Lately

I've been thinking about the wedding in general. At the moment it all feels kind of bittersweet. I fully understand the title of that show - 'Whose wedding is it anyway?' I'm excited to see new RSVPs, but at the same time I'm receiving a few surprises. Really, it boils down to this. I'm getting married. I would like to celebrate with my closest friends & family. Not strangers. And I feel that if I invite you, and you know several other guests who are attending, that should be enough, right? Because resources are limited - and when it comes down to the bottom line, I don't want to look back on my wedding day with extreme financial regret. With that unpleasantness of the way, this past weekend was good because... - I finished my Halloween costume. And it is awesome! - I had dinner & drinks with an old friend and we cried our eyes out watching The Time Traveler's Wife - The house painting is complete! I will be posting more pics later - I scored a great deal on a gorgeous cupcake tower - Mustaches on a stick = amusing - My MOH showed me the shower invites. She is a-m-a-z-i-n-g-l-y talented.

Venue love

Every couple of months, I'll do a Google image search for my venue, hoping I'll find some recent photos of real weddings taking place there. Mainly, I've been a little concerned about how my 'getting ready' photos are going to turn out. You see, the bride's room/suite is kind of on the small side & doesn't offer a lot in terms of flare. It's a simple room with a mirror, couch & track lighting. We (my mom & I) have been discussing the idea of possibly renting a hotel room just to get ready in. But after seeing some of these pics, I think it might be an unnecessary measure.

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Not too shabby right?

And these lovelies have me super excited about the venue in general. It's so warm & romantic. Loving all the little twinkle lights - they make for fantastic photos.

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Expanding the bar

I've always wanted a beautifully displayed bar (we love entertaining). We purchased this little cabinet from Ikea about 3 years ago. It's actually office furniture, but I thought it would make a nice liquor cabinet (and it has). Now that we have an actual formal dining room, I would like to expand it. Luckily, Ikea takes a long time to discontinue designs.

Here's the unit I want to build: Adding a wall mounted cabinet & two side shelves. Plus add some pretty shelf lighting so my bar glasses will sparkle. Here's the barware I already own & pieces that I hope to get. Everything is from Crate & Barrel except for the stemless wine glasses & black & white patterned cocktail glasses (from Ikea)

Painting

We are almost through with our first major challenge: Painting. Although I have to admit, my fiance & his brother did most of this. I just picked out the colors and made them this fantastic color key combined with the floor plan diagram.

It's truly amazing how a fresh coat of paint makes everything feel clean & new.

The fireplace in the living room. It was such a great architectural focal point of the 2-story room that I wanted to make it stand out even more. We used a monochromatic paint palette to achieve this effect.

This is the dining room. The wall had these terribly dated mirrors that were literally held on with roof tar. It wasn't pretty. But thanks to our awesome drywall guy, it came out smooth & finished. I added another pop of color with a sage green on one wall.

The kitchen. It was kind of blah. We plan on remodeling this area first - hopefully within the year. I wanted to add some depth to room and create separation between the tile and bland cabinet color. It's funny how the dark gray back splash makes the counter top look whiter.

And P.S. - that's not a new overhead vent above the stove in the after picture - that's how it looked after it was cleaned. Gross right?

The stairwell. Another great architectural feature: protruding wall shelves, which were subtly highlighted using the same paint color used on the border of the fireplace. We're scheduled to have the carpet installed on Monday, and wood floors the following week. I can't wait. It's finally starting to show promise.

Cupcake flowers

Cupcake flags: Pretty, right? How about a cupcake flower?

I made this out of supplies I already had: box full of shiny plastic black beads, tub of Brides flower confetti & toothpicks. It was super simple. Just poke the toothpick through the center of the flower confetti, top with a bead. I will have the caterers add these to the cupcakes to give them a little extra style.

more cupcake flowers made by me

Dressing for tea

What to wear to an Alice in Wonderland inspired tea party?

This is what I plan to wear to the bridal shower. I love this dress from Anthropologie - it's the perfect girly dress (I especially love the giant flower on the bodice). Paired with a classic bow headband & ruffle flats. And to add a bit of whimsy, these lovely vintage style tea gloves.

Cupcake tower

I am loving this creation from The Cupcake Tower on etsy. The cheapest tower rental I've seen costs about $30-$40. But then you have to go pick it up & drop it back off after the wedding. How annoying right? I am very tempted to get this for the wedding. Why? Quality materials. Reusable. Whimsical design. And most importantly, versatility. I like the sound of that. It seems like a worthwhile purchase if you like to entertain & have parties (like me).

This size holds 128 cupcakes. It's cool because you can add or remove tiers. Each tier is designed to stand on it's own. It's made of a sturdy laminate finished wood so it can be wiped down easily. The ornate carvings give it a whimsical look (which makes it stand out from the standard ones I've been seeing). Plus, the black boarder around each tier plate is actually ribbon, which is removable so you can change up the look for future parties.

Fiance will love this fact: Easy to store!

Sparkle

My maid of honor is wearing this black satiny strapless cocktail dress from White House Black Market:

I wanted to make a brooch that incorporated the olive green color into her look. We had discussed adding a sash, but I thought a little sparkle would finish it off nicely.

The brooch is a vintage piece I purchased from etsy. It was a bit pricey ($13) for vintage, but it was the perfect shade of green.

I added guinea feathers to a 1" circle piece of felt, creating a feather flower. I added a tiny bit of black lace & green chiffon ribbon. I removed the pin from the back of the brooch & hot glued to the top of the feather flower.

The goods

My fiance & I have been living together for several years, so we basically have everything we need for our home. Although now that I'm more into cooking & entertaining, there are a few things that I never got around to getting. So I thought the bridal shower would be a perfect opportunity to upgrade some items and add a couple of missing pieces. I had a wonderful time taking a trip up to Crate & Barrel with my mom. She knows exactly what I have & knows exactly what I need. Seriously, I'd be lost without her.

{Bridal Shower Registry: Crate & Barrel} These are my absolute favorite items

I wasn't planning on registering for flatware, but then I saw this gorgeous set. It's so unique. I love how the forks are long and slender. They remind me of something you'd dine with at a chic restaurant. And this flatware will surely look gourmet next to my tasty meals on my white square plates. (Tilia Flatware) I also love drinking champagne & I think it would taste even better in these modern flutes. Again, I love their tall design (almost 10" high). I also like this glass ice bucket. For some reason the ice looks so much more refreshing in it. I already have an ice bucket, but I think I will just use my old one as a white chiller. (Edge Flute & Kenzie Ice Bucket) I love wine & all varieties of cheese. (no matter how much I diet, I will never give up cheese!) This slate board is cool because you can label the cheeses by marking on the slate with chalk. (Slate Cheese Board) Our current toaster oven definitely needs replacing. I'm quickly becoming a fan of all things stainless steel (so sleek & easy to keep clean). Plus, this one is deeper. You can fit 6 pieces of toast in it. I've also started making a lot of my own soups, which is rather difficult because I have to blend using my drink blender (makes a big mess). Life will be so much easier with the hand blender. (DeLonghi Toast Oven & Cuisinart Smart Stick Hand Blender) When I moved out, mom gave me some old baking dishes, but sadly none of them have lids. I like these because you can bake, then use as a serving dish. And lastly, this salad bowl is just beautiful. The shape is great, it's large enough to serve salad for 10 & I just have to have it! (Lucerne Casserole Dish & Flare Mango Wood Bowl)

We've been busy

our living room after we removed all the baseboards

{Bless this mess}

We spent all last weekend at the new house cleaning & prepping for paint. I began the day by tackling the kitchen. I managed to successfully remove all the aged contact paper from all the drawers & cabinets, then moved on to bleach the stained grout between tiles on the counter top. I started to clean the range, when a whole chunk of metal paint came off. Me: "Sweetie, I think we need to buy a new range too!" We hired my future brother-in-law to help us with most of work, which is great because he's giving us his skills for 1/2 price! Although my fiance is still stressing over every penny. We purchased our carpet & wood floor at Home Depot and applied for their store card, which is saving us 10% off our purchase (fiance was really happy about this). Some other highlights & fun discoveries: -None of the toilets worked without overflowing -Yes, people really do paint over their old wallpaper -Black tar can be used to hang mirror on the wall -"Hmmm... did this used to be an onion?" (while cleaning out the pantry) -Previous owner used to hide his playboy mags under the bathroom rug -Every handle on every cabinet had screws that were too large, causing it to be loose. On Monday we continued with washing the walls & dismantling closet organization systems. I'm ashamed that I had another mini-breakdown & sobbed to my equally exhausted fiance. But he explained it simply: "This is our home. If you want nice things, no one else is going to make it that way. We have to do it." Point taken. We ended our night with a tasty bounty of In-n-Out cheeseburgers & chocolate shakes. I know in the end, it will be beautiful & it will be ours.

I spy my table squares

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Although I'm still really torn about using these for the reception, they do photograph beautifully. I'm just having second thoughts about how they're going to match the black napkins. I think I'll have a better idea once I visit the reception site & discuss details with the on-site coordinator.

Weddingbee OC Meet up

Top Row: Lauren, Laura, Sarah, Laura, Sarah, Janine, Courtney, Laura Middle Row: Michelle, Jamie, Allison, Megan, Mary Front Row: Me

A couple of weeks ago I had the chance to meet up with some lovely OC brides from Weddingbee at Red Robin at the Irvine Spectrum. It was so much fun getting to know everyone over dinner. Read the rest of the post here.

For the love of photobooth!

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More vintage love. A photobooth constructed out of cardboard, duct tape & paint. They draped box seats in black fabric and strung little twinkle lights for the smaller stars, then added a couple of cut out ones. I'm not doing this, but still adorable. However, if this idea ever shapes up, this is what I'd like to do...

Get some of this lovely stripe fabric from Ikea. (oh look! they just happen to have it in my colors) and hang as the backdrop. Pictured right - filmstrip photo frame. Might be cool to shoot some 'demo pics' so guests can get the idea of how to get creative, and stick them in here.

Props for the photo booth I'd like to keep it simple, because there's nothing worse than everyone in the picture wearing really random props, looking like complete jacka$$s' (ie; comically large sunglasses & some guy in a coconut bra). I'd like it to have a vintage feel - not a booth at a carnival. The good news is, I have a lot of these props already from various Halloween costumes. for the ladies -a lace fan -tiny parasol for the gents -top hat -mustache on a stick ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -big photo frame -chalkboard (to leave us a lovely note)

Photos Anyone?

After reevaluating the logistics of this idea, sadly I don't think it's going to happen. It's going to be expensive and more time consuming than I'm willing to commit to right now. However, I still like the idea of having some way to include every guest in a photo opp. This has me thinking of cheaper DIY options like this:

A chalkboard that the guests can write their own message on, a simple back drop and a disposable camera.

And they're off!

I mailed them. I can't wait to see who's coming!

Redlands Oranges

{Vintage Advertisement Sticker}

I created this graphic using part of an old Sunkist Orange advertisement. I added my own text & background. I wanted to use a real Redlands brand orange ad, but I found that it didn't translate to a sticker very well (lots of tiny print for a 1.5" sticker).

I uploaded my image to Zazzle.com and ordered stickers. This is what my graphic looks like cropped to the circle shape.

Favor fillings: Chocolate orange sticks with orange sticker

My fiance thinks I'm slightly crazy for going into such detail over chocolate in a bag, (and he's probably right) but it's the little well thought out details that I enjoy.

Meal Ticket

For the reception dinner we are offering multiple meal choices, for which we need to provide 'meal markers' for the catering staff. It seems like the easiest way to do this is to include the markers with the guest escort cards. I found these little brown paper bags at Michael's Crafts & then hand stamped them using a Martha Stewart alphabet stamp set (side note: this is a great $10 spent - I've used it for lots of projects as it's very versatile).

These are the meal markers. Vintage illustrations of ...er, um what you are eating. I've seen this done at other weddings & situations where there are served dinners. These will be printed on little cards and inserted into the little meal ticket bag.

Hand-crafted favor

{Favor Prototype}

I really loved the original favor bags I picked out, but I ultimately I felt that they lacked the handmade feel & personality that the rest of the reception has taken on. I've been seeing muslin bags used as favors & the feedback I've been getting from others is that people (particularly females) love that this bag is reusable. And they're right. I use muslin bags for my jewelry when I travel. Or you could reuse them for potpourri sachets. And, they are inexpensive.

Materials & Tools: Glue gun & scissors Black ink pad Rubber Stamp and/or Uni-ball Signo bit 0.7 ink pen (1) Muslin bag (3 x 5") available at Celestial Gifts (1) Black & Ivory stripe grosgrain ribbon trimmed to 2.5 x 0.5" available from Caramelos or Fabric.com (1) Unfinished wood heart (0.5") available at Michael's Crafts or S is for Supplies (1) Black velvet 1/4" ribbon cut to 3" available at JoAnn's Fabric (1) Piece of black lace trimmed to 3 x 1.5" available at JoAnn's Fabric Instructions:

-Hand stamp muslin bags using black ink pad & your favorite stamp. I actually hand-printed the 'Love is' using an ink pen. -Heart Charm: Place a dot of glue on the wood heart & firmly press the black velvet ribbon to it. Repeat for opposite side. -Trim lace & thread the heart charm. -Add your desired favor filling -Position at top of muslin bag. Add trimmed stripe ribbon, tie lace around the whole bundle.

Love & Adore

{Vintage Tag Escort Cards}

I just placed an order at Angela Harris's etsy shop for these vintage inspired tags that I will be attaching to the little birdie clips for the guest escort cards. She actually dyes them with coffee and stamps them by hand. They measure 1.5 x 3". I will be writing all the guest's names on these, so I guess I should practice my calligraphy.

I spy a blue clutch

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I love it when I finally make up my mind on something and instantly I am reaffirmed because someone else, who is just as stylish, came to the same conclusion. This lovely blue clutch is from a vintage glam wedding featured on Style Me Pretty. The rest of the wedding is definitely worth checking out.

Here comes the bride

{Ceremony Scroll Banner}

Remember this post? Sometimes craft store wedding sections have really great finds (even though it screams cheesy traditional items like mini plastic champagne glasses for favors & mountains of tulle). Wilton makes this super cute dual sided wedding banner for flower girls to carry down the aisle. 'Here comes the bride' and 'Just Married.' I was amazed at how nice the quality was. It's actually made of fabric & the lettering is embroidered. Since I'm not walking down the aisle to traditional wedding music, the guests will need some sort of cue right? Plus, I'm thinking that the 'Just Married' side will make an excellent prop for pictures.

August

Wow, really? It's August. Here's the to do: 1) Address & mail out the invites 2) Set up music meeting with DJ 3) Set up meeting with photographer to go over shot lists 4) Save every penny 5) Get liability insurance for venue 6) Finish embossing CD programs Oh my, just over 2 months left.

Headbands & hairstyles

My two flower girls came over yesterday to try on their dresses. They basically fit, but they complained of them being a little tight in the chest. Hmmm...I hope they don't get any bigger in the next 2 months. I also had them try on these adorable headbands that I made. They had fun putting on little fashion shows for everyone.

{My Hand-crafted flower girl headbands}

headband made of tulle, guinea feathers & rhinestone brooch

My 12 year old flower girl (her headband pictured above) wants to wear her hair up in big tame gathered curls like the style on the left, with long loose strands on the sides (pictured right).

headband made of polka dot tulle & black satin ribbon

My 10 year old flower girl wants to wear her hair like this- front pouffed up & big spiral curls.