So today I ventured into making my chocolate dipped oreos with our edible monogram for our engagement party favors.  I had the monograms printed on 8.5 x 11 paper and it wound up 20 monograms to a sheet.  It took a few hours to cut all the circles out (which was way annoying and I didn't realize there was such things as comfort grip scissors lol).  With the help of my mother and two sisters, we finished 80 cookies in two hours.  We ran out of sprinkles, so we'll finish them during the week. 

So yesturday I recived my order in the mail from an etsy seller (still haven't decided if I want to say her name...it wasn't the best experience).  Below are some pictures of the cookies I ordered from her for my bridal party and the edible paper with our names on it (for the favors).  She forgot one "will you be my jr bridesmaid" cookie and will only refund my money...not send me the cookie, so I'm still pissed right now.  She did send me an extra "will you be my bridesmaid", so I'll have to add in "Jr" with some icing...Not a huge deal, but when I pay for a product I expect to get what I paid for...end of rant....here are the pictures...

First off, I want to thank the 10/2010 girls who helped me tweak my candle process!!  Thank you!!!! 


I was in the mall and passed by Bath & Body Works and saw that they were having a sale on their 4oz candles ($5)...I had a lightbulb moment and decided to make my own labels in photoshop and apply them to the candle. Below is a picture of the candle I bought, and of the labels I made for the bridal party and mothers.  I plan on printing them on glossy photopaper...Will post pics when I make them of course..

Just wanted to share a little of my trip to Jamaica with those of you who care...lol

As many of you know, I purchased a six day trip to Montego Bay, Jamaica as sort of an engagement gift for Kal.  Since day one, he has never let me take out my wallet when we go out, has treated me with love and respect, and really blew me away with my engagement ring.  So I just wanted to do something special for him before the house hunting and wedding planning is in full swing...

So I booked with Iberostar Suites...It was moderately priced ( I didn't want to go too crazy with the wedding planning and all) and looked really nice.  So we show up to the hotel to check in and were told that they were upgraded (for free) to their new hotel Iberostar Grand next door...We both looked at them like "yeah right, whats the catch?"...Apparently the Grand opened a few months ago and wasn't in full capacity, so they were upgrading couples from the Suites I get to pass along how much they loved the Grand...

And when we walked into the Grand, we were welcomed with cool towels and cold rum drinks...I can get used to that!!

So the Grand is an adults only (amen!) all inclusive.  It has three infiniti pools (looks like it goes right into the ocean when you are eye level), four restaurants (plus buffet), top shelf liquor & beer, and has free water activities (snorkle, wind surfing, etc...)  Our room was oceanfront with a balcony (room enough for swing and couch), had a jacuzzi, his & her vanity areas, stand up marble shower, flat screen tv, the most comfortable beds ever, fully stocked bar and a private butler!!!

The hotel also had a piano bar, theater for shows, game room, free internet, a spa and a few shops.  The beaches were very clean, but they looked like they were man made...The ocean water was crystal clear and very calm.  There were plenty of beds and chairs under tiki huts on the beach to chill out on.

The food was excellent!!  I honestly at lobster every day...Breakfast was either room service (which was 24 hours a day) or the buffet.  Lunch was an open area by the pools with views of the beach.  It was also buffet style and had many options (grilled lobster...yum).  Dinner was your choice of Japanese, Italian, Gourmet, and Surf & Turf.  All were amazing.   Next door at the Suites also had four restaurants to choose from, which we ate at the Meditteranean one night (we can go there, but they can't come to the Grand...)

We spent our mornings at the beach, afternoons by the pools (with swim up bar!) and nights just hanging by the piano bar or watching a show.  We also made us of our one rainy afternoon by getting a couples exfoliation, mud wrap, and massage...heaven!!  We also met up with a bunch of young honeymooners and everyone had such a great time!!!  I always envisioned honeymooning in Hawaii b/c I wanted "the perfect honeymoon", but I realized its not where you are, but who you are with....So now we are thinking of honeymooning at the Iberstar Grand in Mexico...it was that good!! (And probably 1/3 of the price of Hawaii...stay tuned!!)

Just made these up on photoshop...Feel free to critique me!!!  The bottom picture is what I'll be using the labels for (chinese take out boxes)

I just wanted to pass along the stuff I got today from the knot.com.  I knew I wanted personalized cocktail napkins and they went on clearance, and I got free shipping if I spent over $100, so I bought a few other things...

personalized labels for mini hershey bars (for venetian aka dessert hour)

Ivory cocktail napkins with black lettering

Cocktail napkin in plum with gold foil lettering.

Books I bought for my two flower girls.  Its a cute story that explains the role of a flowergirl in a wedding and comes with a necklace they can wear on the big day.  My flowergirls will be 4 and 7, so hopefully this story can get them excited for their roles.

Cute inscription inside.

So I got my vistaprint package on Saturday and just wanted to share.  The quality is excellent and I will definitly be ordering again!  I also posted some things I am working on for my engagement party.

The free business cards that I cut down to make them into favor tags.

My invite.  I used the free postcards and backed them on metallic fuschia cardstock.  (I blurred out the hall and personal information)

My free car magnet...came out great!!

Envelopes I ordered from anchorpaper.  I needed 4x6 size, otherwise I would've ordered from cardsandpockets...It is stardream quartz...a shimmery white color.

My placecards.  I got them free from the hall, but I wanted to dress them up a bit.  I got damask paper from Michaels, used the scraps from my fuschia cardstock and will have the name and table number printed on white labels.  (to the right is the plain white one provided from the hall)

Votives that I wrapped in velum using the template in my useful links...The pink will be used for the tables and the ones with the rings will be for the cake and picture table.  It was a little annoying at first, but I quickly got the hang of it.

wooden letters I got from Michaels.  I painted them using acrylic paint and they will be used for the cake table.  The pink is shimmery and the black is more matte, so I might put a coat of shimmer on the K.

I finally booked my "engagement present" to Kal yesturday.  I booked the Iberostar in Montego Bay for 6 days, 5 nights.  It cost me a little more than what I wanted to spend, but he really went all out with my proposal and ring.  Plus, we are planning on starting a family next year and want to get all the traveling in beforehand as possible!! 

So I ordered my E invite from vistaprint (100 postcards for free) and here is the winner: (and thank all you knotties for your comments and ideas!)

I also ran to Dollar Tree Direct and picked up my vases for my centerpieces.  Here is a mockup (using fake flowers..I'm going to use real ones) and they have tealights (they didn't have the bigger floating candles), but you get the idea...I think they came out good!

I also ordered free business cards from vistaprint with this monogram & will cut them to size to use for favor tags.

And last, I ordered the free car magnet with this picture (thanks to Joanna aka tommysbride1 for the idea!)

Today me and Kal booked our engagement party at Arianas catering hall (www.arianscatering.com).  We checked it out last week and loved the room, but wanted to check out the food and service first.  We luckily had a Christening party there today and was very happy with everything so we booked...So below are some pictures of the room we are having the party in...

I'm going to have something like this for the tables.  I can get the vases at the dollar store and whatever cheap flower is in season. 

I want to have an edible favor.  I dont want to spend alot on a favor and didn't want to go the candle/shot glass favor route.  These are chocolate dipped oreos and they would have our name and engagement party date on them.

I also purchased my cardstock from www.cardsandpockets.com for the backing of my invites.  I got 25sheets for $7.50 which I will cut to make 50 invites.  I'm going to create my own invite in photoshop and get them printed free with www.vistaprint.com.  So $7.50 for invites...not a bad deal (Although I still have to get envelopes)