How to Plan a 6 Week Wedding...and Stay Sane!

Really....what do you do when your only daughter gives you six weeks notice on a wedding (with Christmas looming) and also vows not to visit a bridal store??? Why of course you panic. (insert panic stricken face here). This is part of our story.......this is what I learned......

To Thine Own Self Be True

"I only want one thing.......to have the reception at the Library," said Hannah. Sadly the Library is booked every weekend of 2010 thru October. The building has mahogany wood floors, mahogany trim around the windows, arched columns, soaring twenty foot ceilings, a fancy staircase, beautiful old-fashioned lights and charm galore! It is beautiful, affordable and obviously in demand. The lady laughed when I called in December to book a January date. We were bummed....... Lightbulb!!! What about another week night..maybe a Thursday? Good news--available!!!!!!!!!!!!! So, we booked the Library for a Thursday night reception. Friday wedding. Yes, you read that right--we did it backwards and it SO worked. Be flexible to get what you want.

(guest book entry table)

(looking through the front doors into the library)

Think Outside the Box

My daughter has her own sense of style. While looking for a dress for her senior prom Hannah announced that she would never buy a wedding dress from a bridal store. She is not a ruffly frilly girl and found the process of trying on dresses painful (she is such her mother's daughter in this sense). So--she ordered her dress online from a lady in China.......can you taste the panic here?? I think you can. Anyway, for a mere fraction of the cost of a custom dress, nimble Chinese fingers created her dream dress. She sent her measurements.....a photo of a dress.....altered the dress with sleeves.....said a prayer, said another prayer and waited.........the dress arrived Dec 24th folded in a small black envelope. Merry Christmas!! Be grateful for honest people on the Internet.

Employ Friends with Skills

This is the Girl Power section!! I have wonderful friends & family with awesome talents. I made a list of friends/family and talents and began calling.......for example I have worked closely at church with a woman who cooks like a dream......I offered her a job doing the food. I told her that I am going to pay someone--I would rather pay someone I know. She agreed. One friend made bows in her car on the way out of town. Another was starting a photography business......one owns a wholesale florist....one friend knew a lady who made cakes.....I called the lady and she quickly became a new friend. Sisters cut out labels, monograms, put dresses on hold for me (remember, Hannah and I have an aversion to trying on dresses. Thank you Amanda), ran my errands, loaned me earrings, passed out cute wedding tissues and served lunch. I will always be grateful for the help---it would be horrible to plan a wedding in 6 weeks alone--it was enjoyable with my sisters and friends cheering me on! Thank you, Amanda, Beth, Cindy, Emily, Kim, Sarah, Ali, Addison, Dave, Katie, Miriam, Ross, Jennifer, Mary Anne, Tammy, Kristi, Janice, Dee, Kathleen, Leonard, Lindsey, Lauren, Dani, Crystal, Becca, Jen, Jeannie, Janese, Dana, Lorenzo, Mom, Dad, and my dear hubby Mr M. There really is strength in numbers!

(food tables based on their travels in Europe with chalkboard labels of the country represented)

(beautiful flowers)

(amazing cake)




Splurge & Simplify

The most beautiful wedding site I've found is Style Me Pretty. I scoured that site for inspiration and beauty. I learned that the simple letter M can be a beautiful sight. Even better when you repeat it over and over and over--which we did. I had plans for elaborate decorations but one night I heard the words--"Don't overdo...focus on the personal touches." I obeyed. Flowers, beautiful linens, good food, and happy guests were the best decorations. That simplification allowed us to have the funds to hire a wonderful trio from a local church band. Hannah posted our need on Facebook and within 2 hours a friend of a friend linked us up with 3 wonderful musicians--they played the saxophone, the bass and a guitar. Can you say mellow--BIG BAND sounds?? Can you say AMAZING! Live music is nothing short of magical. Music is the language of love.

I had a wonderful time planning this wedding. But more importantly I had a wonderful time living in the moment. It was an amazing, happy, spiritual time in my life--and a gift to my daughter and new son-in-law. They are happy as larks. What more could you ask than for your daughter to be in love with a good man and for him to be in love with her? I may very well be the luckiest woman alive! Thanks for letting me live, relive, think, and dream about the past few weeks. They have been magical for me and I am so grateful for that!

Just to add my two cents, I have to also include that this wedding came in $500 under budget! That is including my sister's travel to Utah for the groom's reception...seriously a major accomplishment. We read somewhere that the average US wedding costs $19,000. She was nowhere even remotely close to that. This wedding was done on a real budget and done very well, at that.

Jen...thank you so much for being a guest blogger today. I am so lucky to have you as my sister and one of my very best friends. I am truly blessed. It was a beautiful wedding and reception. Immecably done...with style, and grace, and humility. Couldn't have been better or sweeter! And at the end of the day, the most important thing came down to this day right here (in the above picture). We were all together as a family...celebrating each other, true love, and forever families. What a gift. Jen, I love you so much. Thanks again for being our guest today...it was an honor to have you!

This post linked to :

Melissa's Inspiring Finds @ The Inspired Room

DecorMamma's Frugalicious Friday

Strut Your Stuff @ Somewhat Simple

Funky Junk Interior's Saturday Nite Special

Reduce-Reuse-Recycle Project

{Linked to Reinvented's Trash to Treasure Tuesday!}

In all fairness, I must admit that this post is not really about recycling. I just needed a catchy title. Although, I did recycle these cereal and snack boxes for my little project...that was not my main focus here. Ok, let me set the stage for you. Each week I take my 4 kids to church, a 3 hour block of church, mind you. I have really good intentions. I also have really high expectations (somewhat unrealistic). These two things do not mix well with church and rowdy kids. I'm just gonna be honest here and tell you that we make a spectacle of ourselves each and every Sunday! Try as I might to convince, coerce, bribe, and threaten good behavior...it rarely happens. I end up chasing a two year old around who seems to be allergic to church or shushing a four year old who cannot stand to be quiet, much less NOT talk. All the while, my boys are making matters worse by tickling, teasing, and terrorizing the little girls. I end up twisting ears and making empty threats of personal injury. It's not pretty. So, what exactly does any of this have to do with these cut up cereal boxes you might ask???

It all comes back to trying to make my kids behave like civilized human beings at church. I will try just about anything...well, not anything...but close. Coloring seems to have lost it's luster, so I needed to amp it up a bit.

I used my Cricut to cut shapes out of those used boxes.



My hope is that these stencils will become one of our new quiet church activity. And we can cut new ones each week so they don't get bored. I'll let them decide what they want to draw and we can cut them out together. Hopefully getting them involved in the process will help them be more excited about it.



I put them on a big clip ring so we can keep track of them and make clean up a bit easier. Please pray that this will work. I really want my family to stop being a three ring circus at church!!!

Country Living Furniture at K-Mart???

While enjoying my new issue of Country Living magazine this month I spotted an ad for a beautiful new line of furniture and accessories by CL. I was slightly (and by slightly I mean enormously) surprised to see that it was carried at K-Mart, of all places. I actually have an aversion to this particular store. When they closed their doors in our town several years ago, I did a little happy dance. I would venture to say they had the worst customer service of any store I've ever been to. So, I was reluctant to even give this a second glance. But...sadly, Country Living had me at hello and I could not resist their charms. Tonight I decided to check out this new line and I have to say.....it is lovely. And not to mention, extremely affordable. The whole line of furniture and accessories is on sale right now. I thought I'd share with you just a few of my favorite items

This desk/vanity would be beautiful with a beveled mirror above it and a cute crystal lamp on top. Perfect in my bedroom.
I love extra storage space, especially when it's pretty. Love that nailhead trim. Again...perfect for my bedroom.

This chair makes me swoon. I wish I could trust my family to have chairs like this at our dining table. Big fat chance of that! By the way, this chair is only $99...an amazing deal for such a beautiful chair. Maybe I could fit it into my bedroom somehow....hmmmmm?

This little side table is absolutely adorable. Can you see that shelf with the caning detail? I think it needs to come live in my bedroom as a nightstand. Do we see a theme here people?

I WILL have some of these distressed mirrored frames. Love, love, love them.

This is huge. I just happened to stumble onto these CL lanterns in the clearance section. They are 75% off, which makes them 12.49 and 8.74...originally $50 and $35. I have been wanting something similar to this for forever, but wasn't willing to pay Pottery Barn with my first born child. Have you priced these? A bit pricey, thankyouverymuch! So, if you're in the market for some cute lanterns for wicked cheap, head on over to the K-Mart. And check out Country Living's new line while you're there.

It's All In The Details!

As with any event, it's the small details with a personal touch that make it so special. I think my sister did a fabulous job in adding those personal touches to her daughter's wedding. Because of the time constraints (6 weeks) she was limited in the things she could do. But if you had been at the reception, you would never have known it! I am seriously amazed at all that she accomplished and was able to pull off, with seeming ease, in that amount of time. Today I will share with you a few of my favorites. And I'm thrilled to announce that she will be here as a guest blogger within the next few days. She will share with us some tips and insight into how she pulled off a beautiful wedding in just 6 short weeks, and lived to tell about it. Please stay tuned and check back...it will be worth it!

The bride and her mom made these adorable favors for the wedding luncheon. They put together some of the couple's favorite love songs and burned CD's for the guests. They made the sleeves out of scrapbook paper, included a playlist of the songs inside, and tied it up with twine and a cute metal charm. What a great favor! Easy, inexpensive, personal, and too stinkin caauuute!

This familiar saying was made into a vinyl transfer and applied to the wall behind the cake table.


My sister wrote this cute little poem about how the two met, summing up their sweet love story. She had a friend cut the vinyl and we put it behind the food table.





I cut the vinyl monograms for the 4 glass front doors. It was a simple touch, but very striking. The bride and groom weren't too shabby either!

Just when you thought you couldn't take any more monograms...we made monogrammed luminaries. Are you sick of this "M" yet? I, personally, do not think you can overdo a monogram, especially at a wedding.

We used them to light the front sidewalk and up the stairs to the front doors. As well as up the stairs inside leading to the kid's table.

Speaking of the kid's table...it was the cutest thing ever! My sister bought galvanized buckets in various sizes to hold the different foods...goldfish, gummi bears, chicken fingers, juice boxes, and mini cupcakes. Each one was tied with a cute ribbon, and labeled with a darling tag. We re-used the cupcake stand from the shower and made a banner strung with twine for the front of the table that read "Yum Yums".

And no wedding would be complete without a fabulous photographer. A friend of ours did the photos and she did a bang up job. This picture was my absolute favorite...artsy with a vintage vibe...perfect! Most of the photos in this post (the good ones anyway) came courtesy of Miriam Arroyo Photography. If you'd like to see more of her work, here's the link to her blog.

Don't forget to check back and welcome my sister as our guest blogger for the day!

The CUTEST Ruffle Pillows on the Planet!

EDITED to add:
Thank you Sunny for your comment! I could not for the life of me remember where I had seen those ruffle pillows originally. I've had that picture in my inspiration file for ages. The second picture in this post are pillows from V&Co . I hate to not give credit where credit is due. And she definitely deserves credit for these beautiful pillows! Please excuse my oversight...and thanks again Sunny for the info.

I think I've died and gone to pillow heaven! Look what came in the mail for me yesterday??? The most adorable, perfectly ruffled and pleated pillows for my bedroom redo.

Remember this inspiration pic I showed a while back (courtesy V&Co). I have been looking high and low for some pillows like these. I got on etsy and searched for ruffle pillows and this search led me to my new pillow lady, Jill. She has the cutest etsy shop called Jilly Bean Things.

I showed her a picture of what I wanted, sent the dimensions and poof...she made the most perfect pillows ever! This lady has got some serious skills. Have I mentioned how in love I am with these pillows???

The room redo is far from finished, but it is well on it's way. I couldn't wait to get up this morning and make my bed. That is huge for me people...HUGE. I usually only make my bed when I know company's coming over. Yes...I realize how shameful that is. I'm just keepin it real!



I found myself walking into the hallway just so I could peek in my room and admire my bed and the new pillows.



The detail on them is AMAZING. I still cannot get over how perfect they are, and exactly what I'd envisioned!



I asked for a big black flower on the pleated pillow and she delivered. Every single thing I asked for...she made it happen. Jill was a dream to work with. She does excellent work and she is very affordable...especially for very detailed custom pillows! I could not be more pleased. Be sure and hop on over to her cute shop and check out more of her creations.



I am really starting to love my room again. It's been a long time since I could say that. I don't dread going in there anymore. And I can leave the door open with confidence when people come over! Now if I could only finish painting that stinkin bathroom. My to do list never ends!

Mossy Monograms

Sorry I was MIA most of the week. My niece came home from college to get married, have a reception, and a whole other list of whirlwind activities. Her mother, my dear sister, has been hard at work for the last 6 weeks (that's all the notice she had) planning this beautiful event. I would be surprised if she slept much, if at all. She handled the stress and pressure like a dream and I was so impressed with her! I think I would have been a basketcase. I hope she takes a few days to decompress and stays in her pj's the whole time...she deserves it.

One of the many little touches that made the reception so beautiful were these moss covered monograms. My two other sisters, worked on this project and I think it turned out absolutely perfect. My oldest sister started by choosing a lovely font and printed out their initial. She used an overhead projector to trace this onto foam core board and then cut it out. Then my other sister painstakingly hot glued reindeer moss onto the initial. I'm pretty sure she has no finger prints left, just in case she wanted to commit a crime...I think she's good to go! A small price to pay for beauty, right?

This is what the foam board looked like when cut out. It had some rough edges, but once completely covered in the moss, they disappeared and it looked absolutely perfect.

I forgot to take a picture of the cake before they cut it, so this shot will have to do. You can see the corner of it, with some of the detail and the beautiful green color. It sat on this gorgeous square silver cake stand and it was amazing. As was her bouquet, and the dress. Oh...I would give my right arm for her cute little body!



The happy couple.
Are they not the cutest thing ever???

Oh, to be young and madly in love.


Congrats Hannah and Dalaney!!!


Love you ~ Manda

Alert...90% off at Target

While strolling through Target's toy section with my kids today, I spotted several women with their carts full of Christmas decor (and I mean stacked and overflowing). I was amazed that they had so much stuff left, so I thought I'd quickly check it out. When I got over there it was swarming with people piling stuff into their carts as fast as they could. And no wonder...everything was 90% off! I scored these three very large tubs of ornaments for next year. It's all different shades of gold, ivory, and champagne. Colors I am usually not drawn to at Christmas. But since my Mom scored those amazing chocolate brown mercury glass trees for 50 cents, I have been thinking of nothing else. Next year's mantle decor will be elegant neutrals with a splash of chartreuse green. I have a clear picture of it in my head... Is that sick that I'm already planning my Christmas decor and it's January 5th????

These were $1.50 each, $4 total for well over 100 ornaments...score!

The small bronze/chocolate ornaments were 75% off at a local department store. The mercury glass trees were 90% off a local salvage store that frequently gets Target stock. I am heading back tomorrow to get more of the chocolate trees. They are so stunning in real life!

My niece's colors for her wedding really inspired me to go more neutral and elegant for Christmas next year. I love the whimsical look, but I am seriously over it....for now. I'm sure I'll change my mind one day and go back to it. But if I can get a whole new look for 90% off, then I don't have to feel guilty for changing my mind so often...right?

Justifications are so hard to......well,justify. But that's my story and I'm stickin to it!

Cupcake Towers Gone Wild

Many of you asked me for details on the size of the boxes we used and how many cupcakes we put out. My sister and I made 8 dozen cupcakes between us, but we probably only put out 5 dozen to begin with. We used the extras to replenish as the others got eaten. As for the boxes...the top two smaller boxes we used were priority mail boxes, that are actually free from the post office. The smallest measures 7x7x6. The middle box measures approximately 12x12x8. And the largest box on the bottom measures 22x11.5x7 (it was a box of hamburger patties from Sam's Club). The truth is that you could any size you have or can scavenge form the trash pile. Use what you have and make it work for you.

I forgot to mention that the idea for the cupcake tower came from my sister, Emily. She made this adorable polka dot one for her daughters' 11th birthday party. It was precious. Just look at those black and white polka dot and stripe candles on top...too cute! This was definitely a cake fit for a diva. They put on their own fashion runway show that night...complete with a red carpet. The party was a huge hit with those pre-teen girls!

For those of you interested in making your own, I thought I'd include some pictures for inspiration. You can really make them as simple or elaborate as you want. The skies the limit. This brown and pink tower is one of my absolute favorites. Those simple little bows around each box make it so chic!



Of course, the aqua and brown color scheme caught my eye. How can you go wrong with those two colors??? Seriously. And I love how they added a small cake as the topper.

I little over the top, but still fabulous. Can you imagine this beauty at a wedding? Absolute perfection!

These little towers from Martha Stewart are sweet. But, I'm not quite sure about the frosting dollops...a little too pointy for me.

I think I died when I saw this barnyard friends cupcake tower. Could it be any cuter? No, it could not!

And if you're really feeling adventurous and wanted to blow it out of the water...there's this. A cupcake tree. Although, I am bit concerned for that sweet little girl's safety...what better way to go than being crushed by a bajillion cupcakes?

I think I will stick to the simple version. No chance of death by cupcake here. Possibly a sugar coma, but not death!

Handcrafted Wedding Gifts

I made a lot of our gifts this holiday season. I love a handmade gift, and I hope that the people who receive my gifts feel the love and heart that goes into each handcrafted item. A store bought gift is great, as are cash and gift cards. But there is nothing better than making something special for the people I love and appreciate the most. I like to put a lot of thought into each gift, to make sure it is designed especially for them and their needs. It gives that personal touch, that something extra that says... you mean the world to me. I LOVE that!

All the cousins draw names and then buy for each other. There are 17 grandkids, which means lots of noise, chaos, love, and laughter. I wouldn't want it any other way. One of the names we got was my niece who is getting married next week. I was so excited to make her some monogrammed, personalized things for her new married life! She got a full size journal with her initial, a set of cards with her new married monogram, a mini journal for her purse, and a family name frame.

I made several of these family name frames to give. They might be my new favorite thing to make! First I cut the paper to fit inside the frame. Then I cut out their last name, the initial, and the established date out of vinyl with my cricut. I applied the vinyl directly onto the front of the glass. That way she can change out the paper to match anything or any room when she wants a change. Easy peasy. I know the paper is a little busy and distracting, but I fell in love with this Amy Butler paper set and new it was perfect for Hannah. And really...can you go wrong with anything Amy Butler puts her name on??? I think not!

When she opened the journal she was so excited she had a wedding journal. I didn't even know there was such a thing, but apparently I made her one! I also made my boys' 4 teachers each a set of journals...one full size and a mini with a coordinating print. In my haste to finish them the night before the last day of school, I forgot to take pictures. So you'll just have to take my word that they were stinkin cute! And as you can see below, I also like to paper the inside covers of the journals. Again, it adds just a little extra touch of personal. Can you tell I'm really into the small details? It's a sickness that I suffer form daily.

I almost forgot to wish everyone a happy 2010. Here's to another great year and to the beginning of a fabulous decade full of surprises and adventure!





HAPPY NEW YEAR FRIENDS!!!!