the party, so here is a brief (hopefully) update on the good looks of the wedding party:
Katelyn (as seen in pics below) is my niece who will be 5 for the wedding. She is such a girl, and I think she'll just love wearing a dress and getting all made up for the day =) Here is a better pic (not in her pajamas!)


Katelyn's Dad, Kris, is one of the groomsmen and my only brother.  Kris's other child is Connor, who will be 6 for the wedding, and he will be out ringbearer!  Here is a pic of Connor that I have on my computer (These are older pics of Katelyn and Connor but it is all I have handy- maybe I'll get new pics for X-mas!) =)  Anyways here's Connor- he'll look so cute all decked out in a tux
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
And I can't forget about our 2 special Junior Groomsmen!  One of which is my son Nico- I think everyone here knows Nico, he will be 7 for the wedding (way too old to be a ringbearer...)  =)  But here is a pic anyways:

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
He was quite toothless when we got our pics done this fall!!
 
And the other Jr man is Sean's little brother Zach (I think most of you know him, also too old to be ringbearer...!)
 Well I can't seem to find one of Zach that I like, so his will be coming shortly...

Thats it for the kids- hope you enjoyed =)

Important announcement! (and shoe update...)

I have received some exciting news tonight everyone- our beautiful flower girl (my niece and Kris's daughter) Katelyn agreed to get her ears pierced just so she could get some pretty earrings for the wedding!  How adorable is that?!?!  I love it and am so excited to get her some pretty jewelry now...Sorry Kris for introducing your 4 year old to jewelry at such a young age, but it will totally be worth it for the wedding =)

Here are the pics my sister in law sent of little Katelyn

SO cute =)

















On another note, I have another shoe update...

I wanted to get some feedback on how the ladies feel about wearing purple shoes...I have been dying to wear purple, and if you can't tell from previous posts, I've been very indecisive and not having a fun time looking for ivory...SO Caurie got these awesome purple shoes, and I thought if you all wear purple then I can wear purple and it will look SO awesome for pictures!  Let me know what you think- if you aren't reading this like you're supposed to then you just have to go along with whatever decision I make...=)

For the Ladies:

I feel like I never really learned how to put on makeup.  And now I am trying to decide if I am going to pay someone to do it for me for the wedding.  I'm thinking it's completely a no brainer that Yes I will pay someone to do something I do everyday (ok not everyday but most days!) and apply makeup.  However, it seems to be quite pricy to have someone come to the house to do it, so is anyone else up for hitting Macy's that morning and getting makeup done with me?  I got a referral for a girl at the MAC counter there who I stalked out as "the one with the tattoos" cause I couldn't remember her name. And she's really cool, so I def want to use her!  She couldn't give me an exact quote on price (I don't know how many people wanted it done!) and said it is usually a minimum of $200 but never over $500 regardless of how many.  But if we set up an appt that day and go to the counter it is free with a $50 purchase.  So price could be comparable but if we go there we get to keep something- lipstick and powder or something I'm guessing would cover the 50 pretty quick!    I'm going to do a trial a few months beforehand, so hopefully I'll get a better idea then, but can you guys tell me if interested at all in getting makeup done?  They have all the other make up counters there too so maybe others are less expensive...
Wow that seemed like a lot about a little thing, but let me know what you think and if you would like to be able to get your makeup done or just DIY...And since I know everyone will be reading and responding to this, let me know if you want to get your hair done too- I have Sean's cousin doing mine and will look into someone else if needed!!  Thanks =)

shoes

Wow that new pic of shoes is the lower heel?  Can't wait to see the rehearsal dinner heels-yikes!  I am not a good blogger, sorry.  Going with Candice today to order my dress.  Caurie, I'm going to make her stand next to me in the one you are getting to make sure they don't look goofy.  I'll let you know!

More shoes drama

Ok I thought the dress was supposed to be the hard part, not the shoes!!  I went shoes shopping with mom yesterday and found they carry the nina brand at Bergners (way excited to actually try on some of the other styles as I LOVE my purple shoes) Since I really don't want to faceplant down the aisle, I thought I would find some lower heels and maybe more comfortable...and I found these:

What do you think?? Much more comfy and still cute right??

Here are a couple I have, my dad is not as easy to get a picture of so I will keep hunting!

Pictures: Sean and I's mom

Sean teaching me the right way to deal with pain in the butt guys, haha or just sibiling love!

By the way my shoes came, they are lovely!! I can't wait to try them with my dress and get the bride's approval!

How is everything going for the rest of the gang? Candice and I are chatty on here...what's new with everyone. When should we get together to do invites and such??

Help with pictures please!

Ok Ladies and gents- I need your help!  I am trying to get updated pictures of everyone in the wedding party and this is proving to be more difficult than I imagined!  Please email me or post on the blog a more recent pic (or really any pic of you that you like!) and also if anyone has good pics of someone else in the wedding party or any of the parents, that would be helpful too!  Thanks in advance =)

Sad day...

It is a sad day here in wedding land, as the shoe I always wanted became the shoe I can't walk in...Yes its true, my lovely purple shoes I put a pic of in a previous post are not going to be my wedding shoes.  I'm holding out that I can wear them to the rehearsal, but we'll see!  I told Caurie and her mom tonight that if I do wear them, maybe I can get my fall out of the way and then I won't have to worry about it on the actual wedding day!  I will miss you, my perfect shoes, and I will practice to wear you someday as I just can't seem to return you just yet...
And now my search for wedding shoes continues, purple or ivory?  Low heel or high? Is there a shoe that is comfortable and not too "bridal"?? 

Check it out

Groom and Parent Boutonnieres
Originally uploaded by rbkcreations

Got pics today from the awesome crafters making our flowers and bouquets- check out the boutonniers (I still can't spell that word...) and the corsages (bout are bottom 3 and 3 on top are corsages)

The rest are on flickr if you want to see them I can send a link...

So excited for these- I just love how they look!!
Just to clarify- these have ivory ribbon as they are the parents and Seans (mine will have Ivory too) but everyone else will have black ribbon stems.  =)

Beef- its whats for dinner...

Ok- I've been slacking on the guys post, so here is a rundowm for everyone!
Let’s hear it for the boys…


I swear that’s a song, right? It’s completely stuck in my head now! =) Alright, I’m trying to compile on the info on the groomsmen but I don’t think I have pics of everyone so I will see how it goes and add more later! Hopefully I can get more details from Sean- I’m not very good at what everyone does and what not… Drumroll please:

Sean will have two best men to pair up with my two MOH: (In no particular order)

Dave:  

Friend of Sean’s, they lived together at college-(NIU), and I’m sure they have stories I don’t want to hear about. The great thing about Dave is he won’t try to tell me! =) Married to Heather (one of my girls), and works for his family business LDR construction. I’m just hoping Dave does the worm at our reception (sorry Heather!)








Jake:  

Friend of Sean’s since they were little, I’m sure he has some embarrassing pic of them from grade school and I am hoping to post it as soon as I can get a hold of it… I hope I’m getting this part right- works for Blue Cross/Blue Shield Insurance, I’m not sure what the exact title is (Help me out here guys!) but I didn’t even know for my own sister so what do you expect?!? Also lives and works in Rockford, recently bought a house (YAY!) and has the scariest basement- Seriously these muskies are HUGE!


Obviously (or maybe not to everyone) not Jake but since he has managed to elude any photo op from yours truly, Jake is now undercover as Elvis Himselvis...Real pic to be added at some point- Jake is really much cuter than older fat elvis =)


And for the rest of the men:

Kris:

is my only brother, currently lives and works in Boise, ID. Went to Boylan (like most or all of the rest of the guys I believe) then Bradley U, then moved far far away! Married with 2 adorable kids (my flower girl and ring bearer!) works as an electrical engineer I believe. Kris I hope you get a chance to look at this so you can see who everyone is!! Hopefully we figure out a Vegas trip, even if its after the wedding!







Jeremiah:

Always good to have the law on your side, right? =) Works for the Rockford PD, helps keep us out of trouble…I think- ha. Also friends with Sean since they were young so same deal for the pics as with Jake! Gotta love a man in uniform…

Jeremiah has also managed to sneak away somehow- I will have to dig around and find something- I know I have pictures of you somewhere!!  =)

**I am facebook stalking these boys- here is one I found from Blakes wedding of Jeremiah:
You no longer have to be fat elvis...sad day I know!







Tony:

Also a friend of Seans from way back when. Tony was recently serving our country in the US Army, was over in Iraq for a while, now is down in TX (Fort Hood no less), actually off base I believe as he is done officially with the army, but stays in the area with his fiancé! To be married in February I recently discovered- so Congrats on that and I hope Sean can make it!! I know he is SO happy you are able to come and be a part of our wedding!



I gotta say a big thanks to our whole bridal party, especially grateful for everyone who can come in from out of town to make our day even more special!! I know- I’m super cheesy!



So that’s the boys- I will be trying to add any missing pics as I get them- until then enjoy Elvis Himselvis...

Shoes too!

That is to funny! I was just going to get on here and post about what shoes you wanted for us...whether they should be similar or what color you'd prefer! I'm online looking at shoes and of course I can justify them if it's for the wedding! haha For us I wondered if they should be heels, stappy, and just black..or what color you'd prefer.

The shoes you put up would be great for the reception I think they'd be comfortable and they are very cute!

Found these too if we knew all sizes....they seem like limited avail. though...
Search Kuma Patent Satin Rose Thong Sandals by Michael Antonio (found it with a couple sizes on amaon.com $29.90)



Okay I bought a pair of shoes we will see how they look when they get here.....

From ShiekhShoes.com 64572 is the SKU Candice you might even want to steal them haha although the height is the same as the ones you just got so who knows.

shoes for reception??

Ok ladies- I may be thinking super crazy as I already ordered 2 pairs of shoes, but I came across this website that is so awesome!  Check this out: http://www.ssekodesigns.com/
I love the idea of these shoes (for the reception if nothing else!) as the shoes I ordered both have a 3 1/2 inch heel and I really don't want to trip and fall on my face...

Let me know what you guys think- I put in a request for purple just to see if the cost goes down with more pairs ordered, but they already have black available!  And read the story, its really a neat idea and would make me feel better buying another pair of shoes for this one day...=)

Add on:
Ok here is a picture of the purple heels I ordered and am anxiously awaiting to try on!! I was obsessed with these, and then when they had a sweet sale, I just had to get them...Good return policy if they don't work so I had to try!!

get together

Caurie is right we do need to get together!  I love the black linen for the table-it will look great with white tablecloths.  The dates Candice listed to get together are good except for the 3rd & 7th I am on call but could come depending on the time (and if I get calls).  I penciled in the engagement party on my calender.  

There is nothing old lady about knitting and/or crocheting.  I can crochet but not well & want to learn how to knit.  Its handy!  I made my own scarf and many for gifts over the last 3 years.  

I do think drinks are in order as it has been far too long since I have had one! :)

Hopefully Heather has nice handwriting since Caurie and I are out.