wedding

Wedding Wednesday: Almost 3 months away!

| cheriarmour

I say this every week, and I will continue to say this – I don’t know where the weeks are going.  I’m in love with the fact that the time is flying by, and that after the harsh winter from hell that we’re already having 90-degree days in Raleigh, but as far as wedding planning goes, this time rocketing by thing is a little scary.  Nevertheless, taking the time out to make a few lists and holding myself accountable by telling you guys about what I’ve been up to has been so helpful.

So first things first.

I had another stress dream last night, this one involving my wedding dress.

My dress has long been ordered, and it’s to die for.  It’s sexy, and still classy, and perfect for the barn bash we’re throwing in August.  But in my dream last night, it was anything but the things I just described.

When I looked in the mirror, the dress contained this like, pink piping around the shoulders.  “This isn’t what we ordered,” I said to myself, and I ripped the silky piping off, to reveal a wedding dress that looked like a golden suit of armor underneath.  Then I woke up sobbing late for work.

Stress dreams aside, things are great!  Save-the-dates are out, like I said last week, and there were only a few people who asked about theirs, one of whom gave me his address incorrectly (my sister did that too 😦 ).  We are meeting the DJ tonight, and I’ve pretty solidly nailed down the costs for him, and for the rehearsal dinner, which came in a hefty amount less than I thought it was going to be for about 20 folks!  I love saving money!

The crafting part has been really fun too.  Over the past few weeks, I have been trolling the Craiglist for mason jars + jelly jars for favors, and at first, I couldn’t find anything, and then the heavens exploded with jars.  I have a friend getting married this weekend, and she has over 50 jars.  I have so many jars that I’ve either purchased for cheap or gotten for free.  And now, it’s just a matter of painting/decorating them/filling them with pretty things.

photo 3

Alsoooooo, I finally got to see my younger sister in person, who’s also engaged too.  I’m getting married in 3 months, and she’s thinking a December wedding.

Bahhh this is so fun!

My brides, how are you hanging in there?

Free cat!

| cheriarmour

Okay, I’m totally just kidding.

Sort of.

So I have this cat, Martin.  He’s young, and he’s orange, and super cute.  At least, I thought so.

So two nights ago, I was working on some stems for my button/brooch bouquets for the wedding, and after it got too late, I started putting things away to go to bed.

I shoulda known something was up, because Martin didn’t harass me to wake me up the next morning.

Here’s why.

10290603_10100318539965333_3572396535756114976_n

This is what I woke up to.

I was late to work because I was crawling around on all fours, scooping buttons into a ziplock while Martin batted them around.  Ugh.  So free cat to a good home.  Or to a bad home really.

Totally kidding.  He’s staying, get your own cat.

What are you up to this Saturday?  Anyone racing this weekend? 

–I’m on another photoshoot, teaching my Zumba class, lifting a bit, and headed to a graduation party!

That time I sent my fiancé to Michael’s for something…

| cheriarmour

By now, you know that I’m marrying this guy…

photo

And he’s so amazing at so many things.  He’s an amazing caregiver, he’s smart, he’s sweet, he’s hysterical, and he’s two tons of fun to do stuff with  Some of the most things that we have done have involved us taking trips to Target to get stuff that we need.  It’s so awesome.  But alas, my honey-bear isn’t good at everything.  And disaster struck two nights ago.

Earlier this week, I went to Michael’s to pick up some things for my button/brooch bouquets.  This time, the experience was much better.  I’m honestly really curious to see who was the heinous woman that I dealt with in floral a few weeks ago cause she was mean and she sucked.

Moving right along.

So something that I needed for the bouquets was 50% off, and in the spirit of saving as much money as possible for the wedding, I sent Austin, with specific instructions for what I needed 5 fake blooms of certain flowers to provide the shape for my bouquets.  One of which was a peony bloom.

Evidently, Austin looked up something called a pilonie (I’m not kidding), and purchased this weird flower thing that I can’t find for the life of me now that I tried.  I literally gasped when I saw him, clutching these flowers in his hands, but the look on his face was so proud, so cute, and so accomplished, that I accepted the blooms with open arms.  (I later located the receipts and had to exchange them for the correct flower).

You ever sent your significant other out for something – with disastrous results?

 

Wedding Wednesday!!!

| cheriarmour

In case you’ve missed it, every Wednesday since I started taking the fact that I’m getting married seriously, I’ve been kind of updating you all with a kind of running update on what I’ve been working on.

Before we get into it, one word of advice for all brides to be.  

Or two, really.

Okay, just two for now.

  • Even if it seems silly, do things early.  You will mark on your calendar that you want to have this thing done by this time, and then you want to have this done by then, and this by then.  And then NONE of it will happen on your schedule.  Some of it will be your fault.  Most of it will be Murphy’s Law.  Like because you wanted your save-the-dates out by this time, the only truck in the world transporting the paper that you were going to print on will have crashed and all your paper burned up.  That is how it works.  As long as you  know that, you’re doing better than a WHOLE lot of other people.
  • People are going to try you.  Relatives will ask if they can fax their office about your event.  Friends of your parents will invite their pastor whom you’ve never met.  Somebody who isn’t in the party will pre-emptively complain about the food.  My advice?  Do like I’m doing and make sure you work out every day and take your self-care very very seriously.  When you do this, you mostly don’t care what it is that people say and you will stick to your guns.  Which is exactly why when my mother basically told me I was an idiot to consider a brooch button bouquet, I didn’t dissolve into a fit of tears.  Because I really have no energy to care.

Okay, that’s all my advice for now.  But seriously brides-to-be, if you have questions or anything, let me know.

So wedding updates!!! Woop woop!

I promised you all a big reveal on my save-the-dates, but some folks haven’t gotten theirs yet, so please, hang in there with me another day or two.

But at a little more than 3 months away, things are coming together.  Emails have been sent, checks have been cut, and now, in a lot of cases, it’s literally a matter of me taking my hands, and putting things together.  I am delighting in putting things together, and in my little trips to Etsy Store and Michaelsare quickly, quickly becoming the highlight of my week.

photo 1 photo 2

 

So this week, three pounds of buttons came to the house (finally!) and an additional 5 pounds of exclusively white, beige, pink, and nude buttons are coming, hopefully by the end of this week.

The brooch lady, Laura, is almost done pricing all my brooches, and I should have a full box of brooches in my possession, signed, sealed, and delivered on Friday.  That means this weekend, I will be making stems.  All.  Weekend.  Long.  But it will be fun!

Annnd I’m waiting to hear back on invites, which I want sent out that first week in June.

Lots of stuff going on! Lots and lots!  Brides-to-be, how is your wedding planning process coming? 

Wedding Wednesday: Finanaces

| cheriarmour

So in like, 3 months and 24 days (which I didn’t know til I blogged about how much time it was gonna be until our Wedding Date), I get to marry this hunk.

photo

Now, I’ve talked openly and candidly about my finances here, but it was important to do that with my husband-to-be, and that meant being really open about my student loan debit and my spending patterns.

And I was really really embarrassed to sit down and talk with him about it.

Austin has a really, really good handle on his finances, and makes a ton more money than I do, and I can learn so much from him (and I have in our years together).  I make a social worker’s salary, and have a decent amount of debt from graduate school mostly, that I’m working on.  But we’ve gotten together every day for the last few days and created a budget, and gone over every single piece of paperwork involving my student loans, and for once, I don’t feel like I’m in a horrifying panic over the state of my loans.

Like I said last week, paying down more of my loans, and still having a little something left over to save, means some actual focus and work, but thankfully, I have a partner who knows what the heck it takes, and is helping me focus on the big picture.  And instead of being mortified and embarrassed, once we got down to the real work, I felt comforted that I was able to share my “burden” with someone else.

In other wedding news?

  • Save-the-dates are OUT!  I will do a big reveal next week, so I can make sure folks get theirs before I put all their business out there.
  • Wedding bands are purchased!  Just waiting for them to come out,
  • Invites?  The ball is rolling, but I have no clue what the wording on the invites is gonna say.
  • My mom screamed at me for not inviting one of her friends.  I am not a cold, heartless person, but she literally told me that she didn’t want to invite this person because they hadn’t been picking up her phone calls as of late.  Well she texted me last night to ask if I invited this person, and then yelled at me when I said no.  I WAS JUST FOLLOWING ORDERS!  Ugh.
  • Catering is thisclose to being finalized.
  • We’d already booked the photogs a while back, but in the course of some emails we’d been sending back and forth, I kinda let them know I needed them for our (very late) engagement photos and bridal portraits for you guys to put gifts under when I get married.

To do in this week?

  • The biggie is the wedding website HAS to get some progress on it.  Maybe I’ll work on that this weekend.

I am SO happy that things are getting done.

How do you keep up with your monthly budget/big ticket expenses?

Break Day!

| cheriarmour

Hump dayyyyyy!

Okay, so can I tell you how insanely awesome my alma mater is?  Last week, on Hump Day, they brought camels out for the students to pet and take pics with.

HumpWho the hell thinks of this?  Annnnd it’s awesome.  Seriously, soak it up college students, cause I guarantee you your boss isn’t bringing camels to the break room to entertain you in real life.  Guarantee.

Okay, so today is normally Wedding Wednesday, but I need a break.  I’ve been nursing a headache and some nausea for the past few days, so I’m gonna take the day off, and Wedding Wednesday will be tomorrow 🙂

I love you, see you tomorrow!

What’s your number?

| cheriarmour

When I read this yesterday, and I read the title I was like WHAT’S MY NUMBER?!  Nuh-uh honey that is no one’s business!  And as far as anyone is concerned, I am the Virgin Cheri, so it’s really a non-issue, but I was like “huh?!” Anyhoo, I got to reading a little further, and I love this post from my fellow bride-to-be, Samantha at It’s All in the Details, that I had to steal it for myself. You ready??

Numbers!

1 – the number of times I’ve been in love

10171077_10100299026849773_1888318097_n
Like 2.5  – the number of times I’ve thought I was in love

23 – our wedding day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

3 – the number of siblings I have…my parents were busy bees. But I like big families, and I’m kinda like ehhh iffy about kids, but I’m either 0 or 5 kids. There really is no in-between for me.

2 – doggies! I have Coco, and I fostered the sweetest Beagle ever.  We were calling him Nelson, but I started just calling him Beagle toward the end of his stay.  I loved him, but he was so energetic, and he ate the strap off of my Rainbows, and then threw it up on the carpet later.

unnamed

4 – my lucky number and the number of kids there are in my family.  Generally I like any number that’s has a perfect nice square root though.

1 – the number of countries I’ve lived in. My parents have both lived in two, however, and we would consider moving to a Spanish-speaking country.
IDK – The number of photos I have on my phone.  I just broke my phone, but I think it’s over 1,000 in the cloud.

Between 2k and 2500 – The number of calories I eat a day.  I teach a ton, and I think I could eat more, but for now I roughly stick to these many.

19, 600 – my tweet count (black people love Twitter, I don’t know what to say.)

33 – Unread emails.  Woops.  #sorrynotsorry

My clients steal them all – the number of pens on my desk.

Too many – the number of cities I’ve lived in.  I think my favorite is the Poconos in the summer time.

A million – the number of times I’ve moved.  My parents were move-a-holics.

2 – the number of degrees I have

116 – the number of days until we’re hubby and lady-friend! EEEP! That’s like 3 monthsish?

0 – the number of the game I cannot stop playing – not a gamer!

Tell me – what is still left on your to-do list to do?  

-Finishing up the budget that me and Austin did last night.

-Pay some bills.

-Shampoo the carpet because Coco had a dingleberry and rubbed it all over the damned carpet last night.

Wedding Wednesday! Ceptin’ it’s Friday, but whatevs!

| cheriarmour

Y’all know about my love affair with my husband-to-be right?  Cause he handsome and really amazing, and is really good at math things, which I am not 🙂 well, we did something really really cool that was wedding related and I honestly couldn’t wait until next Wednesday to tell you about it so you’re gonna have to deal.  #sorrynotsorry. So today, we hopped on over to Diamonds Direct Crabtree, who is hosting their spring Designer Showcase ALL OF THIS WEEKEND!  Go, cause that  means a ton of stuff is on sale, wedding bands, engagement jewelry, and a TON of other stuff.  Like, I already picked out my stuff for our first, fifth, and tenth anniversaries.  20 is gonna be a doozy, just sayin’.

To be 100% transparent with you guys, I loved the customer service that I received at Diamonds Direct  so much that we partnered up, and I am covering some of their events in the lead-up to my wedding in exchange for a discount on some wedding items.  But all opinions are strictly my own.

Hohkay, moving right along…

DSC_0415 DSC_0416 These cars out front kinda made me want to rent something fancy for our wedding.  NO!  Budget, Cheri! DSC_0418   Here’s some info on the showcase.  There’s free food tonight….just sayin’… DSC_0420 DSC_0421

Baby boy talks to a rep from a jewelry company that is being represented at the showcase….

DSC_0423

I’ve had the pleasure of meeting/working with the handsome fellow on the left, Barak, a few times, and he literally makes you feel like a celebrity in his store.

DSC_0429

Andddd here is the fun part!  I don’t care that I already have a beautiful beautiful engagement ring, sparkly rings are sparkly rings!

DSC_0430 DSC_0431The selection at the showcase was SO huge…we actually went to shop for Austin’s band a few weeks back, and decided to come back for the showcase, and they really delivered.  This isn’t the entire selection of Tungston Carbide rings either.

DSC_0433

An expert chatting it up with my man friend making his final decision!

So the full info on the Diamonds Direct Spring Designer Showcase?

Friday, April 25th – 10am-8pm <-Free Food that day, so come hungry and sober.

Saturday, April 26th, 10am-8pm

Sunday, April 27th 12pm-6pm

Click here for more info, but head over there for 20% off of a TON of jewelry.

Wedding Wednesday!

| cheriarmour

This week has been really really difficult in Weddingland.

It started with the fact that I feel like I’m behind in literally everything.  

Then my poor boss, Matthew, was sick for the first two days this week, meaning that I was left to run the office.  This would be the point at which two of my clients decide to elope from thee program, not before one literally told me to f–k off.

And all the while, I feel like nothing has gotten done.

I had a dream last night that I flipped my save-the-dates over and that they said “Happy Birthday Cheri and Austin”

Holy shit.

10177970_10100307140824303_3532745304334589648_nIn beautiful news, the save-the-dates are gorgeous, and I will do an official reveal of them once I get them all stamped and sent out.

My best boy, Michael accepted to be a groomsman.

And I look like a dream with my hair pulled up.  I think I was born in the wrong decade and I want to start dressing more like Dita Von Teese.

photo (3)

 

Phew. I am working so hard to make sure next Wedding Wednesday, I have more to tell you 🙂

Brides, you ever have a week like this one?