Our Engagement Shower, Part 2

Since my mom was already coming up over Labor Day, we decided that was a perfect opportunity to have an engagement shower.  I started planning (and {blogging about it}) at the end of July...yet it still snuck up on me!

Nothing huge or fancy, just the bridal party and some of our close friends over for beer, games, and food.  I tend to overdo it on the food...but no one complains!

I used coupons to pick up these invitations:

I hand wrote them myself (hooray for gold sharpies) and sent them out about five weeks ahead of time.  It was over Labor Day weekend, so we figured we wanted to give guests enough notice.

I made some simple decor changes:

Not all our loved ones could make it, so I wanted to honor them:

So they'd know we were thinking of them.

I did some crafting:

Target has an awesome selection of gold and polka dotted things!  Since we're using gold as an accent color in the wedding, and I obviously love all things polka dotted, this is a win-win!

We were set up just in the nick of time because guests arrived promptly!

As I previously shared, we had a guest vase for people to sign.  I set up a guest table:

We'll be reusing the "be our guest" sign at the wedding and then in our guest bathroom.  

I'm debating whether or not I want to paint the wood frame gold.  It's cute as is and I'm slightly worried of getting paint on the white sign, but the gold would match both the wedding reception and our bathroom afterward. 

I did "pop" the question to my bridal party (the ones that could attend).  I got small favor boxes and filled them with flavored popcorn. 

I made ones for the groomsmen too...but that wasn't B's style.  

He asked them over beer.  (To be fair, they all popped the tabs...it kind of counts)

The next day, I called my brother's girlfriend to ask her to be a bridesmaid too.  She said yes of course!

More on my lovely gals later!

We played some games, including:

Wedlibs

Ally or Brandan?

This was the game with the mustaches and lips!  Guests answered independently (cough except for the mothers cough), then voted with their response sticks:

I used straw toppers, Popsicle sticks, and hot glue to create these.

We had such a wonderful time with friends and family.  Thank you all for attending!

Love,

A & B

Blogtember Challenge, Day 12

So it's two weeks into September, several weeks into the school year, and I'm finally finding a bit of time to catch up on blogging.

That means this is my first official blog post for the 2015 blogtember challenge!

Last year I did a much better job at participating...but last year I didn't have an engagement party and wedding venue shopping to do right at the start of the school year.

So without further ado, here's my first post for the blogtember challenge!

Reading... the last remaining pile of my students' beginning of the year essays.  See, the first week of school, we give them a diagnostic essay that isn't for a grade.   We use it to see their strengths and weaknesses.  They write a letter to their future selves with minimal instruction, then will get the letters back the last week of school.

I record my notes in my writing conference folder.  Each student has his or her own tab so I can track their progress over the year.  I didn't really pull writing conferences last year, so my goal is to improve as a writing teacher.

Playing... how many blog posts can I write in one day. This Blogtember prep is no joke! ;)

Watching... College football.  B is flipping between games and I'm halfway paying attention.  My Sundevils aren't on, so there's not complete focus. 

Trying... to be motivated to make the ppt for social studies for next week.  I'm not finding motivation...

Cooking... popcorn for dinner? 

Eating... nothing. My tummy is upset, thanks to back to school germs from the students. 

Drinking... water. Lots and lots of water. 

Calling... my MOH soon to talk about wedding venues.

Texting... my work wife.  She hurt herself coaching gymnastics this morning and I want to make sure she's icing properly.  (Her for real husband knows we are work wives and understands)

Pinning... fall wedding ideas :)

Tweeting... nothing :(

Going... back to a wedding venue tomorrow with my future MIL and officiant while B stays home and does his hw.  We're 95% sure this is where we are getting married next fall, so I want to make sure his mom sees it before we make a decision.  My mommy already saw it and loved it.

Loving... my friends.  It's been a rough month and I'm overwhelmingly comforted by the love of so many good people.  It drowns out the mean people. 

On a side note, I'm also loving my fall {Jams}!  I did these at home, in pajamas, then immediately went to bed.

A week in and no lifting or chips, which I know wouldn't be the case with regular polish!

Hating... the back to school year sickness that always happens.  I diffuse in my classroom and I've been doubling up on water and onguard, but it's not enough when I have three dozen fifth graders and the two closest classrooms are full of kinders.

Discovering... that my to do list just won't quit!

Thinking... about everything I need to do for the first DEN meeting in October!  Eeek! More on that adventure later.

Feeling... overwhelmed.

Hoping (for)... negotiations to go well tomorrow at the wedding venue! It's our first choice, but there's another venue too.  We're hoping the first one will match some of the freebies from the other venue. 

Listening (to)... more football.  It's fall.  It's football time.

Celebrating... the completion of another week.  This one, despite being four days, was exhausting.  Between my first few citations, open house, and the technology not working on Tuesday, it was a stressful week.

Smelling... Breathe.  It's one of my favorite DoTerra essential oils. It does wonders for allergies and clearing out my sinuses.

Ordering... some new make up!  I recently discovered {Younique} and am in love! I'd been using Bare Minerals for years, but always felt a little too washed out.  (The struggles of being a redhead is real, y'all.)  This make up lets my freckles show while still providing full coverage.  I appear to have flawless skin and look wide awake, which is never, ever the case.  

Seriously, one coat of my magic mascara:

Flawless make up...even when I hear screaming and f-bombs from a five year old outside in the hall...

Thanking... my mommy and B's family for helping us with the wedding.  Thanking one of his mom's best friends for her generous wedding gift of offering her timeshare for our honeymoon.  Thankful for amazing people.

Considering... taking a nap. It's just one of those days.  (Disclaimer...I've already taken two naps today...)

Starting... to realize I need to do lesson plans for social studies....

Finishing... placing our first book order with Scholastic.  So not only are students able to purchase books for significantly less than at retail stores, but I earn rewards points and spending credit, which means I turn around and buy more books!  I think I spent $10 of my own money in this order and have seven new books coming, including the new Diary of a Wimpy Kid book.  (I've never read them, I just know my students are obsessed and I support their love of reading!)

Currently in August

A few months ago I saw Bailey at Brave Love, which is a super fun blog that you should also follow, doing "currently" blog posts and I decided to give it a try!

Reading... nothing :(  I just finished The Blood of Olympus last night and my copy of Love and Logic isn't here yet.  I'm also eagerly awaiting Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard but that's not due out until October.

Playing... various silly iPad games. I recently found Oregon Trail and the inner eight year old inside is thrilled. No one has died of dysentery yet!

Watching... nothing currently, but lately there have been epic amounts of TLC's (ridiculous) bridal shows. B even watched a few hours of "Say Yes to the Dress" with me.  He also asked if I'm going to have two gowns.  (The answer is no.)  I'm eagerly awaiting the next season of Once Upon a Time and Arrow to be on Netflix!

Trying... to be productive while still enjoying my last few weeks of summer.  I'm trying to knock out small wedding crafts like these:

We'll do a questionnaire at our engagement shower in Sept and have people vote on who they think the statement applies to: me or B.  He has mustache ones that are currently drying.

Cooking... nothing! Just enjoying left overs.

Eating... healthier, or at least trying to! 

Drinking... a mimosa.  It's Sunday morning, it's brunch time!

Calling... no one. I'm enjoying quiet time.

Texting... my gals.  I will be off to deliver Jamberry wraps in a bit!

Pinning... wedding ideas.  (Mom, I added you as a collaborator, so you can pin ideas to the wedding board too!)

Tweeting... about my pets. I love them.  Sorry twitter & instagram followers!

Going... to the DMV this week.  I'm expecting it to be an all day adventure on Wednesday, so I'd better find a new book to read. 

Loving... naps. Plus they're encouraged during the summer!

Hating... how frequently I burn myself on the hot glue gun. I am an adult, gosh darn it! I should be able to handle the glue gun.  Also hating that the naps will be severely limited again.  Oh, and hating Waffles's love of cat poop. 

Discovering... patience.  Walks with Waffles are still an adventure.  Yesterday there was a roller blader and that was simply terrifying for her.

Thinking... about what I still need for my classroom.  I stocked up on new highlighters (although I probably need another pack of six) but am sure I need new markers, pencil sharpeners, and colored pencils for the buckets.  Good thing there are Target coupons AND Cartwheel's discount.

Feeling... lots of emotions about the end of The Blood of Olympus.

Hoping (for)... a good bunch of kiddos this year!

Listening (to)... nothing.  B is out with friends and I'm enjoying the television being off.

Celebrating... Mike & Monique's upcoming wedding!  My future siblings in law are getting married Saturday and I'm excited for them.

Smelling... nothing. Thank you allergies.

Thanking... friends for their love and support on all the wedding matters.  Thank you for not letting me be a bridezilla and giving me a few minutes each convo to provide them with updates before we talk about all the other exciting things in our lives.

Considering... a walk with Waffles before it gets too hot.

Starting... to get excited for back to school!  Not the work part, but the seeing my friends on a daily basis part! (In other words, I sound like a teenager.)

Finishing... folding laundry.  There are only two of us and it frustrates me, so I can only imagine how much there will be when there are kids involved.

What are YOU up to currently?

I tried

I've blogged before about making our engagement shower banner:

However, it's not going as planned.  

I'm not pleased with how the letters are turning out and the gold dots are destroying my markers.  It's also taking way longer then I planned, so it's time to switch courses.

I'll be printing large black chalk board letters at work.  B will help cut them out and I'll glue them on. 

I looked into borrowing a Cricut machine and buying a template, but this way will be cheaper.

Plan C it is!

Bad Bride

I've already expressed this to both my mother, B, and the world of facebook, so I can share here:

I am going to be a bad bride.

Today I was at my local craft store picking up some more things for the engagement shower.

I found these:

Which I'll hot glue to Popsicle sticks to for responses for an engagement shower game.  I'll store them in these beauties ($1 each, thanks Target!).

I haven't decided if I'll add a black and white polka dot ribbon or a chalk circle (with A & B) to each but I want to do something to jazz them up.  I'll probably go pick up three more for utensils, but possibly in black.  It all depends on what color I get silverware (because I don't want them to match, I want a contrast).

I'd had a vision of making a banner like this:

With these supplies:

But midway through today's errands, I found this:

All I need to do is add thick black letters, which I can easily print at work or free hand myself.  There is less chance of me messing it up and it already has polka dots!  This was also the option B liked better and the best part? This banner was $4 at Target (as opposed to the almost $30 I spent at the craft store...good thing I saved the receipt because I'll be returning that stuff next week.)

Would both be cute? Of course.  However, I'm choosing to go with the one that is both easier to make and cheaper.  Win win!

I also picked up these blank signs for the photo booth:

Did you know these signs are half as much as the pre-printed ones? I will gladly save a few bucks by writing the sayings myself.  Plus they can be more personalized this way.

After looking through the craft and party planning aisles, I wandered to the bridal aisle...and that's where things went wrong.

Most of the bridal aisle was overwhelmingly too feminine.  I'm marrying a man.  He does not want ornate lace, pearl, and floral wedding invitations.  I do not want large feathers or bejeweled sparkling white tree branches. I do not want monogrammed napkins.

Here's a collection of things that have no place in our wedding:

(If you had these things in your wedding, I'm sure it was lovely and you found a way to make it work in an elegant way.  I however, don't want them in mine.)

Jeweled food stands. ($60)

I know my friends and family.  This will be beyond dirty with dropped food and a pain to clean.  Just no.

I don't even know what the purpose of these feathery wands are but the craft store had lots of options.  Perhaps they line the aisle? Go in flowers?  Are table decor?

All I can think of is how much fun my cats would have playing with this...which is a clear sign that it does not belong in my wedding.  Feathers and jingle bells? I'll pass.

I'm not opposed to candles as table decor.  However, these blinged out ones? From a distance, I thought the jewels looked like eye balls...so that's a no go.

A fancy, formal pen for the guest book.  This wouldn't work for our guest book but more importantly, this means only 1 guest at a time could sign the book.  Also $25 is a tad ridiculous for a pen.  

Know what we'll use for our guest book? 

Sharpies.  

Why? They are permanent, I know they'll work, and they are thick enough for our wood guest book.  As an added bonus, I'll get to reuse them.  One can never have enough sharpies.

Fake diamond place holders.  Again, why? 

I like "bride" things, but I think I'd prefer "wifey" since you know, that's the whole point of the marriage.  I don't think I need a special make up bag for the day.  I don't think the bridal party needs them either.

The aisle went on from there.  My favorite item, which I should have snapped a picture of, was bejeweled straws.  Seriously? Straws?  I feel like that's a choking hazard...

I did find a small gift for my mom and for B's mom for the engagement shower, but that is all that was purchased. 

There was another bride in the aisle, very loudly arguing with her bridal party about the number of bejeweled sparkling tree branches with hanging gems that they needed for the wedding. 

(Zero is the answer ladies.)

 

 

I'm clearly a "bad bride" because:

1) I'm on a budget and not at all ashamed of it.  It's one magical weekend that I don't want to spend five years paying off.

2) I don't think everything needs to be monogrammed.  Or bejeweled.  Or glittery. Or perfectly matching.

3) I don't want super floral invitations. 

4) I don't need specialty items for the day (like the guest book pen) that are way more expensive then necessary.


 

Our engagement shower

Since our engagement is going to be on the longer side (looking at a wedding at least 14 months away), we decided to have an engagement shower over Labor Day weekend.  My mom is coming up for the weekend and she'll get to meet more of B's family as well as the bridal party.  We wanted to get everyone together to celebrate in a low key event.

Food:

 We'll be having the shower at our house.  B's mom is helping with dip and my mom is helping with desserts.  We'll be visiting Costco for food, beer, and snacks.  

Decor:

We'll clean the house.  We'll stock up on black, white, and gold plates, napkins, and utensils.  Much of our serve wear is already white (matches everything) or polka dotted, so there isn't much to buy.

I do like the look of this:

But I'm not going to spend thirty bucks on it when I could recreate it for less than half the cost. Good thing I like crafting!   I have two different visions in mind...stay tuned! 

This will be easy to recreate:

Plus if I use erasable chalk markers, I can change the vague "2015" (or in our case, 2016/2017) to the actual date.

 I do like the look of these LOVE candy dishes:

But the only ones I found online were $40 for the set and that seems a bit pricey.  If I can find them for half that price, it's a do!

As I previously shared, we'll also have guests sign our engagement vase. 

So the final product should look like this:

Invites:

I'm working on our invitations because I want this to be a classy event.  There is no facebook invite for this one people!

I did investigate the bridal aisle for invites, but I won't have access to a printer for a few more weeks and that doesn't give a lot of time to get out the invites to our guests.  Plus the bridal invites were all super feminine and well, I'm marrying a manly man.  So, I ventured to the regular party planning section of the craft store and found black, white, and gold ones.  They have both stripes and polka dots, so that makes me happy.

I spent most of yesterday working on them:

I'll be going to the post office later to get cute stamps and get them in the mail this week.

Entertainment
 
I also spent some time working on games.  I do want our friends and family to feel comfortable, but I don't want the gentlemen to sit around watching TV or playing beer pong in the garage.  So  to try and prevent this, I'm coming up with some activities for everyone.  As an added bonus, I'm hoping many of these games we can reuse at the reception.

Ring Toss

I'll be collecting wine bottles to create this:

I haven't figured out what to use for the rings because I don't want the bottles to break from impact.  I should be able to find a crate at a craft store for a few dollars.  

Bean bag toss
  
These will also be fairly easy to recreate:

I'm not in love with the design, so I'll probably paint something different.  I'll be borrowing bean bags from work (another perk of being at an elementary school with an amazing PE teacher) so that's one less thing to make.

B also wants to pick up a horse shoe game at Target for the backyard as well. 


Not everyone will want to be outside, so we'll have some indoor games as well.  

I like the classic marriage advice cards, so we'll be doing something like this:

I also want to do "advice for B" and  "advice for A" cards.  I'll have the guests put them in something like this:

I'll probably do these cards again at the bridal shower (like a year from now) so I can combine the cards from both events into a scrapbook.

 Another thing I liked from another wedding was mad-libs, so we thought it'd be fun to have people recreate the story of our proposal and our relationship with these:

(Even better? These gems are a {free download} and I can print them on card stock at work.)

I found these adorable cards on etsy, but I think I'd rather recreate them myself:

We could have everyone answer and then do this to share answers:

I imagine I can find lip & moustache straw or cupcake toppers to recreate this delightful moment.  I'm not in love with the idea of having everything be lips & mustaches at a wedding because I think it's beyond over done, but I'm okay with this small moment.  

(Update: I found them, I just have to assemble them.  Bring on the glue gun!)

We'll also be asking our bridal party during the shower, but that part is still a secret!


Any other must-haves for our engagement shower?!