Weekly Wedding Planning Tips

Hello everyone! Right now I am on Spring Break (no work! yippee!) and I suddenly have alllll this extra time. I am seriously bored. When I am bored I start planning parties.

Right now I am planning a "Royal Treatment" Night for the Young Women and their moms. We will be doing facials made from ingredients found right at home...  it will be a chance for moms and daughters to "beautify" themselves and relax....thus they will be getting a "royal treatment...." We are trying to tie in a princess theme with it... still working on that one without it being too complicated.

Since I have some extra time on my hands, I am going to give you some wedding planning tips.... according to the Wedding Planning Gospel of Annie.

First of all, I want to say that I totally and completely believe that you can have a beautiful wedding on a tight budget. Sure, money helps, but there are many things you can do to cut back on costs and still have a wedding you love. Here are my tips:

1. Get married on a weekday! Prices for many reception centers are less expensive on Mon. - Thurs. nights because everyone wants to book the weekends. If you have family coming in from out of town this is a little bit harder to do... but it can save you a lot!

2. Read between the lines.  What do I mean by this? When you are looking at reception centers and you read a contract and see that big number at the bottom.... read the WHOLE contract and see what renting the venue includes. Are linens, silverware, dinnerware, floral arrangements, food, a wedding cake... etc. included in the price? Let me tell you now, it can be SUCH a pain renting your own linens, dinnerware, silverware... etc. and it can add up. Many people think "Oh, I'll just have it in my grandma's backyard" thinking they'll save money that way... but if you have to rent tables, chairs, and everything else, it can cost way more than renting a reception center (and it is a huge head ache). So, look around and make sure you compare prices with rental companies and venues to make sure you're really saving. Sometimes it really is less expensive to go with your own vendors.. but make sure you take the time to compare!

3. Have simple, fresh flower arrangements instead of large ones.  Some people opt for using artificial flowers for arrangements so they can use more for less. Totally understandable... and artificial ones last longer right? yes... they do... but there is just something so pretty and elegant about fresh flowers. They add brightness and a fresh feel to a reception (and they smell great). So, instead of getting rid of fresh flowers, do a small, simple arrangement with two or three fresh flowers. Or even ONE.

I love this example. You can find old, colored vases from antique stores in your wedding colors and use that for your flowers. 

So, there are my wedding planning tips for the day. Do what you will with them. I'm sorry if you totally disagree with them... please don't send me mean comments.

pictures

As promised, here are the pictures Abby took of us for our anniversary.  I LOVE how they turned out, enjoy!

 love this one... except for my super long neck ha ha 

 I posted this one before, but I love it so I had to post it again

 I think I'll get a big copy of this to go over our fire place

 I wore a different flower in my hair than I did on our wedding day and I love this close up shot

 I don't know why, but I LOVE this one

Thank you Abby!!!!! I am so happy with how these turned out! :)

Thanks so much Abby! I am so happy with how these turned out! :)

3 years

I am happy to say that after 3 years of marriage, I can still squeeze myself into my wedding dress if I hold my breath (something I would not have been able to do a year ago, thank you weight watchers).

Our anniversary was  last week and to celebrate, we had a photo shoot!

I'll be honest... I didn't love a lot of the pictures we got on our wedding day (some I loved), so I wanted an anniversary do over. So, Steven suited up and I dressed up. It was kind of a spur of the moment idea, so I asked my friend Abby to take some pictures for us and she did a MARVELOUS job. Abby is an aspiring photographer and once I found that out, I put her right to work. ;) Here is a sneak peak:

(we are really weird sometimes)

More to come! I can't wait to see how they all turned out. Thank you for doing this Abby! :)


By the way, tons of people walking by told us "congratulations" and things like that... it was so awkward.

Now that we have been married 3 years, here are some common conversations that I have with people:

"How long have you been married?"
"3 years."
"Wow! That's great! Do you have any kids?"
"No."
"Oh................."

"How long have you been married?"
"3 years"
"Wow! When are you guys going to start having kids?"
"ughhhh......."

"How long have you been married?"
"3 years."
"Wait as LONG as you can to have kids. It's TERRIBLE (I added that last part)."
"Ok." :)

"How long have you been married?"
"THREE YEARS."
"Do you have any kids?"
"Nooooooo......"
"How old are you?"
"23."
"Oh whoa! You are young. You can wait a while to have kids. You were 20 when you got married??!?!?! What were you thinking?!?!?! That must've been SO hard."
"ummm... I'm sorry?"

So, be prepared, if you have been married for 3 years and you don't have kids yet, people will hold you accountable.

just keep swimming

oh my heck,
i have not blogged in a MONTH!

i have been busy, I always say that.
young womens+work+training to become a parent educator+reading the hunger games = very-busy- and- unmotivated-to-blog-annie

Here's what we've been up to:

- Christmas was great and fun, filled with lots of food and new clothes

- Made my first turkey (I would put the picture up if I was using my own computer... I am on my boss' computer at work... shhh!)

-made a wedding cake for Mal and Wren

-Started training with Parents as Teachers to become a Parent Educator (hurray for using my degree!), which is where I am at now.

- I tried a gyro from crown burger for the first time.

-Steven's grandma died a few days ago. :( We're sad she is gone but happy she is with Grandpa Jack again.

- young womens, young womens, and more young womens.

- planning a baby shower for one of the young womens leaders

- eating lots and lots of chocolate

there is my little update for now. Maybe I'll update again later this week? It all depends on if I get the second Hunger Games or not....

Wedding!!!

The big day for my sister finally came and went! Here are some pics and favorite moments from the wedding:
(some are blurry and I am so sad about it)

 150 4" applesauce spice cakes as favors

 waiting outside the temple 

 yay for marriage! 

 Goodell Girls 

 family with out of town cousins

Top moments:

1. The ceremony. Meaningful and sweet.

2. Steven's nephews being so excited to help clean up. "Annie... do you have a garbage bag? I am collecting cans for my school's recycling project."

 "(as someone takes plates of cake to the cake table) Hey! Can I take one??" I love those little boys. Wish I had pictures of that. 

3. Steven's niece dancing like crazy once dancing started. 

4. Eating cafe rio wedding style... it was sooooo good. (you DO want cafe rio to cater your wedding, I promise). 

5. The coconut lime cake was amazing (I actually didn't try this until after).

6. Walking into the Commander's House for the first time and seeing all the flowers set out 

 bad blurry photo of the Commander's House (aka the reception center) 

 GORGEOUS flowers  in mason jars done by neighbor Lexi, she also did a HUGE piece for the buffet, it was  so pretty! 

Burlap linens and vintage lace overlays are adorable. 

And of course I didn't get a picture of the cake. oh yes, there was more cake. Coconut with lime curd cake and chocolate cake with cherry filling. Joy. 

Hopefully I will have more pictures to come and more blog posts. It was a beautiful day and we are so happy for Katherine and Travis! 

Let them eat cake

I just wanted to share this super cute cake my mom did for a wedding a few weeks ago.

I think it's really adorable (the stripes are edible ribbon). 

Thoughts in my head right now

Katherine's wedding...NAMIWalk...Jewish Wedding Project... Katherine's wedding...NAMIWalk....Jewish Wedding Project....Katherine's wedding....NAMIWalk.... and so on and so forth. My head might explode right now. It's one of those crazy weeks.

Not bad crazy, it's definitely the "fun" kind of crazy, except for the moments where I can't remember what I'm doing for which event. I have to remind myself that I don't have to pick up a chuppah (planning a Jewish wedding for school) for the NAMIWalk or that I don't need to plan potato sack races for Katherine's wedding. I'll be glad this weekend when I'll have the NAMIWalk crossed off my list.  Here are some of the thoughts going on in my head:

Jewish Wedding (this is fake, but it's for school)

Budget: $120,000 (I know right??)

I really haven't made much progress on this. I know nothing about Jewish Weddings except that there is a chuppah... which I learned from Gilmore Girls.

So, naturally, the chuppah should be made Gilmore Girls style:

 Also... I think this should be a mountain wedding. It just sounds nice, doesn't it?

NAMIWalk:

This includes:

-Leather Bracelet Stamping (thank you Matt and Abby!)
-Relay Races
-face painting
-Brautwurst (I'm not in charge of the Brauts but it sounds good right now,  so it's on my mind)
- Juggling
- Team T shirts


The NAMIWalk is this Saturday at Valley Regional Park, it will be a great time!

Katherine's Wedding:

Burlap linens (yup. burlap). Scrim, green, or muslin sashes for chairs? What to choose? 

 (I'm in love with the burlap, great for a countryish/rustic/mountain wedding)

 Is it ok not to put chair covers on old wood chairs with maroon pads? Even though your colors are orange and green and will clash badly with maroon...

 sigh...maroon. And my mom's leg right there.

Katherine has also expressed a desire to include S'mores in the wedding somehow... after all, what says mountains and rustic more than a good, old fashioned s'more?

She actually hasn't mentioned this to me in a few weeks... so I don't even know if she still wants it (by the way, do you still want it Katherine?), but that doesn't mean I can't do some poking around. 

"Poke around" is exactly what I did, and I found this:

 S'mores cake from a website called "Desserts for Breakfast "

I pretty much need to have this now. If Katherine doesn't want it, I will just make some for myself and eat it in front of all the guests at the wedding. Because, that's really good manners and stuff.  

So yeah. I hope you enjoyed that. You will probably be looking forward to the day when I won't always be blogging about weddings and things.  

Does anyone know anything about Jewish weddings? Or what kind of fabric I should get for sashes?

Wedding Idea

Now that I am taking event planning classes at SLCC, my mind is on wedding planning a lot. So, here is my latest idea:

Have you ever seen Arrested Development?


If you haven't, you should. It's hilarious.



I have a wedding reception idea that was inspired by this show.

Introducing....

 The Frozen Banana Stand.

Wouldn't this be so great?? I would totally go to a reception if I knew there was going to be a Frozen Banana Stand (especially if George Michael and Maybe were there). 

I can tell some of you are still doubting me. Here are reasons why this is such a great idea:

1. It involves fruit,  chocolate, and toppings. You're getting several of your basic food groups (my main food groups are fruit and chocolate) in one food choice.

2. It's different. There are a lot of receptions out there with gelato or ice creams stands now, and while that is delicious, it's just not as exciting as it used to be. It's good, just not as different anymore. Sorry for any ice cream/gelato stand lovers out there. 

3. They are delicious.

4. Just look at the picture:

Will someone please get married and do this for me??? I will plan your entire wedding for free, I will buy the bananas, and man the banana stand. And hug you and cry with joy.

PS - remember "There's always money in the banana stand" (for all the other arrested development fans)

Musings of a potential future Wedding Planner

All this wedding planning for Kat Call has made me think how fun being an Event Planner could be. Planning a wedding is a bit less stressful when you're not planning your own.

So, I am applying to SLCC this semester to take a few Event Planning classes! Just one or two, to start. I think it should be fun though. :)

Here are some things we (me, mom, and Katherine) are thinking for the reception:

 Booked the Commander's House at Fort Douglas for the reception (imagine those trees with lots of pretty fall leaves)

Mason jar arrangements with twine and then put in rustic wood boxes

Mexican Catering from Rico's! 

Everything else is still getting figured out. We just need to rent linens, dinnerware and flatware, invitations, Katherine's dress issues (she needs a "bolero"), MY outfit... etc. etc. etc. Fun!

I never did get one of those anthropologie dresses. Instead we are going the neutral color route for bridesmaid dresses. We thought it'd be really cute with the rust orange flowers we are doing. What do you think of these?

 Ann Taylor dress

 Picture this dress in Khaki with an orange or green sweater and a belt. I know it's tricky, but we think it could be super cute.

Obviously, this would need a sweater and belt too.

Let me know what you think, I like them all!