She's crafty....and she's just my type

So in my quest to be the single most cheap frugal bride on the planet, I am resorting to several Do It Yourself projects. Yeah, yeah, I know some of you are chuckling right now and I'm okay with that. I am the first to admit that I am NOT a crafty person. When I hear the term "crafty", it actually brings to mind an old Beastie Boys song that I used to listen to. Believe me, the two meanings of crafty are far from similar.

So we've established that I do not have a creative, talented or artistic blood cell in my body. Needless to say, when I came across this Seating Card chart on the Martha Stewart website, I thought I was going to have to enlist the help of a friend to help me make it (read: have Cheryl make it). Then the other night my man had a couple of buddies over to watch the hockey game and I decided that attempting to make the boards would be far more entertaining than hanging with them while they swilled beer, shouted at the TV and behaved like swines in general.

So off to Walmart I went, since it was the only place at 6:30pm on a Sunday I figured I could buy the necessary supplies. I was actually a little bit nervous on the way up there, this being my first time buying fabric (there's that chucking again..) but I sucked it up and walked straight to the fabric & notions department. What exactly are notions, anyways?

So I'm standing there, like a deer in the headlights, staring at probably 30 different types of white fabric. I mean seriously, who knew there could be that many kinds? Certainly not me. There was this one employee nearby who kept looking over at me, I think he mistook my clueless pacing back and forth between rows of fabric as possible shoplifting. So rather than have security come and ask me to empty my Prada bowler, I quickly grabbed one that I thought would look the nicest and carried it up to the counter where they cut it for you. Of course, I had no clue how much I needed, but I did have the dimensions of the boards I needed to cover and that's what they have staff for, right? Wrong. The lady, although I am sure a lovely person, could barely speak English and clearly math was not her strong point in her school days. First she tells me I need 5 metres and I nod "ok"...she is the expert after all. Then she says "you agree?" Ummmm, yeah. Sure I do. Then she kind of squints up her eyes, as if she is thinking really, really hard and tells me no, I only need 3 metres. Side note: I always thought fabric was sold by the foot. LOL

So after making a complete jackass of myself at Walmart, I head home, happier than a pig in shit with my purchases. On the way home, my dear friend Cheryl sends me a text telling me that I will need quilt batting. First of all, I didn't even know what in the hell quilt batting was and second, I was already half way home and really didn't feel like turning around. But, the nagging little voice in my head that sometimes knows better, knew that she would be right. She's crafty like that, and not in the Beastie Boys way.

And so, two evenings, hundreds of pins and one ridiculously tender thumb pad later, I am finished my little project. Martha, eat your freaking heart out.


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Cost of my DIY mission:

Styrofoam board $18.19
Fabric $13.46
Ribbon $16.53
Quilt batting $5.86
Making something myself for the first time ever.....priceless.

Deep Breath In.....Exhale....ahhhhhh

I've calmed down. I've also come to the realization that I simply cannot please and accomodate everyone. I'm just going to roll with it and do whatever I think should be done. I might have felt differently if any of the parents were paying, but as of yet the fuckers have offered up nothing!! So it's my way or the highway. I am of course asking opinions from my friends, because unlike with my mother and MIL, I actually give a damn what they think.

I am hereby making a promise to myself to enjoy this experience. Think I can keep it?

Liar Liar My Pants Are On Fire

The stress just started. Apparently my mother disagrees with the date, the time and well, basically everything to do with what I've planned already. Oh and she thinks we should change the date to the weekend before, which would be fine if it wasn't for the fact that my in-laws are going out of town then.

Maybe I can't do this.

A wedding

So we had planned on taking a trip to Vegas in March, just before I (try to) get (and stay) pregnant. One last hurrah, so to speak. We had bounced around the idea of getting married while we were there, so the other night I sat down and started pricing out the trip. Now I am not one for big fancy weddings, but I want to wear a beautiful dress, have a semi-nice ceremony and not be married by a fat guy in an Elvis suit, know what I mean? So by the time we factor in airfare, hotel, decent wedding package cost, spending money, tux & dress rentals, and all the little miscellaneous stuff, we were looking at about $6,000. Coupled with the fact that my man's family would be absolutely pissed if we "eloped" (mine wouldn't care...lol) - we decided that we would do it here in town instead.

I don't like to drag things out and despite the way my life seems to go, I don't like complicated ordeals. I definitely don't like drama. So you can imagine that taking on planning a wedding is the last thing on this planet I would want to do. Not to mention all the other shit going on in my life. Ah well, what's one more thing on my plate right?

In one day, I have picked a venue for both the ceremony and reception, booked a DJ, chosen colors, style of bridesmaid dresses, picked bouquets, centrepieces and have a basic idea of everything else. Tomorrow I am going to try on dresses at a local sample sale and if that doesn't pan out, I am going to take a deep breath and buy a dress off eBay. Tuesday I meet with the catering co-ordinator to confirm the menu, but I've already looked at it and basically know what I want.

I have actually been less stressed in the last 2 days than I have in the last 2 months. Maybe this will be good for me, it will keep me occupied and keep my mind busy. And maybe people will be asking me about the wedding, instead of asking me about other stuff that I don't want to talk about.

I have exactly 8 weeks to plan my wedding. I know I can do this. I have single-handedly planned fundraising dinners/dances/silent auctions for 100+ people in the same amount of time, and they were far more complicated.

So far, no Bridezilla. Let's hope it stays that way!