crafty idea overload

So many ideas, i don’t even know where to start!

I guess, since this topic has consumed my life for the past week (sorry Joe!), that i’ll start with invitations. Remember way back when i debuted our awesome monogram? Here’s a refresher:

Awesome, no? Anyways, we asked the fabulous Jen of Miss Pickles Press to design this with the idea that i’d design the actual invitations and other paper goods, using the monogram as a base. Well, i’d initially thought that i’d just do a simple design in Word with the logo centered at the top and the text below that … and then i saw this:

(Lucky Paperie, via Project Wedding)

…you have no idea what this did to my brain. Oh, the possibilities! i thought. How awesome! And creative! And do-able, even for a design idiot like myself!

I mean. The polka dots, people. Under the monogram. SWOON.

So i’ve spent the past six days eyeball-deep in Adobe Illustrator and polka dots, trying (nearly in vain!) to adapt that gorgeous design to our wedding. And, at long last, i think i have!

…this is the part where you’re expecting me to show you the invitation suite, isn’t it? Well, not so fast. We haven’t sent them to the printer yet, even! I did find a recommendation for Cards & Pockets, which tells me they can print the invitations, RSVP postcards, and website info card for under $90. Ridiculously reasonable! I’ve ordered paper swatches and samples from them and am hoping to place the order over the weekend. Woot invitations!!

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the awesomest bouquet of all time

So. I finally have an appointment with a possible florist tomorrow after work. I have been madly scrambling to pull together ideas of what i want the ceremony flowers to look like (and i’ll have a whole ‘nother post on that once we’ve nailed down some ideas). Flipping through magazines, scouring wedding blogs, you name it.

The bouquet has kind of been an afterthought. I mean, i knew i wanted a white bouquet, with some green(ery) accents thrown in, and feathers. Definitely feathers. I mean, my shoes have feathers — why not, right? But. I hadn’t put in a great deal of thought over it.

Until now. My darlings, behold THE AWESOMEST BOUQUET OF ALL TIME:

(picture courtesy the amazing Jonathan Canlas, from his blog post here)

Seriously, i have been dreaming about this bouquet. At night, during the day, when i’m supposed to be working … i covet it. I adore it. I must have it.

…and not even the red bits that you’d think i’m talking about either! It’s the wrap, with the precious vintage turqouise-and-red buttons all down one side. I mean, i suppose it’s also the gorgeous creamy white flowers, the beautiful rich green broad leaves framing the bottom, and, yeah, i do kinda dig the punch of red in the middle. But, y’all, the buttons.

SWOON!!

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i am a bad blogger.

Lately it seems like i’ve been so busy doing stuff, i don’t have a whole lot of time to write about it. I’m sorry! I do have lots of awesome wedding-related stuff in the works, and i’ve accomplished a lot on my freakout list from a couple weeks back. I’ll get to it all eventually, but for the moment (since i have just a moment), allow me to introduce you to our wedding monogram!

Swoon. Isn’t it the coolest? Jen from Miss Pickles Press really captured exactly the vibe we’re going for: retro, cool, laid-back, with just a hint of old-school carnival to make it interesting. I can’t recommend her highly enough — if you’re looking for anything from monogram design to full-on custom design, she’s your girl.

…and up next? Our save-the-dates! VistaPrint tells me that today they’re in the capable hands of the USPS for delivery. I can’t wait to get home!!

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you have how many pairs of shoes??

I believe it was just this week i was telling you all about the wedding shoes i found. Pretty, match the dress, nifty ankle strap, sweet jeweled buckle, etc. Remember? These?

Right. Well, what i may not have mentioned at the time was that those were my fallback pair of wedding shoes. You know, the sensible ones. The ones that match, and look comfortable and respectable, and don’t cost 87% of your remaining budget.

That, my friends, was before i discovered The Sale.

A bit of history: WAAAY back in the day, when i was still a wee babe in the wedding-blogosphere, i found this pair of utterly delicious shoes. They were sassy. They were quirky. They were unique! (So unique, in fact, that no amount of googling or endlessing or zappoing could turn up a similar pair.) They were, also, $239. Which seems, you may agree, a bit spendy for a pair of shoes one is likely to wear only once — or at most, on very rare and special occasions.

But then. I was checking out one of my new favorite blogs ({grey}likesweddings, and you should all run over there posthaste and bookmark her!), and happened upon a pair of shoes i fancied, so i idly clicked through to the site selling them. And there, my friends, they were. MY SHOES! HALF OFF!!

Behold the glory of the “Lana,” by Benjamin Adams. Those, my friends, are feathers. Maribou feathers. And Swarovski crystals. Yes MA’AM!

I have no idea if these shoes will match the dress. Honestly, though, i don’t care. I love them. I heart them. I giggle whenever i look at the picture. I mean: feathers!! Are they not fabulous? Glorious? Simply divine??

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Happy 2009! Now with live music!

I hope you’re all enjoying a stellar New Year. I’ve been away for a while — Joe and i moved over the weekend into our first home as a couple, and i’ve been scrambling over the past couple of weeks to get everything ready for the move. But we did it! And now i’m back with a vengenance and lots of fun ideas and questions for you; with only eight months before the wedding, i realized yesterday that it’s time to switch gears from moving/decorating/unpacking back to all-wedding-all-the-time.

So, here i am! And to jump right back in where i left off, allow me to introduce another of our spectacular wedding elves. The second in our series of “we’re only meeting with one vendor because our first choice is so awesome” decisions was actually not even made face-to-face. Working off a random Knottie post about ceremony music, i checked out the website for the St. Charles String Quartet, a local group based in Maryland. I was sold from the minute i arrived, when i was greeted with a lovely string arrangement of “Just Like Heaven,” my favorite Cure song.

After hanging out on the site a while and generally being impressed with the awesomeness of St. Charles and their enthusiasm for playing more than traditional classical music, i e-mailed Neil Puzon, Head Violinist In Charge, and inquired about rates, availability, and their willingness to learn a very silly, very specific song for my walk down the aisle. He responded in, like, 6 hours, and told me that not only would they be happy to learn my request, but that they wouldn’t charge me any more for special arrangements and songs. Even if every single song i requested was new to them. And, to top it off, their rates are super competitive, and Neil is extremely willing to work with you if you’re on a budget.

St. Charles offers soloist, duos, trios, and quartets, and their repertoire includes ye olde traditional wedding songs (done beautifully, i might add) as well as a hefty amount of Beatles tunes and less expected fare such as “Yellow,” by Coldplay, “All My Love,” by Led Zepplin, and (my personal favorite for amusement purposes) “Free Bird.” (Their rendition of the Foo Fighters’ “Everlong,” for the record, effing rocks.)

Seriously, when i first started this wedding planning business, ceremony music was waaay down at the bottom of my priority list. I figured i’d either get a DJ who’d play some stuff as we walked in, or just hook up my iPod somehow. I just e-mailed Neil on a whim, to see if he’d laugh in my face at my processional request (which shall for the nonce remain a secret, lest i lose what remaining readers i may still have 🙂 ). He was incredibly prompt, professional, excited about my request (!!), flexible, and reassuring that my little song idea would not only work but be awesome.

Plus, their music is gorgeous. If you’re at all in the market for ceremony music, even if you think string quartets are stuffy and ridiculous, please go check out their website. Tell Neil that Caroline sent you — he’s the best. And then enjoy the rockingness of your new fantastically talented and offbeat wedding musicians!

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my photographer rocks.

Quite simply, this is so. She’s a phenom, and we are so, so lucky to have snapped her up when we did! First, a little backstory. When i was first waving my engagement ring around the office and gushing to anyone who would listen about my awesome fiance and my ridiculous excitement about getting married, a friend at work subtly mentioned that her sister was a wedding photographer.

“Huh,” i thought. “Now i’m gonna get roped in to meeting with this chick’s crazy sister, who probably has no idea what she’s doing. Great.” But being a dutiful friend, i clicked on the link my co-worker e-mailed to me.

And i was blown. away.

Seriously, people, to be relatively new at the game (she’s only been photographing weddings for about two years), our girl is just incredible. We were bowled over enough online, but then my co-worker mentioned that her sister was moving down to DC and was looking to build up a client base. “Set up a meeting,” i said.

In person she was even better — self-possessed, confident, able to answer all my neurotic questions without blinking. She brought two full portfolios of recent weddings she’d shot and mentioned that one of her weddings was soon to be featured in a Boston local wedding mag. She always works with a second photographer, loves a photojournalistic style, and gives her clients all their images in digital files as part of every package.

SOLD!

So without further ado, please to meet our wedding photographer, the very first wedding-related decision we made, and still one of my absolute favorites:

MICHELLE CAUCUTT!!

I mean, check out these pictures from her blog:

I mean, it doesn’t hurt when your bride is totally effing gorgeous, but still. Breathtaking, no?

LOVE the perspective on this one.

OMGUMBRELLA.

I realize this is an engagement picture, but would you just look at the emotion on that guy’s face? Utterly priceless. If she can get one picture of us looking at each other like that on our wedding day, it’ll be the best money we spend on the whole thing.

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to make up for yesterday’s debacle…

I found some more pretties for you! Via Southern Weddings, please to feast your eyes on these g.o.r.g.e.o.u.s shots from an elopment session (!!) at an Atlanta carnival.

The color in these shots is simply amazing!

Hurray for Ferris wheels — and check out the rad color-coordination between the bride’s dress and the ride! So coincidentally spectacular! you should know that yellow+green is one of my all-time favorite color combinations, so i am fanning myself over here at not only the gorgeousness of these pictures but also the bride’s darling (and tea-length!) yellow+green dress.

This shot is just so calming and sweet. Happy, peaceful, in love. There’s a very similar scene at Glen Echo, too, so i may be forced to recreate this darling shot at our wedding.

And, as usual, i saved the very best for last. Check it out — a kiss on the carousel!!

All shots courtesy of the marvelous Jessica from jessica purvis photography. Click and love!

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the one that got away

…the dress, that is. I found this dress mere hours after i’d met The One. And while i have absolutely no regrets about buying my poofy tulle darling, i could just as easily see myself in this beauty, by Lazaro Bridal. It’s not at all what i pictured myself in (and the ribbon belt would have to go), but it is really something. Behold!

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fun with dresses i could never afford

A quick note — posting will be a little light this week, as we’re headed out of town on Wednesday morning. I’ve got a couple fun dress-related posts lined up for you, though, and hopefully a fun post-Thanksgiving post before the weekend’s out. Enjoy the holiday, Americans!

And now to the good stuff — more dresses! Have i told you about The Frock? Oh my. It’s breathtaking. Click on over now — i’ll wait!

See? The Frock sells vintage couture gowns that are simply stunning. Perfectly preserved snapshots of American and international design from the turn of the century onward. Most are $2500+, although you can find the occasional three-digit bargain. I came across this site late in the game, but i visit regularly for inspiration and a quick escape. Just looking at these dresses brings a smile to my face!

There are far too many lovelies for me to show them all to you, but i’m compelled to post just a few of my absolute favorites. Scroll and enjoy!!

Poofy and tulle — you know this one’s got my vote!

Another dreamy tulle confection. And it’s pink! Hee!

This dress looks like it could’ve come off a runway yesterday. And it’s circa 1945! Simply amazing, and breathtakingly lovely.

You know i saved you the best for last. I nearly fell out of my seat when i saw this dress. If i had $3800 (and a 34″ bust!), i’d be wearing this dress every day. Like, to my wedding, and then to the grocery store. SWOON!!

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my dress is here!! my dress is here!!

I’ve posted several times about my massive dress hunt — and i will post more gorgeous and quirky ideas i found online, i promise — but i got The Call yesterday. My dress has arrived!!

I think i’ve mentioned before that my mom graciously volunteered to purchase my dress. Naturally, that meant that we had to go shopping together. She lives in North Carolina, so i arranged for a five-day shopping extravaganza down to NC. And let me tell you, we hit every bridal salon in the Triangle metro area.

Well. We went to four stores. But they had a LOT of dresses! And i tried on so. many. bridal gowns. None of the stores would allow pictures, so i have nothing to show you for my troubles. Disappointing, no? Anyways, we split the massive trip up over two days. The first day was incredibly disappointing. I mean, totally fun and awesome, and i got to spend hours parading around in yards of gathered and sparkling satin and silk, but. No tulle! Seriously, we went to two giant dress shops, and between them, there was not a shred of tulle to be found. There were also no tea-length options, but thanks to my mom’s genius suggestion, we focused on dresses that could be made tea-length without too much fuss or bother.

I came home that first day with four “contenders” on my list, but none of them made me twirl around with joy. I figured that maybe it wasn’t in the cards for me to find The Dress — i’d been so lucky with the venue and the photographer that i thought maybe it was my time to just find something i’d settle for and be reasonably happy with. But then: Day Two.

Y’all, i have never been so excited over a garment in my life. We found her at this tiny, cramped dress shop in downtown Raleigh; my mom and i were pulling dresses left and right, and three-quarters of the way through the store, i finally came across tulle. (Seriously — i had no idea tulle would be so evasive!) I pulled the dress off the rack, gave it the once-over, and wrinkled my nose. “WAAAY too busy,” i said. My mom suggested that i try it on anyway, because it was the first tulle dress we’d seen in many long hours of shopping. So onto the pile it went. I waded through non-tulle option after non-tulle option, and finally, it was time. I slipped the dress on, zipped her up, and stepped out in front of the mirrors.

And she. Was. Perfect!!

Wanna see her? Click away!

(A GENTLE REMINDER: IF YOUR NAME IS JOE AND YOU ARE MARRYING ME, BACK AWAY SLOWLY FROM THE JUMP, AND NO ONE GETS HURT.)

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