I Heart Fabric

(a lot)
And I "collect" it. Yes, I'm one of those people- a "fabric hoarder". As is evident by this:


I wanted to incorporate fabric into the wedding because, well, I love it... and I love to sew. Conveniently, since I knew I wanted to avoid using fresh flowers if at all possible, I had a solution. I decided to make our (and by "our" I am including the bridal party as well) bouquets and boutonnieres from fabric. I searched many sources online (including Martha Stewart and Etsy) to get ideas on what fabric bouquets and flowers should look like, but I really didn't find anything that inspired me enough to produce an exact replica. The solution? I worked from scratch to create my own design.

The fabric:

I plan on using dark and light purples in my bouquet & browns, ivory & shades of pale blue for the 'maids. I tried to choose fabrics that varied slightly in texture and color and complimented one another. Carrying bolts of fabric around Joann's was the simplest method of accomplishing this. I also picked up some green fabric (mostly because it was on clearance):

I'm not sure if I will work it in or not.

I created a "trial" 'maids bouquet (not yet sure if I will use it):


I'm still working out a design for the stems and I like the overall shape and color scheme. Originally I was going to make all the 'maids' bouquets the same, but I think I'm going to vary each of them slightly. I'll keep the same color scheme, but I will be using different textures of fabric and different flower forms. As I continue the process of making/adding onto the bouquets I will post them. I haven't come up with a solid idea for the bouts yet, so I think I will wait until all of the bouquets are finished and then make complimentary bouts for each bouquet :)

How have you incorporated your hobbies into your wedding?

I DO Love a Good Deal

Especially if it's concerning the wedding. About a month ago, I was visiting my local Hobby Lobby when I stumbled upon these:

Of course, I took them home with me. Why? Did I have a purpose for them at the time? Well, no, but it was an offer I couldn't refuse. At ~$3 each, these were a steal, and I know I will use them after the wedding. I bought the remainder of the store's supply which was 5 each of the small and medium and 3 of the large.


Now that they are living with me, I have been thinking about what will become of them. I finally decided to either use them on some of the outside cocktail tables or I will use them to spruce up the buffet line tables. And of course after the wedding, they will look fabulous in our home!

What great deals have you come across while preparing for your wedding?

The Ticking Clock

So, I just realized that we are inching near the 6 month mark, my how time flies!!! I think my list of to-dos just keeps getting longer and longer as my timeline gets shorter and shorter. Here's a quick run down of what needs to be done:

Ceremony:
**um, this area needs a lot work because, er, we haven't really planned anything for our ceremony yet.... the only big items we can cross off our list is that we have booked the church, pianist, and pastor.

Reception:
** Complete indoor table centerpieces, decide on method of trasporting them
** Complete outdoor centerpeces
** Place order for table sashes
** Decide on napkins
** Finalize catering/alcohol
** Select a generalized list of songs for DJ
** Book cocktail hour music
** Decide on decor for foyar and cake table
** Bathroom baskets
** Sign in book?
** Order favors, decide on packaging method
** Decide on seating cards/table numbers

Us:
** Finalize guys' attire, get fitted
** Book hair, makeup
** Dress alterations
** Look for hair/makeup style
** Decide on accessories for day-of
** Shop for rings
** Make arrangements for alterations

Bridal Party:
** Bouquets & Bouts
** BP Gifts
** Decide on jr. bridesmaids, flower children, ushers

Invitations:
** Finalize the guest list already!
** Finalize day-of timeline & order invitations
** Buy stamps before the post office jacks up the price again

Rehersal:
** Finalize RD location & book it
** Gifts for parents

Now practice the following: Take long deep breaths....don't panic... if panic ensues, remind self that is still time left to complete all necessary tasks and that nights of insomnia are common for brides suffering from wedding anxiety.

Any one else starting to panic over their timeline?

Someone Stop Me.....

Really, I mean it. I need to stop ordering invitation samples.


I'm not sure what's worse: the fact that this picture does not show all of them in my possession or that the one that I *think* we have chosen is not shown (since we haven't ordered or sent them out yet... pics of the final product will have to wait :) ). The problem I struggle with is that every time I think I find *the* invitation that will be ours, I find something I like a little more. Such is the problem with buying invitations online... too many sellers, too many options!

I think I decided to buy our invitations online shortly after I realized that making them all by hand would be a feat far out of my league. However, even though they will not be completely DIYed, I plan on personalizing them some after we order them and before they get mailed.

What's the plan for your invites? Are you taking advantage of all the options the web has to offer?

Inspired

A while back, I stumbled across this artist. (Read more about her here). Her work is amazing and if I had the space and some extra cash, I would dedicate an entire wall in our home just for her art. :)

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*Swoon*. So Lovely....They have a garden, vintage, and romantic feel all rolled into one... and I love it! Er, so what does this have to do with our wedding? Well, you'll just have to wait and see....

Any one else finding inspiration for their wedding in unexpected places?

In the Favor of Your Presence...

This post concerns wedding favors (obviously...). Many people, including myself, seem to think that favors are a waste of money. I didn't want to invest in a gift for my guests that would be forgotten or thrown away soon after our reception ended. For this reason, as cheesy as it may sound, I wanted our favors to mean something. Initially, I considered donating to a charitable organization, a la Mrs. Lovebug, in lieu of favors. I wanted to make donations to cancer societies, namely these two (leukemia and breast cancer ), as they have personally affected our mothers. However, I wasn't sure how our moms would feel about this... I mean I'm sure they would be honored, but I'm not sure they would want that sort of attention drawn to them. So... I continued to brainstorm ideas for meaningful favors. And then, it came to me: Mexican Wedding Cookies. For those of you not familiar with these, they are shortbread-like cookies popular in the Hispanic culture that are made with nuts and covered in powdered sugar. (They are also apparently very similar to cakes/cookies familiar to other cultures).

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They make appearances during holidays, for birthdays, and, you guessed it, at weddings. When I discussed this idea with my FMIL, she loved it and said this was exactly what she had thought of doing for our wedding :) Instead of baking the cookies, we are going to cheat and order some from a local Mexican bakery (because FMIL heard that they are just not as good if they are baked and then frozen, which is the most logical approach if we were to DIY them). I am very excited that we will be incorporating this very delicious aspect of X's culture into our wedding. Now I just need to come up with a creative way of presenting them and I can cross this item off my to-do list!
What are you providing as favors for your guests?

Dressing my 'Maids

When we got engaged, I didn't have any interest in a bridal party. The only two people that I really wanted with us on "the day" were my sister and X's brother. Choosing 8 other people to join our bridal party was really a compromise I made specifically for my mother :) (I should note that the people who are standing with us are very important to us and we are honored by their presence, but originally I didn't see the point of a bridal party). So.... after we decided on having a bridal party, I started thinking about what the girls would wear. Black was an ideal choice, but it didn't seem to mesh with our color scheme. That's when I started searching for purple dresses... but not just any purple, I wanted a deep, dark purple. Even though our wedding was more than a year away, I started searching online for b.m. dresses last fall (seeing that purple was a very popular fall color... I was worried that finding a purple dress in the spring or summer would be difficult, if not impossible). I did look at the bridal store I purchased my dress from, but I didn't really like styles that they had available. So I looked to other stores (Anthropologie, Nordstrom's- I am talking to you) for some help. I guess I should also mention that I wanted to keep the dress budget under $150 for the girls, since they would be purchasing their own dresses. Finally, Nordstrom's came through and I found *the* bridesmaid dress (and shown in action with the wedding "vision"):

Bridesmaids - by *elouise* on Polyvore.com

**I am so glad that I bought all the girls' dresses when I did, because they are now out of this style.

This dress was everything I had hoped it to be: comfortable, a nice fit for all sizes, re-wearable, dark purple, affordable.

Similar dresses that are very lovely (ahem, some quite a bit more than my budget):

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How did you decide on your bridesmaid dresses? Can they be worn again?

Engaging Locations

X and I are will be taking our E-pics in two weeks and we have yet to 1) decide what we are going to dress up in and 2) where we will take them. I know our lovely photographer will produce a great end result, but we would like to take our photos at places that are memorable to us. A few places that I have come up with are:

Our Alma maters (important to who we are now, we spent a lot of time and money at these schools):
UT

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St. Edwards

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Spider House Cafe (I practically lived here during college studying, plus its very eclectic and would make for some interesting pictures... and it involves coffee, we love coffee):

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Opal Divines- We would call this "our" restaurant.. we love their food and they have a fabulous beer selection (see all those beers on tap in the background):

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Zilker Park- an ode to the green spaces in Austin, this would be great for some outdoor pics.. specifically on this bridge (I love this bridge, not sure why):

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And also, I would like to get some pictures in with this guy, our basset hound Kingsley:

photo by me

Are you taking engagement photos? Where are you taking them?

Springing for Color

Now that spring has almost arrived, I'm inspired by all the color that is peeking out from between the clothing racks. I'm looking for excuses to stash these in my closet (wouldn't they make adorable shower or rehersal dinner or even bridesmaid dresses!)

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Anyone else using the the wedding as an excuse to stock their closet?

DIY Tutorial-Revamped Candles

Once we found our venue, I knew right away that I wanted to decorate the outside walkway to invite people to take a break from the inside party to mingle outside.


I decided it would look lovely to either place candles along the walkway railing or use them to decorate the cocktail tables we are going to place outside. I wanted to do something that was simple and not time consuming.
Enter exhibit 'A':

This project is fairly inexpensive and.... its easy and takes only a few minutes!
Supplies:
Religious Candles: large and small sizes, preferably white (hmm... they look kind of nice in plain white also):

I found these at my local grocery store....they are approx. $1.50 each(if you shop at HEB, they have a coupon for buy 4 get 1 free- I think this coupon might run through Lent). I tried to find an online source for them also, but I wasn't very successful. I only found them at K-Mart online (they are 1.50, but are only worth it if you can get free shipping).

81/2" X 11" paper, ribbon, fabric, or anything else you think of to brighten up the candles :)

I tried to look for paper that was either clear vellum with a design or a light shade with a texture.
Make sure you remove all price stickers before you get started :).
Lay the candle lengthwise on the paper. Mark the paper so that you can trim it to fit the candle.

After you have trimmed the paper, apply adhesive on the length of the paper. I used adhesive tape.

Place the candle on the paper and press down. Slowly roll the candle forward while continuing to hold the paper against candle.

Apply adhesive to both the widths and opposite length of the paper while continuing to hold the paper against candle. Roll the candle forward until you have reached the end of the paper.

Turn the candle right-side up and press the paper onto candle until it sticks (about a minute).

Decorate the candle as best suits you.

The finished product*:

(*I will post a seperate tutorial on ribbon flowers)

How many DIY projects are you planning on doing for your wedding?