Breathe, Just Breathe....

A few posts ago I wrote about how I was trying to stay afloat in an ocean of stress.... the ocans waters are really rocky these days! The election came, the election went. My boss lost. I am getting married in 107 days, I am unemployed in 27 days. Perfect timing huh? To add a little cherry on top, I will have been with my employer 5 years July 17th, I would be what they consider "vested" after five years, being vested allows you to collect your retirement once you are of retirement age. Seeing that I am in my twentys its still a ways out. I have to try to talk to the administrator beg them to let me stay working here until July 18th or I will loose 5 years worth on contributions to my retirement.

(photo from atr.org)



Just like that, I can watch my hard work flushed down the drain if they wont let me work an extra two weeks. Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale (sorry just reminding myself again)  I know "everything happens for a reason", and "everything will work out" I am trying to think positive, keep my  head up and move on to the next but I can help but think, what if.  What if im not able to secure a new job right away, what if I have to tap in to my savings and wedding fund to pay the monthly bills.

I am not sure if I want to curl up and cry or just scream. I am a strong woman I will figure it out, but in the mean time.... please send positive thoughts my way! I can use each and every one of them!

Inhale, exhale... It will all work out, right?

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures!

Our engagement pictures are in and are as fabulous as I hoped they would be! Our venue is semi "all-inclusive" they have a photographer they use, but if we wanted to bring in our own we could with no penalty or problems. I was fine using their photographer as long as he/she was reputable and I would feel comfortable around them.

I was browing the venue's photographers website and the photos were Eh, it looks like he only does mostly out of town brides as most of his photos are taken on the strip.  I am a local bride, born and raised in Las Vegas and do not feel the need to take a photo in front of the Bellagio water show.

Another thing was I did not get a good vibe from him, just looking a photo of him I knew I waould not feel comfortable with this strange guy taking pictures of me getting dressed on my wedding day.

Here is where Adena, my amazing photograper comes in to play. I have known her since I was in high school and she takes stunning photos. She is new with weddings, but the ones she has shot are A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! With out futher a do, here are some of my favorites from our engagement shoot.

We thought just posing in FRONT of the watefall was a little too boring for our taste. So we decided to climb it for some fun pictures, yes I climbed it in hot pink 4" heels!

This one makes me giggle.

Ahhh, I love my pink shoes!

All photos taken by Photos by Adena



Think Pink!

Pink is by far one of my favorite colors, I knew I wanted it to be one of my wedding colors. However, I did not want an overkill of pink. Such as :

(Project Wedding)

I wanted pink to be more of an accent color rather than THE color. I decided to add little pops of pink here and there. I knew I wanted pink shoes, and I found them! (see previous post)  I also knew after looking through the brilliant ladies on weddingbee.com that I wanted pink crinoline. I thought it would be near to impossible to find pink crinoline! I then learned (thanks to weddingbee) that I could dye my own crinoline in the washing machine. I did just that!

(personal photo)

This is how I dyed my crinoline:

1. Place crinoline in the washing machine around the center post, it helps prevent it from getting into one big knot.
2. Run crinoline through the wash on hot with no detergent, just with plain water to get it wet and rinse off any thing that may be sticking to the material.
3. Remove wet crinoline from machine and set aside.
4. Start the washing machine and allow it to fill with the hottest water possible. Choose the most extended wash cycle, and a load size that allows the crinoline to easily move within the machine.
5. Turn the crinoline inside-out, so that the netting is facing outward.
6. I suggest using the liquid rit, much easier than mixing!  I used two full bottles of the fuchsia to get my crinoline bright pink.
7. Wearing rubber gloves, add the crinoline to the dye bath. Allow it to agitate for at least 30 minutes. Reset the cycle for another 30 minutes of agitation if you prefer a darker/brighter color.
8. After the agitation cycle, let the crinoline finish out the rinse cycle in the washing machine.
9. I washed my crinoline with detergent to make sure the dye was set (didn't want to have pink rub off on my dress on the wedding day)
10. Hang to dry.
11. Clean the washing machine by running a large, hot water cycle and adding detergent and one cup of bleach.

I was so happy with how bright the pink turned out, The outside is a little brighter/darker pink than the mesh/tulle inside but it gives it a nice look with the various shades of pink!

(Personal Photo)

I couldn't wait to try it on under my dress for a few reasons: 1. to make sure my entire bottom half of my dress did not look pink with the crinoline under it (it didn't!) and 2. I wanted to admire my handy work (ha ha)

And it is exactly what I was hoping it would be!

Hello, my name is Shelby and I am addicted to shoes!

For my wedding day, I knew they had to be special! Since I was a little girl my mom always called me Imelda Jr. because I have always loved shoes, and lots of them! I have two pictures up in my office that sum up my love for shoes:

(Personal Photo)

I went through several pairs before I found the ones that were just right for my wedding day. Lets take a trip through the failures.

The first pair, I loved the bling on the side, and I loved that they were peep toe. However, size 7.5 too small and size 8 too big. Not to mention the color they called "Pink" was more of a maroon. FAIL.

(zappos.com)



The second pair, I loved the color I wanted pink and these were pink! I was not a big fan of the material, I was looking for more of a bright pink satin. The bow was cute, but I could do with out it. The would do, but I just knew these were not my shoes. NEXT.

(zappos.com)



THE pair! I loved the color, they were hot pink satin peep toes which I was looking for all along. They had a bling on the heel. They were perfect, and they are mine!!

(zappos.com)

The zappos photo does not do these beauties justice, so here are a few more....



(Personal Photos)



My name is Shelby, and I am in love with my wedding shoes!

DIY Pocketfold Invites.... labor of love

I decided early on I wanted pocketfold invitations, I loved the look of them and knew I had to have them. I got a few price quotes and quickly decided these invitations are not in my budget. I was going to settle for something more budget friendly. I thought I would give the whole DIY invitations a try and see how hard they could possibly be. To my surprise, I was able to do them! And not just a so-so job either. ( yes I am singing my own praises!) I am so very excited how my invites turned out. For all of the DIY brides out there here is one major word of advice... start early! I did my invitations early and am so grateful that I never once felt the need to rush through them.

The supplies:

- LOTS of patience
- 12x12 linen texture black cardstock
- 81/2 x 11 linen texture white cardstock
- hot pink satin ribon
- lots of glue runner
- 3mm pink rhinestones
- 3mm, 4mm and 5mm clear rhinestones
- scroll paper punch
- good papercutter
- Martha Stewart paper creaser... this was my lifesaver!

(Personal Photo)

My pocketfolds were made to 5x7", for me I found it was easiest to cut all of my paper first, then assemble. For the pocket, I wanted to add a little extra and found a scroll punch that added the touch I was looking for.

I cut out all of the inserts and then put them in the pocketfolds once I had all inserts cut and sorted out.

(Personal Photos)

To make the belly bands, it was easiest to cut all of the ribbon and tape the ends like so:

(Personal Photo)



I made my tags for the belly band by printing on the white linen paper, gluing it to the black linen paper so it created a border. I cut a second piece of black paper the same as the first. Place the second piece of black paper linen side down, wrap ribbon around pocketfold and tape to the black paper. Glue the top piece of black on top of the ribbon to complete the belly band.

(Personal Photo)



Here is a photo of the invitation closed, I have changed the envelope liner since I took this picture. I will post a photo a little later in the post.

(Personal Photo)

I knew I wanted pink envelopes and I was going to make them, but decided to save my sanity and just purchase the pink envelopes for the invite and the rsvp's.

The original envelope liner was replaced with this design. I was originally going to hand stamp the damask print then cut to fit the envelopes. I quickly decided against this extremely time consuming task. Enter beautiful damask scroll print paper on sale from Joann's!

(Personal Photo)

To have inner envelopes or not to have inner envelopes.... I decided not. I also decided that for my budget, calligraphy was just not going to work. I did not want to just slap any ol label on my beauties and call it a day. I loved the look of the wrap around labels and decided to make my own.

And that my lovelies is my invitation suite. A labor of love, but well worth it!







Been missing... trying to stay afloat in an ocean of stress

So, I appologize for not updating in the past few weeks.... I have been a little extremely stressed. Yes, wedding planning can be stressful, what color linens, flowers and details oh my! But, life and work has been getting the best of me in recent weeks. I think someone is testing my limits to see how much I can handle before I just fall apart.


Let me explain, I work for a Judge in Las Vegas. My employment is determined by his re-election. Usually, this wouldn't be overly stressful. He is very respected in the community, well liked and should have no problem getting re-elected. If you google Judges son arrested for Bellagio Heist.... yep you will find my boss' name. That is why my stress level has gone up and up and up.


As if that is not enough to try to handle on top of planning my own September wedding and being in one of my best friends weddings in July my fiance job added a whole new twist on things. He is in law enforcement and has to go to an academy to get his POST certification in Nevada. We have known this since January and they have not given him any information as to when it will be, just "sometime this year". He asked about our wedding and the dates we were planning our honeymoon for and was told that it should be no problem and to go ahead and book the honeymoon.


Never trust government employers. End of story. We book our honeymoon, 7 night cruise to the Carribbean balcony suite. Life is good, we are counting down the days. His Sergeant then tells him that his academy will be 8 weeks long and it starts on September 6th. Ummm we are getting married September 24th and leaving for our honemoon on September 30th. Well we WERE leaving for our honeymoon, now we get to cancel it and plan on going sometime before the end of the year hopefully.


So, that my friends is why I have not been keeping you updated on my wedding plans! But, I have been hard at work. Invitations are done. They were a labor of love and turned out amazing! I will post about those soon. I am currently working out final details on our centerpieces so I can get started. It seems like we have so much time left, but in reality we are just over 4 months away!

I bought the dress....then returned it for THE dress!

Before I was officially engaged, I went into David’s Bridal with one of my friend’s who was looking for her dress. When we walked in I saw what I thought (at the time) was the most amazing dress I have ever seen! I HAD to have it! I talked to the sales woman who informed me it was a sample and they have not officially added it to their line so what they have in stock is all they have. It cannot be ordered. My heart sunk, I wasn't engaged yet but we were talking about it a lot! Do I buy the dress before I have the ring? Is it bad luck? I kept going back and forth on it.

I brought my mom with me to go look at the dress that I fell in love with. When we got to the store she wanted me to try on the dress we went there to see, but also some that were a different style to make sure I was still set on the one dress. Looking back, I had such tunnel vision that day! I didn't even want to consider any other dress. This is the FIRST dress I bought( and later returned)

“It’s nice” .... wasn’t the reaction I was hoping for from my mom. I thought she was going to love the dress as much as I did. She told me that "it’s not what I pictured you in" While I was standing there in the fully mirrored room another bride-to-be walked out and my mom said... THAT is what I picture you in. Me, being stubborn didn't want to even try it on.  She told me that she would not pay for my wedding dress before I was engaged. (My mom has always said she wants to buy my wedding dress, I knew this was her way of saying I don't like this one bit) I decided to go ahead and order dress number one.

Fast forward one month.... I am now officially engaged! (yay!) I am thinking about our wedding plans, colors, all the details, etc. We decided on Hot Pink, Black, Silver and White. Uh oh! My dress is Ivory. My mind starts to go crazy, did I make a mistake, should I have waited, ahhhhhhh!

I decide to stop at David's Bridal on my way home from work; I know I know, you're not supposed to have dress regret. I did. I decided to try on the dress my mom loved, because even though I didn't want to admit it the day we were at the store.... a little part of me loved it too!  I asked if I could try on the dress I already purchased and the one I couldn't stop thinking about.  First, I tried on the dress I already bought.... it had lost its "wow factor" and I realized.... this thing is really heavy!  I got into dress number two..... walk out to the mirror and realize THIS is my dress, I felt like a bride.

I called my mom, told her my dilemma, asked her to go with me again to look at dresses. I also had my bridesmaids come with me. I again, put on dress number one…. Eh so so. I changed into dress number two and when I walked out my mom had a huge smile on her face, one of my bridesmaids got teary eyed… I knew this was THE dress for me.

Oh wait, of course there is a BUT… this whole dress situation has to be difficult for me! (Sorry Andrea at David’s Bridal! Thank you for being so patient with me!)  The dress I tried on was Ivory… I wanted to order white. And also THE dress is made out of delicate material and I was afraid that with a bustle, one wrong move or an accident step on the dress and my beautiful gown will have one not-so-beautiful hole.  Not to mention the lady showed me what the bustle on my gown would look like; it was a train wreck.

The picture speaks for itself! I opted for no train, in white with a cathedral veil. I will have the look of a train walking down the aisle, and the convenience of no bustle. Best of both worlds! Dress is hanging safely at my parents house and is so beautiful I cannot wait to wear it! Did any of you have dress regret? Change your dress? I did, and it was the best change I could have made!

(all personal photos)

We are booked! It's official, September 24, 2011!

Being from Las Vegas, I did not want the typical "Las Vegas Wedding" I wanted there to be no sign of Elvis within a 5 mile radius if possible. I did not want to go through a drive through or any of the stereotypical "Vegas Wedding" cliche's. With that being said, I also was not willing to pay the $40,000+ price tag that came with most of the Non-Vegas wedding venues.

My goal was to try to keep our wedding as close to $10,00 as possible. Mission accomplished.... enter the Plaza at Whitney Ranch. I found this venue online and it seemed perfect for what I wanted! It didn't have the fancy grass and waterfalls that the country clubs all had, but I am allergic to grass anyway! From the outside, our venue doesn't look like much; walk in the entrance and you walk in to a stunning three story spiral staircase. The rooms are in very neutral colors, a DIY Brides dream! The owner was amazing, and he gave me the green light on all of my decorating ideas/questions. Millions of ideas began running through my mind, where to start! The best part of this venue..... all inclusive! One price, includes the venue, caterer, open bar, photographer, cake, rental items, DJ, officiant and flowers. It gets better, if we decide we want to bring in our own vendor instead of using theirs, we can!

(personal photos)

Beautiful venue, clean slate for my DIY ideas, all-inclusive and ability to use my own vendors if I find one I would rather use. All under $10,000..... yes please! We signed the contract and locked in our date.

When's the big day?

After getting engaged it seems like every person we came in contact with had the same question... " When's the big day?" Ummmm, I just found out I was getting married, how am I supposed to know when! It is still processing. 

A few days later we had a chance to talk about dates, we thought about getting married on September 10, 2011. It was far enough out it would give us plenty of time to sort out which side of the country we would settle down in, and not to mention it was a cute date 09-10-11.  Well, that date came crashing down quickly. " That day doesn't work for me, I can't make it, why does it have to be in September- can't you do it in December?" It's OUR wedding, we will pick our own date. Now, I have always said since I was young I would never allow myself to become a bridezilla once I became engaged. But really... its my day, not yours. 

Moving on, we eventually decided against September 10, 2o11 for us, not for anyone else. Our big day is now September 24,2011. If the day we got engaged the question was "when's the big day?" I can only imagine how soon after the wedding we will be getting "When are you having a baby?" To answer the question now.... we plan on waiting a few years so we can travel and enjoy being newlyweds.

Four months later, he becomes my forever

I flew to Connecticut to see Sam in July of 2010 for a yearly event he helps run, Sailfest. It is a festival of food, music and fun on the pier in New London, CT. It was three days, three very busy days. We woke up early to help set-up and were there late to help shut down. I was just counting down to Saturday night, as Sam really built up my expectations for the firework display that they put on each year. He bragged about how wonderful it was, and he knew how much I LOVE fireworks! 

Saturday Sam had to be down at Sailfest bright and early (6am) and being the gentleman he is, he did not want me to have to wake up that early on my vacation. I knew I loved this man! He told me to sleep in and his mom would pick me up in the morning after I woke up and was ready to go. His mom picked me up, we went to get lunch and a little shopping. She dropped me off Downtown New London  a little after noon and I met up with Sam. He was very busy and seemed extra stressed. I assumed it was because the event was stressing him out, but I later found out it was for other reasons. There was a storm on its way and the fireworks might have to get cancelled if the storm hits. I was crossing my fingers and toes it held off as I was ready to see some fireworks! Saturday night finally gets here, the weather is cooperating, there was a chance of rain. Fireworks are still ago, I am one happy girl. Because he is on the planning committee we are able to have a front row seat for the fireworks, right on the pier. The fireworks are light from barges out in the middle of the river. Being from Las Vegas this is all new to me! I am a desert girl, so fireworks over the water.... heaven!

Sam and I were waiting for the fireworks to begin he is standing behind me resting his chin on my shoulder. In this moment I feel like everything is perfect. I am standing with the man of my dreams, over looking a beautiful river and getting ready for one of the best firework displays in the country. The fireworks begin, Sam was right! I have no words to describe the beauty. It was unlike anything I had ever seen. There were two barges in the middle of the river, each were lighting off fireworks. I am used to seeing fireworks shoot up into the sky, however, it was new to me to see fireworks shoot out to the side. In Las Vegas, that would just mean one nasty desert fire! To say the least, I was memorized!

Sam was talking into my ear, I was trying to listen and pay attention to what he was saying but the fireworks took part of my attention. He kept trying to get me to turn around, but they kept shooting off my favorite fireworks that look like floating glitter and I kept saying "wait, these are my favorites!" He was still standing behind me talking into my ear and say, "life with you has been a fairy tale and I would like to continue this fairytale." He put his hands on my shoulders and turned me around  for what I thought was a kiss, but he dropped to one knee and asked me to marry him. I was in total shock and could not believe what was happening. Of course I said yes, but he did ask "that was a yes, right?" I responded Yes! Yes! 

I felt like I was floating, I was going to have my Mr. Wonderful forever! I was so excited to call my parents and share my news, when I called my dad answered the phone and he said, "I already knew, but I am going to put you on speaker so you can tell your mom"  Sam asked by dads permission, but my dad decided to keep that little bit of information from my mom.  I told my mom I was engaged and all she could say was "WHAT!? OMG Shelby I am so happy for you!" followed by "Robby, You knew and didn't tell me!!" 

Now, I thought that this night couldn't get any better, I was engaged to the man of my dreams and my parents couldn't be happier for me. Life is great! But, my amazing Fiance was thoughtful and wanted to be able to share our excitement with my friends and family back home and had someone film our engagement. I love being able to look back at that moment and I am so happy we have that recorded to share with our loved ones.

An email started it all...

From the bride....

My handsome husband-to-be and I met on match.com, he sent me an email a few weeks before his family was coming to Las Vegas for vacation. I was very hesitant to even respond to his email since we lived on opposite sides of the country and he was only going to be in Las Vegas for vacation. I had no desire to be a tour guide. I decided to go ahead and respond to his email since he seemed like a nice and normal guy. We exchanged a few emails and then exchanged phone numbers. The first time we talked on the phone we hit it off completely, we were on the phone for close to 3 hours! 

I met him down on Fremont street on March 3, 2010. He and his family had gone to dinner at Margaritaville and he bought me a purple Hawaiian lei. We walked around Fremont Street, played slot machines and talked for hours. Nothing that I would normally do on a Wednesday night! But something about him drew me in. Unfortunately, we were not able to meet up again before he left Las Vegas.

After he left Las Vegas we talked just about every day for hours each day. When we were not talking on the phone, we were texting back and forth. A few weeks after he left we were both saying how much we wanted to see each other again and he said I should go see him in Connecticut. I went to Connecticut to see my handsome husband-to-be April 27th and spent a week with him and it was amazing! I knew before it was even time for me to come back to Las Vegas that I could not picture my life without him. The rest is history!

Now...the Groom's side

My bride-to-be tells our story best, but leaves out certain behind the scenes parts of our fairy tale story. I'll pick-up the story right before our much anticipated first face-to-face encounter. I had just finished dinner with my family at Margaritaville and decided to buy her a fresh flower Hawaiian lei, with the proceeds benefiting Jimmy Buffet's children's charity. My family and I left the restaurant and heading down towards Fremont Street to see the places in the original Strip that started it all , gambling and the world's biggest TV on their mind, intrigue and a beautiful young woman I was dying to meet on mine.

So we started our evening at Binion's but my family couldn't find a spot they felt was lucky, so we bounced around to the different casinos, the whole time trying to coordinate a meet and greet with her via text message. Finally they decided Binion's had a lucky feel to it after all, and my family unleashed a gambling fury on the gaming floor, but the youngest (me) had other pursuits in mind, my now, bride-to-be.

So I finally told her where I had landed and it just happened to be directly across from where she had parked her car, which happened to be the same exact place she parked for work. As I impatiently waited for her arrival or at least a blow off call, I saw in the distance the gorgeous young lady that would steal my heart later that evening walking my and smiling like she felt the exact way I had at that very moment, smitten and intrigued.

As the evening draw to a close, after an hour or two of "Slot Machine Serenades" of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and "Marry Had a Little Lamb" and what seemed like a lifetime of stories, we bid each other ado to a promise of breakfast on my last morning in Las Vegas. Text messages were constantly exchanged and leading up to the breakfast date but on my last night in town the texts had abruptly ended. Writing it off as nothing I went about walking around the strip by myself then to bed early in the morning expecting to get up and get breakfast with my now, bride-to-be as if my vacation would never end.

I made myself get out of bed that morning three hours after I actually went to bed and got ready nice and early for the impending breakfast date with my new found love interest only to not have my calls or texts returned.

So I wrote it off as her not being all that into me and reasoned with myself that she was 3,000 miles away and living in Sin City, it never would have amounted to much anyway. So I ate with my family at the best breakfast buffet I have ever had (the Bellagio) and got all my stuff ready to fly home.

At the airport I had the previous nights winnings in my pocket, not the ATM receipts from the prior nights losings, and I decided to treat myself to a treatment of aroma therapy at the airport. As I was sitting the enjoying chamomile and bubble gum scented oxygen I received a curious text from my now, bride-to-be saying she had been at the hospital all night with her friend without cellular service. So I told her I was getting on the plane and would call her when I got home. I did exactly that and I believe we talked for three hours that night, as if we had known each other for years, and that I can honestly say is when I fell head over heals for the love of my life, my incredible bride-to-be…

I've Joined the blogging world

Well--I've finally caved in and started a blog; a place to keep my ideas, projects and everything wedding. I am in a stage of my life that I will only go through once, I feel that it is beneficial to document my experiences. I'm getting married. Wedding planning is in full force. I will try to recap the story of us and fill you in on all the wedding details as they unfold. I hope you enjoy my road to the aisle as much as I am.