Lost Crayons?

No, I didn't lose my box of crayons! I just prefer this pack :-)

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Missed out on my love/hate relationship with color? You can read part 1 here  and part 2 here.  As I mentioned before, picking colors were harder than anything else associated with the wedding, SERIOUSLY!. The pictures below speak for themselves followed by a few inspirations. Enjoy!

Whatever you want to call it, blush, pink, carnation pink... a definite No, NO!

Need I say more, J'ADORE...oh  yes, I must think summer :-(.

All the above look promising! Actually to be honest, the only reason I considered green (not because it's his favorite color) but because I think these place cards are too adorable:

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TOO ADORABLE!!

Though this breaks my rule #2 of no satin, these were simply gorgeous. I guess rules don't always apply!!

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It works because of the pop of color, only problem is that I'm not a big fan of flowers. Love them but don't want to see too many of them...I see clutches possibly :-)

Love: Reality..Part II

Love abundantly

Love purely

Love freely

Love hard

Love now…

Reality…He asked me to marry him.

Reality….He is happy about getting married; the planning…not so much.

Reality…I will feel as if I am doing this alone.

Reality…He will know that I am feeling that way and will make me smile.

Reality…He will remind me why he loves me so.

Reality…I will gush and possibly cry, and remember it’s worth it.

A day about two people in love, confessing their love in front of God and witnesses.

(Personal Image)

Reality Wedding Check..Part I

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Reality…I (or you), the bride is overjoyed about getting married and planning.

Reality…I (you) can’t talk about my (your) wedding all the time = shoving down the ear.

Reality…I (you) may have embodied everything in wedding plans, but don’t expect others to do the same.

Reality…Not everyone is as excited about the wedding as I am (you are).

Reality…I (you) won’t remember everyone.

Reality… I (you) can’t invite everyone.

Reality…I (you) can’t please everyone.

Reality…I (you) will fall in love with other weddings wishing you came up with the idea.

Reality…I (you) will have “what if” moments.

Reality…My (your) idea is never really original.

Reality…I (you) may forget/lose the important aspect of what matters; (for you and him not them!)

Reality…I (you) may miss a moment because I am (you are) so consumed with planning.

Reality…There is life outside of my (your) wedding.

Reality….I (you) can’t make up for lost time.

Reality…I (you) may lose a loved one.

Reality…What may have become NON-important to me (you) is important to someone else, therefore, it’s important.

Reality…Life still goes on after the BIG day.

That’s the REALITY!

L's

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Life: Lost

I lost my loving granny in 2009…my granny was a vibrant, active, loving woman. I was sure she would see me walk down the aisle.  She was one of my rocks and strengths when I moved overseas. When I would have my moments and complain about coming back, she would remind me to live life to the fullest. An infection took her life away within 4 days of catching it.

I lost my loving uncle in 2010…he was a loveable person.  I loved singing the “A-L-L” jingle as a child and from that moment to my adult years he would name me “A-L-L”. He was like a grandpa to me; too many memories to tell. A heart attack claimed his life.

I lost my great cousin whom I consider my aunt a few days ago. She was such an affectionate warm person. Everyone knew they could count on “Tati”, no matter what; she was by your side and very supportive. Well, God took her pain and suffering away as she lost the battle with cancer.

As I continue planning my heart can’t take the thought of losing another loved one. It’s the sad reality that amidst my wedding excitement that a life can be gone. I have to constantly remind myself that all goes according to God’s plan not mine.

“Live life, laugh lots & love forever”

Know the facts, get tested & get involved:

•      http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/m/meningitis/tests.htm
•      http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/
•     http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/screening
•    http://www.cancer.gov/

“Learn, Live, Laugh & Love”- signing off as a bride-to-be

Day 29...No Meat!!

Yes, I am almost there!! and I made it through without taking one bite :-) One more day to go and I will then write my review. I'm just excited that I followed through amidst the temptation. This is going to be my happy dance tomorrow night!!!

Dead Air!

I have heard great things about airbrush makeup and couldn’t wait for the opportunity to try it. Some reviews claim that airbrush is light, makes you look flawless and you don’t have to worry about the makeup streaking, fading or wearing off. So of course I was excited to try it out at one of the bridal shows I attended.

Once seated and ready to begin, the makeup artist handed me a wipe to remove any oil or makeup on my face. In the mean time the ladies were snapping away because they wanted a before and after picture.

Before

Application: felt light, cool, and airy!

After the makeup was applied I was uber-excited and couldn’t wait to see the results. But my cheeks felt a little heavy; it didn’t help seeing the ladies with an unsure plastered smile. However, I was still excited to see the final result until:

 After

What the word!!!!!! I looked in the mirror, I recalled asking for a trial for the wedding not an EMBALMING trial. This would have been fine, if I was interested in a morbid look.

Before I could make my way to remove the formaldehyde off my face, the ladies would not let me move on without trying on a few gowns. Here is sneak peek:

In conclusion, it felt heavy; oh by the way did you see my light eyelashes and ummmm…I will leave it as that.  The makeup trial was pretty much DEAD on!!

Morphed out!!

This is a time-sensitive post :-) I don't think my fiance would be thrilled to see this posted for more than 5 minutes, but it's funny :-) Even he had no choice but to chuckle when he saw it!!

Makerbie & Joshua would like to invite you to watch their funny Wedding video. 

Message from Makerbie & Joshua:

Because we are odd like that :-) at least I am! 

Color Scream...TICKLED!

When visuals inspire! This is part two of my previous “Color Scream” post; no worries I won’t ramble as I did in the previous post. I will simply post a few pics that had me tickled inside. This is when it started to click, I absolutely love what I see. I can't help but smile but……..ah, enough said!

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I have more that could I have easily posted but figured this was enough, maybe I'll have a part II or III!

Color Scream

I mean SCHEME!

Picking our wedding colors was my least favorite task of planning.  It actually took a VERY longtime for me to decide on colors and now I understand why this would occur, in this particular order:

1. Congratulations on your engagement!
2. Have you set a date?
3. What are your colors?

The COLORS are important for various reasons, the attire (of the bridal party), flower & décor, invitations, cake, etc… Most of the vendors asked about my colors and every time it would occur in this manner:

         Vendor:  What are your colors?

            Moi:        I don’t know (smiling)

            Vendor:  You don’t know your colors!  (the look of horror as if I committed the ultimate sin.)

            Moi:        Ummm, No.

            Vendor:  What’s your favorite color? 

            Moi:        Black

            Vendor:   Okay, good choice, what about an accent color? What other colors?

            Moi:        None, I don’t have another.

            Vendor:  Well, you know…………(the spill of the importance of colors)

BLAH!!!!

So I’m not a fan of bright color and this color coordinating thing just wasn’t clicking in my mind…yet!

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Then I was reminded by my mother (especially), that I was having a summer wedding so try and look into lighter colors.  So I decided upon royal purple and cobalt blue but the battle of the colors was not done yet.  I had to think about how I wanted to incorporate those colors within everything else and that’s when I froze for a moment.

This detail stuff is really getting to me at this point, it was all fun until I had tie everything together for cohesiveness…BLAH again!

Well, here’s the thing, they say a wedding should symbolize the couple but as much as I love dark colors I have to consider the over-all look; so basically I was back to the drawing board. My only hope was to look at inspiration boards and create one outside of the element of favorite colors but personality. I may love black but I’m not a gloomy individual, I may hate pink but I can be girly at times. So yet again it was another learning experience.  Next, I will delve into picking the bridesmaids attire!! Speaking of inspiration, how about this for a start…

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Shining in Blue- "WAAD"

Today is the fourth annual World Autism Awareness Day (WAAD)!!

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I wish I had a story about someone I know with autism and how their lives have been affected but the truth is, I really don't but that doesn't mean I can't share the info.  I'm sure there is a person I know with a loved one whom has autism. 

According to PubMed Health, Autism is a developmental disorder that appears in the first 3 years of life, and affects the brain's normal development of social and communication skills. Autism is a physical condition linked to abnormal biology and chemistry in the brain. The exact causes of these abnormalities remain unknown, but this is a very active area of research. There are probably a combination of factors that lead to autism. To learn more click here.

Around the world events are held that include "lighting up" buildings and places with blue lights to raise awareness about Autism.

I may not be able to light up a building, but I can still spread the word and inform others about WAAD.  Raise awareness in your community and help raise funds and hope.

"If you are a friend of mine and have a loved one with autism, know there is hope and you are not alone.  Living with autism or not, we are all God's creation and are equally loved."

Shining in Blue

Love, 

Makerbie

Special thanks to flirty blog!

Web VACILLATING

Tick..Tock..Tick..Tock!

I have approximately two weeks to complete our wedding website, which I have been trying to build for weeks now.  As time is ticking, I am convinced that I have a serious problem. Why did I not simply go with pre-design templates from e-wedding.com, weddingwire.com, mywedding.com or any other wedding website. But noooo!! I had to purchase a domain name and find a hosting company so I could build my own website. As if I don't have enough work to do as it is. Sigh!!!! Guess I have no choice but to get it completed! Now that I am done venting, I shall move along...

I have been going back and forth with the look of the pages. Fonts may be the same from page to page but have different impressions based on the background. I am still at a lost and need to make a final decision so I can get this website going.  Here are a few samples of what I am considering; I am hoping within the next few days  I can make up my mind and complete this project.

Web_1

Web_2

Web_3

Web_4

SN: the bar on the pages is a count down to the date.

By the way, this is only page one!! I still have a few more pages to add, hopefully I can get to them once I finalize on a look. Wish me luck!!

Ugly Duckling!

Well, it's actually the ugly packaging!

My future brother-in-law said it best, "why not a magnet, a card, or a postcard like everyone else!", my response "because I'm not like everyone else".  Though he was only messing with me, the truth is I did opt out for the non-traditional Save-the-Date.  Since I wanted it to be different, I spent a lot of man hours trying to put it together; I spent hours practicing in a program I had never used just to get the introduction I wanted.  Well, the point I am trying to make is that I spent so much time on the Save-the-Date, that I overlooked packaging them.

Since I was overdue to send them, I created a quick cover to print at Kinko's for the Dvd covers.
It was going as planned until the rep at Kinko's told me it would be an additional $1.50 PER CUT, in other words $6.00 per cover. I decided to use  a paper cutter, I mean how hard could that be.  The same night I went to meet up with the ladies at Elephant bar for dinner; we ended up asking to borrow scissors to try to make it work. (They didn't see it coming, I turned dinner into a working dinner, hehe! it didn't last long :-)

Let's just say, what looked okay in my mind was a horrible mess up close.  With only days left and no time to order a designed label, I looked into plan B. I created a CD cover using Avery labels and luckily OfficeMax had a printing label option.  In order to get the label covers on the DVD's in time, myself and two of my BM's (Dee & Ali) had another dinner night and went to work.

Cant you tell we are working hard!!

After all was done, this was the final result.

Not too shabby but not too great; I didn't give myself time and missed on a few details. With that experience I've learned a few lessons from my faults. 

The packaging may have been the "Ugly Duckling" but wait till you see some of the details I had on the DVD.  Be on the look out for the "Swan" post!

I had to add a teaser :-)

Hoping the video plays, but if it doesn't my apologies! Can't seem to work around it...