M&M Favors, Part Deux

In a previous post, I had blogged about utilizing my Gocco Machine, as well as my time stuck in the house during DC's Snowpocalypse 2010, for a wedding project. That was to print little 1oz glassine bags with the graphic flourish that I will use throughout my wedding.

Well, with the help of my skillful mom, I was able to complete the task. Here's what you'll need...

Materials Needed: Glassine bags, M&Ms (or your choice of candy), precut fancy tags w/ your monogram, colored thread, and an awesome sewing machine.

What I used: 1oz White Glassine Bags purchased from papermart.com gocco'd with my flourish, Orange and Pearlized white M&Ms, Precut Tags that say M&M and the date on it, and gold embroidery thread.

You then have to stuff the bags with M&Ms. My mom was extra anal and decided to count the M&Ms so that everyone gets an even amount, but you don't have to do that. You jsut have to make sure you don't put too much in that you cant fold it to sew it later. We did 27 M&Ms per bag.

Another tip, because the orange was so strong, i decided to double bag them. I am actually using 2 bags, one printed and and the inside "liner bag" plain white, so that you can actually see the design i goccoed without too much interference from the orange M&M color.

And then you just fold, add the tag (which is also folded over), and sew them with your trusty singer machine. I won't lie, my mom did the sewing. If i did it, it would be all kinds of crooked.

Here's a tip from my Mom... To save yourself from re-setting up the thread on teh machine, keep the sewing at a continuous loop, and don't snip off the thread of the bags until the next one is sewn. (not sure if i said that right, but it worked out for me)

Here is the finished product!

Hope you like it! I happen to love it!

Unity Sand vs The Unity Candle

Back in January my fiance and I went to meet up with Lance Orndorff, our celebrant for the big wedding. He laughed when he foudn out that i was trying to do a candle ceremony at an outdoor wedding. I was adamant, and i shot down his idea for a sand ceremony or to forgo it all together. why did i shoot the sand ceremony down? well, I didn't know much about it, and i couldnt see what a sand sponsor would do, verses a candle sponsor, who's got a clear role of lighting candles. So then Lance said if i was gonna do it, i should look into oil filled candles.

Yesterday, my oil filled unity candle set came in. They’re supposedly less likely to blow out than regular candles during the outdoor ceremony. However, the candles can still blow out, even if "less likely." Red flag #1. Which I was willing to look over, because i wanted all the filipino traditions, including the candle. Plus i'd already appointed my candle sponsors.

And when i got them yesterday, i realized are made of a very fine, fragile glass. As i tested the main unity candle in the stand, i realized that if i even touched it, it was going to tip over. Red Flag #2: I'm a clumsy girl with no grace what so ever. this cannot be good.

Each glass candle has this funnel, and the wick, and a 3rd piece of a long, thin glass tube to hold the wick in place in the oil. Um... Red Flag #3: Assembly is not going to be easy.

Needless to say, i wasn't impressed.

So I started to google and consider my options...

I found out yesterday that they have hurricane globe unity candle sets. Too late, since I paid $135 for the oil set, which i cant return b/c our names are etched onto the glass!

And hten there was the Sand Ceremony.





Here is what i've found:

Unity ceremonies have been a special part of wedding vows since time immemorial. Couples from cultures around the world have used the unity ceremony as a powerful way to symbolize their love and commitment to one another in marriage. Until recently ,it’s always been the Unity Candle Ceremony that has received the majority of the spotlight. That all changed, however.

The Unity Sand Ceremony, a celebration that is usually two to three minutes in length, is a meaningful symbolic joining of two lives. In this timeless ritual of marriage, the couple ceremoniously pours various colors of sand from separate containers into one special container, the unity vase, symbolizing their coming together as one.

It provides a way for couples during their wedding ceremony to brilliantly show the joining of the flow of their two lives into a single stream with their individually colored sands joining as one in the Unity Vase.

The Unity Sand holds a few advantages over a Unity Candle. The shortcoming of the unity candle is that it leaves no permanent memento or reminder of the union. Once the candle has been blown out, the significance of the ceremony is left only as a fleeting memory. It offers a great alternative for the unity candle to beach weddings and other ceremonies held outdoors. Plus, because it can be displayed privately or for all to see for years to come, the symbol of the couple’s love is always present, always a reminder, and always a touchstone of truth. As such, the Unity Sand Ceremony and the unity vase can be treasured forever.

And why did I shoot it down again?

I'd finally found a solution for my candle sponsors, now my sand sponsors', roles.

In place of lighting the candle in the beginning of the ceremony, the sand sponsors can “Present the stand” by walking with the sand vases to the table by the stage.

We can pour them into the unity vase after the exchanging rings and coins, just like we would light the unity candle with teh candles that were lit in the beginning of the ceremony. Brilliant!

So last night, I stopped by Michaels, because i read on wedding bee that they sell colored sand. I bought the off white and cocoa colored sand on clearance for just $1.97 per bag of 1 lb of sand! Great bargain! now I'll just look at Wallmart, Target, or the Dollar Tree for the corresponding Vases!

PROBLEM SOLVED

Ceramic Candle Holder Favors

Another labor of love... Packaging the Candle Holder Favors!

My mom and I were a little busy this weekend...

We started off with the ceramic cut out candle holders that my aunt so generously bought me, made in the Philippines... Cavite to be exact.

We had to package them special with lots of newspaper and bubble wrap before stuffing it into our luggage back to the US. It wasn't the smartest choice given how heavy and bulky they were.

In fact, we had to ask two of my mom's friends to put it in to their suit cases as well.

As you know from my one post about ideas, that I was going to get 4x4 tucktop boxes from papermart to hold them. I also got chocolate tissue paper from the same web site for a little contrast when you open it up.




Afterwards, we finished it off with a similar sash and ribbon that was on the invitation, only this one was 16.5 inches long while the sash on the invite was only 12 inches long.



My mom came up with a great idea of sealing the chocolate tissue wrapped candle holder with a gold sticker that we bought from Staples. It added a nice, classy touch when you open it inside.



How does it look? DO you like it? i happen to love it!

Readings Finalized... and a Lazy Bride

I know I went on a big brainstorm for readings... but after all of that, guess what? I'm going the safe, uninteresting, traditional route of bible readings.

In choosing a few readings for my private church ceremony next month, I decided just to go with them for the larger "renewal of vows to the public" ceremony. Mr. Smallville agreed, since he was really out of ideas about the pop culture readings. (He wanted readings from movies like Alien and Predator, and, well, no... Just.. no.)

So our readings go:

First Reading, from the Old testement Sirach

Catholic Wedding Reading #7: Sirach 26:1-4, 13-16

A reading from the book of Sirach

Happy the husband of a good wife, twice-lengthened are his days;
a worthy wife brings joy to her husband, peaceful and full is his life.
A good wife is a generous gift bestowed upon him who fears the LORD;
be he rich or poor, his heart is content, and a smile is ever on his face.
A gracious wife delights her husband, her thoughtfulness puts flesh on his bones;
a gift from the LORD is her governed speech, and her firm virtue is of surpassing worth.
Choicest of blessings is a modest wife, priceless her chaste person.
Like the sun rising in the LORD’S heaven, the beauty of a virtuous wife is the radiance of her home.

The word of the Lord.

Second reading, From the New Testament, Corinthians


Catholic Wedding Reading #4: 1 Corinthians 12:31; 13:1- 8a

If I am without love, it will do me no good whatever.

A reading from the letter of Paul to the Corinthians

Strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts.

But I shall show you a still more excellent way.

If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal.

And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind.

It is not jealous, is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.

It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things

Love never fails.

The word of the Lord.

Gospel Reading:
Catholic Wedding Reading #20: John 15:12-16

Jesus said to his disciples: “This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father. It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.”

I think they're excellent choices, even though it wasnt a quote from Luke Skywalker, Jane Austen, or Austen Powers.

Readings, Check!

Are you FOCCUSed?

Small hurdle with the church and the small (but real) wedding ceremony, as our parochial vicor was in for the 10-year transfer to another church within our diocese. His replacement is to take over 33 weddings that the former head priest had lined up for the upcoming year. Since we only found out about this in June, and the transition was made in July, we really only had few opportunities to actually meet the new head priest and get to know him. When he called the meeting, it was a weekend that I was down with Mr. Smallville in Gloucester, so we actually drove up together on Sunday and met with him on Monday morning. Afterwards, I went to work and Mr. Smallville went back to Gloucester.

During our meeting, we were asked to take the FOCCUS test. FOCCUS stands for Facilitating Open Couple Communication, Understanding and Study. It was somewhat a compatibility test, but more to see what aspects of life your partner has and has not discussed. It gives the priest/church an idea of what you need to discuss in the future, in hopes that you come to some sort of agreement or compromise.

It’s not a short test either. It is comprised of 200 questions, where the first 150-60 everyone would answer. And then I believe the last 40 are divided into two: 20 for inter-faith couples, and 20 for re-married couples. They ask everything from the way you raise your children, to your relationship, to finances, to family, in-laws, and friends, to your future sex life with your partner.
I especially felt bad for Mr. Smallville, because he was just in DC last weekend, so coming up yet again is a struggle in itself. And then, he was already nervous about meeting the first priest, who I adored. Mr. Smallville’s anxiety wasn’t pleasantly unfounded, because first was so welcoming and sweet when he met Mr. Smallville. He was nervous regardless, so for him to go through that again, I can’t even imagine it. And then have him say “oh by the way, you need to take this test.” I love Mr. Smallville, and he was a good sport about it in the end.

He's been a good sport about everything. There were many requirements for us to get married in a Catholic Church (called PreCana).

We were supposed to take a series of three 2.5-hour classes for Natural Family Planning, where you learn about your cycle, which would really be my ovulation cycle and when i'm "Most Fertile," since the church doesnt believe in contraception, and that we should work with our own biological nature and its signs to determine when was the "appropriate time" to either avoid or try to have a baby.

Another requirement was a 9 am to 4 pm Marriage Seminar with the church and ten other couples who are about to get married discussing everything from relationships, to children and family, to finances, to faith.

Also a certain number of meetings with the marrying priest were required, but we really only got to 2 meetings with the first priest, and a third with teh new one. And then there was the FOCCUS test. I appreciate Mr. Smallville for his efforts towards a wedding officiated in my faith.

Mr. Smallville and I answered as best as we could, taking the test at a table in the priest’s office while the priest checked his email. We’re supposed to wait to hear back from the priest if anything in the test stood out, should we need more discussion. Fingers crossed that we wont!

Invitations: A Labor of Love...

As you all know, I'm professionally a graphic designer who loves a great layout and lovely typography. I also do wedding invitations and reception print items as a side business, so it was only natural to go the DIY route for my own invitations.

Here are the results:

They're offset printed with 2 pantone inks.. one was a metallic burnt orange, and the other was a very deep dark chocolate. I used a gocco to add another color to the main invitation, a leafy branch in gold. It was printed on Textured ESSE Latte paper.

I chose a 6x9 inch gatefold pocket style invitation from my gatsby (Classic Metallic Ecru), with a main invitation card and the center, and the pocket filled with 3 enclosure cards of succeeding heights, and a bonus map on vellum paper of the area that I drew myself in illustrator. The invite cards were made using Esse Textured cardstock in Latte. I didnt go with the metallic version b/c i wanted there to be a contrast in the paper type since the colors were the same. The vellum was a white vellum that my printer found cheap for me.

The enclosure cards consisted of the RSVP, Directions, and an Info card that contains nearby attractions, Airports, hotels, and registry details.

Some added superfluous touches are the sash made of vellum, ribbon, and cardstock, and a lined envelope (liner printed on vellum). I went ahead and had the return address labels offset printed on the back flap of the invitation, as well as the front side of the response envelope. I also got mailing labels done for the addressing. I got them printed on natural white writing weight paper and then ran them through a xyron to make them into labels.

It was a lot of work because I'd chosen so many different components. I certainly kept people busy one sunday afternoon when we all gathered to put this together.

What do you think?

Tasting at Heritage Hunt

I booked heritage hunt with blind faith that the food would be good. They don't offer tastings before you book. It's a risk. I was nervous.

Mr Smallville was working, and their tasting schedule didn't work with his work schedule, so i brought my sister (who is my maid of honor) and parents to try the food. Below are the entrees we were able to try at the tasting:

clock wise from the top left: Pan seared chicken filet with a madeira cream sauce, mashed potatoes, and sugar snap peas; Rosemary Grilled Chicken breast with wild rice pilaf and buttered cauliflower; Lemon Grilled Chicken and Jumbo Lump crabcake with oven roasted redskinned potatoes and a cherry tomato/zuchini medley; Flounder stuffed with Crabmeat with steamed asparagus and Sweet Potato Mash.

The food was delicious, and put my nerves to rest, THANK GOD! Can you guess my favorites? It'll shock you, but my absolute favorite thing on those 4 dishes was the Buttered Cauliflower? I know! So strange? I hate cauliflower, but anything in that crack-like butter sauce would take my breath away. I admitted that i liekd the rosemary chicken better then the lemon chicken (which goes with the crabcake combo) so we decided to switch it. I loved the flounder stuffed with crab. I kinda wish it was a bigger piece, though. The sweet potato mash was amazing and sweet and interesting, but we found nothing that it could go with on our final menu.

We made a few edits and switched around some side dishes. I couldn't get enough of that butter sauce so I requested it for the combination choice. We basically moved the flounder over to the plate the rosemary chicken was on. I also switched out the chickens for the combo platter since i didnt liek the super citric flavor of the lemon chicken.

Here are our final menu choices:

Meat Only Choice:

• Seared Chicken Filet with Madeira Cream Sauce
• Garlic Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes
• Steamed Green Beans

Fish Only Choice:

• Flounder Stuffed with Crabmeat
• Buttered Cauliflower
• Wild Rice Pilaf

Combination Choice:

• Grilled Rosemary Chicken Breast
• Jumbo Lump Crabcake
• Oven-Roasted Red Skinned Potatoes
• Buttered Broccoli

There will also be a children's meal of chicken tenders, french fries, and a fruit cup.

I was nervous to find out that the Event Manager, Katie Simmons, was leaving, but after meeting her stand-in, Leah Stewart, my nerves were also put to rest. Leah was very comforting and reassuring that they had most everything covered. I didn't realize they'd be setting up the room to my standards without needing help from my bridal party. That makes me so happy! Hopefully she delivers on what she says!

Food choices, check! Now onto the invitations next...