The holidays are in full gear so it's time to get the Holiday Cards!

Wow were has the year gone?!  It's already Holiday season!!!!

This year we will be our first year sending out joint holiday cards and I can't wait to order them, just need to find the right pictures to include in the card. After having such great responses on our wedding thank you cards from Shutterfly, we decided to also get them as our holiday card. We got sooo many compliments on the thank you cards! Guests loved them because it had all our wedding information (venue, date and church) and a picture of us on our wedding day! Guests who were not able to make it but had generously sent us a gift, had especially loved getting the shutterfly thank you card because they were able to see a snapshot of that day. So the decision on what type of holiday card to get was easy but Shutterfly has sooo many cute designs that it will be very hard to pick exactly which card we want to send out. Check them all out here holiday cards.

They have EVERYTHING from the cute zig zag patter that I have seen everywhere.

I’m so drawn to the red & the blue in this card & the pattern! I know many of you ladies out there had the red and blue wedding color, how perfect would this be!!!

I love that this one says HAPPY EVERYTHING!!!!

Another one that is soo cute is this “retro” one, I love the colors they chose & the cute patterns!

 

Fonts are defiantly my weakness when it comes to creating anything, seriously it took me HOURS to create the rehearsal dinner invite & it was all because of the fonts, I used like 4 in the invite! Needless to say I love this holiday card & the use of all the great fonts!

Check out all their cards below. I would LOVE to hear which one is your fav!

Christmas photo card http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards

holiday cards http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/holiday-cards
Christmas card  http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-cards
thank you cards to

The Bride's Fav shoes Badgley Mishka on sale!! $89

I know a LOT of brides out there love Badgley Mishka for their wedding day shoe,  & if you are on of them you should go to Rue La La now because they all the styles that brides want for $89, I love Rue La La but all the items sell out so fast. It's an invite only fashion site that sells designer items for a lot less. Get invite *here*

Free Downloads: Invitation Suites Galore!

I have found the jackpot to free invitation suites for all you DIY brides out there! Check them out  *here* How amazing is the talented Anna Skye for allowing us all to download her gorgeous invitation suites for FREE! So many to choose from!

Let's start from the wedding and move backwards

I have sooo much to catch up on, so I thought I would start with the day of the wedding and work back words.  I can't believe it's already been 16 days since the wedding, at times it feels like it yesterday and others it seems so long ago like a dream that didn't really happen. Everyone keeps asking me"was it what you hoped for" and I always answer it was MORE than WE could have ever hoped for.  Our wedding was amazing not only because of us, but because of everyone that had their part in it.  From the very beginning we had decided that our wedding was not just about us getting married, it was also about our families and friends blending. One of my favorite comments that someone told us was that we were "the most loving, generous, inclusive and happy bride and groom of all time" this made me so happy to hear!
Here are a few tips that helped ensure that we enjoyed ourselves:

1. Make an agreement with your fiance, your families and the wedding party that no matter what, you ALL will enjoy the day and won't let anything bother you, because all that matters is that we are all together. No stress, no worries, no drama for yo momma. 
2. Let go and just be. My dad told me that he really liked how my husband (he he) and me were true to ourselves, he could see were we were not pretending to be a certain way, that we were enjoying every moment. We weren't worried of what people would say or think. As mi amor & I frequently say to each other when the other one is not understanding us "Just love me".
3. Remember the wedding is not about the dress, the venue, or the decor, it's about proclaiming in front of all those that you love that you found your soul mate & you want to share that moment & celebrate it with them. Enjoy each moment with everyone that is there. My hubbie said the day after that it was the best day of his life, for me too it was the best day of my life.  Some tell you that it shouldn't be the "best day" of your life because you are setting yourself up for disappointment saying nothing will compare to that day, but for us this is not the case. It was the best day of our life because it was the day we married the person we always dreamed of, because it marked the day that we blended our families into one and because we got to spend 3 days partying with those most important to us in the entire world. 

This is us entering after we took the bride & groom pictures, thankfully my little bro (also groomsman) hooked us up with some Pico Sours, and as you can see, people came up to us as soon as they saw us. The guy in the black tux on the right is my groomsman, he was on the hunt for some apps for her since cocktail hour was just about to end.

MOH/Cousin fixing my bustle after my 85 year old great aunt stepped on it while doing a salsa move. Brides Man is in background supervising he he. I freaking LOVE this pic!

One of many photobooth pictures, can you believe 1/2 of the people in this picture had never met before the wedding! 

I'm a Mrs.!

As of 1 week today I became a Mrs., it was MORE than anything I could have ever imagined. I will post updates soon & also post about all the things that kept me away from this lil bloggity blog! I still need to catch up on sleep & work has been extremely hectic! But I wanted to make sure & get on the blog to congratulate Mrs. Beaver!!!! Hope you have an amazing honeymoon!!

DIY: Give a KICK@** Maid Of Honor Speech

JT here formally known as the "Maid of Honor" to recount my speech giving experience for WW's Reception!!!

I'm pictured here on the right (I'm the girl). Yes, this was at the wedding and no I don't remember taking this picture but anyway... I digress...

So my speech: I'll be honest, I was four drinks in when I gave it and I ended up not using any of the versions of the speech I had intended (there were three) but if I say so myself people really loved it.

A few guidelines for giving a great speech:

• MAX IT OUT AT 3 MINUTES. Mine was 2:22 exactly. I even said at the beginning that I would keep it short just so I remembered to do just that.
• Use an anecdote. Relate it to recent events, music, movie, something that the crowd can really relate to.
  
• Just talk about the couple. Like how you met them, your interactions and observations.
  
• Make a take away. I wanted to make my speech a "What I learned about love from ____ and ____." People were really into that. I mean you should be able to find something from every couple because why else would they be getting married unless they had been putting something extraordinary into the relationship.
  
• Use a format: beginning, middle and end (resolution). I was on the speech team in high school and my favorite competition was the impromptu speech. Impromptu speech was always 2 minutes long and you were always supposed to lead in with a few explanations, some witty observation and end it with a learning point. I somehow managed to pull out that formula (unbeknownst to me).
  

If you want some more points about speech making or would like me to type out some parts of my speech, I might just do that...

{Source Le Love}

You'll know when he is the one...the first time you look into his eyes you know something is different, you won't even question whether he is the one because there is no one else in this world that you can imagine being with. Perhaps like me, you'll be scared, scared to let someone in, to give them the power to hurt you, to leave and crush your heart, you won't tell him this of course because that alone is also letting him into your heart, but he'll know, he tells you he can feel the wall you have up, and to let it down because it's ok to let love in, he's afraid too but he's willing to take the chance with you and let you in completely, so you do & you've never been happier.

Westside Wedding iPhone Apps: Brides Iphone App FREE

The Brides iphone app is sweet and free too bad it was not around last year when I was spending countless hours looking for my wedding dress and the bridesmaid dresses. Check it out ladies, it is awesome!

Westside Wedding loves iphone Apps: iShoes

As you know I love my iphone and it has been my own personal assistant with this whole wedding planning, allowing me to email vendors right away, approving drafts for wedding related items with time constraints and especially with trying to find the right shoes, jewelry, dress etc. The free iphone app iShoes helped me find my shoes & my moms!

1. iShoes

I love that you can email your fav items! This is great if you need to email them to your bridesmaids!

I had initially wanted colored shoes but fell in love with these babies:

and here are my moma's shoes Nine West Women's Janika Sandals,in purple Satin

All you need to know about Wedding Lighting

I knew about Led Lights and twinkle lights but did you know about gobo or pin spotting? me either but thanks to GetMarried.com now I know a lot about lighting! whoop!

{image via http://trendsettingwedding.typepad.com}

DIY: CD Holders/Labels/Playlist for OOT Peeps

MOH here again. I was called upon last minute for a DIY project from WW. UM D you WHAT?! Not usually my thing, so I had to do some research. Things you need to start:

• Good eye for design, clipart, existing theme info colors etc. from bride we had some great starting points from our designer Jeff W.
  
• Photoshop
• Template (I used a really awesome one by Corrie Haffly.)
• Card stock paper
• Quality ink or laser jet printer
• Paper cutter
• Good permanent glue roller
• Martha Stewart Utility Bone Paper Folder (WTF, I know right?!)
• http://hypem.com
• Patience and a whole lotta heart

Can I just say that I really love this Martha Stewart utility bone paper folder?! I had no idea what it was when WW handed it to me and suggested I use it to fold the paper and it came with NO instructions on how it actually folds paper (it looks like a plastic butter knife) but it came to me in a dream on how to actually use it so I made a YouTube how-to video for those of you as clueless as I am. (I hope there are some out there.)





We did two CD versions one for the older generation attendants and one for the younger generation. Here's the first draft of younger generation tracklist:
01 I Gotta Feeling (Dirty Remix) - The Black Eyed Peas
02 Can't Stop Partying - Weezer feat. Lil' Wayne
03 Kings and Queens - 30 Seconds To Mars
04 Pumped Up Kicks - Foster The People
05 All The Right Moves (Danger Remix) - One Republic
06 1901 (What Kind Of Breeze Do You Blow? A-Mix) - Phoenix
07 Heads Will Roll (A-Trak Remix) - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
08 Fireflies Goin Down (Yung Joc vs. Owl City) - The White Panda
09 Timbaland feat JT - Carryout (Vindata Electro Remix) - Vindata
10 Roll Out (Robbery Remix) - Ludacris
11 Circus (Diplo Remix) - Britney Spears
12 (If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To (Rosen Remix) - Weezer

Groomsmen RV trip and gifts

Mi amor had a groomsmen 5 day RV trip in February, it was a chance for all of them to get to know each other, and for some it was the first time meeting. I was very excited for them, I thought it would be time well spent male bonding! I wanted to get them each a car package to take on the trip, it was so much fun putting these together and I even got myself some of the items he he! Here is the list:

1. Party Mix
2. Nestle hot chocolate with mash mellows
3. Beef Jerky
4. Peanut Butter M&Ms - I thought they were the delicious Special Edition Strawberried Peanut Butter M&M's that I had earlier this year but they were just peanut butter. I've never cared for peanut butter & jelly, I think I have had one bite out of  my whole life and I spit it right back out but for some reason I loved the taste of the Strawberried Peanut Butter M&M's ! so freaking good! I thought the boys may enjoy them for breakfast :-)
5. Enamel Coffee Mug 10oz
6. Jack Daniels Coffee
7. Enamel Dinner Plate
8. Enamel Bowl
9. Roll of mentos
10. Stainless Steel 6 Oz Liquor Flasks. Amazon has a great deal on these - Set of 5 for $20, free shipping and no sales tax!
11. 6 Function Stainless Steel Camping Tool aka Hobo Tool I *love* this little tool, I bought one for myself to leave at my desk at work for my lunch!
12. Then I put them all in a Reusable Grocery Shopping Bag !

And since I was already on amazon shopping for the boys, I could not resist getting this stainless steel lunch box for myself :-)

Bachelorette Party Recount: How to Flawlessly Execute the Inherently Flawed

MOH here (and pictured to the right) just popping in to give y'all a recount of how things went down at WW's bachelorette party in Vegas.

In kind of went in several phases, I'll save you the trouble of the details but rather highlights of what to be prepared for (which I was) and questions to ask yourself or things to expect.

1) Know your bride (duh) when planning a party listen to requests and if you have known her long enough you should be able to get the "vibe" down pat. Although bachelorette's are typically a surprise, I don't think the whole thing should be, I mean it's this girl's wedding and shame on you if you should happen to make the wrong decision on venue, dinner, games, outfits, WHATEVER keep some things under wraps, but if you need feedback on something - ASK for it.

2) Herd people. Attendants to bachelorette party can vary from 7-20 people - all of whom do not know each other. Start email chain of open communication or create an event on Facebook so people can talk to each other and get a conversation going before the party.

3) Check in, like, A LOT. People will typically ask you a lot of questions, (especially about cost) which you may not have the entire answer to, keep following up with people to let them know what's going on (waiting on xyz, should be hearing back from abc, etc) to deflect the possibility of a cancellation. (Out of town bachelorettes like Vegas are tough, especially because of travel expenses for the individual, hotel stay etc. the in town ones are too small scale at times and could leave the bride with a less than desirable "event" feel.)

4) Be flexible - don't kill yourself over what your itinerary (oh and BTW HAVE an itinerary for events for the weekend with venues, meets, times, etc and SHARE them with the party) make sure that the things that are most important to happen (games, strip club, dancing, dinner or whatever) - actually happen and smaller less important ones can be rid of accordingly).

5) Props - definitely fun, we passed on the whole "penis" theme with the exception of straws and went for a more fun going out attire and accessories so the bride didn't look the fool and was not afraid to take some pics.

6) Take feedback and listen to others... but at the end of the day the Bride trumps the majority. People tend to have eclectic friends, some who don't party some who party to much and when it comes to things like venues and activities some might be more willing than others, instead of answering questions or requests prevent such things by letting people know BEFOREHAND when sending itinerary that this is what the bride wants to do, loves to do, is excited about etc. I remember a few moments in Vegas when a couple of folks tried to move the party and came up to me for executive party movement. After a few nos I finally said, "WW wants to stay here." BAM! Just like that, dissolved.

7) SAVE UP!!! You *need* need to have several hundred dollars saved up or a clean credit card when anticipating bachelorette party, you'll have to cover all expenses keep receipts and later divvy up the tab among the crew (KEEP YOUR RECORDS.)

8) Be a spin master, if anything negative comes up (drunken brawl - oh wait, that was me actually hehehe), someone gets sick, passes out, or what have you. Be calm cool and collected, laugh it off highlight the bright side, after all the last thing you want is that one bad thing, ruin the weekend and be the only thing that the party and the bride walk away remembering.

Oh yeah and take good pictures, videos, and plan for back up peeps (bridesmaids are good for such things). Know your supporters.

Peace!!!

Happpy Blog Birthday to Chic 'n Cheap Living and a Giveaway!

Happy Blog Birthday to one of my fav bloggers Chic 'n Cheap! She's absolutely amazing, and has been with me & my lil blog since the very beginning, she has motivated me many times with her sweet comments! If you have not done so already you *must* check out her stylish blog and while you are over there check out the giveaways she is having in honor of her blog birthday! My jaw dropped when I saw the giveaway she posted - a Le Creuset 6 quart stock pot !! (insert squeal here).

Westside Wedding and Google RSVP wedding form!

My dearest readers,
I am so sorry for being MIA the past few months, once the 3 month mark hit all of a sudden work was extremely busy and wedding planning took over all my free time. I got so busy that I did not even have time to respond to personal emails which for me is crazy because I have an iphone! So I am so sorry about being MIA but I promise to blog about everything as soon as the wedding is over which is in 17 days! AH! But until then I will try to post about some more resources that have helped me along the way, most relate to my precious iPhone andGoogle.  Without further adeu I present you google form for RSVP!  If I could have only done online RSVP I would have but I was not sure that some of our guests would be down with it. These are some of the reasons that I liked about creating an RSVP form through google:

1. Linking the form to any website & therefor not being limited to any certain wedding website.
2. Choosing exactly what I want the RSVP form to say.
3. Being able to change the form at any time. In my case my parents had first said it was up to us what we wanted for the food so we chose stations & buffet, one month before the wedding they tell us they want sit down dinner, this was a problem considering we did not ask our guests what they wanted because we were doing buffet but for guests who went online we were able to update the form and ask them what their food choice was.
4. Making questions mandatory like leaving a comment he he!
5. The items in the form get automatically put into a google document that you can share with your significant other, you can get notified as soon as someone submits the form and you can use the information on the excel for placecards, thank you cards etc.

Screen shots:

How to make your own google form: Directions are here.

The link from our website:

The first page of the form, it asks for the person's name & email address. I created the form to take the person to a certain page depending on their answer. If they delightfully accept it then goes to the next page2, if they regretfully decline then it takes them to the last page and asks them to leave a comment.

If the delightfully accept then it takes them to Page 2 .

 Page 2: Asks what is their guest name, the type of meal they would like and if they are staying at the hotel. If they are staying at a hotel it takes them to a page that asks what hotel, if they answer no then it takes them straight to the last page to leave a comment.

If they answered yes to "Will you be staying at Hotel", they are taken to another page that asks them for their hotel info. We wanted this so we know where to take the OOT boxes.

No matter what they answer in any question, the last page is always the same - leave us a comment :-) This is my FAV! I love getting the comments :-)

Once the form is submitted it gives them a message from us thanking them for their RSVP

All the info is in a nice google doc!