Videography: CHECK!
Sort of... I decided to not do a videographer and instead invest money in a video camera. There were several reasons for this decision. 
Videos of people's weddings are always fun and cool but I feel like there is so much they leave out.- Videographers usually leave before the end of the night and the latter part of the reception is some of the most fun!
- I want the raw footage to be able to edit and have fun with myself!
- I can have this camera passed around all day from start to finish and I am going to ask Uncle Jerome and Aunt Janet to borrow their flip cam so the boys can have one for pre-wedding activities. (I'll probably put Deutsch in charge of that.)
- We'll have a video camera to take on the honeymoon with us.
- It's much cheaper (I didn't get anything fancy) and I can continue to use this investment.
I looked for awhile deciding on what to get. I really liked the idea of the small and simple flip cam but the drawback for me was that they have internal memory. The best one you could get is a 8 GB which holds approx. 4 hours of footage. Knowing that the ceremony itself could be over an hour plus you have some pre-wedding fun and then toasts and so on and so forth. Four hours may be plenty but I want to have plenty. This camera has a small amount of internal memory but has a slot for memory cards, which means I can buy as many as I want and have plenty, plenty of time for footage. I went with a Toshiba Camileo S30 full HD. It's very small and sleek. Not top of the line by any means but the good news is it was only just over $100. I originally looked into it because I found a deal for it for only $50. Unfortunately the deal ended up a little while ago and I couldn't take advantage but it sold me on that camera and then I found the new version of it and what the heck...gotta just check things off the list and make decisions!
Sara and Gress's Rehearsal and Dinner were tonight!! I cannot believe their big day is finally here! It's been a long time coming and I'm very excited to celebrate with them!
RSVPs!!
They're coming in!! I remember Michelle talking about how exciting it was for her to check the mail everyday to see what would be waiting in the mailbox. Unfortunately I cannot check the mailbox, one, because I am in Louisville some days and two, because they come to my mom. However, I get to check the online RSVPs through the website...and believe me, I am checking it constantly! It truly is so fun as they start to roll in. It's like the day is slowly becoming a reality as you can see the church and reception filling up with people.
Driving Day Wednesday! (ie: Not much wedding productivity!) I did get my cupcake papers ordered last night as well as picking out a tote for the bridesmaids to have Mom order and get the embroidery work going. The house is such a MESS right now from all of the gifts we brought home this weekend and my lack of being here to organize it in any way, shape or form! And, unfortunately, there probably won't be much time for any of it until NEXT weekend. Gress & Sara's wedding is on Saturday, which means we will have to be in Louisville on Friday for the rehearsal. Hopefully Sunday will bring for some accomplishments, but we are falling behind on garden work as well. The garden is currently exploding with tomatoes. Canning is well overdue!
Getting Crafty, Saving Dollars!
KK and I headed to JoAnn Fabrics this evening to pick out materials for several items she's making for the wedding. Originally it was going to just be the pew decorations, but after talking with the girls on Sunday and looking at her samples, it's just silly to buy the sashes/belts for her and Michelle to wear or to buy the flower hair clips for the bridesmaids.
The worst part is that I am a terrible decision maker--that on top of the fact the store was not well organized. Some materials and some colors were grouped but not in any sensible way. So we were mainly looking for chiffon and satin, but chiffon (in purple) was nearly impossible to find and in hit and miss places! So we were having to carry material back and forth, here to there to compare side by side and figure out what we liked best.
We finally went with a wisteria looking purple ribbon for the belt itself and two different purples for flowers: a darker almost grayish purple light silky material and a iris chiffon. The belt will have two iris chiffon flowers on either side of one darker purple flower. The pews will be a pretty classic larger purple flower made of a silk satin material. A chiffon-like muted green material will tie around it and hang and we'll use that same wisteria ribbon to tie it the pews. The hair piece flowers are just a white, shiny satin that is more or less none-shiny on the flip side, giving it almost a two-tone look. We may add tulle or chiffon to the flowers. I also picked up a few spools of ribbon to possibly use for the cake.
All said an done we spent less that $60 (should have been less than $50 but they were difficult about KK's 20% off coupon she had on her phone and said they couldn't take the number from it because it had to be scanned... was pretty frustrating actually). When i was researching belts they ranged from $22 to $75. I'd have probably gone with a $25 one. The hair flowers were anywhere from $5 to $12. Who knows how much pew decor would have been. If I'd have bought these things individually, it would have been well over $100. (Probably closer to $150). This will have much more meaning coming from KK...plus there was a lot of quality time for us to spend together!
Today was the day!!! Sara has become a GRESS! Yes, my 26th birthday will always be a memorable one as it was Sara and Adam's wedding day. It was full of friends, fun and love! The boys all looked so handsome. The ceremony was beautiful--the clouds came out for the ceremony so it made it a little cooler, which was very nice. Sara was like a princess. Gress looked like the happiest boy alive. The reception was elegant and amazing. The fun was priceless! There is nothing like celebrating such a joyous occasion with your closest friends. It is one thing to party all of the time when you are young and in college, but something all together different when you are older and have become adults and have a reason to truly celebrate.
The ceremony was outdoors under a giant tree--so perfect for the two of them. There was a cocktail hour inside while they finished pictures where we began to take advantage of the open bar and the tasty foods. The meal was delicious and Little Ben's band played the reception. Big Ben helped with their DJing and emcee duties, which gave me all the more confidence about how wonderful he'll be for mine and Jon's. The reception even ended with Backstreet Boys even though technically it was supposed to already be done. The celebration continued back at the hotel and into the night.
