Forget flowers ....

I have been looking into alternatives to bouquets for my BM's. I originally was going to use kale {pic below} and wrap feathers around it. I LIKED the idea and the mock-up from the florist had lots of potential but I didn't LOVE it. I plan to still use the kale/cabbage in another that I will blog about later..Anywho

I wanted something that was "earth-y" like all the decor aspects of the wedding. I went to Hobby Lobby and ran across the plant section and got inspiration from an elephant ear plant leaf. That lead me to local cultural shoppe that a friend of mine owns where I saw these beauties.

Now the only problem is that they are small and not the exact colors that I want them to be so I went home and began a search for something similar.

I found these first cute but not exactly what I am looking for.

Then I found these and was super EXCITED but the company does not carry the color I want them in so I kept searching...

I found this which was perfect but I still wasn't satisfied..

After searching high and low. I plan to order these and DIY them!

CONGRATS Jeana and Steven

I have to give a shout out to Jeana from http://www.mydreamring.blogspot.com/ whose wedding is tomorrow. I hope and pray that your wedding is fabulous. All your hard will pray off and you finally get to see the fruits of your labor. Congrats and may your union be blessed with longevity and prosperity.

Dress shopping:The Sequel

Like most women I love to shop... I thoroughly enjoy going from store to store and will gladly make a day of it. But when it comes to wedding dress shopping it's so long and it's a lot of work. I am not the typical bride in the sense that my DJ means more to me than my dress does. NOW don't get me wrong I am into fashion and I think I have a nice sense of style and like most artsy people I wear what I like and I am totally comfortable with that. AND I want a beautiful dress. I have only went out dress shopping twice. I plan to do a trip by David's "just to see" if I like anything that I have seen online but I have pretty much come to the conclusion that I will have to get my dress made. Did I want to go this route? ABSOLUTELY NOT!! I wanted to go to the store and pick out a dress that I LOVED and order it and VIOLA! CHECK! However that is not the case for my dress or the ladies so I have decided on a reception dress that I can either buy or have replicated. Which is wonderful. I have decided on the ladies dresses which are getting made I will share the sketch with you later. Now the only decision left is the actual wedding gown. Here are a few ideas that I LOVE!!!

For me it about the neckline. I love these dresses! I want whimsical and flowing and a crazy bib necklace all in one. If that makes any sense.

Countdown

200 days until we say "I do" YAY!!!

Everytime I look at countdown I start to feel intimidated like we have so much to do but in reality we don't we have accomplished so much over our long engagement and I am so happy! We have all out vendors booked with the exception of our officiant (which we are working on) and ceremony musicians. I am so EXCITED! IF school wasn't so time consuming everything would be done but it is what it is. Off to study!!!!

FOUND!!

what??who?? MYSELF! yea I know you are thinking what is she talking about?
well I will explain. when I 1st started blogging I did it to have a memories of the wedding planning {my digital scrapbook} and to have a place to jot down my thoughts and ideas. To my surprise it became addictive and like a support group of people with one thing in common...getting married!!

I started getting lost in blogging whether writing or browsing other blogs but with that came
clouds of confusion and all these different ideas. There's a lot to choose from out there... I became influenced by others...which if you know me you know that is totally not my style. I love the sharing of ideas and how seeing something one way can inspire you to do it your way. Now don't get me wrong I continued with my overall vision but I felt like I was losing myself and creativity in the planning process. So I had to regroup and rethink and NOW I am back and I am going to do me. If no one else understands who cares it about what we want for that day. Its about letting our personalities shine through..it's about having fun and enjoying this once in a lifetime opportunity. We are still having OUR " rustic regal romantic family affair" because I believe that even though it is OUR day it is also about the joining of 2 families because of OUR LOVE for one another. That is some AWESOME ish!!! Its about who he is as a person AND who I am as person AND what WE create as a COUPLE. Our wedding will be just that a fusion of US and I LOVE IT!! Family, friends, fun all in the name of L-O-V-E!!

Internet insanity

Looking at blogs and web-surfing is driving me insane. It can really blur your vision and ideas for the big day. I have all these ideas and thoughts and it's all convulted in my head. When I started planning this wedding a had a clear picture of the end result and now I am shifting all over the place. I can't decide on a dress for me or the girls. When I begin this journey I had it all mapped out. That is no longer the case. Now it's time to re-group and de-stress. So I have decided to take a break from looking at other people's ideas and weddings and focus on reclaiming the vision that I had for OUR wedding. I'M FOCUSed MAN!!!

{letting out a sigh of relief}

INSANE-LY beautiful

corsages, wristlets, nosegays, or OTHER

today while taking a break from studying for a neuro exam, i started thinking about flowers for our mothers. i want something that they can keep forever but i am not a big advocate for artificial flowers so i browsed the web to come up with some ideas and the only thing i found was these...

Corsages

Wristlets

Nosegay

and then i went to Etsy and found this idea.

this is something that they can keep forever and it's stylish and pretty. i think i will be adding this to my DIY list {at least give it a try}

What are you doing for your mother's or VIPs in your wedding party?

long day...

today was the 1st day back to school after the break and boy was it long.... but I am just glad that its O-V-E-R!!! I recieved some goodies in today. I just love it when I have deliveries! {teehee}

we recieved our cake server and knife today. cheap and cute!!!

I also ordered a free tshirt from VP to check out the quality of the shirts.

not bad. right?!

NWR: Have a told you

lately how THANKFUL I am!!! I have a great life with great people to share it with and I wouldn't change it for anything in the world. At times I get annoyed and agitated but I AM SO THANKFUL to the Creator for all the things some take for granted like being able to walk, talk, feed myself. Having a wonderful and supportive future husband, being in love, having great parents mine and his, having a supportive family, great friends, and even associates. I am so grateful that we are really living out our plans and achieving goals and surmounting obstacles. I am so appreciative for all things.

SPRING BREAK is over and a close classmate of mine called me today and informed me that she was PREGNANT and I started to cry b/c I knew that they were trying and it happened right when she was about to throw in the towel and that is such a beautiful gift to receive and I am so EXCITED for them. She is such a sweet person and will be a great mommy. I felt honored that she called and told me b/c her hubby is out of the country on business. CONGRATS TO THEM. One day that will be me and I am excited just thinking about it. I am thankful that I was the one she shared her joy with.

I have to go b/c I have to study but I am also THANK all of you who follow this blog. I am thankful for your comments and suggestions and have a great week!

CHECK:Videographer Update

WE FINALLY MADE A DECISION!!!!

I actually had the appt on FRIDAY with the second videographer and FI and I debated all weekend. I really LOVED his work but I felt like I wanted more time for the money. So I called him this afternoon to negiogiate on a few things. NOW we are getting 2 hrs before ceremony and all nite until departure for $1500 and if I book my bridal session with his wife we will get $200.00 off and a "love story" interview. I am so excited!!!!! I am putting the check and contract in the mail in the MORNING!!! Here is another great thing. The vid and photog are close friends and she (photog) says how great they work together so that = NO DRAMA b/w the two and I LOVE to be STRESS FREE!!! I really feel like we are making the best decision. YAY

NOW all of the major vendors are booked!!!!

EXCEPT for musicians for ceremony and I am currently working on that!!!!

DIY Checks pt 3

I have stuffed all our tears of joy packets which will be attached in our wedding program booklets! Here is the labels that I made.

Cost Breakdown:

100 tissues - $1.00

100 labels - $2.00

100 Glassine bags w/shipping - $8.00

Grand Total = $11.00/100! GREAT DEAL!!!

Completed pics coming soon.

quality VS quantity

so I have been looking all around this city and surrounding cities for a videographer. to my dismay i have found 4 and 2/4 are booked. so the remaining 2 are very different. we only budgeted 1K for video b/c we spent a great deal of on photog. So we have been debating b/w the 2. Both vids have the same pricing.

• Video #1 is offering bride and groom interviews before the wedding "love story", coverage of both rehearsal and dinner, all day wedding coverage pre-ceremony thru reception departure, and a video photomontage for $1300. THE BAD: his quality is not the greatest.

• Video #2 is offering 6 hr coverage but he has GREAT work! Cinematic movies.

So the question becomes QUANTITY vs QUALITY?

FAB FIND

I have been looking for deals on envelopes for our invites and I have finally found a GREAT deal!

These are brown paper bag 70lb cardstock envelopes and they are perfect. Guess how much $10/100 and that is exactly how many I need. I found these at www.envelopemall.com. Go check them out they have pockets and everything.

Check

I ordered our cake server set from ebay a few days ago. I went with something cute and economical.

I paid $5.50 w/ shipping $10.67. Not bad right. The only thing is I was in Hobby Lobby on Mon and I saw the exact ones for $10.00 and you know LH always has their bridal section 50% off! Nonetheless still a steal! LOL!!!

can you tell...

that I am on spring break and I LOVE IT! Although it's winding down. Back at it come Monday morning but until then I will enjoy. Today I spent the majority of the day painting the main bathroom and it's a 'HOT MESS' the paint peeled right off the wall all of my hardwork gone down the drain so I'm sad! so I shifted my brain onto wedding planning...the reason for this post.

Danyelle over @ http://www.buckyeyebride.blogspot.com/ is designing my invitation suite and we have been working on it since late Jan and it's almost finished and I LOVE it! I am so EXCITED to share the final design!!! Anyway so that got me to thinking about my other PAPER projects.

We are having an Italian served at the reception and we are planning to serve "family style" so I wanted a cute menu and I know that menu cards just get thrown away so I decided that we will use a chalkboard that will be displayed near the bridal portait and guest book.

I brought a big one for the bridal show and I plan to frame it and place it on easel and viola.

this will be the "MILK & COOKIES" chalkboard for the favors that I found on http://www.saveoncrafts.com/ for $3.99.

dress decisions

As you know I am now seriously looking for my ceremony dress. I recently completed my 1st shopping trip and I found out what I feel most comfortable and what I feel looks good on me but I did not find 'the dress'. I also saw this little beauty that I LOVE! I really like the simplicity of this gown yet it is still dramatic all at the same time. I am not into pick-up dresses but I like the flare at the bottom and I LOVE sweep trains so this is right up my alley. BUT I am worried about my size and being comfortable in the dress!



Then I ran across this beauty. Now she is an Alfred Angelo I adore this gown but local shops don't carry it but of course I can order it. It has the same feel but with a little twist.

I searched the internet to see it in action and I ran across this bride and how awesome is it that she also has "big bones" (lol) and I personally think she is wearing the donkey out of this dress. So that shows me I can too!

The 2 pics above are me trying on 2 different styles. These 2 made me think about a dress that a follow knottie {kaykay211} wore on her wedding day. so I rushed over to her blog and check out some pics and viola this beauty is now a contender. I love this dress!

All these pics are from kellie's wedding. Isn't she a beautiful bride.

Now my only problem is I can't try these on because no one locally carries these in stock and the one place that has one of them (1st) only has a size 8 and mama can't put her picky toe in an 8 so what should I do. I may have to take a little trip. I contacted Milly Bridal to see how much they would charge to make them and I plan on comparing their prices with the locals and the internet.

Letters

I originally wanted letters like these on the doors of the ceremony room.

However these letters a way too small for the doors at our venue. So I want huge letters like this for the doors.

These are made from cardboard and those are artifical flowers. So I called my dad and now is has 1 more thing to add to his DIY list. He is making them out of some type of wood and I plan to decorate them and we will put them in our house after the wedding.

I also like the cute "I DO" or"WE DO" letters that some brides use on the cake table. But I have not decided if I want to incorporate that in our wedding. I know I will probably put a little spin on it. I have a idea up my sleeve, more to come on that!

FAB FIND

As I said today I went looking for bathroom decor and ran into JOANN Fabrics b/c they are having a coupon event and a friend of mine told me that they were having a 60% off sale on home decor. I FOUND these beauties.

I just threw them in my hair really quick for a pic. I LOVE THEM. I brought 3 for .99 EACH! I may let the FGs get the other 2 and wear 1 with my reception dress.

Gifts...

Like most bride's I plan on giving the ladies in the bridal party tokens of appreciation. I like the personalized tote bag idea. I went to ebay and came across the seller Monogrammed Bags N More. Here are the bags I had planned on getting.

Cute right?! They have a variety of colors to choose from and free shipping. AND GREAT pricing 7 bags for $49 BUCKS ! Sweet deal right! Well today I went shopping for a new shower curtain and while I was in BED BATH and BEYOND I can across these cuties.

They had khaki, black, and red left. I brought 5 black bags for BMs and 2 khaki bags hostesses. Now for the fun part. Guess how much????? $2.99 EACH! For a TOTAL of $22 and cents. I am going to personalize them for all the ladies and put pics from all our parties and gatherings. I LOVE IT!!!! CHECK!

I did it...

i went dress shopping today and it wasn't bad. As you know I was afraid to go shopping for my wedding gown. WHY? because of my weight and I thought I would have to get something that I didn't like. BUT it really wasn't bad at all. I didn't find THE DRESS but I tried on a lot of pretty dresses just not MY DRESS. I saw 2 that I really like but the sample was a size 8. The bridal shop that I visited was so helpful and nice I really enjoyed the exprience! YAY!!!

Here is one that I like. I will post my pics later! I can't find my camera cord!

7 MONTHS to GO!

Holey moley! We have 7 months to go! Time flies fast!!!

I-R-R-I-T-A-T-E-D.....

I just need to vent. I am terribly irritated it right now. Why do you ask??? Because when you are planning a weddding everyone has an opinion or a comment. Did I ask for your comments or advice? NOOOOO. So just keep it to yourself. All I here is why this and why that and when are you going to do this and why did you do that.....my question is WHY DOES IT MATTER?? This is OUR W-E-D-D-I-N-G and WE are going to do what WE want to do. All I want people to do is be supportive and for the most part we have GREAT support from friends and family but today some people just pissed me off slightly.

I am a little stressed right now. I am on spring break from both school and work, and I just wanted to paint my house and do DIY projects and go wedding dress shopping... that's it no extras and I feel that I am being distracted.

Ok now I am going to go and finish my cupcake picks and put on some music and start painting my bathroom or something tonite... WOOSAH.....

DIY Checks pt 2

As you know I decided to DIY my cupcake picks and I am almost finished this tedious task! Aren't all DIY projects a labor of love???

I found these on ETSY and I feel in LOVE with it. I was going to use black and whites still of us but decided against it because we have some many photos through out everything else and thought it was OVER KILL so anyway I decided to DIY instead of buying them. I have had these pics over a year but I don't think it was to costly but cheaper to DIY.

SUPPLIES

• I used a monogram we ordered from I DO Originals -$3 {5/$15}
• Scallop paper puncher from Micheal's 40% off - ~$6.00
• 8 sheets of printed cardstock from Staples - $4.72
• Glue gun - already owned
• Cardstock from Micheals - $1.99 pk on clearance
• Wooden Dollie sticks from Hobby Lobby - $2.00

Grand Total $18.00 for 150!!!

Here are the cut-outs!

Close-up

I have about 30 or so more to do! Overall I think that they look pretty darn cute if I must say so myself!

What did you do this weekend!