Happy Halloween!

That's my brother and me circa 1989.

I'm the mouse. He's the dinosaur.

My mom made the costumes herself. She made almost all of our costumes growing up. I can only hope that my sewing skills are as good as hers by the time I have children. If not, luckily, she saved all of our costumes so I'll just dress my children up in them. :)

Table Name Cards

I didn't want to be plain and boring and just number the tables, so our tables are going to be named after places we've traveled to together. We've been on two cruises together so that helped give us enough names for all the tables.

I designed each card in Photoshop with the location name, a photo of us at that location, and our monogram. I'll print them on cardstock or 5x7 photo paper. Then I'll print our menu on another piece of cardstock (or 5x7 photo paper) and put it behind the table name card.

I'm using chrome plated table number holders to place them on the tables. I found a bride on Craigslist who was selling 18 for $15. Score.

Silhouette Matters

Ball Gown. A-Line. Empire. Mermaid. Sheath. Fit-and-Flare. Trumpet.

I'm a true believer that every girl looks best in a certain silhouette. My belief was sealed when I began searching for my dress. In my quest for the perfect dress I ventured into 5 bridal salons, traveling across state lines to go to 2 of them and tried on 40+ dresses.

I'm going to show you how I look in certain silhouettes to demonstrate how some are not for everyone. (NOTE: I will not be posting a pic of my dress. I know, I'm no fun.) I lopped my head off most of the photos because I'm not making the best faces. :)

Alright, let's get this party started!

The very first dress I tried on! Here I am in the biggest ball gown type dress I tried on. I felt like I took up too much volume, and I look like it too. No ball gown dresses for me!

Moving on to empire. Oh empire and I are not friends. I look large and frumpy-- not the words I'd like to describe myself as on my wedding day.

A-line. I think that everyone looks good in A-line... including myself.

However, I don't like the look of pick-ups, as shown with this A-line dress. I think I look squatty. I also don't like how it looks like I'm wearing a down comforter.

Fit-and-flare. I liked the look of fit-and-flare dresses or sometimes called modified A-line. When comparing this photo to the photos of myself in the empire waist dresses it looks like a completely different person to me.

I wasn't about to try on a mermaid or trumpet style dress because I don't need to overly emphasize my hips, thighs, and booty. :)

What silhouette do you think I went with?

I found my wedding cake topper.

Sunday evening I set out with a goal: find a wedding cake topper.

I took to Etsy.

I had already decided that I wanted a customized topper that looked like FI and I. I also wanted to include our pup. After searching for a while I stumbled upon Lynn's Little Creations. She makes custom toppers starting at $65 for the couple (add $5-$10 per pet, depending on size)! Most custom toppers I've seen are easily $100-$500+! I'm very excited to see how it turns out-- especially my dress!

You say flower balls, I say pomanders.

I call them pomanders. I don't like the term "flower balls". They look too pretty to be called "balls". Anyway, I finished my first crepe paper pomander. I'm using them as aisle decorations.

The directions on how to make them can be found here:
http://houseofsmiths.blogspot.com/2010/02/hanging-roses-i-was-browsing-blogs.html. (I ♥ this blog!)

Here is a video of Shelley from House of Smiths demonstrating how to make the crepe paper roses: http://houseofsmiths.blogspot.com/p/press.html

I used a 5 inch white Styrofoam ball form and light pink crepe paper from W*lmart ($1.25 each). The key is to use a 40% or 50% off coupon to buy the Styrofoam balls-- they're pricey. They come out to be about $2.50 with the coupons.

Jack wanted his picture taken with the pomander.

Now, I just need to decide what color of ribbon to use--green, white, or green with white polka dots. What do you think?

Eeny Meeny Miny Mo

Sometimes I wonder if I'm completing my DIY projects too soon. What if I get all them done by Christmas and I have nothing to do from January to June?! Yes, this is a thought that crept into my mind today. I know. Ridiculous.

So I'm on to my next DIY projects. I just need to choose what to do next.


I want to decorate the aisle with pomanders. I was planning on doing moss pomanders, but then I came across these gorgeous crepe paper pomanders (from House of Smiths-- awesome blog!). That pink one would look ah-mazing with a beautiful green ribbon hanger and bow. This project looks like it would take a while too, so that would help with my finishing-my-DIY-projects-too-soon phobia. Hmmm...


I want to make a "Just Married" parasol. I have the parasol. It was free. FI's youngest brother had a big party this summer and some girl left it behind and never retrieved it. Score. So if I royally mess it up I won't be as mad at myself since I'm not financially attached to the parasol. :)


I think I've changed my mind about putting a wreath on the fireplace. Instead, I think I want to put giant moss covered letters (FI and I's initials and an ampersand: C & B) on the mantel.

Pretty Program Box

I finished our program box tonight. I started it yesterday so this has been my fastest DIY project so far. Yay!

I was inspired by this program box/card box that I found on Etsy a few months ago (FYI, the seller, Shea Chic Designs, has evidently filed for bankruptcy recently. She didn't send a ton of buyers their purchases and owes many of them money. Not good.). Now, back to happy thoughts of DIY!

I used the same green paint that I used for my card box. I also used the same kind of pink peony that I used for my topiaries, except I edited it a bit to get it to lay more flat.

My supplies:
10" paper mache box (JoAnn Fabric)
Paint (Lowe's)
Sponge brush (Lowe's)
Silk peony (JoAnn Fabric)
Ribbon (JoAnn Fabric)
Rhinestone button (JoAnn Fabric)
Double-sided tape
Glue gun & glue
Scissors


Instructions:
1. Paint the inside and outside of the paper mache box. 2-3 coats is best. Allow for ample drying time in between coats.

2. To get the flower to lay more flat, carefully cut out the first layer of clear pieces inside the flower that lift the petals. If needed, apply double-sided tape in between some petals and adhere petals to one another in order for them to lay flat.

3. Cut the yellow center off of the flower.

4. Cut the button part off the back of the rhinestone button.

5. Apply glue to the center of the peony.


6. Stick the rhinestone button onto the glue and hold in place while it dries.

7. When paint is dry on box, begin applying ribbon, securing with double-sided tape.


8. Make bow by cutting approximately 20 inches of ribbon. Make two big loops with the ribbon.


9. Secure the loops with small bead lines of glue at each lower fold and/or where the two pieces of ribbon meet.


10. Glue the peony to the bow.


11. Glue the bow/peony to the box on top of the ribbon.

"Music is what feelings sound like." Cont.

Another song I like is "You've Got the Love" by Florence + the Machine. I love the sound of her voice and the general sound of the song. This would be a cocktail hour/dinner song.


A favorite among some of my friends is "Luckiest" by Ben Folds-- a very good first dance choice.


I love, love, LOVE Adele. She's so soulful. We'll definitely play "Make You Feel My Love" performed by Adele.


"Say Hey (I Love You)" by Michael Franti and Spearhead is a great cocktail hour song.


FI is a Zac Brown Band fan (and I am too). We'll try to work "Whatever It Is" into the day somewhere.

"Music is what feelings sound like."

I'm a music lover. I love all kinds of music--rap, indie pop, downtempo, hip-hop, classic rock, alternative, acoustic, alternative rock, pop, r&b, top 40. I will admit, I have to go light on country. Love me some Rascal Flatts, though! FI loves music as well. He's been playing electric and acoustic guitar for 10 years. So needless to say, music is going to play a large part in our special day.

One song that I kept hearing was "She is Love" by Parachute. We'll probably play this during cocktail hour or dinner.


We've chosen "You and Me" by Dave Matthews Band for our recessional (beginning around 1:02).


One of our first dance song contenders is "Stay With You" by John Legend.


The other first dance song contender is "Love Song" by The Cure, performed by 311.


Another song that I love is "Lucky" by Jason Mraz feat. Colbie Caillat.


I don't know where I would fit this song into our day, but I really like it. I found it a few years ago on myspace music. "Man and Wife" by Michelle Featherstone. I love her voice and the lyrics.


Who doesn't like Michael Buble? "Everything" by Micheal Buble.


I attended a wedding this weekend where the bride walked down the aisle to "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" performed by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole. It was beautiful.