Something Old, New, Borrowed and Blue

So far, I haven't come upon any special family wedding traditions as far as mine and the mister's families are concerned... Honestly, I haven't looked THAT much into it...

Don't worry! It's on the to do list!

But everyone seems to have heard of the good ol'...

"Something Old

Something New

Something Borrowed

Something Blue"

(And a silver sixpence in her shoe)

I definitely plan on incorporating this one into my day!

So, I thought it would be nice to know the meaning behind it.
As well as mention some ideas for what to use...

***

Overall, if a bride carries these items on her wedding day, it will mean good luck for her and her marriage.

Something OLD is said to represent continuity.

It serves as the link to the bride's past.

Ideas include:

*Antique family jewelry

*A piece of your mother or grandmother's wedding dress

Something NEW represents well wishes for the future.

It symbolizes the new union that she will enter into with her husband.

Ideas include:

*Anything purchased new for the bride to wear that day

i.e. wedding dress, veil, etc.

*A new piece of jewelry given by a family member or her fiance... *hint hint* haha

Something BORROWED is symbolic of those who are there to support the bride on her wedding day and from then on. For more symbolism the borrowed item could be from a happily married woman, as in the bride is "borrowing" some of that wedded bliss.

And of course, whatever is borrowed must be returned after the wedding.

Ideas include:

*Jewelry borrowed from a family member or friend

*A clutch to carry essentials in during the day

Something BLUE is in specific reference to the color blue, which is related to faithfulness, purity and loyalty.

Ideas include:

*Blue earrings

*Blue stitching on the underside of your dress

*Blue undies!

***

Finally if you choose to include the silver sixpence...
it symbolizes good wealth and fortune for the married couple!

As for me... I don't know what I'll end up with... I kind of like the idea of stitching a little blue embroidered patch inside the wedding dress.
Then it's like your fun little secret... It could be a message to the fiance and only you and he would ever know!
Something old and borrowed, I'd love to incorporate some family heirloom items.
Definitely something from my beloved Granny.
Next time I'm home maybe I'll see if I can find an old hankie or something of hers.

So... What did YOU use or are you planning to use for your items?
Did you or are you even going to do this tradition?

Sources: Here and
Wedding Traditions: Meaning of "Something Old, Something New..."?

Bridal Hair Inspiration

The item from my The Knot Checklist that I'm currently working on...

My Wedding Day Hair Do!

And I'm torn...
LOVE that loose flowy updo, top left corner... Something along those lines...
Or down, loose curls or even waves...
A flower would've been fun, but with my dress will probably be too much...

Style Me Pretty

How did you are you planning to wear your hair?

Veil or no veil?

4 Months and Counting!!!



***



Four months to go. Today.

Last night me and the mister were discussing that we are at the four month mark.

He was funny...

I said, "Saturday we're at four months!"

He said, "No, it's tomorrow. See, I know what's going on."

So proud of him! :)

So FOUR MONTHS it is!

See...

  

This last week has been overwhelming a little bit...

I knew this 'four months away day' was looming and so inevitably I started stressing out...

But stress is powerful. Stress gets you going.

So where we stand as of today...

• I have almost all of the Save the Dates sent out or handed out... A whole bunch of them will be finished over this weekend.
• I am smack dab in the middle of bridesmaid gifts 3 and 4.. That puts me almost OVER halfway finished with those.
• I called the couple that owns the venue today and talked with each of them...
  Mrs. Moyers thinks since we're planning a buffet style dinner that we'll have plenty of seating including the bar and patio at the clubhouse.
  Mr. Moyers suggested setting up a portable arena for a team roping the day before... haha! Gotta love a good ol' team roper!
• I'm working on a bridesmaid dress fitting/ordering get together for the first or second weekend in March.
• I asked Mr. M last night what he cared about...
  Real v. fake flowers.... Doesn't care.
  Cake... Doesn't care.
  The fact that our wedding turned out to be the same day as a friend's from college...
  He cares! Guys... geez.
• He's yet to decide who his groomsmen will for sure be... He's asked a couple... but the final list is not decided. We have decided to order their shirts as their bigger gift, and then supplement it with something smaller...
  
  So there you have it... My Road to Mrs at four months out!
  
  We also have an EXCITING announcement...

Drum roll please...

***

We are going this evening to make an offer on a house.

It has land for our horses...

The house is SUPER STINKING nice...

And we really feel like we've found what we've been looking for!!

Oh... and guess what... Unlike the last offer we tried... This place HAS WATER!!! haha!

Yeah, the last one didn't have potable water... Hmm... of all things.

It's also only (at the most) 20 minutes from my office.

MUCH better than the 45 or so I drive each way everyday!

So... Were you/Are you freaking out at 4 months?
Any wise words for the 4 months to be bride?

Honey Do Tip & CSN Stores: Double Resin Hamper Review

Hello friends!

Remember a few weeks ago, I was asked to review an item from CSN Stores?

I posted about that here.

Well, here is my review... Including some interesting pictures... :)
AND a Honey Do Tip from me to you!!

The hardest part of the entire online ordering process was deciding what item to choose!

I finally decided on the Honey Can Do - Double Resin Hamper for my review item.

We'd been needing a nice hamper, desperately... I'll show you why shortly...

This one from CSN Stores looked like it would fit the bill!

The ordering process was streamlined and easy!

You can pay quickly using a credit card or Paypal account.

I received a conformation e-mail once the order was placed, as well as an e-mail notification when the item was shipped.

My order was very nicely upgraded by CSN so that it was shipped sooner than expected.

It arrived, by FEDEX in what I felt was a timely manner.

I was SO excited when I came home one evening to find a rather large box waiting for me from CSN Stores!

The hamper is foldable, so to set it up all I had to do was take it out of the box and the plastic wrapping and fold it into place.
It's two sided, and the bottoms of each side are closed with a zipper!
At first I was like, "GREAT two holes in the bottom isn't going to be good..."
But they zipped shut upon further inspection!

This is where our laundry was calling home before the nice, new hamper...

Classy, right?! *rolls eyes*
See why we needed a hamper!?! With a closing lid?

This is how the area looks now with the lovely, dirty clothes hiding, hamper! :)



HUGE improvement, right!!
That laundry basket was relocated to where it actually belongs... In the laundry room.

The hamper, as I mentioned earlier is two sided...
Perfect for sorting clothes as they go in!
Saves lots of sorting time when actually doing laundry!

READY FOR THE HONEY DO TIP...
A two sided laundry hamper helps get the hubs-to-be to actually sort his clothes, as well!
A HUGE added bonus!



We use one side for whites, one sides for darks. You could use one for jeans, one for unmentionables... Up to you! :)

As you can see the lid velcros shut once the clothes are in, keeping them out of sight AND smell in the case of somebody's stinky socks... Not naming any names... ;)

Once closed the top also doubles as a nice work surface for sorting through CLEAN socks!! Another added bonus!

The only downside to the hamper that I can find so far is that it's a little plain...

Just a plain cream colored hamper... But it easily fits in with most decor and could, with a little craftiness be fancied up a bit!! *wink wink*

Thanks to CSN Stores for allowing me to review an item for them!

Overall I am completely pleased with my new hamper!

If you haven't already, go check them out friends!!

They have EVERYTHING! And are so easy to order from and work with!

*I was not monetarily compensated by CSN Stores for this Review.

The opinion is my own, honest viewpoint.

The only items received was the actual hamper.



Cotton: The Fabric of OUR Lives

How about an update on a couple of Bridesmaid Dress decisions? :)

When we went to David's Bridal a couple of weekends ago, I took three of my ladies with me.  I've decided to do a intro to the girls post or page soon, so may as well start getting acquainted! ;)

Charli. My sister, Kayli (the MOH).  And Megan.

Once my dress was tried on, chosen and purchased we had some extra time so the girls tried on a few maids dresses. Through that process we came to a few decisions...

The color will be David's Bridal WATERMELON. The perfect shade of pink for my ladies!

The fabric will be summer sundress COTTON.

Here Charli and Meg wear cotton and satin. I think cotton looks lovely in the Watermelon. (Charli's wearing Guava and Meg's in Black... but we did see a Watermelon version.
And it fits our summer, outdoor, somewhat laid back theme.)



Also the length is David's Bridals version of short, or cocktail length basically.

So far I think Charli and Meg have decided somewhat on this style... Which I LOVE and want my OWN dress in... :)

A couple of the other girls seem to like this style too, so it will be interesting to see if they all choose the same even though they have, I think, five or so options to choose from in my set criteria. Shows they all have fabulous taste!! ;)



Kayli will be wearing some kind of a cover up for a little modesty...
(She's a good Mormon girl)
But it will also set her apart as the Maid of Honor.

So what do you think??
Do you think our decisions fit what you've seen so far for the theme of the wedding?
Any other bridesmaid dress comments??

I would love to hear!!!

Wedding Guest Book

Our Guest Book came in!!! Where I ordered those Christmas cards from Shutterfly.com, I received a FREE 8x8 photobook as a thank you!!!

I made my free book into an Engagement photo guest book! The plan is to purchase some Sharpie pens, no smudge if possible because the pages are glossy... Then guests can sign around the pictures! On a few pages we even posed a couple fun questions for guests to answer. i.e. Favorite memory of Mr. M and Kassi? Wishes for Mr. M and Kassi?

(My sister laughed at me for continuing to say Mr. M even though his first name is on everything... But that's ok. Mr. M he is! ;)

I really like how it turned out and now it's something fun that we can set out in our future home to share and not just a book full of signatures that nobody will want to look at!

Click here to view this photo book larger

What do you think? Like it? Did you do something interesting or fun for your wedding guest book? Or have something fun planned?

Here Comes the Bride...

I purchased my wedding dress this last weekend!!!

It is SUCH a huge relief!! I was starting to feel like I was running out of time as far as that was concerned... Three of my girls went with me to David's Bridal in El Paso, Texas and we got it done! :)

 Buy your dress -- narrow down your options and make a final decision. 

Wedding dress shopping was a BLAST!!

Our consultant was SO helpful and she spent the entire time helping us!
And I really felt like the BRIDE. :)

David's Bridal is awesome because you can go online beforehand, pick out a few dresses that you like and then save them to your favorites... Then when you get to the shop, they just go get them for you and you try them on. If there's something else along the lines of what you picked they'll bring those too! It made the whole process SO easy!!!

So here's a few pictures the girls took of some of the dresses that I tried on...

 I'll warn you my face is goofy in EVERY single one.. haha!!
What?!? I was enjoying the process.... Funny faces and dance moves were a MUST! ;)

So one of these may or may not be the dress I chose... *Tease, tease*

And I'm not telling... neither are my girl's... Got that girls!?! ;)

Mr. M doesn't read this anyway... but in the off chance that he does... It's a secret! :)

Things I'm taking away from this process...

1. I need to work on my arms!!! Any arm workout suggestions for a girl that sits at a desk ALL day long??
2. I spent a little more than I wanted, but you have to be open to the fact that the exact style of dress that you really want may not cost what you thought it would...
3. I LOVE my dress and I am SO excited to put it on again! I sent it right home with my sister, Kayli, so that Mr. M wouldn't be tempted to peek! Good thing too, 'cause the first thing he said was, "Where's you're dress? I wanna see it." I informed him that was BAD luck... And his reply... "It doesn't count if you're not IN it!" Pretty sure it does... But we're not gonna chance it regardless... heehee!!
4. The whole time everyone kept asking me how I am going to wear my hair... Now I know what to work on next!! :)

P.S. I bought my veil too! And the undergarments... Post on that later!

Stylish Blogger Award!!

I won some awards! Not one... not two... but THREE!!! :)

And I am stoked!!!

An award is a sweet affirmation that somebody out there notices and maybe even cares!!! ;)

The first one (well two) is the Stylish Blogger Award from Miss Jessica of Happily Ever After.

What a sweetheart, right?!?

I also received the Stylish Blogger Award from Amy Jean of Relentless Bride!

 I know... lucky lady!! :) I feel lucky anyway...
Thank you darling ladies for thinking that my lovely little wedding blog and my wedding ramblings are stylish! Both these ladies are AMAZING bloggers so I am truly honored to received their accknowledgement.

So... I'm going to combine those two...


The rules for this one are:
1. Thank and link... Done!
2. Share 7 Things About Yourself


1. Rings are my favorite pieces of jewelry. I have a couple that I received from my Granny, one from Mr. M (not my engagement ring, I wear it daily), and a couple I got for myself that I rotate.
But I wear one on my right hand every day!

 2. I am self-diagnosed, at least slightly OCD. Pictures NEED to be straight on the wall.
Things need to be EXACTLY in their right place. Colors NEED to match...

SOURCE

Yeah... it does kinda!




3. I'm pretty much a nerd... I love to read and learn new exciting things!

SOURCE

4. I am a PROUD NMSU AGGIE!!!

SOURCE

5. I have only lived in one state my entire life. Currently I work in a different state, but I'm still living in the big NM!

SOURCE

6. Mr. M and I met at a rodeo dance. When we were 10.
Yep.. known him a LONG time.

New Years Eve 2011... Almost Midnight... So we were tired. heehee

7. I like to make lists. You can bet with this wedding planning going on there are billions of lists rolling around my office and house... Somewhere... haha.


3. Award 15 bloggers with the Stylish Blogger Award

  


   

 

If you didn't receive one from me... That doesn't mean I don't love you or don't think you're stylish!!! I do!!!

But these stylish ladies had some stylish buttons!!! If you need help creating a button for your blog, hit me up!

So again, thanks to the sweet ladies that gave ME the Stylish Blogger Award!!!

I'll post on my other award at another time... Cause this post is getting WAY too lengthy....

Stay tuned for wedding dress pics tomorrow!!

Save the Dates? DONE!

Check it out... ANOTHER check on the list!

Order save-the-dates and send them out to all your guests

We had a HUGELY productive wedding weekend this last weekend...

Some of my girls helped me with the Save the Dates... And I finished those last night.

Most have already been sent or handed out! There's only a few left to give!

What do you think?? :)

I used my Silhouette to cut out the backing for the magnets that I had printed. I ordered the magnets and envelopes from CMI, the print shop on the Vendors tab.

I wrote up a tutorial on how I made the Save the Dates here at the craft blog, Truly Lovely. Hope you'll check that out!!




And guess what... I BOUGHT MY WEDDING DRESS!!! WHOOT!

I'll post on that soon! Also, I think at least two of my maids have their dresses picked out... So watch for that soon too!

Hope you're all having a fabulous week!!

What did you do for Save the Dates?
Or did you even have them?
If not, did you wish you would have?