Minor details..

At least twice a week I get the dreaded.. ' What is your dress going to look like? what style is your hair and makeup? We want details!!' Truth be told, this is a problem on it's own..

A year ago, I had absolutely no clue where to start! I've kept scrapbooks upon scrapbooks of ideas and schemes and décor for years and now, here I am engaged and finally planning a wedding, and I couldn't even settle on a color scheme. Has anyone else gone through this before? Just stumped...

Since we've pretty much booked all of our vendors for the big day, our little details are starting to shape into a monster neither of us expected. We've finally picked our color scheme..ish

via colorlovers

I am a true sucker for jewel tones. I really am.

my MOH

How I asked my MOH you ask?

Well, the choice was clearly the easiest one to make. But I tossed and turned about how I was going to ask for about 3 weeks… I was clueless.. I dug through blogs high and low, googled "traditions", couldn't find anything I liked that wasn't over the top cheesy. And a couple nights ago, I sat down and wrote a letter about us. About our ups and downs, laughs and cries and said I wanted her to share in what will be one of the most important days of my life and that I couldn't think of anyone better to be there by my side.

I bought a card and a "bridesmaid: how to guide" on being fabulous and keeping the bride sane (in other words, when I lose my shit, she can be prepared to handle it.. lol). There were quite a few to choose from...

But I ended up going with The Bridesmaid Guide: Etiquette, Parties and Being Fabulous, it had a great combination of wit, humour and tons of information for her to flip through. I wrapped the whole thing with a nice bow and off I went.

I gifted them to my MOH last night. She obviously knew she would be my Maid of Honour, but I wanted to make it special. After all, it's the little things you look back on years after the deed is done. You want to remember simple gestures.. I found it to be a nice little touch to show her I value her friendship now and for many more years to come. I could tell she was very excited.

She immediately said we had to have a Father of the Bride marathon.

That my friends, is the reason she is my MOH.

Inspiration: A Rustic Affair

We've been swinging back and forth on a couple themes.. never seeming to agree on one specific one.. but after walking through our venue last night, I think we've finally made our choice...

Here is an inspiration board of ideas we love and would like to incorporate in our reception..

1. cheese spread with chalkboard flags, 2. Black lanterns via potterybarn, 3. vintage locket via Etsy, 4. pictures on a string, 5. ,6. vintage birdcage cage, 7.bouquet via Stanley Makes Three, 8. signs via latte love, 9. wedding shoes, 10. via project wedding

Absolutely love the muted tones.. Dark framed lanterns and beautiful greenery compliment the light and airy dahlias and vintage pieces.

{heart}

lovely sashes..

Over the past few years, I've been noticing that more and more brides are letting their individual personalities shine through their wedding decor and attire. From embellished bird cage veils right down to painted pumps, a blushing bride makes sure that none of these little details are overlooked. I'm going to say I've been thinking about jumping on the sash band wagon these past few months. Not only do these gorgeous sashes spice up the average looking gown but it also adds a unique and one of a kind touch that makes you stand out and shine on your special day.

Here are a few Etsy finds I absolutely love..

ivory silk dupioni sash via percyhandmade

sash belt handmade embellished ivory lace via percyhandmade

Sash belt silk rosettes via percyhandmade

Vintage Ivory on Black bridal sash via Bridal Shoppe

If only I can get the dress style sorted out.. and the search continues..

wordless Monday..

A New York bride, groom, and their guests transported by pedicabs to the reception.

photo by: Lily Kesselman via New York Weddings

more on styling our backyard-ish wedding

Over the years I've been collecting clippings from the LCBO (local liquor outlets) seasonal catalogues. I find some of their ideas would work beautifully with our overall wedding style. Since we aren't having a formal sit down reception, a traditional table setting wouldn't be in the cards; but that doesn't stop us from using these ideas as a basic guideline for our reception decor.

I love the mix of small tea light candles, lanterns and white freesia arrangements in little galvanized tin cups.. it's very laid back but adds a touch of class to the setting.

And of course, who can forget the glass globe string lighting.. finding these on the cheap might be a challenge, (a string of 20 lights can run you at $20-25 a pop online these days), but I'm sure we can find some kind of deal on eBay or see if we can't find a rental company in town.

As for color schemes, we're still deciding on our palettes but I have a feeling we'll be in the thick of purple and red hues from the jewel tone families.

It's all starting to come together!

inspired : Backyard weddings

I imagine our wedding to be along the lines of this...

vintage chic.. j'adore..

via GreenWeddingShoes photography by Dana Grant photography

Learning to stand our ground..

So far, wedding planning has been.. One word. Confusing.

Over the years, the better half and I would talk about reception ideas we dreamed up.. different scenarios.. we were looking for fun, no fuss, memorable, entertaining, kid friendly..

But soon after we got engaged, we quickly realized that our ideas weren't necessarily the ideas our parents had in mind. The whole thing was quickly becoming something else.. more formal, not us. With many very opinionated people in the mix it makes it very difficult to keep on track. You second guess yourself, you try to please others at all cost.. but I've come to the realization that you can't please everyone..

I don't want us to look back 1,2,15 years down the road and think 'why the hell did we do that? why didn't we do what we set out to do in the first place??' As the months go on, I find myself getting very excited about little details and ideas that are shaping up.. invitations, dress, handmade photobooth guestbook.. all little details I imagine will be absolutely amazing.. This is why we're going to start being firm with what we want in our celebrations of love (cheesy.. right?)

We are very excited about planning this thing no matter the size.. you just have to remember that the main focus here is not to get wrapped up in the stress and drama of planning a party.. It's to celebrate the beginning of the rest of your lives together with friends and family supporting you.. and there just so happens to be food and dancing nearby for everyone to enjoy.. heh

--------------------------------------------
I don't want this blog to become a place where I vent about my issues in being the "misunderstood bride". There are far too many blogs out there that are about bashing the in laws and listing everything going wrong in the planning in a negative light and that irks me.

Wordless Monday..

via Mastin Photography

Where do you draw the line?

For the past few months, we've been adding carelessly to our guest list and now that we're talking about having our invitations made we are quickly realizing we about to head into dangerous waters.

Here's why.

We've talked about weddings in the past, and we've always limited ourselves to 125 guests max. Not too big, not too small.. But after doing a head count of immediate family members who have to be invited to our wedding, the guest count starts at 85! He had tons of friends… I have tons of friends.. And they aren't people we haven't seen in years if you catch my drift!!

To avoid drama at ALL cost, we've already drawn the wedding party to 1 attendant on each side. We've also talked about including our close friends in the ceremony and planning tasks to counter balance the lack of wedding party. A cousin will be officiating, we've asked a close friend to MC the reception (funny concept, The catch? it must be bilingual.. Hilarious results!!) cake, hair, makeup.. sourced within our group of friends.

But to keep the numbers down.. where do you draw the line for final guest count? Is it rude not to invite your second cousins your parents said you HAD to invite (but whom you've never met) or your best friend from high school whom you've spoken to maybe twice in a couple years?? I really don't know what to do… It's all nice in my head.. but I'm Hopeful that it'll be painless.. (but I have my doubts..)

any tips?

Wordless Monday..

via A Day of Bliss

mis-matched

'Wouldn't it be fun if we had all mismatched chairs set up for the wedding ceremony? You know, Friends style"

I processed that sentence through my mind after the better half brought it up in a random conversation.. Sounds to me like a hip idea for the nuptials.. I instantly agreed with him..

I could see this being an incredible feet to achieve though. Here's why. Guest wise we're looking at a head count of around 125. We know a lot of people.. just not sure if we know a lot of people who would be willing to give us/ loan us that many chairs... We could probably end up finding 20 chairs at thrift stores, garage sales and flea markets.. Not sure where we'd find the other 100.. We can save that head spinning thought for later..

But in a perfect world, say we had 120 mismatched chairs.. We'd either have them painted a certain color or leave them as is and set them up in a way that there are different chairs in each row (no similar chairs side by side) Maybe paint a few chairs with accent colors to make it work. This would add so much charm to the already very bohemian/laid back setting. It would be a very romantic site.. I see lights and lanterns strung through trees where the ceremony would be held, mismatched lanterns lined along the center isle, some kind of arch made of branches and wild flowers..

Ahhh to dream..

It would be perfect..


via with this ring

P.s. we might be close to deciding on the potential wedding site this week… but I'll save that post for a rainy day..

Inspiration: A Carnival Affair vs. A Rustic Affair

The best of both worlds.. right here. We keep swinging back and forth on this, but I think in the end we will find a happy medium between a Carnival and Rustic theme. Here are 2 very different yet fun inspiration boards for both receptions..

Carnival:
1. and 2. carnival themed reception, 3. pop bottles, 4. popcorn rings, 5. drink tickets, 6. snow cones, 7. carnival tickets, 8. bouquet of red lovelies, 9. candy buffet, 10. amusement park rides, 11. details


Rustic:

1. cheese spread with chalkboard flags, 2. Black lanterns via potterybarn, 3. vintage locket via Etsy, 4. pictures on a string, 5. ,6. vintage birdcage cage, 7.bouquet via Stanley Makes Three, 8. signs via latte love, 9. wedding shoes, 10. via project wedding

Absolutely love the muted tones from the Rustic board. Dark framed lanterns and beautiful greenery compliment the light and airy dahlias and vintage pieces. Having said that, really digging the bright pops of reds and blues and outdoorsy details from the Carnival inspiration board.

I think in the end, we'll be borrowing quite a few ideas from both themes to fuse our reception into something to suit our personalities.

Despite a few set backs, we're getting pretty excited about the planning. The great venue search is about to begin and I have a feeling the competition will be fierce!!!

wordless Monday..

wedding kiss via A Cup Of Jo photography by Jessica Johnston

What's in a name

A year and a half from now, the better half and I will officially be hubby and wifey. I've dreamed of the decor, themes.. but never thought to practice writing my married name.

yikes moment.

Kind of embarrassed to admit it, but it's %100 true.

I've been signing the same way for years.. Now, I am faced with an identity crisis. I have to give up my hyphenated family name for a single married name and I am having a heck of a time adjusting to it. Figuring out a style, a nouveau flare, is a whole different ball game.

It's so strange to me!!

anybody else go through this?

Rustic inspirations

We've had a couple gloomy days, I thought maybe a little color and lovelies would brighten the mood up for the weekend..

White florals

bold red bouquet

bold orange

DIY Brides Rejoice!!

Polaroid 600 film is making a come back... like for reals!!

'you wanna s'more?'

via merriment design

Growing up, my brother and I were huge fans of 'The Sandlot'. There is a scene in the movie where the guys are having a camp out and each take turns telling scary stories about the Beast (the neighbours dog who as it turns out isn't beastly after all..) This scene generated one of my all time favorite movie quotes..

Ham Porter: Hey, Smalls, you wanna s'more?

Smalls: Some more of what?

Ham Porter: No, do you wanna s'more?

Smalls: I haven't had anything yet, so how can I have some more of nothing?

Ham Porter: You're killing me Smalls! These are s'more's stuff! Alrite now pay attention. First you take the graham, you stick the chocolate on the graham. Then you roast the 'mallow. When the 'mallows flaming... you stick it on the chocolate. Then cover with the other end. Then you scarf. Kind of messy, but good!

I was thinking this might make an awesome quote for the DIY s'more kits we're planning on making for the candy buffet. I wouldn't start the quote until it got to this part.. 'These are s'more's stuff…" it would make it funny for my family.. I know my brother would get it right away!

Since we aren't planning on giving out favors, we thought maybe do little take away bags for the candy buffet where people can fill up what they want and take it home after the reception for a late night snack. Another plus would be If we decided to have our reception at a site were we could have a bonfire. It would work out perfectly and our guests could kick back after an all nighter of dancing and enjoy the s'more kits on site!

Via Stylishgiving

Now the fun part would be designing the packaging, and learning how to make the 'mallows and graham from scratch.. getting giddy already!!

Wordless Monday..

Kevin Mullins photography

Planning advice..

I think this will play a major part in our wedding day planning guidelines... sage advice from Amazing Wedding Receptions

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Top 10 AWR Wedding Day Don'ts

1. Not knowing that articles in popular wedding magazines, specifically the "Do's & Don'ts" of a wedding reception, are often written by interns and staff who may have attended far less as many weddings as you. But because perception is reality, they must know what's best.

False.

You know what is best and the Professionals from AWR know what is best, but only after we speak with you. We need to know first what you would like to do on your wedding day. What do you envision? What have you seen at weddings that you have attended that you liked or did not like?

I have been asked on several occasions to be involved in articles from popular wedding publications, that I just could not be a part of. Example: I was once asked "What are your top 5 songs that you play at a wedding reception, to get the crowd going?"

Well, my question back was who are the Bride & Groom, what age and ethnicity are they, and so on.... I even wanna know if they are a Red Sox or Yankee fan.

Needless to say when those factors were not being factored into the article, I asked not to be part of it. Rookies.

All of the AWR vendors also know how important it is to leave it up to the professional in that specific area (Photography, Entertainment, Floral, Videography etc.), and not to overstep our professional boundaries. Leave it to the expert. A Bridal Shop is not the expert on the vendors you should hire, they don't go to 85 weddings a year. Leave that to the wedding planners at the facilities & their expertise. They want what is best for you based on 1000's of Amazing Wedding Receptions that they have actually been in the room in witnessing.

2. Too much down time between the end of your wedding ceremony and the beginning of your social hour.

This is huge and a really tough one to rectify because it is beginning the day with a planned lull, and lulls are a party killer. I consider myself to be a black belt at avoiding lulls at receptions & I have seen it all. But the 2, 3, 4 hours between the end of the Ceremony and the beginning of social hour, killer. Especially when the reception site is not able to accommodate your guest who arrive early, to a drink or place to sit comfortably. It is a negative on the day & guest don't like it.

3. Arriving late to your own wedding ceremony or wedding reception site.

Another important timing aspect of your day. Plan your wedding day with professionals like your DJ, Photographer & Banquet Planner who will ensure that you create a realistic format of your day's events. Timing is everything. Not a good idea to arrive to your Friday evening reception site with your wedding party 30 minutes after you were suppose to be announced and then ask to spend a little time in the Bridal Sweet, when the Chef is preparing a meal for 250 guest. Ending Dinner at 11pm is not good.

4. Choosing extremely light music during dinner.

Key word here is, extremely. Guest defiantly need to be able to speak, not shout at their tables during dinner, but foot tapping and fun should never be banned. It's always great when guest grab a dance between courses, and to go from 0 to 100mph when dinner is over is never easy. We need to have our guest primed to dance. Let it be as is and hire someone whom you know is a professional with great vast experience at weddings, and knows how to make an Amazing Wedding Reception?To much light music can make it appear that dinner took forever when actually it didn't.

5. Choosing music that does not reflect your guest list.

So now you've paid all this money for your wedding reception and you searched far & wide to find the best wedding DJ available. The DJ is now at the reception and looks at the guest, and then looks at the must play list, and it doesn't make any sense. It's a far older crowd than what the Bride & Groom chose for music.

Maybe you also decide not to allow any of your guests to request anything either. These two together make it very difficult to have your guest walking away saying this is the best wedding I've ever been to.That is my goal & the goal of many other great wedding DJ's. It's evident that you don't trust the professional who has your best interest at heart. The best DJ's want the best weddings.Some songs on the no list, sure, absolutely, but don't handcuff your entertainment.If you choose a play list and you want your DJ to only play what's on it, then choose a couple of 100 songs and tell him to read the crowd and go with it. You can plan on a 6 hour wedding reception being somewhere in the neighborhood of 85 songs.I like about 20 must have songs and going from there. But that's me. I love reading a crowd with a clue.

6. During the reception, the Bride & Groom constantly leave the ballroom for long periods at a time.

I'm talking long, 30 mins here, 20 mins here, and another 45 here. Right there is over an hour.

The best is when they give you about 50 specific versions of the must play songs for dancing and then keep leaving. That's fun. I'm kidding,chest pains!

Seriously, guest love seeing the Bride & Groom celebrating with them. Don't forget, they are there for you.

7. Placing of another focal point that attracts your guest to leave the ballroom.

Add-on's are great, but we really want to do our best to keep our guest around or on the dance floor.

Having the bar outside in the hall or lobby, not good.

Having photo booth out in the lobby during your 3 hours of prime party dance time, ah, no, not recommended. Photo booths are awesome & everyone loves them, but if we can fit it into the room easily, let's do it. It's a big difference.

Also if you have a nice outside area, make sure that your DJ will supply music out there all night. Wireless speakers are great because we can send a signal to those speakers so it is the same music inside & out.

8. After Dinner, the DJ is asked to announce that certain groups of guest (Family, friends, colleagues, and former schoolmates) meet outside of the ballroom for pictures, or worse yet onto the dance floor for pictures.

Of course, this stops any momentum of your party time.

Even though this is listed as #8, it is my worse pet peeve.

Because after the main course is served, you are mine. Your guests are mine. I want to rock this thing and then a photographer walks up to me and says, Can you announce for the Bride & Groom to go to the Lobby for pictures with their immediate family and then when they are done can you ask for the Bride & Grooms college friends to join them. That's fun.

9. Not realizing how important the ending of your wedding is.End it on a high note. Don't let your awesome, amazing wedding reception turn in to a dwindler wedding just because you wanted an 8 hr reception. It is not how long it last, its how it ends. Believe me when I say, there is nothing more awesome than a Bride or Groom looking at a full dance floor on their last dance of the night.

10. You don't trust your wedding professionals and play the role of a wedding coordinator during your own wedding.

Waiting too long to hire your wedding team and not hiring a true wedding professional, willing to build a foundation of trust with you. It is trust that is needed so that you can actually enjoy your own amazing wedding reception. Timely communications is a must, throughout the planning process. If they don't e-mail or call you back from the start, that's what you can expect the whole time through.

Top 10 AWR Wedding Day Don'ts
via Amazing Wedding Receptions

Little details: Hand painted..

There is no better time to bust out the craziest little details than at your wedding, right? (Just save the mood swing (crazies) for another day)

After browsing the Flickr world for some much needed carnival themed inspiration, I absolutely FELL in love with these hand painted Coney Island inspired shoes... aren't they a beaut?

by darabrownstudios via Flickr

My curiosity lead me to search for more hand painted lovelies.. and I wasn't disappointed...

Down the Rabbit Hole - Alice inspired pumps
by Cocopunkz

Golden Blossom by Vinogradlv

via Scholarly Articles

via Craftastrophe

Now those are some snazzy dancin' shoes... don't ya think?

Wordless Monday..

via Studio 1948

Reader Questions Answered..

Wondering when you'll start posting to Marry Melodies again. It's been a while, and I really like your blog! Give us the deets! -e-mailer who will remain nameless..

I guess I've been caught. I won't make up any excuses as to why MM hasn't been as active as it has in the past 6 months, but be assured, posts are coming!! I love getting mail, and this message really surprised me this morning, in a good way. So I'd like to Thank you, 'e-mailer who remain nameless', I really love feedback and this has given me the push I needed to kick start the MM again.

Lots of love all,
xo
D
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If you can't wait 'till Monday, make your way over to An August Wedding to see the beginning stages of planning our upcoming 2011 nuptials. **For those of you who haven't heard yet, the better half got engaged on New Years Eve Central Park, NYC details here.

Fun times at the wedding show?

Overwhelmed should be the word..

It was very strange to walk by kiosk after kiosk of makeup, gowns, fake hair, photographers.. Djs.. everybody just ready to pounce on you like a cheetah to get your business. There were a few downers, but highlights included designer cupcakes (we didn't exactly get to touch or eat them, but they were still pretty to look at), the swag bag full of samples and a (usually expensive) bridal mag.

We ended up bumping into a couple friends of ours at the show which was great since I know a lot of the wedding prep stuff isn't really my better half's idea of fun. When my friend suggested we check out the gown sections, I jumped at the chance!!

Most of these dresses were pretty gotty, so it was really fun going through the rack commenting about all of them. Years ago, I decided not to opt for the traditional long flowing diamond/bead encrusted dress, but if I were to go that route it would have been a great place to buy it! Since most of the gowns were from last season (or before then even) some of the dresses were insanely cheap!! Seriously, we saw a couple dresses marked at $350 down from $1400.. just crazy!! You could tell that some of the vendors end up bringing some pretty outdated gowns, (think Geena Davis in Beetle Juice) so you really had to look for amazing deals.

The better half and I got a kick out of the fashion show.. I would never have my mom wear some of the 'showcased' mother of the bride dresses..

The major department store registry sections were also great to visit.. just say you're going to register with them, and they just give you a ton of stuff for free!! Linen Chest gave away a lovely china platter just for giving them your e-mail addy! (not too shabby!)

I'm not sure where we plan on registering yet, but I think Sears and Home Depot are our top picks right now. Since we've been living together for over 4 years, we already have every kitchen gadget and small appliance you can think of.. so it'll be interesting to see what we come up with.

Oh and the bling! I think we found a local jeweller (a few blocks away from our house actually) who could do a couple adjustments to the wedding band I was looking at buying. The prongs on my engagement ring kind of stick out from the mount and it's been very difficult to find a wedding band to fit properly without looking out of place. But it's still in the early stages of figuring out if I want a simple band or something with a little more sparkle. Plenty of time to decide that.

So to cap it off, would I go back? Probably not, but it's always fun to look at all the pretty shiny things.

maybe I'd go back..

we'll see...

Ottawa Wedding Show!!

The Spring Ottawa Wedding Show is this weekend

March 6 & 7 2010 at the Ottawa Civic Centre (Landsdown Park)

click here for directions

Showroom is open daily from 10AM to 5PM both Saturday and Sunday!!

Don't miss it!!

oh yeah, bonus... entry is FREE!!

Wordless Monday...

via Forever

**Don't forget to follow An August Bride for details on our 2011 wedding plans**

Let the wedding planning officially begin!

The deed is done.

The bridal party is selected and now, the planning can really begin!

A little backround story if you will.

Years before we got engaged, the FH and I would talk endlessly about wedding details.. From cakes, styles for the bridal party, themes.. Gifts.. (let's face it, the registry always comes up in passing...) but one thing we always seemed to disagree on was the whole bridal party thing. I wanted three, and he wanted 1.. And then after doing the math, made pros and cons lists, and arm wrestled over it, I finally got on board with the idea for one attendee on each side.
Last night we sealed the deal. It's official, 1 and 1. that is it.

Am I happy with it? Yes.. Did I lose sleep over it? No..

Here's why.

We have tooooooooooons of close friends. The girls are all close, the boys are close and we also have siblings and close cousins to add to the mix. To include some and not others would be a crime.. Having a bridal party of 16 would absolutely be out of the question. Headaches would never end and I really don't want to deal with diva attitudes if the girls didn't like the dresses or the seating arrangements for their spouses. The important thing is that all our friends and family will be there to celebrate with us, and if we have to keep the bridal party small in order to keep things drama free, so be it. Drama free is a very important detail.. You know why? Too many chefs spoil the soup. Nuff' said.

So the deed is done. The FH (Future Hubby if you're trying to figure that out), asked the best man last week and everything is falling into place.

*** DISCLAIMER!!!!***
I won't be going into much detail about the wedding on this blog... but if you want to follow along with our planning please go see our blog baby,
a-rusticwedding.blogspot.com and follow us!

It's results like these Brides become Bridezillas…

Take my advice and steer clear from "what kind of Bride are you" quizzes...

My results you ask?

You're a Gambler
You want a fun, beautiful wedding as much as the next girl, but you're not willing to give up your life or your sanity to make it happen. You're there to marry the man you love. While your laissez-faire attitude is refreshing, it's the "whatever" brides that usually wind up being disappointed: Important details get missed, bridesmaids are unclear on their roles, or Mom takes over and creates the kind of wedding you really didn't want. The Zen attitude is fine, but don't leave too much to chance.

Never doing a quiz thing again…

Cake details..

It's a funny process when you start planning your wedding. You spend your life day dreaming about details and ideas going in one direction and then all of the sudden, everything shifts into another lane. For years, I envisioned cupcakes instead of a wedding cake.. red velvety goodness with an amazing cream cheese icing. Sounds amazing right?

Then, after having a conversation with the better half about cake cutting and smashing cake in ones face as a tradition (deal breaker) and thinking back to having a red velvet cupcake in New York only a few weeks ago, my mind started racing.. What if I get red specs all over my dress after the better half smashes a cupcake in my face? What if my teeth are stained red for the rest of the evening? What is a girl to do?? So, I scrapped that idea. (hmph..)

Back to the drawing boards.

But not too much time was spent there. We actually came up with somewhat of a compromise. One of my dearest friends, a pastry chef, whom I've known since the second grade (think 15 years ago) was enthused when I asked her if she would bake our wedding cake. Without really going into the cake details with her, she was absolutely delighted and honored that I asked but would hold a world class protest if we demanded 200 cupcakes, had them individually decorated with intricate details AND individually boxed and wrapped accordingly to give away as favors. (apparently, Bridezilla made an appearance at the last wedding she made a cake for.. don't think it ended on good terms..)

I took note (check) and just decided it would be less complicated and a little more appropriate for our celebration of love (yes, I went there) if we had a traditional 2 tiered wedding cake without the traditional trimmings. Just a simple butter cream or cream cheese icing (hold the fondant...), a few floral garnishes and a set of beautiful cake toppers like these (which we fully plan on DIY'ing ourselves) and maybe a cute red cake stand.

via thesmallobject on Etsy

Already getting goose bumps and butterflies thinking about it..

This.. Is..

Officially my new fave blog...

The official backup plan...

Yes, you read right.

A backup plan.

It's actually pretty simple. We want to be prepared in case things get out of hand with family and friends confusing us with nonsense and silly things. A worst case scenario plan if you will..

The plan will only come into effect if...

1. 'You know what' hits the fan and we are at each others throats in the early stages of planning our big day
   
2. We can't seem to please our families no matter how much we bend
   
3. The head count doubles from 150 to 300.. (it could happen)

If all else fails, and we throw in the towel, expect us to board a one way flight to Vegas.

That is that.

Voila.. the Back up plan.


source

Save the date.. or not..that is the question..

via Attacked by Tulle

Wiki defines a Save the Date as an item stating the date of a wedding or other formal event. It typically states the date when a couple plans to marry, so that recipients will know to keep that date free. Save the dates usually take the form of a card, but can also be a refrigerator magnet or similar item. They are generally sent out at least six months before the wedding date, and are usually followed by a formal wedding invitation.

One problem. Money. I'll be honest with ya, I've been engaged less than a week and when the better half and I talk about potential wedding ideas, all we see are dollar signs floating above our heads. Does anyone else see them? To me, save the dates are one area we can skimp on and save some extra $$ in the long run.

The better half and I have attended a lot of weddings. I don't mean 2 receptions a year.. We sometimes hit 5-6 on the low end if we are lucky! To the exception of a June wedding we will be attending this year, we have NEVER received a save the date card for any of these weddings. I commend these Brides, since wedding invitations are already expensive as it is. If you factor in the card stock, printing and postage costs(bet you didn't think of that one!), a save the date card could tack on another $2-300 additional expense to your already tight matrimonial budget. Instead of putting that $300 towards a piece of cardboard no one will remember receiving, why don't you go the eco-friendlier way and have fun with it!

We were thinking of building a website especially for the wedding for out of town guests and lurking friends who might want to find additional information on the dates, where we are registered and all that extra stuff you usually leave off the official invite. Since my better half is already tech savy, this would be the cost effective way for us to go. A domain name costs next to nothing to register and we could throw the website on an already existing server which would save us a good chunk of change. So there you have it! A $300 expense turned into an under $60 one!

In the end, we decided to only send save the date cards to our out of town/province/country guests. Everyone else can check the website. 'nuff said.

Did you send save the dates out? Any advice for us?

A fresh start to a New Year

I've been blogging about weddings for close to 2 years, but now instead of dreaming about them I actually get to start planning it! And for this, my friends, I am VERY excited. We've decided to plan for a late 2011 wedding, but this might change depending on certain obvious aspects.. We like to dream big, but in order to do things right, it requires a lot of planning and a very thick cheque book (which we don't actually have).

But first things first… a subscription to Martha's inpiration.. Check!

"What were your plans for New Years Eve?"

My mom asked me this questions on the 1st of January 2010...

This was my reply...

The better half and I spent the day in Central Park..

Took goofy photos...

Stumbled upon a late night dance party..

Then at the stroke of midnight over looking fireworks at Strawberry fields in Central Park, the better half got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.

Not a bad way to start the new year, right?