favors

Jul272010

July 27 TMW Post

Tweet: @msrib – my last 10min: marshmallows on @levitymallows, flavors on @retrobakery, & searching reviews for wedding dress lingerie. #ohyeahimabride

Thanks to The Vegas Wedding Planner‘s blog, I have discovered a new Vegas treat. Homemade marshmallows in tons of different flavors made by Levity Marshmallows. Well, not tons, more like 10. They’re in Henderson, NV and have a strictly website business. After emailing the owner back and forth, we might end up getting 2-3 mallows for each guest. So, uh, is a bunch of mini cupcakes and flavored marshmallows too much? I didn’t think so either!

I sent out an evite to our potential Vegas guests to get an idea of how many we will be having. I do plan on sending out info packets and, of course, having welcome bags. I purchased a 10-pack of iron-on transfer sheets and figure I have enough to make 19 bags. I think we’ll be maxed out at 15 guests. Once I have a better number, I’m buying the bags and starting to find the goodies. Should the bags go per person or per couple? The water bottles are per person, but can easily fit 2 in the bags with other stuff.  I’m thinking the aluminum water bottle, deck of cards, candy, chips, gum, aspirin, transportation maps… what else do you suggest?

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Jun292010

June 29 TMW Post

Tweet: @msrib – thoughts? screen printed or ironed onto canvas $0.97 bags. http://twitpic.com/1zf4cs

Tweet:  @msrib – what about “Thank you for joining us to celebrate for a few days. This bag will last you a lot longer… Please reuse it! Becca & Steve”

So, favor bags for Vegas… I definitely want to do something nice for the handful of folks joining us. The bags will include a polycarbonate or aluminum water bottle, sunscreen, snacks, playing cards, a map of the Strip and transportation/ restaurants/ shows around Vegas. Hopefully most people will have the show bookings done in advance, but you never know! My dilemma is still getting all this stuff to Vegas.

After all the feedback I received upon posting the above picture to both Twitter and facebook, it was suggested that I just use the tree and our names and date only.  And put the note about reusing it on a little hangtag. I already have hangtags purchased a while ago. My plan initially was to keep the wedding info on all favors to a minimum, but I’m told no one really cares what they say. I’d add this to my grocery bag collection and use them all the dang time. What do you think? Would you reuse this bag?

Tweet:  @msrib – i’m totally torn between dresses. short & sassy (not sold on the chunky top) or long & flowy http://bit.ly/dqTlWe vs http://bit.ly/cX5phN

I know, I know… I already bought a dress… 2 dresses, in fact. I did manage to sell the original one after well over a year of attempting to get rid of the dang thing. The short and sassy all lace dress is easily returnable thanks to Macy’s fabulous return policy.  Monday afternoon I went back to David’s Bridal to check out the long and flowy gown again. I tried it on ages ago and loved it. It was a definite contender for my bridesmaids… ya know, if I was having bridesmaids. I still need to decide which I like best. The DB dress hasn’t been purchased yet, but even still, it is within budget. My Vegas dress budget was $200 (scandalous!) and the DB dress definitely falls in that range. Ehhhh who knows! I have total dress indecision, just like @CelestialAxis has been having.

Part of my problem is that I haven’t really had the ah-ha OMG bridal moment since the first gown. Here’s hoping it comes sooner than later seeing as we’re getting hitched in 103 days!

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Jun152010

June 15 TMW Post

Tweet: Plain water bottles would be appreciated as much as customized, right? #wedding #favors http://twitpic.com/1vkz23

For those that have been keeping track, I’ve been wanting to do personalized water bottles as favors for our Vegas guests. Personalized as in some design I would create. But even with the 20% off coupons I’ve got for DiscountMugs, with art work it’s figuring to be about $8 each bottle once all is said and done. During an errands run to Big Lots, I spotted orange and blue aluminum water bottles (amongst other colors) for $4 a pop! Sure, they’re not personalized, but do people really care? I may just snatch them up, make cute “thanks for coming” tags and call it a day.

I’m contemplating getting the $0.90 tote bags from CheapTotes and stuffing them with goodies including the bottles. My main issue now is how the heck do I transport it all? Mailing it to myself at the hotel? Mailing it to a friend in Vegas and hoping we get together in time to set up the bags? Send the bottles in advance to my guests? Well, the last option isn’t viable since I want them to have the bottles IN Vegas and they might forget them.

Tweet: I sorta wish I hadn’t bought our wedding rings last April… While I still love it, it’s too small on me & his is too big

Tweet: ok folks, do i send my fabu wedding ring back & spend $120 to have it sized &/or spend $25 on a simple band? he says $25, i say $120

Tweet: the matchy matchy rings: http://twitpic.com/6j3ro

Tweet: So I’m ok w/ easily dropping $200 on the #iphone4, but hesitated on an add’l $120 on my wedding ring. Talk about screwy priorities! …. Ring’s going back this week for resize/ remake. It’s going to last about 5000 times longer than the phone 🙂

Tweet: oh boy.. the remake/resize is $170. so long #iphone4 perhaps it’ll be a 3gs w/updated software instead. #ihatemoney

I know, lots of tweets, but for a very good reason. My ill-fitting ring is front and center on my mind right now. Steve’s fits well enough that it won’t fall off. Mine fits so well that it is painful to put on and take off. As in, it barely fits! Since buying my ring last April (yes, in 2009!) my finger has expanded. The ring is a US7.5 and a 7mm thick titanium band. I think I’d be happier with an 8 or 8.5. However, titanium isn’t resizable. The jeweler that made it (JewelryByJohan on Etsy) said I could send it back and he’d remake it for 60% of the price. I paid $200 for it last year, and it’s gone up considerably to $316, so 60% is $90. Holy freaking hell. I saved a boatload on airfare, hotel and clothes, but don’t want to spend it all on my wedding ring!

I did email him as I was tooling around his site and saw the exact same ring paired with a plain men’s band for $254. And on his non-etsy website, the ring is listed for $197. Hopefully I don’t sound nit-picky, but that is a crazy price increase, and an inconsistent one too.

I was looking on Etsy and Ebay for “replacement” titanium rings and can get a 3mm-4mm plain plain plain band for about $25. Bear in mind that my wedding ring was going to completely replace my e-ring. So the plain band would live all alone on my finger. Steve thinks I should get a stand-in because $190 is a lot and my original ring might end up fitting again.

What would you do?

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May242010

May 4 TMW Post

Disclaimer: For all y’all not following my wedding planning antics over on TweetMyWedding Tuesdays, I’ll try to remember to post them all here.  Unfortunately I’ve been seriously lagging at that and so there’s going to be in flux… apologies!
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Tweet: our wedding photo dump ShutterFly site is all set up. too early to order the cards & invites? i’m totally itching to order my pretties.

Tweet: if i have your email address, chances are you just got the “gimme your mailing address” email. #feelingproductive

This past week has seen a dramatic upswing in actual wedding plans. Sure I play around a lot with DIY projects and dress options, but this week we worked on the reception party guest list. That’s huge for us. Up to this point, it’s been word of mouth for Vegas invitees. I’ve made all the paper products already and just need to hit submit on Overnight Prints. However, it’d totally be my luck that I’ll order 100 of everything only to go over and have no buffer for mess ups. Right now we have about 55 address labels, but are still waiting for a good chunk of addresses.

Currently the items in my shopping cart, including shipping, total $93.60. Not bad for 100 announcements, 100 reception invitations, 100 RSVP cards, and 200 “photo dump” cards. I really want to order them at the same time to avoid duplicate shipping charges.

Tweet: looks like we’re doing soaps as reception favors. yay for trade & crafty friends!

I designed a logo for a friend’s business cards and website recently. In return, she offered to make us homemade soaps in our colors and any scents we choose. I’m picturing Japanese lanterns, twinkle lights, cherry blossoms, orchids and other fun touches on our extremely casual Miami reception party. The soap molds I tentatively picked out are flip-flops, palm trees, and an assortment of flowers. I still need to pick the scents as the colors will obviously be orange and blue!

Tweet: do i buy or wait? don’t want it to increase, but also don’t want to get screwed. 2r/t tickets Ft.Laud-Vegas for $501.80

The airfare really makes me nervous. Our hotel suite is booked already for 4 nights at just shy of $600. Booking another $500 for airfare is just nerve-wracking! I’ve heard booking mid-week is the best time to book flights, price-wise. What do y’all think, is $500 a good price for 2 round trip airline tickets?

Also, not wedding-related but still a huge accomplishment… I am days away from being an MBA graduate from East Carolina University!! It’s been 5 very, very long years in the making. It’s significant as I began the program before I even met my wonderful fiancé.

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Feb232010

Favor Bottles/ Tumblers

Which wedding favor would you like better: http://bit.ly/a2ldtC – 32oz or http://bit.ly/97U49r – 34oz

http://twitpic.com/14ufpy – To imprint on bottle #1 – single color

http://twitpic.com/14ulr7 – Revised bottle #1 imprint. 🙂

coffee/ travel tumblers as favors maybe? http://bit.ly/bbOINz or http://bit.ly/caS8Sg or even http://bit.ly/aZ3NEa

Do you use coffee/ travel mugs or water bottles more frequently? Which would you want to have another of? Yes, bad sentence structure, I admit it.

Whichever bottle or travel mug is chosen will be deep blue (or orange if blue isn’t an option) with white or silver imprinting. I designed it in a single color (black) for the printer. On the bottles, what’s black will be white or silver and white will be the color of the bottle (blue).

I have been stalking the Discountmugs.com site for months now. But I’m not making any purchases until we have a better idea of how many guests there will be. Now, granted, it’s not like extras will go to waste as we can send them off to family.

Also, I registered us on Amazon.com and am really excited about it. However, I think some people are still leery of shopping online still – which I completely can’t comprehend! – so we might need to double register at Target. Whatcha think?

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Feb202010

Photo Shoot, Cupcakes, & Favors

After a few emails back and forth, I finally got to speak to Jessie this morning about our Vegas photo shoot that we won with Emeric Photography. I am ridiculously excited about it! We (and by that I mean “I”) decided on October 12th so whoever is in Vegas for the wedding can join Steve, Cathy, Dan and myself on a trip out to the Grand Canyon on the 11th. Jessie suggested a just-before-sundown shoot, around 5pm, for optimum lighting. As the professional, I’m totally deferring to her on that one! I’d given a list of places I really wanted to go for the shoot and she agreed with me on 2 of them: The Neon Boneyard and the Fremont Street Area (Google images pics). My other options are a Strip tour (hitting all the major hotels and taking pictures as we wander about) or Red Rock Canyon (but we’ll need to decide if outdoorsy is what we want). She is going to check on the pricing to do a shoot in the Neon Boneyard (facebook link) as that’s completely my first choice.

The “down side” to this is that hair and make-up can potentially take 2-3 hours. Now, I am not a make-up person and usually wear minimal to work when I even put it on. My updo from Kim’s wedding took about 30 minutes because it was very detailed and completely up. I am going to find some picture to send to Amelia C for both my hair and make-up… and of course pictures of me. I did friend her on facebook, so she’s got those hundreds of pictures to look at of us. 🙂

I emailed my wonderful bakery Thursday evening as I was thinking about our budget. I asked the price of 3 dozen regular cupcakes, 3 dozen mini cupcakes, and a 6″ cake similar to the picture but in deep blue with “Congrats Becca & Steve” written on it.

I got this back yesterday:
Cupcakes are $29 per dozen
Minis are $1 each ($12 per dozen)
6-inch cake is $20

Maybe we’ll forego the regular cupcakes and just get a ton of mini’s and the 6″ cake; or maybe a dozen regular cupcakes for throughout the week and 4-5 dozen mini’s and the 6″. What do you think?

Source: my InDesign talents!

This afternoon I started working on favor items, namely the logo for the favors.  I also order a tote bag and t-shirt from VistaPrint with the logo on it so I can see what they look like.  For both plus shipping, it cost just over $8.  Have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE VistaPrint??  Ordering 1 bag per guest unit (not person) I figure it’ll break down to about $5-6 per bag.  These’ll be favor bags or welcome bags or whatever you want to call them.  I doubt I’ll do the shirts for the guests, but I wanted one! LOL  Yes, there will be a post when they arrive. 🙂

So, what d’ya think?

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Oct052009

Favors

woohoo! 50th post!

now onto the actual post..

I bought these today as sample favors. Also to taste the flavors. Really? Tasting lip balm? LOL

The lip balm flavor on the left is honey and the one on the right is tangerine. They are $.75 and $.80 respectively in quantities of 25 for Vegas favors. Plus they come in little pots so I can put my own labels on each one.

I’ll letcha know how they are!

left image source: Brandi1181
right image source: MrsHerk

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Sep262009

More Favor Ideas

Well shoot, another super cute idea! maybe we need to make “Vegas survival kits” complete with water bottles, band-aid’s and lip balm! What else should go in the kits?

image source

or maybe this lip balm…
image source

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