Wedding Wednesdays

Awwww, MAN! I had this huge post ready to paste and I lost it :(

I know it's not Wednesday, it's Thursday Friday and it's  OK!

LISTS! INVITES!

Wedding planning has been well underway for quite a few  months now. We've had the Catholic church, Pre Cana classes, reception venue,  caterer, photographer, and bartender and a few other things set. I've been working from a handwritten list of things that we  wanted to have and the approximate costs. Having that handwritten list  had given me much anxiety because it was disorganized and a mess and not  in order.

Tonight I made a list in Excel with all of the wedding  components; the venue, caterer, church, alcohol, decor, lighting, etc. I  even added the things I've paid for already so that I can keep track of  the budget and be mindful of spending.

We've set a budget and will do our best to come in under that  budget. I am a DIY girl and will do all the decor myself, I think. I've  had a slight change in plans about the whole decor thing. I was going  for elaborate and BIG...a few days ago, I saw something that struck my  fancy - simple yet elegant with the DIY twist!

We had the invites sort of planned, I made a few and we decided on one design. Since I recently changed my mind about colors, I'll simply change the colors in the design. Envelope colors are another story and I'm waiting on some samples to come to see if I like the envelope color and texture.

Paper Source is my favorite place for pretty paper. This year, the gold color they carry is not to my liking. Unfortunate, but it's OK!

I'll be making all 120+ invites (we're still tweaking our guest list a tad). I didn't go with any save the dates, I only have a few friends from out of town, they all know the date.

For anyone following this blog (all 3 or 4 of you?) do you think that by sharing wedding ideas via pictures ruins the surprise element of the wedding experience? Like, if I shared pictures of the invites, would it ruin the surprise when you opened the envelope? If I shared pictures of the decor would it ruin the surprise at the reception? Your thoughts?