Gifts for the Groomsmen: Update

Remember back in March when I shared with you guys what we finally decided to do for the guys as gifts??
I just thought I'd give you guys a little update as to how it's all coming along.
My dad knocked out 5 sets of boards in two weekends, and my mom and sister got them all painted in the right base color so my mom could bring them all up to me when she came up here for my shower.
And since then I've been busy working on them.

This set will have two matching Chicago Bears heads for his friend from grade school who is a big Bears fan.  I still have to finish the other one.

This set will have one buck and one bass.  There are two matching sets of these, one for each of his brothers.  We couldn't think of anything more fitting for two guys that love to hunt and fish.
All I have left for these is to do one more bass.

There will be two of these sets for the two guys that Mr. T played football with at U of I.  Each set will probably have this Chief head and a U of I football helmet.  If there's time though, I'd like to do matching Chief heads on each board.  They're just so detailed so I'm not sure how it will go.
I still have to paint the other Chief, and then whatever for the other two boards.

So, I have 5 boards left to paint.  I'm hoping to get them done before I head back to IL next Thursday, but we'll see how that goes.
Then when I get home they all need 3 coats of polyurethane to seal everything in.  I went and bought all of the fabric for the bean bags, but those will have to wait until I get back home also, because we don't have an iron and ironing board yet!

Just thought you might enjoy some pictures of the progress.  I'm so excited to surprise the guys with these at the rehearsal dinner...I think they're going to love them!

Gifts for the Groomsmen

Mr. T has five guys standing up beside him on the day of our wedding.  His two brothers, a friend from grade school, and two guys he played football with at U of I.  They all mean a lot to him, and for the longest time we couldn't think of a good way to thank them for everything.
I wanted to leave the gifts up to him, since they were his brothers and friends, and he should know best what they would like/enjoy.  But he wasn't really coming up with anything, and I couldn't think of much either.  We popped into Things Remembered once and took a look at flasks and beer mugs, but just couldn't get on board with that idea. 
Then I thought it might be nice for them all to have a pair of Crocs that they could wear at the reception.  I said black, but Mr. T said since he and his brothers already have camo ones, that we should get the other three camo Crocs to match.  I was on board.  I even pulled them at work in the sizes we would need, and found a little pair for our ringbearer too.

But then I came up with a different idea and ran it past him.  Bean bag boards.  He was totally on board.  Yup, I signed up my dad to build 5 sets and my mom to paint the base color on all of the sets.  She's going to drive them all up to MN next week when she comes for my first shower so I can handpaint the designs on all of them.  I might be just a little crazy to take on a project like this with just over two months to go, but I think it's going to be awesome!

Here are a few of the boards I've painted over the last year.  Can you tell my family is from Wisconsin?!  Each board takes about 5 hours to hand paint each design.  So I'm looking at about 50 hours of work that I need to find a way to squeeze into my already busy schedule.
Oh and there's the matter of cutting and sewing all of the bags.  No big deal though.  Ha.

So even though I'm probably way crazy to take this on, I'm very excited about it.  We're going to do the Illini Chief head for two of the sets for the boys he played football with.  Then we'll probably do Chicago Bears for one set for his grade school friend.  And for his brothers, we haven't quite decided yet, but it will probably be some sort of buck/fish sort of thing.  So far my dad has all of the sets built, and my mom is going to start getting the boards painted so they'll be ready for me to put the finishing touches on them.
We're looking at about $50/set which isn't bad as a gift considering these could definitely be considered a $150 present.  I think they guys will love them!

Dressing The Guys

Last week I got an email from J P Tuxedos in Oak Forest, IL asking me to preregister my information online to lock in the current deals they have going, in the chance that I'm interested in renting our tuxes from them.  So I filled out a little form, and a lady called me the other day to tell me about their specials.

Here's what they currently have going:
     - $49.95 tuxedo rental (includes shirt, pants, and jacket)
     - 6th tuxedo rental free
     - Free suit for the groom after the wedding
     - If I complete the registration in store before the end of the month they'll throw in a 3rd rental free

The tuxes would be ready to pick up after 4 PM the Thursday before my wedding, and wouldn't need to be returned until the Monday after.  It seemed like a pretty good deal to me, but then again, I have no idea what price tux rentals cost.  That price also does not include the vest, tie, or shoes and when I called they couldn't give me a price over the phone.
Also, this place is a good hour from home and where the wedding is going to be, which is probably not the best option.  All of the guys will have to go up there to get fitted, and will then have to go up there to pick them up and make sure they fit.  They can probably all be returned by one person, but that's a lot of driving back and forth for tuxes
The other big thing... I have no idea what quality these tuxes are and would have to drive an hour one way just to find out if they're even worth renting.

I needed something to compare this price to, so I ran into town to our only men's clothing store, Sklut's, which is the only local place to rent tuxes within 25 miles.  I looked through their books and got an idea of how much we would be spending if we went with them.  They rent from Jim's Formal Wear and bring in the tuxes as needed.  We will have to have all of our guys fitted by February for our May 22 wedding, since they get really busy during prom season.

I used the Build-a-Tux feature on the website to show you the tuxes I liked while looking through the books. 

As you can see it shows you the style names in the chart. 

This first jacket is "Radnor" by Calvin Klein, and was one of the two I liked.

The second is "Crossroads" by Chaps Ralph Lauren.

The jackets are both very similar in style, and I belive they are about the same price.  The all black version is what we're going to go with for the groomsmen.  I knew I didn't want a colored vest and tie; that just screamed "Prom" to me, especially since it would be a bright green.

(source)

No thanks!! Although that is the closest match to our green I've seen yet.

I definitely think some wedding colors can pull it off, like pewter, or darker jewel tones, but ours definitely isnt one of them.  I thought about going with a black vest and a colored tie, but then decided all black would be much easier, and it looks very classy.  Mr. T will then be in a white vest and tie.

Price Breakdown:

Tux rental (includes jacket, pants, shirt, vest, and tie) - $104

Microfiber shirt upgrade - $5

Shoe Rental - $15

Insurance - $2

Total = $126

I still need to talk to Mr. T about this, but I'm heavily leaning this way.  The quality of these tuxes is wonderful and the store is right in town, which besides being convenient, will save people time and money on gas.  I also know the store owner, and the lady who is always working, and they are both so nice and helpful, it will be one less stress for me to worry about. 

Are you keeping your tux colors simple, or are you matching them to your girls??