What to do now???

Well, it has been three weeks since Mr. Teddybear and I were married.  I'm having a bit of a hard time because I no longer have a wedding to plan so I have free time on my hands.  Well several things have come up to help fill up my time.

I have been mulling over the idea of becoming a wedding planner/coordinator.  This has always been in the back of my mind for several years but up until now, I haven't had a real good opportunity to jump start my wedding planning/coordinating business.  Well my neice will be getting married in a year, actually she is getting married the day before Mr. Teddybear and I did, but a year later.  I have offered my services to her for free.  I also plan on taking classes and getting certified by the Association of Bridal Consultants and attending seminars for the wedding profession.  I don't know how it will turn out, but the first seminar I want to take is not until September 2011 in Vegas.  I plan on attending, it will be a working vacation for me and Mr. Teddybear.  If you have any ideas or suggestions that would help make my business better, or would help me offer the best to my clients, please leave a comment and let me know.  I want to make this a success and give my brides and grooms the best that I can offer.

The other item that I have been excited to mull over is getting back into scrapbooking.  I have not been scrapbooking for about 5 years now.  This was due to me going to school mainly but also have personal issues to deal with.  I am excited to get back into it.  I have taken an inventory of my supplies and have decided to get rid of 90% of my stamps at our next yard sale.  This is to purge my old stuff and to get a few new tools as well. I have ideas running through my head and write them down so that I don't forget.  I'm so happy to do this again and can't wait to start working on my wedding album and our family album.

I can't wait for the new year to begin and to start and to get my two new ideas into motion!  2010 was a good year, but 2011 is going to be even better!!!

Another task off my to-do list!!

Yesterday was a wonderfully glorious day!  There were beautiful blue skies and a nice breeze blowing my hair around, just the way I like it.  To top it off, I took the day off and Mr. Teddybear and I spend the whole day together.  We did fun stuff like look at tuxedos for him and the guys.  We also went to AAA to talk to a travel agent about our honeymoon.  We are not having a regular honeymoon and fly to some exotic destination...nope, not us.  We are taking a three-week road trip from California to Washington, D.C.  Why you ask?  Well besides being a cool idea, Mr. Teddybear doesn't like to fly. 

So from our place in Pico Rivera till Oklahoma City, OK, we will be taking Route 66.  We will be stopping off and either visiting or staying at Williams, AZ; Grand Canyon; Albuquerque, NM; Tucumcari, NM; Adrian, TX; Amarillo, TX; and Oklahoma City, OK.  From there we will be off the Route 66 and heading to Memphis, TN; Bristol, VA and staying in Arlington, VA.  From Arlington, we will be taking the Metro into Washington, D.C.  We know that parking is limited in D.C. and decided to take the Metro.  We will be there for about 4 days and then we head to Charlotte, NC.  In Charlotte, we will be there for another 4 days to attend the Bank of America 500 Nascar Race in Charlotte.  We are also taking a tour of the best racing teams and their garages.  From Charlotte, NC, we head to Nashville, TN; Fort Smith, AR; Amarillo, TX; and then Flagstaff, AZ.  We will be in Flagstaff for a few days visiting Mr. Teddybear's half-brother then we head on home.  We are soooooooooo excited about our wedding and honeymoon.  WE CANT WAIT!!!

So, I have about 6 maybe 7 AAA Tour books to go through and find places to stay at in most of those cities listed about.  Oh, and while at AAA we also made a reservation for our rental car for our honeymoon.  I must say, AAA is the way to go!  They got us a Midsized car for the whole three weeks for less than $400 and this includes unlimited mileage.  I tried using the discount at work which gave me the same car for approximately the same amount, but it didn't include unlimited mileage which in the end would have been very expensive for us. 

I LOVE AAA!!!

One additional item to add...

Well Mr. Teddybear and I went to look at wedding dresses yesterday.  We went not expecting to find the "one"at all.  I really thought that it would take me several visits to bridal salons to find my dress but Mr. Teddybear and I were very lucky to find the one that made me cry.  :-)

Here it is hanging on the hanger:

Here is the same dress on a model.  This dress was taken from the manufacturer's website, www.moncheribridals.com:

 

Now, I am not a skinny mini so I was not able to put on the size 10 sample gown, but it was held up to me and it looked beautiful.  Also, one of the store employee modeled the dress for me and it was beautiful.  Now before I even started looking for a wedding dress, I scoured the bridal magazines for dresses that I liked and wanted to possibly try on.  I could not find one whole dress.  I had to take two different pictures because I liked the top of one and the bottom of another.  That taped together picture that I made looks very, very close to the one I fell in love with.  The only difference is that the dress I bought has off the shoulder straps and I wanted on the shoulder straps (tank-top style).  I was assured that the straps could be altered to not be off the shoulder and look the way I want.

I'm very happy with this dress.  It has the train length I wanted, the non-puffy skirt I like and it is flows well and will look beautiful for an outdoor wedding.  Mr. Teddybear was there with me when I went to try on dresses and he did see it held up to me.  He said that he was speechless at my beauty in that dress.  :-)  He is so sweet!  I love him so much!  He loves the dress and can't wait till we get married, in 356 days from today!  Neither can I!!!

Have a great week all!

Where do we stand?

Well wedding plans have been getting off to a slow start. Its no wonder since we had more than a year to plan when we first got engaged.  We have been to a wedding expo or two and everyone we talked to at these expos have told us that we have plenty of time to plan things!  With our wedding now officially less than a year away, it feels like we don't have enough time!  LOL!  Here is where we stand with our wedding plans so far:

1) Venue - We have not only choosen our wedding/reception venue, but we also put a deposit down on it. It is a very nice golf course that Mr. Teddybear has golfed at many, many times.

2) Wedding Coordinator - Mr. Teddybear really doesn't want me stressed out the day of the wedding so he and I are both interviewing coordinators for a "Day of" package. We will do all the wedding planning ourselves but we need someone to make sure it is all done the day of the wedding.

3) DIY - Yes, I am and always have been a very crafty person. I have handmade my daughter's birthday party invites and also created a castle cake for her party as well, have designed, created my christmas cards, and I am an avid scrapbooker who also make my own greeting cards. HOWEVER! When it comes to the wedding, I do know my limits. My sister and I will be making the wedding invitations and the accessory cards as well. Mr. Teddybear and I are discusssing the possibilty of doing our own wedding flowers and floral decorations as well. We didn't plan anything to extensive to begin with so we both believe it is a project we can accomplish. However, we have decided to interview a few florist first. If they can't give us the flowers we want within our budget, then its off to the FlowerMart in Downtown L.A. for us!!! This trip will be a blog post within itself! LOL!

4) Bridal party members - We asked them months ago and all have said yes! Woo Hoo!!!

5) My Wedding Dress - I already know the style of my dress, but to find one that looks like what I envisioned, well that's a whole other Oprah! I am starting my search for my dress this weekend when Mr. Teddybear and I go to the first appointment at a bridal shop. Yes, we are not the conventional types! :-D

6) Save the Dates - They have been ordered and received. Just getting some, a few...ok, several last minute address before sending them out. Keep an eye out for them around January!

I think that is all that we have done so far regarding our wedding.  With the wedding being less than a year away, it will be all downhill from here!  Have a great day y'all!!!