Save the Date!

Ok, one more thing to almost cross off the list! I just ordered our save the date cards from Vistaprint. Sorry the picture is hard to see. The front says "Save the Date August 14, 2010." The back is printed in black and white and says "We're planning a special new year, we're getting married! We hope you have a great 2010. Happy Holidays, Beth and Duey." I know we're a little late for the holiday cards but we wanted to combine the save the dates with Christmas cards. It's just easier!

Engagement pictures!

Jason and I had engagement pictures done last Tuesday! They turned out nice. While we are waiting for a CD of all of them the photographer (friend of Teresa's, thanks T!) emailed me some of the best. I think we will send out save the dates as Christmas cards.

I know, it's been too long!

Sorry it's been FOREVER since I posted anything. Work has been really stressful. Wedding planning is still well underway. My mom told me today it's been a long time since I put anything up lol. Today I ordered a dress from JCPenney. It's sage green and I want to see the color and how big or small the dresses run. The dress (and picture) are from JCPenney.com. I'm super pumped to see if those flats from Target will match the dresses. I'm thinking I want Sheila (MOH...maid of honor) to wear a different color dress. I am torn between taupe (to match the accents on my dress) or a coral/tangerine type color (to make the tiger lilies I want to carry). I think either color will be nice with the sage green but I think the orange would look nicer on Sheila because she has dark hair and very fair skin. Today Beth and I went shopping for her parents' anniversary party. We also wanted to check out some prices at Sam's Club and BJ's. I got some rectangular tablecloths for the buffet tables for the wedding. It's kind of killing two birds with one stone because we can use the tablecloths for Beth's party too. I also saw some great square plates at BJ's that I might get for the wedding. Yes, they are plastic and disposable. But they are nice. I don't want anyone doing dishes at my wedding! (Especially Aunt Kathy!!! She always gets the dishes!) Friday is one year until the wedding! We are planning on getting some engagement photos taken August 25. Thanks Teresa for recommending Melissa! I'm hoping to get some stuff done tomorrow and maybe get some more pictures up!

The purses are here!

I ordered these green Chinese take-out box style purses for the bridesmaids. I really want to make their bouquets in the purse for them to carry. I saw this idea online and loved it, then I ordered these purses for my own twist on it. When I first found the website they were out of green. Sad face. Then the owner of the company realized he had not updated the site to allow customers to order the green. Yea! Then I ordered them and he realized that yes they were out of the green. Then a shipment came in!
I also ordered cute drawstring purses that the girls could actually use as purses. However, they did wind up being out of those. I was very wary of these take-out purses because similar ones were A LOT more expensive. But the purses came today exactly how I wanted them. I am really excited! They are beautiful. I highly recommend this company. Even though there were some inventory issues the owner was extremely attentive and the products are beautiful! Their website is https://id213.chi.us.securedata.net/gzintlinc.com/merchantmanager/index.php. The company is G and Z international. They are a wholesale company so there is a minimum order of $100. But unlike some wholesale companies you don't have to spend that amount on one item or a case. You can mix and match products. I also ordered some items for gifts. (This photo is from their website.)

This is what 1700 wine corks look like

It occurred to me that I really would not be able to come up with enough wine corks for all my projects on my own.... even being a bartender and having access to a few every time I open a new bottle of wine at work. So I bought some on eBay. I had no idea the sheer magnitude of 1700 wine corks until I opened this box!

Wedding cake stand

We haven't decided what we're doing for a cake yet. We are definitely getting it from the bakery Jason has gone to since he was little. I thought I wanted a traditional wedding cake..... but I've seen a lot of cupcake stands that I really like. If we did the cupcakes I would still like one layer of real cake so Jason and I can do the traditional cake cutting. I also have cake charms for a "cake pull." It's a southern tradition that I saw online and really liked. All the bridesmaids pull a charm and each symbol means a different fortune. Cake or cupcakes, either way I would like to use this cake stand I found at Hobby Lobby. It's really beautiful!

Bridesmaid bouquets

These are the purses I found to make my own version of the purse bouquets. I love them because the green will go with the dresses. We also have several themes going: wine, chinese food, pearls, green, and a kind of champagne color. The handbags will help tie in the chinese food theme we have going on.

Invitation wax seal stamper

I recently got an invitation to a dinner party hosted by my friend David at work. The invitation was sealed with wax. I never though to use a wax stamp before. It was really beautiful. I found a "D" stamp on The Rainforest Site. I am super excited to get it. Now I just need wax! Thanks for the inspiration Dangerous Dave!

Unity candle

I know I haven't posted anything in a while! So sorry, work has been very stressful. I only had one day off since my last post. I found this beautiful pillar holder for our unity candle at Shopformywedding.com. I am super excited to get it! I am planning on buying and decorating the actual candles myself. I am busy with my pomanders, "kissing balls." And now I am considering having the bridesmaids carry flower balls instead of traditional bouquets. I had to scrap the flower cake topper, it didn't turn out the way I had wanted. I am keeping the pearl monogram though. I need to figure out how to fasten it to the cake though. More wedding details to come over the next few days!

Divine disposables!

What a beautiful place setting, huh? It's all disposable! Can you believe it? I found a website called "Divine Disposables." (The above picture is from that site.) I am going to order some samples to see what the plates and cutlery look like in person. I really think we should use real flatware, wine glasses, and cloth napkins.... I think everything will look nicer. I may even make napkin rings and wine charms.
I'm thinking disposable plates. It's a pain to buy real plates and then try to resell them. Shipping would be outrageous. If we rent most places want the plates washed first, which means someone would have to wash dishes on my wedding day yuck. Before I buy anything in bulk I am definitely going to wait until we decide on a caterer. The caterer can probably tell us where to get stuff cheap or if it's better to rent. They might even have the stuff we need.

I will update when I get the disposable samples!

http://www.divinedisposables.com/

Bridesmaid dresses!

Everyone wants to know about the bridesmaid dresses. I am definitely thinking sage green. It will look nice on everyone, I love the color, and it's super easy to match and find it. Then, I can always add accents if I decide to incorporate a second color. It might be a champagn-ish color. My dress (assuming it's going to fit!) has some details that are a chamagney-taupe color.

My plan was to wait until next spring to get the dresses. Everyone's weight fluctuates and I don't want major alterations..... too expensive...too stressful.....too embarrassing. Nobody wants panels! That's why we are also planning to STAY OUT of the traditional bridal shop. The dresses always come in needing to be altered.

Well here comes my idea. Aunt Kathy (travel agent, wedding coordinator, support system) said she had coordinated a wedding where all the girls wore the same color but different styled dresses. And it looked really sharp. Hmmmm... What if I have the girls pick their own dress? The only rules being it must be labeled sage green, be the same length as the others, wedding appropriate, same sleeve style (strapless or no sleeves, etc) and CANNOT be a duplicate of the other girls. It would be fun for the girls! I would love to see what styles they all like and where they wind up finding their dresses. What do you think?

Cake cutter

I found a great deal on an engraved cake cutter. I saw this set on Oriental Trading's site and I was hesitant that it would turn out well for $19.99. But for twenty bucks, why not give it a try? It turned out BEAUTIFUL!!! And what a price! Some of the little things like that aren't really that important to me so why go overboard?

Wedding wine

I almost forgot! I may have found a steal on wedding wine. As long as it's drinkable I don't care about the vineyard, vintage, or grape variety! There is a new craze out west on $2 wines. So I tried to find something available in New York State. "Lost Vineyards" is about 3 bucks a bottle! We plan on taking the labels off anyway because we are going to have custom labels. All that's left is a taste test!

Bridesmaid shoes

Yeah! I found cute shoes for my bridesmaids! The dresses are most likely going to be sage green. These taupe shoes are from Target. We are going with flats because the reception is outside and I don't want any heels sinking into the ground. I just want everyone to be comfortable. We will have to see what the girls think!

Wine bottle candelabras

My ideas for centerpieces have evolved since we started planning. We are planning a wine themed reception because we both love wine and I have been a bartender for years. My original idea was an empty wine bottle surrounded by a wine cork wreath. Then I was going to stick a cork in the bottle and have the table stuck in the cork. Well then we started to think about how dark the tent might be at the reception. We needed some candles, but I had my heart set on wine bottles.... Problem solved! I found these candelabras online. We will have to see how they look with the wine cork wreath. I have labels with our names and wedding date coming. I will post pics once I have a good example!