Wedding Attire

Asa and I went to Davids Bridal last night. We found one dress ($135) that we both agreed looked the best. They only had her size in pink, but of course we can get them in black. We went to the mall and looked at the department stores and found absolutley nothing. Looked online at Alfred Angelo's dresses and they are the same thing that Davids Bridal has but more expensive. So I am not sure what to do. Becaue I bought my dress at Davids Bridal all Bridesmaids get $20 off their dresses so it would actuall be $115. I also have a coupon for $20 off dresses for my mom and my future mother-in-law! (I love saying that!). I also have a coupon to save 10% on bridesmaid shoes. Let me know if you are interested in this deal or if it seems out of your budget.  These coupons expire 9/30/10 so we will need to use them within the next 3 months so try to be thinking on it if you can. I will post the picture of Asa in the dress that we liked and let me know what you think about this. Is there a day sometime this summer that we can all get together to try on and see what you think? If we can't all get together, I can try to meet with yall at a Davids Bridal just whever each of you are available too. If you have any other suggestions/ideas for bridal party dresses please let me know too! We could also try to go to Beaus Bridal in Fort Smith and see what they have too. Look here too: http://www1.macys.com/catalog/index.ognc?CategoryID=22120&PageID=95007055030483  There are some good sales but we would need to buy them now to get the sales and get alterations done when it gets closer to time. 

Asa and I also went to Hobby Lobby last night. We bought a box and some lace and made a memory/card box. We will have this at the sign in table for people to place notes, memories, and cards in. We also decided to try making our own candy for possible wedding favors. The candy was surprisingly good. I think this is something we are going to do.

Punch Recipes!!

Well I have about 5 minutes before I have to go to work so I will make a quick post. I am needing a good punch recipe to serve at the wedding. Does anyone have one? If so please email it to me ( kharrima@gmail.com ) . I did a lot of shopping today. I got about 80% of my bridal party gifts purchased and I hope to finish the last of it today after I get off work!! I just have to keep myself from trying to give them their gifts early!! So please send me some punch recipes for us to experiment with and try out!!!

Much Accomplished

Well, it's near the end of my week-long trip to Texas and we have gotten much, much, much accomplished!! Tuesday we went back to the venue and got a good idea of how to decorate, took measurements, took more pictures and got some more questions answered. Wednesday we went to Davids Bridal and I tried on more than boo-koos of dresses. Pretty much every dress in my size that I would even consider wearing and then some! I finally found THE dress!!! I LOVE it!! I had bought a dress previously that I loved and it was the only one, my size and on clearance. It was basically a back up in case I couldn't find a dress I liked better so I bought it just in case. But I had also gone wedding dress shopping by my self (which was much more awkward than I expected it to be) and I started getting stressed out by the third dress I tried on. Well the dress I bought this Wednesday FAR exceeds the other dress, so I will sell the old one on Ebay or something. I got the petty-coat to go under it and a diamond hair peice. Poor Kara cried when I got my dress on, she had to walk away. Kara and Lacy tried on bridesmaid dresses at Davids Bridal but no success. The dresses were cheap looking and didn't fit them right so we are going to look else where some other time. I also booked a photographer today! They have GREAT work!! Here is a link to their photo galleries if you would like to see their work http://modernimagestudios.com/photo-gallery I also purchased a garter, some fake (but real looking) rose petals for the cake table, and some vases too. I met with a florist but I think the ideas I gave her FAR exceeds my budget!! So I think we are going to have to re-do some of that! But at least I have an idea of what is cheap, what isn't and what I like and what I can work with. I was going to buy an "R" cake topper but they had literally every letter but R! ha so I will get that later. I have decided to keep a big rubbermaid tub at Karas and just start buying decorations here so we don't have to transport them before the wedding. Mark knows a pastor that he has asked to marry us so we have that taken care of too!! I have a had a great trip. Ranger, Danner and Gunner have been a lot of fun. I swam with the boys a few nights and they loved that. Ranger was a good sport and went with me and Kara to wedding dress shop for hours! We want Ranger and Danner to wear tuxes and by our ushers but they are embarrassed right now with the idea and didn't want to but I think I  might could talk them in to it.  We also have to figure out how we are going to do food at the reception (excluding cake and punch), find a good punch recipe (email me one if you have a good one), invitations, cake topper, guest book, veil, flowers, figure out how I want to do my hair, altar decorations, bridal party gifts, aisle runner, etc! But I feel like we made a lot of head way!!

Our Honeymoon is booked!

We have officially booked our honeymoon in Montego Bay Jamaica! They have the largest private beach in Jamaica. We fly out of DFW on March 20 at 6:55am. We fly back on March 25. Caribbean temperatures are warm year-round. Daytime average: 82°F, 28°C. Nighttime average: 72°F, 22°C. . The Resort is for 18 and older only. No Kids! This is going to be a great resolution to your spring break honeymoon!

Our hotel inludes: Canoes/Kayaks, Sailboats, Snorkeling, Windsurfing, Hydro bikes, Scuba-diving, 4 Pools, 4 Whirlpools, Swim-up Pool Bar, Hobie Cats, Water-skiing, Kneeboarding for no extra charge!

Nightly Entertainment Themes at our hotel Include:
Piano Bar, Talent Shows, Reggae night, live bands, art auctions, live shows, Charity casino night, formal night, and Black and White night.

On Land Amenities Include:
Giant Chess board, beach volleyball, tennis, pool volley ball, fitness center, Board Games, Shuffle boards, Bocce ball, Chapel, Day/night tennis, turf tennis, Billiards

Tours offered by our resort for extra costs include:
Discover Dunns River Falls, Dolphin Encounter, Jamaica Bobsled Tranopy, ATV Safari, Land of Wood and Water Montego Bay, 4X4 offroad Safari, Bamboo River Rafting, Deep Sea Sport Fishing, Dune Buggy Safari, Flight on White Witch Canopy, Horseback Ride n Swim, Island Vibes Catamaran Cruise, Let's Go Native Negril Adventure, Living History Great House, Lovers Rock Sunset Sail Jamaica, South-coast River, Rum + Falls, Swim With the Dolphins, Bob Marley Tribute Cruise, Ultimate Kayak Adventure, and Zipline Canopy!

Tips and gratuities are strictly prohibited for all staff except personal butlers. In the event you wish to tip your butler, it will be greatly appreciated but under no circumstance will a tip be required or solicited. (This will be a nice plus!)

There are 7 Sandals Resorts in Jamaica and we are staying at the one in Montego Bay, but they offer free transportation to other Sandals Resorts in Jamiaca. This is great news to me! We were undecided about Montego Bay or Whitehouse. The main plus with Whitehouse was that it has a glass-bottom boat. This way at some point we can travel to this resort and have fun with that too. We can also dine at the other restaurants at this resort too!

For full images and details view our other website: http://www.mywedding.com/kaladavid/index.html

Help with centerpeices

I would love to have some input or emails with some links of stuff that you guys like. I am having problems with centerpieces. My colors are black and white accented with hot pink. I like tall centerpieces, with cylindrical vases. I also like the shape of the bought to make a dome kind of figure.. tough to explain but basically it be smaller on top and get bigger at the bottom. I like full bouquets too. I open to about any flower except roses. Feel free to send me some links. I am also thinking about fruit in the vase? Like the picture below. Leave me a comment on this post and tell me if you like it better with or without the fruit in the vase!

Additional Bridesmaid

I have recently been in contact with my oldest best friend (not old as in age though), Lacy. Over time we grew our separate ways, and didn't really lose communication but we both became busy and involved in our own stuff and just talked rarely and would see each other only a couple times a year because she lives in Fort Worth (she moved away when we were kids, like 10 or 11). Since we have been in contact here recently and our interests have met again,  I decided to make her an additional member of the bridal party! Check in over at our other website for a biography about her if you want! She is also on facebook too as Lacy DenBoer if you would like to get to know her!

Addresses

People have been asking a lot here lately about the date of the wedding but since it is an intimate, immediate family, small budget wedding in Texas we are having a pre-wedding party in Fort Smith before the actual wedding (February 26 2011) where we will be celebrating with all our family and friends! If you would like to go ahead and give me your addresses if you wish to attend the pre-wedding party you can. You can email me your name, address and how many people in your family (including children) will tentatively be there. My email is kharrima@gmail.com   .


We have kinda taken a break from the planning currently with school finals, David graduating with his bachelor's, both of working, I am currently dog-sitting for my neighbor, and then trying to keep my apartment clean from neglecting it over finals week, I got rear-ended last week so I am having to deal with that stuff too! So as you can see the wedding planning has taken a back seat! I am working on choosing the design for the wedding cake this week before my summer classes start next week!

Venue has been booked

The venue is officially booked!!! The Hilton Garden Inn in Granbury, Texas!!! For both of their conference rooms, foyer, tables, linens, setup, cleanup, etc. the grand total is $850!!! It is quite a bargain to be such a beautiful place. For those of you who are going to be in the wedding or know for you sure are coming you might want to start thinking about hotel accommodations. I know it still a littles less than a year away but Granbury's annual festival and General Granbury celebration is the weekend of our wedding. Some hotel rooms at the Hilton are already booked for that weekend. My mom is calling this coming week to reserve a room for  me and my bridal party (a bridal suite). For the 19th, David and I are staying at a hotel downtown Fort Worth. (The Renaissance Worthington).  Just keep in mind if you are staying in Granbury for the wedding day (19th) you might want to book asap. If not, you might want to consider staying in Fort Worth (you will have cheaper options). The night life is good there and you have many more options. Springbreak is the week following the wedding so some of you may want to have a little mini-vacation or something down there if you can!! I am getting excited, it's starting to kind of sink in that I'm actually getting married!  For complete information of the Hilton Garden Inn, visit: http://www.mywedding.com/kaladavid/events.html

YAY!!! Venue and Dress

Well Asa and I had a great time going back to Texas. We looked at several other venues we had not seen yet. One of my favorites was the Belltower Chapel in Fort Worth and the Hilton Garden Inn in Grandbury. After thinking about the location, price, stipulations, etc of each, I think the Hilton Garden Inn is going to be the venue. I still love the Liberty hotel, but it is so small. Due to fire code's only 35 people could attend and that would include the bride, groom, photographer, officiant etc. The Hilton is out over a lake and is gorgeous!!! When we came home, the next day I started looking at dresses here. I loved the first one I tried on. The bad thing is it was on clearance, discontinued and they literally only had one dress....and it was in my size! Mom and Kara agreed that I should go ahead and buy it and keep looking just in case I find something else I like better. I would hate to pass on that dress then several months down the road know that the first one I tried on was my favorite and it was gone. So I bought the dress!! I love it!!  If you want pics I will email/text you if you will let me know you want them. Overall, it was a very productive weekend in my opinion.

Going back to TX

Asa and I are going to TX over Spring Break. We have a bunch more venues we are going to look at and check out. I still really like the Liberty Hotel, but Kara and Mark's secretary Crystal said that the columns in the room might pose a problem for decorations and a clear view for those sitting. There are a few more places I have found that I really like. I am not ruling anything out but just keeping all options open. I love the Hilton Garden Inn!!! Its affordable and beautiful!!! I will post pictures of our travels!!!!