DIY Wedding card book

So it is no big secret that I am kind of a hoarder when it comes to keeping sentimental things.  That's why I was so excited when I came across this DIY on Pinterest for making a wedding card album.  I thought it would be a great way to keep them out with the rest of our wedding memorabilia on my shelves.

Just in case you haven't come across this amazing DIY project, I decided to show you how I made mine.  

Supplies:

2-3 pieces of scrapbook paper

hole punch

wide ribbon

thin ribbon (optional)

scissors

binder rings

big stack of wedding cards

a couple embellishments (you can use a picture of the two of you or pick up stickers from a craft store)

2 brads

Step One: Creating the front and back cover

Get all of your cards together.  Put them in a stack and pull out the biggest one.  You are going to use this as your guide for covers.  

Trace the outside edge of your card and cut it out. (Photo below) You are going to trace it twice, once for the front and again for the back cover.

Step Two: Design your front and back cover

Use anything you want!  I used leftover things from our wedding day.  The "label" on the front of my book is actually one of the extra water bottle labels.  The wide and skinny ribbons are leftovers from our favors.  They also sell SO MUCH wedding scrapbook stickers/embellishments at craft stores.

Step Three:  Hole punch your cards

This is kind of the annoying part.  I held my stack of cards together and found the middle of the smallest card, then I made to dashes where I was going to punch the holes.  I punched the holes in the small card first and then used that as my guide for the rest of the stack, punching one card at a time.  (And don't sweat it if you make a mistake and have to re-punch a hole because remember your cover is going to be over it anyway)

Step Four:  Feed the binder ring through the holes

I take it back, this was probably the most annoying part for me. haha!  Feed one ring at a time.  And you may need to feed it through each individual card if your holes don't line up perfectly.  (Mine didn't, but it still works!)

Step 5: Create the wraparound bow to hold it closed

On the BACK cover you are going to lay your wide ribbon across the back of your book, making sure it reaches to the front with enough room to tie a bow, and is even on both sides.  Once you have your bow in place, use scissors to pop a small hole through the ribbon and cardstock, and insert your first brad.  Move a couple inches from that one and add a second brad using the same method.  Bend the edges to adhere them to the page. (Photos below) Now wrap it around to the front and tie a pretty bow.

 Optional step:  I added a thin ribbon to my binder rings just so the weren't so plain.  I just tied cute little bows.  You could also attach a cute charm or keyring to jazz it up a bit if you wanted.

And you are ALL DONE!!  That wasn't so painful, was it?

What do you think??  Are you going to give it a try?

linked up at: Create With Joy, Oh My Heartsie Girl, Just Us Four, Diana Rambles

Wedding Week: Our Honeymoon

This is my last post of the Wedding Anniversary Week posts.  Thanks for hanging in there with me and letting me remember every detail.  I hope you enjoyed your peek into our wedding festivities.

For our honeymoon we wanted to do something really cool that neither of us had done before, so we booked a cruise to Cozumel and the Grand Cayman Islands.  I had never been on a cruise before so I wanted to give that a try.

We quickly found out that I get motion sickness.  haha!  I don't get sick to my stomach but I feel like everything is spinning.  The best way I can describe it is if you've ever drank just a bit too much and closed your eyes and felt like everything was spinning.  It was pretty miserable.  Unfortunately I didn't even get to leave the cabin much.  I spent almost the whole time in bed....and not for the reasons people usually are in bed on their honeymoon! haha!

I was so relieved when we got to the Grand Cayman Islands because I was able to get off the ship for a while and have a relaxing day on the beach.  The water was so beautiful!

The next stop was Cozumel and we got to swim with dolphins!!  Coolest experience ever!  They were so sweet and gentle.  I got dolphin kisses and rode on her back.

Have you ever scheduled an event or trip only to have it not be what you expected??  Where was your favorite vacation?

Wedding Week: Our Wedding

Today my husband and I have been married for FOUR years!  I can't believe how fast time went by...  They say time flies when you're having fun.  We've been together for almost 6 years and I can honestly say that they have been the happiest years of my whole life.  

I was always one of those girls that never wanted to get married....and then I started dating my now husband.  I couldn't have made a better choice.

We got married on the beach in Ocean City, MD.  I've already shared with you Our Engagement Story and The Details, but now I thought I would share some pictures and memories  from our wedding day..

GETTING READY

CEREMONY
You wouldn't know it from the pictures but it was actually POURING down rain the whole morning of the wedding.  I remember crying, thinking that there was no way I was going to be able to have the perfect beach wedding that I always wanted.  I looked out the doorway and up at the sky and asked my Pop Pop (my grandpa, who passed away) to please help make the rain stop.....  And just like that the rain stopped!  I'm not even kidding!  The rain held off for the whole ceremony, but did start back up a bit for the pictures.  It was REALLY cold too. My bridesmaids were troopers!

RECEPTION
I remember my heart racing and still being in shock that we were actually married.  I felt like I won the lottery. Between you and me, I still think I did.  The whole day went by like a whirlwind!  There were a lot of silly little things that didn't go as planned but no one seemed to notice.

Thanks for taking the time to share our memories with us!  I love looking at all of these photos.  It still feels like a dream...

Tomorrow I have a honeymoon post to keep Wedding Week going, so stop back tomorrow to see how we celebrated!

Wedding Week: The Details

Yesterday I shared our Engagement Story with you so before I post our wedding photos on our anniversary tomorrow I thought I would give you a sneak peak of some of our little details as a teaser for tomorrow.

My hubby and I had our wedding on the beach in Ocean City, MD so we had a lot of beach wedding decor.  Unfortunately, I had never heard of Pinterest yet so I didn't get to use any of those ideas!  Poo!  I just had to let my imagination do the work for me! lol  We also had a VERY small budget so we kept everything pretty small.

My favorite beach theme detail that we picked was our wedding cake!  I thought it turned out amazing!  As soon as I saw the cake topper online I knew I had to have it!  The cake designer did an amazing job matching the icing to the cake topper too!  All of the seashells and starfish were made out of chocolate.

Another one of my favorite things I decided to add was a locket that I tied to my bouquet.  My Pop Pop (my grandpa) was the most important man in the whole world to me but before he got the chance to give me away at my wedding he passed away.  So, the day wouldn't be the same if he wasn't there holding my hand as I walked down the aisle.  I gave the locket a big kiss and started my walk toward my husband to be. 

  

My friend actually made all of the bouquets for me!  I decided that fake flowers were the way to go because I thought that real flowers would wilt in the heat.  Also, I keep EVERYTHING so I thought it would also be great to keep my flowers forever!

Left: Centerpiece.  The centerpieces were large bowls filled with sand right from the beach and some seashells and starfish sprinkled in there too.  I was going to leave it at that but my mom thought it was too plain and added the flowers.  She's better at the fancy stuff than I am.  They looked much better in person than they do in the pictures.
Middle: Guest book.  My mom bought this for me at Things Remembered.  It is SOOO beautiful....but probably really unnecessary because we had a pretty small wedding (50 people). lol  I think only half signed it.
Right: Gift table.  I wish I had a better picture for you but I don't.  I strung shells on some twine and laid it across the table and sprinkled a few more just to add "something"

Since our ceremony was going to be on the beach and it was the end of July, we expected the weather to be really hot (it wasn't, it was COLD and rainy).  I didn't want anyone getting overheated so we put a large tub filled with ice and water bottles on the beach to help guests cool down.  I designed a cute little label for them and everything.  I don't have a picture of anyone with an actual bottle BUT here are my adorable labels..

I never realized how much time and thought goes into picking out songs either!  It took forever to decide! 

OUR WEDDING SONG PICKS:
First Dance: "I Could Not Ask For More" - Edwin McCain
Father/Daughter Dance: "I Loved Her First" - Heartland
Bouquet Toss: "Single Ladies" - Beyonce
Garter Toss:  "Another One Bites the Dust" - Queen
Cake Cutting: "I'm Yours" - Jason Mraz
...and towards the end of the night my hubby surprised me with a song that he wrote for me himself <3  He's pretty amazing ladies!!

And last but not least, THE DRESS!!

I probably only tried on maybe a dozen dresses, but when I tried this one on, I just knew it was perfect!

Stop back tomorrow for Our Wedding Story!

Wedding Week: Engagement

On the 10th my husband and I will be celebrating our 4 year wedding anniversary!!  It's crazy how time flies! So this week I am going to share with you our wedding story.  Every day this week I will be posting wedding related posts so you can "remember" with us.  Here we go...

THE PROPOSAL STORY:

It was our one year anniversary and he wanted to keep everything a secret...even where he was taking me!  He just told me to wear a nice dress because it was a fancier place.  Normally he will give me hints about what he got me and let me try to guess what it was.  Not this time!  He wouldn't budge!  He ended up taking me to this restaurant in Pittsburgh on Mount Washington called The Monterrey Bay Fish Grotto.  It was BEAUTIFUL.  The restaurant is on top of a tall building overlooking the whole city of Pittsburgh.  All of the walls were made of glass so you could see the city lights and he planned it perfectly so we could see the sunset.  They had the most amazing food ever.  

As we were waiting for our dessert to come out he said we should stand in front of the window and look at the beautiful view.  He was standing behind me with his arm around me and he whispered in my ear: " I wanted to take you to the top of the world to tell you that you mean the world to me".  Then he took his hand off of my waist and I turned around to see why.  When I turned around he was down on one knee.... and since I am a giant sized idiot I was thinking "oh, he's tying his shoe"...(yeah, face palm moment)

He pulled the box out of his pocket and asked if I would be his wife.  And then the most embarrassing thing happened, I tried to say yes and I just squeaked at him.  That's all that would come out!!  So then I realized people were staring and I got flustered and started sort of flapping at him.  I squeaked a few more times and decided to give up and just pull him in for a big hug and kiss.  Everyone applauded.

ENGAGEMENT PHOTOS:

I had a friend that was an aspiring model who had a friend that did her photography, and as an engagement present we got a free engagement shoot!  They may not be the most professional photos ever but I love them!

Of course, I HAD TO add in the Steelers pics.  I love my Steelers! haha!!

 We decided to do a super casual one because that was more "us".  That was my favorite tank top back then. haha!  Pretty sure I wore it ALL THE TIME.

 This last set ended up being my favorite.  It's something I've never seen done before.  A shoot in your pjs!  And the photographer caught us goofing off (the patty cake picture).  My hubby and I are always acting silly and I just think that he caught "us" more in these ones.

Here's one more set of photos for you ladies because everyone always wants to see the ring...he did good!

Did you have engagement photos taken??  If so, did you add in any details that were special to you as a couple?

Tomorrow I will be sharing some of the details in our wedding so stop back and visit!