Getting Things Done With Martha!

K recently gave me a stack of Martha Stewart Weddings magazines. Holy Inspiration! With those magazines and the awesome encouragement of my girls K and E, I pretty much have all the details worked out. Which, 9 months from the Big Day, is an accomplishment. But I suppose the hard part has never been figuring things out. With a DIY wedding, the hard part is getting stuff done! I seriously will need to assemble a "craft crew". It really is exciting though being able to imagine how things will look, all put together and waiting beautifully in the reception hall. I'll soon be scanning pages from the magazines to share my ideas with everyone -- stay tuned!

Time Flies Whether You're Having Fun Or Not

Seriously, I don't know where the past 6 months have gone. My wedding timeframe went from 17 months to less than 12 very quickly -- I'm getting married in 11 months! Normally I would think that's tons of time but really, it does slip by unnoticed. Anyway, here's an update:

I changed my layout to the blog -- our stationery features a hummingbird so I thought it only appropriate.

Here's the new Bridesmaid Dress:

It's from the Purely Alfred Angelo line which boasts "eco-friendly" fabrics (this one is silk chiffon) in wear-again styles. I love it -- I'd like to get one for myself! Although, as always, I'm undecided on color. Unfortunately the style doesn't come in black so I have to choose between the above blue or a really nice olive-y green. I had thought about doing 2 girls in one, 2 in the other -- then I considered doing the girls in one color and the guys in the other -- but then I could always just do everybody in one color and find something else to feature the other.

Isn't it silly that the hardest part of planning the wedding decor has been color coordination?

Of course, then I think since I have 4 colors I can feature 2 on the wedding party and 2 on the tables. That gives me blue and purple on our peeps -- black and green on the tables. Majority. Not saying there won't be mix and match. Also not saying I won't change my mind again in 5 minutes...

Just found silk-screened 100% silk ties on Etsy:

by Projector
That would be kinda fun. And maybe a nice gift.

Work on my dress is underway. I'm totally in love with my silk -- it has such a beautiful sheen and texture.

Oh, and I decided that I want purple shoes. Something fun like this:

Pretty Princess

Next Sunday the girls and I are going to the bridal salon. The girls will be trying on dresses to gauge sizing for the dress I've picked -- and I'll be trying on bridal gowns because it looks like fun. When my best friend, K, suggested this I was a little nervous. What if I fell in love with a dress? K promptly promised to talk me out of anything -- "No way! It makes your butt look waaaay too big!" It should be fun though. Who doesn't like a day out with the girls trying on thousand-dollar dresses?

Concept Complete!

After much deliberation and seam-ripping and re-doing, I've finally finished the mock-up for my wedding dress.  Yes it is pink and striped.  It is just a design idea.  However, two key design aspects it does not yet reflect are the fullness of the skirt (I haven't finished the petticoat yet) and the pleated overlay on the bodice.  The real dress will also have a mini-train and pearl beading detail down the center pleat on the skirt.  It's rough, I know.  The seams were quick and sloppy, the edges are unfinished; I didn't even iron it.  Tim Gunn would be appalled.  The real thing though -- it's gonna be a beauty.  I'm sure of it.

FRONT
Strapless, sweetheart neckline, asymmetrical dropped waist


SIDE FRONT
Three pleats down side of "low" hip


BACK
Will feature a mini-train as long as fabric will allow


SIDE BACK
Side zipper, unlike me the dressform has no junk in her trunk

If Two's Company And Three's A Crowd, Four Must Be A Party!

In a rather lovely turn of events, I now have four beautiful bridesmaids.  I also learned that there is no way to define the term "best friend" until you spend a day out with said candidate.  If you are having breakfast together and your food gets stone cold because you're too busy talking about everything and finding you have everything in common -- that's a best friend.  If you are at a clothing boutique and pick out the cutest dress, turn to show it to your friend and find she is pointing out the same one to you -- that's a best friend.  If you go home and feel filled with so much amazing energy that even your fiance says something -- you just spent the day with your best friend.

Sappy stuff aside ;) I need to rethink my bouquet idea.  Four girls, three colors.  Do I have three girls with single colors and one with a combo and me with white?  Do I have two girls with the same single color?  Do I just mix them all?  I'm thinking I'll probably just do the latter.  Then my bouquet will be white/ivory with splashes of color.  Same with the fascinators if I go with those.  Each one will have a combo of colors.  I think I've also decided to forgo the shoe decor in favor of fascinators.  Both would be too much.

So exciting!

Fascinated By Fascinators!

For financial reasons, I will be doing my own hair and makeup for the wedding.  I'm obviously allowing my girls that same option.  So I've been trying to think of an easy way to glam up an otherwise modest 'do.  My wedding dress has a subtle retro flair (think '30s or '40s) with its sweetheart neckline and dropped waist so I figured, why not continue on that "oldschool" trend?  I thought of fascinators immediately.  Fascinators are feathered, flowered and jeweled hair clips that women began to wear in leu of hats in the 18th century.  As all things trendy are cyclical, they're once again vogue.  I've read them described as "part 20s flapper, part glam" and it's a fitting description.





The possibilities are endless.  Since each of my bridesmaids will be "featuring" a different color, I'd like to make them (or give them the creative freedom to design their own) coordinating hairpieces.  I think I'll keep mine ivory.  I found a great DIY tutorial at Corvus tristis.

Making Compromises...And Coasters

So.  Some recent events and decisions in mine and C's lives have prompted a closer look at the wedding budget.  And that prompted subsequent cutbacks.  As a result, I've decided to use the reception hall's centerpieces after all.  They're a shallow, square dish with a layer of clear, glass vase gems and a small oil lamp in the middle.  Perhaps toss in a couple button mums to coordinate with the spider mum on the tables.

Or, my super-creative sister-in-law came up with the idea of incorporating old vinyl album.  We were thinking as maybe a charger plate of sorts but then I found this really neat DIY project:


On About.com

Maybe a little stinky but C's bro has a torch or two so we could probably do it outside instead of in an oven.

Then I saw an awesome DIY tutorial for making your own coasters and thought they would be absolutely perfect favors (and tabletop decorations) to go along with the custom pint glasses.  The coasters look so easy to do!


On Style Me Pretty

Truly, scrapbooking paper, wall tiles, and modge podge.  So I'm going to use the scrapbook paper I featured earlier with my table decoration idea.  There's a Reuse/Recycle Center in my town that I know has tons of wall tiles (and LPs).

Chalk a few more projects up on my wall.  It'll be time for a craft day soon.