Damask Paper

One of the projects I'm antsy to start working on is the card box! I have the 13" round box from Hobby Lobby and the spray adhesive to stick stuff onto it. Now I just have to find something to stick onto it!

My first thought was damask fabric, like The Bona Fide Preppy Bride used on their card box. However, I'm having a heck of a time finding any! So, my next option is wrapping paper!

At 30"x 5', one roll should be more than enough! I think it would look smashing with an orange ribbon tied around it! I'm a little nervous about cutting the slit at the top of the box, but Steve assured me he can do it, so I have faith that it will look fabulous! I don't know how he does it, but all I have to do is mention a project idea, and he knows exactly how to execute it! He's so handy! :)

Ciao,

Our Favorite Cakes

So, if you've been following the blog, you know that we went on a few cake tastings in the last few week. We still have one more to go to the first weekend of June, but we think we know which baker we're going with.

The cake itself will be a chocolate/cheesecake combo like this:
I love love love cheesecake and Steve loves chocolate, so we're both happy with this cake! The cake itself is more like a brownie (which I love!) than a cake, so I'm more than happy with it!

Now we just have to narrow down our designs!

Here are the top two:

and we loved the little flower on the side of this one:

Decisions, decisions! I feel like that's how I end every post!

Ciao,

Another Centerpiece Idea

After my last post, I got to thinking about our alternative centerpiece. I was always under the impression that pillar candles were super expensive, so I hardly even considered them. However, after doing a little research, I found some candles at a phenomenal price! But first...the inspiration photos!

If you ignore the creepy fingers ready to pounce on the candle display, it's pretty cute! It's a little more Christmas-y than I'd like, but I like the idea of two different colors of candles and a square tray. Actually, I think they used a frame for this display, which is insanely creative!

I like that this centerpiece is a little more modern. Again, the main pieces are there - three candles of varying heights and a square tray.

This one is almost exactly what I had in mind! Change the candles to ones in varying heights and perhaps change the flowers to orange mokara orchid...
...and Bob's your uncle!

For our centerpieces, I would use the following candles from buyacandle.com:

We will be using a 3"x9", 3"x6", and 3"x3" candle at each table. However, now the question is what to put them on!

We could do white plates, although that seems kind of cheesy...

I fell in love with this silver charger, but it might be a tight fit to get all three candles on the 5.75"x5.75" interior square. I'd have to use sand like the third inspiration photo (it's actually the same charger but in a different color), but I don't know if that would fit our winter wedding.

My final option is to use a 12"x12" piece of fabric.

The more I consider it, the more I love the idea of using a damask fabric. Now I just have to find the right one!

Ciao,

Submerged Centerpieces

Steve and I went on several floral consultations in the last couple months. I feel like a flower expert at this point! A few weeks ago, we decided on our florist and have put down the down payment.

I'm a little disappointed because the final cost was about 20% higher than the initial quote. Also, she had the date wrong! I'm glad my mom caught that one! So, we're not off to a great start with our florist, but I'm crossing my fingers that those are the only hiccups we encounter.

On a more positive note, I'm in love with our centerpieces. Here are some of our inspiration photos:
Our florist will actually be tying single orchids with wire and floating them at varying heights in the cylinder. I believe some will be hot pink and others orange. We'll have to confirm that after our final meeting. :) We may also have some votive candles or tea lights surrounding the vase.

I would like to have another type of centerpiece at a different height. Initially, we thought to go higher, so our florist recommended a topiary. However, at $85 a piece, I think we'll forego this option. Instead, maybe we will go smaller. I am falling in love with some of these ideas:

(Ok,the last few aren't smaller, but they're still super cute!)

Lots to think about! I may just go with the submerged centerpieces for all of the tables, but my creative juices are starting to flow!

Ciao,

Fabulous Floral Favor

Well, I did a little wedding shopping this weekend! I only have a few of the required parts for each project I'm working on so far, so I can't really get started on too many of them yet. However, I have started on the favors!

We initially planned to do a place-card/favor bag combo, but it didn't seem quite right. Then we had the idea to use shot glasses filled with candy. After some time spent calling local vendors for pricing info on glass shot glasses, and learning that they were way expensive, even when purchased in bulk, we decided to go the plastic route. Some were too small, some were too cheap (as in, reviewers said they arrived broken or chipped), and some were just too cheesy! But then we found the most fabulous pink and orange shot glasses - 2 oz, the perfect favor size!

We actually purchased them at a local party supply store, Bartz, so we saved on shipping and they were only $4.79 for 50 ($19.16 total, which is less than 1/2 the price of the ones in the picture!). Lesson learned: Internet isn't always cheaper!

I would have been totally fine just serving our little candies in the cup. But one night I actually dreamed about the favors (ugh, I'm clearly way too wedding-obsessed) and envisioned them with one of the pom-poms on top! So, with a few packages of tissue paper and some floral wire, we have these little babies:


I think I like the orange one better since it's a little bigger, but I was still experimenting with the size at this point. I settled on five pieces of tissue, approximately 3" x 5". If you want to make them yourself, be sure to check out Martha's online tutorial.

I used cheap-o green floral wire (none of this silly cloth-covered floral wire!), and I left a little stem (about 3/4 of the depth of the shot glass) so they can be planted into the candy (kind of like a real flower!).

Overall, I'm really happy with the results! Now I'll just have to get a big Tupperware bin to store 200 of these!

Ciao,

Unique Guest Book Ideas

So, we all know about the guestbook. Usually a hard-covered album. Pages with lines to sign your name and such. Usually joined by a pen in a cheesy holder. Looks something like this...
It's actually quite cute (ok, I guess I fall for anything pink), but it's not 100% my favorite. I wanted to do something a little less traditional. And then, I found the "guest bowl"...
Naturally, it's another Martha project. :) Not sure where I'd find such an extravagant vase, but I'm considering using a fishbowl!
My only concern, though, is that people won't realize it's a guestbook and will bypass it. I guess I could have a big sign that says "THIS IS THE GUEST BOOK - SIGN IN!", but that's a little cheesy. :)

Another unique option is a rolodex!
There are a few options available at Etsy that I adore...
Steve is pretty handy, and I'm a little crafty, so we may just make our own! We'll see how ambitious we are!

Ciao,

Bird, Bird, Bird is the Word...

I really dislike birds, and it started waaay before I saw the movie! I think it started when I was about 5 or 6 and a bird pooped on my head. Ever since then, I've been convinced they're are out to get me. Just last week, three birds nearly dive-bombed me! Talk about scary!

So, the idea that I would include anything with the word "bird" in our wedding is a bit absurd. However, I have fallen in love with the birdcage veil!


I honestly wasn't keen on the idea of a veil when I first started this planning process. The notion of a long flowy veil just didn't seem to match my style. Besides, with a shorter dress, a long veil would look kind of silly.

But then, I discovered the birdcage veil and fell in love instantly! I can't decide which style of veil I want, though... Here are my options from the fabulous website, somethingbold.com:

The Marilyn Veil

I love that this bride wore hers forward for the ceremony and flipped back afterward. This is ideally how I'd like to wear mine. My only concern is that it's a little too big and would cover more of my face than I'd like. So, that bring us to the second option...

The Elizabeth Veil

I would still have the option of wearing it forward or backward, but it would be a bit daintier and not completely hiding my face. Just a little pop of poof on the head!

The only problem is that I would like to wear my hair half-up in a bouffant (I want to call it a mini-beehive, but, seriously?, beehives and birdcages is getting a little to animal house-y for my liking) like Christina or Carrie...

However, my concern is where do I put the veil??!!!

I'm thinking I would just kinda tack it onto the side of the bouffant and let it flow over the bouffant thing and slightly over my face. But the question is: will the bigger or smaller veil be better for this? I'm leaning slightly toward the smaller veil because it looks a bit more demure. I may even forgo the idea of flipping it back for the reception if the smaller veil isn't in my eyes.

Oh, the decisions! This is only the first pass of this discussion for me - I'm sure I'll be thinking about it for awhile!

Ciao,

Stationary - Save the Date

After about five iterations of stationary, I think we've finally decided upon a design! Though we won't be sending out "save the dates" for several months, I wanted to organize our attack plan early! So, here's what we've got...

They will be sent out as postcards to reduce postage costs. I considered e-mailing them to friends/family that are more technologically-savvy, but I'm afraid they'll be deleted without being looked at. I know I've done that more than a time or two!

The pink and orange damask print won't actually be printed though - they'll be STAMPED! With this fabulous Heidi Swapp stamp, we'll be able to customize all of our stationary!

This way, we'll be able to print out most of our invites in black and white and have the damask stamps add just the right punch of color! I'm so excited - I want to get started already!

Ciao,