Knocking things off the list

Hellllooooo out there!

My apologies in advance if my blogging is a bit spastic this week. We are in full on wedding mode at my parents’ house and I’ve barely had time to check my email today. This is the first chance I’ve had to sit down and relax and man does it feel amazing.

The good news is we managed to get a LOT done today. A couple of the major things I had to cross off my list were the hotel bags and the seating chart.

The hotel bags were pretty straight forward. We picked up a few snacks at BJ’s this morning (individual packets of almonds, granola bars, apples, and water bottles) and filled the kraft bags I got a Joann’s with the goodies.

(psst…. many thanks to my cousin Angela and mom for being awesome helpers today)

I also had a letter for the welcome bags.

It read:

” Dear Friends and Family,

Welcome to Titusville and to Meghann and Derek’s wedding weekend! We are beyond happy that you are here with us to celebrate this amazing day. In this bag are just a few treats for you to make your stay more comfy. In addition, here is some general information that might be helpful:

On Saturday, a shuttle will leave the lobby of the hotel at 4:00pm and take guests to the wedding location. If you wish to take the shuttle, please be in the lobby near the front desk a bit before 4:00pm. Shuttles will begin leaving the reception site at approximately 8:30pm and will run until 10:30pm.

We will be hosting a Morning After Brunch for all of our out-of-town guests on Sunday, Jan 6th. The brunch will take place at the bride’s parents’ house at XXXXXX from 10am -12pm. Please join us and have a nice full breakfast so we can all see each other off!

Thank you again for making the trip out to be here. Your presence on our wedding day is what makes it so extra special for us. See you soon!

Love Meghann and Derek”

It took a while to get the letter for the welcome bags just right. I had a lot of help from the WeddingBee boards.

On the flip side I included some suggestions on what to do and where to eat in Titusville.

Derek and I had fun selecting the bride and groom recommendations for all of our favorite spots. I thought it was a nice way to personalize all of the suggestions.

The final bag contents:

I called ahead and discovered 15 rooms were currently booked under our block. We made 20 bags just in case there were any last minute check-ins. I dropped all the bags off at the hotel this afternoon and asked if they would distribute one bag per person booked under our room block. The hotel clerk was really sweet about it and told me it wouldn’t be a problem.

Next up: the seating chart.

This was my inspiration.

(source)

Our original plan was to buy the tags at Staples and handwrite the names, but neither of us had great handwriting. Then my mom had this idea to buy clear labels to print the names on and place on the tags. When we went to check out the clear labels we discovered these

Printable tags. Brilliant.

I downloaded the template when we got home and had all the names loaded and ready to print in no time.

We decided to spice the tags up a little bit and stamped some snowflakes on the print outs before we printed the names.

No set pattern, just random snowflakes stamped with copper, silver, and light blue ink.

Unfortunately we were on such a roll that I forgot to snap a picture of a finished sheet before we punched the cards out. Here’s an example of one where the alignment was off and the date was wrong (it’s 4.30 not 4.31) aka a “mess up.” The sheet had to be re-printed, but luckily we had extras ready to go for situations like these.

And here’s the final product.

LOVE them!

Our table numbers are dates which represent important moments in our lives. I’ll have to do a separate post on the table numbers (which already look AWESOME) when they’re finished.

The tags will be clipped to some string my dad has rigged up between two polls. It’s the same set-up my brother and sister-in-law used to display photos at their wedding. Recycle, reuse – right?

We took a sub break for lunch after we hit BJ’s this morning and I got a roast beef and horseradish cheddar sub from Publix.

I had some carrot sticks and hummus for a late snack this afternoon.

I also had a very important person to pick up from the airport.

Ashley is here! She just returned from St. Croix and looks so tan and relaxed. I’m so excited to have another bridesmaid in town!!

We stopped for dinner at a mediterranean place by the airport.

I ordered the falafel platter with falafel, tabouli, and hummus, which was good, but I definitely had order envy for the mediterranean salad Ashley ordered. That salad looked good.

I’m beat. Tomorrow we’re tackling the flowers and a couple of other last minute tasks. My sister, twin brother, and Derek will also be here in the morning – YAY!!!!