The Dreaded Guest List

Here is a lesson learned...be VERY critical of your guest list.  I was not, because I knew a lot of my friends are military and wouldn't be able to make it.  Therefore, I was not as critical of Jason's "Family Friend" guest list as I maybe should have been.  I wasn't for two reasons:  a, to be a nice person (I rarely am), and b, because I was assured that most of them would RSVP "no"...and then they didn't.  In fact, I separated our RSVPs out into groups to see how it was breaking down.  The groups were friends, Jason's family, my family, and Schaub Family Friends.  The largest group is his family, which I expected.  His mom has something like 9 siblings.  Seriously.  The second largest group (now actually tied for first place)? Schaub Family Friends, with 41 guests.  I've met 2 of them.  So PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE learn from me...please be the bad guy and say no!!!    

Wait...How Many Weddings Are You Having?

I suppose it's not so uncommon to have more than one wedding.  Especially for military people...I'd say about half of my friends had a legal wedding as well as the "show" wedding.  Even Amanda said she sees it a lot more lately among her clients.  Sometimes (ok, frequently lately...even that's an understatement), I don't want a second wedding.  It's stressful, it's expensive, it causes fighting and mistrust and hurt feelings.  I have to prod Jason to get his wedding stuff done because he's working 15 hours a day and not sleeping enough.  It's not fufilling the original purpose of getting our union blessed in the Catholic church (I will have to actually enter a church for this to happen...sigh.  The things I do for love...)

Ohhhhh GOT...I love you (via fanpop.com)

And things like this:

just don't help.  Hey, person I invited...I love you (obviously!), but really???  Here's why:  Jason has 4 living grandparents who live in the Milwaukee area.  I have no living grandparents.  I would LOVE to have it in KC, but that's not fair to his grands.  I was already selfish and barred them from attending the JOP wedding. This one is more for them, and our friends.  And so we can finally exchange rings, and have a legit party.  Yeah, we'll probably have another when we are 100% married in the church as well.  No, unfortunately none of them will be at my home...I wish I could.  This is probably more of a rant than anything else....I can't make anyone happy except us!  So I wanted to at least halfway explain our motives.  

Crafty Time

I'm not gonna lie...the wedding has eaten my life and I'll kinda be glad when I can craft for the heck of it and not for this specific event.  But I've been feeling cruddy and it's raining today, so it was a good day to knock a few things out.
Project #1:  Pick a Seat, Not a Side Sign

 I found this crate on the beach a few weeks ago.  I couldn't find a pre-made sign I liked, so I made this one instead.  It's blotchy in places, and the first line is uneven, but overall, I love it.

 Project #2:  Chair Signs

I had leftover cardstock from the programs (which are only half done right now), so I had a friend make some stencils and painted these today.  I'll probably be angry at the crane placement later, but I'm definitely in "Don't care, just get it done" mode!

Project #3:  Door Hangers

mine :]

backside of the guests' hangers

front side

These were also made with the leftover cardstock.  I saw something similar on Etsy, but decided that I could make them easily enough.  They are far from perfect, but I think they turned out cute!  I didn't post a picture of them with the holes cut because that is REALLY imperfect, and I'm trying not to think about it!  There's a couple of things I've decided to make as well...but that's another post for another time!

Gifting My Party People

You Guys.  I am flippin busy here lately.  Which makes me a bad blogger.  Sorry...I'm an amateur!
Anyways, wanted to give you guys a look at what I bought for my bridesmaids!  So.  Bridesmaids...vanish, por favor.  You want to be surprised, right?

You Remember That One Time?

The time where I asked for your opinions, and then totally didn't buy the necklaces you suggested?  Yeah, about that...but the good news is that a lot of your comments guided me. Beau....go look at xkcd.

Invites, revealed!

Well, it seems like it's safe to unveil these babies.  Meet our invites!

Proof courtesy of etsy seller Twigs Print Studio

Expectation vs. Reality: Envelope Addressing Edition

Today's blog is simply a PSA.
If you want your wedding invitation envelopes to look anything like this...

image from paperblog

...even remotely, just HIRE A CALLIGRAPHER.  Just do it.
I thought I was going to be able to find a shop in Vegas that could print out our envelopes in white ink, but that was a delusion.  None of the places I called could print on envelopes.  It was extremely frustrating.  So was the result of me sending my envelopes to a calligrapher, but more on that later.  Just wanted to warn you.