Wedding Tips: Invitations and Stationary

Hey there! So I have decided to post some wedding tips that I have learned along this journey of planning a very DIY wedding.  I may not spill all of my secrets until after the wedding but I figured to post some as I go so I don't forget all of them. And since I am right in the middle of ordering invitations and stationary items, I figured it would be good to talk about that.

Now I am designing my invitations, which is obviously a cheaper option, but if you are not comfortable with that, there are plenty of cheaper options. This site talks about some great free templates online, but there are also some downloadable templates on Etsy like this for low prices.  Once you have that all set, all you need is to find the best and cheapest place to print them.  Now my automatic place to look is at Vistaprint.com, which has been great for many things which I will talk more about later, but that really wasn't the best option.  Actually the best place I found which my sister-in-law actually showed me is www.printrunner.com.  This place is the bomb.com! They do all types of printing, postcards, stickers, and all types of sizes for great, fair prices!  And they are great to work with, my SIL said that apparently with  the template she uploaded some of the design would be cut off, and they contacted her as soon as they caught it.  BUT also by being in school I was able to contact my colleges' printing services and they are willing to do it for a very reasonable price also.  So, whichever way you choose to do it, think outside the box!  With doing it myself, it looks like I am able to have the invitations (including RSVP cards and envelopes) for less than 60 cents each! SO worth it to me :)

Oh so back to vistaprint- the best deal there for sure is the 250 business cards for free.  Need an insert to say where you are registered of the location of the reception?  Use a business card! They have some decent designs, and its the perfect size for someone to fit into their purse or wallet.  They also make adorable small stickers that you can custom design for putting on favors.  This place has literally been a life saver!

Are there any other options that you explored! Would love to know!!

With Love,

Not My Strength

From my journal

 
So many moments of my life I focus on how to be a better woman - how to respond in a way that they know what I mean without seeming rude, how to be a better fiance, a better friend.  This is based on my shallow perception of what love is and trying my best to be that.  But that's the problem, I'm trying to do it all on my strength and my perception of love. And that can get depleted fast.  I can find myself getting easily frustrated with my life, my situation, anything that isn't completely going my way really.  But I am so so thankful for God's gentle reminders to love Him, and He will take care off the rest.  To stop thinking about it and just start living.  And loving. And to fight the good fight and keep pursuing Him.

Twenty Fourteen.

So I must admit that I am surprised that I haven't been blogging this much over Christmas.  I thought I would be full of little Christmas DIYs and gifts... but honestly I spiraled from my insane semester into a Downtown Abbey Coma.  And I'm ok with that.
Christmas was wonderful, had about a week full (I mean full) of seeing family and friends.  Cal and I got a bunch of appliances and things for the apartment which will help a ton for when he moves out. The new year has come and we are now in full time wedding planning mode: playing hard ball with vendors, meeting with the DJ, and figuring out which champagne glasses we really want to use.  With Cal and I pretty distracted with all that, it's pretty easy to forget to slow each down and be with each other... which is why we are doing all this, so we can be with each other forever!  So we've decided that and sit-down get-to-know-each-other date was in order. Pronto.
I love how Cal can remind me to slow down and enjoy life just by a simple smile, or giving long hugs right when I walk in the door.  And man could I use the reminders, too.  I am planning a wedding, my wedding with the man of my dreams, and I want to soak up every moment.  So although there may not be too many DIYs here in the near future (I pretty much have a DIY wedding on my hands here), I want to blog more.  To enjoy more.  To cherish more.
Bring it on 2014, you are gonna be the most exciting year of my life.

Ice-skating on New Years! ...goofiest picture ever.

With love,

Whatever you are

So I've been wanting to write for a while, but I wasn't quite sure how to put my thoughts into words... or at least good ones.  So for the past few weeks the weeks and the semester draws to a close, I am starting to feel the end of the semester blues.  I don't really know what to do with myself now without my head stuck in a book or in a project non-stop.  It's funny because the whole time I just wanted life to slow down.. funny how life works that way.  As I now face my last semester, I am faced with that terrifying reality that every graduate faces: doing what I want to do for the rest of my life (aka: finding a job). I know that the first job I get is not somewhere I have to stay for 30 years or anything, but it's just the thought of this huge change and transition in my life.

I feel like God has been growing and stretching me for some time now.  It was actually a big transition for me to go from dating to engaged, having the most intense semester of my life, and some highly emotional situations, but God has shown me His way through it all.  But I feel like I just finished that hurdle and I have another one right ahead.

Well I must say thank God for the scriptures (literally.. thank you, God) because they are such an encouragement, better than any pep-talk.  My facebook friend posted today Colossians 3:23-24 which states:

 "Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve."

 

 This is such a great reminder... I just have to worry about serving the Lord, and He will take care of the rest.  And He has proven it time and time again.  This also reminds me of the quote by Abraham Lincoln which states:

"Whatever you are, be a good one." 

 

It doesn't matter what I do, as long as I work hard and do it for the Lord.  Lemmetellya, change is hard.  But we have the Creator of the Universe to help us at any moment of any day.  I'm pretty sure you can get through anything with Him. Actually I'm 100% sure.

So I'm thankful for these little reminders and encouragements, they sure help me, and I just thought I would pass it along~

With Love,

The Good Life

So I know it's been a while.  Life has been... busy, to say the least. (I actually should be writing a paper on climate change right now... why would I ever want to put that off??) This has been an insane semester for me... 20 credits and 3 studio classes for me and a full time (big boy) banking job for Cal.  We get to see each other most evenings while I'm buried in my home work and he's calling venues and caterers (he's the best fiance ever).  But you know what? I love it.

Sometimes Cal and I get too caught up in whats ahead.  How AWESOME will it be to go home together instead of parting separate ways at the end of each night.  How amazing will it be to wake up next to each other.  How we can cook oriental foods together and watch New Girl or do whatever we want because we won't be distracted with boat loads of work.  The good life. But then we have to remind each other how awesome our life is now too.  There is only this point in our life once.  We are only going to be engaged for a short time, and then we'll be married till we're old and gray (which will be awesome in it's own way).  This is such a special time in our life and so was dating.  It was when we became friends, when there wasn't the other stresses of marriage.  And I know that being in school is awesome, too.  I have done so many projects that I just love and enjoyed, and I have loved collaborating and working with other people.  I need to stop wanting to rushing it along and wishing for whats ahead.  I want to love every single minute of this life.  And also not be too naive about the future.  I know that marriage will not be a "... and they all lived happily ever after.." and will present it's own challenges, but I know God has given us the tools to face those challenges.  So here's to a non-idealized future and a messy but perfect present.

The Good Life.

With Love,

Wedding Inspiration

    So Cal and I have a lot of planning to do as far as wedding planning.  There are so many little details to cover! But I honestly love it.  At first it was really overwhelming for us, cause we didn't even know where to start.  So I did what I do best - went on pinterest for a little inspiration, hehe. :)  Cal and I want our wedding to be a bit more personal so were incorporating a lot of DIYs, which I love.  So once I got adequate inspiration from pinterest, I made a collage of all the items I am looking for and made a spreadsheet for friends and family to keep their eyes open for at garage sales and goodwill, etc.  It has been great so far, and it's overwhelming how great and how good people are at finding these things for us!  We are so so thankful. It helps me a bunch too, being a very visual person.

Here is our inspiration!

Who knows if it is actually going to turn out like this, but it's great for me to use this as a guide.  Like other collages I've made, I did this at www.picmonkey.com. Love that program!

Also, if you have any ideas or more inspiration, I would LOVE to check it out!!

Happy Friday!

With love,
Cath

And I am going to marry that man.

Sometimes, he just blows me away.  It doesn't always hit me at first, sometimes it's in the drive home at night when I really think about how loving and selfless  and all around awesome he really is.  And it's in so many ways.

It's in the way he will volunteer to do something even though it scares him half to death because he feels God told him to do it... and then he ends up nailing it.

It's in the way he will not only give a homeless man money at McDonalds, but will talk with him about his journey and his past.

It's in the way he will use his day off to look for internships for me online.

It's the way he loves to play trivia in the car on long car rides.

It's in the way that all he requests for his birthday is that I watch the Star Wars Saga with him.

It's in the way people come up to me and tell me what a blessing he is.

..... and I am going to marry that man.

 

Happy birthday to the best man on the planet.

With -MUCH- Love,