The True Meaning Of A Gift

At some point in your lives your going to be a wedding guest. It's basically enviable. And the WORST part (at least for me) is trying to find the perfect gift, especially back when I was just out of college and broke as hell. So I thought it was time to look at this whole wedding gift thing from a newly wed's perspective.

When I give a gift I am always worried if I spent enough or if the gift will even get used. But you know what? The cost of the gifts we got never played into if we liked them. And we have used every single thing we got. What mattered was someone cared enough to get us a gift (or even just a card). I want to show you a couple of things we got that make me smile.

1.) A drawing from a six year old on plane
Cousin S. sat next to a six year old girl on the flight to Mexico. When this little girl found out we were getting married she drew us a picture with sponge bob and told Cousin S. that was her wedding gift to us. How could I not treasure our very first wedding present?

See there's sponge bob in the pineapple.

2.) Antique Mexican Nativity Scene

Mr. Meerkats Grandmother gave us one of the sweetest gifts ever (even though her husband told her it was ugly as sin and no one would want it). It is a nativity scene that Mr. Meerkats uncle had brought back from Mexico decades ago for her. It is very special to Mr. Meerkat's Grandmother as it was the last thing her brother gave her before he passed away. The little nativity scene has so much history and love associated with it I don't know how anyone couldn't fall in love with it. We are keeping it out year around in our curio cabinet.

3.) Six pack of beer and a bottle of wine
A co-worker of mine was sweet enough to watch our house and cats while we were gone. We came home to find he had gotten us a six pack of beer and a bottle of wine to celebrate our first day back home as husband and wife.

4.) Handmade ornament & egg nog
Remember my friend Jax? When we got home we found she had mailed us an ornament with our wedding monogram on it for our first Christmas. Not to mention she also included the recipe and all the ingredients for Puerto Rican egg nog so that we could celebrate our first Christmas in style. Totally nom-nom-nom!

See what I mean. Each of these things were so amazingly thoughtful that they mean the world to us. So next time your out shopping for a gift keep in mind that great gifts some in all shapes, sizes and denominations.

Now I have to ask, have you received (or given) any gifts that were extra thoughtful that make you tear up?

Ceremony Programs - Tutorial

Back before I left for the wedding, which seems like forever ago, I posted about our ceremony programs that we "settled" for. You remember, these little things:

Well you could have knocked me over with a feather when I got requests for a tutorial on these. I mean after I saw them in action at the wedding I loved them but back when I wrote that post I was in the "yea they look good enough" mindset. So it kind of floored me that other people liked them enough to want to make their own.

As requested here is the step-by-step of how I did it. And by the way, they were SOOOOO easy and cheap to make.

First, lets talk fonts. The cursive handwriting at the top is a free font called Dear Joe Four, I used Prestige Elite for the main text area and the headings on the side of the pages (and in the middle of the cover) are done in Eras Light ITC. Other than that it was just photos I added along with three lines of brown dots on each side.

In order to print these front to back and have them line up I used a very simple technique in PowerPoint. I drew lines. No really I used the line tool and drew guidelines exactly the same distance from what would be the outside edges of the paper:

Above is the front and back side of page 2. Next I added a outline box, brown dotted lines and headings then copied them into each of the pages I wanted so that they were all lined up exactly the same. All that was left then was to add the content.

After they were printed and cut out, it was time to assemble them with metallic eyelets and a crop-a-dile tool. I measured out the exact spacing I wanted for the eyelets on a extra cover I printed, marked a line at 1/2 inch from the edge, then punched holes in the locations spaced equally apart along that line to create a template.

Then came the easy part. I lined up the template on each cover and traced inside the holes I punched. Next I stack all the pages for a single program together and used the crop a dile to punch holes where I had marked on the covers using the template. Then it was just a matter of putting the eyelets into the holes and using the crop-a-dile to smash the eyelet down to secure it. (Tartlet totally has the how to use a crop-a-dile tutorial going on here in case you need some help.)

Besides paper and printing, the only things I bought were the eyelets which were $2.99 for the 100 piece package and a crop-a-dile on sale for $18 (using the 40% off coupon in our local craft store's flyer). It was completely affordable and everyone loved them.

Reserved with Love

One of the last minute projects I had to finisih before we left for Mexico was reserved seating signs for the ceremony. We needed to mark the front two benches at the ceremony for our families. When I started researching different sign types the only examples I could find were ones that were for chairs. 

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Not real useful for those of us using benches. Of course we could just lay them out on the benches like this but I was really afraid with the wind on the beach they would blow away.

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Then I got inspired by this idea:

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It wasn't so much the color or design that inspired me as the way it tied around the chair back. So I "borrowed" the tie idea and created signs that were more my style and colors to tie around the benches.

And as always I am going to tell you the step by step on how I made them. *grin* 

You can do this in PowerPoint or Photoshop. It will work exactly the same way in both. 

1. First step is to add the same time worn paper background I used for our menus and the I-Spy cards. You can find it here as a free download.
2. In brown, I typed reserved in centur font, sister of the bride in good vibrations font and then added our monogram at the bottom left.
3. After printing I glued a second sheet of cardstock to the back using 3M General Purpose 45 Spray Adhesive to make the sign less bendable. (By the way you can find the spray glue at any craft store.)
4. Next I traced an upside down cup to make the rounded corners and cut them out with scissors.
5. Finally I cut four feet of brown ribbon and used the spray glue to attach the ribbon to the back of the sign.

I made six signs total and the whole thing cost less than $15. The most expensive part was the can of spray adhesive which I was able to use for other projects. And by the way they looked totally fabulous on the dark brown wooden benches at the ceremony!

Did any of you have problems finding reserved seating signs that would work?

MRS Meerkat Back From Paradise

Hola hive! Well we are back and I am now officially a MRS!

With the wedding done, holidays over and after taking some time to just enjoy being newlyweds, I figured I should pop back in and let you all know I was still alive and kickin'.

It is still going to be a few weeks before we have our photos back but don't worry though I am not going to leave you completely hanging without a single picture of the wedding. Our photographer, Sol Tamargo, was sweet enough to give me a sneek peek photo so that I could share it with the hive. *squee*









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Photo by Del Sol Photography

How did the wedding go, you ask? It was AMAZING. Mr. Meerkat's Grandmother has been telling everyone that I was a princess in my very own fantasy.

Now I am not going to say our little fantasy didn't come without a few hiccups.  While I don't want to give away too much before recaps, let me just give you a couple highlights. Two days before the wedding the hotel told us that Best Man Meerkat had cancelled his reservation. The morning of the rehearsal dinner Sister-In-Law Meerkat and Bridesmaid K both discovered their dresses for the wedding were too big. And the day of the wedding we ended up running over an hour late to the reception. Even with all of that craziness, everything worked itself out and our wedding day was more amazing than I could have ever dreamed.

While we wait for our photos I want to catch you up on a couple last minute projects that I didn't have a chance to blog about. Along with a tutorial I promised for the ceremony programs.

It's good to be back hive. I missed you guys!

Tons of love,  Mrs. Meerkat

Today I Marry My Best Friend....

When I woke up this morning this is what I saw:

What a perfect way to start our wedding day. I still can't believe today is THE day. I have been counting down to this day for two and a half years and now that its here it still doesn't seem real. I know when everyone arrives and we start getting ready its probably going to hit me but for now I am cool, calm and collected sipping on a cup of tea.

Hive, where do I even begin to say thank you. You have been amazing. The love and support you have given to me I can't even begin to repay. Your kind words meant so much to me when I told you about my father passing away. The times when you were able to help me refine the ideas that had been bouncing around in my head. And not to mention some of the comments you left that made me laugh so hard I was crying. Each of you has touched my life in a way that means more to me than I could ever put into words. Thank you.

To Sister-In-Law Meerkat & Bridesmaid K.

You are two of the sweetest people and I couldn't have chosen better bridesmaids. You have stood behind me and followed along with every crazy idea I have ever had for this wedding. I treasure every minute we spend together. I love you both so much.

To Mama Meerkat.
You and dad are the most amazing parents I could have ever asked for. You both have shown me what real love is and I only hope that our marriage can be full of the same laughter and happiness as yours was. No matter where I go or what I do you will always be the most important woman in my life. Don't ever forget how much I love you.

To Sister Meerkat.
It seems like just yesterday you were taking me shopping to buy school clothes and teaching me to drive. Those are some of my fondest memories growing up. You love me in all my geeky ways the same way dad did. You are an amazing sister and I can't thank you enough for all you both have done for me.

To Mama & Father In-Law Meerkat.
From the day I met you, you treated me like I was your daughter and welcomed me with open arms. I don't know how many brides can say that about their in-laws. You are both very special people and I love you with all my heart. I feel so blessed to become part of your family.

And to Mr. Meerkat.
If you had asked me five years ago where we would be today my last answer would have been getting married. Now I can't imagine a future without you as my husband. You are one of the bravest, smartest and kindest people I have ever known. I am so proud to become your wife today.

Well hive, I hear people starting to wake up and move around. I guess that means its time to start the day and to sign off for the last time as a Miss. Wish me luck ladies. I will see you on the flip side.

With all my love, Miss Meerkat

The Ceremony Programs I "Settled" For

Hopefully you have not forgotten who I am since my posting has been a bit delayed. With the wedding drawing close I find more and more of the last minute projects to do. One of the last minute thing was our ceremony programs.

Originally I wanted to do a material covered front and back cover for the programs. Like this:

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And do a binding and inside pages like this:

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I hired a seller on Etsy to create the front and back material covers (because I have no idea how to make the embossing stay on there) and I would then make the inside. I gave the seller a drop dead date I had to have them by so I could finish them in time for the wedding. As the deadline approached I heard nothing from the seller and I assumed the worse. (Don't worry I learned my lesson the last time and didn't pay the seller up front.)

So I took the only course of action I could thing of (outside of throwing a tantrum) and create the programs out of the pages I had already printed.

I think they turned out pretty good for a last minute change in plans. Once I laid them on the fan they go with I knew I had made the right decision. Not to mention the oodles of time I saved not having to figure out how to make the covers. *grin*

Any last minute change of plans work out well for you?

Custom Bridesmaids Dresses - The lining is complete!!

Before we decided to get the bridesmaids dress made I had no idea what went into sewing a custom dress. Seamstress L. was able to give us a quick crash course. *grin* 

First thing Seamstress L. did was put together just a basic lining that goes inside the dress so that she could get the measurements exactly right. When we came she had all the seams sewn.

Then she pinned up the back of the top so that she had a measurement to sew from.

Next she took the skirt, which probably held two of bridesmaids K, and pinned each side to line up the seam. Mama-In-Law Meerkat had to help hold it because it was so large.

Next she measured out a rough hem line. She won't add in the finished hem until after the entire dress is sewn together just in case its a little off here or there.

And here is Bridesmaid K with the lining all fitted and ready to be sewn into the rest of the dress.

It may not look like much from the photo but I can already see it coming together. It has been just awesome watching each step of the dress go together. I can't wait to see the almost finished dress at our next fitting!