Hello all,
Never fear! I have not forgotten about the blog. I have some news. While at my local salvation army the other day I saw a dress. Du du du DA! I had to try it on. So I did. It fit me perfect. It is simple. No train. My belt will go with it. So now I have to decide. Which one should I wear? Maybe both? Big for the ceremony. Small for the reception. It was only $20. And it was new. Still had the tags.
It was a really good deal. Because it fit me so well and looked so good and cost so little I picked it up.
Its better to have options!?!
Cheers!
Saturday, December 19, 2015
Monday, December 7, 2015
We are buying!
Hi all,
Well it is official. They accepted our offer after a bit of negotiation. We are planning to move in May. After we buy the house we will cancel the lake house venue and get married instead at our beautiful new home. I have to say I am over the moon excited! We have an indoor option if it rains because we have a great pole barn that is heated with cement floors. And it is insulated.
One of my bridesmaids is coming to Minnesota from Alaska very soon for the holidays. While she is here we will be doing dress shopping for the ladies. I will keep you all posted!
Cheers!
Well it is official. They accepted our offer after a bit of negotiation. We are planning to move in May. After we buy the house we will cancel the lake house venue and get married instead at our beautiful new home. I have to say I am over the moon excited! We have an indoor option if it rains because we have a great pole barn that is heated with cement floors. And it is insulated.
One of my bridesmaids is coming to Minnesota from Alaska very soon for the holidays. While she is here we will be doing dress shopping for the ladies. I will keep you all posted!
Cheers!
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
Sunday, November 29, 2015
I did it! I made my veil!
Hello all,
I believe in saving money. I believe in inspiring others to save money too. I am known to fix my car myself. After I broke the screen of my cell phone I ordered a new one and of course I fixed it. I do historical reenactments and I make all of my own clothing and jewelry. I (with family help) gutted my entire house. So of course when we started planning our wedding I first considered what I could do myself.
I had not originally thought about making my veil. While picking out my dress I tried on lots of veils. Many were beautiful. I figured I would just grab one before I left the store. I got my dress at a great consignment store. I figured the prices must be reasonable. After all everything there is second hand. Well I could not have been more wrong. $200 for a used veil. $200! Can you believe it? I sure could not. Now because I have an extensive knowledge of fabric prices and I have a lot of talent and the experience with sewing I thought it cannot be that hard to make a veil. On my next trip to The Cities I stopped at JoAnn Fabrics. I paid $5 for the off white net fabric, $6 for 3 packs of prefolded 1/2 inch off white binding and about $5 for two hair combs (it was a two pack but I only needed one). So for a total of $16 and a couple peaceful afternoon hours I made a trimmed two tier veil. I watched a couple minute video on YouTube on how to make a veil and I winged the rest. I will post pictures later. It is beautiful. I might hot fix rhinestones on the trim. I have not decided yet.
My advice to everyone is to consider what you can do yourself. Use the internet. Check out craft stores. I believe I will enjoy this wedding so much more because a lot of work, thought and heart has gone into it.
Cheers!
I believe in saving money. I believe in inspiring others to save money too. I am known to fix my car myself. After I broke the screen of my cell phone I ordered a new one and of course I fixed it. I do historical reenactments and I make all of my own clothing and jewelry. I (with family help) gutted my entire house. So of course when we started planning our wedding I first considered what I could do myself.
I had not originally thought about making my veil. While picking out my dress I tried on lots of veils. Many were beautiful. I figured I would just grab one before I left the store. I got my dress at a great consignment store. I figured the prices must be reasonable. After all everything there is second hand. Well I could not have been more wrong. $200 for a used veil. $200! Can you believe it? I sure could not. Now because I have an extensive knowledge of fabric prices and I have a lot of talent and the experience with sewing I thought it cannot be that hard to make a veil. On my next trip to The Cities I stopped at JoAnn Fabrics. I paid $5 for the off white net fabric, $6 for 3 packs of prefolded 1/2 inch off white binding and about $5 for two hair combs (it was a two pack but I only needed one). So for a total of $16 and a couple peaceful afternoon hours I made a trimmed two tier veil. I watched a couple minute video on YouTube on how to make a veil and I winged the rest. I will post pictures later. It is beautiful. I might hot fix rhinestones on the trim. I have not decided yet.
My advice to everyone is to consider what you can do yourself. Use the internet. Check out craft stores. I believe I will enjoy this wedding so much more because a lot of work, thought and heart has gone into it.
Cheers!
Monday, November 23, 2015
A change of venue...
Hi all,
Since the last time I wrote there have been a few changes. We have been house shopping. Well actually we casually looked online, just to see what was out there (we all know how that goes). And of course we found the house of our dreams. It is in the country. It is on five beautiful, flat acres. It is perfect. So perfect in fact that if we buy the house we are moving the wedding celebration there. There is a beautiful weeping willow tree. There is so much space. Also there is a cement floor, insulated pole barn. So if it rains we have an in door option. This will save us $2000.
So we are adding more depth to the wedding situation.
I will keep you all posted!
Cheers!
Since the last time I wrote there have been a few changes. We have been house shopping. Well actually we casually looked online, just to see what was out there (we all know how that goes). And of course we found the house of our dreams. It is in the country. It is on five beautiful, flat acres. It is perfect. So perfect in fact that if we buy the house we are moving the wedding celebration there. There is a beautiful weeping willow tree. There is so much space. Also there is a cement floor, insulated pole barn. So if it rains we have an in door option. This will save us $2000.
So we are adding more depth to the wedding situation.
I will keep you all posted!
Cheers!
Thursday, November 19, 2015
My dress
Hi all,
One thing in life I have figured out is this: never be afraid to try something different. Never make up your mind before you have not seen the options. With that said I went dress shopping. I first tried on the style of gown I was sure I wanted. Sheath style. Lots of beads and sparkles. No crenoline. They looked terrible on me.
I had decided going into this day that I would try on anything and everything. That I did. The last style I tried was a very plain strapless gown. It was pretty. Then the attendant put a belt on me. That was it. I knew it. The one. Unfortunately the "one" was $1,800. Now I don't know about you, but I have bought cars for less than that. As much as I loved it I knew I could find this general idea in a dress anywhere. Plain. How hard could that be?
After going to that boutique I went to David's bridal. Now I am not knocking them but as I am always busy I expected to be able to walk in and try on a dress. Nope. I had to make an appointment. Every single room was filled. I would say they need more dressing rooms. I found two dresses there. I did not get to try them on because of their full house. They lost a sale.
I went back to Bride to Be consignment. My sister, my niece and myself went like crazy through the racks grabbing anything that may have worked. As I tried on dresses my sister found a dress that was completely plain. I liked it. It was a contender for sure. Especially at under $300 for the dress. Then one of the attendants who kindly took time out of her busy day to help look brought me another plain dress. This one was silky (the other was not silky). I tried it on. I came out and my sister and niece started grabbing belts and throwing them on me. We found a couple good ones, but there was one that was perfect. I looked in the mirror. I got a bit teary eyed. It was perfect. It was even less money than the other plain dress. $276 was the dress price. The belt was $129. A bit steep but hey perfect is perfect. With the cost of the garment bag I paid just under $420 for my dress.
I tried on veils too. Then I decided this is my diy wedding. I will make one myself. I have found a YouTube video on how to do it. It seems easy. I guess I will post on how that goes.
Cheers!
One thing in life I have figured out is this: never be afraid to try something different. Never make up your mind before you have not seen the options. With that said I went dress shopping. I first tried on the style of gown I was sure I wanted. Sheath style. Lots of beads and sparkles. No crenoline. They looked terrible on me.
I had decided going into this day that I would try on anything and everything. That I did. The last style I tried was a very plain strapless gown. It was pretty. Then the attendant put a belt on me. That was it. I knew it. The one. Unfortunately the "one" was $1,800. Now I don't know about you, but I have bought cars for less than that. As much as I loved it I knew I could find this general idea in a dress anywhere. Plain. How hard could that be?
After going to that boutique I went to David's bridal. Now I am not knocking them but as I am always busy I expected to be able to walk in and try on a dress. Nope. I had to make an appointment. Every single room was filled. I would say they need more dressing rooms. I found two dresses there. I did not get to try them on because of their full house. They lost a sale.
I went back to Bride to Be consignment. My sister, my niece and myself went like crazy through the racks grabbing anything that may have worked. As I tried on dresses my sister found a dress that was completely plain. I liked it. It was a contender for sure. Especially at under $300 for the dress. Then one of the attendants who kindly took time out of her busy day to help look brought me another plain dress. This one was silky (the other was not silky). I tried it on. I came out and my sister and niece started grabbing belts and throwing them on me. We found a couple good ones, but there was one that was perfect. I looked in the mirror. I got a bit teary eyed. It was perfect. It was even less money than the other plain dress. $276 was the dress price. The belt was $129. A bit steep but hey perfect is perfect. With the cost of the garment bag I paid just under $420 for my dress.
I tried on veils too. Then I decided this is my diy wedding. I will make one myself. I have found a YouTube video on how to do it. It seems easy. I guess I will post on how that goes.
Cheers!
Saturday, November 14, 2015
Pictures of flowers
These are the flowers I put together for the wedding. I got them all from Walmart, Dollar Tree and my local thrift store. I arranged them and wrapped them with floral tape. I then wound ribbon around the stem. This is very easy. I think I invested $20 and I have made like 20 bouquets. Believe me if I can do it, so can you. I cannot even imagine how much money I have saved. These will be for us ladies to carry as well as for center pieces on the table.
Cheers!
Thursday, November 12, 2015
Dress try on
Hello all,
Short and sweet today. I am excited for Sunday. I am going dress shopping with my sister, sister in law and maid of honor.
Cheers!
Monday, November 9, 2015
Flowers
Hello all,
I decided to do all of the flowers and decorations by myself. I have been picking up fake flowers whenever I find some I like. I recently visited our local thrift store and I found a bunch of them for next to nothing. I have about all of the flowers I need. I have only spent about $15 dollars so far on flowers. That sure is a lot less than most people spend.
So with this in mind I decided to have some fun with the flowers. I am going to get together with all of my bridesmaids. We are going to each make our own bouquets. Everyone is going to use the same set of flowers but make our own so each bouquet is unique. Each corsage I make will be different too. Since our guest list is 44 total (including bride and groom) I am going to make a corsage for each guest. They are all important. I am going to make the center pieces for the tables too. All similar, but not the same. I love the thought of having everything a bit eclectic. Why do things have to match? They don't.
I have the photographer of my dreams. When I told her about the wedding she was so excited. She said "finally something different. All these weddings get to be very boring."
I cannot wait! I want a wedding that inspires others. A wedding no one will ever forget :)
Cheers!
I decided to do all of the flowers and decorations by myself. I have been picking up fake flowers whenever I find some I like. I recently visited our local thrift store and I found a bunch of them for next to nothing. I have about all of the flowers I need. I have only spent about $15 dollars so far on flowers. That sure is a lot less than most people spend.
So with this in mind I decided to have some fun with the flowers. I am going to get together with all of my bridesmaids. We are going to each make our own bouquets. Everyone is going to use the same set of flowers but make our own so each bouquet is unique. Each corsage I make will be different too. Since our guest list is 44 total (including bride and groom) I am going to make a corsage for each guest. They are all important. I am going to make the center pieces for the tables too. All similar, but not the same. I love the thought of having everything a bit eclectic. Why do things have to match? They don't.
I have the photographer of my dreams. When I told her about the wedding she was so excited. She said "finally something different. All these weddings get to be very boring."
I cannot wait! I want a wedding that inspires others. A wedding no one will ever forget :)
Cheers!
Thursday, November 5, 2015
Dresses and colors
Hi all,
I am consumed with wedding thoughts. As I said previously, this is not my first wedding. The first time I got married my goal was to have a wedding and I went in to it blindly with no help and no Pintrist. This time means more to me because I am marrying the man I truly love. I really want it to be perfect.
With all of that in mind I want to find the perfect dress. My criteria is complex. I want a dress that is elegant. I want it to sparkle. I do not want poofy. No crinoline. No mile long train. Believe it or not it is hard to find a dress with no poof. I went to the consignment shop and found nothing. I even went to Davids and found nothing. So now what do I do? Well I looked on line. Then I decided I cannot buy a dress I have never tried on.
My next plan of action is to go to boutiques. If I find a dress I love I will look online for it. I am feeling kind of cheap. I do not care to spend a ton of money on something I wear once. I really think there should be shops that rent wedding dresses. I would happily just rent a dress.
I found an interesting article about buying the dress for less:
http://www.learnvest.com/2011/02/would-you-buy-a-used-wedding-dress/
It is a good read.
The subject of color:
Electric feusha pink and kind of light yellow?
I have decided that the attendants wear different shades of these colors. The decorations will be these colors, bit in slightly different shades.
I am also going to make all of flower arrangements and bouquets.
Okay. I am done going on and on with my scattered ideas.
Good night all :)
Cheers!
I am consumed with wedding thoughts. As I said previously, this is not my first wedding. The first time I got married my goal was to have a wedding and I went in to it blindly with no help and no Pintrist. This time means more to me because I am marrying the man I truly love. I really want it to be perfect.
With all of that in mind I want to find the perfect dress. My criteria is complex. I want a dress that is elegant. I want it to sparkle. I do not want poofy. No crinoline. No mile long train. Believe it or not it is hard to find a dress with no poof. I went to the consignment shop and found nothing. I even went to Davids and found nothing. So now what do I do? Well I looked on line. Then I decided I cannot buy a dress I have never tried on.
My next plan of action is to go to boutiques. If I find a dress I love I will look online for it. I am feeling kind of cheap. I do not care to spend a ton of money on something I wear once. I really think there should be shops that rent wedding dresses. I would happily just rent a dress.
I found an interesting article about buying the dress for less:
http://www.learnvest.com/2011/02/would-you-buy-a-used-wedding-dress/
It is a good read.
The subject of color:
Electric feusha pink and kind of light yellow?
I have decided that the attendants wear different shades of these colors. The decorations will be these colors, bit in slightly different shades.
I am also going to make all of flower arrangements and bouquets.
Okay. I am done going on and on with my scattered ideas.
Good night all :)
Cheers!
Advancing
Hi all!
So since my last post I have had some accomplishments on this whole wedding thing. I have to say I am very excited. I find myself thinking about it whenever my brain has spare time.
The first big news I have is about the venue. We found a place. It is private. It is settled on three acres right along the lake on a nice flat piece of land. We are going to set up the tables so that everyone can sit at them and watch the ceremony. I really wanted privacy and that is what we are getting. There is also plenty of room to park.
The next big happening is with the photography. I am an acquaintance of a photographer in my hometown (Owatonna, MN). She is absolutely amazing. Ever since the first time I saw her work I have dreamt of having her shoot my wedding. I reached out to her (cringing about the thought of how much she costs) to find out if she is available and what her price is. As it turns out she is available! And for the three hours we need her it is going to cost a whopping $500. Needless to say I will be meeting with her to book her today.
My other stride I made is with the dress. I went to Bride to Be Consignment in the cities to look at what they have. They have many decorations. I will be going back to get stuff for sure. I looked at dresses and they were all very over priced. On top of that they were all poofy. I want something very 1920's. No creniline. Lots of beads and sparkles. So I did not find a dress there. I went to David's Bridal after that. Well that was disappointing. They did not have one dress in that entire store I would even consider wearing. I am looking online now. I have seen a lot of dresses on the web that I like, but I am very afraid of ordering something that important without trying it on first.
Other than that I have just been doing a lot of thinking. I am sure everyday I will find more things and put more together. I will keep you all informed.
By the way I love ideas and advice!
Cheers!
So since my last post I have had some accomplishments on this whole wedding thing. I have to say I am very excited. I find myself thinking about it whenever my brain has spare time.
The first big news I have is about the venue. We found a place. It is private. It is settled on three acres right along the lake on a nice flat piece of land. We are going to set up the tables so that everyone can sit at them and watch the ceremony. I really wanted privacy and that is what we are getting. There is also plenty of room to park.
The next big happening is with the photography. I am an acquaintance of a photographer in my hometown (Owatonna, MN). She is absolutely amazing. Ever since the first time I saw her work I have dreamt of having her shoot my wedding. I reached out to her (cringing about the thought of how much she costs) to find out if she is available and what her price is. As it turns out she is available! And for the three hours we need her it is going to cost a whopping $500. Needless to say I will be meeting with her to book her today.
My other stride I made is with the dress. I went to Bride to Be Consignment in the cities to look at what they have. They have many decorations. I will be going back to get stuff for sure. I looked at dresses and they were all very over priced. On top of that they were all poofy. I want something very 1920's. No creniline. Lots of beads and sparkles. So I did not find a dress there. I went to David's Bridal after that. Well that was disappointing. They did not have one dress in that entire store I would even consider wearing. I am looking online now. I have seen a lot of dresses on the web that I like, but I am very afraid of ordering something that important without trying it on first.
Other than that I have just been doing a lot of thinking. I am sure everyday I will find more things and put more together. I will keep you all informed.
By the way I love ideas and advice!
Cheers!
Monday, November 2, 2015
Introducing my wedding
Hi all!
My name is Jocelyn and guess what?!? I am getting married! So I am very excited. I am just getting started with planning and I am bringing everyone along with me.
So first of all I want to explain my angle on this whole wedding. My fiancé and I are both having our second wedding. We both had the "big" wedding the first time. Therefore we have both learned our lesson. If I were to change the name of my blog I would change it to "The second time I get married I am not going to have a big wedding because that was a big crazy mess." So with that in mind I am breaking all traditions I possibly can, I am doing everything myself as much as I can and I am making the wedding as far away from cookie cutter as possible.
I am going to aim to answer the who, what, when, where and why of our big day. I think that is a good place to start. In fact, that is where I started.
The first question is who. Well of course myself. I am a thirty year old divorsee with a six year old son. I am marrying Rodney and his two children who are six and seven years old. We met on match.com. The first week we both joined we started talking to each other. We had our first date in a town between our towns (we live an hour apart). We had dinner and wine. We walked around the beautiful town for a few hours. We soon fell in love. That was a year and a half ago. We recently went on a vacation to Daytona Beach Florida where he asked me to be his wife. I am so happy. We have a lot to do!
Next is the what. Of course it is a wedding. However it is not going to be a run of the mill, traditional wedding. We are going to get married outside. As I said it will be nontraditional. Outside, later evening, small and no wedding dance. But before anyone thinks I am crazy for cutting out a dance we will still have the first dance to some soft jazz music.
Onto the where. Well I am not exactly sure where at this point. But I do know this: we are going to rent a cabin on a lake for a few days. The wedding party is going to stay there. We plan to get married out by the lake. We have looked into a few places but so far nothing has worked out.
And when? Well next year. Originally we were planning on June of next year BUT we will be selling houses in June so we are shooting for September 2016.
Lastly the question of why: one word: LOVE. That might seem cheesy but it is true. For some people it is OK to date forever. We love each other and we are going to make that statement.
I guess for now that is it. I do not know exactly where this road is going to go. I am sure there will be a lot of happy moments and knowing me some tears too but it will be great.
Cheers!
My name is Jocelyn and guess what?!? I am getting married! So I am very excited. I am just getting started with planning and I am bringing everyone along with me.
So first of all I want to explain my angle on this whole wedding. My fiancé and I are both having our second wedding. We both had the "big" wedding the first time. Therefore we have both learned our lesson. If I were to change the name of my blog I would change it to "The second time I get married I am not going to have a big wedding because that was a big crazy mess." So with that in mind I am breaking all traditions I possibly can, I am doing everything myself as much as I can and I am making the wedding as far away from cookie cutter as possible.
I am going to aim to answer the who, what, when, where and why of our big day. I think that is a good place to start. In fact, that is where I started.
The first question is who. Well of course myself. I am a thirty year old divorsee with a six year old son. I am marrying Rodney and his two children who are six and seven years old. We met on match.com. The first week we both joined we started talking to each other. We had our first date in a town between our towns (we live an hour apart). We had dinner and wine. We walked around the beautiful town for a few hours. We soon fell in love. That was a year and a half ago. We recently went on a vacation to Daytona Beach Florida where he asked me to be his wife. I am so happy. We have a lot to do!
Next is the what. Of course it is a wedding. However it is not going to be a run of the mill, traditional wedding. We are going to get married outside. As I said it will be nontraditional. Outside, later evening, small and no wedding dance. But before anyone thinks I am crazy for cutting out a dance we will still have the first dance to some soft jazz music.
Onto the where. Well I am not exactly sure where at this point. But I do know this: we are going to rent a cabin on a lake for a few days. The wedding party is going to stay there. We plan to get married out by the lake. We have looked into a few places but so far nothing has worked out.
And when? Well next year. Originally we were planning on June of next year BUT we will be selling houses in June so we are shooting for September 2016.
Lastly the question of why: one word: LOVE. That might seem cheesy but it is true. For some people it is OK to date forever. We love each other and we are going to make that statement.
I guess for now that is it. I do not know exactly where this road is going to go. I am sure there will be a lot of happy moments and knowing me some tears too but it will be great.
Cheers!
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