What to Wear?

For the big party, that is only 3 days away, our invites state that the attire is "Spring Casual" with an additional note of {weather permitting}. To us, this just means, "be casual & have fun with it!"

This is going to be a fun party- and so we invite you to show up defining the word fun! :)

I was looking around online today and found some great inspiration!

For the Women:

For the Men:

The weather is telling us that this RAINY AND {too} COLD {for me} week will reward us with sun and 70 on Saturday- let's hang on to this and hope it turns out to be just like that!! See everyone very soon!

xoxo, Andrea & Aaron

Invites {round 2}

Now that the wedding is over with you'd think, on with married life!

Well it is sort of... but with our reception about a month and a half away we are very busy this week with the guest list. It's my goal to have all addresses by the weekend, to have all part to the invites and these reception invites mailed out by Monday 4/6 - Wednesday 4/8 at the VERY latest!

Tonight Mom and I are meeting with Amanda to get all the invites printed out, they are looking awesome! This is super exciting. I will say it again, invites are a very detailed component of wedding, therefore {even with it being just a reception} invites are by far one of the most stressful wedding details! I will be happy when these are sent off, stay tuned!

Bridesmaid Gifts

Monday morning I made a quick stop to finalize the last detail on the Bridesmaids gifts- they will be so fun!

I was also able to sneak a peek at the Welcome Bags for Cabo- these too will be SO FUN! Yah!!

xoxo, Andrea

DIO: final update

Monday night Kris and I got together for our final create session!

I can't remember if I have shared exactly what it is that we have spent time in making... so if I have not, we spent three nights (approx 12 hours total) making this large list of the following:

Boutonnieres for:

• The 5 Groomsmen: Best Man Kyle, Eric {Wardo}, Bryan {Buxton}, Meatball {Jason} & Troy
• My Groom {Aa}
• The 2 Dads & 1 Stepdad
• My Grandpa
• Gabriel {My Nephew}

Corsage/Hairpiece/Pin for:

• The 5 Bridesmaids: MOH Lana, Jamie {sister}, Carrie, Bryana & Brittany
• The 2 Moms
• My Grandma

Hairpiece

• for Bride {ME- this will be for after the ceremony}

And finally, two special gifts for 2 important friends that will be in attendance to both Cabo and our MN Reception in May- these items & friends will remain nameless- you will soon find out who you {they} are! :)

Here is a collage of a few picture hints from our 3 nights of crafting- {enjoy!}

xoxo, Andrea

shower pics

As promised here is a fun picture displaying some decorative

displays that Krista knew I would appreciate {does she knows me well, or what?!}

These most fun details are so fun and sun!!

~a.k.a The perfect touch in the anticipation of Cabo!

{Check out the other blog for more pics}

DIO: update

The DIO project "round 2" tonight with Kris was a success!

We still need one more night to complete everything we set out to do... let's hope for next Tuesday night!

I came home tonight to show Aaron what we had made for all of the wedding party Men- he approved and was impressed! {still saving pictures for another post}

xoxo, Andrea

DIY accessories

Last night I met up with a friend from my days at Target. Kris Miller, who- by the way is also recently engaged herself! Kris is one very talented, creative and organized woman. She owns her own jewelry business and is constantly whipping up beautiful bracelets, necklaces, earrings, hair clips, etc.. you name it!! Although her website isn't quite up and running just yet- you can soon find her and her jewelry over here at Olive Jewels.

Ok, back to our meeting last night. I have asked her to help me with a DIY project (or rather a DIO: "Do It Ourselves"). This project will to be something special for each wedding party attendant (Groomsmen, Bridesmaids, Bride & Groom) and we will also be working on something special for each of the Moms, Dads and my Grandparents.

Our first meeting was used to organize our thoughts and ideas- Monday night we will be meeting up once again to get started on making these ideas come to life.

I am up in the air on whether or not to include a picture- if you're lucky I might lend a few picture hints after the weekend...

stay tuned!

xoxo, Andrea

double checking this list...

WHAT! WHAT! WHAT!?

I am feeling a bit panic-y {it started last night, but has carried on over to today}. I knew there would be "extra costs" for wedding stuff while at the RIU and while going thru the check list it is looking to add up to something that is a little out of hand, here are my thoughts that have me a little crazy right now...

a. I have yet to come across a bad review (all good!) on the RIU and their weddings. The reviews I have read have been from both guests of a RIU wedding and the wedding couples themselves. {so I am thinking that these extra costs are just general quotes and ballpark figures}. OR everyone that gets married at the RIU is a millionaire besides Aaron and I!!!

b. With have 80 guests booked and traveling for our wedding, the extra costs could turn out to be A LOT- BUT.... I am guessing that the typical RIU wedding doesn't usually have 80+ guests booked and on top of that having ALL 80 of the guests STAYING at the RIU!? so we will need to do some discussing, maybe a little bit of bartering....

c. This is where my Gpa comes in... during the initial meeting w/ Daniela on the 18th I am going to ask my Grandpa to sit in with us {he is, by far, the BEST wheeler and dealer I know}!! We need to get these "extra costs" down to a reasonable figure that makes sense, if he can't do it, I don't know who can!

I am willing to pay a little extra for wedding stuff (like flowers and such) but with being an All Inclusive resort, wouldn't you think it's that most everything else would be included? {sigh}

We have our trip and the wedding package paid for- we just don't want to get there and have another HUGE bill that we aren't ready for {nor willing to pay for} and on top of that, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense right at this moment.

We want everyone to have a great time and to be able to send everyone to Trip Advisor after the wedding to share all GOOD reviews of the RIU, not any bad ones :)

Tomorrow I am sending Daniela an email with some additional inquires... I need some more answers before submitting my preliminary "check list".

Thank You Mom and "M" for letting me vent my anxieties tonight. Now I feel {a little bit} better.

checking our list

Today and tomorrow Aaron and I are out of town completing some CEU's for work.

With being in a town that is cold and quiet at night- we will spend the night around the hotel. Since we forgot a deck of cards, one thing to keep us busy will be working on our RIU Palace "wedding day check list"- hehe I of course have my, over stuffed, wedding binder in tow.

The check list goes into a lot of detail and I have expressed to Daniela that we can't possibly complete the entire list (before getting to Cabo) and have it be exact for our wedding day!

She eased my worries, right away, and let me know the highlights of what she really needs on it at this moment and that everything else will work out once we arrive in Cabo and meet with her on the 18th of Feb {which is getting to be SO close, just over a month away!!}

I promised Daniela that I fax the list and the "need to know info" to her on Wednesday. We WILL get this done tonight despite Aaron saying in a really whiny voice... "I don't waaaaaannnnaaaaaaaa"

xoxo, Andrea & Aaron

faxing...

Just a quick update: On my list of things to do today I had, "fax forms to Mexico" haha

I dialed, I scanned, I waited and they sent... and they were received (I know b/c Daniela {the wedding coordinator}) let me know via email that she got them. :)

The lines of communication have been opened and we are on the right path! Next week I will be emailing her the rest of the "need to know ahead" info... perhaps I may give you another update when that gets done.

Have a great weekend everyone!

xoxo, Andrea & Aaron

Welcome Bags

Aaron and I have a pretty good idea as to what we would like to include in our Cabo welcome bags... but still looking for some price conscious ideas.... anyone have any simple ideas??

• Have you been to a wedding where you got a welcome bag?
• What was useful?
• What was wasteful?

We would like a few options to consider when making the final decision on these.

Also... yesterday I had an appointment with Advanced Sportswear in Cottage Grove, MN. They do all of our custom Schlomka shirts and hats- we love their work and they are super easy to work with.

I went to meet up with Sarah so that we can hammer out the details of our personalized welcome bags... they will be fun! It will be a small gift to as a way for us to begin Thanking You for traveling to be with us in Cabo!

The trip and the wedding is getting SOOOO close!! Check out the ticker at the bottom of the screen, "1 month" is now apart of the context, EXCITING!!

xoxo, Aaron & Andrea

Reception Invites

I may or may not have said this before, but my Mom is so right in the fact that we are essentially planning two weddings. It does feel that way- especially because I am now working on invites for the reception back here in May.

I found me a free lance Graphic Design student at North Hennepin Community College who is finishing up her 2 year degree in graphic design. After this year she will be moving to the U of M for her 4 year degree also getting a minor is web design. This young lady, Amanda, is also someone that I have known for the past 6 years- she works with me at Millers. Her artistic ability is amazing. She is truly gifted and her true passion shines bright all throughout her work. When I presented my idea to her she didn't even think twice about it and was SUPER excited for the challenge.

After meeting with her on Monday night, it won't be a challenge for her , not at all! If anything working with me... will be her biggest challenge. HA. Kidding, she is going to do a great job and I am really looking forward to the end product- Amanda rocks and if in the future you are in need of a unique and individual invite, she will be the girl to call!

stay tuned...

xoxo, Andrea & Aaron

paper work!

It seems that I can't ever escape paper work... that's ok it give me something to do!

Aaron and I sat down on Monday night to look things over, sign some stuff and made each other laugh and reminded one another why we have decided to get married! :)

Friday afternoon I will be sending off our signed RIU Wedding Policy papers to the wedding coordinator via fax... wondering if I even know how to fax papers to Mexico?? Hmmm... I'll let you know how it goes! haha

xoxo, Andrea & Aaron

Invites = Inspiration

As a part of this blog and an important piece of our Cabo wedding, I wanted to include a post displaying the wedding invites.

AND I also have a fun story related to the invites. A couple of weeks ago I met up with another Soon-To-Be "now" Destination Bride at a Caribou to talk "wedding stuff". Her name is Heather, and since we live in such a small small world- we are getting to meet each other "again"!? We were in the SAME dance class many many years ago!

So as Heather and I sat down with our steamy cups of Mocha she very very kindly mentioned that me and the invitations were her inspiration to "go-destination!" A friend of ours that was invited to Cabo has shown Heather the invites. I was flattered that she was looking to me for "helpful hints and tips" in planning a destination wedding. I am always one to be helpful so I was MORE than happy to share all that I "know" in this area of wedding planning.

She will be a great Destination Bride- SUPER DUPER organized (as well)! In fact her and her fiance are in Mexico as we speak "resort shopping". That was the first thing I suggested when picking a spot. Luckily, they had already planned this trip without knowing they wanted to get married in Mexico. Aaron and I feel that if you are going to a place that is far, it's best to go there and have some first hand knowledge for your guests that you are inviting to you wedding. I am excited to hear about Heather's trip and what they came up with in preparation for their February 2011 wedding.

Here are pictures of the 4 page "postcard" invite that we personally created online at Vista Print. These invites included our very own pictures from our past two trips to Cabo, which allowed for them to be truly unique and individual to both Aaron and I. Once each of the individual postcards were created and then sent to us, Aaron and I put them together (after a lot of brainstorming) with 2 small shiny silver jewelry rings and a blue or pink glass bead on each ring. They ended up being a "hanging type" invite displaying the pretty views of Cabo that will be awaiting all of our guests.

Front page: "my favorite Cabo picture!"

2nd page: The Invite

3rd page: MN Reception shout out

last page/back: The RSVP mention and tear out postcard



Thank You fellow blog follower/reader "S" who asked "what exactly do those invites look like?" and wondered if I was ever going to post a picture of them. :)