Help Our Wedding Make Cents

Summer Running

2010-08-20T18:04:00.000-07:00

Wow.

One year anniversary. Done. (And me without my kazoo...)

Lots of things have happened over the past year, and looking back, it's nice to know that we've chronicled it all SOMEWHERE -- even if it is on a ridiculously pink blog. (I do remember thinking at the beginning of bloggerdom, "Pink will work. Pink is a wedding color, right?")

Matt and I are headed back to work after a full summer of a lot of nothing. To be honest, this was our first real summer of relaxation: no moving across the country, no planning and funding a wedding, no absolute-set-in-stone-from-the-beginning-of-whenever travel plans. It feels... good.

(I should take this time to apologize for the lack of photos in this post. I have a new laptop and I haven't figured out how to get the little external hard-drivey thingy to transfer my photos into iPhoto. Oy.)

And then I realize how very fortunate we are to have had all this time to spend together! Most couples don't really have that opportunity, unless... well... unless they're both teachers like we are. And even then, there's grad school, summer school, professional development... kids...

We didn't do ANY of that this year. (So lucky. I know.)

So. The question remains: what would YOU do if you had an ENTIRE summer (June 4 through August 23) to do whatever it was you wanted to do?

The Photogs Made Me Do It.

2010-04-13T17:31:00.000-07:00

Texas school play season is (almost) finally over, and I can feel less guilty (almost) about putting off my teacher duties to (finally) give the 12 loyal followers that remain a glimpse into wedding history.

But... before I do... let me procrastinate just a bit more.

The confusion over the $7117 over there. Let's talk about that.

No. We did not raise $7117 with this site. All of that $7117 (sans the $300 below) came from our saving and saving and saving, and gifts from our immediate family.

We did raise about $300 with this site. Which is pretty cool, considering it was a long shot in the first place, right? We've gotten a lot of feedback on the concept -- both good and bad. I think that's pretty cool too. I don't think that by exchanging ad space for money for my wedding I've doomed my marriage. Some people seem to think this, but luckily, neither I nor my husband do.

Of the $300 we raised, we spent $70 on our rings from TitaniumKnights. We decided this would be the only purchase we'd make with the blog funds. It's a lasting reminder that this community of folks is, simply put, really wonderful.

The rest of the $300 goes to the American Cancer Society, as noted in our (well... my) original post.

And now, as the cool kids like to say, a picture's worth a thousand words:

At left: Me laughing at Matt's vows. (He mentioned sharing a piece of his octopus with me.)

At right: Matt looking very James-Bond villain. Less so with the girl with the flowers on his lap.

Clockwise from top left:

My $5 shoes my sister purchased at about 2am the night before, adorned with wedding ribbon; cupcakes on the homemade cupcake tower (the ones with fruit on them were made by my mother); Tent City!; my hair, made gorgeous by the flower that my bridesmaids stole from the centerpieces; my mother's wedding-dress-turned- card-holder (she called it the "Hobo gown")

All wedding photos courtesy of Gelfand-Piper Photography.

Thank You Notes... er... Postcards?

2009-09-21T19:39:00.000-07:00

I was waiting to post until I could offer some photos for your bleary-wedding-eyed perusal, but I'm dying to know:

What's your take on sending postcards as thank-you notes?

Is it -- I dare not speak the word, but I'm typing, so it seems okay -- "tacky?" Is it budget-minded?

And what's the Miss Manners approach to how-long-do-we-have-before-it's-TOO-long between wedding and thank-you notes?

Matt and I are both bombarded with grading papers (I have almost 200 students this year... who makes these decisions?!) and teacherly stuff (Matt works at a charter school and wears many hats on his bald head; I run the Drama department), and we're just now getting thank-you cards fixed up.

Did we have an epic fail? (I think that's what the kids are saying these days.)

Let us know.

More news to come on what we've done with the fundraised cashola. (I think y'all will be pleasantly surprised.)

In the meantime, here's a happy little nugget of photojournalism for you, courtesy of my good friend, Emily.

Go To Go Tu Jewelry... For Reals.

2009-08-27T09:32:00.000-07:00

A brief -- and yet completely informative -- post about jewelry.

My wedding jewelry consisted of my engagement ring, my mother's diamond earrings, and some flowers that my bridesmaids hijacked from the centerpieces to put in my hair. I'm a simple girl, and I like simple things.

That said, about two days before my wedding, a nice jeweler made a donation to my wedding fund and asked if I could promote his Etsy shop here on my blog.

After taking a look at his cool stuff, I am honored to share with you GoTuJewelry on Etsy. Take a look at this ring!

Um. It's super cool. It's so super cool, it even has me saying things like "super cool."

Go check it out, folks.

Yeah.

Long Time, No Cliched Blog Post Titles...

2009-08-25T09:18:00.000-07:00

Well. We done did it. We got hitched.

There's much to tell -- and even an ad to post for a generous donor! -- but I must finish my first full day of work (not to mention recover from all of our travels) before I tell the tales.

Happy Tuesday everyone.

If the Shoe Fits, Don't Use Cliches in Blog Post Titles

2009-07-30T16:07:00.000-07:00

I recently got a phone call from one of my bridesmaids.

"I'm shopping for a dress," she said, "and I wanted to be sure that I got the color right. There's this reddish pink one I like that I sent you the picture of, and there's this teal one."

"Whatever you think looks best," I told her. "To be honest, the colors I sent you are guidelines. You get whatever you want."

"Okay. And I think I'm going with flip-flops. Is that okay?"

"Sure," I said. "I don't even have shoes yet."

"YOU DON'T HAVE SHOES???"

"Why is this a panic situation?" I wondered, after I'd hung up. Should I be panicking? She was panicking. When should I begin panicking? After all, I only got the dress in the last week or so. How could I buy shoes for a dress I didn't have?

(In my good friend's defense, she is a planner. She is getting married next May, and I think she already has the whole shebang planned out, down to the napkin rings. She also offered to lend me a pair of white shoes, to which I said, "Why would I want white shoes? I figure I'm already wearing a white dress outdoors. Why tempt fate?")

So here, Constants, are the runners-up for shoes-that-may-or-may-not-get-to-me-in-time-for-our-wedding. Please help. The website countdown mockery continues, and as it stands, I'll probably have to have them shipped to Pittsburgh and not have time to exchange them if they don't fit.

These ones make me happy for two reasons. First of all, they're blue and metallic, which matches the nail polish I'll have on my toes. Secondly, they remind me of this pink pair of metallic flats I used to own that Matt HATED. (Maybe I shouldn't get them? I don't know. There's something fun in digging up the past.)

These ones here are simple... and girly. It's the girly part that I'm adjusting to. I like them. They put me about an inch or so off the ground (which is what I need to keep from tripping over my gown), but they're LAVENDER. They remind me of My Little Pony. I don't know why.

Less like My Little Pony, and more like "I-might-wear-these-to-ride-a-pony," I'm afraid of clip-clopping around the dance floor like a horse in these. But again, they would keep the dress from dragging (I think). Plus, they're blue. And that and my toes would cover the whole "something blue" angle that I'm supposed to be covering. Right?

Quite possibly my favorite, but only because it's the most colorful. I really was looking for VERY colorful shoes, but I can't seem to find them. This heel scares me. I mean... really. They're huge. I might fall down. Hard to say.

And that, as they say, is that. It's what I've come up with after searching, for... oh... I don't know... 15 minutes? I guess the big things are that I want a sandal so my toes show, I'm big on comfort (no blisters need apply), and I'm a big ol' klutz. Anyone else out there have any colorful suggestions for shoes? I'm open to tons and tons (and tons) of suggestions.

There's still time to make a donation or to check out our sponsors. No lie.

I Hope Our Fingers Don't Swell and Prove the Jeweler Right

2009-07-22T16:44:00.001-07:00

Matt is grating root vegetables and I'm at the computer while we listen to a Philip Glass album. (I really want Philip Glass to buy that loaf of bread already.)

While the countdown on the website for our wedding guests mocks me with its counting (30 days... 29 days... 28 days until our wedding? That can't be right!? Who asked you to COUNT, Website???), here's some of what I've/we've accomplished thus far in terms of procrastination. Er. Planning.

1) Bought wedding bands. Matt was really sold on titanium bands, and we couldn't find any locally. (Plus, the jewelers kept telling us that a titanium ring can't be cut off in an emergency. To which I said, "How do they make them in the first place, then?") On a tip from our friend, Emily, we decided to check out an Etsy store called TitaniumKnights. They're AWESOME! We ordered them Friday night, and our rings are already made and being shipped to us. Kudos, TitaniumKnights. If you weren't already knighted, we would knight you.

2) Started a playlist (or three) for some dance-able reception music. While any suggestions are still welcome, I will tell you that we found what was possibly the only polka album in the entire city in the library. I'm stoked.

3) Completed boutonnieres and (most of) the flowers for wedding party and family. Ingredients for said flowers included watercolor paper, watercolor paint, pins, hot glue, ribbon, and some unscented hairspray. Oh. And bottle caps. Can't forget the bottle caps.

Excuse the blurry photo. Our cat thinks these are real and wants to eat them.

He doesn't seem to care if he knocks over the photographer in the process.

The colorful ones above are for the groomsmen. Each man has his own distinct beer bottle cap.

So. There you have it. There's at least a million more things that probably have to be done. But we're at least moving onward and upward and leftward and rightward and all that.

Keep the comments and support for the donors rollin' in. And if the occasional donation happens to come our way, we'll slap up a happy ad for you on these pink, pink pages.

What Kind of Shoes, I Wonder?

2009-07-16T19:41:00.001-07:00

Superstitions be darned. Matt's already seen these.

MY DRESS COMES TOMORROW!

Notice the excitement? I'm in ALL-CAPS MODE.

More details tomorrow.

There's still time to donate for some sweet, sweet ad space. Donations are going to have to cease by August 8 when we take off for our wedding in "da Burgh." Check out those sponsors, and email us at helpmakecents@gmail.com with any questions.

And... DRESS! TOMORROW!

Woot. Woot.

Procrastination 101: Why I Just HAVE to Alphabetize that CD Collection RIGHT NOW

2009-07-08T11:23:00.000-07:00

I think it's just the nature of weddings that lead us to procrastinate.

Back in high school, my friends and I had an English teacher who also taught Communications and a Speech & Theater course. Needless to say, we spent a lot of time in her classes. I honestly will never get over the fact that she always -- not often but ALWAYS -- referred to the "intermission" of a show as "halftime."

Why?

She was married to the football coach.

And her two sons played football.

I'm a theater teacher.

I've said it before and -- that's right -- I'll say it again: I tend to think of weddings in terms of theater. There's something to be said for an event that can span over two weekends and only require a month of preparation. The wedding industry needs to get a clue. So get one, wedding industry.

I am sick of having to plan, plan, plan for something that's really only going to take one evening. Not even a DAY. Just an evening.

Booking caterers (I heart our caterer) six months in advance. Booking photographers (I love our photographers) a year in advance. Booking a venue a year -- sometimes a year and some change! -- in advance (um... we love our venue). What gives?

I know, I know... there's lots of ways around all of that. And I'll probably never hear the end of all the "you could have done this" or "you made this choice." But for the majority of couples these days, even the least expensive wedding can become something you'd rather just get over with than look forward to.

So here's what I know we're looking forward to:

spending time with family and friends that we don't often get to see
eating delicious food with the aforementioned people
doing fun and inexpensive things in a city that we adore
making the wedding more like a big party than a staged event
finally getting all those things done that we've been putting off (see earlier post)

And for those of you who crave photos in every post, here's one for the road. They're flowers I've made for my own bouquet that are made out of ticket stubs, programs, airline tickets, photos, notes and the like that I've saved over the 5 years that Matt and I have been together.

Mushy, sob-inducing, "ain't that the sweetest thing." And, above all, slightly ridiculous looking. But I love them.

P.S. Please excuse the Planters peanuts can and the pint glass. Girl's gotta snack during wedding craft time. Also... please support our donors, and click on any fun ads to earn us the almighty wedding dollar(s).

To Do-Be-Do-Be-Do Lists (Wedding Countdown: Part I)

2009-07-05T07:13:00.000-07:00

Today's plan:

1) Make more flowers. They're actually turning out to be pretty cute when they're in bouquets (really lightweight!). I did have a moment of uncertainty when I wondered about the weather for our wedding day. The flowers are made of paper, so if it rains... the ladies will be carrying some soggy, Fruit Loop-colored messes around with them. I guess the back up plan is just to leave them inside if that happens. Any suggestions? (FYI: The gentlemen are also wearing one of these flowers -- but with a bottle cap center.)

2) Price out flight home. One would've thought we'd have done this already... Y'know... Make sure we actually had solid plans to show up for our own wedding? Luckily, we've already got the honeymoon flight and the return flight booked. We only need a one-way ticket. (Maybe it's a metaphor for marriage... a "one-way ticket?" Get it? Get it?)

3) Find and order wedding rings. Yup. Haven't done this yet either. We're winners. The day is going to happen whether we have rings or not. Eventually I'll tell the story about how Matt proposed here, and maybe then it'll be clear why rings are both important and non-essential.

4) Find and choose verses for wedding ceremony. Matt said something about gazelles. I said we should read the entire book of Leviticus. We're open to suggestions.

5) Choose reception/partying-down music. Make a playlist. Or five. Music is important to both of us, and we have -- at times -- both similar tastes and ones that are completely at odds with each other. What are some songs that you think are quirky enough to get folks out on the dance floor? What's the ultimate offbeat wedding playlist?

And that's just today's to-do list. The countdown to our wedding is mocking us with the things we haven't done yet.

Leave suggestions, comments, complaints, and questions in the comments -- or email us at helpmakecents@gmail.com. As always, click on the links to the right to support our donors, or become a donor yourself and get some sweet, sweet ad space you can write home about.

Explanation: Hiatus

2009-06-30T07:41:00.000-07:00

Hey there, Constants. Long time, no blog... I know.

Here's the deal: we had my family in town for a number of things for the past two weeks, not the least of which was my cousin's wedding in Houston. (Note: That wedding was spectacularly fun, and props go to my uncle, aunt, and cousin for bringing it all together!)

Actually, I still have family in town at the moment, and I probably should be off socializing with them while they're still here. I just wanted to make sure that no one thought:

a) that we'd kicked off,

b) that we'd called off the wedding, or

c) that we'd been trapped under something immensely heavy for the past two weeks and were unable to make it to the computer.

I'll get back to the wedding details (time is ticking!) in a day or two. I've got to call the caterer and talk to my (potential?) photographers. The RSVP cards are coming back in now, so we don't have a choice -- we have to be ready!

Until then... check out those sponsors. Click those links! You guys are the best!

Donations = ad space.

(Okay. I'm really done now. More later.)

Get Out of That Sink and Donate, Stupid Cat.

2009-06-08T17:33:00.000-07:00

Warning: I am going to be one of those people who blogs about their pet. Not forever, of course. Or even repeatedly. Just in this post.

I thought I should mention it in case there are people who stumble upon this blog and have just had a run-in with the crazy cat lady at the library or the Dairy Queen or the yarn store.

I am going to be that crazy cat lady.

But just for today.

My cat has been part of my life for about 8 years now.

I would say that I've "owned" my cat for eight years, but anyone who has ever lived with a cat knows that a human never really "owns" a cat. Cats cannot be owned. If anything, it's the cat who owns the human. I'll kindly draw your attention to any of the chain emails that have subjects like "Why Dogs are Better Pets Than Cats," or "What are Dogs and Cats Really?" or even "Cats Rule, Dogs Drool." All of these lovelies have illustrated who cats really are -- which is, of course, just small, four-legged, highly independent and manipulative humans covered in a thick layer of fur.

My cat has trained me to do many odd tricks.

I have been trained to put the lid down on the toilet (lest he try to drink the water). I have been trained to hide hair elastics under my pillow. (Or the pillow of the couch. Or in small trinket boxes. Or under a lamp.) I have been trained to turn on a faucet in a sink to a slow trickle so he may drink from it.

I love my cat. My cat does not care.

I have been trained to open the door (even when he has a pet door), cover my cellphone charger with a leg warmer, go to bed when he starts knocking random things off of tables, drop small bits of fruits and veggies for him to eat, pull the covers up so he can get under them, play rough with him when he starts to bite my toes, and make room in the bed so he can find a spot to sleep.

I both love and detest my cat.

Recently, a fellow cat-lover over at The Musashi Guide made a donation to our wedding in honor of all shelter/humane society animals. (I use the term "cat-lover" honestly. Our donor was an actual cat. Cats do love themselves so.) I wanted to do right by the donation, so I am posting links here to all sorts of places to go to give a warm, kind, loving, and eternally ungrateful cat a good home.

(These places also have dogs.)

The Humane Society of the United States - A big organization dedicated to animals and taking care of them.
MSPCA-Angell - Boston, Massachusetts Animal Shelter and Hospital. I've got lots of buddies who know these folks too well. They're good people doing good stuff for furry animals. This is also the place where our famed donor, Musashi, came from.
Western Pennsylvania Humane Society - A chapter of the US version. This is where my fat, gray and grumpy cat came from. (He's really not that bad. And I love him.)

Thanks again to Musashi (and Sue).

Check out the DT: $5617 and counting!

In Which the Word "Blog" is Overused and Underpaid...

2009-06-02T13:24:00.001-07:00

It must be wedding season.

You know how I know?

You see that little box down there that says "Live Traffic Feed?" Do you see where most of my traffic comes from lately?

No?

Well, I see. It's coming from WEDDING BLOGS. Never in my life did I think I would be blogging about a wedding... let alone my OWN wedding... let alone ACTUALLY BE THANKFUL for wedding blogs. Even if they're trashing this blog, at least they're coming over and reading what we've got to say.

Right?

I know what you're thinking.

You're thinking, "How many times is she going to use the word 'blog' in one paragraph?" (The answer: more than enough to make you crazy.)

I'm uber-grateful that we haven't had the negativity rear its head on our site over here. Our readers seem to know that there's a time for comments, and a time for no comments... Which, actually, brings me to the next topic at hand:

COMMENTS? Where have all the comments gone, Paula Cole?

I can tell you where they're not. They're not here on this blog. I know you're out there, Constant Reader... or even Accidental Reader. You should totally just go ahead and leave a comment.

It crossed my mind that maybe this blog we have here isn't posing enough QUESTIONS. So here's a few for some good comment-fodder:

1) Card box or no card box? Our venue says they can rent us a card box -- one that looks like the barn that our reception will be in -- for a whopping $50. What gives? (I'll pull out the early 90s phrases to get comments. Ohhhh yeah.) I figure we can play Elementary School Valentine's Day Party and whip out the cardboard and the felt.

2) Our reception is strictly beer and wine. (We'll also be serving food. Clever, clever us.) What's your take on the "no mixed drinks" situation at weddings? Will it fly?

3) What do you think of these?

They're slowly becoming the flowers for the bridesmaids' (and my) bouquets. Part of me thinks "Art by 5-Year Old," but another part of me says, "Five year olds don't use watercolor paper."

This is the last week of work/school for both of us out here in Teacher Land. Hopefully that will equal more time for wedding what-nots and relaxing.

As always, keep up the support for our sponsors (I guess that's what we should call them now), and keep blogging the good blog.

Reach us at helpmakecents@gmail.com for unpostable comments, questions, requests, and dedications.

Donations = ad space.

That is all.

Stripes, Plaids, and Pintuck = What the Heck is Pintuck?

2009-05-26T19:08:00.000-07:00

What's wrong with striped chair covers at a wedding?

My sister, my brother, and my caterer went out to visit our wedding venue this past week. I, of course, was not in attendance in this meeting of the minds (and neither was Matt). We live in Texas. The wedding lives in Pennsylvania. The two worlds do not often collide.

Before I go into anything in much detail, I should state that Matt & I are continually and eternally grateful for all the assistance that our families have given us. My brother and sister are part of the Team. If I may use the term, they are Team Players. The mothers are fairly level-headed about this wedding/marriage thing, and Matt's family is keeping us on the ball with helping us to remember that we actually have to communicate with people if we want them to come to our wedding.

All that said, my brother and the caterer got some things settled this week (no, we haven't yet nailed down precisely what the menu will be -- we're working on that), and my sister got to meet the wedding consultant at our venue.

My sister's been making a lot of decisions in regards to this wedding, and I think that's just peachy. I always tell people that I have opinions... I just seem to have them about goofy things. For instance, why is one machine in the teacher's lounge selling Coke products for 50 cents, while the second Coke machine is selling products for 60 cents? This makes no sense (excuse the pun) and should be remedied immediately. I do not, however, have an opinion on whether the bridesmaids' dresses match. Or if they wear pants. Or if the table linens are white satin or white pintuck (whatever the heck that is) or burlap. Honestly.

The wedding consultant seemed to think that my sister was odd for looking at a certain fabric swatch (multi-colored stripes) for the chair bows. (Then -- later -- I think he found my family endearing. This is a good thing.)

What makes something appropriate -- or inappropriate -- for a wedding? I'm fairly sick of the term "tacky." I'm tacky. I got over that in high school. But appropriate or not, I'm thinking of going with the stripes. Woo-hoo, people.

Maybe we'll mix it with plaids and polka-dots.

Support those supporters. And keep the comments coming, Constants. I dig hearing from y'all. (What? Who says "y'all?" Whoa.)

Don't You Step On My Blue Suede Barter System

2009-05-14T17:26:00.000-07:00

If our wedding goes anything like Emily & Michael's wedding, we shall count ourselves lucky.

This past weekend, we traveled to Massachusetts to attend-slash-be-part-of a wedding and generally rock out. We did some of the former and a ton of the latter.

My official bridesmaid title read something like "Fellow Antisocially Snarky Grad Student and Always Dependable Provider of Four Beers." I'd like to think that I lived up only to those specific expectations of what kind of bridesmaid I would be. I knew the bride (Emily) for a much shorter time than the other bridesmaids, so I guess it wasn't surprising when I wasn't around for a lot of things. I went to the bar to get beer for the bride at the rehearsal dinner, and I showed up a half hour before the wedding with a few Blue Moons, insisting that she have her picture taken while drinking a beer in her wedding gown.

Mission accomplished. There is much wedded bliss.

I think my absolute favorite part of the ceremony was NOT the prisoners shouting obscenities at the wedding party from the top floor of the nearby courthouse (although that was pretty hysterical). It also was NOT the fact that a woman -- or man? I couldn't tell from where I stood -- strolled through the ceremony with a baby carriage... to which the officiant said, "That's what we call FORESHADOWING."

My favorite part of the wedding ceremony was this: As Emily lined up with her parents to be escorted down the aisle, the music (they were using a cleverly hidden iPod -- INGENIOUS!) suddenly changed to Elvis Presley's "Blue Suede Shoes." Michael (the groom) ran over to the iPod and quickly shut it off and set it up for the next track. However, this left Emily with no music for her procession. Some clever wedding guest began to whistle a familiar processional softly and the crowd joined in with a chorus of "ba ba ba ba ba ba's." It was only when Emily said, laughing as she got to the end of the aisle, "I'm not graduating!" that I realized that what we had been singing was "Pomp and Circumstance."

I went to Vegas once and Emily asked me to bring back Elvis.

Like I said, if our wedding goes anything like this, we will be tickled pink.

In definitely unrelated and yet completely awesome news, we've had some developments in the wedding fund! Thanks go out to Matt's cousin, Sandy, and my future mother-in-law for their wonderful contributions to our wedding fund! We'll break that thermometer over there yet!

Neither of these lovely ladies asked for any ad space, so I'm going to post a link here and in the sidebar to something that I'm almost certain is near and dear to both of them.

...because it WAS another country...

Those Texans really do love to brag on their state. Come vacation here and hear all about it.

Also in wedding news, my lovely and super-cool mother has arranged -- via a clever barter -- for homemade wine to be served at our wedding!

I love the barter system. I highly recommend it. Was there anything that you felt immensely clever about bartering for at your wedding? What was it? Did it work out the way you'd hoped?

As always, we appreciate the support for our donors and for our blog!

I Get Enough Questions From My Students, People. Honestly.

2009-05-03T20:06:00.000-07:00

A lot of readers (like... 2? maybe 3...) have been urging us to tell folks what we're planning.

"What flowers are you going to have?"

"What cake will you serve?"

"What kind of food will be served?"

"How much did you spend on Save-the-Dates (which will be referred to as "STD's" from this point on, in honor of my buddy and bridesmaid, Emily) and/or invitations?"

"What sort of favors are you going to hand out to all the guests?"

"How are you spending the money we donate? Huh? Huh? HUH?"

All very good questions. But geez... stop being so pushy. :-)

Here's what we've got going so far:

The STDs went out about two months ago. We had Emily make them (thanks, Emily!) and we took the PDF to the FedEx/Kinkos website, uploaded it, and had them print the little suckers on lime green cardstock, which is about as cheap and ridiculous as it gets. We love them. We think they send the right message about what our wedding is shaping up to be. (The real ones have the date and location. Don't panic. I'm not an idiot. Most of the time.)
My sister (maid-of-honor and total geeked-out musical genius) is doing A TON of footwork back in good ol' Pennsylvania for us. She went on a Cake Tasting field trip to this bakery and we're working out the specifics of what we need. Heads up for all potential brides: cake is apparently serious business. There is no room for humor in cake. Ask my sister. I'm sure she smirked at several points during the APPOINTMENT -- WHO MAKES AN APPOINTMENT FOR CAKE???? -- and I only wish I had been there to witness the very serious, very important event.
My brother (groomsman and a fine vocal percussionist) has been dealing with the contracts and goings-on with catering. The menu will be casual... it will include pierogies... and it will be delicious for under $15 a person. That's all you need to know.
Flowers seem silly to me, seeing as we're having a wedding OUTDOORS. THE WHOLE WORLD can be our floral arrangements, right? With all the help I've gotten from readers and family, I haven't quite nailed this one down, but I do know that I can make -- correction -- I WILL make flowers out of watercolor paper for the bouquets. I spent twenty bucks. And hopefully they'll turn out looking like this, only with stems and ribbons and all that crap.
Favors = homebrew. It's delicious. It's inexpensive. And if someone doesn't want to drink the beer, they can pour it out and keep the really awesome eco-friendly (read: reused) bottle with the insanely awesome labels. (You can find another sampling of our labels here.)

As for how we're spending all the donated funds, you can rest assured we are using it for more wonderful, eco-friendly, cheeky (but not-too-cheeky) things like the above.

Not this. Although I like his sunglasses, too.

As always, we appreciate the readership, the support for our wedding and for our donors.

The First Rule of Limerick Club is...*

2009-04-28T10:07:00.000-07:00

There once was a "Stormy the Donkey"

Whose braying was just a bit wonky.

She'd bray night and day,

Which scared the cat away,

I can't come up with anything else that rhymes with "donkey," even after consulting a rhyme dictionary. I'm open to suggestions, though. Drop a line in the comments.

"Why a donkey?" you ask. Ah. I'll tell you. (This blog is about ADS, too, y'know.)

I needed to come up with a way to promote stuff for my dear friend (and bridesmaid) and her hubbie. They made a pretty nice donation to the wedding fund here, and I thought that there must be some way to give back to them.

(Yes. The donkey. I remember. I'll get to it.)

My buddies got married in the spring, and they're having their official wedding celebration in June. (Pretty cool stuff.) They're nifty people who admit to living "relatively simple lives in these complicated times," and they deserve lots of kudos for doing and living the way they do.

(I swear, I'm getting to the donkey business. No lie.)

My friends own a cat. And there's a family donkey. (See!)

In lieu of an "ad," I've posted some links to an organization in their community that they support, and which supports them in their life together.

Check out the raw milk at this farm! Yeah!

Do check out the links to the right -- all of the folks who've supported us deserve it! As always, we appreciate all the comments and questions here in the comments, and at helpmakecents@gmail.com. Keep'em coming!

* The title of this post is in honor of the now defunct Limerick Club. My sister should know about it -- but I can't say any more than that. Because the first rule of Limerick Club is...

Winning the Vote Has Never Been So Profitable.

2009-04-22T18:23:00.000-07:00

We've been Obama-nated!

We owe many, many great big Hallmark-sized thank you cards to Little Miss Fortune over at Glamour.com for her generous donation. Yes, she donated because we won the vote at the polls... but honestly? If she wasn't a ridiculously decent human being, she wouldn't have stepped up and been true to her word.

Which she was.

Heretofore she shall be known as "Her Majesty Miss Fortune!" Hecks with this "Little" business! Here at HelpMakeCents -- she's royalty!

Everyone should drop by her blog and thank her for her generosity. Remember to refer to her with the prefix "Her Majesty," if you would...

I like pigs, too... but I prefer mine as BACON.

I've posted a link to the right in honor of HMMF's generosity. I'm still waiting on word of the Bouquet Question... Does anyone have any great ideas about non-bouquet bouquets? (See the post below.)

Again, thank you, thank you, thank you Little... er... HER MAJESTY Miss Fortune! We appreciate the debate, the plug on your site, your donation, and you!

Check out our sponsors and email with questions, comments, requests or dedications: helpmakecents@gmail.com!

I Smell Something. It Might Be Flowers. (It Could Also Be Roadkill.)

2009-04-21T17:53:00.000-07:00

Texas loves its wildflowers. (Specifically the bluebonnets.)

A lot. There's a rumor that it's illegal to even PICK the bluebonnets, but as I have discovered through moderately reliable resources (here's one), this is false.

On a recent trip (I use the term "trip" loosely here, since Texas is big and it was only a three-hour tour), Matt insisted that I pull over on the side of the road so we could take pictures of the wildflowers. Er. In the wildflowers. Or both. After a bit of his encouragement (read: pouting), I pulled the little car over on the shoulder -- OF A HIGHWAY! A GREAT BIG HIGHWAY! WITH FAST CARS! -- to take some misleadingly serene photos.

We had to artfully pose in front of some rogue roadside trash.

Above: Note the absence of trash.

All those flowers made me start to think (that's right, wedding buffs... START... as in, I have not previously thought about this topic because I must have failed my "Being A Girl and Imagining Your Dream Wedding as a Child 101" course) about wedding flowers. The following questions bubbled slowly to the surface:

1) Why do I need flowers? I'm getting married outdoors in August. Does that count?

2) Aren't the bridesmaids supposed to carry something?

3) Aren't I supposed to carry something? And then inevitably throw it?

4) Do any of the things we carry have to be flowers?

I had this crazy idea about crafting my own bouquet-type objects, but now I'm at a loss for what to make, how to make them, and if it even matters.

Thoughts?

(As always, we appreciate the support of donors, we love to hand out ad space like it's candy, and you should most definitely visit our links and sponsors over there to the right.)

It's Been Election Day All Week.

2009-04-17T15:45:00.000-07:00

We're up in the polls, folks!

Well. Technically, it's just the one poll. But I sound way cooler when I say "up in the polls." When I say "up in the polls," I even cancel out the uncoolness of saying things like "way cooler" and "uncoolness."

Go over and check it out at Little Miss Fortune's blog. If you feel so inclined, vote. Either way, someone ends up a winner!

I got a kick out of the logic of this commenter on the LMF blog:

"From the referenced blog: 'A typical wedding these days... can cost
about $30, 000. We're NOT looking for that kind of fancy-schmancy wedding.
Our goal (since you're asking, Homestar) is to raise $10,000 THROUGH A
COMBINATION OF DONATIONS AND OUR OWN SAVINGS.' - It doesn't sound like they're not making an effort. Which means if these two save $9,999 and online donors donate $10, then cancer makes $9 to their $1.
How much does ad space online cost? On any site? I love the notion that
an $0.01 donation gets you ad space on someone else's site.
Finally, let's talk about the use of your $25, LMF: With that $25 you
could buy nearly 1/4% of a wedding. Or you could put a drop in the bucket of
a $145 million program. Your dollars have way more influence helping the
little guy. - If you were just there, you know how tough this is. - And
finally: what the heck? Send the $25 to the soonlyweds."

I've been repeating over and over here that what this blog is all about is not CHARITY -- although sometimes people do donate to us and want nothing in return. We do respond to our supporters and we do offer to advertise/plug/make fun of anything they'd like. (Within reason. I do have my limits.) If you go back to some earlier posts and/or take a look at the side bar, you'll see the links and images that were provided to us by our noble supporters.

If I were a smarter human, I may have been able to come up with something so eloquent and so matter-of-fact as our Anonymous Commenter. But alas, alack, Alanis Morrisette... I am not and I did not. Luckily for us and this little blog, though, someone else did!

In other news, we've received two donations this week, and I'm still waiting to get word on what our happy supporters would like us to blog all over (ew! gross!) for them.*

As always, we appreciate the support for our wedding and for the people/artists/just plain awesome people whose links you see to the right.

* One of our supporters asked if we had considered posting our progess for everyone to see. I've happily taken her suggestion and put up the obligatory Donations Thermometer (as if when we get to $10,000 or above, we'll be really, really hot?) so everyone can see how we're doing. Remember that the donations are only PART of the progress -- I've combined all efforts here. The DT (um... Donations Thermometer? what's a hipper way to abbreviate that?) shows what we've earned through donations, what we've been gifted from family, what we've got saved up, and any money we've already spent on this wedding. So far. So good.

Monsters vs. Aliens... er... Us

2009-04-14T09:57:00.000-07:00

Ooo! Ooo! I want to play, too!

Although I take issue* with the term "panhandling" -- not in general, just in reference to this blog -- I support the interesting way that Little Miss Fortune over at Glamour.com is handling the "should-we-or-should-we-not-donate-to-strangers" debate.

The basic premise is this: People choose the blue pill (read: donating to our wedding for ad space) and she donates $25 to our wedding, and you believe whatever you want to believe, as they say. People choose the red pill (read: thinking we're idiots) and she donates to the Sesame Street Workshop.

Here's the clincher, folks. As a person who has worked with puppets and Muppets... as a person who's actually APPLIED for a job with the Sesame Street Workshop at one point (they didn't take me, sadly)... and as a person who watched Elmo cook with the Frugal Gourmet as a child/teenager, I feel like this is really a win-win situation.

If you vote that we're "savvy," as she puts it, then bonus. And bonus for her, too. I hope Little Miss Fortune doesn't overlook the fact that she gets ad space in exchange for her donation. Lots of folks forget that we're not asking for handouts. It's a simple exchange of goods and services. Thank you, Capitalism.

If you vote that we're "stupid" (ouch), then small, furry monsters and small, wiggly children everywhere will benefit from her $25 donation.

Example of small, furry monsters who would like your vote.

Like I said. Win-win.

As always, we appreciate the debate, we appreciate the donations, and we appreciate you, Constant Reader. Bloggity, blog-blog, folks. Go get'em.

* Another thing I take issue with is the assumption that we're $10,000 short for our $30,000 wedding. Who said we were planning a wedding within THAT budget? Not this girl. No way. If we earn $30,000 dollars, we'll faint. And then we'll give almost all of it to the American Cancer Society. No lie.

A Haiku for Bethany

2009-04-08T17:57:00.001-07:00

As promised, HelpMakeCents will post an advertisement, a rant, a picture, a memo, a link, a banana, a tire iron -- you name it, I'll post it! -- in return for your small monetary donation to our wedding. We've been keeping this up for just under three months now, and frankly, I'm feeling pretty good about the positive vibes. And the negative ones.

Yeah. Really. I feel good.

Na na na na na na na.

Bethany recently donated to our wedding and after a few emails back and forth, I discovered that she didn't want an ad... or a rant... or a picture... or even a tire iron posted in return for her generous donation. She didn't want anything.

She just wished us the best of luck on our wedding.

She's amazing, so I offered to write her a haiku or something. I forgot to mention to her that the last haiku I wrote was entitled, "A Haiku -- Which Isn't Really a Haiku Because It Has Too Many Syllables." So. I'm sorry, Bethany. Here's my best attempt at a haiku.

A Haiku for Bethany

(or, Thin Mints are the Best Girl Scout Cookies)

Thin Mints are the best

Bethany is a Thin Mint

In worlds of Trefoils

I really hope she likes Thin Mints and not Trefoils.

As always, support our sponsors (or the Girl Scouts), donate to us if so inclined (or donate to the Girl Scouts... they're a lot cuter than we are), and just generally keep a smile on your face.

Just Remember What the Memo Line Said.

2009-04-07T15:28:00.000-07:00

Matt just handed me a check that says it's for "Being my friend and stuff."

It might sound cheesy, but it's better than the ones that say things like "Tuition for spy school: Shhh!" or "Exotic cooking lessons."

There's something really quirky about being an unmarried, cohabitational couple. When we go out to dinner, we split the bill on two cards. When we pay bills by check, we pay with TWO checks. When we get groceries, we ask the cashier to put such-and-such on this card, and could you put this amount on this other card?

They look at us like we're crazies.

Oh. We're crazies, alright. But we have one account for him, one account for me, and one account for the wedding. I think a short time after this marriage is concrete that wedding account will morph (or, transmogrify) into a joint account for bills and the like.

What are your thoughts, Constant Reader...? Joint account? Separate accounts? An account that is solely for buying trout? What's your take?

Kudos to our new followers, and kudos to YOU, Constant Reader, for realizing that pink is the new "donate to our wedding."

Whirlwind. Beer. You know you want to read on.

2009-04-05T20:40:00.000-07:00

Whew. The past few days have been a... dare I say it?... whirlwind of activity. Yeah. That's right. I pulled out the word "whirlwind" and I know how to use it.

Matt and I have been busy putting together wedding favors -- beer. "What kind of wedding gives out bottles of beer as favors?" you may wonder. The answer: the BEST kind.

For those of you who don't know, Matt & I are novice homebrewers. Beer is cheaper when you make it yourself, and it's a great way for us to spend some time together. It's a continual science project! We created our own brew of trouble, though, by not LABELING the beer right away. Common sense tells you that if you want to know what beer you're drinking, you should probably label it.

Common sense also says that you'd better be able to afford the labels.

Well, we finally put together common sense and scrilla for the labels. Here's a sampling:

Our homebrew will serve as favors for our guests -- a really inexpensive option at about 50 cents a bottle! -- and what's more... friends of ours have agreed to make beer for the wedding in lieu of a wedding gift or donation.

Sometimes, it's like everything comes together.

My blog is PINK. Did anyone notice?

2009-04-05T07:50:00.000-07:00

All the hype over the new blog, Help Me Pay For My Wedding... it sort of makes me wonder what I've been doing wrong here:

1) I started a-postin' way back in January!

2) And my blog is PINK.

3) Donations = ad space. (If you've forgotten that, check out the original post AND my change of heart post that immediately followed. It's a neat little way to give back... I'll write anything. Just name your cause.)

4) My blog is PINK.

Maybe I'll never figure it out, but I feel like I've been trumped. I'll take the good with the bad, though. If you're interested in what Broke Bride has to say, though, head on over there. She's another gutsy girl.

I give props where props are due, and as much as I'm shaking from being one-upped, and a-twitter (what the HELL is Twitter!?) from the negative comments about me on other sites, I do have to say thanks to Tova Darling for being a sound voice of reason. I did have a moment of, "Am I a bad person? Should I take this blog down???" And reading her little post made me realize that the people who pass judgement are just passing judgement.

Anyone who knows me will know that I'm an artsy person who believes in the power of artsy people. When I needed money to move to grad school, I held a fundraiser (surprise, surprise). All of my friends in Pittsburgh got together and put on a show at a local cafe. I knew a lot of talented people (singers, a comedian, a writer, a duo of a tuba and a ukelele player...) and those who didn't perform brought things to donate to a Chinese auction (well, half-Chinese) that we were having. Folks donated a buck or two for beer, and just generally had a good time. I didn't charge any admission -- I just asked people to buy some food from the nice folks at the cafe (who hadn't charged me to use the place).

The trouble here is, I just moved to Texas. My fiance and I don't know anyone, really, outside of work. It's a little harder this time to put on a show...

The next best thing to putting on a show, I thought, would be to put something up where my friends and family (and whoever else) could see it.

Granted, it's not the most hip idea, but it's the next best thing.

Here's to the next best thing.

Cheers!

So thanks, Tova. And thanks to Bethany (I'm tracking you down, lady!) for the latest donation. We're going to keep on truckin'.

As always, donate if you can, keep reading the good read, and fighting the good fight.

Support those who support others by clicking on some links to our sponsors.

Whoa. Down, boy. Sit. Stay.

2009-04-03T14:41:00.000-07:00

Project Subrosa?

East Side Bride?

Whew. Lots of bad voodoo here. I totally agree with a lot of it, though.

I'm not about to DEFEND this blog, because to defend it is to say that one side is right and the other is wrong. I will say that this blog has done SOMETHING... which is to generate conversations about how things are done in America.

I'm glad so many people out there are able to voice their own opinions... without getting accusatory and without generalizing...

For the record, though... I don't watch reality TV. I feel like that might break some cardinal rule of being a theater educator. :-)

Billboards are cool, too.

2009-03-29T17:09:00.000-07:00

My former roommate, Susan, recently made a keen observation about this blog. I won't put it in quotes, because honestly, I don't have the energy to even scroll the mouse on over to copy-and-paste what she (er... her cat, actually) said. You can read it in the comments section of the "Buy Mark a Pony" post.

No. Really. Go on over there and read it. You can scroll. Scroll those scroll buttons, baby. Scroll. And then click.

For those of you who didn't make the journey over to the comments to check it out, here's the general idea: that this blog should be used for more than just advertising space.

Wh-wh-what? I'm not just a billboard? But... I AM just a billboard!

I guess people want more to life than the commercials. The thing of it is, if the actual program were as important as the commercials, they wouldn't play the commercials SO RIDICULOUSLY LOUD. Maybe I should just put the ads in all caps so's that I can compete with regular commercials. Because who doesn't want to hear about the absorbency of paper towels at that ear-bleeding decibal level?

Susan's (okay... her CAT'S) suggestion was that I write more about how difficult wedding planning is. The thing of it is, when I do find time to write, the last thing I want to write about is this wedding that's been LOOMING over me like a... like a.... well, like a great, big thing that looms. It's not the idea of marriage that's looming. Just the actual wedding.

I think if I'd really dug down into the heart of who I am at the outset, I would've realized that I'm the type that should really just elope. And then have a big ol' party afterwards to celebrate how clever we were in eloping.

But, really, weddings for me (and my family) have been about celebrating and sharing TOGETHER. You can't put your heart into doing the Hustle at a wedding when you didn't really see the wedding. You can't circle up for a chicken dance when you didn't see the chickens tie the knot. You can't boogie-woogie-oogie when the couple did the Electric Slide without you.

All this is to say that no matter how ridiculous I think it is to plan a year in advance for a wedding... I'm going to do it. Because weddings -- for me and for Matt -- are about sharing the moment with all the wonderful people we know and love.

So there.

As always, visit our sponsors. Donate if you can. Keep on keepin' on.

- Meredith

P.S. My longtime buddy, Britt, made a donation to the wedding fund. Britt is an amazing lady who makes interesting paintings out of ketchup and tells me things like, "I want to take your head home with me on a stick." Thank God she didn't take my head on a stick all those years ago. The wedding pictures would look COMPLETELY different.

Buy Mark a Pony for Christmas

2009-03-21T10:09:00.000-07:00

There's this guy we know who's a pretty stellar musician. He also happens to look fairly dashing in both a Brazilian Naval uniform and swim floaties (although not at the same time). Once, he held this party for a bunch of goofy theater people and had to dedicate an entire mini-fridge to a case of Yuengling that someone bought for me. So delightful.

He recently donated some moola to our wedding, and we wanted to thank him for it by asking all of you to please, please, please buy him a pony for Christmas.

Here's his song about why it's a good idea to buy him one:

As always, please visit the links to the right to support those who have donated to our worthy cause, and email helpmakecents@gmail.com with any questions, comments, requests, or dedications.

HelpMakeCents gets Gangsta(ed)

2009-02-21T13:03:00.001-08:00

Thanks go out to GangstaBride who profiled us on her blog! She is awesome. For many reasons. There's lots of cool non-traditional wedding advice over there -- so poke your nose around and find what you're looking for!

Since Cats Don't Have Money...

2009-02-21T12:49:00.000-08:00

... it was the cat's owner who made the donation. Cats don't really care much for weddings, either, I'm afraid. They're much more interested in who dropped what on the floor at the reception... and is it something that they can chew and swallow and hack up later on one of the bridesmaid's dresses? If so, count them in for weddings.

This furry little guy is named Musashi. He writes a blog with lots of spelling errors. (Cats don't have the time for spell check. Also, they don't have opposable thumbs.) His owner -- also my former roommate in Boston -- made a hefty donation to HelpMakeCents, upon which I asked what sort of ad I should post in her name... er... the cat's name.

Visit Musashi's highly entertaining and enlightening blog here.

As always, donations can be made via PayPal using the "Donate" link to the right. Donations of all shapes and sizes ($0.01 - $1,000,000) earn you the right to some awesome extra web exposure (no, not THAT kind of exposure... get your mind out of the gutter!) here at helpmakecents.blogspot.com.

Rhode Island is famous for Renee!

2009-01-26T18:32:00.000-08:00

Woo-hoo! Another stellar donation!

This one comes to us from our buddy, Renee (and her equally cool and amazing family), from Rhode Island.

Although Renee did not ask to have an ad posted, here's what I'm-a gonna do:

1) I'm going to thank Renee. ("Thanks, Renee!")

2) I'm going to think of all the wonderful things that I love about Renee. (Thinking, thinking...)

3) I'm going to post an ad about some things that I think she'd appreciate in order to thank Renee for her donation.

Here goes!

Support these lovely folks in honor of Renee's donation:

The New England Library Association

Mary Engelbreit: Artist

Visit Rhode Island: Official Tourism Site!

After all, Renee...

"Pencils come from Pennsylvania, Vests from Vest Virginia, Tents from Tent-a-see... And you, you come from Rhode Island... and little, old Rhode Island is famous for YOU!"

Thanks again! We love you!

- Meredith & Matt

CollegeHumor-dot-com

2009-01-17T09:10:00.000-08:00

Pittsburgh comedian Gab Bonesso has this great joke about the word "surreal." I won't repeat it here -- mainly because it's her joke (not mine) and I'd probably mess up the punch line anyway. But the general gist of it is that people use the word "surreal" incorrectly.

I agree.

I only mention that because I'm about to use the word "surreal" incorrectly, and I wanted all of you to understand that I realize what I'm doing. Don't panic.

On with the post...

CollegeHumor.com

I recently received a large donation from an individual at CollegeHumor.com. (If you've never been to the site, you can visit their site here.) CollegeHumor.com is a crazy fun site to visit when you're bored at work and want a good laugh. (Except if you're a schoolteacher. Then the site is probably blocked. Just sayin'...)

The fact that I received this ad? SURREAL. And also... proof that HelpMakeCents is TAKING THE INTERNET BY STORM.

At any rate, support CollegeHumor.com (and our other contributors) by visiting their site. And as always, if you'd like to make a donation to the wedding fund for us jokers, donate via PayPal or contact us at helpmakecents@gmail.com.

Peace, love, and CollegeHumor,

Meredith

Kelsi

2009-01-16T23:59:00.000-08:00

A word to Kelsi:

Thanks for the donation! You ROCK. I now know how you found us, but I want to put an ad up for you and I can't find you.

You should email us back at helpmakecents@gmail.com.

Until then, I'll just type your name a bunch and hope that you read this.

KELSI, kelsi, Kelsi, KELSI, kelsi, Kelsi, KELSI, kelsi, Kelsi, KELSI, kelsi, Kelsi!!!

Email us! You know you want to!

- Meredith

Paul Thompson: A Great Human Being

2009-01-14T16:44:00.000-08:00

There are some sentences and phrases that I really thought I'd never hear. George Carlin said it, and frankly, I agree.

"Please saw my legs off."

"Hand me that piano."

"Do what you want with the girl, but leave me alone!"

How about "...with interesting exhibits and kangaroos?" I swear. Just now. On the radio. No lie.

Paul Thompson is a musician who needs no one to hand him that piano. He is interesting without the use of exhibits or kangaroos. And he is the latest contributor to Help Make Cents. If you're looking for a master of the bass, or just a guy with a really healthy sense of humor, Paul's your guy.

Visit Paul here at his website.

Listen to his mp3 files from his performances with various amazing jazz legends -- including Maynard Ferguson.

Yeah. He's just THAT GOOD.

As always, please support our contributors by visiting their websites, and if you wish to contribute, contact us at:

helpmakecents@gmail.com

- Meredith (& Matt)

Update: Donations = Ad Space

2009-01-11T19:01:00.001-08:00

Time for that update... as promised.

Here's the new deal.

Instead of a chicken in every pot, our donors will receive space on this blog for an advertisement of their choice. Please send your advertisements with images (.jpg is best) to helpmakecents@gmail.com and as soon as we receive your donation, we'll post your ad right on up here.* All contributors will receive an image and link in the ad space to the right** which will remain there until such time as... well... it'll pretty much stay there until we run out of space.

I'm working hard here to get this blog some publicity -- on the warm and cuddly interwebs as well as in the "real" world. If you know of anyone who could benefit from some cheap -- but entertaining -- ad space, send them the link to this site. I'll be glad to chat with them.

Right now, sadly, the PayPal button only accepts donations as low as $5. (I think it accepts them as low as $1? Unsure, but fairly sure.) Upon request, I should be able to accept donations in increments of 1 cent. Every cent you donate will get you a plug on this site.

Until next time,

Meredith

* If you don't send any text or images with your donation, I'll still put an ad up for you. I just can't promise that it'll make any sense, let alone advertise anything. Be warned.

** Our top contributor right now is none other than Pittsburgh's own Doug Levine. Please support him by purchasing one of his CDs from www.cdbaby.com. I can personally vouch for both the CD's and Doug's greatness.

Getting Something for Giving Something = How We're Not Jerks

2009-01-08T17:15:00.001-08:00

Hi there, online community.

Now, I don't claim to be a genius, but today I DID have a little genius fart in the car. I made sure to roll up the windows real quick-like so it wouldn't escape and I sat there and stewed in it for a while after I pulled out onto the highway.

Here's the run-down for those of you playing the home game:

1) People don't like to donate. Oh, yeah, sure... I guess people donate to something every once in a while. Around the holidays, I always dig in my pockets and give whatever's in there to the bellringers for the Salvation Army. Once I accidentally threw in my car key, and was THAT ever an ordeal! Once you put something in the bucket, they get pretty testy about you getting it back. After the guy in the Santa suit took my Subaru around the block once or twice, he let me have it back. I was tired, to say the least, after running that much to chase him down, but he bought me a slushee at the Target afterwards to pay me back for such an entertaining afternoon. Which, in fact, brings me to my next point.

2) People who donate want to get something back in return. You donate. The charity benefits. But what do YOU get? Well, in my case, I got a slushee from Santa. If you donate to UNICEF, they give you Christmas cards. If you donate to Livestrong, sometimes they give you a little yellow rubber bracelet. If you donate to our wedding... well... what DO you get?

3) People who donate to our wedding will soon get something back in return! It's in the works, folks. But rest assured: for every PENNY -- every CENT -- that you donate to the Matt & Meredith wedding fund, you are GUARANTEED to receive something in return. Stay tuned for an update on Monday about what you can receive for giving to our little fund.

At any time, of course, if you'd like to contact us with any questions, comments, requests, or dedications, please contact us at:

helpmakecents@gmail.com

It takes a village to raise a child, but it takes an internet to raise a wedding.

- Meredith

An example of Meredith "giving back."

(Serving suggestion.)

Help Our Wedding Make Cents. (Get it? It's a pun.)

2009-01-06T18:47:00.000-08:00

Greetings.

I'm not sure how you got here to this blog.*

Perhaps you were surfing the great information highway (less traffic, and definitely better waves during a hurricane) and crashed into this site via some unforeseen superhighway traffic accident.
Perhaps your name is Matt Smith and you were doing the ol' Self-Google for some pre-snacktime fun.
Perhaps you are a friend, or a friend of a friend, or a grand-cousin, or a monkey's uncle, or a great-grand-brother-nephew-son of one of the happy couple.

Frankly, we don't care how you got here. We're just happy to see you. For reals.

So. What's the deal with this ridiculously pink website? Funny you should ask. Well, I don't know if it's funny, so much as it's fortunate. For us. Fortunate for us. Or maybe more fortuitous. Which is really the same thing as fortunate, but sounds... smarter.

Here's the deal: Matt & Meredith are getting married. No lie. It's really happening. They've planned the wedding for August 2009 and it'll be north of Pittsburgh, PA in this really cool spot that shall remain unnamed. (Think: farm.) They hope to have a tremendously long life together in which they seldom speak in the third person.

The only trouble? Matt & Meredith are both public school teachers. Now, I don't know if this is common knowledge, but public school teachers don't make a ton of money. Yes, they reach children. Yes, they shape lives. Yes, they know that children are our future, and they plan to teach them well and let them lead the way...

"How can we help?" we hear some folks out there in the interwebs saying. Oh, and we hear you, folks. We hear you asking, folks. We hear you pleading, folks. We hear you BEGGING for us to please stop referring to you as "folks." Which is why we're going to refer to you as "Homestar" from now on.

Homestar, we need your help to have the wedding that two public school teachers deserve. A typical wedding these days, Homestar -- as you well know -- can cost about $30, 000. We're not looking for that kind of fancy-schmancy wedding. Our goal (since you're asking, Homestar) is to raise $10,000 through a combination of donations and our own savings.

Every penny we raise on this site goes directly to the cost of our wedding. Your donation, Homestar, will be used to feed and beverage our wedding guests, to cover the cost of rentals (including the cost of the wedding site, which is pretty smashing, if you ask us), to compensate our officiant, and various other costs that are affiliated with the wedding.**

In ADDITION:

We pledge*** to donate any amount OVER $10,000 to the American Cancer Society.
We also pledge to continue our efforts -- with this site, our personal blogs, and in our own day-to-day lives -- to raise money for the American Cancer Society in memory of those that we have lost.

So. Homestar. You're probably wondering, "Is this a selfish endeavor?"
Well. No.
And yes.
But mostly no.

We'd really just love to be able to give back -- in the form of music, food, and fun -- to our friends and family that have given so much to us.

Click on the "Donate" button on the right. Even the tiniest donation can help us be a success!

Thanks, thanks, and thanks,

Matt & Meredith

*blog (n): A fat, buttered log. See this website for more details.

** No monies collected on this site will be used to cover the cost of bridal clothing more commonly associated with weddings. Meredith is having her dress custom-made out of bedsheets by a particularly awesome seamstress. (Those bedsheets are wicked comfortable and can be found here.)

*** Meredith also pledges -- on a more personal level -- to continue to update this site and her own blog on a regular basis with more and varied entertaining observations of the world in which we live. (Just what the world needs, right? Another stinking blogger with another stinking opinion. And this one's getting MARRIED, folks! Uh, I mean... Homestar.)