The Art Party & Final Payment / by Vanessa Larkey

This weekend sh*t got real. Again.

Peter and I woke up Saturday morning and started rushing around like a McCallister about to miss their flight.* 

Our final appointment with the venue (Fantasy Farm) was scheduled for later that morning. We were responsible for providing final attendance numbers and paying the remaining balance on our deposit. Our grand total was about $2000 more than we had originally budgeted for. This was not fault of the venue - entirely us. Our wedding guest list expanded by approximately 20 people throughout the year. To be fair, the venue had flagged that might happened. They said more often than not, wedding guest lists grow as the date moves closer.  

After departing with thousands of dollars, we rushed back to our place. Later that afternoon we were hosting a wedding decor arts & crafts party. As I mentioned in a previous post, wedding odds and ends (place cards etc.) are hella expensive. Bunz Trading Zone is great for some of that stuff, but if you don't swoop in right away, you're left wandering the aisles of Michael's cursing their inflated prices for wedding decor. 

Not content to spend $40 on table numbers, I enlisted the help of some of my artistic friends (shout out to Gabrielle and Michelle!), my bridesmaids and future mother-in-law, Susy. Our mission? Create wedding place cards, table numbers, and a few other wedding odds and ends for the big day. 

As a thank-you, I made lunch and bought booze. 

What did I learn from the crafting party? For one, I was reminded of how insanely talented my friends are. I was floored at their designs and artistic prowess. I also learned that crafting takes much longer than I had initially anticipated. I figured we would be able to knock off the table numbers, place cards and a few other odds and ends in 2 hours. How young. How naive It took about 5 hours in total to complete everything, with the place cards taking up the most time and resources. I'll think of that the next time I'm a guest at a wedding. 

This photo is brought to you by an, "Oh shit! I better take photos of this!" moment. 

This photo is brought to you by an, "Oh shit! I better take photos of this!" moment. 

Aren't they beautiful??? 

Aren't they beautiful??? 

So! We're three weeks away from the wedding. What's left to do? A bunch of stuff, including our wedding day schedule. 

*Any Home Alone fans out there?