Table number alternatives

Going along with my "elegant whimsy" theme, I thought that the table numbers would be the appropriate place to add some whimsy into our reception decor. Both the Mr. and I double majored in English Lit in college. For a rather small department, surprisingly, we didn't meet in the department.  We also initially connected over our love of reading. When we both worked at the dorm, I was working at the front desk one night and he came into work to take my place at the front desk. This was before we ever began talking or flirting. I was reading a non-school book. He told me a few years later that he saw me reading and that peaked his interest because he was used to the wild party girls in college. Yeah, we are nerds and we love it!

So I thought it would be great to make our table numbers, not numbers. I had seen couples do pictures for table numbers such as Mrs. Tiramisu. 

(Mrs. Tiramisu)

I have also seen locations that are significant to the couple,

(Brett Charles Rose Photography)

Sports teams, 

(Cersise and Saphire)

Or even TV shows! This couple considered doing a different Dharma station from LOST as each table. 

(Cerise and Sapphire)

I really liked this trend because it added a personal touch to the wedding. I decided to make our table numbers authors! We will have at most 10 tables so we chose 10 authors to have as our table numbers.

This was a great project because it was something the Mr. was actually interested in so I was able to get an honest opinion from him. I compiled a list of authors that either I liked, he liked or both of us liked. Then I went on a mad search on Google for quotes related to love from this author. This may sound like an easy task in theory, but you do not yet know our taste in literature. For example, if we love Jane Austin- no problem. The problem is, we both detest Jane Austin! 

Here is the list of our authors/table numbers:

Toni Morisson

J.K. Rowling

Robert Frost

Henry David Thurau

Earnest Hemingway

Cormac McCarthy

Robert Jordan

Ayn Rand

Friedrich Nietzsche 

Anton Chekhov

As you can see, some of these should prove to be no problem when deciding on a quote, others are more problematic. Stay tuned to see what quotes we actually chose and how we made the table numbers!

Did you use traditional table numbers or did you do something different and significant to you?

Invitation insiration

Like I have mentioned before, I am a tight wad. To this effect, I decided I would be embarking on the task of making my own invitations. My plan was that since we had a year and half engagement, I would make them and then put them in a box on a shelf until it was time to send them out. I learned from previous Bee's that making invitations can be a long and laborious process so there was no harm in getting started ASAP. Seriosuly, I saw the drama that other people have been with. Why did I think I should do this to? Why are all of you considering making your own invites?

I am NOT a graphic designer so I thought I should stick to simpler invite layouts. Luckily, since I am a graduate student I have access to Publisher without having to buy it. I watched some demos on Youtube and I drew from my inspiration.

(Rachel Nicole Photography)

Loved it but when I tried it ... not too good- I am not an artist ...

(Project Wedding)

I liked the dots because I knew I could make a dot! Pragmatic.

'

(Project Wedding)

I loved the organized pocket fold.

I decided I wanted a pocket fold invite with a postcard RSVP and informal wording. Coming back to my "theme" I wanted elegant whimsy. The elegant would be a clean cut modern invite and the whimsy would come from a funky edge. Stay tuned to see what I come up with!

Did you choose to make your own invitations? Where did you draw inspiration?

My four legged bridesmaid

After about  a year and a half of dating, the Mr. and I were living together and really wanted a dog. We wanted a pet so bad that we would go to the mall pet store just to sit and play with the little puppies. I have grown up with Boston Terriers- they are hands down the best pet anyone could own. I convinced the Mr. to get a Boston so we started the search on craigslist and Boston Terrier rescue websites. On a Saturday I found a posting for a Boston, free to a good home. We called the owner and went to their place to visit in about an hour of seeing the post on craigslist. They called her "baby girl" - the owner's 3 year old named her. She listened but was sooooo hyper for attention! We fell in love with her and brought her home :)

(personal photo)

Like I said she was a little bit hyper when we first got her. Who can blame her though, she was left at home all the time by herself and her people didn't seem like they loved her. She just really wanted to be loved and desperately needed some structure. It was only a few short months before she go spayed, she had a cherry eye fixed, her named changed to Bella*, and she learned some manners. She is now our little buddy and has brought us even closer together.

(personal photo)

As much as I love her, we don't want to deal with a dog as a bridesmaid. She would be pretty cute though! I am tempted to splurge on a doggie t-shirt for the week of the wedding!

(Cafepress)

We have always obnoxiously refereed to the Mr. and I as mommy and daddy to Bella - yup we are "that couple". I can just imagine a picture with the Mr., Bella and I before our rehearsal- but she is so damn cute she might steal my bridal spotlight!

Who wants to include their pet in their wedding? Who is disgusted by my love of my pet?

* We did not name her after the character  in Twilight. I DETEST TWILIGHT!

The Fake Dress Roller Coaster Ride

So I have decided on my dress- but it's a secret! I might not be a traditional lady but I do have certain traditions I hold true to. The only problem is in my heart of hearts, I am a penny pinching granny. Seriously guys, the Mr. makes fun of me all of the time for how cheap I am. Now don't get me wrong, I love beautiful things- I just refuse to pay top dollar for them. I am the queen of TJMaxx, Marshalls and Ross. I LOVE me a clearance rack. And generally speaking, the word "boutique" is considered a trashy swear word!

(The Frugal Wedding Project)

This cheapness comes out in full force when it comes to trendy purchases or purchases that won't be used often. A wedding dress doesn't fall into the same "trendy" category as my peacock feather headband I chose to make over buy. That wedding dress does fall into the category of "won't be used often".

(personal photo)

So what will this cheapy bride do? Turn to the Weddingbee forums- duh! I found great information about ordering a replica dress from China. I have read horrible posts about deals gone wrong and great ones about deals gone great. I have contacted dress makers and gotten quotes. So here begins my journey to get a cheap replica dress and I want to bring all of you other brides on this journey with me.

Here is the way I look at it. I could spend about $175-$200 on a replica dress and love it. Well the real designer dress is about $1200. This would save me about $1000, that is a big save. At the same time, if I get it back and hate it, an extra $200 on top of $1200 when I buy the real dress isn't as noticeable of an expense. In the end, the risk is worth the reward.

This being said, I have come up with some guidelines for this process and I will share my roller coaster ride of a wedding dress search (ups and downs) with my fellow brides. I know others have thought about doing this but may have been too scared to take the risk. Well here I go, I am climbing the ride and I am about to go over the first drop!

(Thunderbay)

How about you? Did you think about a replica or did you know you wanted the real thing? Are you scared for me for taking this risk?

Whimsical Elegance

Starting out wedding planning, I didn't want to necessarily follow "the rules" of the elements of a wedding that I had to do. Part of that was having a theme. I don't mean to poo-poo the idea of themes because I have seen some images of beautiful themed weddings such as Mrs.Elephant and her beautiful travel theme. I just couldn't put my finger on a theme that said something about the Mr. and I.

We aren't rustic,

(My Wedding Dream)

We aren't nautical, 

(Squidoo)

we aren't beachy, 

(Wedding paper divas)

we aren't world travelers (despite our desire to be), 

(Green wedding shoes)

we certainly aren't classic,

(With this favor)

 ... we are oddballs though. 

(personal photo- the Mr.'s Zoolander face)

This began me thinking about our venue. It is such an eclectic hodge podge. So if the venue I am obsessed with didn't have to pick a theme, why do I have to! I say that off the cuff, but we have stumbled into a theme: "whimsical elegance". 

When people ask me what type of wedding feel I want to have I always say the same thing. "I want an intimate ceremony that reflects us as a couple and I want a PARTY for a reception." As a whole, I want an elegant wedding- I want a certain level of refinement because it is a very special day. This being said, we are still oddballs that don't take ourselves too seriously so we want a wedding that has an element of whimsy. 

I'm not entirely sure how this theme will express itself (yes, I just personified our theme) but we will see how this goes. 

Did you pick a theme out from the beginning or did it organically grow? Someone- tell me what you see when you hear "whimsical elegance".

Dress Porn part 3

So I continued to search for my dress. In this process I learned just how much of an over thinker can be I can be. This is not always the case with me, but this was a big purchase and I wanted to make sure I knew my options. That Jasmine dress was still in mind as the dress to which all others were compared.

I went to a shop with my mom and we tried on some Maggie Sottero's. The one that stood out to me was the Gwenyth.

(Maggie Sottero, Once Wed)

Sorry this shop wouldn't let me take picture of myself in the dress :( I loved the shape of the dress and I loved the burst of pleating out from my hip. I loved the corset and the sweetheart too. Even though I loved it, I didn't have that feeling that some brides describe when they say a dress is "the one". I still had plenty of time so I kept looking.

personal photo

I liked this dress a lot because again it was a Maggie. I liked the corset and the fit and the sweetheart and the rouching.

personal photos

This dress was about a size to small so around my waist in the front shot so it bunches a little more than it would. I really liked this one and it shocked me that I looked nice in a more trumpet/mermaid shape. I mean, look at that butt if I do say so myself!

(David's Bridal)

I checked out David's Bridal for good measure and liked this dress but it was a similar price to the Maggie's I had tried on and the fabric and construction were a much lower quality. 

I had obviously revised my precious criteria for a dress. From flowy and simple to structured and interesting textures. 

So which dress did I choose? You will have to stay tuned. Which one do you like the most? Did your dress choosing process have you changing your mind at every turn?

Wedding nightmares

It has happened, I have now experienced two wedding nightmares. This doesn't surprise me much because I can be a very anxious person and tend to have nightmares surrounding life changes like new schools, college, and new jobs. When I was a kid I would get so excited for my birthday or Christmas that I would break out in hives ... yeah, I know, I am a freak show. So this being a part of my history I knew that it was only a matter of time before I was going to be having wedding nightmares.

Dream #1:
After all of the wedding dress hunting that has been taking place, I was bound to have a dress dream. In the dream we get married and walk back down the aisle and for some reason the groom and groomsmen go one way and the bridesmaids and I go another way. Well my girls and I go around a building and we are faced by all of the guys with supersoakers full of red paint. They destroy us! It was all in good fun like little boys attack little girls with squirt guns on a playground. In no way was I subconsciously thinking of the guys as malicious ... just stupid boys. Naturally I woke up and told my Mr. who thought this was very funny and even told me that it was a great idea- he is very sarcastic, one of the many reasons we get along so well.

(Katie Neal Photography)

Dream #2:
So I was getting ready for the wedding at some weird hotel. I realized I had about 14 bridesmaids and I knew none of them. They also had bad attitudes and I had never picked out a dress for them to wear. So I just told them all to put on whatever dresses they had in their suitcases (don't know why they all had suitcases ...). Then I realized about a half hour before the ceremony that I had forgotten to schedule a hair and make-up person so my mom and I were trying to through my hair in a pony tail and do my own make-up. I was also crying like a whiny toiler. Then as I was getting ready to walk down the aisle I realized I had also never remembered to hire an officiant so we couldn't get married.

(Bridesmaids Movie)

So while I may feel very calm about this wedding while awake. My subconscious/unconscious (depending on  what psychological or philosophical ideals you prescribe to) is very stressed out. Sorry sub/un- conscious!

(glam)

What kind of crazy dreams have you experienced while wedding planning? Am I crazy?

Dress Porn Part 2

So after my first adventure in wedding dress shopping I put on the breaks a little bit because I wanted to make sure I shared the dress search with some close friends and family. I also had plenty of time. When I was searching with BM Orlando in January 2010 the consultants would ask us, "so when is the wedding?" and I would cheerfully reply "March" at which point they would freak out because they thought I meant three months from when I was looking. So I would need to clarify that it was actually the following March and they would relax.

So on a trip down to the Tampa Bay area I made an appointment for Alfred Angelo with BM UCLA, she was in town for some type of break from school. Alfred Angelo turned out some nice dresses but not "the one". Here is my favorite though.

(Alfred Angelo, Best bridal prices)

We thought the dress was gorgeous! I loved the lace detail. If you are a lace person you need to check out this dress. The problem to me is that I didn't like the shape of the dress. The waist wasn't long enough (I know, this is not what I wanted when I first started looking.) I also didn't like the neckline. I thought it need a deeper sweetheart. Overall, for me it got a 7/10. I think I would have been happy with it but not over the moon. This dress was very similar to some of my pictures of what I thought I wanted. 

This dress, and really the Jasmine from my last search with BM Orlando, started my quest for lace and long figure flattering bodices and texture. This did not prove to be an easy task but at least I started knowing what I wanted in a dress practically, not just in theory.

Did your dress hunt take a turn you weren't expecting? 

This wedding is taking over my brain

Ok I know I'm not the only to experience this. Who else feels like everything they do is connected to the wedding? You go to the mall and scan shoe racks for wedding shoes. You go to IKEA and look for everything decor. You go to a restaurant and think about your wedding food. You go online and only hang out on wedding websites. Watch TV and watch "Say Yes to the Dress".

I am very excited about this wedding. In fact I am over the moon. I am also loving planning the wedding. I am just nervous about annoying my friends and family with wedding talk. It is hard! Aside from school, my life is wedding planning because I temporarily live away from friends and family.

(Restored to life)

How about everyone else? Are your friends ready to put a moratorium on wedding talk? Am I being to hard on myself? How do you keep yourself from acting like a narcissistic brat?

First DIY

So as I mentioned our colors are cobalt, plum and silvery grey. Inspiration comes in ordinary places and part of why I raved about my mother's skills is her ability to find inspiration. So we were walking around IKEA- this most wonderful place on Earth! Disney could explode for all I care (while harming no one)! IKEA is the shizit! Well we found beautiful cobalt blue iridescent curtains! 2 per pack for about $10.

Well that's great and all, but what can we do with this gorgeous fabric? Answer: we bought a couple of packs of the really long curtains 57" x 118" Since we have 60" rounds we can cut theses up and hem them into squares so the just leave a  couple inch gap of white table cloth showing. Like this:

I'm pretty excited to see a room full of these colored overlays! Here are some more pictures.

It is hard to get a picture showing the rich cobalt in the second picture but still showing that it is iridescent and see through. So lesson learned from my mom: fabric is expensive. Raw materials are expensive so find something you like and tailor it to your needs. 

Question for you all. I have the choice of black or white linens to put under this on each table. What would you choose? You have seen the venue and it is an evening wedding. What would you suggest? Do you like the overlays? What creative incorrect use did you make of a product? 

All personal photos.

Craft goddess part 2

Let me further make you all jealous of my mom's craftiness and plethora of tools and supplies.

My parent's den that is now her work studio.

Want some lace? Three drawers full! I wonder from where my garter material will come? 

Craft bedroom full of supplies. If you look closely my table overlay material is hidden here!

Need a trim?

Beads???

More beads?

I say all of this to say, how would I be able to pull this all off without my amazing mother? She is a wealth of supplies and know how. I opened up a craft drawer and found about 12 different pairs of scissors each with their own use. Coming up soon will be the start of some projects and I wanted to make sure I give credit where credit is due, my mom! 

My blood related fashion designer

I don't know if I could pull off this wedding as beautifully or stress free without the very best desiger/decorator/all around crafting goddess known as my mother.

silverkleptofox.com

My mom can sew, she made all of my homecoming dresses in high school (I didn't go to prom). She can do beautiful beading. She makes felt and paper and .... the list goes on to things that this analytically minded scientist cannot comprehend. Despite my lack of comprehension, she is an artist and she is my go to on all things crafty.

(Maurine's fiber friends)

Those are all hand sculpted from wool that she hand died!

(Maurine's fiber friends)

These too!

(Doll net campus)

She used to teach classes on doll making. All of that doll is handmade!

There is so much more that I cannot even find images of. Let me just say, she can figure out how to craft anything! This means she will be adding a beaded trim to my dress, making my garter, and embroidering a hankie. She has also helped me figure out how to decorate my cupcake tower, assemble my invitations and so much more. She is not only a wealth of knowledge, she is a wealth of supplies! A whole room in my parents house has always been the craft room. *I'm sorry I don't have a picture, please refer to my post on the geography of my families* It is stuffed to the breaking point with every know fabric and bead imaginable. Now that they are empty nesters, she has turned a den into a work space so she has a big center island to work around with natural lighting.

(The office bbg)

So now, when I explain a project that is going to be DIY, rest assured that my mom had a hand in it (even if in a consultant role). Have any of you had an amazing crafting goddess in your life? Are you all your own goddesses?

Dress porn

So when we left off, I showed you some of my inspirations for a dress and my dislikes in a dress. In summary, I like flowy, elegant, romantic. I dislike overly jeweled, pickups, and long tight waists. My friend, Orlando BM, along with her husband, Orlando GM, came through town in January. The boys played (shooting range and drinks) and the girls played (wedding dresses and wine). BM Orlando and I had two bridal appointments and I was so excited!!!

At the first location I described my interests and they pulled dresses for me to try and .... I hated them! They didn't allow pictures in this shop but I don't even know the names or designers of those I hated. Suffice it to say, there were several of the type of dress I asked for and hated the lack of structure and shape. I also wanted more drama. I didn't feel pretty or bridal. What is wrong with me? So I ended up liking one from the first shop and thought it could be mine but freaked because it was so different from what I expected.

Front and back in ivory (Preowned Wedding Dress, Jasmine Bridal)

So lets see. This is fitted through the waist, not flowy, has one pick up- kinda more like a kick. I think it is still romantic like my inspiration but it is WAY more drama WAY more lace and detail and WAY more formality than I was thinking about at first. BM Orlando love it and cried but was shocked too. Apparently I don't know my style. I LOVED the ruched asymmetrical waist, LOVED the lace, LOVED the V-neck ... weird. The shape made me so skinny- WHOOT WHOOT!

Store number 2 was bad. The dressing rooms were as small as a bathroom stall and there was no consultant to help me into the dress. BM Orlando was a champ and she helped but there was no dress that touched the Jasmine. More dresses to come ... many many many more ...

The difference between the Panda and the Koala

I realize that I should be next telling you about my wedding dress search. I also realized while writing the last post, I hadn't explained the dynamic between the Mr. and I. To start: why the Panda and Koala? Well, it is our cheesy, overly sentimental names for each other. Panda is the name I gave my Mr. a few years ago. Please don't vomit when I explain, I think it explains a lot about our personalities.

Panda is broad shouldered and barrel chested while muscular. He also has a bit of extra "stuffing" that I love! All around he is cuddly- in my mind that equaled a bear. He is also prone to get grumpy when he isn't well fed, watered, or rested. When he gets grumpy he scrunches his face- this looked like a Panda Bear to me. I am not proud of our disgusting cutesiness!

One of my favorite pictures of us. This is the grumpy face ... clearly adult beverages were involved.

After a while "Bear" became his last name, "Panda" his first. When we were getting engaged and a little before, I needed to have the last name of "Bear" ... duh! So he started to call me Koala Bear. This is because I cling on him to hug and snuggle like a Koala clings to a tree. Again- disgusting, I know!

(The Animal Files)

So this starts to explain us. He is strong and solid, prone to moodiness when he is not well cared for, still cuddly- but less than thrilled when you point out his sweet sensitive side (because he is big and strong and masculine ...I am rolling my eyes as I type). I am over the top emotional! I thrive on affection and conversation like I do oxygen. I can easily loose any level of rationality and base decisions on the way I feel. This last fact drives my very rational and ordered Mr. over the edge at times. I say that he tries to order emotions into an Excel spreadsheet, and this drives me crazy.

In the end we approach a lot of life differently but it is these differences that balances out our relationship.

How are you and your partner alike or different? Are you like us and approach life from different perspectives or do you see things eye to eye?

The hunt for the dress (Inspiration edition)

The dress! This was one of my top priorities and I was ready to dive head first! Quick and decisive action allowed me to choose the date, colors, and venue.This came from the mad scientist, rational side of my brain. (P.S. Mr., I do have a rational side- don't get it twisted!) The dress, on the other hand, would be a choice from the emotional side of my brain. (P.S. Mr., yes, I am aware that the emotional side is the bigger- slightly crazier side)

Now I know I am a busy bridal bee because I got engaged August 6, 2010. We visited the venue for the first time around Christmas 2010 and I first tried on a dress in January 2011. Our wedding was 15 months after my first visit to the bridal salon!

Let's back up though, what did I see myself wearing? Like I previously mentioned, I didn't have an image of my wedding prior to getting engaged. The only ideas the Mr. and I had tossed around were somewhat simple and we liked the possibility of a beach wedding. We wanted to keep the cost low, the intimacy sweet, and the party on high! The Postcard Inn lends itself to be really casual or up to semi-formal so I felt fine sticking with this as my dress plan.

I also classify my day to day style as elegant-hippie. If you remember, I aspire to grow up to be Captain Planet. I like classic elegant looks that includes clean lines and bold solids but I have a dirty hippie streak in me about a mile wide. This usually means I don't wear a lot of make up, I wash and wear my hair, DETEST heels, and I have a love of flowy knee length skits. So these were the types of dresses I thought I would love.

(Casual Wedding Dresses)

(Weddingbee Classifieds)

(Casablanca)

(Casablanca)

So clearly I liked flowy, I liked texture, I liked empire-ish waistlines. These are the types of dresses that I didn't like. Please don't hate me if these are your dresses ... I sorry!

(Casablanca)

(Wedding shopping inc. Maggiesottero)

I didn't like bridal satin, didn't like pick-ups, didn't like too much beading and didn't like fits that were tight down to the top of the hip. Let me clarify- I don't mean to say that these are bad dresses! They were just way out of my comfort zone. 

So what did I think when I tried things on? You have to wait and see!

What were your bridal inspirations for your first foray into wedding dress shopping?