Invitations are officially my least favorite part of weddings right now

Okay, so the beautiful invitations I ordered online for super cheap ($96) were not so marvelous after all. I get them from UPS and its a very small box. I am thinking to myself "Wow, how did they fit 100 invitations in this little box with all that ribbon and everything?!" I found out after I opened them and realized the ribbon was fake!!! It was just a photograph of ribbon!! I was so mad! It's kinda funny now that I know the "Zazzle Promise" lets me send them back and get my money back! So I looked at invitations on the internet again, back to square one. Finding them for around $200 and nothing I found was just so amazing that I would spend the extra money just to have them made because they were so cute. I went to Inscriptions downtown Fayetteville and couldn't find anything I like for less than $300. So I went back to the original plan and decided I would just make them myself. I went away from that plan just to try to save myself some time and hassle by having to make them but oh well. So I went to Office Max to get the actual invitation/wording part printed on white canvas paper. That was going to be way cheaper than using my up ink which is $40 a cartridge. When I spoke with a lady on the phone about them she said it would take about 24 hours. I get there in person and am getting it all straightened out and the lady says next Tuesday ( 5 or 6 days later than what it was currently). I had planned on putting them together over the weekend, but I guess not. So Tuesday comes around, which is perfect because Asa was coming over that night. I thought we could spend out evening watching TV and putting invitations together. But after 6pm I called Office Max wondering why they hadn't called me and it was because my invitations were not done! So finally yesterday (Wednesday) I get an email telling me they are ready to be picked up. After waiting in line for 1/2 an hour at the print desk, the guy pulls them out and they are the wrong color and wrong size!!! I was there for over an hour straightening it out (at least trying). I finally felt confident after I left Office Max thinking, okay, surely things will be right from now!! Well I have a missed call from them this morning, and the lady that originally took my order that messed up the ink and size wanted to know "why I changed my mind about the size we had discussed." I just told her that the ink was wrong anyway so they were still gonna have to be re-printed and left it at that. I have never had to deal with such a hassle about something!! It should be Monday before I get the prints of these done. So if anyone wants to come up next week and assemble invitations please feel free :-)  I have also realized I have more planning to do than I realized. Me, mom and Kara went to Hobby Lobby Monday to shop for stuff like vases, and candles, etc. But then I realized I have no idea what I want because I don't know what is going where. So I am trying to figure out where to put decorations and stuff. I am also still working on the flower thing and trying to reduce the cost of the $7100 flower estimate! I really am not that picky it just seems that any flower I pick out happens to be expensive. I am not sure what flowers are expensive and what flowers aren't so that doesn't help. Also, if anyone has any chair linen covers that people use for weddings, could you let me know please. That is another thing I still need to either buy or rent. The cost for renting or buying is about the same so I am thinking we will probably buy them so we can sell them and get some money back for them. But I am not for sure. Also, if you have any flower advice please let me know!!

No invitations needed

We no longer need invitations to be made. I found a website that has the same invitations I saw on several other websites for literally hundred more. Plus I googled a promotional discount and found a coupon code to save even more money. So we have invitations now. We just need to make RSVP cards, place cards, etc. :-)

Wedding Favors

I have ordered the wedding favors so I will no longer need help crafting those. :) They are personalized water bottle labels that look like the picture above.

If you would like to help

If you would like to help with making place holder cards, menu cards, wedding favors, etc. please let me know. I have plenty of crafty stuff that needs to be done if you like to do that kind of stuff! Here is a website I created just for people who are helping with the wedding to consolidate photos into albums. Here you can see what kind of "crafty stuff" I am talking about if you are interested in helping. http://kalaanddavid.webs.com/apps/photos/

For the Bridal Party

I figure since we are having a later wedding that we could all go get lunch then go to a spa and get our nails done, maybe a massage (to keep my stress and hive level down!), and get our makeup and hair done. I am looking at some packages and I found a place that offers a manicure, pedicure, massage, updo, and makeup for $275. This is just something to think about if you want to save up your money and do it. If you just want to come along and hang with us too that's fine. If you want, you can help search for cheap spa's in the Granbury-Fort Worth area. I know it is still plenty of time before the wedding but I figured I would let you know I was thinking about this so you can figure out how much money you might want to bring with you or save up. I hope yall are all doing good. I am looking foward to us all getting together and doiny bridesmaid dresses and stuff. Hopefully we can do that sometime before fall classes start. :-)

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!