Xapa to the World

Author: xapatotheworld

  • Getting Married: 11 Weeks – DIY Invitations #3

    I can’t believe it, but the invitations are finally finished and they were sent out early this week. I am all about helping struggling businesses and I just want to say, “Kudos to the USPS!” Mom dropped off the invites to the post office on Tuesday afternoon. The AFTERNOON people! And I was tagged in a friend’s photo of them on Facebook by late Wednesday morning! Unreal! Friends in Kentucky even got theirs the next day and RSVP’d and everything!

    I’m so pumped. We chose to have our RSVP’s go through our wedding website (http://weddingwire.com/MattandSarahMartin/) and I get an email every time someone uses it. I know about half the people, so some names are a little bit fuzzy for me, but I know Matt will be excited when he sees them.

    Funny story. We had to make our reception RSVP only since we have such a large family population coming. It’s been sad to have to cross some people off our list, but we hope they can still make it to the wedding ceremony. Anyway, since we were sending invites to some people even though they weren’t going to the reception, I had typed up two lists for my bridesmaids to write from so we didn’t mix up who got a reception card and who didn’t. The last two weeks have been haywire for me. I work 54 hours last week alone and this week was even more. I was so wiped out typing up the lists that I made a couple of typos.

    No, Amy, it wasn’t your fault (even though there were a few envelope casualties). I misspelled the first names of a couple of Matt’s guests. “Arron” became “Aaron.” So, sorry, but it would be a common mistake, I’m sure. “Bob” became “Bon” and we had quite a lot of fun making James Bond-esque jokes. Yes, that we did.

    The topper was my grandmother, whose last name I mistyped. She has such an easy last name too, but there it was, written on the envelope as “Dorothy Book.” I am baffled that it even got to her considering I put her in Latrobe, Ohio instead of Latrobe, Pennsylvania. I guess it’s a blessing that I got the zip code right. Another kudos to the USPS! Y’all are beasts!

    On to what I’m sure you’re really here for. As a recap, let me point you back to a few other posts in this series.

    Week 37 – DIY Invitations, Week 20 – DIY Invitations #2, and Week 15 – Review: The Darkroom.

    Despite the work it took, I had a lot of fun making these. It was my first time doing anything on this scale. I perused online for some ideas and tips, but most of it just came from my brain. I never know how things will turn out when they come from my brain, but I am really pleased with these. Here we go.

    week 11 invite front

    Sorry for the shadow at the bottom. I’m not very skilled at photo-taking with my phone yet. The concept of lighting is nearly lost on me. I saw something very similar to this stamp set on another website. I may have linked to it in the Week 37 post, but I can’t remember. It’s a two-stamp set. One has our names in a pretty font, and the other is the ampersand. These, I actually cut myself out of a rubber pad and glued onto a block of wood to use for pressing. It took a long time to cut out and a long time to get comfortable using, but it is probably my favorite part of the invitation. The bird in a tree stamp was a quick buy from Hobby Lobby. I fell in love.

    week 11 invite inside

    Color blocking has been real popular in recent seasons. I wanted the invitation to focus on this kind of style. I bought both of these stamps at Michaels – the M came from one of the dollar bins. It was perfect, except that the indents on the side of the stamp were really on the top and bottom and didn’t help with comfort when using it. Of course, I did stamp something 1,776 times for these final invitations so that might have been a factor as well. We did the math, and it turned out mighty patriotic, so I guess it’s all for good. 🙂 The wildflower stamp at the top was so worn by the time I finished, you could barely see the black “preview” image on the top of it.

    week 11 invite insert

    Just to be clear, I faded out my phone number on the RSVP cards. I don’t want random people getting my number and harassing me. I already get that dumb “The FBI reports an increase of break-ins in your area…blah blah blah” message all the time on my mobile. I don’t need other misery with it. These are just standard cream paper glued to yellow cardstock glued to red cardstock. Very easy. Glue sticks are wonderful. Next!

    week 11 stamps

    The USPS comes out with new lovey stamps right around February. I managed to get last year’s Love ribbon Forever stamps AND a couple of weeks later got this year’s heart envelope stamps. I like these way better than the dorky wedding ones. No offense if you like those. Plus, these match one of our colors. 😀 I ordered the heart envelope ones through the USPS website and they came in the mail super-quick. That’s kudos #3 for you USPS…right? #4? #16? Oh, I can’t keep track.

    week 11 invite back

    Our faith is so very important to us. We thank God for the blessing He has given us in each other and our relationship. This day is one of many days to celebrate, rejoice and be glad in it and who He is – the Giver of good things.

    —————————–

    I’m getting married to my, you guessed it, best friend on June 1st, 2013! Matt and I are super-excited and since we have quite a bit of time to plan this thing, I decided it’d be fun to blog about it. Well, maybe not always fun, but at least informative and it might give me a welcome distraction. You can find all the posts by clicking the “Getting Married” tab on the right of this page, or by clicking here. Thanks for stopping by!

    My Pinterest Wedding Board

    Our Wedding Website on WeddingWire.com

    Related articles

  • Getting Married: 12 Weeks – Missing Week

    Excerpt from an email to my sister:

    Is this the year I get married? Does the sun still shine? Is the war over? Who is the President?

    To which she replied, “You should take a picture of the sun.” and “Reagan. I still can’t believe he went from acting to politics. But I have a good feeling about this one.”

    Haha. We’re all a bit crazy.

    This week, I’ve been trapped in the basement of our corporate office, working on a super, huge project. It’s a big deal. I was asked because I pay attention to the small details and I love filing/sorting/etc. All the paper-pusher type activities just give me a thrill. I’ve been working on a big filing project at my own bank branch, so it’s right up my alley.

    My hands have more cuts and marks on them than I can ever remember. And they seem to multiply. But, hey, the paycheck will be really pretty after this week and we get other incentives like free snacks and lunch every day.

    Yesterday was the first day in nearly a week that I got to see Matt and give him a hug. We missed each other. Since this is such a big project for me and I’m putting in so much time at the office, he’s getting some overtime with his job too. Might as well. We’ve got a wedding to pay for. But the time away is pretty tough. Thankfully, I’m so tired when I get home that I don’t have much time to think about it before I collapse into bed.

    Didn’t stop him from making me an amazing bedside lamp. I got to use it last night and it was glorious! I actually read a chapter of my book, in bed, without having to get back up to turn off my big light, and before I fainted from exhaustion. And I charged my phone from it overnight. Fantastic!

    This is the one Matt made for himself. Mine doesn't have a shade yet, but it's nearly identical!
    This is the one Matt made for himself. Mine doesn’t have a shade yet, but it’s nearly identical!

    Today the plan is to get to church and then my bridesmaids are coming over to help address envelopes and put the invitations all together. I got a text midweek that my matron of honor caught a bug from the kids she nannies and it’s still having its way with her. She will not be joining us today. That leaves me and Amy, who just found out that she is pregnant and that baby is already making her life difficult with morning sickness. Poor things. It might just be me and Mom over here writing away and having a big ole time.

    But there is plenty to do and there will be plenty more to do after the invites are in the mail. I will share more with you about them once they get sent out and people have time to see them. I don’t want to spoil the surprise. 🙂

    Hope you all have a fantastic week and enjoy any sunshine you get, once for yourself and once for me, the Rumpelstiltskin of the bank basement.

    P.S. Um, Once Upon a Time is supposed to be amazing tonight!!! I am dying to know who dies! (pun intended)

    —————————–

    I’m getting married to my, you guessed it, best friend on June 1st, 2013! Matt and I are super-excited and since we have quite a bit of time to plan this thing, I decided it’d be fun to blog about it. Well, maybe not always fun, but at least informative and it might give me a welcome distraction. You can find all the posts by clicking the “Getting Married” tab on the right of this page, or by clicking here. Thanks for stopping by!

    My Pinterest Wedding Board

    Our Wedding Website on WeddingWire.com

    Related articles

  • Getting Married: 13 Weeks – T Minus 90 Days

    That’s right, we’re under 100 days folks! Wow!

    I’ve said this to a few people when they ask how much time we have left: “It feels like it’s going so slow sometimes and so fast others!” I think that’s pretty standard. I’ve never planned a wedding before, but I think I’m relatively on track.

    However, some moments have got me to the point where I want to freak out. Like, when we ourselves were unable to print out the invitations. When I heard that Fairfield’s graduation ceremony is the same day, just a few hours earlier. When I found out that we didn’t indeed have our DJ booked.

    There might have been others, but of such lower intensity that I’ve forgotten about it. The point is that things will happen, either beyond our control or well within the bounds of what we can handle.

    And I have a choice.

    I have a choice to freak out and let the emotions or situations dictate how I act and feel. Or I can give it up to God and move on with what things I can handle.

    I haven’t liked the idea of a bridezilla since the term first became so popular. I don’t see myself as one. If I come across as one (first please tell me honestly), it might just be that I have an idea and I know how I want it to turn out. But I try to be respectful of people around me and their ideas/input as well – even if they’re entirely opposite to what I know or am aiming for.

    I think people get into the mindset that they are entitled to what they want and anyone who gets in the way of that is completely against them and should be cut down. I can’t stand that, and I hope to never be one of those people. In the freak out examples mentioned above, I had a flood of emotions and thoughts come through me. They all felt right to feel. But something inside said, “Don’t give in.”

    Satan loves to attack us in any way that he can. He wants to ruin our relationships, not just with God but with others. He loves to create discord and animosity between believers and what better time to do it than during the high intensity time of a wedding planning? I had to sift through the thoughts that were coming through and decide that most of them were designed perfectly to drive a wedge between me and someone else. Of course it feels right to be the afflicted one. But it’s not right. It’s not right to lash out at someone just because things aren’t going your way. It’s not right to even keep those thoughts circulating through your mind.

    I am learning a lot about myself through this planning. I’m learning a lot about Matt, and about the others around us. This is so good because in our marriage, we will go through numerous high-stress situations. Do we have what it takes to get through them? I believe so. If only just because we have God to depend upon.

    We have been talking in church about the armor of God and this morning’s message was on the “Sandals of Peace.” The Gospel is peace and the Gospel preaches self-sacrifice and love for others. We want, most of all, for our wedding to point to God and be a testimony of the work He has done in our lives and in our relationship. We want to be ministers of peace as we celebrate our wedding day and throughout our marriage. Please help us through pray as we plan out the rest of the wedding and for the day of. Your prayers are most appreciated.

    —————————–

    I’m getting married to my, you guessed it, best friend on June 1st, 2013! Matt and I are super-excited and since we have quite a bit of time to plan this thing, I decided it’d be fun to blog about it. Well, maybe not always fun, but at least informative and it might give me a welcome distraction. You can find all the posts by clicking the “Getting Married” tab on the right of this page, or by clicking here. Thanks for stopping by!

    My Pinterest Wedding Board

    Our Wedding Website on WeddingWire.com

    Related articles