Wednesday Wishes- Reusing it all

My biggest wish for all Bride's is to not go into major debt!  So the next couple weeks I am going to be giving some tips on how to utilize things in your wedding that won't just be good for your wedding day, but can also be great additions to your new home with your new hubby!

One of this biggest pains is addressing envelopes, but one of my favorite things to do is stamp! I love the look of a stamp in comparison to the labels.  And instead of purchasing 200 return labels you could have a personalized stamp made that will not only be great for your wedding invites, but for thank you's, your first Christmas card, and everything you mail as husband and wife.

My second tip will help you save hundreds. One of the most expensive things couples cash out for on their wedding is alcohol.  I know for my wedding I was not expecting the bill to be as high as it ended up being, so it's one of those shockers the day after! It also isn't cheap buying all of those plastic cups that will never be used again.  I know that couple's want their guests to have something fun to drink besides the regular water, lemonade or soda choices.  So, why not come up with a signature drink or two for your wedding (alcohol free) that all your guests can enjoy!  If you want to put a personal touch to it- get a bunch of mason jars and straws to really complete the look.  My husband and I still use mason jars for our glassware, so the ones you purchase for your wedding can just transfer right to your new cupboards.  I found these cute striped straws priced $36 for 500 at Paper Straw Sale.  Pick colors that match your wedding decor and you instantly brighten up every table with colorful straws and liquid in a glass!

Wishing for a Snow Day in life

"Snow Day" is every kids dream!  A day that was supposed to be filled with schoolwork, activities, learning, homework and if all those things get done perhaps a little fun.  A Snow Day makes for a day with absolutely nothing on the agenda.  Free to run around in the crisp air and make the largest snowman on the block.

Sometimes we need a Snow Day in life to give us the time to completely focus on something we love, but always gets put to the bottom of our priority list.  Whether you are so focused on work you don't have the time to plan your wedding or event.  Or if you're like me you get so wrapped up in other people's live you don't make the time for your own.

Lately, I have been realizing that even though I am with my kids...I'm reall not With my boys.  My focus and attention is on other things.  So, let's all take this opportunity to create a Snow Day for ourselves! My wish is that we all would take a day this next week to focus on something or someone we love, but rarely have time for.

Where will you Splurge & Where will you Save?

So, this is a question to all you married ladies to help out these Bride's.  Where did you choose to splurge for your wedding?  Was the splurge worth the price?

The splurge I chose for my wedding was a photobooth.  I had grown up loving those boxes of fun hidden in the corner of stores.  My girlfriends and I would hit up Kmart every weekend in high school to create life long memories with a photo strip and some giggles.  So, for me this splurge had some history and meaning behind it.  

Now, I have a guestbook that is filled with smiles and laughter in a four photo strip of those we love dearest and surrounded us on our wedding day.  I also heard lots of feedback that the photo booth helped make for a fun night, especially for the kids! 

So, was it worth it?  YES!  I am so happy that we save up our pennies and chose to take the plunge for our photo booth.  

What can be difficult for Bride's is the overwhelming feeling that you have to splurge on everything.  But you don't.  Sit down, write out a list of what matters most to you and that will help narrow down where you should splurge and where you should save.  Perhaps you are dying to have that 5 tierd cake at your wedding, but not so worried about the music.  Or maybe that cake would taste just as good to you from the local grocery store (because I have to say the one down the street from us has some of the best frosting ever) and that way you could splurge on a wedding coordinator to make sure your friends and family don't have to stress about what goes where and who needs to be in this spot and this time wearing those shoes.  There are many ways to save money, diy, and cut the costs, which is wonderful because then it frees up some extra moo-la to spend on something you've always dreamed of having at your wedding!

So share with us on Facebook what you chose to splurge on to help future Bride's make a decision to splurge or diy! 

I'm Wishing for a Surprise Proposal!

I keep hearing these amazing stories of men surprising the loves of their life with a proposal and best of all getting it captured on film!  

Check out this one on Style Me Pretty.

It is a beautiful snow covered winter wonderland out here at Still Water Hollow right now and I would absolutely love to see someone get engaged out here and have it all captured by a photographer!  

There are so many great photographers who are more than willing to go James Bond on you & be in on a secret proposal. Oh, how incredible to have that special moment in print forever!  

I am telling you I would give anything to have photos of that moment my husband slipped down on one knee and asked me the question I had been longing to hear.  It was priceless and words can not describe, but pictures, pictures can capture those 

special moments! 

So, let's get this blog out there!  

Share this on your Facebook page and title it, 

"Ask her to marry you...

GREAT IDEA!"  

Maybe we can have one of these surprise engagements that we can share photos of in a few weeks and see the benefit of our hard Facebook sharing work!

Picnic Wedding

Who doesn't love a picnic?

I can just picture the most intimate wedding taking place in our Country Village.  This has been a dream of mine for some time and I would LOVE to see someone do it.  What I love about this idea is there's many ways you could make it your own.  If you're a cheapskate like me, you could hit the thrift shops.  Find blankets to sprawl out for your guests to cuddle up on.  Go on a hunt for picnic baskets and fill them with goodies like cheese and crackers, or really splurge and throw an entire meal in the basket for them to enjoy along with your favorite bottle of wine.  You're ceremony area could instantly turn into your reception area after you say,

 "I Do!"

If you would rather have your guests sit at tables for the reception use the baskets down the aisle for decor.  Fill them with wildflowers and set them next to the blankets.                          For the reception decorate the tables with picnic style table cloths.  Add some wildflowers to the center to really give that picnic feel.

And if you really want to make your ceremony breathtakingly beautiful, line up the aisle to have the sun set right behind you.  Set the ceremony time just right and you have the most gorgeous alter with the sky painted by our creator.  

If you're lucky, right when you kiss the sun will shine through and create that picture perfect moment!

Wednesday Wishes

I have always wanted to take up blogging, but it's becoming increasingly clear that with two little ones, under 25 months, blogging won't be on the top of the priority list for some time.  It's been really fun this last year to see all of the wonderful weddings that took place and I wish that I could write about each one, so I will periodically make the time to tell romantic, sweet and funny stories recapping the events that have taken place at Still Water Hollow.  For the meantime though I have an idea....

Wednesday Wishes. 

What is Wednesday wishes?  Each Wednesday I am going to make a short and sweet post about something I wish we could see out here at Still Water Hollow.  It might be a decoration idea, a pose for a picture, some creative way to utilize the space, a unique event that hasn't taken place out here, and so on. So, here's the good part.  You won't have to hear me rant on for 20 paragraphs because I won't have time to get that detailed.  What you will find are some fun, unique ideas. I'll attach photo's and I'll give a brief little blurb of why I chose this wish.

So stay posted every Wednesday for the newest wish and maybe you can think of a way to utilize it for your event or you can pass it along to someone who might just love it to pieces for theirs.

Here we go...