4th of July: Wedding Recaps

Well hello Clevelanders! My first blog from the other side! I have had several e-mails in the past month asking me all about the Courthouse and what it is like getting married there. I had no idea that so many people were getting help from my blog. I appreciate the e-mails very much, and will do as much as I can to help everyone. (Incidentally, I am starting a small business as a wedding coordinator. Since the wedding I have had numerous requests from friends/family to help out with their weddings, and because of my genuine enjoyment of the process, I am hoping to turn it into something I can do on a regular basis. I will likely be extremely cheap or free for my first few attempts, but I am excited!!)

On Wednesday morning, the boy and I packed the car up, and made our way into Cleveland, and drove immediately to my hair trial. I know I was cutting it close, but I was never able to meet up with a hairstylist on any of my other trips into town. I brought a pack of hair extensions I bought At Sally's beauty supply, and my laptop full of inspiration pictures of Carrie Underwood.


I immediately clicked with my stylist Becky as she played around with my hair. I left feeling confident that she would pull off what I wanted for my hair. Here's a few pics of the trial (I have NO make up on here, so just look at the hair :) I wanted to have my bangs pulled back a little more on the day, and have a little more height on top. She will be coming to my house on the morning of the wedding.



After that, we made our way downtown to pick up our marriage license. Since we are getting married in Cleveland, the spot to pick up our licence is the Courthouse! It was so surreal walking in there and realizing that in just a few days we would be back there at our reception! It only took us about 15 minutes to park, walk in, fill out a quick paper, pay $40 cash, and walk out with our marriage license!!!!

After that, we made our way to my house to unpack the car. We had a bunch of liquor, boxes of chargers, all of our luggage, and my wedding dress in the back! After unpacking, the boy, my mom, and I ran out to the store to pick up some foot pads for our shoes, and for the boy to pick up a last minute gift for his groomsmen. I also did not have a wedding band. The fantasy band with emeralds that I had wanted did not exist anywhere, so I had to end up getting it custom made. I wanted to look around for a good fake option to use for the ceremony, but they didn't make anything small enough for my minuscule finger(4.25), and I realized that I just wanted to use my engagement ring in the ceremony, since it already had alot of meaning to me. Besides, I already had a brand new fabulous 3 carat blue topaz ring that I would be wearing on the big day as my something blue.

After we went home, my friend (and bridesmaid!) and her husband stopped over for some beers and to help us assemble my programs. The boy and I had stayed up late at his work to print them the night before. This was honestly a very last minute project for me that I did not feel like spending a whole lot of effort on. I printed the pages off on a laser printer in black and white, and bought some cardstock in shiny gold, white, and black, and figured I could figure out some way to bind them. We ended up just folding the pages inside the cardstock, and using some stretchy ribbon to hold them together. We had a Catholic ceremony, so if anyone wants my template, just ask! Here is a picture of a finished one. These went into a basket at the front door of the church, and I only had one left out of the 75 I made. My sister stamped the peacock stamp at the back underneath the quotes I had looked up about peacocks.


They also helped us to put our place cards into our wine corks that we had cut slits into and alphabetize them all. I don't have any pictures of us putting them together, but here is a picture of them in action on the big day.



After that it was time for bed! One day closer to the wedding!

My Invitations!

After all of the pain and suffering, I hope they were worth it.

Courthouse Acoustics

I've had two comments on this issue, so I want to try and give my opinion. My wedding is still two and a half weeks away, so I can't be sure on how this is going to turn out. I can say that I hired a DJ, mostly because the bands I looked into seemed really expensive, and then they are limited on the music they can play. My friends and family like to get down to some current music, especially later in the night! The DJ is the brother of my best friend, so I trust him, have heard him before, and am getting a little bit of a deal.

Last week we stopped by the courthouse to check it out. Adam the DJ met me there, and he walked around, listening to the acoustics. It is very hard to tell where the echo will be when it is completely empty inside. He is going to set up on the opposite side of the staircase, with big speakers on either side of the pillars. I spoke with guards there, who have sat through many weddings, and offered the advice that sometimes it sounds good and sometimes it doesn't. Great help! Hopefully Adam can show up a little early to set up, crank the music, and make any needed adjustments. When the building is full of tables and people, the echo might be absorbed too. Here is a picture of the layout we are going with. Depending on the final count, the buffet will be either set up on the dance floor and taken down, or set up against the area they curtain off for the kitchen in the back.

Also, I am sooo glad to help anyone who is having a wedding at the courthouse! There was virtually NO information out there when I started planning, so if you have any questions, don't hesitate to e-mail me! daas325@gmail

Downtown Cleveland Map

Even though I had the invitations designed by a professional, I figured I could handle the map all on my own. Some custom maps can cost upwards of hundreds of dollars. It took me several hours with PowerPoint but I'm quite pleased with the results!




I used google maps, and the tracing tool in PowerPoint to make this. A very good tutorial was over at Weddingbee by Miss Ballet Flat. The icons were either free on the web, or found in PowerPoint clip art. Hopefully this will help our less downtown savvy guests!

Would you try making your own map?

Invitation Hell

You know how all those checklists from places like the knot are always telling you to work on your invitations from basically the first month you get engaged? Well, now I know why.... it is complete hell. I started out with a simple and cheap plan for my invitations. I was going to design something easy and have them printed at Vistaprint. Easy-peasy and almost free..right?

Well, fast forward to now. I ended up booking a designer on Etsy to create the invitation files for me. It wasn't that expensive, and I just didn't have time to learn how to use Photoshop. After getting the files back, I waited for a Vistaprint free offer to price out what it was going to cost. Unfortunately, I needed just over 100 invitations, due to my ballooning guest list. Vistaprints free offers are for either 100 small, or 50 large postcards. I would have needed to make multiple orders to print all of the pieces, and the cost went up to ~$80 for all pieces. Now this is not too ridiculous. But I started to second guess myself. I am already spending all of this money, why don't I buy a printer and print them myself? Well, as luck would have it, we received a free printer a few days later. I tried printing the invitations out, and they looked awful. Plus the cardstock wouldn't go through.

Next up, I contacted a few professional printers. One never got back to me, one gave me a quote for ~$150, not including paper, and the third who was a friend of my fiance's gave him a quote of around ~$50. So I ordered some metallic cardstock, and I am patiently awaiting the return of my files. This supposedly cheap and DIY project is costing me WAY more than I thought it would, and I am a little upset about all of the extra work, when in the end I could have just ordered them from somewhere. Hopefully they will be done soon so I can post.

Let's add up the costs in the meantime:

190 cream envelopes bought from someone off theknot: $14
Custom design of invitation card, RSVP postcard, and accommodations card, and monogram: $40
Cardstock(50 sheets of 11'x17 metallic and 50 sheets of 11'x17' linen from paperandmore: $56
Shiny gold wrapping paper for envelope lining: $10
Ribbon to tie around invite: $4
Peacock feathers to tuck into ribbon from Ostrich.com: $20
Calligraphy pens: $6
Peacock feather stamp for outside of envelopes: $12
Gold and green ink pads: $7.50
Printing of invitations: not sure yet- I am hoping for around $50

Total: $219.50 or more
Per invite: (~125) $1.75

Stamps for RSVP postcards: $33.75
Stamps for invites: $42
Total: $75.75
Per invite: .61

Total per invite: $2.36

However, I will have paper left over that I will use for table names and place cards. Not sure yet what I am doing for programs. I will also use the stamps for these other projects. This is far more than my original budget, and seems almost ridiculous to spend so much on pieces of paper that get thrown away.

How much did your invitations cost? Did DIY cost more than you thought?

J Crew Bridesmaid Dresses

After thinking long and hard, I decided to have a few bridesmaids. But I didn't want to burden them with a bunch of unnecessary costs- especially after the trip to Vegas!!! (more later) I'm sure everyone has a story involving a polyester nightmare bridesmaid dress, so I was determined to get attractive and potentially re- wearable dresses.

I looked online a little, and eventually settled on J Crew dresses. J Crew has a great selection of simple and re-wearable bridesmaids' dresses, and most importantly, they can be found on e-bay for less than 50 bucks! I originally found a great sale on the website- and unfortunately they did not have enough of the proper sizes. So instead of trying to find 5 identical styles in identical colors in the right sizes on e-bay, I am going to be a little different and have them wear all different shades of green. The dress style will be the same, but it comes in two different fabrics, and J Crew discontinues the colors each season, and comes out with slightly different ones. So the shades will be close, but none will be identical. It looks great in other bridal parties, and I like that they won't be matchy- matchy.

I have 3 of the dresses, and am on the look- out for 2 more. It has been a little stressful, but I wanted to do all I could to save them money! The actual dress is called "Sophia." The picture below looks like the sophia dress in the tricotine fabric, a smooth silk. The other fabric will be silk chiffon.

I have not yet decided on bouquets. I may have them carry feather fans, but I would have to start DIYing these immediately, or find some at a reasonable price online. What do you think- would you like this dress as a bridesmaid?

The DRESS!!!

After a loooooong and frustrating search, I found THE DRESS! I was very picky, and had quite a low budget at the beginning. ($400). But I just wouldn't pull the trigger on a dress in this price range. I had been looking at Pronovias, and there are some great deals on these dresses on e-bay. But I couldn't find any of my favorite from this post - the Pronovias Recova, or the Paula Varsalona gown. Also, I never even got to try on a dress that I had been salivating over on the Internet - Alvina Valenta 9658.


After I got out bid on a different Alvina dress, I contacted a wholesale bridal shop in Strongsville, OH, called Anything Bridal. They could have ordered my beloved Recova for only around $1200. The catch was that I was so late in ordering it would come in a few weeks before the wedding. What if something went wrong, or I needed extensive alterations. I was also second guessing myself. Plus, $1200? And I wasn't sure if I could resell this dress.


I went all out on the Internet looking for the 9658. I stalked this dress. I found a girl on the knot who wore this dress, found her e-mail, and asked her if she would sell it (no response). I know I must have sounded like a crazy person. I checked Preownedweddingdresses and OnceWed religiously. These are very good resources for a budget bride. I could tell you every popular dress and how much they go for at this point. The reason I was having so many problems was that this dress was from 2006, and that it cost $3000 brand new. I found one girl online selling her used one for $2800. I just couldn't buy it. It was too much for a used dress.


I checked every single city's Craigslist. Also a good idea - I found good deals on alot of other dresses. But not mine! After this long and frustrating search, I got an e-mail from someone telling me they had a sample of this dress, perfect condition, price of $2,000. I was almost in tears, I was so happy. I whipped out my credit card on the spot! It's way over my budget, and needs alterations, but I just wanted this dress so bad! I am planning on taking perfect care of it, and re-selling it after the wedding.


Without further ado, I give you my dress:

Have you gone over your budget for The One?

A Peacock Wedding!

Here is my inspiration board, so you can finally see what I decided on for decor:

Countdown...

Its been awhile readers... the past few months have been pretty stresfull and frustrating. Its down to the end now...

2 and half months before the wedding, and here is my to- do list:

1. Finish my registry (my shower is in 3 weeks...yikes!).
2. Finish purchasing the bridesmaids dresses off e-bay.
3. Buy my shoes (I'm lusting after J Crew green silk shoes).
4. Buy my birdcage veil.
5. Purchase peacock feathers to go in the invitations.
6. Get the invitations printed, address the envelopes, and mail them.
7. Finish buying the ostrich feathers for the centerpieces after getting my refund from the e-bay seller that ripped me off (let me know if you want to know who this seller was).
8. Figure out fans/ bouquets for the girls.
9. Finish buying the LED tea lights from the Christmas Tree Store.
10. Make sure the girl from the knot is still going to sell me her gold chargers.
11. Send pictures of hair and make- up to my cousin Mary who is doing said hair and make-up for me on the big day
12. Book the limo (must STOP procrastinating, I got an awesome rate 2 months ago and NEVER booked...)
13. Decide on cake - and subsequently buy cake stands
14. Figure out when I can go into the Courthouse with the caterer and DJ to finalize layout and logistics
15. Send wedding band ideas to our jeweller
16. Decide on honeymoon
17. Gifts for parents, bridal party, etc
18. Buy a tripod and out together faux photo booth
19. Decide on buying a camera or getting last minute videographer off Craigslist
20. Finish collecting wooden wine boxes and have my dad put together a card box
21. Order linens online (that's right, I'm buying them, its cheaper)
22. Buy some clothes to wear on my bachelorette part in VEGAS!!! woohooo
23. Finish collecting corks, and prepare them for place cards
24. Make a hair appt for highlights and brows, a dr appt...
25. TRY NOT TO LOSE MY MIND!

What have I actually gotten done since December...well I'll try to write a few posts, but I bought a dress, am having it altered, booked a DJ, asked bridesmaids, planned a trip to Vegas, had invites designed.... so I've been busy! I'm BACK

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