Alive and Kicking Some Wedding To-Do Butt

Hey there, just popping in to give you all an update on where I've been, and how we're doing now that we're only a mere 46 DAYS out from our wedding! Sorry I've been MIA. But I've actually accomplished a TON in my time away from blogging...

• Made some bout's - don't have any good pics, but basically took out some of the cute small flowers from my bouquets and made boutonnieres out of them
• Sent out some invites - that's right, it's official now, the invites are out! Stay tuned for a reveal of our simple yet pretty invitations
• Lost a bridesmaid, and in turn, a groomsman - yep, my Friendster H had to back out of her role as my bridesmaid. After moving to Texas a while back, she and her hubby are having a hard time getting the time off work, finding plane tickets they can afford, etc etc. I would never want to put a friend in a position have to go broke in order to be at my wedding. So we decided together that she wouldn't be in our bridal party. *Tear*. And as a result, Mr. S gave one of his groomsmen a choice to either walk by himself, or just to come as a guest. Since said groomsman is one of the most laid back dudes I've met, he was totally fine just coming as a guest to enjoy the festivities. Phew!
• Picked a hotel - after getting group rate quotes from multiple hotels near our venue, I decided on the closest one, which also happens to be the least costly. And in addition, their online booking rates are CHEAPER than their discounted group rates! WHA? So I've encouraged our guests via our wedding website to book online for the best pricing.

My bachelorette party, planned by MOH/Sister K, is this weekend! I still don't know what we are doing, but I've been told we have to leave at 8 am Saturday morning, and won't be back until Sunday. People, I have no idea what to expect. Mr. S keeps messing with me saying that MOH K told him where we're going and that he will never tell. Then he says he has no idea. I guess I'll find out when we get there!

My bridal shower is planned for Sunday May 5th. My lovely Cousin's J and L are hosting it for me, and I couldn't be more appreciative and excited! I'm trying not to be a registry stalker, but as soon as I saw things being taken off our list, I couldn't control myself! Please tell me I'm not the only one :)

Well that was a lot. I hope you aren't overwhelmed with all my accomplishments ;) I have a lot more to share in the coming days so stay tuned!

Happy planning!
Miss Spaghetti

Planning a Kick-A$$ Bachelorette Party...Done!

My feet are still recovering from MOH K's Bachelorette party this past Saturday. While all things went extremely well, my nerves are definitely still rebuilding themselves after they were barely holding together dealing with the COMPLETELY anal-retentive, control-freak bridesmaid that helped me plan it. I mean it, I had one nerve left and it was stretched and yanked as far as possible without breaking. The only thing that kept me from jumping across the table at her was making sure my sis was having the best time ever. Luckily my love for her is stronger than even the most obnoxious person in the world!

So anyway, the party started at my place. Mr. S was AMAZING and helped me clean the whole house during the week before the party. He left for a few hours while us ladies were there, and when he came home after we left, he even cleaned up after us. AWWWW I got a good one!

Pin the Lips on the Hunk Game - Amazon

We started with some drinks and snacks, played "Pin the Lips on the Hunk" and jammed to some tunes. From there we went to have dinner, more drinks, and open gifts at J. Gardella's in downtown Grand Rapids. After they opened up our space to all the patrons (45 minutes earlier than they were supposed to) we walked down to another popular bar McFadden's. After telling them about our experience at the last place, they gave us the VIP section and a bottle of champagne FREE! We ended up hanging out until 1 a.m., and  the bride-to-be had an awesome time.

From there we went home, and 6 of the guests stayed at my place. Mr. S, once again, was on as host and made all the beds, made us frozen pizzas, and played "DJ" as we all wound down and passed out. The next morning, he even made breakfast for everyone!

Now that I've successfully planned and hosted my first bachelorette party, I thought I'd give a few tips on what worked, and what didn't. Some of these really could go for any type of party you host:

• DO let others help! Fellow bridesmaids and other guests will offer to help with anything you need. Take them up on it. You have enough to do.
• DO keep it simple! There are so many fun games, themes and gift ideas out there, but you don't need to do them all. Especially if you are planning to do a lot yourself, for example: making the food instead of buying it the store. Pick a couple simple dishes, a couple signature drinks, and a dessert. Going all out sounds like a great party, but trust me, know one will care if you don't have 50 options of everything.
• DO have a few frozen pizzas in the freezer if you are having anyone stay over. A bunch of girls coming down from a buzz can only think of one thing, and that's greasy food. Trust me, you won't be sorry.
• DON'T let people sleep on an air mattress unless you KNOW for a fact that it won't deflate. I had 2 people (the bride-to-be and her 4-months pregnant friend) sleeping on an air mattress, and by morning they were pretty much sleeping on the hardwood floor. Not a good thing...
• DO plan ahead and have transportation figured out before the party. I live and work downtown, so I coordinated a few of us who aren't big drinkers to drive and drop other people off at the bar, then park at my work (which is only a few blocks away). Then we were able to quickly walk the gifts, supplies, and decorations back to our cars while the rest of the guests walked to another bar. Also DO put everything in the trunk, not in the backseat. You are just asking some homeless guy to break your window and take it all.
• DO have a plan for breakfast the next morning. Again, this is if you have people stay over at your house. We asked everyone to bring some type of breakfast goodie. Mr. S made us scrambled eggs, toast and smoky links. Hungover girls will want breakfast, I guarantee it.
• DON'T expect everything to go exactly as planned. Nothing ever does. You have to be "fluid", otherwise everyone will sense your mood. Go with the flow and just focus on everyone having fun.
•  DON'T get trashed. I know it's a bachelorette party. And you are probably the maid of honor if you are hosting and planning it. But your main goal is to keep the bride happy and off the floor. I had a couple glasses of wine at the house, but had water the rest of the night. This may sound boring to you (and I'm not a big drinker anyway), but I was glad I did because I needed my head on straight to make sure things didn't ever get out of hand. I still danced, laughed, and had an awesome time.
• DO pick one fun game for everyone to participate in. But just one. You won't have time for more if you are planning on going out for the night as well. We played the "Panty Game" in which each guest brings a pair of panties in their own style that they would wear. We pinned them on a clothesline. The bride then had to guess who brought each one. We went through 5 rounds and she finally got them all right. Everyone had fun with it, and it got all the guests laughing and throwing panties at each other. Success.
• DO clean up as the night goes on. I know the last thing you want to do is step away from the party for a few minutes, but I did it every so often just to dump things out and throw things away after they were used. This made cleanup the next day so much easier. Also, DON'T let anyone dump anything in your sink. Mr. S had to unclog the drain because someone put some sort of paper in the sink that didn't have the disposal. No biggie, but a pain in the butt that could have been prevented if I had put the trash out in the main area so it was more visible.

That's all I can think of at this point. Hopefully these tips can help you plan the perfect KICK-A$$ party for any event! And remember to have fun! This was probably the only bachelorette party I will ever host, and I'm sure it will be memorable to everyone who was there. It sure will be to me :)

Happy planning!
Miss Spaghetti

Dress-in Up

This past Sunday afternoon was spent browsing racks for Bridesmaids dresses. I had 3 of my 4 ladies in tow, BM H being the missing gal (since she sadly moved to Texas last month). But she was with us in spirit as we perused the options at Alfred Angelo and David's Bridal. Our appointment at Alfred Angelo was at 1:00, and they told me they would be about an hour long. So we started looking and pulled a few cute dresses to try on. Some were good, and some just not good at all. Unfortunately, I didn't keep track of what style # each one was, and I can't seem to find them on their website. But here are a couple that were major contenders (until we learned their prices...)

A pretty faerie dress (as we nicknamed it) $240 (holy crap!)

Another favorite, at a much more favorable $170 (still higher than I preferred, and also we decided we would cut the weird strap off)

Being done with our appointment a half hour early, we decided to try to get into David's Bridal before our appointment time of 2:30. Success! They were busy (as always) but got us in. We started with these two:

(Both $139)  Left: Strapless Pick-Up     Right: Strapless Chiffon

Then BM M found a little cotton sateen number that she just loved. We grabbed one in everyone elses size, and wha-la!

Happy ladies!! BM S, BM M, and MOH K in Cotton Sateen Strapless

Here is the actual color - image via David's Bridal

Best part was they were on sale for $99 each. Plus, since I bought my wedding gown there, each girl got an extra $20 off! Now THAT'S what I'm talkin' about!

Next step for the gals, picking out shoes. I've given this task to MOH Fashionista K since she will be MUCH better at finding something than I would. Oh, and by the way, we were done and out of DB before our actual appointment time. Boo-ya!

How quickly did you and/or your bridesmaids find dresses? Was it an easy task, or were there disagreements?

(All photos personal unless otherwise stated)

Happy planning!
Miss Spaghetti

Bridesmaid Dresses (lacking brain power to come up with clever title)

Hola peeps, hope you all had an amazing Thanksgiving weekend, and didn't get trampled trying to score any Black Friday deals!

I must start this post with some sad news...my best friendster and bridesmaid H is moving across the country! *tear* But she's moving to be closer to her parents and her sister, so I can't help but be glad for her since I know how much she misses them. Anyhoo, she is leaving at the end of December, which is pushing my butt into gear for picking out bridesmaid dresses. Since I only have 4 girls, and all of them are local (for now), I really want to get everyone together to try them on and help me decide. Actually, for them to decide, not me. I have ideas on color and style, but ultimately I want them to be happy with the dress, and not go broke buying it.

So what am I looking for?

Preference #1: Knee-length or shorter
Preference #2: Light purple color (lavender, lilac, wisteria, whatever you call it)

Wisteria - David's Bridal

Yep, that's it, really! One thing I did not include is that I would love to find dresses in a pickup style, since my bridey gown is that style. But most of the dresses I've seen with pickups are more expensive, and honestly it isn't THAT important. Here are a few I've seen online that I'm feeling good about:

If I could pick a dress, it would be this final sale one at David's Bridal, which unfortunately
is only available in a few sizes, none of which any of my BM's could wear :(

Strapless Chiffon with layers, looks so comfy! - David's Bridal

Totally a wear-it-again style (at least I think so!) - Alfred Angelo

Cute and simple - Alfred Angelo

Did you let your bridesmaids pick out their dresses, or did you decide yourself?

Happy planning!
Miss Spaghetti

Ladies to Maidy's

So far in the blog you have heard me talk a little 'bout my maids. I thought I'd take a few minutes to talk about who they are, and show you how I asked them to be in my wedding.

I have known forever who I wanted in my bridal party, so that part was easy:

-MOH K, my sister, best friend and personal stylist
-BM M, my youngest sister
-BM S, my cousin who is a month younger than me, and my oldest friend
-BM H, my friendster (mix between friend and sister) because she is like a sister to me

Now the interesting thing about my bridesmaids, is that they are all either married or engaged and will be married before I am. BM S is getting married in just ONE MONTH! Holy cow! And MOH K will be getting married in February. BM H is getting married in March, and BM M was married last July. And the kicker is, I am in all of my girls' weddings. Needless to say, I am going to be a very busy girl until after my wedding is done.

Like most brides-to-be, I wanted to find a unique way to ask my ladies to be my maids. But I didn't want to spend a ton. The most important thing I wanted to get across was that each lady is important to me, and to tell them why I chose them. Weddings are very meaningful to me, and I wanted them to understand why it was important for them to be standing up there with me on such a special day.

What I decided to do was use one of my fave websites Paperless Post. I chose a cute little invite, wrote a personal note to each lady, and sent it off.

I also used this site for Little Noodle's 6th birthday party last month. I picked an invite, put in my text, picked an envelope liner, and voila! The site emails your entire guest list, and asks them to respond. It also provides them with a map to to site, and gives them an option of leaving a comment or question for the party planner. It worked like a charm, and I got a ton of compliments on it! There are a lot of invitations on the site that are free to email to recipients. Some of them cost money, or "coins" as they call it. When I signed up, I got some "coins" for free, so sending out Little Noodles invites with the extras (envelope liner, stamp, etc.) didn't cost me a thing. But normally, you would buy those features with your coins. Make sense? Good!

How did you ask your ladies to be your maidy's?

Happy planning!
Miss Spaghetti