So many invitations! (78)

Because I'm getting married out of state, we're having a reception here in California a week after the wedding. This means that almost all of the wedding plans have to be doubled  - one for Nebraska and one for California. I'm *almost* done addressing the invitations for both events. I've told myself 3 days in a row that I'd finish them that day, but I still have a big ol' pile to work on. Boo.

...and some good news (79)

In addition to working on all things wedding, Michael and I have been waiting to hear about a rental home. We were told that we could either move in in August or in November. While we would be thrilled to move in at any time, August would really be best because if we had to wait for November it would complicate things - most apartments required a 1 year lease which would require us to stay longer than we wanted. BUT! We just found out this morning that we will get the house August 1st, and I'll be able to move in shortly after that!! Praise the Lord!! This means I can get everything settled in before the wedding and make it home :)

Snip its :) (80)

I've been so reluctant to post lately because, while I'm DYING to share what I've been doing, I REALLY want to save it for the wedding and reception. Up until this point, it's just been ideas and venues and food and stuff that wouldn't really be a surprise, but now it's really fun decorations and invitations and dresses and flowers that I want to show off on the wedding day. So my mom suggested just taking a picture every day of something that will give you a hint, but not a full view of what we're up to. Here we go....

Bridal shower number two! (86)

I had my second bridal shower this weekend :) Thank you Nina for taking these beautiful pictures! 

Double Digits!! (98)

Hooray! We made it to the double digits! I don't know why, but it makes it seem so much closer :) Today we went out and bought some more pots for our centerpieces. It's coming along :) I have a shower coming up next weekend that I'm pretty excited about. I'm so blessed :)

Caterer :) (102)

My mom and I just met with our wonderful caterer, Delinda Hernandez of The Four Roses! :) We really weren't sure of what to expect, but she was FANTASTIC and set our minds at ease for the whole event. She's such a joyful person and wonderful to work with, which was one of the reasons we chose her to do the catering. We found out today that her prices include the linens and the dishes, which we were not expecting and will end up saving us some more money :) Hooray! One top of that, she's waiving the sale's tax AND giving us 10% off. She kept acting like it wasn't all that much, but we're dealing with over 300 people here, so hey, that discount can get us a plane ticket! She also understands my obsession with the look of long tables :P

Ahhh...gorgeous :) The simplicity! The repetition! I. Love. This. 

So yes, Delinda has reassured us that with her help, we can indeed pull off relatively large wedding and reception one weekend and turn around to do a massive reception 1600 miles away the next. So. Excited! 

What to say...what not to say...(109)

I haven't been posting on here lately because we've been working on the actual parts of the wedding that you all will see! I'm not sure what I should show you and what I should keep as a surprise! I'm thinking that I want as much of it to be a surprise as possible...:) Decorations are coming along very well, and I can't wait for everyone to see them :) We've been talking about food, we've ordered invitations, and I have 3 showers coming up. Exciting things are happening! :) We've moved my moving date to June 17th because of some changes in our summer plans and the Long family has generously offered to host me while I'm waiting for our house or apartment to be ready for me to move into. It's so exciting!

Centerpieces (112)

Okay, I know in a previous post I had said that we opted out of doing topiaries for the centerpiece, but we rethought it and decided to make them out of TISSUE PAPER! Dirt. Cheap. We made the "prototype" tonight and I can't even begin to tell you how much I LOVE it! It's exactly what I was looking for - tall and elegant, but cheap. We bought tissue paper in bulk (2000 sheets) which was WAY cheaper, we're getting bamboo and pots from the 99 cent store, and then we'll buy some black spray paint for the pot. So cute! So it's all for less than 5 dollars a piece which is FANTASTIC!

Never hurts to ask :) (120)

ASK FOR DISCOUNTS! 20% off wedding invitations and 20% off fabric for table runners! That's a total savings of $118.37! Yes!

I'm so excited that my invitations are being ordered :) They're all ready to go, I just want someone else to look over them real quick so that I know I'm not making any stupid mistakes :P

They're so pretty :)

Tables (122)

We went all over Fresno today looking for cheap, tall, elegant centerpiece options. We were thinking candelabras, but while they're readily available, they're 20 bucks a piece and we need at least 16. Then we considered topiaries - we could construct our own at home and save some money. Buuuuuuuuuut, the materials alone cost almost as much as a live topiary and we don't want to spend that much. Hmph. We went to Home Goods, Ross, Marshall's and Bed Bath and Beyond hoping to find something tall and pretty on clearance, but no luck...everything is going to cost us about 20 bucks just for the main part (it doesn't include candles or flowers.)

We've also been looking for fabric to use as table runners. There's this black and white print that I LOVE at Home Fabrics, but it's 8 bucks a yard and we need at least 90 yards for our tables. We started looking at sheets and curtains as another option for runners, and did actually find some that I like, but we don't have nearly enough to cover all the tables. Boo.