Final Stretch

Phew! Boy, it's been busy! My future in-laws came into town on Saturday, so Sam and I have been running around, being good hosts and everything. And that's on top of everything that I failed to make in advance. And now I just remembered something I needed to do yesterday! Way to go, Kristine... *smacks forehead* I even have things to do at work, which is a shocker. I've been trying to make things easier on my colleague, who will be covering for me while I'm on vacation for 2 and a half weeks. There's so much to do and so little time left!

I spent much of yesterday evening making my veil. It took twice as long as it should have, mostly because I naturally started off trying to do it the hard way. Here are some lessons I've learned about veil-making.

1. Cutting tulle cleanly and evenly is HARD. (Either that, or I suck at cutting, which is entirely possible.) For anybody who wants a neat and tidy veil, give yourself extra time to do some sort of edging, or you'll end up cross-eyed.
2. Cut the tulle over something dark (if your veil is dark). It helps you to see it better.
3. If you want nice edging (fake pearl string or a rolled edge or ribbon), don't make your veil at the last minute, especially if you have to do it by hand. I was gonna try the fake pearl strings and sew it all along the edge, but I realized how time consuming that was going to be and decided it wasn't important.
4. Sew the tulle to a comb and not to a barrette. It's a million times easier. (Plus, you don't have to decorate the comb if you don't want to. Decorating the barrette is a must.)
5. If you're making tiered layers, the shorter layer goes on the outside. (No, that's the inside, Kristine. Put it on the outside!)
6. If you don't gather all of the middle, make sure the ends on either side of the comb are even, otherwise it looks lopsided.
7. You can still create quite a lovely veil even if you messed up time and time again while you were making it.

I also finished making the guestbook cards. I made 4 different variations and printed each variation on a different color cardstock, with 2 cards to a sheet. They're very cute, and all I have to do now is cut them out. Yay! I wish I had time to post pictures from home, but maybe I'll take them and post them after the wedding, when I have a little more time. I also bought some stickers from the craft store, and Sam's mom bought us some pens that I wanted for people to sign with, so I'm hoping everybody has fun with them.

I still need to buy disposable cameras, and making the tags for them should be super easy. I can probably do most of the design work for the placecards and programs here at work, if I find the time. What's strange is that it looks like I procrastinated a lot in regards to all the projects I have to do, but it really doesn't feel like I put things off. I've been so consistently busy on the weekends. Maybe I could have done more during the weekdays... Ah, well. No sense in moping about it now. I should make a list of things to do, so I don't forget. I think I'll do that now.

Another To-Do List

• Finish Sam's witness forms and bring it to Padre Serra ASAP!
• Pick up dress from tailor (stupid tailor!) and run it over to dry cleaner to get pressed.
• Make Thank-You list with names of people who sent gifts already and what they gave.
• Gather up cards received already to put into scrapbook sometime later.
• Design/print/assemble programs (buy extra long stapler?)
• Design/print/assemble placecards and table names
• Make decorations (paper flowers, butterflies)
• Design/print/cut camera tags
• Cut guestbook cards
• Call Jay to see if he got a hold of church music guy
• Create/Distribute timeline for wedding day
• Book hotel for Friday and Saturday night
• Arrange music list and load iPod
• Pay rent (not wedding related, but it might get overlooked in all the madness)
• Clean up apartment!!
• Thursday - Go to Van Nuys to get birth certificate (hopefully...)
• Thursday - Go to nail appointment with Ciara at 1pm
• Thursday - Pick up Anne at airport
• Thursday - Pick up some flowers at Costco; harvest and bag petals.
• Thursday - Book honeymoon (based on success of certificate retrieval)
• Friday - Pick up Tom and Judy at train station
• Friday - Pick up remaining flowers at Costco
• Friday - Assemble bouquets and boutonnierres
• Friday - Go to rehearsal early (starts at 4:30)
• Saturday - If anything's not finished, let it go. It's not gonna get done if it isn't done by then.

Gosh, I hope that's it. That's a lot for one week! Oh, and one thing I must mention - My Christmas tree is still up! It doesn't have anything to do with anything, but it amuses me to no end, and I hope our guests find it amusing too. :)