graduation celebration

 ^^our table setup for my graduation party. the balloons of course moved once I took the picture due to the storm going on

 I framed some pictures from graduation and had kept my first IV tourniquet from school.

the cake we got from a local bakery

I had some empty pill bottles saved up, and I refilled them with candy. I made labels to put on them for nursing instead!

the graduate

I graduated from Texas Tech and have that pretty little diploma in a nice little frame! It's so nice to be d-o-n-e with homework and studying (unless I choose to go back!). I don't think it'll set in until August when it'll be the first time in 16 years that I'm not starting school in the fall! 

my parents and brother/sister-in-law came to Lubbock for a few days 

 ^^my friends Chelsea and Bailley! Couldn't have made it through nursing school without them! We all got engaged during nursing school, their weddings are both within the next 2 weeks. 

^^Cody surprised me with roses :)

we all went to Manna Bread and Wine for dinner after graduation

claires 22nd birthday!!

Claire's 22nd birthday was last week, and our finals were over so we were able to enjoy the day! We had a cookout my fiance's house the night before her birthday so alot of our friends could be there.

^^morgan, the birthday girl, and I

the next morning, claire's actual birthday, I woke up early to make birthday pancakes. Our other friend, Ashley came over too with orange juice. We woke Claire up and had breakfast with her

We layed out the rest of the day and then went to Manna Bread and Wine for dinner.

Wedding crafts are in full motion, and I made these fabric flowers the other day that I'll use for filler decorations. I bought a twin size sheet at a thrift store for 98 cents and I'm using it to make these flowers :)

and how pretty is this sunset against the texas tech stadium? I'll miss the beautiful sunset views from this apartment!

weddingplanning: being budget friendly....this far.

These are a few tips and tricks that I have implemented so far. I think big, elaborate weddings are great but it just didn't work with our budget, plus I love being thrifty and seeing such a money saving idea come to life!

a) research save the dates/invitation making

-I wanted to make the "tie the knot" save the dates so there was no way around ME making them. (as seen in the save-the-date post) I bought 4 packages of 50 brown folding cards/envelopes. They were 50% off so they came out to be roughly $4 a package. I researched where to print them in Lubbock and found a place that would do them all for $50. For all 200 cards, I didn't even use an entire roll of Jutte, but the roll was $3.99 then I used a 40% coupon. I found that this process was a lot cheaper, allowed me to do exactly what I wanted, and was a fun way to start visually seeing my efforts in wedding planning from the start.

b) Hand deliver as many cards as possible!

-one thing I hadn't thought about budgeting for was....stamps! Each stamp is .46 cents. So, for 200 invitations, thats $92 spent on stamps alone. Then, if you do 200 formal invitations as well, thats another $92 dollars. Then, if you do an included RSVP card, go on ahead and add an additional $92 dollars. I had delivered 50% of my save the dates to both Lubbock friends and hometown friends when I visited home. I also am opting out of having an RSVP card with my formal invitation, instead, when I print my formal invitations I'll include multiple ways to RSVP: using weddingwire.com and going to our RSVP section, calling me, emailing me.

c) use what you have for decorations

-Most of my decor is DIY anyways, so I knew getting the supplies would mostly come from thrifting. My neighbor had a garage sale the other weekend and I got TWENTY vases for a crazy good price! I also have two frames that I've painted for my bathroom that I'll be repainting with chalkboard paint to use at our reception, so they're free. There's SO many ideas with this, but I want to wait until my vision comes to life for some :)

d) don't buy/rent wedding party wardrobes

-This is pretty untypical, but with the new trend of mismatch dresses, it works. I asked my bridesmaids to pick a navy dress that THEY like. That way, it's theres. They can buy one for $10 or $200, but it's there doing, and they'll wear it again. I'm not completely sure how we're doing the groomsmen yet, but along the same lines I'm sure.

e) be willing to compromise.

-This was something I did not want to do, but once the reality of the cost sets in, it only makes sense. I was adamant to have the white, wood folding chairs as the seating for my outdoor ceremony. However, they would be $300 more than the plastic white. Once I realized how short of a time the ceremony was, I agreed to having the plastic white chairs instead.

much, much more to come!

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senioritis

 
is it even considered senioritis this late in the game? graduation is 14 days away so my motivation to study or focus on school in any manner is lost.



I would much much rather be spending my time planning my wedding, birthday parties, and graduation parties.

This months to do:
-Claire's birthday is this week! yay, 22!!
-graduation is the 21st... followed by a friends wedding and then my graduation party

wedding planning to-do:
-thrift/start DIYing decor
-bridesmaids gifts
-music choices
-shower dates

we had an 80's prom for a foundation fundraiser-one of my last college events!

we had a lunch for the new/old RSC officers

we had a community group/first baptist leadership cookout at the park last week. Cody and I had to stop for the ice cream truck too