The Heat is On!

First of all, I hope everyone had a fabulous holiday!!  Ours was fantastic aside from an illness we both caught the week of Christmas, but then again that happens every couple of years anyway :)

Second, I am sorry I have been MIA, but I am helping plan a Valentine's Day wedding with a tiny little budget.  You say, "Big Deal, Amanda, people have weddings on Valentine's Day all the time and tons of people have smaller budgets." - well it is a huge deal when you only have EIGHT weeks to plan it!!  So needless to say that I have been a little preoccupied (and I came down with yet another stinking bug after the New Year - can I be healthy for a little bit or is that too much to ask here?!?!).  I am super excited for the big day - the bride chose me as one of her bridesmaids - YAY!!  Such a fabulous honor :)

Now for the details - so far the bride (my cousin), her mom (my aunt), her friend (Bridesmaid), my sister (Maid of Honor), my mom and I have accomplished the following in just three weeks (I think we deserve a round of applause!):

* Found a Church

* Found a Hall - SO very lucky that they live (and I grew up) in a small town or else a holiday would have been near impossible to snag.

* Found Ceremony Musicians - We have some rocking vocalists in the family, as well as a very talented pianist at our church (I had all of them at my wedding, too!).

* Found a photographer - Once again, our family is super talented :)

* Found a DJ

* Found a Bridal Gown - Isaac Mizrahi is AMAZING!

* Found AFFORDABLE Bridesmaid Dresses

* Planned a Bridal Bouquet and 3 Bridesmaid Bouquets thanks to our lovely local grocery stores' florist department and some beautiful ribbon.

* Planned for the food - My mom has everything written down from every large party she has ever thrown (think my high school graduation party in 2001 and my sister's in 2005!) so she has a pretty good grasp of what things will cost.

* Planned the cake - More family love coming through. . . my Mom is a baker and actually did my amazing wedding cake!

* Made BEAUTIFUL invitations for the weddings (Images to come post-ceremony of course!)

* Made BEAUTIFUL invitations for the shower that include just a little bit of bling (Once again, images to come later!)

* Planned a Bachelorette Party - Can you say SLEEPOVER!!  I can't wait :)

* Planned a Bridal Shower complete with hand-made heart-shaped chocolate candies

Now that I'm out of breath and you're in shock that we could do ALL of this in just three weeks I'm going to get back to work :)