Quick and easy

Here's a few more updates I thought I'd share with you to keep me consistent in trying to blog more lately :)

In July, we went to a concert called Jack's Fifth Concert held by a local radio station.  It was AH-MAZING!  The bands were:
Night Ranger
Skid Row
Modern English
The Fixx
The Cult
Steve Miller Band
Young MC
Vanilla Ice
and a couple more I don't remember. 

Me, Mr Fix It and my sis and bro-in-law spent a good 6 to 7 hours there taking in all the amazing acts.  Vanilla Ice and Young MC were the two that totally got the entire crowd up and dancing.  Here's a fun shot of my sis being silly dancing behind some chicks shakin' it in the aisle at the Verizon Wireless Ampitheater in Irvine:

FUN WEDDING FACT:  If you ever watch WE TV's My Fair Wedding With David Tutera, this past Sunday's episode featured our wedding venue, Rancho Las Lomas!!!  Check your local listings to see when it reruns and look for the episode with the Zebra bride who wanted a Passport to Africa wedding :)

Did your wedding have some vendor, venue, or other aspect that made it 'famous' somehow?

Wed Recap: Make 'em laugh!!!

Preface:  The end of the video in this post contains a few brief moments of the very beginning of our ceremony...be sure to watch it through to the end.  It is one of my favorite moments of our ceremony because it just shows our personality and how we interact with our pastor so perfectly.

As you saw in the posts last week, moments before I was to walk down the aisle, I had a little somethin' somethin' for entertaining our guests at the ceremony.  They had just arrived, maybe they walked around the zoo or picked up a drink at the bar.  They said some hellos to friends and family.  And now they had been seated.  They watched the wedding party make their entrances and arrive at the altar.  So all that was left, what normally comes next, is the bride's big entrance, right?  Nope...not at the Beever wedding.  I wanted to start off our night purely entertaining the guests and letting them know what this whole event was really all about....laughing and having FUN!  And so I had the video.  You can click that link to refresh your memory and view it again...it was my piece de resistance of the night.  It was my baby that I had worked on for over six months leading up to the wedding.  And it was the big ta-da right before I entered to meet my almost husband.

So how did it go?  Well, here's some pics and video of the guests watching our E! True Hollywood spoof detailing the events of our life and our journey to each other as man and wife.

Disclaimer: This video was created using raw footage courtesy of Video Keepsakes of Beverly Hills.

It was created by me strictly for recap purposes and therefore will not necessarily be great quality.

There will be things you probably shouldn't hear and shaky footage in certain places.

Thank you for your understanding.

We had two 50" flat screen Panasonic high def tv's in our ceremony area.  One was off to the left off the guests (that's the one these guests are turning to watch) and the other was up to the right of the altar (so the bridal party and people up front could watch easily, too). 

Look at what a great time they're all having.  Their laughter helped keep me sort of calmer as you saw in last week's recap video :)

These are my future in-laws watching it.  My sister-in-law Jackie (on the right) got a sneak peek of the video a few weeks before the wedding when it was almost finished.

Friends from both me and Mr Fix It's lives are sitting together watching.

Here you can see the tv that was off to the left behind the guests.

Some old friends in the back have a great view of both tv sets.

And as you saw at the end of the video today, I wanted our ceremony to be anything but formal and stuffy.  I loved how our pastor made great jokes and comments about us personally and how we (I) just reacted to them instead of feeling like I had to sit there until it was my turn to talk.  :)

TODAY'S WEDDING TIP:  If you are going to have a montage or video played at any point in your wedding event, be sure to do a test of the actual equipment before the event.  I mailed the DVD to the video equipment rental company a few weeks before our wedding to have him play it in his DVD and test it...I don't know if you know, but homemade DVD's are not compatible with every type of DVD player.

*  All photos by Robert Mullins Photography

H-moon Recap: Video of SCARY Bali!

If you've never been outside of the US, you may not know that most of the world drives on the left side of the road...or as I like to call it:  The *wrong* side of the road!

Thankfully, Mr Fix It is an international traveler and is used to this.  So when we arrived in Australia and picked up our rental car, he was able to easily adapt and became the official driver of the trip.  The main thing I learned in Australia is that it's basically like home, but they have a lot of different signs and lots of turnabouts.  If you don't know what those are, they are basically round intersections where no one ever has to stop.  They look like this:

And you're warned about them with this sign:

I really loved the signs in Oz...here's a few that are a little different from what we have back here in the States:

Cross walk

Instead of a sign showing a rest stop/area ahead, they tell you this:

Instead of 'Exit' signs, the airport directed us with this:

It made me feel like they were trying to tell me to get the hell out and FAST!

And instead of a passing lane sign, they call it:

Anyway, as far as the roundabouts, we don't really have these in abundance at home.  On about day 4 of our stay in Oz, we finally figured out the program and learned that you have to stay to the inside of the circle if you are going through to the 3rd or 4th exit...otherwise, you are forced to exit on the first or second street you come up to. 

Mr Fix It was scared that I would be a total stress case because we both argue with each other over who is the worse driver.  He likes to sight see while driving which freaks the heck out of me since you should typically have your eyes on the road while your hands are on the steering wheel, but I guess that isn't the case in his world.  I stayed pretty calm for the entire trip...even during the one or two times he drove down the *wrong* side of the road in Australia!

But driving in Bali was entirely different.  Nothing could have prepared me for the carnage that they provide by means of motor vehicle transportation. 

First off, we had to rent a car that was basically an ancient mini van to store Mr Fix It's surfboards in it because you're not supposed to drive with anything on the roof or a rack.  After spending an hour at the airport trying to negotiate the terms of a week long rental, we finally jumped into a little van and headed off to find a hotel...only to notice after pulling out of the airport and into the city that the rental car company gave us a car on EMPTY!!!  WTH?!?  We hadn't even exchanged our money yet so we had no rhupia and no way of finding a gas station in this little 3rd world country.

We proceeded to try to yell out to passers by "Petrol?!?" asking where a gas station was...they pointed and repeated petrol but we never found one from their directions.  Thank the Lord we finally came across one and filled up.  And thankfully, we only had to fill the tank once the entire week.  No problem...except the next day while pulling out early to find our first beach spot, the car suddenly jerked forward and we found that there were no lower gears in the manual transmission...Mr Fix It was left at an intersection with only 2nd and 4th gear.  Again, thankfully, we hadn't driven too far so we headed back to the airport and made the guy get us a new vehicle and we were finally on our way.

As we pulled out onto the streets and into the culture and city, I found myself pretty amazed by how different life was here than in my beautiful Orange County in So Cal.  There were motorbikes everywhere!!!  And horrible roads and traffic no matter what time of the day.  I can't even begin to describe it, so I will let this video give you a firsthand experience...enjoy me and Mr Fix It's commentary of a few days of brief video I shot while we were out and about:

THE WEDDING VIDEO IS HERE!!!

Before I start:  Today is the 10 day mark in the countdown...tomorrow starts SINGLE digitis!

So remember back on January 27th when I shared a little sneak peek of the video that will play at our ceremony before I walk down the aisle?  Well, I finished it this past week!  And I am so excited to share it with all of you. 

A few bridesmaids and family members have seen it and they have all loved it.  Our DJ said it's his favorite part of our wedding so far and he even told another client about it and asked if he could show them the sneak peek on my blog. 

Well, here it is.  I had to upload it in two parts with the program I used (didn't want it on YouTube).  It's a little long at about 19 minutes but everyone says it is so entertaining people will not feel like it is too long to sit through at all.  And if you can't make it through the whole thing, be sure to at least skip ahead to about 3 minutes and 25 seconds in where one of my favorite aspects of the video begins (and continues throughout) :)

For all of you who are my family and friends - meaning guests attending our wedding.  If you have found my blog, you best close your browser right now.  For you still have about 10 days to see this video and I definitely want it to be a surprise!!!

Need some advice from fellow creative brides!

Ok, so after the ceremony and the cocktails and once all the pictures have been taken and the formalities of the evening are mostly over, it's time for the party to begin - the reception!

Of course, the big kick off to the reception is the grand entrance and introduction of the bride and groom and their wedding party.  You can always go the traditional route and just get the crowd (your guests) up on their feet and cheering and clapping for everyone.  We did this at my sister's wedding and it was super fun.  Lots of excitement in the room. 

Then you have the silly wedding parties who maybe like to dance their way in as each couple (bridesmaid and groomsmen) is announced and enters the room.  A friend had their wedding party line up on one side of the dance floor and when the bride and groom entered, they ran down the 'line' of the wedding party high fiving them all.  Kind of like when football players or basketball players enter onto a field or court.

These are totally fine (and fun) ways to come on in.  But many brides/grooms opt for a low key mellow entrance - some even only have the bride and groom announced instead of the entire wedding party.

We definitely want something fun and big and different.  Something exciting and to get the crowd pumping.  But we also really want something that speaks to our interests and who we are personally.  So I actually came up with an idea that Mr Fix It fell in love with - FINALLY!  Another win - something he was excited about.  :)

We've shared the idea with our DJs who will be announcing our grand entrance and they are on board.  But we still need to fine tune some things and so I thought I'd ask to see if any of you ladies (or guys cuz this one's for you for sure) had any suggestions or ideas to throw my way?

What we're doing:  We love to watch mixed martial arts (MMA) fights...you know, like the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship).  The stuff you see on pay-per-view or Spike TV.  We have several friends who will be at the wedding and share this love with us - we hang at each other's houses having 'fight nights.' 

So we decided that we wanted our wedding party introduced the same way that fighters are introduced when they enter the stadium (or ring, octagon, whatever).  If you've ever watched a fighter enter it's kind of funny.  Some act all tough and mad dog faced and have hard core metal or gangsta rap songs playing while others are all crazy and full of energy dancing around and singing to some song.  Here's a good one:

The songs they enter to are supposed to represent their personality, toughness, or just who they are.  So we are having each couple enter as if they're entering the ring for a match.

How we're doing it:  The DJ will play a different song for each couple as they're announced.  The guys will all enter from one side of the room and the girls from the other (one couple at a time).  So they will make their way through the tables and end up meeting each other on the dance floor in the center of the room.  We're telling our wedding party to go crazy with this and act all tough and like they're going to fight each other, or to just have fun and maybe dance or whatever.  Whatever they feel comfortable with.

The DJ will announce each couple a la Bruce Buffer.  Here's a sample of what we're trying to achieve:

We'll have our DJ change the words so that it goes something like this:

"And now, the moment of truth, wedding fans around the world have been waiting for!  Live, from the incredible estate of Rancho Las Lomas in Orange County, California - it's time!  Coming - out of the groom's corner - weighing in at 200 lbs and hailing from the beautiful city of Laguna Niguel, CA, it's the Electrifying Todd Baxter!"

Then for the girls we'll do the same thing but say "Arriving out of the bride's corner - stepping onto the dance floor at a height of 4' 10" and proving that big things DO come in small packages - it's Debbie the Diva Pelichowski!"

We know ladies don't want to share their weight with the world.  Anyway, we're trying to come up with some fun songs for each couple to enter to - upbeat stuff - maybe hard core for the 'fighting' spoof part of it.  And we also need some great nicknames for each person. 

So that's where you come in - any ideas for some silly or fun nicknames or for some song selections?

For the songs, remember that only the best (appropriate) parts of the songs will be used, like the chorus or intro or the part that goes with what we're doing.  So it will only be like 30 to 45 seconds per song and the DJ will cue it up to the right part and mix them all together.  So far, we're thinking of these for our playlist:

My daughter wants to use the chorus from the New Boyz song "Tie Me Down"...it's kinda fun:

The other songs we have so far are:

Let it Rock by Kevin Rudolph (My personal fave)

Bodies by Drowning Pool (a total fighter's song for sure and Mr Fix It's first choice)

And for me and Mr Fix It, when it's time for us to come in, the DJ will announce "And now, for the main event of the evening!"  And we will most likely use Queen's "We Will Rock You".  The DJ said our venue has this great thing about it (because of how old it is) to where if we start this song and get all the guests clapping their hands and stomping their feet to the beat, the whole room/floor will shake!  Kinda fun, right?

We also want to get the DJ to have the lights darker with lots of strobe lights and flashing lights and such as we all come in.  I am even thinking about getting a cute boxers robe and gloves to wear over my gown - since I have a feeling Mr Fix It might do something silly like rip his shirt off!

So girls - straighten me out...are we crazy to do this?  Should I go for the boxer's robe or will it look silly over my big ball gown?  Do you have any suggestions for nicknames or songs that we can use? 

Have you given any thought to what you'll do for your grand entrance or are you going the simple traditional quick intro route?

A sneak peek at my BIG surprise!!!

Ok, so I have eluded to the fact a few times that I have a special surprise for all of our guests that is my absolute most favorite thing about the entire wedding!  And it is also the biggest DIY task that I have taken on.  I have been working on it since July and have spent countless months (off and on) and hours trying to piece it together.  But alas, with only 79 days to go until the big day, I am just getting super antsy about wanting to share at least a little bit of a teaser with all of you fellow blogger brides about what I am hoping to finalize within the next month.

Of course, none of my family and friends read this blog, but just to be safe, if you are a family or friend and you want to still be invited to my wedding, then you will absolutely jump ship right now and get the hell off of my blog site!  Love you ;P

Seriously Saturdays (Some Serious Toasts!)

Ok, so this weekend's Seriously Saturday is all about something good!  This is definitely an "Are you kidding me?" kinda post but in a totally awesome way!  Like, seriously - who could pull this off?!

I want these friends and future in-laws at my wedding serving up some amazing toasts like these.

For your viewing pleasure...they're not short videos but oh so worth it.  One had me laughing and the other had me crying!  What do you think?  Could you imagine someone pulling this off at your big event?

Seriously!  Think about the time and effort that went into those!  Seriously amazing!  To see the origination of Seriously Saturdays, click here. 

I so needed this laugh today!

If you are not already a follower of Chocolate Lover's Confessions, you truly need to go check her out.  She encouraged me to start this blog and I love her great ideas and encouragement as I share thoughts and questions regarding all my wedding deets.  She even posts some great recipes to share sometimes.  But if that is not enough of a reason to check out her blog, then definitely go read her post today regarding this funny little gem!

From food to animal: My new last name

So my last name is Campbell...soon to be Beever (with an e). 

My entire life I've been referred to by nicknames such as Campbell Soup, Soup, Sopita, etc.  It's kind of a no brainer that my last name is pretty famous, common, but still famous.  I love my last name.  My sister loves it because her initials were JC growing up (like Jesus Christ - not in a blasphemous way...she just liked having that connection).  I actually have two middle names (Lee Ann)...thus my initials were always SLAC.  Kinda silly but whatever...until now.

Source

I am now going from a 'soup' to an 'animal' (beaver) as my friend, Kristin likes to say.  Even though the Beever is not spelled like the animal, the name still gets referred to as such.  Now my initials will be SLAB...I don't think I like that.  And I know I don't like Stacey Beever as opposed to Stacey Campbell...this has been my name for 37 years afterall! 

Source

I'm scared...I say my new name...have not practiced writing it yet...but I say it.  It scares me.  But I am a traditional woman who will take on her husband's last name.  Ugh!  Beever...

I do however love my blogging name "Born to Be Mrs. Beever."  Something about it just speaks to me :)  And now you know the history behind my handle. 

So...do you have any little stories, thoughts or ideas about your blogging name, your new last name or the dilemma of whether or not to keep, hyphenate or take on a new last name?

Music Monday # 2 (the Bouquet Toss and Cake Cutting)

So since I started my first Music Monday with my baby sister's wedding playbook song selection, I figured I should follow up with 2 more songs from her big day 3 years ago.  Last week was the garter toss and so it is only fitting that this week I share her song for the bouquet toss for all the single ladies (which btw, if you use Beyonce's song for your wedding bouquet toss you're not being too original.  Don't get me wrong...I love it and would love to use it to because it is so fitting, but seriously girls, let's try to find things that are a little more original.) 

So, when they were calling the single girls (which was me at that time) onto the floor, this song began to play:

Lonely People (by Jars of Clay)

Again, I tell you that you have to understand my sister's silly sense of humor.  I particularly like the 2nd verse that specifically says "This is for all the single people, thinking that life has left them dry." 

I figured I'd throw in another fun one for you as a double shot on this fine Monday...so for her cake cutting...though not quite as silly, she used this song (start at about 1:00 where the chorus begins):

Lips Like Sugar (Echo and the Bunnymen)

Get it?  Lips, sugar, kisses - cake...cutting the cake, kissing after?  Too cute. 

So, got any great ideas for your own tosses at the reception or your cake cutting?  I still have no idea for my own so I would love to hear other's ideas!

How expensive is the word 'Wedding'?

I saw on a blog post today how vendors will always charge you more for something because you simply state it's for your wedding.  Like the word wedding instantly means we get to charge you more because we know you'll pay it since it's your big wedding day!  For a fun laugh and to release some of your frustration whilst planning your beautiful event, thought I'd share these short videos which perfectly represents the thought: