Guest List Post #4

Um, so I was told that it is TACKY to send out invites to some and announcements to others.....guess that throws that theory out of the window. Any other ideas?

Accent Color Reconsideration ALERT!

Okay, I know............I am four months off from my wedding and here I am changing colors?! It's only the accent colors, people! CALM DOWN! The only things that have been purchased/reserved are orange....simmer down, simmer down....

So, as you know, the BM's dresses are a BEAUTIFUL orange silk shantung and their shoes are a golden bronze color. Well, I saw a really nice color palette with bronze (rust), orange (mango) and BLUE (Wedgewood Blue). Yes, I said it, BLUE! Who would have thought to put those colors together for a SPRING wedding. Yes, I have seen orange, sapphire blue and white for a fall wedding (and it was very pretty and elegant), but to "tone" the blue down to more of an ocean or Wedgewood blue....hmmmmm, thinking, thinking....
I've been going for a tropical look (since I can't get married on the coast or on a beach, we are going to make due in the center of the state where the closest body of water is the reservoir! LOL). I ORIGINALLY thought orange with fuschia, yellow and green accents. These colors are very pretty. The more I put them together, the more it looks "kiddy" to me. Not saying that I want some 80-year old woman look. Not saying that there is anything wrong with 80-year old women..........oh, shoot me, why don't you! GEEZ! So, I still like the fuschia and green accents, but I am really digging the Wedgewood blue more than the fuschia now.

So, I go to Paper Source and look at their patterned papers. I purchased a few to bring home and compare with the orange pocketfold that I am using for my invitations. Okay, so we are going to stick with the orange, off-white and bronze/brown combo for the invitations and I'll just use to blue in other places. KAY? :)

We are still contemplating the whole blue thing, though. Give me a week, I'll have it all sorted out....we hope. Stay tuned.

Delivered!!!

Most of my bridal party received their shoes and my flower girls received their dresses this week! YAY! Everyone seems to like the shoes and the mother of the two flower girls LOVES the dresses I chose for them.

I was able to get the dresses at the same store where I ordered the attendants' shoes from. The flower girl dresses were VERY reasonably priced (under $50) and they were SUPER CUTE. If you need to find ANY shoes by Touch Ups, go to Bridals by Natalie in Alexandria, Virginia, and ask for Lourdes! She was very helpful and I am VERY happy with using them as the vendor for the shoes and flower girl dresses.

I looked online, at stores, EVERYWHERE for a simple flower girl dress (minus having the sew the things myself.....not going to happen, at this juncture). Can someone tell me WHY flower girl dresses are upwards of $200??!!! NOT!! This is a dress that is going on a GROWING CHILD and will probably NEVER be worn again!

The only thing my flower girls need now is the orange silk sash that will be worn with the dress. They were ordered this week and they are the exact fabric and color as the attendants' dresses.

Invitations #1

I knew that I didn't want a "canned" invitation for our wedding. I didn't want anything TOO contemporary nor TOO "old world" looking. I wanted something in between and that didn't cost me an arm and a leg, either. I LOVE the look and feel of letterpress, but we all know that can be VERY expensive. UNLESS, you are resourceful!

My main color is orange, which isn't a common color for SPRING weddings. So, I didn't want some cute invitation. I wanted an elegant and timeless design with little hints of who we are in the invitation.

Well, I visited a few stores in the DC area to get ideas, scoured through magazines and surfed the web, too. I actually made an appointment with a WELL-KNOWN party planner/invitation design store in Maryland. Gave the lady my ideas, numbers, etc. She told me that she'd have a quote and proof for me in a week. That was in SEPTEMBER. Ask me if I have heard from her? I called her about a week after our meeting, you know, thinking maybe she had the wrong email address for me. She said, "Oh, I haven't had time to work on it. Your wedding isn't until May, so we still have time". Um, who is WE? Is she pregnant or French? Don't promise items that you can't deliver! BAD BUSINESS!!! I will NEVER purchase anything from this store, nor recommend them for anything....not even a new dog announcement! BOOOOO!!!!

So, on to more pleasant experiences...... I met fellow Knottie on TheKnot.com boards and I loved how creative she was with her own wedding invitations. I contacted her via email. We "chatted" about what I was looking for, numbers, etc. and I made the decision to allow her to design my invitations and all inserts for my wedding.

This week, I received a few proofs of the invitations she's designing for me......WOW! I am VERY happy with them!! We haven't finalized all of the inserts, yet, but I am VERY happy with her work. You tell her what you are looking for and, BAM, she whips up BEAUTIFUL designs that incorporate EXACTLY what you are looking for. Here is what we have so far (sorry for the browned-out portions, but hey, such is life)..... The orange pocketfold is not as orange as this picture shows, but it's only to give you an idea of what the layout of the invitation will be.
Once we get the invitations and inserts printed and I assemble them, I plan on taking a few pictures and uploading her work.

Guest List Post #3

We all know that everyone can't be invited nor attend weddings. So, we said that we would send out wedding announcements to those persons who didn't receive an invitation, after the wedding takes place. That way, they will still be informed of the wedding and won't feel obligated to purchase a gift (etiquette states that sending out wedding announcements does not obligate the receiver to purchase a wedding gift and it's only done if they choose to).

The location where we are having the reception just can't hold the numbers that the guest list has produced. The Fire Marshall will be FRONT and CENTER if we were to invite the entire list.

So, that solves the guest list problem.........for now.

Save The Date Cards

So, I know that I am a little late getting the Save-The-Dates out, but I came up with a few designs this weekend. I sent them over to my wedding coordinator, Ed and my Mom, to get their opinion. Ed and my Mom have given me their choices (I sent over five designs) and Ms. Jones is giving me her choice this evening. Once I get the cost of how much they will be to print, get the paper and get them printed (they are designed to be a 4"X6" "postcard"), they'll be out in the mail next week.

Oh, no worries, though. The Save-The-Dates are only going to out-of-town guests. We plan on getting the invitations out very early in April with a May 3 RSVP date.

I'll post the Save-The-Date design choice on the blog as soon as we finalize it. Stay tuned!

Guest List Post #2

Still OUT OF CONTROL. I see that some people are just going to get announcements. Sorry......

Shoes for the Bride-To-Be

<<<<<<<<< SIGH >>>>>>>>>
Okay, ya'll. I had foot surgery on BOTH feet in 2007 (one in July and the other 4 weeks later). I have NEVER been one to stand in HIGH heels for a long period of time, anyway, so I know that the shoes I choose for my wedding day are going to be mid-heel height. I do like some of the shoes by Grace, Grazia and a couple of other designers. Everything that is mid-heel seems to be....how should I say this..... cheezy. YEAPPER, I said it. I did find ONE pair, so far, that I like. BUT the straps are questionable.....jury still out.

I'll have to go try them on and see how they fit. I am NOT trying to be back in the podiatrist's office ANY time soon. I told Doc when I had my last follow up with him that I hope I don't ever have to see them again, in his office. We can see each other in passing and it'll be all gravy, but I don't ever....... EVA' EVA' EVA' want to see him in his office again.

That being said, anything over 2.5 inches is out. Anything with a pointed toe is SUPER out. Anything that has thin straps is out.

NOW do you see my dilemma?!!!

Found Shoes for the Bridal Party

Okay, for those of us who have been in a wedding OR have just worn the SUPER cute, strappy shoes for a LONG period of time, KNOW how painful they can be. When I went back to the boutique where we are purchasing the dresses from, Mia and I laid out three colors/shades of shoes: silver, gold and bronze.

PAUSE: No dyables will be found in my wedding. They HURT and I have YET to find a CUTE pair of them!

Resume: The silver was too cold with the pretty orange dress. The gold was........well, GOLD! Too bright. The bronze was PERFECT. Bronze is a warm color and it went SO well with the dresses.

Now, finding a CUTE shoe that comes in M and W widths and isn't costly. Here were the choices I laid out for the ladies:

Of course, everyone liked the FIRST one, but er, um.......thin straps=PAIN when standing for long periods of time. MOST of the ladies liked the top row (from left to right) in that order. A few commented that the middle shoe on the second row would probably be the most comfortable, but still stylish. Well, I chose that exact shoe and ordered them today for the ladies! It comes in M and W widths and came in 9.5 (a VERY hard size to find).

I am asking that the ladies walk around in the shoes a couple of months BEFORE the wedding to break them in, but not scuff them. I am satisfied with the choice of shoe.

Found a Junior Attendant Dress!

Okay, I found the CUTEST Junior Attendant dress on the Coren Moore website. It's called Lilly. I wanted my Junior Attendants to have a different dress than the others, but still be a young, fresh dress. The dress will be in the same orange family as the rest of the dresses. I was able to see a swatch of the fabric and it's a direct match to the Jenny Yoo persimmon color of the other ladies' dresses. I am so excited.
(In the first picture, it's MINUS the sash.....).