Well, the past week has been crazy to say the least. Did not get anywhere near accomplished what I'd like to have done. Buttt did get a good start on the music. Locked in a few songs. Put together the essential reception timeline and the music accompanying it. Well the type of music for each section. We have officially decided to have the music graduate all the way from the 40's to present day as the reception progresses to give sort of a musical walk through time. Which I think adds a little more organization to a possibly hectic playlist.
I also finished the mockup of the paddle fan program version which I happen to like alllotttt more than the petal one! It fits the wedding so much better (will be posting pics to Everything Paper hopefully tonight). And also finished the mock up of the very simple day of timeline cards (just to keep everyone organized, informed, and on the same page) I will be mailing to every BM & GM along with a small Thank You.
Now, to my bracelet frustration. I have made a bracelet for myself which I am now beginning to think its just not enough for me. I want more bling! Possibly a haute vintage inspired one?! I think my bracelet would be more appropriate for maybe my MH to help her stand out from the other BM's (I am making them 1 strand pearl bracelets to match the necklaces). So theres the frustration of finding a beautiful brooch or even an already made bracelet that won't break the bank. Ugh. Well I will just have to keep looking I'm sure something will come along and strike my fancy!
Now I am off to do a little more musical organization (:

Shoes. Thats all I can say. Through out the week I kept receiving calls from a number I didn't recognize then it hit me... I was waiting on my shoes to arrive... they were probably in! However, they weren't due for another 2 weeks so I decided not to get too excited and call the number just to see who it was. Low and behold, it was David's Bridal letting me know my shoes had indeed arrived. Yay! So as soon as the store opened I threw on my clothes and was out the door. As soon as I laid eyes on them in their new color I knew I had made the right choice! They were more beautiful than I had imagined!
On the DIY end of things, yesterday I was able to finish my escort cards. Today, I plan to print a few mock ups of my table markers. Wish me luck!

Good days mean more drive to DIY... time to pull out the beads and wire once more to create bms bracelets and of course... my bracelet. After work today I also took a trip to a DIY-ers crack house (Hobby Lobby) and picked up more cardstock to hopefully get my table markers & escort card mock ups done this week. (: FINALLY! And news on the cake... spoke to fsil today and she found a picture that was beautiful and fit so well (will post under cake/menu) that she is wanting to replicate for us! It's nice to see things finally coming together.
All in all not alot to say today as I am completely exhausted but anxious to start on all my little projects tomorrow!

Thanks to a wonderful manager of mine I was hit with the inspiration for our entrance to the reception... a true New Orleans entrance. Complete with Second Line Umbrella and snazzy jazz (: Now I am off on the hunt for a Brandy-brella that suits my personality. I found one I loved on etsy but am waiting on the seller to see if she can make one in ivory instead of white so it doesn't clash with my dress! Should be hearing from her tomorrow so crossing my fingers. Also my fmil had a good idea about finding us mardi gras masks... love the idea but will have to do some searching to find a nice set if we end up doing it. I just don't want to go over board, but maybe if the ending finances work out good... but for now I will dream of this:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=40498476

In hopes this dream will blossom into a grand reception entrance!
Also in a brainstorm earlier I pondered getting smaller mardi gras umbrellas for my bms... I know there are tons of mardi gras sites to order them.... maybeeee ((:

So I just got done doing my program mock up. Template found from knottie http://squirrlyplanning.weebly.com/ . And I love them! It will be alot of work but totally worth it for the money we will be saving. (: I'll post pictures to Everything Paper later this evening!! Of course we won't be doing them until closer to the wedding as it would suck should something happen (a bm or gm drop out of the party) and we would have to cut out 100 more but I just wanted to do a trial run to get a feel for the project itself and how diy would look. Now I am off to look at invitation wording and music lists!

Today in a better mood. Finally my normal optimistic self is starting to reemerge. Made a mock up of my escort cards last night but I am still undecided on how much I love them. Maybe I just need to tweak a few details. Meanwhile the other aspects of the wedding planning are going on full (ok well maybe 3/4th's) steam ahead. I have resolved to (at the meantime) work on things that don't require the $$. Like our music list. Since we are DJ-ing our own wedding I figured now would be a good time to start whipping up some tunes to tap our toes to. We already have an extensive music collection it's just tedious work finding stuff that everyone can enjoy and fits well with the occasion. Wish me luck as I hope to nail at least our "major moments" songs this week!

For the good. Yesterday on my lunch break I went to hobby lobby and purchased everything I needed for my bm pearl necklaces. Came home last night and in 1 1/2 hours time I had 6 beautiful necklaces (1 of those for myself & 1 for a honorary bm who has helped me with so much). I am so proud of them and think they turned out wonderful. Now to matching bracelets....
For the bad. Got a call at 8:30 this morning from my fiance. He got laid off. Now comes all the worry about the wedding falling through (we are paying for our own wedding so when you are down an income...) and bills getting paid. He immediately came home to begin searching for a new job but the whole situation is worry-some, frustrating, and down-right disheartening. Keep us in your prayers as I try to make more miracles happen on even less of a budget!

Ok. So today I went to order my shoes. Super stoked. I am having them dyed a beautiful purple to give a pop of pizazz under my gown. (: Db color Sangria to be exact.
I have been searching for the perfect "Brandy" shoe for my wedding for almost 2 months. And then I went to the last place I thought I'd find a shoe I'd love... DB... & there they were. So I looked to see if I could order them online since the DB near me doesn't have a huge selection in store. They had none in my size so I was forced to call the store in hopes they had a size 7 in stock. To my great relief they did. I drove like a mad woman there seeing they only had 1 pair in stock and as soon as I tried them on... it was love. Now all thats left to do is excitedly wait and see how the dye job comes out when I get to pick them up in early March!