Lets cut the cake...

To add to the things I purchased at the Garment District recently is our knife set. This is pretty much how it went down.

My mom said, "Aren't you going to buy a knife set?" I replied, "No I don't think we need one." My FMIL said, "I think you might need one to cut the cake." I replied, "We aren't having cake but we are having cheesecake. You ladies are right I should get one." Meanwhile the cashier is waiting for me to pay for the flower girl baskets. I asked him, "How much are your knife sets?" He replied, "They start at $3..." I stopped him and said, "I'll take it." I figured since this wasn't so important to me I would take the cheapest one they had.

Here is my $3 knife set:



You know you love it. Once again a bit of ribbon and a flower goes a long way.




Here is a closer glance at our knives. Not bad considering they are more expensive at the store and they are stainless steal. I don't think it was necessary to have a fancy set engraved with our names.



What made me feel even better about my purchase was going to Michaels and seeing it for $24.99. Yes that's right you the price underneath is for the same knives sets.



Are you using a knife set and are you having them engraved?

Like Beyonce said, "If you like it..."

"...you should have put a ring on it!" Oh wait he did! : ) Not only am I lucky enough to have such a great engagement ring but now I also have a beautiful wedding band that complements it. Like I previously stated here my journey for the perfect wedding band has been a long one. I wanted to get something that would match with my engagement ring but at a reasonable price. The problem is that platinum is pretty expensive and I'm pretty picky. By now you must know how much I love the Garment District, well since I was in the neighborhood I stopped by at the Jewelry District. They had a great selection for wedding bands but I was still not satisfied with the choices.

Now that you realize how many different places I have looked for my wedding band here it is without further delay I chose my wedding band from Blue Nile. I am completely happy with my purchase and more importantly with the price. Using our Amex we saved 10% and we received free shipping.

Here is how it arrived:



Here is the wedding band by itself on some roses my HBoO gave me.


Here is both my wedding band and my engagement ring together.



Here is another shot. I wish I could take a picture that would demonstrate how shinny both really are.


Okay since I can't take a professional picture here is my wedding band. Oh and yes it really does look this good in person.

{Source}

I love my rings and I can't wait to wear them for the rest of my life. Are you absolutely in love with your rings? How was the process for you?

Music rocks my world...

{Source}

One of the hardest vendors we've had to find is our mariachi. I never realized how hard it was to actually find a decent mariachi. My father is from Jalisco, Mexico and as such it was absolutely necessary to have a mariachi at our wedding. Okay truth be told both my HBoO and I love mariachi music. We decided that since we are going to have our venue for 5 hours we would have a mariachi for 2 hours during dinner and the dj for the remaining time.

I began the search by asking relatives and friends if they knew of any mariachis. I soon realized that although I had seen many mariachis in family events people did not keep their numbers around. Since that idea failed I began an internet search. I went onto the Mariachi4U website where you are able to place a bid for a mariachi. I was soon contacted by several mariachis ranging from $200 to $1000 an hour. I kept searching other sites and ran across Gig Masters where you can choose from a variety of musicians. I put in a bid for two different mariachis and received some responses.

At this point we had seen several mariachis perform. We went to many restaurants and to the Placita Olvera to see different vendors but they didn't sound the way I wanted them to. They either sounded out of tune or they did not seem to entertain the crowd. I finally contacted the one from Gig Masters and found out where they were going to perform. We went to see them play and we loved how they entertained the crowd. The only problem I had was that one of the trumpet players sounded out of tune but their director assured me that he was only a sub and would not be performing at our wedding.

Yay!! We found a mariachi that meet all our criteria and that fit our budget.

A thing I found out along the way was that in Southern Cali the average rate for a mariachi is $400 an hour for about 5 musicians. You can find a decent ones for cheaper but they might not look as authentic. For example we went to see one in a "family bbq" that sounded great but since they were cheap they did not have enough money for the traditional mariachi attire.

So the mariachi we went with will be playing for 2 hours and we will have 6 musicians. Meet our newest vendor Mariachi Espuelas de Mexico.


We are so excited and hope that the mariachi is great and I can't wait to tell you all about it after the wedding.

Oh and all this was possible because a really close friend of mine wanted to pay for the mariachi as a wedding present to us. He is absolutely amazing and we appreciate it so much. Thanks DB!

What kind of music will you be having at your wedding reception?

One more thing off the list!!

I'm so happy that I've finished yet another project. Our church told us that flower girls could not drop pedals in aisle as they walked in. I was trying to come up with an alternative because I still wanted the girls to carry baskets. I bought the baskets last week at the Garment District which I have spoken about here.

This is a picture of one of the baskets I bought for $7.


I saw a similar basket at Michaels for $15.99 and that is why I love going to the Garment District. When I went they had cheaper baskets for $4 but I bought the cutter ones.



I headed over to Michaels since they are having their Dollar Days Sale to buy some artificial flowers because I won't have time to add real flowers the day of the wedding. I ended up spending about $10 on all these flowers.


I also purchased some foam to keep things together and hoping that the girls won't move it.



I ended up spending about $24 for both baskets completed. I ended up not using the white flowers so I will be returning them to the store.


Our your flower girls going to throw flower pedals before you walk in? What do you think of my flower baskets?

Toilet Paper + Bridal Shower = Lots of Fun

Last weekend my MOH and my bridesmaids threw me the greatest shower. They had originally invited about 20 people but we ended up with half that amount. I couldn't have asked for anything else our group was the perfect size. Everyone had a blast and their was so much laughter to go around. They coordinated the decorations and theme to complement the wedding.

Here are some pictures of the decorations they used.



These are some of the prizes they gave away. Isn't it cute how everything is orange and blue. Aww they are so lovely.


I love how they incorporated our sweets theme and used it to decorate the table.


The food was lovely and everyone ate until they were full.



At the end we had cake and of coarse it tide everything together. Our wedding theme is "Love is Sweet" and I love how they wrote that in the cake. It was absolutely delicious.


As I opened the presents they saved the ribbons and bows and made me a bouquet. Here I am showing it off and my mommy is sitting next to me. Oh and check out the lovely his and hers Yogurtland t-shirts.


One of the games we played was design a bridal gown. This was the winning team.


This is the winning bride complete with a veil, head piece, necklace, bouquet, train, something borrowed, something new, and something blue.


Here is my MOH and I playing another game where they have to take enough toilet paper to guess my chest size. She passed toilet paper around and told them each to take enough but they were not told for what. This is when I realized what the toilet paper was for. LOL.


Overall I had a great time and we laughed beyond belief. My MOH, bridesmaids, and friends are amazing. My FMIL and my mommy had never attended a shower and they loved it. I would like to thank everyone for such a great shower. I had a blast and I couldn't asked for anything more.

Did you have a bridal shower?

Here is some eye candy...

Now that I'm back reading my favorite blogs I ran across these amazing photos in Amy Atlas' blog. These sweets not only look great but they are my wedding colors. You should check out the blog and see what else Amy along side others have created.

All photos by
{Karen Mordechai Photography}

You are too good to me Dollar Tree!!

I've taken about a 2 week vacation from the blogging world and wedding planning. Now that I'm refreshed and as the wedding is fast approaching I am ready to get things done. I'll start off with our bathroom baskets. As you know I LOVE the Dollar Tree store and during this past week I made a quick run to purchase things that our guest might need at the wedding. I'm planning to add a cute poem to go along with the baskets to let our guest know that they are welcomed to use the items in the baskets.

Here are the $1 baskets we purchased.


Here they are after I added a ribbon and with the contents they will have.



I recommend that if you are going to have bathroom baskets you buy the items at your local dollar store because the items are cheaper than the travel size containers you might find at Target.


This is the poem I'm thinking of using alongside the baskets:

So happy you're here to share in our special day,

but should something happen to go astray.

Please help yourself to the contents within,

Wet wipe, hand lotion, and even aspirin,

Use only what you need and leave the rest,

It may also be useful to another guest,

So repair the damage that may have been done,

Then hurry on back and join in the fun!

I found it Here.


Another thing I purchased while at the store was my second garter or the one that gets thrown by the groom.

Here is the $1 garter:


I added a dash of color with a blue ribbon.


I don't think that one should spend so much money on something that you are going to use only for a little while and then throw it into the air for your male guest to catch. Don't get me wrong I have seen some amazing garters out there but I decided that our money could be better used elsewhere. This $1 garter will accomplish the job and my HBoO and I are absolutely happy.

Are you going to have bathroom baskets? Are you splurging on the garter?

The fun continues at the magical place...

So why did we chose Disneyland for our e-pics? Simply stated would be history. As I mentioned here my HBoO proposed to me there and since I worked there for 9 years I thought it would be perfect. Our e-session was so much fun and our photographer is amazing. The resolution here doesn't do justice to his work.

{All photos Studio 7 Photography}

Well I hope you enjoyed our e-pics because we sure did have fun playing in the park. I can't wait for our wedding day to get here already.

Guess who's back & with pictures!!

Yep I'm back, recharged and with photos. Nothing really to say yet but I hope you enjoy the photos. THANKS MIKE!!

{All photos Studio7 Photography}

So what do you think of our lovely photos?

Help...I'm getting burned out!!

Let me begin by saying I LOVE WEDDINGS. I have been completely in love with them ever since I got to be the flower girl in my cousin's wedding when I was 5 years old. (I wish I had a picture to show you but they are all at my parents house.) Then in 1989 my parents gave me the Wedding Fantasy Barbie. Oh joy, to see her wonderful hair, her stunning makeup and all the accessories she came with. It was the best gift I ever received as a child and I kept her groomed and clean unlike most of my friends had theirs.

Source

I tell you all this because I want you to know how dedicated I am to weddings but lately it's been so hard to think straight. Yesterday I told my HBoO that I needed to get out of the house because I felt that my imagination and creativity had thrown up all over the living room. I have a designated corner for all wedding things but lately that corner has expanded to include the living room. Everywhere I look there are wedding related items and I'm up to my head with people asking me nothing but wedding questions. AHHH!! I even went to Michael's to get out of the house and I didn't feel the magical spark I usually get when I walk into the store. What's wrong with me? Well I decided to take a little break this week and not touch any DIY projects to prevent myself from further burning myself out. I don't feel stressed out but I have noticed that my eczema is acting up. We are less than two months away and I think I need a vacation from all my wedding planning. Needless to say I'm taking a couple of days off away from everything wedding including my beloved wedding blogs. I need time to recharge before the sprint we are going to face in a few weeks. Thank goodness that my mommy is coming in next week to help me out a tad. (Well, she is actually going to be here for my bridal shower but I think she can tell the anxiety I'm beginning to feel.)

How are you handling the "stress" or feeling of never ending projects? Is someone stepping in to help you?

Dressing up the Bouquets...

If I haven't mentioned it before there is a Big Lots a couple of blocks away from our house and every so often I stop in to see if they have anything I can use for the wedding. The other day I walked in to find the Martha Stewart Celebrate collection there. Wow. I was completely floored to find so many wedding things there. I ended up buying 6 Dove Bouquet wrappers one for each of my bridesmaids and one for me.



For $2 a piece this is what I got:



The only problem is that it didn't really match my wedding colors so I had to jazz it up a tad. I hot glued the orange and aqua ribbon to it in the back and I don't plan on using the silver rings but pearl bobby pins instead.


Once I do a trial one I will post some pictures but what do you think of my find?