Waaay to Busy.....

I've been AWOL from blogging for awhile - just too busy to take the time to sit down at the computer and write. It's not that I don't have anything to say.  Nope, I've got tons to blog about - our March Retreat pictures, Jo's new project she made for the store, new fabric, the big upcoming bus trip, new models in the shops.... But this last week I was on a "working vacation".  Not quilting, tho.... WEDDING PLANNING!

Yup, my son, E.J. (Mr. -  "I'm not ready to commit"), is getting married to a wonderful girl at Sanibel Island, Fl at the end of May, so we took a week to work on a lot of necessary wedding details in Florida. Now, I know this is a mostly quilting blog, but just to show ya how busy I've been.... here's a few pictures from our week.  

The location for the wedding is a resort on the island and while we were there, they were setting up for a wedding.  It was really helpful to see everything and we got a much better idea of how things will look.

That's my husband and Crystal (the bride-to-be) pretending that they're walking down the aisle.  Pretty by the beach, don't cha think?  Sanibel has some of the best beaches, best sand, and best shelling, in the United States.

Below is the tent they were setting up the day we were there.  We'll have a tent too, but since we're going to have a smaller wedding - it's going to be a little smaller tent.

Some of our achievements included a food tasting for the reception, a cake tasting, we decided on a photographer, decided on all the flowers and booked the florist, found a salon to do hair for the big day, found a rental house for some of the bride's family, bought the ties and shoes for the wedding party, and did A LOT of wedding shopping!  I had forgotten how many decisions there are in planning a wedding -- it's been a loooong time since I had to plan a wedding.  

Oh, and being the "crafty" gals that we are, we made a few wedding creations of our own.

We bought two ready made signs (at HomeGoods, my fav!), repainted them, and then stenciled them. We'll attach these to the boardwalk going down to the beach.  The other one we made says, "Eat, Drink, and Get Married" - it's kind of the theme for the wedding.  Of course, I didn't get a picture!

We put together this little basket to set at the end of the board walk for guests on their way back to the tent....

AND... we put together this cute little bird cage for cards (at Marshall's - $29.95 - another big score!).  It started out as brown, so we had to repaint it first.  We're going to line the bottom with sea shells for the big day.  We also found the cute little picture holder (almost out of the picture on the right side) that will hold a picture of the EJ and Crystal -- of course, it was the wrong color and had to be repainted too.

I found some cute bridal shower invitations that we can personalize...

Crystal's colors are kind of a purple/blue and yellow, so we're using hydragenas and lemons as our theme.  We're going to line the sand with lemons.. kind of like this picture....

The table centerpieces will look kind of like the picture below, but with big bouquets of hydragenas in them.  I think we're going to cut up the lemons into slices, rather than using whole lemons.  The ironic thing is that the bride is really allergic to citrus, so I guess she won't be handling the lemons! Oh, and we bought lemon yellow and periwinkle lanterns (like in the picture) that can be hung from the top of the tent - sooo pretty.

And, that's just the tip of the ol' wedding iceburg!  Of course, I did a little shopping for me too.  Waaaay too little, but I did score a few finds.

A new pair of shoes and a wedding purse, both from the Flea Market in Ft. Myers.  OMG, I LOVE that Flea Market, it has everything!

And, I bought myself this coffee table book of the art work of Lowell Herrero.  I first saw his paintings in Napa Valley and really liked his work. Unfortunately (but not surprising!), I couldn't afford any of his paintings, but for 60% off - I could at least afford the book!!  

So... that was my week in a nutshell.  Hopefully, I didn't bore you to death, but we're pretty excited about the wedding.

I have lots of pictures and fun coming in my next blog about our Country Sampler Retreat week end we held this month, so stay tuned... I'll try and write ya all about it yet this week!

Comments

[Robin]

Just wanted to tell you, my husband and I were married on the beach in Captiva, it was just us, very small and private but you are right that is a beautiful place, great place for a wedding!

[Ginnie Kadavy]

You are multi talented. The wedding plans sound and look great. When will this all take place...and can I be invited (*_+)?

[Deb Cizek]

Robin,

Thanks for you note. I love Captiva too - its so pretty. I bet your wedding was lovely. It doesnt take a village to have a wonderful wedding, just a perfect location and two people!

Deb

[Deb Cizek]

Ginnie,

Thanks for the compliment - Im not so sure about multitalented, just too stupid to say no or I dont know how to do that. I was making things without an available floral tape, glue, or some other basic stuff. I finally said I thought I should be on Survivor. My daughter just rolled her eyes and told me she didnt think they ever made wedding decorations on Survivor.

The wedding is Friday, May 27th and if you can get away... wed love to have you! No really!! Free dinner and drinks!

Deb

[Brenda]

I wished I was that talented and and I am sure my daughter would think so too. She is getting married May 28th and I am having problems just finishing her flowers. Plus making some bracelets for all the girls I am so far behind it is not even funny. Plus trying to quilt and have some classes there is not You had so many good ideas you are great. My daughter was going to get married in Florida and then decided to have it here so the whole family could go but this really makes me want to have it there. Good luck with yours.
Brenda M

[Deb Cizek]

Thanks, Brenda. Its a lot of work, isnt it? No wonder everybodys just happy when its over! I did a lot of searching on the internet for ideas, plus Crystal had a lot of great ideas too - thank goodness for the web! EJ and Crystal are getting married on the 27th, so Ill be thinking of you. Well just hope everybody has good weather!

Deb