Relieving wedding stress...play pranks!

Alright, alright...so I admit it. I sent out my save the dates, then went on a wedding hiatus. I needed a break; those STDs were a biotch to put together. So what have I been doing during my lil' wedding break?! This...

A lil' back story. A co-worker of sorts (we work for different programs, but in the same tiny building) has a habit of playing practical jokes on me and another fellow co-worker. We'll call the jokester Palermo. So Palermo has been doing harmless jokes on me for a few months now. Hiding random things in my office, putting pieces of trash on my car, etc. My other co-worker played a small prank on him (she taped down the receiver button on his office phone so when he would pick up the phone to answer a call, it would still ring) and he thought it was me and played another prank on me...soo not fair! Well, about two weeks ago he called me first thing in the morning, claiming that his tire was flat and needed me to drive the 30-40 minutes to pick him up. While I bitched and protested at him, I of course asked him exactly where he was and got up to head to my car...as he walked past me while on the phone with me. Funny, right. Well, I retaliated! I came into work an hour early and aluminum foiled his office.

Each individual pen, pencil, everything that didn't interfere with official paperwork.

(Palermo reading and working diligently at his desk)

Needless to say he was a good sport about it, and everyone in our building LOVED it! I know he's going to strike back...but I'm ready. It's on Palermo!

Passport Save The Dates...DONE!

Phew! I am soooo glad to be done with these. They are in the mail, so I figure it's safe enough to post images of them.

This is the first thing the recipient sees when they get their Save the Date (aka STD) in the Mail: Custom Zazzle stamps. You can set up an account on zazzle.com and sell images to be used for custom stamps, note cards, mouse pads, etc. You get royalties for what you sell. I sold enough product that I got my custom stamps for FREE! woot woot! Hopefully I sell more product before I need to get postage for my wedding invites.

The cover was 12x12 linen cardstock I got from a scrapbook store; I was able to get 2 covers from one 12x12 sheet. I gocco'd the image on the cover.


This is the first page of the passport.


The cartoons were computer illustrated by my wonderful friend, Jon. I Heart Him! He's a full-time graphic artist and illustrator. http://www.derkinteractive.com/

"Stamps" on this page were made in photoshop using a photoshop tutorial.


Other pages of the passport included:

• "welcome/hello" letter


• "Getting to Oahu" info, including what airport to fly into and things to pack


• "Staying on Oahu" -aka- hotel recommendations


• "Traveling on Oahu", which included a map of Oahu (above) and different ways to get around the island (bus, rental car, etc.)


• "Things to do on Oahu", list of sites to see, so guests could have a head start on researching their Hawaii destination.


• Hawaii FAQ, ie. time difference, weather, and a note that passports are not needed if you are traveling within the US. Ya, know someone would ask!! LoL.

STD Budget Breakdown:
Blue Linen Cardstock (22-12x12 sheets) $13.00
Newsprint Paper FREE! I conveniently had newsprint paper left over from a project I did for an ex-boyfriend YEARS ago. LoL.
A2 Kraft Envelopes (50/pk) $7.99 (www.paperandmore.com)
Gocco Supplies $8.34 (http://www.northwoodstudios.tripid.com/)
TOTAL $29.33

I made 44 STD. Which breaks down to about 67cents a piece!

These were a labor of love...and I'm sooo glad they're done!

Wendy Wedding Invites!

I am officially the wedding invite designer/creator/printer for all my friends. And I love it. In the last twelve months I have done 2 wedding invites, a birthday invite, and a housewarming invite for various friends. The wedding invites were "gifts" to the brides (saved them much $$), for the birthday invite, I got paid in Hershey Park tickets. And the housewarming invite was done as a favor.

Last week, one of my bestests, Wendy, asked if I could quickly make and print invites for her. She and her hubby are planning on a small ceremony (immediate family members only), with a reception to follow a few days later with family and friends on Labor day. Well, if you check your calenders, Labor day is less than 2 months away! Wendy sent me an image she found on a website that she liked. It was a cute, modern, simple design that I "borrowed" and layed out her invite in less than an hour!

Wendy's Invites!

The invite is printed on white linen paper.

The RSVP card is attached to the invite, but it's perforated, so the guests can tear off the postcard sized RSVP and mail it back. The couple's addy is on the other side. I love it!

Ring Bling

A year before our March 05, 2009 wedding date, and we had already bought Mr. Mek a ring. Now, it sits in my jewelry box, waiting to be worn. It was our first official wedding purchase!

Mr. Mek isn't much of a jewelry wearer. He does rock fake diamond studs in both his ears, but other than that he is jewelry-less.

Mr. Mek and I were leafing through the AAFES catalog (AAFES is a company/service for military members and their families, where the profits go back to the service members. Click here for more info.) and Mr. Mek found a handsome titanium ring for $119 (that's including shipping!). We wasted no time ordering it. It was soooo cute to see Mr. Mek excited to see it once we got it in the mail. In all it's glory...Mr. Mek's wedding band!

Dressin' up da Groomie

In continuation on my wonderous Mr. Mek, we go on to discuss his attire.
Now, Mr. Mek and I have been back and forth on this. We've changed our colors and wedding ambiance soooo many times, that his attire has changed along with them. I would love for him to represent half of our ethnicity by wearing a barong. A barong is an embroidered formal garment of the Philippines. It is very lightweight and worn untucked (similar to a coat/dress shirt), over an undershirt. It is a common wedding and formal attire for Filipino men. But I know my hip-hop head of a fiance would not be feelin' it.

Barong

Originally we were thinking pants or slacks of some sort with a long sleeve button down shirt, with the sleeves rolled up. Sorda like this...

source: Macys', abercrombie and fitch, Island Importer

Then Mr. Mek decided that he wanted to wear a suit. A full suit. Jacket and all. I guess he figured he doesn't get to wear nice suits often so might as well take advantage. So, right after Easter, when all the spring sales are going on, we ventured out suit shopping. Mr. Mek must have thought he was Mr. Stylish or something because he was the pickiest shopper ever! At the time, we were leaning towards our colors being red and grey. He wanted a grey suit. I was thinking a light grey in a light fabric. Like this...

source: Macys, Macys, Macys

He didn't like linen suits; he said he didn't like the look of the textured fabric. All the suits he happened to like were heavy, dark grey, wool suits. A lil' much for a wedding in Hawaii. To humor him, since they were on sale anyways, we bought one.

source: my crappy cell phone camera

Now, he'd changed his mind again, but I feel for the better! Since we're mainly just doing red and there is no wedding party, just us, it makes sense for the attention to be on both of us, not just the one wearing the huge white dress. So....we're both going to be in white. And...get this...he'll be in a linen suit! We haven't ordered it yet (I figured we have plenty of time yet), but this is what we're leaning towards...

source: Island Importer

Did your groom change his mind as much as you did about your dress?!

Tribute to my boo

I've been MIA for the past couple of weeks. I had a work trip to Germany...hard life, huh. :o) Nothing like getting sent to Germany for two weeks to do graphics and photography. And a lil' par-tay-ing. :o) Enough on that.

As I look at my previous posts about wedding poop, I thought it is much needed to post about Mr. Mek. So this post is a tribute to him. While Mr. Mek and I do have some things in common (art, music genre, etc.), we are total opposites. I am a loud mouth, out-going, practical, realistic...ohhhh you get the point. Mr. Mek is more laid-back, quiet (till you get to know him), more of an optimist (which is good when my practical, realistic side causes me to think more pessimistically), care-free...he pretty much calms me down and makes me less anxious. Mr. Mek is a great father, a hip hop head, a producer, an artist. And will make a wonderful husband.