RSVP - What Does this Mean?

We received a wedding invitation on Monday for a very good friend's daughter's wedding in September.  As I was reading the invitation I came across the RSVP card.  The response date was August 20th.  This immediately reminded me of planning Brooke's wedding.  I was so surprised and frustrated at how many people did not do anything with their RSVP.  I wasn't sure if people did not know what it meant or if they were just being rude.  I wanted to assume the best with the reason being that guests don't RSVP to an invitation because of ignorance, not rudeness.  An incomplete list of respondents can cause lots of problems for a host including difficulty in planning food quantities, minimum guarantees with catering halls, uncertainty over the number of party favors and problems in planning seating arrangements. 

Brooke and Brad call several invited guests to find out if they intended on going to the wedding.  Surprisingly, most of them said yes.  Hello!!!  What did they think they were going to eat if we did not plan a meal for them?  Really?

Let me just say that I put our RSVP (that we just received) in the mail the very next day.  I am hoping that we are the first ones to get our response in.  :)  Having done party planning for work and hosting two weddings I understand how important this information is and how it is used.

So what does RSVP stand for?  RSVP stands for a French phrase, "repondez, si'l vous plait," which means "please reply".  The person sending the invitation would like you to tell him or her whether you accept or decline the invitation.  That is, will you be coming to the event or not?  It's that simple.

Etiquette rules followed in most Western cultures require that if you receive a formal, written invitation, you should reply promptly, perhaps that same day. It is a simple courtesy of responding to someone who was nice enough to invite you.  Even if it is to say that you regret that you will not be able to attend.

Do you RSVP for your invites?

Debbie

Ceiling Medallion

I came across this medallion at Hobby Lobby.  It was on sale for $34.99, regular price of $99.00.  It had a hook on the back for you to hang it on the wall, however, I want to use it as a ceiling medallion for the breakfast room.

It took Brad and Brooke a couple of hours to drill through the middle of their medallion because of the rocks that were in the middle so we assumed it would take us about the same amount of time.  The hubs prepared by getting his drill ready.

Brooke and Brad stopped by just in case we needed some help cutting out the center of the medallion.  Brad decided to try and see if a flat head screw driver would do the job.

  Lucky for us the rocks were not in the area we needed to remove.  Our job was done in less than 10 minutes.  :)  Gotta love it!!!  

The hole does not have to be perfect as the cap of the light fixture will cover it up.  I will be painting it with a coat of primer so the paint color does not bleed through to the top color.  I will be doing a crackle finish so now I just have to decide what colors I want to use.

Debbie

Wine Barrel Update

The granite top for the wine barrel table was delivered on Friday.  We are so happy with the way it has turned out. 

The total cost for this project was $240.  The wine barrel was $40 and the granite was $200.  We didn't have any cost for the plywood thanks to Brad providing the plywood from his stash. 

We chose the lighter granite so it would show up between the two chaise lounge chairs.

Thanks Brooke for the idea of using a wine barrel.  We love it!

Debbie

Happy Monday to you!!!

Happy Monday to you!!!  I hope you had a wonderful weekend.

Please check under the heading "Home Tour Second Part" for today's post.

Debbie

Projects at Mrs. B's

I am very lucky to be able to assist share my talents with Mrs. B and her home decor projects.  One day her dad, Mrs. B and I were shopping at Hobby Lobby.  I can't remember what project we were working on at the time.  :)  I came across this gorgeous medallion.  The design and the paint technique are gorgeous.  It is probably at least 30 inches across if not bigger.  These photos do not do it justice.  It was on sale for $50.  I told Mrs. B "this would be beautiful over your dining table".  One thing you need to know about Mrs. B is that she is very tight with HER money.  (She gets that from her dad!)  She looked at it and said "I don't think so".  I planted my feet and repeated my advice comment.  I told her she could not buy a more beautiful ceiling medallion for that price.  The ones you see at Home Depot aren't nearly as nice.   I suggested that she should put it in her shopping cart so she could think about it.  Why I did not buy it for myself I will never know!!!  Well as you can tell from the photos, she did buy it.

The medallion did not have a hole cut out so she and Mr. B had to make one.  Well apparently this medallion is made out of some sort of cement product or something.  It took them a very long time to cut a hole in it.  It was worth the effort because it is gorgeous in person.

Several years back Mr. K and I had a comforter and drapes custom made for our bedroom.  We have at least 10 yards of the brown fabric left over (I had intended on making curtains for the French doors but we changed our minds and decided not to).  So I have been offering up this fabric to both daughters and no one was interested at the time.  Every time we went to visit Mrs. B I'd tell her you really need a window treatment over your blinds.  It'd be really easy.  Mr. B could make it and we would cover it.  I reminded her that I had the fabric that would match really well and it was FREE.  Well that got her attention.  FREE!!!  :)  We covered the header with polyester fiber stuffing using a staple gun.  It took us about an hour to cover the form.  She and Mr. B added a metal decorated piece to finish it off.  I think it looks great and it is a 

one-of-a-kind.

Mrs. B had Mr. B make another header for the window over the kitchen sink.  We covered it with polyester fiber filling then the fabric.  We had just enough fabric to cover it....but you can't tell.  It took us about 30 minutes to make it.  I think it turned out really cute.

Mrs. B is good at finding projects for her mom to make.  :)  She wanted a burlap wreath so she purchased the supplies and I made her a wreath for her back door.  It goes really well with her window header and her Christmas decorations.

I'd love to know what projects you've been working on.

Debbie

Wedding Cake and Cake Charms

I always look forward to seeing the wedding cake and the groom's cake at a wedding reception.  It usually gives you an insight of what the bride or groom is interested in.

Mrs. B collected various photos of wedding cakes to show the intricate details she wanted on her cake.  I always had in the back of my mind who I wanted to make Mrs. B's cake.  I chose Clarissa with Little Sugar Bake Shop in Alvin, TX.  We met several years back while we were taking Cake Decorating Classes at Michael's.  I knew her attention to detail would be just what Brooke would want.

At our first meeting, we went over the date of the wedding, the design and the cost.  We paid a deposit to secure the date and scheduled a tasting.  Let's just say the samples were delicious!!!  Mrs. B chose pineapple, raspberry and plain for the fillings of the three tiers.

Mrs. B's theme for her wedding was the fleur de lis so she had it incorporated into the design of her cake.  She chose the crystal fleur de lis from Little Things Favors as her cake topper.  She looked everywhere for silver letters and finally found them at Hobby Lobby.

The florist added flowers at the base of the topper.  The only problem we had was the topper was so heavy it kept slipping into the cake.  Looking back I should have inserted something to keep it from dropping.  Oh well, you live and learn!!!

During our meeting with Clarissa Mrs. B asked her if she could put cake charms into the bottom layer of the cake.  Clarissa had never heard of that before and was a little nervous about putting them in so she did a sample layer with a few pins in it and it turned out perfect.

The tradition of a wedding cake charm dates back to Victoria, England, when a wedding cake often contained small charms hidden between the layers.  The sterling silver charms were each tied to a ribbon and the bridesmaids in turn pulled a ribbon out of the cake to see what sort of future the attached charm predicted.  In the United States, this custom tends to be more popular in the South than in other parts of the country.  It is a tradition during the reception in which everyone gathers around the cake to watch the bridesmaids and flower girls pull their charms from the cake.

I had ordered silver charms for Mrs. T's wedding 11 years ago.  Let's just say the price has gone up considerably.  Fortunately for us, Clarissa suggested the charms at Hobby Lobby.  Here are the ones Mrs. B chose:

Wishbone means luck

Ring means upcoming wedding

Cross means faith

Dove means peace

Fleur de lis means prosperity

Eiffel Tower means travel

Key means future

Silver star means wish will be granted

Here are a few photos of the rings being pulled out of the cake. 

Are you in the process of choosing a cake for your wedding?  Do you have any traditions you are incorporating into your wedding?

Debbie

Our 26th Wedding Anniversary Celebration

Our 26th wedding anniversary was last Wednesday on July 16th.  Wow, I cannot believe we have been married that long.  Time has really flown by.

Mr. K planned our weekend without me knowing anything.  It is so hard for him to keep a secret or a surprise but I am here to tell you that he never said a word.  On the other hand, it was very hard for me not to know where we were going because I usually plan all of our trips.  :)  I figured we were going to Galveston.  I was wrong!!!

He made hotel arrangements at the Hyatt Place in the Woodlands.  The hotel was brand new and had only been open for six months. 

It was a very large room with a very comfortable sitting area.

The bathroom had a glass door....working similar to the barn door.

I loved the way the mirror was backlit at the top and the bottom.  I thought it would be pretty cool if there was a switch for it to be backlit without any other lights on but that was not the case.

There was a huge walk-in shower.

After we settled in to the hotel we had dinner at The Cheesecake Factory.  I could not believe that was Mr. K's first time there.  I guess he avoided all of the shopping trips I made with Mrs. B.  :)

Mr. K ordered the Center Cut Pork Chops with apple sauce.  He said it was very good.

I ordered the Barbecue Chicken Ranch salad.  It was delicious!!!

For dessert we ordered the Red Velvet cheesecake.  It was delicious!!!

After dinner we went to the movies to see Sex Tape with Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel.  We thought it was hilarious.  Every one around us was laughing so hard.

The next morning we went to Old Town Spring.  Old Town Spring has a lot of shops selling home decor, clothing, plants, toys, candles, etc.  We went by Thad's and bought more of the Creme Brulee candles.

Wunsche Bros. Cafe has been in Spring since 1902.  They have the best beer bread.

Here is a pic of me at Don Quixote's Home Decor.  We have bought several things from there over the past couple of years.  Mostly stuff for our patio/pool area.

From there we went to Arcadia Decor on Beltway 8.  OMG!!!  They have gorgeous stuff!!!  We were there for quite a while looking at everything.  I will be going back soon to get some Christmas items.

All in all, we had a great time.  Here's to another 26 years!!!

Debbie

Home Tour

Happy Tuesday to you!!!

Please check under the heading "Home Tour" for today's post.

Debbie

Wine Barrel - Post #2

We are making a table with our wine barrel that will sit between the two chaise lounge chairs at the end of the pool.

I'd like to thank Mr. B for providing the plywood and assistance to Mr. K.

Much appreciated!

We learned something new about wine barrels.  If the wood is not kept moist the slats will dry out and the bands will pop off.  So the first thing they did was measure the inside of the barrel so they could place a circle board inside to keep the barrel from coming apart.

Once this was done, they began making the larger cutout which will provide support for the granite top.

These added pieces will keep the board from sliding once it is on top of the barrel.

Mr. K spray painted the large cutout black.  The reason for this is we are hoping the board does not show once the granite has been placed on it.  The board is much smaller than the granite top.

I am hoping to have a finished pic with the granite some time this week!!!

One more thing....congratulations to Mr. K.  Today is his first day on his new job!!!  We are so excited.  We have not worked "similar" work hours in over 10 years.  We are so excited with our new journey.

Debbie