My "Mini Wedding"

A month or so ago I planned/hosted/organized an event for my sorority. It was a Mother-Daughter Tea, and we had about 50 moms and 50 daughters on the guest list. I had such a blast planning it, and I even took to calling it my "mini wedding." I was able to use a lot of my ideas that didn't work out for my actual wedding on this event, and it was so much fun!

The venue was a place called Royalty Pecan Farms in Caldwell, TX ( just a bit outside of College Station). It's actually a working pecan farm, and the land is full of groves and groves of pecan trees. It's so country-cute. Totally the opposite of my actual wedding, and I loved it.

from RoyaltyPecans.com

from RoyaltyPecans.com

Nestled in all those trees is a small cafe-style building with a pretty, grassy terrace.

from RoyaltyPecans.com

from RoyaltyPecans.com

They actually host weddings there:

(source)

from RoyaltyPecans.com

We had originally planned on setting up with ten round tables outside, like these pictures:

from RoyaltyPecans.com

from RoyaltyPecans.com

from RoyaltyPecans.com

from RoyaltyPecans.com

But, a little complaining from Mother Nature forced us to move inside the cafe. We ended up putting the tables in this space:

I was working with a very, very limited decor budget, so I opted for grocery store flowers. I ran to Kroger and HEB the night before and bought spider mums, purple poms, gerber daisies, and limonium. I purchased the glassware outside of my budget and kept it...I figured I'd use it for my real wedding or something. We did two different centerpieces. Both had fabric squares of calico (calico was on sale), one in navy and cream plaid and one in dark red and cream gingham. I cut them with pinking shears (no sewing required! rustic!).

This was taken right after those  poor flowers emerged from the back of my car, so they look a little disheveled, but you get the idea. The cyclinder vases were $1 each at HobLob with a 50% off sale. The vase got a bit of navy satin ribbon and some raffia, and was filled with the purple poms and dyed limonium.

These candleholders were 50 cents during a 50% sale at HobLob, and they were filled with river rocks and a merlot votive, then tied with some brown gingham ruffled elastic trim (clearance aisle!!) and raffia.

For the second centerpiece I bought these bubble bowls (like $4ish each), put a red satin ribbon and raffia around them, and filled them with bigger river rocks, water, and a floating dark red gerber daisy (or two).

My bridesmaid Kristen has requested that I make centerpieces like this for her wedding. We'll see.

This next picture shows the space all filled. It ended up working well inside. We were close to the buffet (tea sandwiches, fruit and cheese, petit fours desserts) and away from the threat of wind and rain.

If you look closely at this next picture, you'll see one of the tea stations!

See it in the back? One of my favorite things about the event was the tea. We had an iced tea station with sweeteened raspberry tea and peach tea in the big jars, and ice and unsweetened tea to the side. Splenda, sugar, lemon, etc. were all there as well. On the other side of the room there was a hot tea station with teacups, hot tea, and all the fixings.

Toward the end of the event the skies cleared up and we were able to go out and enjoy the pretty view and take some pictures.

Me with Bridesmaid Pilar

My Mommy with Bridesmaid Pilar's Mommy!

See how pretty it is? Looove those trees.

I consider myself pretty lucky to have been able to have this event as well as my wedding to plan. I was able to do a lot of the country-chic stuff that I decided not to go with for the wedding, and it was a fun challenge to stay under the sorority's small budget. What do you think? Isn't Royalty Pecan Farms cute?

All pictures are personal photos unless otherwise noted.

I Paid Someone to Make Something I Could Have Made. Gasp!

I had big plans for my garter. I wanted it to be cute and Texas A&M-ish and pretty. I had seen some Aggie garters at bridal stores, but with prices in the range of $40-50 I wasn't thrilled. So I did what I usually do in situations like this, and I decided to just make the thing myself.

I knew exactly how to do it, I had some tutorials saved, and my sewing machine was ready. It was just a matter of buying the materials and spending an hour or so doing it.

And then one day while perusing Etsy I did a search for "Texas A&M garter." And I found these:

(source)

(source)

(source)

These were all between $10 and $35. So I did something uncharacteristic for me, and I decided to just buy something rather than making it myself. I could make my own garter, but I just don't feel like it, and these are just as good. I picked one based in the seller's good ratings and the pretty ribbon (I've always loved that ribbon with the loops on the sides! Anyone know what that kind of ribbon is called?).

(source)

That pretty set of garters is on its way to me right now, and I can't wait. Plus, I get TWO garters (one to toss, one to keep) for way less money than just one garter in bridal stores. And I didn't even have to get out my sewing machine.

Oh, and in case you're wondering, Yes. We are doing the dreaded garter toss. I realize most of the wedding-internet-world thinks its outdated and trashy, but I've never been to a wedding without one, and Jeff has fond memories of catching one when he was like 14. So yep, I'll sit down on a chair and he'll take it off and throw it. And it will be fun.

So yeah. That's the story of how I paid someone to make something I could have easily made myself. I feel a bit like my crafty-creative identity is in jeopardy. I promise I have more handmade DIY things coming up, so don't stop reading Spirals and Spatulas just yet, mmkay?

Shoes: It Takes Two

It takes two shoes to make a pair.

For me, it apparently takes two pairs of shoes to find the right one.

I originally bought these:

Chinese Laundry. Pretty. Champagne colored.

And I loved them. And they loved me. And all was well in wedding-shoe-land. But you all know what happened eventually on the morning of my first dress fitting...

So I was stuck needing a new pair of shoes. And they had to match my dress. And they had to have 2'' heels. So I did what any bride who just found herself shoeless would do, and I pulled up Zappos.com on my computer. Let me say this about Zappos: Shipping is FREE. Shipping for returns is FREE. You can buy and return as much as you want and never actually lose any money. Genius.

As if Zappos wasn't cool enough already, they let you search by heel height (also genius). So I selected Ivory 2'' heels and did a search, and lo and behold...

Nina "Culver" in Ivory Satin

(source)

(source)

I love Nina shoes. I wore some to prom in 11th grade, and I've been hooked since then. They're comfortable, and they fit my foot well. So when I found these, it was like little choirs of angels were singing in my head. I said a little prayer that they were a teensy bit darker in person to match my dress, and I put a size 6 in my shopping cart (as well as a 6.5 just in case - hello free returns!).

A few days later I had my shoes. And they were perfect. And then I went and tried them on with my dress, and they matched perfectly. And now they're sitting in their box in my closet just waiting for their big debut. Oh, and the Chinese Laundry shoes...I still love them and I don't want them to feel left out. So they'll be around at the Bridal Luncheon. And possibly the Rehearsal Dinner as well.

Shoes? Check.

"Look What I Made!" - Reader Frame Edition

So we've got this wedding coming up (duh.). And the wedding has a ceremony (duh again.). And because the ceremony is a Catholic one, it comes with three readings. And because we have readings, we need readers!
So we thought for like two seconds and decided to have a couple of our uncles do the reader duty for our ceremony. But I wasn't satisfied with simply asking them to do it (you know, because I'm Katie, and I'm ridiculous like that), so I made this:

Sorry for the awful picture...for some reason I insist on crafting and blogging at night when there is no natural light to take pictures with.

Okay this picture's a bit better. Please excuse my nasty split ends.

It says "Uncle Chris - Will you do a reading at our wedding?"

(then the reading)

"Love, Katie and Jeff"

To make it, I just printed out the text on some cream cardstock, then affixed the reading to some black cardstock, snip-snip-snipped, glue-glue-glued, and ta-da! Oh and yes, I did chop up a Bible for this project. I wanted it to look like a Bible with all the verse numbers and stuff. I have many, many, Bibles, and I just carefully cut out of one of the cheap paperback ones. Is that wrong?

Here's a close-up:

Yes, we picked the cheesy Corinthians reading. But it's okay, because Verses 7 and 8 were sometimes the one thing that got us through the years we spent doing the long-distance thing, so it's meaningful-ish. Jeff can't come to my Senior Prom? Love bears all things. Jeff can't come back to Texas for a whole three months? Love endures all things. Is this long-distance stuff going to be worth it? Love believes all things. I can't tell you how many times I repeated those two verses to myself. I had them typed up and framed by my desk in college.

Anyway, we gave that frame to Uncle Chris while he was in College Station for my graduation, and he said yes! and Jeff's Uncle Bill said yes too, so now we have our readers!

Dress Fitting That Went Horribly Wrong But Turned Out Fine

Sometimes everything that could possibly go wrong does. That's what happened at my first dress fitting.

But luckily, everything somehow ended up just fine...let's chat about it, shall we?

(Jeff, don't click the link, mmkay? I mean, I'm fine with it...but you're all set on not seeing the dress...)

SHOWER!

My mom has four little brothers. The four brothers have four wonderful wives (my aunts). Those four great women offered to throw me a little shower in the Dallas area, and I was thrilled. The shower was actually on April 10th, but I just now got some pictures from my mom. Sorry for the delay!!

My four aunts, a cousin, my sisters, me.

They hosted a luncheon at Mama Emilia's, an Italian restaurant in downtown McKinney, Texas. The food was soooo good, and we got our own cute little upstairs room. About 25 of my closest family members were there. It was perfect.

Left to Right: Jeff's Grandma, Jeff's Mom, Me, my Mom, my Grandmas

Three generations of rings!!

Two of my bridesmaids made the four-hour drive with me (thank you girls!!!!). My sisters (also BMs) met us there.

BM Kristen, BM Pilar, Me, MOHsister Kristen, BMsister Karoline

The bridesmaids, the moms, and I all wore our bridal party pins from Hobby Lobby. They were a big hit! It was really helpful for everyone to know who everyone was, and people kept asking me where I got the pins. Plus, I felt special wearing my white dress Bride one! :o)

After everyone arrived and said hello, we went around the table and everyone said who they were, how they knew me, etc. Then we ate some yummy Italian food. It was really good. Then....it was time for opening the gifts!

I was a bit worried about the present-opening part. You know, being the center of attention and all. It's not my thing. But, it turns out it's not hard AT ALL to be excited when you're opening amazingly generous gifts, and I did just fine!

Aggie tumblers! We had four Texas A&M ones and four USC ones on the registry. It was kind of like a little contest between Jeff and me to see whose school's cups were purchased first. The Aggies won, of course!

This is the face I make when someone gives me TWELVE WHOLE PLACE SETTINGS OF CHINA! Yes, my grandma bought us all of our place settings. Oh. em. gee.

Fondue set. Yesss. I knew I could count on my 9-year-old sister to get me something as awesome as this!

I wanted this really bad. BM Kristen must have noticed. Hehe.

KITCHENAID MIXER!!! Thank you Mommy!

I was really, really excited about that mixer. Haha.

My Aunt Tracie made the cutest ribbon bouquet out of all the bows. I'll be saving ribbons from the other showers and giving them to her to finish off the bouquet!

After all the opening and squealing and hand-clapping and such, it was time for CAKE! This cake:

Beautiful, right?

The cake had a strawberry-champagne filling. I thought I might die of happiness. These ladies obviously know me well!

It was a wonderful day. I felt so loved and supported, and I was so overwhelmed by the generosity of everyone who came that I finished my thank-you notes within 48 hours. Sometimes being a bride makes me absolutely, incandescently happy, and that shower was one of those times.

Anybody else dying to own a KitchenAid mixer? What's your dream gift?

Caps and Gowns and Moving and Things

First of all, oh my goodness we have so many things to discuss!! Coming up soon on Spirals and Spatulas:

• Showers (two of them!!)
• Writing our ceremony (priests and deacons and cantors, oh my!)
• Becoming a Maid Matron of Honor (matron? seriously?!?!)
• The Great Shoe Crisis of 2010 (and its peaceful ending)
• Dress fittings, and the most intimidatingly wonderful Make-up Artist ever!!!

Anyway, the more important thing is this: On Friday I put on a cap and gown and I walked across a stage and just like that, I was a college graduate. I celebrated with Jeff and my family, I finished packing up my apartment, and I moved back to my hometown for good.

Gosh I look funny in that graduation robe.

Graduation caps make my hair look weird.

With my Dad, Aggie class of 1983!

After years of hard work and hundreds of great memories, I'm now the proud owner of a brand new diploma and a "Association of Former Students" bumper sticker. It's a great feeling to see your efforts pay off, and it's even greater when you have a really supportive family that comes into town to celebrate with you. I felt so loved as I walked across that stage.

Horrible picture, but it's all I have.

PS - Note the wedding reject shoes making a graduation appearance!!

I managed to graduate in three years, with two majors. Because this is the internet and not real-life, I'm going to let you in on a little secret: I graduated with a 4.0 GPA. I don't tell people about it because there's a fine line between being happy for yourself and just bragging and I don't quite know how to get around that line in conversation. It's just not something I'm comfortable discussing with friends/family/acquaintances. But this is my blog, and honestly, I worked really hard for that 4.0, and it's important to me. So yeah.

And because I think I look AWFUL in graduation garb (seriously...I've been dreading wearing a cap and gown again ever since I graduated from high school), I'm going to share with you the pictures from my Texas A&M Honors ceremony the day before graduation. You know, just so you don't think I look like a black elephant all the time.

Ahh family. This is only like half of the people that were there! I have a huuuuge wonderful extended family.

"Now we've both graduated. I think that means we're allowed to get married."

Isn't my Grandpa the cutest???

Anyway, I'm so happy to finally be in the same city as Jeff. With the exception of two months in 2007 and 2008, we've never been in the same location at the same time, so this is really exciting. Also, I'm now living in Houston, which is where the wedding is, so it's going to make the last couple months of planning so much easier!

Get ready for lots and lots of wedding posts coming your way...with barely over two months until the wedding, it's crunch time!!