I feel like this is the never-ending wedding. Once again, so much has changed. Our original plans to have our wedding at the park in order to cut costs were nixed due to a potential of extremely strong winds for the day. El Paso, Texas between the months of March and April has unpredictable weather.

Also, since Adrian has retail hours and I work nine-hour days an hour away, and I am near the end of my masters, we decided it would be a good idea to hire a wedding planner. Not only are we extremely busy but we cannot make a decision together to save our lives. So we were referred to a wedding planner by the photographer we hired. I was hesitant at first because all I could see is the increase in budget with a wedding planner’s fees. Once we met with her though, all of our fears and hesitations melted away! Angelica Juarez, owner of Mint Weddings gave us a vision of a wedding we never dreamed we could have. She also let us know that when we hire a wedding planner we also get the wedding planner’s discounts, which ended up saving us about the cost she was charging for her services. We were sold!! We were having a wedding we both wanted but didn’t know we could have and weren’t paying a dime extra for it.

Angelica told us about an art studio we could rent out for our wedding. Within the first visit to the potential wedding venue, we knew this was the place for us. It had a New York type feel to it and we loved how our linens and centerpieces shone under the studio lights. Our colors were bright and with the space’s white walls, the place looked straight out of a bridal magazine. When we first met with one of the owners of the venue he gave us the impression that there was no wiggle room in the 160 capacity and to put the nail on the coffin, he asked if it would be possible not to invite kids. I was furious at first but being that our original number was at 150, I thought we wouldn’t have to deal with the issue of space and the owner would just have to deal with kids for one night.

As the days passed we thought of more and more people to invite to our wedding so much so that our list jumped from a solid 150 to an ever growing 230. I was so stressed out!!!! We began to toy with the idea of not inviting kids but I could just see family members lashing out at me for being a snob. After weeks and weeks of going through the list we decided it was time for me to be a big girl and ask family members not to bring kids. For Adrian it wasn’t that big of an issue because he has a fairly small family and there are only a handful of kids that aren’t over the age of 14. Three of those in the handful would also be in the wedding. So I had begun to prepare myself for months of backlash before and after the wedding from my family that is until we attended a family gathering. Everything changed after we attended Adrian’s Aunt’s birthday party held at a country club. His aunt told us how much she paid for 100 guests and our jaws dropped! She was able to have a wedding style event for a quarter of our entire budget! We were floored. Adrian began searching for halls the next day, what we said we didn’t want for the wedding in the first place. I was still very hesitant to change plans but it seemed Adrian had some sort of over drive on.

We decided to go look at a venue but were warned, through Google comments, to tread lightly. I already had my guard up when we got there. But, the owners were actually pretty willing to work with you. The place was a ranch, completely different from a loft wedding I was already envisioning and excited about. I liked the fact that there was an outdoor area and that there was an abundance of fireplaces but I hated that I would no longer be able to have my tiffany chairs among other things.

Adrian negotiated the price down and the owners wanted us to make a decision at that moment because of the reduction in price but Adrian was able to talk them into at least giving us a day. We were able to fill a whole week’s worth of arguments into that one day. Adrian was asking me to make the decision because I was the one who was inviting kids, anyway it turned into a big fight but we came to the conclusion that we would rather not have the wedding we envisioned to try to accommodate more people. In the end it would make everyone happy, including us. I couldn’t imagine telling family members they couldn’t bring a part of their family. So, we made the decision to change the venue for our wedding three months before the wedding. We lost yet another deposit, bringing the total of lost deposits up to $500.

We met with our wedding planner recently and she picked up the ball and ran with it, though it was not the wedding she had initially envisioned for us either, I know she will find a way to make the place look FABULOUS. This week we’re planning to meet with a graphic designer for our wedding invitations and a potential dj for our wedding. I feel like finally, after almost three years, we are making progress towards our big special wedding day. Having all of our family and loved ones there, without having to worry about capacity or comfort is a big weight that has been lifted off of our shoulders. Now, I just can’t stop daydreaming about every moment of the big day. I hope to let you guys know of more details soon!

As for the lessons learned, my wedding planning tips for this week are simple:

1. Follow your instinct. You have to feel comfortable with the decision you make.
2. Don’t make decisions on impulse. Take your time, talk it over and then make a decision. If something doesn’t feel right, don’t do it. This could’ve saved us some deposits.

Thanks for reading, looking forward to sharing more of our wedding story!

-Adriana

Image: Rosen Georgiev / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

1. Where to start–Where do I find a good makeup artist?  As I researched this article, I realized this was a starting point for most people.  Where should I go to find a makeup artist? I found a few directories, which has a list of makeup artists in the U.S. including makeup artist directory and makeup professional. I found a few others, but not with extensive lists.  There are salons that offer makeup applications, check local beauty salons and spas for good makeup artists.  If you don’t want to spend as much, research local beauty schools who may offer makeup applications at a lower rate.

2. The Portfolio–The Internet has made it easier to check out people’s work so you can look at the artist’s portfolio before you even decide to meet with a particular makeup artist.  Make sure you like their style of makeup application and specifically ask for wedding pictures if they don’t have them on the website.

3. The Appointment–Meet with the makeup artist.  Make sure the personality and style fit with your personality and style.  Ask yourself these questions:

• Is she/he easy to work with?
• Was he/she punctual?
• Is he/she organized?
• Are the instruments clean?
• Is it the right price range?
• Do I feel comfortable with him/her?

4. Communication–Communicate well what you want and expect from them as far as makeup and on your wedding day overall. It’s helpful to make a list of items such as colors you would like, and possibly even take photographs to show him/her the look you are trying to achieve.

5. The Contract–Make sure you understand the contract and all fees before signing anything so there will be no misunderstandings.  Usually there are hourly rates and/or packages available for brides.

Following these simple tips will ensure your process with your makeup artist will run smoothly on that very special wedding day.  For other wedding makeup application tips check out our article 10 Dos and Don’ts for Wedding Day Makeup.

Image: Timeless Photography / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

For those of you contemplating doing your own makeup on your wedding day, here are a few tips and tricks to consider before applying your own makeup.

1. DO–Make sure you use sunscreen on your face prior to your wedding whenever you are outdoors. Peeling and redness can be hard to hide in those wedding day pictures. If you can, avoid the sun as much as possible.

2. DO–Moisturize and hydrate. This is the best option to keep a healthy glow, avoid alcohol, especially the night before your wedding day because it will dehydrate you and make your face look puffy and dull.

3. DO–Get plenty of sleep. This might be particularly hard the night before your wedding day. But, sleep is essential for radiant skin.

4. DO–If your eyes are red, use eye drops, preferably a brand you’re familiar with, to avoid surprises.

5. DO–Use matte eye shadows and avoid shimmer highlighters and lipsticks to prevent shine in photos.

6. DO–Use foundation with yellow undertones because they work best with flash photography.

7. DO–Use waterproof mascara. Chances are, you will get emotional, so waterproof makeup is the way to go on this one!

8. DON’T–Use heavy pencils or dark shadows on your brows. It may show up harsh on the pictures.

9. DON’T–Get too trendy with makeup. Although, I love trends, what may look good now, may not necessarily look good years from now. Sticking with a classic look is best.

10. DON’T–Try anything out of the ordinary days prior to your wedding day, such as getting a facial or trying new makeup.

The best advice we can give for the best wedding day makeup is stick to what you know best. However, there are also several tutorials on YouTube.com you can try for applying makeup if you want to try something different.

Keep in mind that makeup that looks effortless is what you ultimately want to achieve. Preparing your face in advance by eating properly, getting enough rest and staying hydrated is a good start. The best part about applying your own makeup is that you can practice as much as you want in order to achieve the best look for you on your wedding day.

Image: Ambro / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

We had our first couple’s wedding shower almost a month ago and I must say, it was UH-mazing…..in spite of the 60 m.p.h. winds. Like everything concerning the wedding thus far, this party gave us some unnecessary turbulence prior to and during, but everything worked out fairly nicely in the end, which is what I hope will be the outcome of our wedding. My family had been preparing for this wedding shower for about four months; every single detail was taken care of. I joked, nervously, that the shower would be much nicer than the actual wedding.

Everything seemed perfect, until three days prior to the wedding shower when we started getting word that our guests hadn’t received their invitations. I didn’t know what to do! I didn’t have everyone’s number to call personally and the people whose contact information I did have, I didn’t want to seem too pushy and ask, “ARE YOU COMING TO OUR SHOWER?” What if some people got the invite but are just choosing not to show up? I let things be and that is the one action I really regretted. It turns out a lot of people who had wanted to attend the shower hadn’t received an invitation. By not following up with them, after getting word that not all of the invitations were sent out, I made it seem like we didn’t want to invite them at all. Hindsight!

The people who were lucky enough to have actually received their invitation arrived right on time. The thing is the weather was not cooperating. The wedding shower was held at my eldest brother’s house and the plan was to have an elegant outdoor affair. Instead, all of the centerpieces were on my brother’s ottoman since the mixture of high winds and glass centerpieces would have created a hazardous event. The first guests arrived and they REFUSED to go outside, I started to panic. I wore a sleeveless dress on the day of the freezing wind party, but I refused to put a jacket on. I thought if people saw me without a jacket they would assume the weather wasn’t so bad and would want to go outside. Well, it didn’t quite work that way. Everyone huddled up inside in any crevice they could find. My brother’s backyard looked like a ghost town. My cousin who was also the DJ for the night, started setting up outside with a winter coat on. I hoped that once people saw the music had arrived they would definitely want to go outside, again, not the case. Only my 17 and under cousins decided to brave the cold winds to do, whatever sort of dancing they do at this day in age.

For about a 30 minute window, the winds had died down and the weather was somewhat bearable. Most of our guests rushed outside because, I think, they saw the despair in all of our faces. That didn’t last too long though, eventually everyone made their way back inside once the winds started up again. Throughout this havoc, all of the men in my family, including Adrian had tried to find a solution to the cold weather and made a trip to the store to buy outdoor heaters. Everyone agreed the heaters would not make a difference since it was the cold winds that were making the outdoors unbearable. They came back about an hour and a half later with a dozen heaters and never even opened the boxes, the heaters were definitely no challenge for the evil winds.
Though the inside of my brother’s house looked like a super-sized can of stuffed sardines the ambiance was so lively! The shower finally took off once we started serving the food. Everyone began to talk to each other, people that wouldn’t otherwise have met, due to the long and separated tables outside, developed a close bond. My world and Adrian’s world were finally mingling; it brought a warm feeling inside. Finally, my family can put a face to all of the people I rave about in Adrian’s family and hopefully that Adrian raves about too! Though I wish everyone we invited could have made it, or would have at least known about the wedding shower I believe everything happens for a reason. Hopefully there will be at least one more shower of this magnitude where we will make sure to double and triple check that everyone is informed about it.

I have to admit, Adrian and I didn’t get to see much of each other throughout the event, but it felt really nice to know how much everyone cared for us. Adrian’s mom, his step dad and my aunt drove for hours from out of town just for the shower, another aunt worked tirelessly to make two huge and DELICIOUS mountains of cupcakes for the event and my immediate family did not take a break for weeks to make sure everything looked just right. And of course it wouldn’t be a party without my beloved grandma’s rice and salsa.

We are both so grateful to have such a loving family that would be so willing to come together and meet the people that are most important in our lives, for us. I couldn’t ask for anything more and at times I feel selfish for not fully appreciating the little things in life that so many people can only dream of having.

Needless to say, I learned quite a few things from this shower. Here are a few bridal shower planning tips:

1. If you have not received RSVP’s from most of your guests, and you suspect there is an issue with delivery, follow up to make sure everyone received their invitation.
2. Relax and have fun! Something is bound to go wrong, if and when it does, fix it and if you can’t, just move on!

Our wedding shower helped me realize that no matter how bad things get on the wedding day, knock on wood, it will all turn out beautifully and much better than we ever would have expected.  This puts me at ease for my upcoming wedding.  Thanks for reading…until next time!

-Adriana

So, it’s been a while since I last blogged, and since then we have made some major changes to our wedding day plans. Initially, we wanted somewhat of a destination wedding in Phoenix, and then we delighted ourselves with the idea of having a magical fairy tale wedding where we first met, Disney World. However, we came back to earth after realizing that a Florida wedding would be much more costly. With the plans for a Phoenix wedding not working as well as we expected, we decided to have a small hometown wedding in order to be wed in a church and have enough for an extravagant honeymoon. Adrian really had his heart set on Disney World but when we thought about the travel and the amount of guests that wouldn’t be able to afford the trip; we decided it would be best to have something where more of our friends and family would be able to attend.

When I say small I mean iddy bitty! We went from an initial $10,000 budget to not wanting to go over $5,000 and ideally only spending $3,000. We realized that we both wanted a dream honeymoon rather than a lavish wedding. We already had our church date set here just in case we were only able to have a civil wedding in Phoenix. Though we have a small budget we still want a very unique and intimate wedding, we both wanted something outdoors.  The only problem was that everything we were looking into, from camping sites to an actual outdoor wedding venue, either met or exceeded our budget with the rental fee alone.

I thought back to the beautiful park we would walk our dogs near our first rental home. During one of our walks we had both agreed we wanted to have our wedding ceremony there but after moving to the other side of town we had forgotten about the park as an option entirely. When I mentioned the park Adrian made a snarky face and dismissed the idea because of its location; it’s not in the best part of town. After a lot of our options weren’t panning out Adrian finally gave the park ceremony some thought. I agree, the park could be in a better location but the fact that the area is enclosed, due to its high elevation from the road, is what drew me to it in the first place. Besides, there are a couple of luxurious venues in town that are in the worst parts of the neighborhood. So, we looked into it and apparently renting a park location is ridiculously cheap!!! In total, to rent the area from 5p.m. to 1 a.m., with security included, came out to whooping $500!!! Our prayers have been answered! Within a few moments of finding out the price, our imagination, again, got the best of us. We were planning this lavish outdoor wedding with a huge tent and hanging fabric throughout, with candles all over the place. Our dreams soon came to a halt…once again, when we were told our only restriction was that we could not dig stakes into the ground.

Because of the price we knew we would not be able to find a better deal or location so we 86’d the extravagant tent and brought in my handy dandy DAD!! The man created our dog houses for us, including shingles and windows in less than four hours! With his imagination and skills we know we can definitely have the wedding of our dreams at the budget we want. He’s sort of like our very own David Tutera, only with rainbow suspenders and a baseball cap. Though my dad doesn’t know it yet, he’s pretty much the answer to all our problems we just hope his budget wont override ours.

So we finally booked the venue and are actually moving along with our wedding!! I can’t believe this is actually happening being that on August 25 of this year marks our second year of being engaged!!

The only problem is that with a wedding in our hometown, our guest list almost triples but it’s also helpful because, family and friends are coming forward to lend a hand. For example, Adrian’s brother is a head pastry chef at one of the leading restaurants in town and has already volunteered to cater the event and personally make our wedding cake. The best part about having a wedding in our hometown….all of our nieces can now be a part of it. Before, we were worried that Adrian’s nieces would not be able to participate because of the distance.

So far the wedding planning is looking pretty good. The only things we have left to do are, rent the tables and chairs, find material for my dress, find a dress design for the bridesmaids, find appropriate music, find a photographer send out the save the dates, send out the invitations, get fitted for my dress, pay off Adrian’s wedding band (a ring not an actual band) and so on.………….

By the way the new date for our wedding will be April 21, can’t wait!

What have I learned? Here’s this week’s list of Wedding Tips:

1. Stay true to your budget–there’s no sense in spending money you don’t have.
2. Keep in mind that it is your wedding, but also take into consideration your guests attending the event. You want to make it as easy as possible for your guests to attend the wedding.
3. Be creative–There are ways you can have your own wedding, even on a budget.  Don’t dismiss ideas like having your wedding at a park or another unorthodox venue. It doesn’t hurt to have all of this information before making a decision.
4. Always have a plan B–Something is bound to go wrong or not quite workout like you envisioned, make sure you have alternate plans when it comes to location, venue, etc.

It’s been quite a journey thus far, and it looks like we’ve got plenty more to go! The good thing is, pushing back the wedding date has given us time to work out some “kinks.” Now, I can move on to the final details, which I will make sure to update you on! Thanks for reading…until next time!

-Adriana

Image: phanlop88 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

This is an easy and fun way to decorate your birthday party cupcakes and best of all, you can customize them by choosing any color construction paper and food coloring to fit your birthday party theme.