Friday fun

Happy friday yet again. I thought I'd post pictures of animal weddings since I love dressed up animals (yeah, I'm one of those, but my dog doesn't wear clothes very often).








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Happy friday!!

Ugh!!

I just want to say that I hate the myth that the wedding day is all about the bride. Ah!!!! I want my wedding to be about both me and my groom.

That's all I have to say about the matter.

Friday fun

So a couple weeks ago I did this and thought I'd do it again in honor of the 3-day weekend. This time with the ever popular, bridesmaids dresses! Everyone loves to make fun of bridesmaids dresses and I'm no different!


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And here are some really cute bridesmaids:


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That's really tempting, but I'm just not the type of person to include my dog in the wedding. Maybe I'll get her something special to wear that day while she's home alone. Happy weekend!!

10 months to go!!

I've made an appointment to order my dress and a couple bridesmaid dresses. The date is exactly 9 months from the wedding so what better day for it!!

Note: I have 5 followers? That's awesome. When I first started, I figured this would be just to get my thoughts on "paper" and out of my head. This is fun now!!

What would you do with an unlimited budget?

I thought about this yesterday and I wouldn't change the majority of what I'm doing. I would definitely still buy the dress that I am going to buy and I would still get married at my church.

Things I would change:
1. Bigger reception venue
2. Buy my grandfather a 1957 Chevy so he could drive us to the reception from the ceremony
3. Buy all of the wedding party's attire
4. Fly my friend here from Colorado so she could be a bridesmaid
5. For sure go to Fiji for our honeymoon
6. Bigger photo package (or at least more locations, might see if I can get more locations anyway)
7. Dance lessons
8. Invite every guest from my original list (I took about 100 off the list)

What would you do with an unlimited wedding budget?

First DIY project

So I've been looking into getting engraved toasting glasses for the party, an engraved vase for the sand ceremony, and an engraved memory vase for Grandpa Nye. All that added up is expensive!! So I decided to do my own glass etching and hopefully save some money (we'll see if I actually save money).

Will need:
-8 glasses - found box of 10 pilsners for $11.00 and will use those (for the record, I don't recommend using pilsners because the one I bought were tapered and the stencil doesn't really like it, but I did get it to work). The extra two glasses will probably be used in the sand ceremony for our separate colors
-2 vases - $1.00 each at Dollar Tree
-Glass etching kit - this was the expensive part. I got the starter kit, a wedding stencil kit, and two alphabet kits for a total of about $50.00. Starter kit includes: Cream, stencils, paintbrush, Popsicle stick
-Masking tape - about $2.00
-Gloves - $1.00 for a whole bunch
Total spent: about $65.00. So far Bridesmaid Megan and I have done 3 of the pilsners so there may be more costs later

I took pictures to show how easy the process was (and it was super easy if I could do it).

Step 1: Wash the glass to make sure there are no fingerprints. Cut out and position stencil on the glass. Tape down with masking tape.

This process was a tad difficult because the glasses were tapered and we had to measure a couple times to get all of the stencils in (roughly, I hope) the same spot.

Step 2: Use a Popsicle stick (or fingernail, or back of a butter knife, etc.) to transfer stencil from plastic to glass.

(Yes I switched glasses between pictures. I forgot to takes pictures of the first glass I did.)

The stencil bubbled slightly again because of the tapering of the glass. On something that is the same width from top to bottom, it won't be an issue. The bubbles are pretty easy to rub out anyway.

Step 3: Make sure there are no holes in the stencil that aren't supposed to be there and cover the edges with tape.

Taping down the edges of the stencil insures that you won't get any of the edging cream where you don't want it. You will also want to put tape over any holes that got put in the stencil.

Step 4: Spread a generous amount of etching cream over the stencil.

Make sure you can't see any of the lettering or design and let it sit for 60 seconds, that was all the time that was required for this cream. (I left the cream on for about 15-30 seconds longer and it looked just fine.)

Step 5: Rinse off all of the cream and remove the tape and stencil.

Run the glass under water to remove the rest of the stencil that didn't come off with the tape.

Step 6: Wash the glass and check out your handiwork!

You can kind of see the etching, but it was really hard to get a good picture, so I will try again later.

The process doesn't take very long. Megan and I had an assembly line at the beginning so all of the stencils are on and positioned and that part takes the longest. I really like how they turned out!

Friday fun

Don't know what to do with your dress after the wedding? Check out these suggestions:

Fix the car

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Compete in track events

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Go swimming

Source: Mark Garnder Photography

Take a trip

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Dress up your dog

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And last, but not least, knock off the crasher that ruined your wedding ;)

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Happy weekend!!

Piece of cake

I've been looking at cakes and I don't want the traditional tiered cake. I want separate cakes at different heights like these:


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Anyway, you get the idea; I want separate cakes on different heights of cake stands. And I also want orange lilies on the cakes. Now I just need to find a baker to bake my cakes!

Now here's some fun cakes I found:


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Check out this giveaway!!

Hop on over to Misadventures of a Newlywed and check out the monogram towel giveaway! They are so cute!



They would be perfect for a tropical honeymoon or just a day at the beach!!!

New color added!

I've talked to Nick, Mom, and bridesmaids and we've decided to add another color to the palette, but only for the reception. So, without further ado (I love that word, I never really knew what it meant until I watched 'Much Ado About Nothing')
Ceremony: Red & white (just like before)
Reception: Red, white, and...orange!

That's right, orange. I was trying to find an Asiatic lily, or similar type, in true red, but was only finding burgundy and pink. I ran across this picture and really liked how the color popped.


I really love this picture, taken at Matangi Resort in Fiji. It has been the inspiration for the new color scheme:


Here is a collage that I made, hopefully it doesn't look like a bunch of totally random pictures, but makes sense regarding my scheme.


So now our flowers have slightly changed regarding the reception; the ceremony will be the same as before, colors and everything. So here I go again:

Ceremony:
My bouquet-red & white long stemmed calla lilies wrapped w/ red & white ribbon & Nanna's pearls
MOH bouquet-red long stemmed calla lilies wrapped w/ white (or red) ribbon
BMs bouquets-white long stemmed calla lilies wrapped w/red ribbon
JBs bouquets-white short stemmed bouquets wrapped w/ red ribbon
Boutonnieres & corsages-white & red mini calla lilies, going to depend on what the guys wear as to which color of flower they wear

Reception:
Cake-decorated with orange Asiatic lilies
Centerpieces-red & orange fruit & white (silk probably) mini calla lilies

Does any of that make sense? Be honest now, what do you think?

Picture sources: Orange lilies, Sunset, Bridal party posing: Victoria Souza Photography, Bride hair: Project Wedding, Red wedding dress: , Heart in hands: , Hands in Sand: , Matangi treehouse, Calla lily bouquet: , Card box, Cake topper, Cake, Ring dish

I'm a bad blogger

Okay, I just have to start with something funny, when I first typed the title, is said, "I'm a bag blooger". Oops, my bad :)

Anyway, I haven't posted in a while because nothing is really happening right now. I have got a few smaller things checked off the list:
1. I signed the contract and paid the deposit for the photographer (I'm so excited, I LOVE her work).
2. One of my junior bridesmaids has been asked, one to go (which is Nick's job when he talks to his brother about being a groomsman and kids being in the wedding).

And that's all I've done in the last few weeks, besides having a tooth removed, but that's not really relevant.

I have made a few decisions that I wasn't sure about (did I mention I love lists?):
1. I am going to dye my crinoline to match the red on my dress, so there is an extra pop of color for pictures
2. The junior bridesmaids are going to be just that, not candle lighters like originally planned. The candles will be lit before the ceremony and the two girls will carry bouquets down the aisle after the bridesmaids and stay up there for the ceremony.
3. We are going to do a lei ceremony during the wedding. Nick is part Hawaiian on his mother's side and I wanted to do something traditional to a Hawaiian wedding.
4. I am going to wear two veils for pictures before the ceremony, a fingertip and a cathedral. I am having problems with one decision though, which veil to wear during the ceremony? I love the look of the longer veil, but if I wore that one, I would have to switch veils before the reception. What do you think?

I'm really beginning to hate the phrase "only a year"

Quick update

So I bought a Polaroid PoGo off eBay (I already said that but anyway) and got an awesome deal. I tried it out and the pictures are so cute and they are on peel and stick paper so for the reception I can just stick them on scrapbook paper and have guests sign away!

Another quick little (okay not little, HUGE) thing, I toured and booked the reception site yesterday. The reception will officially be and the McClelland Arts Center. If anyone actually reads this blog, I need input. Check out the layout below and read on.



(Sorry if the picture is kind of small.) This is the layout of the reception site. I was thinking it might be fun to have the little meeting room on the left side (see it?) be a "club" and we'd put the DJ and dancing in there. Problem with that is then there will be no music during dinner or anything else unless we put a speaker in there or something. Also, not everyone would be able to see the dancing unless they crowded at the entrance (since the two rooms are not connected to each other). I'm not even sure if that's possible.

The other option is to do the DJ and dancing in the main room where everybody is. That will take up space where tables could be set up for people to sit and eat, but I know (and have been told NUMEROUS times) that not everyone will come to the wedding and even less will come to the reception. So those are my two choices, what do you think?

Photo guestbook

I won this great little tool on eBay called a Polaroid PoGo. It hooks directly to your digital camera and prints 2"x3" pictures. I thought it would be a great way to do the guestbook, just take pictures of the table, print the picture and tape it to a piece of scrapbook paper, and have the guests sign around the picture. Wa-la, instant photo guestbook and I will have faces to put with names of the guests that came to the wedding.


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One year from friday...

is the date. Um, that still seems like a long ways away, but I have a rather long to-do list and it doesn't seem to be getting any shorter. I have so much I want to do, but I feel silly starting so early. Does any of this make sense? I want to do all of the crafty stuff and I wish the bigger stuff (such as venues, DJ, catering, etc.) was done, but the wedding seems too far away to do the little things. And I don't have the big things done yet, which I can do right now, but don't want to.

Did I mention I don't like talking on the phone? And that's pretty much what I have been doing trying to get a reception venue lined up. I narrowed my choices down according to what we need and don't need. For example: we don't need expensive food, I'd prefer something easy and fun, like deli sandwiches or something like that. I really don't want to spend $20+ per person for food when I can get less expensive food and I'll feel more comfortable anyway.

I can just about check one item off the list though. Nick and I met with a photographer last Thursday and we have decided to use her. Check out http://www.jessicalemmonsphotography.com/ to check her out. She did my sister's senior pictures and my friend's engagement pictures and they are both awesome! I love when things go easy and you can't really get much easier than that. I can breathe a little easier now knowing that I am going to get the pictures I want done by an excellent photographer. She does the fun artsy pictures as well as the formals and I really like that. Hopefully we'll also be doing our engagement pictures through her. We'll have to wait and see.

One more side not, Mom and I went to our local Dollar Tree on Saturday and I bought 13 boxes of bubbles for a dollar each. One hundred fifty-six bubbles for $12.00 plus tax! I also got silk rose petals for like $3.00 and some other stuff, so they can all be checked off the list too. :)

I found the dress! (No Nick again)

Mom, Shannon, and I went up to my aunt's house near Seattle this last weekend for the soul purpose of trying on THE dress (see the end of last blog). We were referred to the Alfred Angelo store in Tukwila by the bridal shop in town since that is the designer of the dress, they'd be sure to have one for me to try on.

I'll skip most of the weekend since it was mostly shopping and none of it wedding related.

My appointment at Alfred Angelo was on Sunday and one of my cousins (also a bridesmaid) met us at the shop. We didn't waste any time finding the dress and grabbed a dressing room. As soon as I put the dress on I knew it was the one, even before I saw myself in the mirror (it helped that it fit like a glove and didn't have to be clipped at all). I was so excited to finally get to try on THE dress that I squealed (quite a lot) and couldn't stop smiling.

So here are some pictures we took (don't worry, we were allowed)


I was VERY happy with the way the dress looked and fit on me. Can't you tell? :)



Kinda hard to see the back, but you get the idea.



I am going to get the optional capped-sleeves because I think it looks better on me and will give me a bit of peace of mind. I also really liked this veil. It's finger-tip in length and has beading around the edge that matched the beading on the dress really well.



We put my young cousin (who is going to be flower girl) in a dress too and she loved it! She kept sitting down in front of me on the riser and Mom took the opportunity to snap this picture.

No Nick allowed!!!!!

Side note: Just lost whole blog! AGH!!! So hopefully, I'll remember what I said so I can write it all out again.

Last Saturday, Shannon (my maid of honor) and I went wedding dress shopping (or I guess looking, because I wasn't planning on buying then). We went to Michelle Renee's with my grandparents and then headed to Vancouver by ourselves to the Bridal Arts Building. I was looking for a specific dress and those shops were two listed on the designer's website.

First stop was Michelle Renee's and when we got there, a sign on the door said by appointment only, so we went in to make an appointment hopefully for that day. Yay there was a cancellation! Unfortunately, they did not have the dress I was looking for, but had similar styles by the same designer so I could get an idea of what it would look like.

First things first, I tried on an all red gown just for fun. It had a HUGE train and ruffles all the way around on the bottom. I loved the corseted top also. It fit like a glove and was half off! But I want to wear white on my wedding day and that dress had none whatsoever. It was fun to try on, but a little bold for my taste.






The next dress I tried on was beautiful and had a lovely train and intricate beading. Not as much color as I would have liked, but it was added to the small list of dresses I would consider if I could not get the original one I wanted. This one was Alfred Angelo 1612 (you can look these dresses up on http://www.alfredangelo.com/ and see better pictures). Note: The brown would be red if I were to get this dress.






The next two dresses I tried on were pretty also, but not me so it was back to the second dress. We didn't take many pictures of the 3rd dress, but here's the last one. It's Alfred Angelo 2015.




I loved how I looked and it had lacing up the back that I LOVE the look of. Since Mom couldn't come that day, I made an appointment for the following Wednesday to come back and try it on again so we could get ideas.

After Michelle Renee's it was on to the Bridal Arts Building. They didn't have the dress I wanted either, bummer. So I tried on some more that were close (and one that wasn't close at all) to get ideas (but mostly for fun since we were already there).

First dress was nothing like any of the other ones I tried on that day. It just caught my eye while browsing the dresses and I liked the pop of color.




The other dresses I tried were all Alfred Angelos (guess I just love his style). I don't have a picture of 1139 because it wasn't enough color for me. But I tried on 1708 and loved the amount of color on the dress. Wasn't a fan of where the waist hit me, but I was getting closer to what I wanted. Notes: Sorry the pictures are blurry, I was a bad girl and took pictures when I wasn't supposed to, but the dresses can be found on the website. Also, all of the green on the dress would be red if this were the one I was getting.






The next dress was gorgeous too and was already red so I didn't have to try to imagine it! I loved the amount of color and the beading and the length of the train. Very close to what I wanted, but not exact. At least with trying on these dresses, I know mostly what the one I want will look like. This dress is 1516 and has the option of straps (which I would need, and most of the dresses had that option, I just didn't mention it).






So those are all the dresses I tried on Saturday, but not the one I want. Mom, Granny, and I went back on Wednesday to Michelle Renee to try on that second dress again. And I did find out that the dress I want could be ordered, even if they don't have the sample. I am about 90% sure I want that dress, the other 10% is trying it on, which I have to find someone who carries it to do that. I also found out on Wednesday that if my dress and the bridesmaids' dresses are ordered from the same designer at the same time, they will be the same dye lot (I did know that, I just forgot about it). So even if all the dresses aren't the same (I'm letting the girls choose their dresses), they will be the same color. I like that idea so there is some uniformity, but the girls will feel comfortable in a dress they picked for the price they could afford.

I think that about wraps it up, now that I talked your ear off. OH! Here is the dress that I want.




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Gorgeous isn't it? Fell in the love the first time I saw it and I still love it. Can't wait to be able to try it on and see what it looks like. I felt like a princess last Wednesday and Saturday and I can't imagine how I will feel when I put this one on.