We Trashed My Dress

Photobooth Magic

Well, our photobooth was half a success. A success because well, look at the fun pictures. People enjoyed it and I loved it. It failed because I tried to replace a guestbook with a photo-guestbook. However not everyone was into the photobooth thing. So I ended up with pictures o half my guests and no "record" of the others. My suggestion is don't use it as a guestbook, just as a fun activity. (Some) people will love it and you get cool pictures! Also all my props, I already had minus a few Goodwill buys and a few dollar store finds.

Some Ideas...from my own

We tried to have many things to entertain people at the wedding besides dancing. This especially worked for the kids and our collegish friends. There were games to play, coloring pages, and we even designed our own activity sheet. It was awesome. Did I mention this was all free besides two boxes of crayons. Printed coloring sheets free online. Brought games we own. And made the activity sheets printed free on campus.
Centerpieces: CHEAP! A single flower per table, cheap candles, used vases..simple and pretty.
Ice cream: We love ice cream. So why not treat our bridal party to it before the ceremony. Was a blast, yummy, relaxing for all, and made for fun pictures. Highly recommend doing something fun before the ceremony.

My Wedding Details

Cake: Everyone said our cake was delicious. I agree. We got it from a local bakery. A three tier plus two sheet cakes. Getting sheet cakes cut the cost more than half. I definitely recommend going that route. Our cake was cheaper than most people I have talked to, and one person even said it was the best cake she had ever had at a wedding. Goes to show good cake does not need to have a big price tag ;)
My beautiful bouquet: I am lucky to have a former wedding florist/current lawn and garden store owner as a grandfather. My flowers were absolutely free to me, abundant throughout the locations, and stunningly beautiful. Unfortunately, not everyone has these connections. But a beautiful wedding can be had without many flowers.
Signing the license: My grandpa(former pastor) conducted the ceremony. It was beautiful. I recommend having someone you know do it. It was personal, emotional, and funny.

Our programs: We made all our stationary ourselves. Chose apple green cardstock to match the color scheme...then did all printing in black...saved so much money...and I loved them.

A Few Pictures

Here are a few of my favorites. More to come.

Long TIme

Phew...It sure has been a long time since I posted. Things got so busy...with finishing school, graduating, planning the wedding, having the wedding, moving, fixing up our new home. WOW!

The wedding was a blast. Pictures are soon to come. I am just waiting.

Some things I learned on my wedding day/advice:
*Many people will only come to the ceremony, not the reception...so try not to order too much food and cake. We had soooo much left!
*Get plenty of rest and exercise before your wedding day. I was exhausted and sore for three days after the wedding!
*If you want to have professional pictures, do it before the wedding. It will relax both you and your future spouse. We got pictures and went out for ice cream before, it was great.
*If you have a wedding party and family to walk down the aisle, hire or ask a friend who knows what they are doing to coordinate....basically to dictate the rehearsal and get everyone down the aisle. I had to run the rehearsal myself...it was so stressful! But I did have a good friend get everyone down the aisle and am so thankful.
*Enjoy your company. I got to talk to a lot of my guests (regretfully not all) and had a blast doing so. My advice (if you are having dancing) is to talk to the people you know you won't see on the dance floor first...then you can talk to the others while you boogie.
*Be prepared...everyone wants to talk to you..and you will hear people calling your name for attention alllll night.
*Our rehearsal dinner was really laid back...pizza at the church. There was a ton of people. The laid back thing worked and I believe everyone enjoyed themselves. Yay!

Overall a blast...I will share a lot more when I have pictures to post.

My Photographer

It has been a while since I posted anything. I am currently excited about photography for my wedding and my photographer, so here are some of her pictures. www.nicolefraga.com
She is a college student majoring in photojournalism aspiring to become a wedding photographer.

Advice: If you are looking to hire a talented photographer for a good price, look on college campuses. Students are often looking for ways to build their portfolio and have not become 100% professionalized, so you can usually get a good deal!

Bridal Shower #2

This shower was a blast for me...composed of all most all of my favorite women from all parts of my life. My favorite part was a game in which everyone wrote an anonymous memory that they had with me...then everyone had to guess who shared the memory. It was funny..and sometimes sappy. I guessed all but one!
These are my three moms: stepmom, mom, future mom-in-law.
Another fun game involved people drawing a picture of my dream house while holding the paper plate on top of their heads...made for some fun pictures.



I made sorbet for the party..it was a delicious hit!

Bridal Shower #1

My top three favorite parts of my first bridal shower...



1. Chocolate fountain: with about 15 different yummy items to dip in it...and you know I tried them all.

2. Elvis song game: All of the answers to the game were Elvis Presley songs. For example, "When Leitia comes home sore from a hard workout at the gym, what will she say to Ben?" Answer: "Love Me Tender" It was great...my Aunts did a great job. (If you don't know, I am a huge Elvis fan...so the game fit me perfectly.)


3. Decor: How creative is this? My main wedding flowers are tulips and gerbera daisies. Do you get it? "Two Lips and Gerber Daisies" haha amazing!

Just some examples on creativity for a bridal shower. My Aunts and Grandma did a great job!