Updates

So I've been absent for awhile... wedding things caught up with me (my own, and my sister's which is in a few weeks), work has been crazy busy, and I actually started designing some invitation/stationery.



The past few weeks I have been making these kinds of things in my non-work hours.
Before that all of my non-work hours were devoted to wedding crap making. So I guess I could share a few wedding pictures! I love our photographer, she did such an amazing job. I have about 700 pictures and I absolutely love about 95% of them (the rest I had a ridiculous expression on my face, usually this is 100% of my pictures)


I needed a rest || all wedding photos by Mustard Seed Photography

The wedding was really fun. It was warm (but not too hot), I got a nice strappy back sunburn that morning, and Cam's parent's showed up until about three hours late. Because they stayed up until about 5 drinking. Other than those two things it was super great!


How cute are they?

 
I love the cake topper I made! I also tried to cake smash his face while running, didn't work.



In less exciting news, I had to take my engagement ring in for it's bi-annual inspection (for the warranty, you see) and there was a teeny tiny diamond missing. So now I don't get it back for about two months. That's so freaking long! I miss you, pretty ring :(


Come back to me!

Wedding Details: Perfect shower outfit

So I've been thinking (obsessing) about I want to wear for wedding related events. My bridal shower has been a topic of discussion lately... for various strange reasons (apparently my FMIL is going to throw it for me? She emailed my bridesmaid to tell her she has already started planning it) and I know I wanna look pretty. So I did what any normal girl would do... virtual shopping spree!

I went window shopping at Modcloth and picked out an entire outfit. I would love to wear this to my shower!

Dress - $89.99
Cardigan - $34.99
Shoes - $62.99
Bag -  $189.99
Necklace - $13.99
Bracelet - $12.99
Earrings - $9.99
Sunnies - $11.99

Total for all - $426.92... a bit much for one day? Well, yes, that's why this is just for fun! I can at least use this as a starting point for the look I want :)

Wedding Details: Giving in

I have strong opinions, and I'm not afraid to admit it. I know what I want and I will push to get it. I have a different style than the rest of my family (understatement...), so throughout the planning process I've had a lot of my choices questioned. And questioned, again and again. I always defend my opinions and don't let others change my mind when I want something.

But sometimes its worth it to just give in. Sometimes, I don't really care that much and I let go.

I'm not going to let someone tell me what to wear, or dictate things that are important to me. But sometimes, I just don't care enough about certain details to really put my opinion in.

Similar in style to this, via

- There was a beautiful birch four-post structure I wanted to use for an altar. It wasn't very expensive, but for 15 minutes of use it seemed too much. So now my dad will be making me one out of wood. All I care about is how I decorate it, I'm not too invested in the structure itself...

- Bouquets... have been a problem for me. I finally gave in and my mom will be making the actual bouquets out of real flowers. I don't care enough, and she really seems to want them. All the other flowers will still be made out of crepe paper!

We didn't even order turquoise - but teal works for me... via

- Envelopes?! Apparently my mom really wanted pretty colored envelopes for the invitations. I just wanted opaque ones. We had to order them in at a paper shop, and they cost just over $50. My invitations were under $200 for the whole suite!!!

Similar, but white boxes with colored ribbon and pewter charms, via

- I couldn't think of anything for favors. My mom really wanted to use these cute little white boxes she found at Michael's and tie them up with ribbon and little charms. We picked out cute little assorted feather and bird charms to tie on them. Something chocolate or cookie will go inside, she just hasn't decided what she wants to make.

- The cake has been up to my mother the whole time. She's making it, and as long as it tastes good she has free reign. This will be covered in scattered little edible flowers she's ordering.

There have been little things along the way. Small details in the decor that I don't care about, things that were too expensive or time consuming the way I want to do them. But there have been things I won't budge on, like making my cake topper. My feather garlands on the altar. My veil and accessories. The guy's outfits. Custom designing my own invitations. And all the hand-made decorations.

I just have to learn to let go of some things if I'm going to be able to accomplish the things that are really important to me!

Wedding Details - DJ dilemma

The original plan was to use a laptop and a sound system. Make my own playlists (with help, I'm not a modern dance-y music person), have people switch back and forth when they're bored, whatever.

via - do I want to end up like this during my reception?

The pros:
- $40 to rent the sound system
- $10/month subscription to Spotify for unlimited music & offline play, no ads
- Getting to choose basically every song

The cons:
- Someone will have to be in charge during the ceremony, and hopefully schedule the music correctly
- Drunk people messing with my laptop, closing the music program accidentally, etc
- Having to worry at all about the music during the whole shebang
- Needing to choose basically every song

It leans pretty heavily to the cons, right? So maybe a DJ wouldn't be so bad? Except for the price. I've only looked at one (the closest guy I could find to the venue) and it was just over $1000 for 5 hours. I almost crapped my pants when I saw the prices. So... that's not going to happen.

I'll keep looking for other prices. Plus there's a wedding show tomorrow, maybe I'll see some DJs there. I also contacted a friend that I think DJs wedding to see what his prices would be like.

Anyone have any ideas? Know any good DJs around Boise, Idaho?

Wedding details - February already?!

So we're halfway through February... and I'm starting to stress a little bit! So much left to do.

Good news - got bridesmaid's dresses picked out and ordered this weekend - we're going with these pretty dresses from Target:

All the girls are going to wear gray, but I'm hoping I'll have some time to make a pretty floral sash to replace the gray one. Each girl will wear a different color of tights (yellow orange and turquoise) and I don't really care what they do with their shoes... they're big girls, they can decide!

I'm just happy this detail is out of the way, hopefully they all fit!

My mom and I started playing around with centerpiece stuff on Saturday afternoon - so that is getting started. I've been making flowers here and there also. Not many done yet, but I've still got time.

My cousin is going to make a pretty tree branch altar for us, and I'm going to make hanging garlands of feathers and maybe lace (I have a bunch of lace ribbon from the auction this summer) to blow in the wind and look pretty.

I think I also have the invitation design finally finished!

This month we need to:

- Finish map/direction cards. Order invitations - maybe smartpress.com for printing? Has anyone used them?
- Rent chairs, tables, sound system, etc
- Figure out what food to serve
- Get my dress altered (just the neckline, it fits great!)
- Maybe try on suits for the guys? Is this too soon? Or am I late on this? Who knows!
- Order a crapload of feathers. White mostly for the aisle and altar, but also turquoise, yellow, orange, and gray for decorations, bouts, everything. Anyone know a good place? There are tons on Amazon, but most have huge shipping costs.
- Figure out how our ceremony is actually going to go. Our friend is officiating for us.
- More flowers!

A lot to do! I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed, so I'm trying to limit things that need to get done each week so I don't go crazy.

Honestly, this wouldn't be so bad if work would ever slow down even a little... but that's not going to happen. We just don't have enough people half the time - I am literally doing so many things each day I don't know if anything will get done in time.

Wedding Details - bouquet issues!

(via)

I love flowers. I love the look, the feel, the scent, everything! I'm gushing, but I have always adored flowers. I even have a tattoo of one! The problem is... my sinuses do NOT agree with my brain. I'm allergic to most everything that I really like. I'm not a rose person, and behold - they don't make me sneeze or tear my eyes out!

As a chronic DIY-er, I kind of wish I could leave the floral part of my wedding up to a florist, have the bouquets be beautiful, and worry about other things. I have so many other things to worry about. But I don't want to spend the whole day sniffly because I just had to have the pretty bouquet.

Now, if I'm not gonna fork out a couple hundred dollars for freshies, what should I do? I could spend the same amount and get a premade brooch, felt, clay, paper, fabric, or really ANY KIND of bouquet.

(via)

I know I could make a great felt bouquet myself, I even started playing around with making felt succulents! It would have turned out better had I ordered some felt in the right green, rather than the generic colors at Hobby Lobby, but even so - I don't think a felt bouquet is for me.

I played with making crepe paper flowers (and I LOVE them), but I don't know if I want this look for my bouquet. They will definitely be all over the place, especially the huge ones (this yellow crepe paper peony is as big as my head!)

Since I've been thinking about this whole situation, I've decided that if I'm going to make my bouquet, I'm just gonna make one giant peony flower (glamelia). I could do this out of felt, fabric, paper, crepe paper, or clay... and my newest goal is clay! I was always good in my ceramics classes, so why not try some mold and dry Crayola clay and give it a whirl?

First reason: Crayola clay is NOTHING like clay. It feels... almost elastic. It doesn't stretch and mold the same way as I am used to. Quite different than what I expected. After about 20 minutes of playing around, I've gotten used to it and I think I can make something fun! I got white, yellow, orange, and red and I'm planning to try to get a fun ombre effect from a creamy white center to a reddish orange color on the outer petals.

Has anyone else tried this? I'll let you know how it goes!

It's not all about the details...

But really, it is!

I found my wedding dress!! I bought it yesterday after a few days of consideration, and I couldn't be happier. It fits great, it was on sale, I don't have to have it altered (as long as I don't gain weight), and it fits my personality. So no more stress, right? Well, now there's the matter of the accessories. Veils, jewelry, shoes, tights, bouquets, garters... so many details to find/make to get it all right! The good news is I don't need/can't wear a bra or corset at all.

I've been checking out veils today, and I think I've narrowed it down to one style. I know I want just a blusher, but I don't think I want the birdcage veil look. I'm loving these polka dotted veils, but I'm not sure if they'll go with the dress (I'd show you, but I'm paranoid Cameron will stumble on this!).

 (top left | top right | bottom)

I love this look. The little bridal caps have caught my eye too. I don't know if they're exactly what I want, but they're so beautiful! 

(top left | top right | bottom left | bottom right)

What do you think? What did you/would you wear on your head for your wedding day?

Wedding Details - not much getting done!

I've been sick the past couple of days, so I haven't been wearing/making/doing anything of note :)

I have, however, been thinking of what the heck I'm going to do for my wedding! So I thought I'd throw together a quick little image with a few of the ideas I'm thinking about. It's not until next June and the only concrete things we have decided are the venue and the officiant. It's so far away, it's hard to make firm decisions! Has anyone else had this problem?

I do know what the guys are going to wear, have an idea for the girls (just sundresses in yellow and orange with turquoise, yellow or grey tights and maybe matching shoes).

images: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7

Wedding Details: Photos from the Lake

A couple of weeks ago Cameron and I had engagement pictures taken by the lovely Amy of Amy Mae Photography. We tromped through water, cheat grass, trees, and balanced in a canoe. Yup, it was a lot of fun (except for the cheat grass that embedded itself all over).

Here are a couple of my favorite shots:

Honestly, I think I love this one because of how white my skin looks next to his tanned-works-outside-all-day skin.

This was a blast, if you couldn't tell from all the laughing shots, we had a great time. I wish I could do this way more often!

Yellow dress, lace shirt & striped skirt / JC Penney |  Pink dress / Target (bow added) | Flower crown / DIY

Wedding Details: bridesmaid proposals

In the spirit of my MOH proposal, I made cards for my bridesmaids! I limited the size of the card to just a tri-fold rather than an accordion. I still put fun, ridiculous paper doll-type outfits on one side, but instead of scrapbooking pictures on the other I just wrote out the proposal. You'll remember that on the MOH proposal the actual 'proposal' part was on a separate printed card.

Construction was the same, simply attach the cardboard pieces together with paper on one side, and go crazy decorating. I also made a simple envelope for these cards. Here are some pictures of my sister's:

I'll add pictures of the other soon, but I forgot to take a picture of the front of the card! I'll have to ask Brittany to take one and send it to me.

Did anyone else do something special to ask their girls?

Wedding Details: will you be my...

Maid of Honor?

I knew I needed to ask Hailey to be my maid of honor in a special way... so I decided to make 'paper doll' clothes of some out-there dresses and accessories and put them on a card. On the other side, I scrapbooked pictures of us.

Here's the final package of everything:

The dresses were made using scrapbook paper, colored cardstock, felt (the supersparkly pink is felt, too), buttons, stickers, anything I could find. Sadly, the chrome tights didn't 'go' with any of these outfits, so it will be in one of the sequels: bridesmaid proposals.

The bits of thin cardboard are about 5.5" x 6" and are from various boxes of granola bars, kleenex, etc. I simply cut scrapbook paper in strips to the right height and glued the cardboard together to create an accordion card.

Here is a shot of all of the dress panels (including the 'Houndstooth Horror,' 'Chevron Shocker,' and 'Over-Frosted Blue Wedding Cake' dresses):

And here's a shot of the scrapbook side:

The blue card that actually pops the big question was made in Photoshop and printed on HP photo paper.
The other day while browsing the Offbeat Bride I came across this article about a cute bridesmaid contract. So I promptly copied this idea and made a cardstock contract for fun to include.

I tied the card up with the proposal inside and gave it to her before we went to Adult Night at the Discovery Center here in town. We hadn't officially announced our engagement (I told Cameron I had to tell Hailey before everyone found out), so it was actually a surprise!

I made the two for my bridesmaids later and they are a little different, so I'll show those soon!