Welcome to myjennryan.com!
Never forget to dream...
~ Madonna
Kids Activity Table Hidden Mickey Cake Guest Tables
_____________________________________________________________________ Both of these projects along with a collage frame my maid-of-honor made me will be hung in our master bedroom once we complete renovations of it in April. I think it is important to try and capture the memories from your special day and there are so many different ways of doing this. Have fun coming up with your own creative ways... _____________________________________________________________________
Here are a couple of ideas of projects I just completed to help
remember my wedding day for many years to come.
This is my latest project. Right after the wedding was over, I hung my bouquet upside down to dry. I finally found a shadow box that was deep enough this past week at JoAnn Fabric & Crafts. It only came in white, so I bought a can of spray paint to paint it black to match my other frames. The items were on sale and only cost me $16.00 for the shadow box and spray paint. I first removed the back of the frame and glass and then went outside and painted the frame. It took 2 coats to make sure all of the white was gone. I then laid the flowers on the glass and spread them out (to try and flatten them some) and then put the backing on the frame and it held them in there tightly. Very simple, but a good way to preserve my bouquet forever.
This was my first shadow box project. Chris and I printed one of our favorite wedding pictures in black & white, I then scrapbooked the inside of the shadow box and then finally placed Chris' boutonnière in the frame. I also saved this from the wedding. This was an idea I took from my best friend.
What to buy:
-Laundry basket
-Bottle of Dawn dishwashing detergent
-Bottle of Era laundry detergent
-Bottle of Future floor wax
-Bottle of Mr. Clean
-Box of S.O.S. pads
-Bottle of Vanish toilet bowl cleaner
-Bottle of Cheer laundry detergent
-Bar of Dove soap
-Bottle of Joy dishwashing detergent
-Bottle of Pledge furniture polish
-Bottle of All laundry detergent
-Bottle of Bright
-Bottle of Fantastic
Wrap each of the products above individually and number them in the order they appear above. Then you will read the following aloud, giving the bride each gift in order as they appear in your story:
Dear BRIDE,
You are entering the DAWN of a new ERA. There will come a time in the FUTURE of your marriage when you find "Groom's Name" is not always MR. CLEAN, but don't send out an S.O.S. because he might VANISH. "Groom's Name" will always bring you CHEER and you will find him to be your white DOVE. When you are together you will find JOY, so remember your PLEDGE and give him your ALL.
To BRIDE and GROOM the best of luck and good fortune for a BRIGHT and FANTASTIC marriage.
Visit my blog for great wedding and event planning advice...
Click here to be taken to the online photo album he created for the night of the wedding.
Picture of my Proof Books:
Templates I used to help plan and organize my wedding:
Kids Activity Book
Table Placecards
Guest Book Table Sign
Table Instructions for the Reception Site
Church Program
Wedding Party Newsletter
Wedding Guest List and Response Spreadsheet
- This site had some of the best templates I found online and also had great fonts for all of your wedding needs. This site gets an A++ from me. Click here to visit it now!
- Everyone's favorite wedding planning site. Theknot.com, you too can become a knottie! As the wedding drew closer, I became more addicted... Click here to become a knottie!
- I just found all of these FREE instructions and stationary templates. Check them out, click here and start downloading. They have everything you need to print your own stationary - a wedding on a budget!
Disc Jockey (DJ): Our DJ was phenomenal. He really kept the party going but was not obnoxious in any way. When I started looking for a DJ I spoke to Bert (the owner) and spent probably a half hour on the phone with him and knew right then I wanted him to do my wedding. He was giving me ideas and asking me what I wanted for my day. A couple of things he did that set him apart from other DJ's I spoke to.
- He cared and genuinely wanted to earn our business.
- He gave me invaluable advice and ideas that helped make our day that much better.
- With the package price - I got a DJ and an MC. They took close to 200 candid shots during the wedding and then sent them all to me on cd. They gave us 2 cd's of the special music we chose for our day. Then we had props for the Congo line, which was so much fun.
- Most importantly, he gave all of us a great time!
...And last but not least his follow-up is second to none... 3 months after our wedding he sent us the nicest email. Following up on the picture cd he sent and to also thank us again for our business. He did also mention how he was sharing some of our ideas with other brides he is working with. This alone tells you what an amazing guy he is.
Photographer: I absolutely loved my photographer. Not only did she take the most beautiful pictures, she was organized, detailed and pretty much transparent the day of the wedding. Here are a couple of things that help me decide on her:- Her work, I love her photography. This is one of the most important things. You have to feel comfortable with the person because they will be capturing your day in photos that you will have for the rest of your life. So many times you hear horror stories of photographers who were nasty to guests at the wedding, who were intrusive and in the way or who took the pictures they wanted and did not get the ones you wanted.
- Her photography package had so much to offer. The package we chose included a free engagement session with a matted and framed signature print for the reception (this was amazing and absolutely beautiful and professional.) It also included our wedding album, 2 parents albums, the photo proof books, a package of printed photos and then all of the pictures on cd. Also, by the time we got back from our honeymoon (2 weeks) all of our wedding pictures were on line for us to view.
- Flexibility... This was key. She lives in NH, I live in MA and we got married in CT. She was open and willing to go wherever we needed her to go. She met us at Fenway Park for our engagement photos. Then a few weeks before the wedding she came to CT to check out my parents house, the church and reception site. This was her idea, she wanted to plan ahead for photos. The day of the wedding she showed up exactly at the time she said she would and immediately began taking pictures. We ended up with close to 1000 pictures to chose from.
I want to be objective. The only negative I have about the photographer is the proofs. They came in two photo notebooks and the pictures were very small. When picking out pictures for an album it is hard to see them and the details that set them apart. For our parents, I pointed them to the photos on the web, as they were bigger and easier to choose from.
Baker & Florist: Our wedding cake came with our reception package. We had our choice between two local bakers. Creative Cakes by Donna and Cakes Etcetera. My first choice was Cakes by Donna as she is the "baker to go to." Well... My decision changed very quickly and then I had the pleasure of meeting Carol at Cakes Etcetera. She was a breath of fresh air and such a huge help. We picked out our cake in no time at all and this was almost a no brainer as when we visited her site we found a cake with hidden Mickeys. We knew we had to do this. She gave us so many samples to try and then ended up helping us pick out our flowers. We were really struggling with finding a florist and finding the flowers we wanted. I wanted sunflowers for the bridesmaids bouquets and Carol assured me she could get them for me - and she did. The cake was great and it was awesome that we went with her for flowers because everything matched great.Reception Site: I cannot say enough good things about Glastonbury Hills Country Club. They were easy to deal with, flexible, reasonably priced and open to everything I asked for. Let's just say I was very organized in my planning and very detailed in how I wanted the tables set up. They did everything exactly as I asked (I gave them 3 pages of notes detailed on how I wanted things set-up.) They even helped me create our own "special" drinks for our wedding. We had two drinks to choose from - a kids drink - called the Big Papi which was basically a Shirley Temple and an adult drink - The Green Monstah - which was a Midori Sour. I felt like a princess that day as they waited on my husband and I hand and foot. I highly recommend them!
