Mason Jar Mug Idea

So I have an idea... You know how you can have champagne glasses personalized for your bridal party so that they all have their own toasting glass???

I'm thinking Mason Jar Mugs... Such as these... instead of champagne glasses.

They fit more with our rustic/western theme. And I'm sure our party would prefer them... heehee.

The darling Mr. M purchased a Silhouette for my Christmas gift... So I can print out the names, etch them on the glasses myself and HELLO wedding DIY!

Oh... not to mention, saved money! And who can say no to that!?!

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I kind of have a feeling this little lovely is going to come to GREAT use!!! :)

Thank you, thank you Mr. M!!!



Real vs. Fake Flowers

So, the big flower debate... Real vs. Fake.

I'm leaning towards fake. Think, hot June wedding, out of the way, pretty large distance between my wedding and any such flower shop...

Supposedly cheaper. Can be just as pretty as real... Will serve as gifts to loved ones in my cute rope vases, that won't just die on the way home.

But then... Can you really beat the real thing?

I'm wanting big, bright Gerber Daisies as my main flowers. They can be really expensive when purchased "alive". But will they look as nice if they're fake?

At my friend's wedding she spent around $1,000 on fake flowers. Family served as the flower arrangers, and they came out just lovely! Now, over three years later, a huge bunch of them lay ruined in her garage... Nowhere to store them. No one to give them or sale them to... She votes real. What's your vote? Real flowers, or fake flowers?
You can vote here ---> to the right, in my side bar.

In the meantime, here is my flower inspiration board... Sort of. I make all of my boards over at Style Me Pretty... And I just use their pictures. So they aren't EXACTLY what I'm looking for, but kind of. I want big, bright, Gerber Daisies.
What about white bouquets for the girls, and colors for me?
I like the single flower in a jar look... But prefer my rope vases.




Any opinions are SO much appreciated! And please vote in my really important poll.
My wedding flowers depend on it.
Well, not really, but I would like to know what you think! :)

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Bloggie Friends!!!

This was our first year sending out Christmas Cards! We used some of my favorite engagement pictures and ordered them from Shutterfly.com! If you haven't already, go check out that site!!! I'm thinking we may order our Guest Book from them...

We shall see in the New Year! :)

Wishing you the Happiest of Holidays!!

Thanks for following, reading and commenting on my little wedding blog!!

Always, Kassi & Mr. M

Flower-Centerpeice Inspiration

Since the very beginning of my wedding planning, I knew I wanted to have bright, beautiful Gerber Daisies for my main flowers! I just love them!

I also knew that I wanted to have rope involved in the decor, a nod to Mr. M's favorite thing! I also happened to inherit a soldering iron awhile back, so I started making rope vases...

Thus my flower/centerpiece inspiration was born!

This is my very first rope vase! I think it turned out lovely! I have two made so far and a third started... People keep, gently of course, letting me know that making that many rope vases doesn't seem realistic. But I don't care, I'm still going to attempt it anyway! 

My sister and I purchased these dyed baby daisies at Safeway just to see how they might look in the rope vase. And because they were the only daisies available... :)

But I think it looks nice...

So picture one or two of these filled with big, bright Gerber Daisies, like these... on each of the tables at our wedding reception.

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It just so happens that I, with the amazing giveaway luck I've been having lately, won 12 rustic table number holders from a giveaway over at Sparkle & Hay!

Who I just love, by the way!!!

The table numbers are made by Le Chic Wedding Boutique.

It'll be 6-8 weeks I guess before those little lovelies reach my mailbox... but that will give me time to think of a creative use for them.

I wasn't really planning on table numbers, so we'll see what I come up with...

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In the meantime, anyone have any ideas for addition to my western/rustic/bright centerpiece displays?

What did you use at your wedding? Or plan to use?

Real or fake flowers? Wait... that's a discussion for a future post...
But we can get it started here... So again, real or fake??

The WHERE of it all...

We've found our wedding venue!!! :)

That sounds kind of weird to say... Where I come from, there isn't really such a thing as a wedding "venue"... The last few weddings that have occurred in my area were either

1) in a large field with hay bales as seats

2) in the middle of the rodeo arena under a tent

3) in the church

In other words... It's a small, small town which means FEW choices!!!

All of the above mentioned choices turned out to be really unique and lovely... But in this case, most are just not what we're going for.

I've ALWAYS wanted an outdoor wedding. Or at least an outdoor ceremony.

I'm just not a "Going to the Chapel" kind of girl.  

I'm not gonna lie, we were considering getting married in a field in my hometown, and maybe setting up a tent. But we got real and realized that a "field" venue would require port-a-johns... (Which should have NO business being in a lovely wedding blog such as mine... heehee, right?!) Probably a VERY expensive tent, some way to provide electricity for the lights and music, just a whole lot of things that we really can't afford.

Turns out we're really lucky and happen to be family friends with the amazing couple that owns the Alpine Golf & Country Club in Alpine, Arizona.

(Alpine is just over the stateline from my hometown, so we're golden on the distance issue!)

Not actually the Alpine Country Club... But it looks like this...
It's so small, I can't find any good pictures online...
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Amazingly enough, Mr. M has not had a single strong opinion on any of the wedding decisions thus far... He's pretty cool with whatever I come up with... EXCEPT, for some reason, he really wanted to get married at the country club.

Now... Don't get confused with the idea of a country club and our western/rustic wedding. It will all mesh... I promise. Alpine Country Club is not your run of the mill, need an exclusive membership to get in, kind of country club... It's out in the mountains, surrounded by huge pine trees! It's run by a hilarious golf playing gentleman that would rather join you for a round of golf than hang out in the clubhouse, running the business.

 Like I was saying... it fits us. And Mr. M really wants it...

So I called and booked it for June 18th!

Actually the owners had offered it to us awhile back, but we hadn't really decided until now... But anyway, another milestone on this wedding planning super highway!

***

FYI: Just for fun, a quick story on our history

with the Alpine Country Club and Golf Course!

I don't play golf. I have played a few times at Putt Putt... But until Mr. M, I hadn't even swung a real golf club. He played a little in high school, and is a fairly decent player.

So we (Mr. M, my 2 brothers, and my sister) all went to the Alpine course for a round of golf a few summers ago. Again, keep in mind I had NO idea what I was doing...

But even still, I made a HOLE in ONE! That's right. I did.

The thing was though... It was in the wrong hole... :)

At the 2nd hole, the tee is right next to the 1st hole. I hit the ball, aiming for the 2nd hole, it bounced off a nearby pine tree, and went right into the 1st hole!!

All that to say, we do have a special history there... It's not like we just chose a random spot for our wedding. Not that random isn't good, but in this case, we wanted some meaning.

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Did you have a history with your wedding venue? Are you looking for a unique wedding venue? Did your hubs to be have any special input on the WHERE?

Wedding Registry Tips

A few days ago I received a Facebook message from my sister, who is also my Maid of Honor. She is awesome! She is taking on her MOH duties with full gusto!

The message was in regards to registering for wedding gifts, because apparently you're supposed to include the registries in the pre-party invites, so everyone knows where to buy and what you would like to receive. It also seems to be a personal favorite of hers, because she's super excited about it... love her!!! Basically, the point of her message was,
"Sister, registries... Get your behind in gear!" Aye Aye!!

So last night Mr. M and I had a discussion on registering for wedding gifts. The whole idea seems to make him a little uncomfortable... He doesn't want to ask for things from our family and friends. Which I get... But a wedding is one of the few times that it's allowed!

I tried to explain that they'll be buying us gifts anyway, it might as well be something we want, and something that's easy for them to find. Right?!?

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So again, a quest for wedding planning knowledge!

I found several sites online where you can set up registries. Almost any chain department store has this option as well as tons of specialty stores. So I started checking them out.
But wait... Just FYI there are some things to keep in mind BEFORE registering for wedding gifts... In my own words. As learned from several online sources...

1) Register soon after enagement! (Ok, I'm late, I didn't know... oops!) This gives everyone that will be purchasing gifts for the two of you in the near future, an idea of what you want early on. Also if you're having an engagement party then there are some options available in case someone wants to buy an engagement gift.

2) You aren't bound by the traditional wedding registry standards. If you need and WILL use a set of fine china, then sure. But if you'd prefer a new BBQ grill, go for it. Ask for what you want and will make the most use of.

Also, if you've been living together and already have everything you need for a home, it's cool to ask for the fun stuff.. i.e. golf clubs, board games, etc. Or even go ahead and ask for new stuff. In my and Mr. M's case most of our stuff is hand me downs, or yard sale scores. It wouldn't hurt to have some new stuff of our very own! ;)

3) Register as a team! The gifts you will be receiving for your wedding are for the both of yas! So don't be the stingy stinker and register for only things you want... Let your fiance in on the registering fun! It's also totally acceptable to register for a few items of only his choosing and a few items of yours... i.e. I may register for a sewing table, and he might choose a poker set. Everybody's happy in the end!

4) Before choosing where to register look into each store's policies... And check the message boards on wedding sites! Other brides will let you know if they had trouble with a specific store, something that the main wedding websites won't tell you so as not to play favorites. Some stores have better return and exchange policies than others. Some keep WAY better track of your registries i.e. what's been bought and what hasn't so that things don't get bought over and over.

5) Three seems to be the magic number of registry sites. Definitley choose more than one so guests have an option of where to shop. At the same time more than that can get a little overwhelming... And takes alot of time to shop through if someone is looking for a gift for you.

6) Register for items in several price ranges. Each gift buyer will have a different idea of what they want to spend for your gift. Make sure there's several options in each price range so that they feel they have some choice over what they choose to purchase for you. 

     

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7) On those same lines, register for more gifts than guests, again, to provide choices! You can always add more to your registries as time progresses. Especially if something new comes along that you really would like to have... Go ahead! Add it on there!

8) Check in on your registries after they've been created. Make sure things are being updated there when someone purchases a gift from the list. Otherwise, you may receive multiples of the same gift on accident.

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9) You can absolutely register for gift cards. Wedding ettiquete says directly asking for cash is a no-no, but gift cards are acceptable. If you do prefer cash, it's best to tell your wedding party and ask that they politely spread the word.

10) Say thanks! As soon as gifts start coming in, start writing thank you notes. This way you can write notes throughout the whole process without getting behind. Setting up a system to keep track of what came in and who it's from is a GREAT idea. Also, spending a little to purchase some nice thank you notes will let your guests know that you care enough to say thanks properly!

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I feel better about registering for our wedding gifts with these tips in mind.

Hope they're helpful to someone else! If they are, I would love to hear about it!

Also, know any registering tips I left out, that are important?? Please share!!!

With this ring...

This last weekend Mr. M and I went to town... In the process we decided, or maybe I decided, and then goaded Mr. M., to go look at wedding rings.

We already have an idea of what to get for him, but we had no idea what size.

I have it my head that the solitaire enhancers are the most beautiful, in my opinion, wedding rings, and so I think I need one of those... :) Like this one shown here...

Wedding Ring Enhancer (solitaire engagement ring fits down inside). Source.

Other than that... We're clueless.

Which got me to thinking... Why wedding rings in the first place? And why the "ring finger"? Shouldn't you know this kind of thing before you commit a huge amount of money to something... So that sent me on a wedding ring knowledge quest. 

I've discovered some very interesting things pertaining to this topic since...

1) Wedding ring significance?

The wedding ring is in the shape of a circle, the circle, which is never ending symbolizes the never ending commitment the couple is making to one another.

There is no beginning and there is no end.

Eternity.

(I really like that word when it comes to the symbolism related to marriage!)

Read more about this here and here.

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2) Why the "ring finger"?

This tradition is believed to have began with the Romans. They believed that the ring finger on your left hand was directly connected to the heart, through the "vein of love".

This makes sense, right? Wear the ring signifying your commitment to someone on the finger that is connected to your heart... Aw love.

More on this here and here.

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3) Why wedding rings?

There are many different stories pertaining to the initial use of wedding rings, but some believe it began with ancient Egyptians who believed the circle symbolized eternity and the giving and receiving of rings symbolized an eternal love.

To the Romans, a gold ring symbolizes purity. An Irish superstition states that the ring must be made of gold or it's bad luck for the couple.

The Italians seem to be the first to have used diamonds in their wedding bands, believing that they were created from the flames of love.

Read about this here (as well as the meaning of several other wedding traditions) and here.

The men in my life have mixed feelings on wedding rings... wear them, or not?

My dad has a wedding band, of course... but in his profession, it's a safety hazard that may get caught on something, or easily lost. So he almost never wears his. Then there are guys like one of my future brother-in-laws who wears his all the time. 

Mr. M is worried that it will bother him, because the guy NEVER wears anything resembling jewelry. (Except for a cross on a chain that I bought him last Christmas with his mother's name engraved on the back.) So in reality, it might be uncomfortable for awhile. But I think he'll get used to it.... I guess we'll see.

In the meantime, I think Mr. M is leaning towards something like this...

Silver, or white gold, simple.

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While I'm leaning towards something like this...

And yes, that's my same engagement ring shown. 

Solitaire enhancer, white gold, to match my engagement ring.

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 Or perhaps something simpler... like this...

And no, that's not my exact engagement ring, but it does fit, quite nicely.

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Once again, thank you to Kay's Jewelers, whom I'm pretty sure we'll purchase our rings from since that's where Mr. M bought my engagement ring... They have a beautiful selection BTW! But this is a commitment that deserves a little more thought...

Once we decide for sure, I'll let you know! :)

Until then... Does your hubby or hubs to be wear, or think he'll wear, his wedding ring often? How did you convince him it was important?

Any comments on our leaning towards choices?? :)

I'd love to hear from you and promise to respond!

Will you...

My ladies have been chosen! And all have agreed to be in my wedding! Yay! Just wanted to share with you my, "please be in my wedding" idea. I decided that asking a friend to participate in one's wedding should be a big deal! It IS a big deal, I think! In my case I was asking them to dedicate at least a few weekends of their busy lives to share their time with me!! So I wanted to ask each lady in a fun and memorable way. This led me to search online for cards to send, cause I love sending actual letters/cards in the mail. 

I was lucky to discover Greeting Card Universe. They have some super cute cards and really great prices!!! Turns out they were having a sale at the time, so I chose to use their website.

I have decided to use bright Gerber daisies as my main wedding flowers (more on that at another time), so I searched for daisies within the "Will You Be My Bridesmaid" category. Yes, they have a be my bridesmaid category of cards!! Isn't that awesome?!?

I found this card, which I loved!!! The daisies are bright and exactly what I was looking for!

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The inside just had something like, it'll make my day if you're a bridesmaid, which I didn't think was personal, or "cutsie" enough... And Greeting Card Universe gives you the option to personalize the inside... So I rummaged around in the other cards and found a poem.

I edited it just a little to my liking and it became,

"We've shared a special bond

That only best friends can do,

A bond that's been a blessing

All the years I've known you.

God truly has blessed me

When he put you in my life.

Will you be my bridesmaid

As I become his wife?"

Each of my 5 bridesmaids received that card in the mail with a little printout from The Knot about their duties. Just for fun! Afterwards I thought maybe it seemed a little bridezilla to be like, be my bridesmaid? Now you gotta do this... But really, when I was a maid of honor for a friend once, my first time, I searched for what my duties were online, cause I really didn't know. So I stand by actually telling your girls what you expect them to do! Then nobody feels confused or left out! The bridesmaid duties can be found here.
Bridesmaids: Bridesmaid Duties in Detail

For my sister, who I asked to be my Maid of Honor, I personalized it especially for my "sister".

"We've shared a special bond

That only sisters can do,

A bond that's been a blessing

All our whole lives through.

God truly has blessed me

When he put you in my life.

Will you be my Maid of Honor

As I become his wife?

I included with hers, a list of MOH duties. Like I said... Something I would've liked to receive when I was an MOH. The list I sent can be found here.
Maid of Honor: Her Duties in Detail

So to those of you who are planning your own wedding... You can definitely steal my idea! Not gonna lie... pretty proud of it. :) My girls really seemed to enjoy getting the cards! And it was a surprise at least for my sister, who wasn't expecting to be the MOH. If you do, please write a post about it on your own blog and link back to me! Sharing is caring! heehee! Thanks!

And to those already married, did you ask your girls to stand up there with you in a fun or interesting way?? 

Dresses for the Ladies!

I've been thinking alot about bridesmaid dresses lately... This last weekend we had a little BBQ and get together at our house with a few friends (NFR on TV, see my personal blog for that post...) Anyway, it turns out a few friends adds up to a third of our wedding party! Although my maids have been chosen and set in stone, more on that in a later post, Mr. M is still debating on his dudes. But I think he's got a pretty good idea...

So me and the ladies discussed dresses, and lots of things wedding, during our little get together. Here is my initial bridesmaid dress inspiration board created over at Style Me Pretty. As you can see there's lots of pink... But none are really the shade I'm going for.

The uniformity will come in with all of the girls wearing the same length (cocktail), same color (some shade of bright pink), and same material (sort of leaning towards chiffon).

Then each girl will be able to pick her own neckline.

My ladies vary in size and shape, absolutely. I have everything from my modest sister, who WILL be wearing some sort of cover up if she goes strapless,  to my tall, lanky friend that will choose something sexy. And I love it!

I love that my girls are different. That's why they were chosen, each is different in their shapes, their heights, and most importantly, as a friend. Each is important to me in different aspect of my life. But as I said before, that's a topic for a post coming soon.

So... What do you think? Do you think that's a good balance of uniformity, but also individuality?

I want my maids to be able to choose a dress they will enjoy, and hopefully wear again. If you're gonna spend that much, you wanna wear it more than once! But I also want them to look like their supposed to be standing up there with me, not just some random guests that wondered to the front.

What about the material? It will be a summer wedding, in June. So something light and airy seems to fit the bill? Will chiffon do the trick? Do you have any opinions as to what will work best to keep the ladies comfortable, but still lovely? And classy, but not too formal? I would love to hear your opinions!!

Long as I'm laughing with you...

You know when you've been in a relationship with someone for a really long time and you get comfortable with them and their little quirks, habits, etc? The kind of comfortable love where you take them for them, they take you for you. Mr. M and I are comfortable. But every now and then he does something that just makes me smile and reminds me why and how much I actually love him.

The other night we were on the couch watching t.v. but because I have a slight OCD personality, I like doing at least two things at once... So I was also sewing. Just a little cross stitch on some pillow cases that my Nana gave me last Christmas. Mr. M asked to see what I was doing, then decided he should try, because it looked so easy. (FYI it is easy. You just stitch little X's following the pattern traced onto the material already.) He took my sewing and stitched a nice little X, while I watched patiently, and handed it back. Then he went back to watching the show. Smiles.

It's nice to have someone who cares about what I'm interested in. Even if it's a little thing like doing cross stitching every once in a great while. He cared enough to check it out and even try it for himself. No big deal. Just one of those little moments in life that warm your little heart all to pieces.

We're very lucky. We come from a closely similar cultural background; the same religious background; like most of the same t.v. shows and movies; even graduated with the same Bachelors in college. We have a lot in common. I know there are lots of couples out there where opposites attract. But we're lucky that we can enjoy alot of the same things and just happen to look at the world in pretty much the same way. I gotta think that'll make this whole marriage thing we're about to embark on a little bit easier. Don't you?

Treehouse Photography

"All that I'm after is a life full of laughter,

Long as I'm laughing with you..."

~Daughtry

Do you ever have any moments like this with your significant other?? Or any thoughts on the ease similar backgrounds place on a relationship? I'd love to hear your thoughts!!

Budget? Really... Who needs a budget?

On my nifty little checklist from The Knot, there's this one pesky little item right at the TOP... And guess what? It's WAY over do. Yep, it's got one of those cute little clocks next to it... Meaning it should've been done a LONG time ago. But I haven't done it. So I can't check it off. What is it you ask? Well, you know from reading the post title... dun dun dun. The budget.

Decide on a wedding budget and hash out who's contributing to the wedding. The Knot Hint: For a quick and easy way to determine your budget, use The Knot Wedding Budget Tool.

Cute clock, right? Except that little clock and several others at this point are leering at me every time I open up my checklist. Reality check Miss Kassi. 199 days to go. Today. The Knot very nicely even offers a Wedding Budget Tool. Which can be found at the link above. And I've tried to use it. I've entered in $5,000 and it quickly told me, "Get real Girl! That's not enough!!" But I don't understand why it can't be. "It just can't" it says. I entered in $10,000 and it sighs, "That's a little better." Ok, I'm making that up... haha, of course. But still...

To be completely honest I have NO idea how much we actually have to spend. Since I just started working again in October I am just barely getting to the point of having any extra disposable income. Barely. And then Christmas hits. Luckily I did pretty well with the sales on Black Friday. Online of course. So we're nearly past that roadblock in the budgeting plan.

But even then, I don't know how much anyone else can contribute, or if they'll be able to at all. It's a rough world we live in right now. Everyone understands that. Even this bride to be.

Thus, that pesky little clock will remain next to the budget item on my checklist... Maybe we don't need a budget. If you don't have a budget you can't go over it, right?!