79 Days - June 29, 1946

A very happy 64th wedding anniversary to my Gram and Boppy.  I am blessed to be a part of your legacy and I aspire to have a love like yours.

79 Days - What is the world coming to?!

Bridal diapers.  I cringe at the thought of being a grown woman who has accepted the responsibilities of marriage and yet is unwilling to take the time to go to the bathroom like an adult on the big day. 

Repulsive and ridiculous.

98 Days - Bridal Breakouts - The Sequal

For those of you that have been following my misadventures of wedding planning, you might be asking yourself, "Hey, Rach?  How is that epic breakout going?"* Well, I will tell you, friend, I went back to Proactiv recently.  I used Proactiv for several years when I moved down to DC and had very positive results, but after three years, I discontinued use when my skin started to dry out and I became concerned about premature wrinkles from a thirsty epidermis.  However, with just a few months until the wedding and my skin deciding to add some pressure to the pot, I decided I needed to go back and see if Proactiv could help me out again.  

I've been back on Proactiv for about a week and the results have been somewhat positive.  I'm clearing up, but I have definitely noticed that my skin is super dried out and I need to moisturize often.**  There doesn't appear to be a happy medium in skin care right now.  I've decided to decrease use of Proactiv to once a day and will monitor the situation daily.  I also looked up dermatologists in the area, just in case.  

*For those of you that were not wondering about the epic breakout of May 2010 and were thinking, "TMI, Rach." Sorry you feel that way.  I'm open to a fault and its all a part of wedding planning.

**This might be a good reason to pamper myself with a facial at a spa, but money is always tight and the house down payment that is in our savings account is not going to pay for itself.  Six dollar masks from Lush will have to do the job for now! :) 

99 Days - Signed, Sealed, Delivered. . . All most!

Invitations are ordered!  I budgeted for the wedding stationary the same way I budgeted for all of the wedding expenses.  I saw what The Knot recommended to budget and then I cut that amount by 20 percent, at least.  Ruthless, I know.

For individuals looking to save money on wedding planning, I can't stress to you enough going the DIY route whenever possible.  The easiest way to save money on invites is to design your own.  However, last time I checked, I have negative experience in graphic design and not surprisingly, its not a skill that can be developed overnight.  That didn't stop me from trying, of course.  First, I googled and tried and tried again.  I debated stamps, word docs with clip art, and hybrids of the two.  Realizing my efforts were in vain, I decided I needed a reality check and the help of a professional.  Step one: Find a designer.  Chelsea, of SeaRaine Designs, is a new designer recommended to me by my very own, KB.  Chelsea listened to what Sam and I were looking for in our wedding stationary and designed our invitation suite for a very fair price.  I worked with her for about a month over email to create downloadable invitations and RSVPs.  She was receptive to my changes and offered me great advice when I was scratching my head.  We took Chelsea's designs to Zazzle.com and printed up 120 sets at a savings of over $200 dollars.  They should be here later this week!  Now I just need to remember how to do a mail merge. . . 

101 Days - Anticipation is building!!

Can you believe when we got engaged, the wedding countdown was 504 days!!  Now we are rounding the 100 day corner and the anticipation is building in the Munn-Batkins household!*

We met with Fr. Avella today to drop off paperwork and discuss our ceremony.  Since Sam was raised Episcopalian, we will celebrate the Catholic rite of marriage outside of mass, where our ceremony will conclude with nuptial blessings and a final prayer from Fr. Avella.  It will be short (about 30 minutes), but very sweet.  

Also, it wouldn't be a good talk with Fr. Avella unless our national past time is a topic of discussion.  Sam and Fr. Avella share an affinity for baseball, so we discussed the much anticipated start of Stephen Strasburg for the Nationals tomorrow.  DC is certainly twitterpated in the hopes that Strasburg will put some wins on the Nats' record and butts in the tax payer funded stadium.


* Sorry it has taken a while to update the blog.  I was busy turning 27, preparing for a big meeting at work, and meeting my nephew. . . in my sister's belly!  Also, the pool opened and you better believe I would rather be floating around than wracking my brain trying to think of ways to save money on the wedding.  Everyone needs a break!