It's All About the Accessories

135 days

Currently working on: pocketfolds (62/130 done)

I ordered a couple of things tonight! (Matt's Massachuestts tax refund came in and my federal is going in tomorrow.)

First, I ordered the dress that Jess helped me pick out for the after party! I found a coupon online for 20% off so I got it for less than it actually cost ($29.99) which was already the sale price! Here's the one I picked:

Second, I ordered my hairpiece for the wedding! I found one on Etsy from a seller (SarasBoutique) who isn't on vacation. (The shop owner of the original flower that I liked has been on vacation since before Christmas.) It was $17.50 including shipping and I love it! It's going to look amazing with my dress! Here is the sample photo from the listing:

And, lastly, I ordered my earrings for the wedding! I had bought a pair from Lia Sophia a few months back when I started selling it. I love them, but the new catalog had a pair EXACTLY like I had originally wanted. They were $20 with my discount and including shipping and they are absolutely perfect! (I had wanted a similar pair from Swarovski but they were $60. Then I found a similar pair from Claire's but they were cheap looking. Then I found the ones in Lia Sophia that are gorgeous, but they were a little more embellished than I had wanted. I have finally got the perfect pair!) Here's a picture of them:

Lia Sophia "Applause"

I also finally figured out what I am getting for our female readers and greeters. I knew I wanted to get them jewelry from Lia Sophia, but it took me forever to pick out which items. (Big surprise there.) Here are the winners:

"Sonnet" for Cait 

"Reflex" for Alice 

"Heartbeat" for Jackie 

"Double Dip" for Katie

Place Stamp Here

144 days

Currently working on: pocketfolds (62/130 done)

So obviously I'm taking a break from the pocketfolds, since I've been at 62 for about a week. Part of that was forcing myself to finish the pearls for the bouquets, but I also don't want to start hating the pocketfolds and making them half-assed.

Anyway, I ordered ALL of our envelopes for the invitations today! I had another Groupon deal that I needed to use, so I ordered 200 total. I got free shipping because I went $30 over the $60 of the deal! I'm glad to have this done since we're going to have to send out the invitations in a couple months and I'll be able to address them as I finish them. (After we order the menu cards that are going into the invitations which will be in February.) Here's what the envelopes look like:

I also got an email today that my bridal shower dress has shipped! I'm so excited to get it and try it on! The reviews for it were great, so I'm praying it will look good on me as well as fit well! We'll see in a couple days!

Last night, I was looking at flights to St. Lucia from Boston the week after our wedding for our honeymoon. Matt and I know we want to go to an all-inclusive resort because it's paid for upfront and so no money has to be spent there. We're going with Sandals and were originally looking at their Grande St. Lucian resort. The appeal was that there are two other resorts on the island that you can go to; it's part of their stay at 1, play at 3 deal. However, the flights were ridiculously early leaving on Sunday (we don't want to wait until Monday because it would mean one more day off for me and I don't want to take too much time). So we looked at the other resorts and three in Jamaica have the same stay at 1, play at 3 deal. PLUS, the flights were MUCH better, plus it's a couple hundred cheaper! So we're now planning on going to Montego Bay in Jamaica! I'm so excited, now we just have to book the room and flights!

Shower Wear

I can't believe I forgot to mention...I ordered my dress for the bridal shower today! I got the Baklava Beauty dress and used my credit from the black disc dress so it was only $54! I can't wait for it to come in so I can try it on! And, of course, one more picture of the dress!

I also found a site that has smaller sized Pasminas for kids for only $14! I'm going to order a white one for Olivia so that she matches the rest of the girls!

Brooch Blues

149 days

Currently working on: pocketfolds (62/130 done)
                                   bouquet pearls (5/8 done)

I ordered my wedding dress label tonight! The money finally transferred to my Paypal account, so I put in my order on Etsy! It's a simple white piece of grosgrain ribbon with my initials and wedding date sewn into it. Here's the sample image that was on the listing:

I also ordered three more brooches for the bouquets which I have started working on again! I finished the pearls for Jess's bouquet and I'm going to start one of the other two. I'm determined to finish the pearls this weekend! Here are the brooches I ordered: the last one for Hannah's bouquet and two more for Jess's.

Hannah

Jess

Jess

I'm planning on buying my bridal shower dress tomorrow before it goes out of stock again, especially since the other one I liked is no longer available at all. I'll update on how that goes.

Meet the Maids & Moms

153 days

Currently working on: pocketfolds (51/130 done)
                                    frames (0/10 done)

I was surfing through wedding boards on Pinterest and found a really cute idea for the bridal shower: frames with pictures and short bios of the bridal party for people to find out who they are and why you chose them. I loved the idea, so I'm going to do it but also add mine and Matt's moms! I bought ten unfinished wood frames from Michael's that I'm going to paint in each girls' color (of course). I'll write their names on them as well, but I think I'll leave the decorating as a fun activity at the bridal party brunch! I'm going to write the bios and put a small picture of them in each frame, but behind that, I'm going to put a picture of that person and I (Matt's mom will get a picture of her and Matt). They'll get to keep the frames and can display the picture later on!

I also bought more black paper for the invitations as well as honeymoon stickers for my scrapbook. We went to Walmart to get a new cartridge for our printer and I printed out the silver labels for the inside part of the invitations!

I also got a dress for the rehearsal dinner! I have been eyeing this dress from American Eagle for a month or two and it was on sale plus an additional 40% off so I bought it! Then I decided that I would use it for the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner! Here's a picture:

I finished the fifth newsletter today, but I'm not going to publish it here until February 1st!

Off to go craft!

Dress Rehearsal

158 days

Currently working on: pocketfolds (26/130 done)

I have found my dress for the wedding rehearsal and dinner! It's not a sundress like I had originally thought about getting, but it's pretty simple and adorable! It's from Delia's and goes really well with the sandals that I got from ShoeDazzle!

Pumped Up Kicks

164 days

I got the shoes that I ordered from Shoedazzle in today! They were part of the 50% Holiday Shop they had right before Christmas. Called Zafira, they are incredibly pumped up. I plan on wearing them for the rehearsal dinner and maybe the bachelorette, depending on what we're doing!

I FINALLY got my newsletters from Staples! They came out beautifully again and I'm going to put it in my scrapbook as soon as I'm done with this post.

I also got some of the mini Playdohs that we're putting in the out of town bags from Walmart! It's small, but it's one less thing to get!

Matt and I are off to the PC vs. Cuse game in a little while! GO FRIARS!

Christmas Come Again!

I just got the mail and I had THREE new packages that were all wedding-related! (I also got the Sping/Summer 2012 Lia Sophia catalog and there is some amazing new jewelry in it!)

The first package was a small one that contained my bottle of OPI's Rainbow Connection that I'm going to use on my toes! I bought OPI's Let Me See the Ring for my fingernails (because it's white and goes so perfectly with the wedding theme) but when I saw the Muppet collection, I knew I had to use Rainbow Connection!

The third package contained my dress that I plan on wearing for my send off (maybe for something else as well like the shower)! It's so simple and sweet!

And, last but not least, the fourth package had the socks that we had ordered for our groomsmen! We had to get alternates than the ones I originally posted because they were sold out so here are the pictures again.

 

Special Delivery

169 days

I came home to find a package in front of my door from ModCloth! In it was my a-maz-ing dress for the after party! I tried it on and it looks cute, but I'd ideally like to slim down a little for the wedding, so hopefully it will look a little better. Now all I need to do is order the shoes before they sell out in my size!

White Wedding

196 days

I FINISHED MY BOUQUET!! It is absolutely beautifula and I am so incredibly happy with it! Here are the pictures!!

I also added the pictures of Nicole's bouquet in this post.

Jackpot!

197 days

First of all, I received four packages in the mail today, two of which were at least somewhat wedding related. The first was from Vistaprint, who must be filling a million and one orders for them to have taken this long. It contained (for the wedding) some fo the RSVP cards, the photoshare cards, the cards for our guestbook, stickers for the invitations, as well as our Christmas cards. The other wedding related package was from Lia Sophia. Most of the jewelry ordered at my party came in (there's a holiday lag so some is on backorder) including the earrings I bought for the wedding!! They are even more gorgeous in person (compared to the catalog) and I absolutely love them! (The other two packages were more Lia Sophia jewelry and the books I ordered from Barnes & Noble; the sequel to The Giver and the first Hunger Games book!)

Second, Matt and I went to Michael's to get new ribbon for my bouquet. I got this beautiful white ribbon with silver glitter designs on it. (I just realized I'm not sure how the rainbow ribbon will look with it, but we'll see.) I also bought another scrapbook for the stationery from the wedding since it won't all fit in with the pictures in the other scrapbook as well as more silver wire for the bouquets (which will hopefully allow me to finish them).

Third, I also received two more brooches in the mail! I got another orange one for Jess's bouquet and a green one for Shannon's.

I'm going to try to finish my bouquet tonight, but will probably post pictures tomorrow!

Where Art Thou?

So I got my new purse and Ugg insoles in the mail today and, yet, I'm still waiting for a bunch of brooches. I know that most are shipping from China, but I really want them! I need one of them to complete my bouquet and another to complete Nicole's. I want to be able to get these done and this super slow snail mail is preventing me! However, none of them are late since ebay has given them a million years as a delivery range.

Well, that is the end of my vent.

Clutch Stuffers

I have been looking everywhere for cheap compact mirrors to put in my girls' clutches and I finally found some today at Forever 21! I got metal ones that say BEAUTY on the front for myself, my maid of honor, and the three bridesmaids. I got a plastic rose one for Matt's sister, and two plastic heart ones for my sisters. The metal ones were $2.80 and the plastic ones were all $1.00. Super cheap and awesome! I also love that the metals ones say BEAUTY because it ties into the fact that my wedding dress is based on Belle's dress from Disney's Beauty and the Beast.

I also found a hair piece on Etsy for the wedding! It's so beautiful and will look gorgeous with my dress! This is the picture on the shop's site and I'm sure mine will look just like it.

I also decided that I may want to do wedding I Spy. I found a picture of one on Pinterest that has really cute ideas. I'm going to start making the cards on Vistaprint shortly!

That's all for now. I'll be sure to update again soon!

Just One More

I only need one more brooch for my bouquet and it will be DONE! I ordered it off ebay a week or two ago and it shipped from China, so it should be here within in the next week or two. I can't wait to finish this project; it's been a labor of love and it already looks beautiful (even though everything is all bunched together).

That's all I have for now!

The Brooches and the Bride

I ordered more brooches today and I also received some of the ones that I ordered in the mail!

I got the brooches from this post in the mail, with the exception of the first one (it shipped from a different seller). However, the one that looks orange in the picture is somewhere in between orange and red and won't look right with either bouquet, so I'm not going to use it. (I like it, so maybe I'll wear it but not for the wedding.)

As for the ones that I ordered, here are the pictures:

Jess

(to replace the one that wasn't really orange)

Jess

Shannon 

Hannah

Yesterday I hosted my Lia Sophia starter party (I'm going to start selling the jewelry) and I found earrings that I really want to wear for the wedding. I like the ones that I have, but these are prettier and I love the necklace that matches them. (That means I'll wear them after the wedding.)

Another note: Matt and I were looking at the rings that we had picked out months ago online and they no longer have them. They have replaced them with the exact same thing that is way more expensive. So we went searching for similar ones closer to the price of the originals and found some at Kay! They are only about $10 more than the first ones and are the same thing we were looking at! Now we just need to order them before they disappear too!

mine

Matt's

I also have another addiction: Pinterest. It took me a while to get on the bandwagon, but now I can't stop pinning things! I have gotten some great ideas looking through others' wedding boards, though!

This brings me to my last item: while looking through ModCloth for dresses to pin to my Fashionista board, I found this beautiful off white dress. I think I may buy this as my little white dress for the after party. It's not really clubwear, but it's so simple and I could definitely wear it afterwards (even after Labor Day). I found some amazing orange pumps from Alloy, too, that I think I'll get to go with it!

I think that about wraps up my ridiculously long post for now!

Bountiful Brooches

I bought more brooches today off of ebay and I received the other 5 that I had already ordered! They are all beautiful! Click here for pictures of the ones that I received and here are the pictures of the ones that I bought today; the last two for my bouquet, one for Jess, and the last one for Nicole's.

mine

mine

Jess

Nicole

I also finished the pearls for Shannon's bouquet last night. I now have three of the brooches that I'm going to add in and it's almost done! Yay!

Hanging by a Moment

I got the wire for my dress hanger! That means that I was able to finish my hanger!!

the wire

my completed hanger!

I bought more wire yesterday at Walmart so that I can continue working on the bouquets. I also received two of the brooches I ordered in the mail today, however, one of the purple ones is way too pink so I had to find another one on ebay that I'll have to order. I may use this pin some other way, maybe give it to my flower girl since it's little pink flowers.