Our Pawfect Wedding: The Church

Here's our beautiful church!

We are really lucky that we found a church to be married in and to attend in one fell swoop. It's a wonderful fellowship with a GREAT worship band!

Seriously... so beautiful.

Here's what I did to decorate the church:

Candles and a floral centerpiece (that we donated to the church. There were also pew candles (you can see them in the far left and right on this photo.) All candles were FREE FREE FREE! (Well with the $850 church use fee.)

The flowers were OK. I would have wanted less greenery, more white/OUR green, and some touches of black. It looks better from farther though, and while I felt that it wasn't worth what I paid for it ($100-something) I did give him free reign with our colors.

Candelabras...

There were also candles on the registers along the sides. It created a wonderful ambiance even in the sunny afternoon.

Did I mention my church is beautiful? We didn't do a ton to decorate the church and it still looked amazing.

We also can't forget about all my DIY projects... our guestbook!

The big bad programs... heck yea!

The spray-painted birdcage with the cards sign on it...

The back of our photo request cards...

Here's one of my pug friends (mom to Hank and Sally O'Malley) signing our guestbook!

I was glad that a pug person was the first to sign this guestbook.

My pal AP handing out our photo request cards!

And beautiful Em with the programs. I think she needs to make this her facebook pic.

And here's one of my fantastic photographers. This is John, Erin's husband.

Just about this time I was in the back, freaking out...

Three days? Holy (#*&$%!

I had a wedding miracle. I ordered 5 tiny ceramic pugs from this etsy seller (nuudee, she's out of Thailand, but yes that made for an interesting "what did you buy from... NUDE?" conversation when I purchased them.) With the shipping from Thailand, I had a really open window as far as when they arrived. The miracle was them arriving 4 days before the earliest supposed arrival date! Here they are... naked ceramic pugs. They look creepy because of the blank eyes.

I spent the evening painting first, due to the gorgeous weather. I finished up the birdcage card box...

...did an antique white finish on our program basket... (antique white aka "I don't have enough spray paint" white...)

Not horrible...

Then I got back to programs. I had only glued 20 into their green cardstock backings last night. While I was working, FMIL Pug came over and told us great news - she's going to move up to Michigan to be with her partner!!!!! - and hung out with and drank some beers while I crafted. She also gave Mr Pug a hair trim (she cuts his hair) so it would be fresh for Saturday. Meanwhile... the pugs were VERY happy to see her.

I did gloss coats (a gloss spray) on the pug cake toppers after painting them. I didn't have great brushes (buying a 99 cent brush pack = poor decision in retrospect) so the paint job wasn't as great as I'd hoped. I'll add their headpieces as soon as I finish them.

The bug eyes kill meeeeee!

Like my lipstick!?

These are B-TOTs aka "Black Tip-of-Tails." I adore the puggie B-TOTs!

OOT bags are tomorrow!!!!! Everything is bought I just have some putting together to do. Also Mr P and I finished gluing the programs into the green cardstock and punching holes... just ribbon to add. Goodness gracious we're almost done!

More programs....

So... sick... of programs.

Today was the next step... gluing the 4 pages together. I used a basic glue stick. I'll use better glue to glue them in the green cardstock and further secure them with the ribbons.

120 of these suckers.

Programs... I officially hate you.

Well there you have it, my brain is mush. Tomorrow is Mr Pug's 28th birthday so give him a shout if you could! I love him so much and can't wait to put wedding stuff on the back burner and celebrate tomorrow!

PS- our rings are ready at Shane Co! I knew Tom would pull through. Celeb status pays off. (J/K... obv.)

Less than a week! Productivity continues!

Seriously people, I had such a productive weekend! I started out on Saturday morning at Aunt P's. FSIL and I went over there to make the cookies. We did half in green and half not-colored (white?) Here's FSIL rolling out the green dough.

We then used royal icing to put dots along the edges and other decorations. We did green on the plain cookies and white on the green.

I left around 11:30 (we got there at 9:00 am!) to get my hair highlighted. I was about 3/4 done getting the foils put in when I get a frantic call from Mr Pug. His task for the day was to take two of our pugs, Dixie and Harley, to the vet so they'd be cleared for boarding while we were gone. (Sophie went a week or two ago.) He went to get gas and while his car was on, he somehow got locked out... with the pugs in the car! He wanted me to come let him in with his spare key (on my keyring.) I tried to explain that I had chemicals in my hair and couldn't leave til they were done. Clearly that didn't make the situation any better. We couldn't find anyone to come pick up my key and bring it to him, so I just took off right after she washed my hair (soaking wet!) to try and help him. By then though, he had a locksmith come and open the door for him. Luckily his car and the pugs are ok, and they made it to the vet. We took some much-needed together time that night.

Today we went to church and then a church fundraiser luncheon. After that, Mr P and I went tanning! I got him signed up so we could get his Irish skin a bit of a base before our sun-filled honeymoon.

After tanning I went to Michael's and Jo-Ann's for some craft items. The first thing we did when I was done shopping? Spray paint!

I got the most boring basic white birdcage card box at Jo-Ann's, but black spray paint gave it a new lease on life. I also got a basket for programs (I need to buy more spray paint for it) and used the spray paint for a business card holder as well. It'll hold our photo request cards.

Aunt P bought this cute little clip stand at Crate & Barrel and I made this sign to put near our cookie favors.

I also made a sign for the birdcage.

I did the linen paper for the wording, then the green cardstock, then black cardstock, then added the ribbon, then finally white cardstock. I think it'll look nice against the black birdcage.

Next up was what I dreaded most. The programs. I went to Kinko's and first got the green cardstock cut in half (less than $2.)

Jumping ahead- when I got home I used the perforation blade on my paper cutter (makes an indent for easy folding) 1-inch in on each 1/2 sheet of cardstock.

Ok, back to Kinko's. While I was there, Mr Pug cut the ribbons I had purchased at Michael's. I loved how much he helped me today! Meanwhile, I was cutting our programs. Each sheet had two program pages on it. Each program was four pages. Which meant I had 240+ sheets to cut, with seven cuts per page. Not fun. It took me more than two hours but I did it! Yes, Kinko's centers have a big industrial paper cutter you can use. Some are good, some aren't. Luckily when mine started to rip up the paper a bit, they brought out the brand new cutter which had come in the day before. Great timing, right?

An overview of the day's projects:

The gorgeous ribbon I got for the programs, cut by Mr P!

The card sign for our birdcage card box.

The piles of pages! I seriously am amazed that I got them finished already. I have cutter's arm now though (paper cutting equivalent of tennis elbow.)

Such a successful day! I seriously cannot believe I'm going to be married to Mr Pug in less than a week!! A week from right now I'll be finishing packing for our honeymoon! CUE FREAKOUT!!!!!!!!!!!!

Even MORE Progress (and a permanent milk mustache)

Yesterday before my dinner I went tanning. My normal, the stand up beds, yada yada. I heard RAVE reviews about the tanning booth teeth whitening system, Twilight Teeth, so I got it. The good news? My teeth are a bit whiter. After tanning next week I should be great. The bad news? The mouth-guard thing you use (it holds your lips back to expose your teeth) during the process? Um it is slightly larger than my lips apparently. Today at work I looked at myself in the bathroom and realized...

I have a permanent milk mustache. Oh, and HOLY PORES.

(Yes I am the bravest person ever for posting that pic, I know.)

Basically the guard-thing covered the areas above the corners of my lips, thus blocking them from tanning. I guess next time I'll just have to adjust it better. Seriously this picture does my milk mustache no justice... it was SO BAD all day. Darn these thin lips! (I am SERIOUSLY puckering them out in that picture. Just FYI. I have thin-lip-itis.)

SO I get home from work and Mr Pug headed out to see a groomsman who couldn't go to his bachelor party (his was last weekend as well!) and I was all, what to do, what to do? And decided to contemplate programs. For the millionth time. I start it off tonight by looking online at Staples for printer ink and - behold - they have mine in-stock!

I run to Staples and buy the ink and a 500 count box of the same linen paper I used in another DIY. I only needed like 250 but the 500 was only like a buck and half more. Well let's just say I'm glad I got it...

Turns out, it took me 23984739 tries to figure out how to print it to scale. Photoshop printed it too small, preview printed it too big. I felt like Goldilocks. Finally I just played with the % until I got what I needed. So I print 40 full programs and realize... a groomsman's last name is spelled wrong. Adding insult to injury? His sister is on there, as a speaker, and HER last name is spelled right. So that was embarrassing. I just printed up more of those and moved on. Sweet paper down the drain.

I'm finishing the 90th set as I type! It will be nice to have these printed as the weekend begins so I can cut them allll week. Friends, it will suck. So, so much. But I have faith. Faith that I will never have to even look at my paper cutter again after this. Faith that my days of failed, pricey, DIY disasters are behind me. MARCH 21 I BECKON TO YOU! FREEDOM I SAY!

Ok, clearly I've lost it. But I really am happy about the progress. I must end with some bad news though. I mean, what would a Miss Pug post be without some complaining, right?

I got a call from the one and only Shane Co today. They left a voicemail. (I failed to mention that on Tuesday or Wednesday, I took our rings in- mine needed to be dipped and soldered to the two bands, and all needed to be sized up 1/4 size. Mr P's was getting engraved and sized up as well.) So I get this voicemail that they're "calling about my ring repair order" or something like that, no details, nothing. I was sure that I'd hear "we lost your rings" when I called. Well, it wasn't that bad, but bad nonetheless. Apparently both their jeweler dudes (technical term) who do the jewelry-fixin-stuff are out sick. And apparently it's stage 7 swine flu or something because they are super backed up. My rings were supposed to be done Sunday... they said it could be as late as THURSDAY. I was all... "I guess you're not asking me anything? So I guess... thanks for telling me?" I did reiterate that my wedding was SATURDAY, as in, you know, two days after THURSDAY. She assured me if something was wrong with them they WOULD have it fixed by Saturday even if we got them back Thursday. I kind of felt bad for her, she said it was, and I quote, "the worst day of her life" and that "not everyone was being quite so nice." So I am putting my trust in Shane Company. My friend in the diamond business. Jeez don't they realize I'm on a commercial? Us celebs have it so hard!!

Up next? Cookie decorating with Aunt P and FSIL in the AM and then a hair coloring appointment!

Overwhelmed.

Ok guys. So I just started my new job yesterday - and I'm so busy learning and training, plus right in the view of everyone, so no internet funsies at work. So no wedding tasks or tweeting or blog reading during the day. Add that it's oh what 11 days til the wedding and I am endlessly stressed. I'm feeling VERY overwhelmed and feel like I am doing a lot, all on my own. I have too much to do. I have a feeling this weekend will be hell.

I am at that point where I'm so overwhelmed that I want to just do nothing. Last night I forced myself to do something. So I took the Uprinting stickers I won from Miss Mojito and cut them.

Here they are pre-cutting... the smallest stickers I could get from the giveaway were the 3 inch square ones, so I just did four per sticker.

They didn't all come out perfect. OH WELL. I am so over it at this point.

I probably cut 1/3 to 1/2 of the 250 stickers. Which will be more than enough to seal the bags for our favor cookies. I can also use them for out of town bags (ha. I haven't done anything for those...) and sealing thank you notes.

PS- bachelorette weekend was FABULOUS. I don't have the time or energy to recap just yet but pics are on facebook for my fbook buddies, and I will give you a teaser...

Yes, it was that good.

Stay tuned for more. PS supportive texts/emails are welcome... it's times like right now that I wish my family and friends were here :(

Get Yer Programs Here!

Finally, I work on my programs. I was inspired by Miss Spaniel's programs on Weddingbee and decided to do a tiered program. I first ordered the thicker cardstock paper for the backing.

I ordered them from a site called Paper-Papers, which I stumbled upon with a google search.

I was really happy with the color and service from Paper-Papers. The shipping was like, 2 days (granted, they're located in Gary Indiana, which is just outside Chicago and only about 2 hours from here.) They sent a few paper samples as well, and the packaging was good. I expected to be disappointed - I hate buying sight-unseen - but even the color was perfect. I ordered 75 pieces which equals 150 programs. I'm expecting about 100 guests at the church, but it was so affordable I figured I was better safe than sorry.

I designed the program pages in Photoshop Elements and made a mock up. I cut the cardstock in half so it was 4.25 x 11 inches. I then scored it 1 inch down, and measured for design purposes. Here's the cover I came up with:

I did one staple in the program to hold it together but it was a little noticeable. I then glued the green flap down. The glue stick didn't hold it well though (thus the binder clips.) Any glue suggestions, DIY people!?

First is a list of all wedding party members. There are my 5 (missing Bridesmaid S, unfortunately) and Mr Pug's 6. Then we have the 3 ushers, 2 greeters (my two friends who are coming besides the bridal party) and 2 readers (Mr Pug's sister and our mutual friend L.)

Then there is a family page. I have our family members listed (MOTB, MOTG, FOTG, Step-MOTGs, and Grandmothers OTG.) After that I simply wrote "With us in spirit" and listed those who cannot be with us, including my Dad, my uncle, all my grandparents, and Mr Pug's grandfathers. Last are the acknowledgments where we thank people who have been integral like Mr Pug's aunt, and my uncle (who is walking me down the aisle.)

After looking at the pages assembled, I thought that there was a bit too much green on the cover. I changed the file to have more black on the cover instead.

When I figure out how to glue the flap down better, I'll do two hole punches in the top and tie a black and white ribbon in a bow.

All I have left is to design the ceremony page. I don't have the exact itinerary for the ceremony down yet, but after I meet with our church's planner I can get it down on paper.

What style of program will you be using (or did you use) for your ceremony? Am I missing anything vital?