Tales of Registering

I lived in a sorority house almost all of college and FI lived in a dorm as a resident advisor. Needless to say we never really collected a lot of kitchen items or any household items for that matter.

So, when we got engaged I simply could not wait to register. As a person who loves to cook and entertain I had endless ideas of my perfect home and kitchen. Unfortunately endless ideas isn't really an exaggeration.

After we registered at Macy's I literally changed our fiesta ware color three times. Blue sounded perfect at first, but then I really had to have that yellow kitchen I always wanted and then that plum just looked perfect. I finally settled on red. Maid of honor's mom has a beautiful red kitchen and it finally settled my nerves. I will do yellow accents with the red.

I never knew registering could be so complicated.

So, what is new in the world of registering? I found out from a friend who is also getting married that you can register with Pampered Chef.

Pampered Chef?

I think I'm in love.

Pampered Chef has the most wonderful products. I was so excited to register for items there- it was so easy and no regrets or second guessing like at Macys!  Their products have been my favorite for years. Anyone else have a place that they were SO excited to register at?

Relax...its just a spa.

Since before I even got engaged there were some wedding things I knew for certain. I would get married in a church, we would have a sit down dinner and there would be lots of drinking and dancing at the reception.

Another thing I knew for certain: the day before the wedding was spa day for me and my girls.

But, choosing this spa was a little more difficult than I thought it would be. I have been searching online for about a month or so for the perfect venue to accommodate my beautiful BMs and I in a day of relaxation.

My requirments were a spa that could:

* accommodate all nine of us for a mani, pedi and massage
*serve or allow us to bring in our alcohol (not that we NEED alcohol, but its fun to have a mimosa or two while having a girl's spa day!)
*not make us come in before 10am, as the bachelorette party is the night before
*have us finished before 4pm, as the rehearsal is at 5pm

I must have called ten spas in the Austin area and all of them had something wrong with them or were just outrageously priced.

Finally, today my mom and I went to look at a spa about 15 minutes from my house. We were incredibly impressed with the atmosphere and the staff. They could accommodate all of my bridesmaids in a timely manner, provided wine and mimosas and I just felt comfortable there. Additionally, they told us they would give us ten percent off since we were booking such a large group. We were sold!

I am pleased that the girls and I will be spending a few hours at Wood House Spa to recover from the Bachelorette Party and prepare for the wedding!

This is one of the gifts to my bridesmaids. Is any one else planning on doing or had a spa day with their BMs?

Fails of DIY

I've never been especially craft. My art was usually limited to stick figures and could never master the art block letter. I was unbelievably proud of myself for painting my sorority Little's wooden paddle and letters (and Im still pretty sure they didn't turn out too well).

My level of artist abilities:

But, these days so many brides DIY, well everything. Thankfully, I have a budget that allows me not to have DIY for things like flowers, invitations, save the dates, etc.

I've come to the point in wedding planning that I like to the call the "details." These are the things that probably no one notices that much, but I will cry my out my wedding morning if they aren't all in place. These are things like the out of town welcome letter, the programs, the menu, I Spy game card, the list go on and on.

It seems silly to me to pay someone to create these and print them when I am fully capable to working a computer. But, then comes the real DIY part, the putting the programs together, the gluing, making sure everything is centered. Maybe I will fail at that too.

DIY always sounds great, but after I'm done it stresses me out. I never feel like its good enough!

I started a DIY project last week. I wanted to make bags for my bridesmaids. The doily part turned out very well, but well I came to the letters (I didn't know how to trace on to a bag) I'm fairly confident I ruined the bag! I will probably now be ordering bags for them

 I purchased tanks from Wet Seal to iron on rhinestone BM and MOH letters, but then I found a huge sale and with my lack of DIY skills I could not pass up buying them.

So, now I have 8 black tanks tops and the ugliest DIY bags I've ever seen.

Anyone have DIY problems or great successes? Do you have any tips for making programs, menus, out of town letters?

Lots of updates

Our invitations came in last week and I'm pleased to say that I'm very happy with the way they turned out.

Here is a picture of the invite (with some last names and address crossed out!)

I got a fabulous deal on them, so I feel even prouder of them. I can't wait to send them out in early June :)

I have a new photographer. It was a hard decision to drop my old photographer, because I had paid a deposit and I don't like breaking agreements. But, I am so impressed with my new photographer. I know I am going to be so happy with my wedding day photos. And the good news is, even without getting the original deposit back, I am not losing very much money.



The disposable cameras came in today for the "I Spy" game at the tables! Did anyone do this or planning on doing this. I hope that I can get some great candid shots :)

Enough updates for now- I have lots of packing to do. I'm moving to NC to join the fiancé in TWELVE days!

Valentine's Day Recap

This year was our first Valentine's Day apart.

 Justin sent me gorgeous flowers and he made sure they included yellow roses- my favorite!

I spent the evening with my sister watching Valentine's Day and eating nutritious items from my diet. Mmmmm

The Wedding Diet Begins!

February 11th marked six months until the big day. That was a huge red alert- time to really get in shape.
I've been "wedding dieting" and "wedding getting in shape" since I got engaged. It hasn't worked out too well.

So, Monday began real focus on losing weight and getting toned for my wedding.

I am following a set diet: Chris Powell's Choose to Lose

 It's a Carb Cycle diet with five small meals a day. High carb one day, low carb another. Its not terrible, because you don't feel like you're starving.

I have also been doing cardio everyday and am trying to find a really good strength training routine as well. Anyone have a really awesome one?

Wedding things...everywhere

I came home from a week visiting Justin and had five UPS boxes waiting for me. Some of my linens came in, which is a good start. We opted to purchased our tablecloths, runners, napkins, chair covers and sashes, because it was actually CHEAPER and we can resell them.


I found the black tablecloths and damask runners from a bride in Austin and got a great deal on them and ordered the rest online.


The other boxes contained:


 My hanger for the day of which says "Mrs. Meghan May"
I was going to go with Mrs. May, but it looked so short, so I decided to add my first name as well!

I kind of wish I had DIY because a lot of Bees do. I might make them for my bridesmaids!


Some bridesmaids day of gifts! (but you girls might be peeking, so I won't post them yet)


The Ikea Tolsby Frames that I have been coveting and searching high and low for. I finally found them from a bride on Weddingbee! They are perfect for my table numbers

The bags for my flower girls

I haven't completely decided what I will be gifting the sweet girls, but I know I want to give them hankies with their initials and enclose this poem


 For My Flower Girl
You are so very young, but the years will pass by
and you’ll to be a bride, in the blink of an eye.

While you may not remember, the day that we married,
the part that you played, or the basket you carried.

There will be a day, that will burn bright like an ember.
The day you will wed, you will always remember.

So here is a hankie, for the day you will say . .
“I need something old for my wedding day.”


All in all, those boxes were nice to come home too. I'm not sure how my parents are going to feel with all this wedding clutter!