Winter Wedding Inspiration Board

Ideas for a Beautiful and Magical Winter Wedding. 

Add a sprinkle of snowflakes, fluffy furs and warm cocktails by the fire. Shimmering white gowns and icy blue accessories. Want these beautiful things? Check out the winter wonderland here.

Invitations - How to DIY caligriphy on dark envelopes

image from calligraphybycami.com

So I had a slight dilemma. My Wedding colors are Navy and Hot Pink / fuchsia. I could go with the cheap option and do white #10 envelopes with Navy writing. That would be oh-so easy. I'd just feed my envelopes right on through my printer with my pretty calligraphy font of choice. But if you know me, you know I can't do anything the easy way. I wanted navy blue envelopes...it doesn't get much darker than that. So the question remained. How do you get beautifully caligraphered handwriting on a dark blue envelope?

Option 1: Find a calligrapher to write out all my invitations in a white or silver ink and pay about $2/ envelope. So times that by 150 people + all the return envelopes and you have a $600 cost. Yikes!

Option 2: Take up calligraphy classes. Very pricey and time consuming...

Option 3: Labels - yuck. Talk about cheesy and cheap looking.

However there is a solution. You can have your beautiful calligraphy and make people think you paid lots of moolah for handwritten envelopes. How is this possible you ask... tracing.

I know what you're thinking. How can you trace on dark? A light box won't shine through. Ahhh, but you must think differently. I used my printer to print the invitations in black ink on my navy envelopes. Then trace in your pen color of choice.

Here is the envelope with the black printed on blue

My next dilemma, which is something you can't really see right now is the pen. I purchased a silver gel pen that is supposedly fine tip (0.7mm). Well, it's not fine enough for what I'm doing. After purchasing the gel pen, I thought I'd try another option. I then bought a Pen-touch 1.0mm fine point marker in silver. Immediately when I opened it I thought, "who is the jerk calling this thing fine point?". So now I'm on a journey to find the perfect gel pen/marker. I don't care if it writes in silver or white, just that it's thin enough for this application. My next option is that I will try to print a test envelope in my beautiful font bold, rather than regular. Hopefully that will give some leeway in the teeny scrollwork of the font.

If you're asking where to find a lovely font, there are plenty of wonderful fonts out there. Scour dafont.com or where I found mine, fontstock.net. They're free for personal use! There are so many to choose from you're sure to find something you like.  Below is a combo of Beautiful ES & Beautiful Caps ES swash for my caps.  I got them  here.

My trial with the gel pen.  It didn't flow nicely and gave me spots where I needed to go over the text several times

Frustrated in trying to find a perfect pen, I ran across this link which should help me in my pen search.  It's a comparison video of gel pens and gives me hope.  I think I'll be able to find my perfect pen after all.  I'll keep going with the search and let you know how it goes and what works for me.

DIY Sailboat Save the Dates

It took a few revisions and a lot of creativity to get to my final result (left), my cute little sailboats.  This post is all about my process of how I got there and how you can do something similarly cute for your invitations or your save the dates!

Looking for something a little different for my save the dates, I had designed quite a few different  "looks" going on.

The first two were quite simple.  My theme for my wedding is the compass rose, given that this is a nautical wedding by the ocean. 

So, I started with this design(below) , then I deviated to something similarly nautical, which was the ship wheel.

After taking polls everyone seemed to like the ship wheel due to the fact that it was easier for those with poor eyesight to read the text inside the wheel.

As much as I like these little save the dates, I still felt like I wanted something more memorable than this.  I happened to find this post for DIY save the date boats from broadway paper.

As much as I liked these little boats, I ran into a couple of problems.
1.) where the heck do you find lollipop sticks?
2.) I wanted it to be more "boat-looking" than what was pictured

I also noticed an issue when it came time for printing, which I easily solved.

Here are my little boats and how I did them by modification of the DIY project.

What you'll need:

• 9x12 construction paper (heavyweight)
• 8" bamboo skewers (I found a bag of 100 for $1.99 at Stop and Shop)
• A printer that can adjust to 9"x12" printing
• a x-acto knife

Instructions

1. On your computer create two triangles from a square that is 4" x 3.75".
2. Copy this shape until you have 6 squares or 12 triangles on your page (this will fit nicely on a 9x12 sheet but you will lose two squares if you are using a 8 1/2 x 11 standard sheet of paper) - this will be your sail.
3. Create a new sheet and again make a square that is 4" x 3.75".  Cut off the top and bottom corners and you should be left with a 6 sided hexagon.
4.  Divide the hexagon in two by placing a cut line horizontally through the shape - this should make two boats.
5. Repeat the hexagon throughout the page so you get 6 hexagons per page or 12 boats.  If you can only print on 8 1/2 x 11 you'll probably only be able to fit at most 10 boats.
6. Print and cut out your sails and boats.
7. Sails require 4 slices from the x-acto.  Two on the top (in photo above the anchor)  and two below (next to the web address in the photo).  Start "sewing" the skewer from the back of the sail as to not hide the text on the front of the sail.
8. The boat portion only requires 3 slices from the x-acto.  The first I placed above the writing "formal invitation to follow".  The next two are on the base of the boat.
9. Trim the wood skewers to the desired length when done.

Tip:  Make sure you slice your cuts long and not close to the edge.  The first one I did was too small and it ripped open the top of the sail!

Holiday Spirit with Signature Drinks

Photo: Food & Wine Magazine

Need some inspiration to make your Holiday Party filled with Christmas Spirits?  Look no further than the classic cocktail. 

Food and Wine Magazine has a great guide to classic and not-so-classic cocktails.  Use it as inspiration for your next Holiday party or your Wedding.  A fun way to add pizazz to your Wedding or event is to supply a signature cocktail.

This can be based on the colors of your Event or Wedding or your Theme.  You can even take a classic drink and re-name it based on your theme.


Need some Fall Inspiration? Check out this Sparkling Pomegranate Punch recipe from Food and Wine.


The Flavors of Fall

The fall brings us some fantastic flavors and ingredients.  Some of your favorite childhood flavors are what make up the best drinks for the holidays.

Experiment with all the colors, textures and scents the fall and winter months bring to create a cocktail that is uniquely your own.

Play with ingredients like Eggnog, Apple Cider and Pomegranate Juice. Experiment with familiar cozy scents like Cinnamon and Nutmeg.

Remember balance is key when making your perfect concoction.  Balance flavors like tart and sweet.  Get the Tart from things like cranberries and sweet from things like cider or pomegranate.

Garnish can be just as fun to add and give guests an idea of what's in the drink.  Tossing some Cranberries, pomegranate seeds, cinnamon sticks or even a wedge of lemon can make your drink look professional and festive.

If your traditional iced drink is not what you're in the mood for, heat it up with some spices and your stovetop or crockpot.  Spiced (and spiked) Apple Cider is always a big hit and tastes like  fall in a cup.  Don't forget your mulling spices for the full effect.

For extra fun, name your drink a festive or cute name for your theme. 

Some Holiday Drink Name ideas are:
Santa's Helper
Rudolph Punch
Christmas in July (something tropical?)
Snowstorm
Tis' the Season cider

Some Wedding Drink Name Ideas are:
Spiced Love
Sweetheart Cider
Cozy Cocktail
Pomegranate Passion

Two new ways to "release" some fun at your wedding or event

Photo from: hatomugisan.tumblr.com

We've all seen birdseed, confetti and bubbles after the ceremony, but for something a bit different and very personalized to your color scheme or logo/ monogram, there are two very exciting options for you.

The first is colored bubbles.  Yes, that's right, the bubbles you've learned to love and associate with your childhood can now be color matched to your wedding.  It's called Zubbles and they're brightly colored bubbles that don't stain!

 Imagine having a bubble machine at your reception with colored bubbles in your color theme, or give guests bubbles to blow after your ceremony!  With Zubbles, you can have a magical event that everyone will remember.

image from: serdaroner.blogspot.com

Want something more personalized?  Then flogo's might be right for you. 

What is a flogo?  It's a floating logo that's produced by using helium, soaps and even dye.  Think of it as a giant "soap cloud". 

Use it to promote your company brand, your wedding monogram or even your event theme.  The company claims their soap clouds are much more eco-friendly than balloons and naturally dissolve in the air.

While a cool idea, flogos will run you quite a bit of money to rent for the day.

Snuggle up with this cute idea for a Wedding Favor

I am totally in love with this cute coffee cozy from WaysideViolet on Etsy. I would love to give these as Wedding Favors for my guests. How cute and different would that be!

If you wanted to really give a cute and personalized gift, you could pair it with a porcelain mug that has your wedding monogram on it. Or you could sew in your monogram into the coffee cozy.

This gift works best for fall and winter weddings or weddings with a java / tea theme.

Lace themed wedding

Source: Martha

Love lace and want to incorporate it into your Wedding or Event?  Check out these beautiful ideas for a lacy and lovely event.

To the left you'll see a beautiful way to use those doilies.  Not just for tossing under a stack of cupcakes, doilies can be your best friend when decorating with a lace theme.

Use them to make envelopes, incorporate them into your invitations, even make flowers with them.  The possibilities are endless.

source: oncewed

From: Martha

Make a pretty garland strand, seen here to the right using paper doilies and other odds and ends. 

Don't want to drape the doilies across a ceiling or wall?  Hang them from the ceiling for an ethereal effect on your venue.

Looking for an idea for your table numbers?  Mimic the pretty lacy envelopes, by using this similar idea as above from Martha.

Looking for something exciting for your Cake table?  How about a soft doily covered table?



While this table was custom made, you can do something quite similar and with an even more dramatic effect. 

Source: LynneRutter

What you'll need:
- Purchase two large round pieces of plexiglass or two pieces of real glass.
- Find a bunch of doilies (lace or paper will do)
- Get at least 4 solid acrylic blocks or cylinders about 3" in width and an 1" or two in height
- Purchase some string lights or battery operated candles (tea lights).

Assembly:
-Place your doilies sandwiched between your two pieces of the plexi / glass piece.
- scatter your acrylic blocks/ cylinder on the table in a pattern that is evenly spaced around.
- Lay out your string lights or battery operated tea lights over the table.
- Place your sandwiched doily plexi / glass tabletop on top of the acrylic blocks.

Viola! you have a pretty glowing table scape to place your cake or even your place cards on.

Maid of Honor / Best Man Speech Tips & Sample

Are you about to make a Maid of Honor or Best Man speech and forgot your notes?  Maybe you're a procrastinator and thinking while in the limo to the church "how the heck am I going to say anything halfway good now” ?   Don't panic.  I've got some tips and a speech guide below to help you write a dang good speech well though out before, or even last minute.

Important Tips to Remember

1. Don't get too drunk.  I went to one wedding where the Maid of Honor got trashed before the speech.  It was a complete horror show when she got up and started giving her speech.  Don't make the same mistake.
2. Don't make it long-winded.  Short and sweet speeches are memorable, to the point and won't be the bane of everyone's night
3. Think about your audience.  While all the groomsmen might have thought it was hilarious that the groom threw a block of ice at a homeless man when he was 13, it might horrify your guests and embarrass the groom.  Refrain from telling stories that could embarass or make someone upset.
4. Don't make public any upset or dislike you have for any party.  If say, you hate the groom, don't mention it or be rude or mean in your speech.  Think about what the root of the problem is beforehand.  Are you jealous? Are you actually concerned for the welfare of the Bride because you know something she doesn't?  If you have a real concern, airing these issues at the wedding will be too late and you'll look like a jerk.

Quick Speech Guide to help you build a better Maid of Honor / Best Man Speech

1. How long you and the bride/groom have been friends
Include a couple of funny stories to emphasise the bond.
2. When or how he/she met the bride/groom.
Maybe you were afraid you were going to lose your friend or your friend spent a lot of time with their new S/O
3. How your fears were unfounded, the bride/groom is pretty cool and knows how to share.
4. How far from losing a friend, you have gained another one (bride/groom)
5. Wish everyone well, especially the couple.
6. Thank them both for being great friends.
7. Enjoy the applause.

Marie Antionette Themed Wedding

Let your bridesmaids have their cake and eat it too with this marie antionette inspired look. Pair pastels, lace and florals for a very french inspired look.

Want you entire wedding theme to be Mad for Marie?  Decorate your venue with mis-matched floral prints, teacups and plates. Display the fluffiest flowers you can find for your centerpieces.

Need more inspiration? Check out Jennifer Skoag Photography for some great Antoinette inspired looks.

image credit: http://www.skogasinvogue.com

Get gorgeous with this Fantastic Deal at Sephora

Register an account at ebates.com through this link

You will automatically get $5 credit to your account. I will also get a referral credit, so please use that link.

This week only at Sephora you can get 20% off your total purchase, plus freebies.

Use the code FF2010 at checkout to score 20% off any merchandise purchase. You’ll also get free shipping on orders over $50. Use code Blackdiamond at checkout for a free sample of Stila Black Diamond mascara.

You will get a total of 4% cash back through ebates, on top of the $5 credit.

Sephora rarely has sales like this, so this is a good time to take advantage

Dedicate your Wedding to Someone you love

So many brides are caught up in there idea of a perfect wedding, they sometimes lose sight of what is important in life.  It's important to remember who has been there for you and what your core values are in life.

Talk to your fiance and discuss possible options if you have a close friend or relative that has suddenly passed away or is living with an issue you'd like to bring to light, you can give tribute to them through your event and continue their legacy.  It is a touching way to include someone special in your wedding.

An idea is through Breast Cancer awareness.  October is Breast cancer awareness month and to give tribute to someone I find to be strong and inspiring that is dealing with this disease for the second time, I dedicated this inspiration board.

A way to honor the person close to you, you could choose colors that represent the ribbon of the issue at hand. Pink for breast cancer, yellow for the troops, etc.

In lieu of gifts to your guests, you could donate money to a charity near and dear to your heart. You should also let guests know that your ceremony/reception colors, and choices were made with your friend/family member in mind.

You could yourself or  have someone important to you do a reading at your ceremony addressing this issue.

A Wedding is a celebration of love. What better way to celebrate love than by showing it to the people that mean the most to you?

Add a touch of "wow" to your wedding or event

I don't know about you, but usually the most excitement I see at a wedding is a chocolate fountain (boring and overused). I see all this exciting stuff but just about every wedding I go to is cookie cutter and boring.

Photo: Ice Sensations of Louisiana

Spice up you next party with something chilly, an Ice Feature. This could be a stunning towering ice display as the centerpiece in your room. You can have your initials, your theme (a swan, hearts, etc.), a raw bar or even a drink luge.  Add lights for a more dramatic effect.

I know what you're thinking "Drink luge's are tacky!". It depends on what kind of drink luge. I'm not talking about the hunk of ice that people stick their mouth under and slurp shots from. I'm taking about a three piece tower filled with fruit and flowers where your bartender can disperse perfectly chilled martinis from. How "cool" and different would that be at your next event? You can have signature cocktails from the first tower, cosmos from the second and classic martinis out of the third. Now what guests wouldn't love that?

Customize your entire wedding!

Are you Crafty? Have a specific stamp, envelope or even travel mug you'd like to send your guests for your wedding or next event? Can't find exactly what your looking for? If you're crafty, you can design it yourself and save a lot of money too. Upload your designs to zazzle.com and get exactly what your looking for.

Not so crafty? Have no fear. Other artists have put up their own creations on the site. There's such a wide array of items to choose from, you're sure to find something you like. Plus your helping to support the little guy out there when you purchase items from their store.

Create your very own save the date cards, design coffee mugs as your favors and even make customized labels for your favors with this site. The possibilities are endless.

Too keep with my nautical theme, I looked everywhere to find the perfect envelope with no luck, so I made my own. Check it out on my Zazzle page.


make custom gifts at Zazzle

Reinvent the guestbook with photos

Image: OpulentCreationsEvents

The guest book is a long-standing tradition of the wedding.

You get to see your guests' best wishes for you on your big day and look back upon them when you get teary-eyed and sentimental. Rather than have a big white book and a pen, get creative and let guests have fun.

Rent a photo booth or get a Polaroid ready with a cool background that matches your theme.

Check out this wedding where they had a beach theme.   The bride and groom setup a rowboat with props and a cute background.

Once your guests take their pictures have them write their names and a sweet message for you. Glue it or place it in a guest-book or on a tack board for everyone to see.  You could also have a wedding tree for guests to hang their wishes for you onto.

The other nice bonus to the photo guestbook is that when your reading your wedding cards and opening gifts and you say to your Groom, "Hunny, look at the lovely card Aunt Ethel gave us." and when he looks at you and says, "Which one was Aunt Ethel again?" You can pull out the photo and show him the aunt he forgot about in your sea of 500 guests.

Turn Everyday Comfort foods Gourmet for a unique and Fun Event

What's your secret guilty pleasure?

Is it Mac & Cheese?  Tomato soup with grilled cheese?   Or maybe even milk and cookies?

While these may seem like everyday comfort foods to most, they can be the most memorable at a party.  It's what everyone knows and loves and they'll appreciate that you're sharing something so unique and fun.

Here's a little secret.  At your wedding reception nobody really cares about the fork tender tenderloin.  They want fun comfort foods that they crave.  So how do you turn mac and cheese into a gourmet appetizer?  Start with an awesome gourmet recipe and turn it into bite sized portions.

Make a lobster mac and cheese with upgraded cheeses (think fontina and guierere) and even some pancetta.  After you make the mac and cheese, throw them in greased mini muffin tins and top with a bit of breadcrumbs and bake till golden.  Pop them out and serve.  Viola, you have a fantastic mac and cheese that's now a great appetizer for your guests.


Recipe for Lobster mac and cheese with pancetta - (with the option for this as an appetizer)
recipe adapted from the gourmet foodie blog
 Ingredients:
*2 seven ounce lobster tails or 1 lobster – pre-cooked and chilled in the refrigerator.
12 ounces pancetta diced
5 ounces unsalted butter
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cup heavy cream
1 1/4 cup whole milk
3 ounces Cheddar, shredded
3 ounces Fontina, shredded
3 ounces Gruyere, shredded
12 ounces macaroni pasta

* the original recipe called for a lobster that was uncooked and then to be cut up and put into the pan.  I cannot bring myself to kill a live lobster by cutting it open alive.  It takes all I have just to boil or steam it (but at least I find it to be a slightly more humane death).  I have adapted this recipe to pre-cook the lobster by steaming it.  You can steam lobster in a large pot by placing a small amount of water and heating the water until steam forms.  Once steaming, place your lobster in the pot with tongs (so you don't get burned) and wait.  The bigger the lobster the longer it takes to cook.  You can tell if your lobster is done by pulling on the antenna.  If it comes off clean and easily, it's done.  If you cannot pull it off, he's not ready yet.

Directions:
1. Cut the butter in to once ounce cubes. Place 4 ounces of butter in a small pot and melt slowly over low heat.
2. In a small pan cook the pancetta until slightly crispy.
3. Place a pot on high heat with heavily salted water for boiling the macaroni.
4. Melt 1 ounce butter in medium sized pot over medium/high heat. Add the flour and cook for about 2 minutes stirring constantly until the mixture browns and develops a nutty smell.
5. Stir in the heavy cream and bring to a boil. Add the milk and, again, bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 3 minutes.
6. While this is simmering your water should have reached a roaring boil. Add macaroni to your pot of boiling salted water.
7. When your cream sauce has simmered for 3 minutes slowly add the three cheeses, a handful at a time, and stir until fully incorporated.
8. When the pasta is fully cooked pour the pasta into a colander to drain off water. Place the pasta in a bowl and add the cheese sauce. Mix well. Fold in the cooked lobster meat and pancetta; serve immediately.

To turn into an appetizer
Follow recipe above and pre-heat the oven to 300 degrees.
1. Let your mac and cheese cool, or speed up the process by placing a bowl in the fridge while preparing  for the appetizer.
2. Grease a mini-muffin pan in preparation for your mac & cheese.
3. Pour some breadcrumbs into a bowl
4. place an egg white, milk or melted butter in a dish
4. Take a mini ice cream scoop or a spoon and scoop out a bit of your mac and cheese that has been cooling.  Drop this dollop into the bowl of breadcrumbs and lightly coat your "ball" of mac & cheese.
5. Drop your "ball" into a mini muffin tin slot and lightly brush with either the egg white, milk or melted butter.  Repeat until you fill the muffin tin.
6. Place your muffin tin in the oven and watch it, checking every 5 minutes until the top starts to turn a golden brown.
7. Remove your muffin tin and pop out your mini mac and cheese appetizers with a spatula or spoon (that won't scratch the pan) and serve on a platter immediately.

Image from haroldcatering.com

Turn tomato soup and grilled cheese into a gourmet display by simply serving the tomato soup in a shot glass or martini glass with a mini wedge of the sandwich on the side.

Image from Blissful Moments

Image from the Cake Blog

Sick of the same old wedding or birthday cake?  Forgo the cake or have an additional milk & cookies bar.  Serve ice cold milk in old fashioned milk bottles set inside ice buckets.  Serve your cookies in jars and on plates that are different heights.  Personalize the look with stickers, ribbons and tags that match your theme.

What's your top 3?

Today we're talking about your top 3 important things for your bash.  In a wedding there are a lot of elements and when you're on a tight budget, it can be hard to pick what's most important to you.  The solution is to sit down with your significant other and pick the top 3 things that matter most to you and spend the most on that.

For me the most important thing is for people to have a good time and for my wedding to be outside the box.  So my top 3 things are Entertainment (DJ/Band), Food & Drinks, and location.  I didn't want just some big hall where it was a "wedding factory".  What I mean is some locations have more than 1 wedding going on at the same time and it's got no character.  Others are just a big room that looks nice inside, but its next to a busy road.  I wanted something different and exciting, so I've been looking a venues that have a beautiful inside & outside and are not your run-of-the-mill halls and country clubs.

Good food is also important.  I'm looking at places that either let you bring in your own chosen caterer or have an excellent on-site chef.  I also want someplace that will offer signature drinks and other options that are different and unique.

Entertainment.  We've all been to the wedding where the DJ is playing music that's inappropriate, boring or just doesn't make sense.  I absolutely want my guests to enjoy themselves, dance, sing and have a great time and the music and entertainment is what makes that happen. (the alcohol might help a tad too)

Get fit for your wedding in style

image: fibre2fashion.com

I think just about every bride out there goes on a diet before she gets married.  If she doesn't lose the weight she wants by diet and exercise, it may just drop off by stress.

I felt the urge to start on a major diet when I recently went to visit one potential reception site.  The bride and groom were leaving after getting married the night before.  The bride was so flipping thin that I felt like a fatty (and I'm within my weight range for my height).  I turned to my fiance and said... ok if I want to be as thin as bride, starvation mode starts now.

While I was just joking about starving myself.  I do know I'm going to go on a diet at least 6 months before our wedding.  Just as every bride wants to look good at all times, that includes while we are working out. 

Now I have seen some women go to extremes and work out in full makeup. (Gross.  I don't understand how you can have full makeup on while you're sweating all over the place? )  At least what you're wearing should look cute.  To the left you'll see one really cute outfit from the new Bravada Women line.   I just love this workout outfit that Kim Kardashian is wearing.

Women's workout gear is typically so boring and unattractive.  I'm so glad finally there's something out there that's cute and a one size fits all.

Like this look?  Check out the whole line here

The Bridesmaid look for Fall

Get the look here

 Planning a Fall Wedding and looking for something flirty and beautiful for your bridesmaids to wear?

I created this fashion inspiration board for a fall garden look. 

Give your girls leaf bouquets with orange or nude roses, shimmering taffeta gowns and lovely floral accessories.

Let guests get to know each other with ice breakers

I happened to be browsing through style me pretty and found this great .pdf download. It's to get your guests that are intermingled at tables and might not know each other to have fun, ask questions and play games. Luckily the .pdf is editable, so I customized it to my colors and some games and questions I wanted.


Below are my modified questions:

• How did you meet the bride/groom?
• What was your favorite part of the ceremony?
• What was your own wedding like?
• What famous couple do the bride and groom remind you of and why?
• If you could go anywhere for a honeymoon, where would it be?
• What is your favorite love movie / chick flick?
• What is the silliest/ funniest thing you've ever seen at a wedding?
• What's your favorite song?
• What was the first concert you went to?
• Dog or Cat lover?
• Have you ever been to a destination wedding?
• What's the best thing you ever ate?
• What's your favorite restaurant?
• If you had a signature drink,what would it be?
• If you could live anywhere, where would it be?

I also changed some of the games and added a Mad Libs game to the Let's Play section.

1.) adjective____________  (2.) adjective ____________  (3.) plural noun ________
4.) adjective____________  (5.) noun _____________ (6.) exclamation __________
7.) verb ____________ (8.) exclamation _____________(9.) exclamation _________
10.) noun ____________  (11.) verb ______________ (12.) noun _______________
13.) verb _____________ (14.) noun ______________ (15.) adjective____________
16.) noun ______________


We are ____________(1) for "Bride" & "Groom". They are the most____________(2)   ___________(3) and we wish them nothing less than ____________________(4)
________________(5) for the rest of their lives.   My best advice? Don't forget to ______________(6)  before you _______________(8) and _________________(9) after the _____________(10). "Groom" should always _______________(11) "Bride's" ______________(12) and "Bride" should always ____________________(13) "Groom's" _______________(14).   We wish you number years of happiness and ________________(15) _______________(16).

Guide your guests to their destination

photo credit: frolic

If you have a large wedding venue, it can get pretty confusing for guests to know where to go.  A growing trend in weddings is to add little details to make life easier for your guests.

One cute idea is having signs guiding guests to the right locations.  For example, they may have to park in one area, visit another for the ceremony and then another for the reception.

It can get even more confusing if you have fun activities planned like a photo booth.  How do they know where to go?

Chocolate butterbean

With these cute ideas like the rustic street-signs and the polished and clean parking sign below, your guests will be sure to appreciate your gesture in helping them get un-lost.  (Just think drunk guests at the end of the night)

Another great idea is if your event ends in the evening, make sure to light the way out of your venue.  Late at night it can get dangerous for guests that are unfamiliar with your location, especially if its dark and wooded.

Whether you choose a path of flickering candles , electric lights or even Solar, it will make a safe exit as well as give a beautiful look to your post-reception getaway.

Rehersal Dinner / Bridesmaid Luncheon Look

Want a cute outfit for a Rehersal Dinner or a Bridesmaid Luncheon? Why not a pretty Tiffany Blue look that's Classy & Sexy?  This look easily takes you from Day to Night.

See the Look Here

Invitations - The Royal Treatment

Couture Wedding Invitations

After thinking I would go with a pink & brown theme for my wedding, I had to go and find these gorgeous purple invitations. 

They're so regal and droolworthy.  I think you'll agree.  Now that my venue is a gorgeous estate that looks fit for royalty, I may just change my color scheme ideas...

Between this lovely Couture Invitation to my left with the stunning crystal swan by Wanderlust and the beautiful and chic set that I found on Evelopements below, I think I may be in love with purple...

Good thing I didn't pick my bridesmaid dresses yet. 

Envelopements

A Nautical Wedding

Planning on having a ocean-themed wedding but don't want to do it on the beach? Think yacht clubs, ships, oceanfront properties and marinas. Some of the items in this inspiration board to set your theme:
- message in a bottle invitations
- gold knot rope cufflinks
- blue bridesmaid dresses with red shoes
- blue emelished wedding gown
- an old looking map for your directions
- sailboat placecard holders
- an ocean-look cake
- nautical wedding bands
- rope-knot gold and white shoes
- rope-knot earrings
- replacing boutonnieres with nautical pins
To find all the items in the look above, click here

In addition to these looks I found some other cute ideas for nautical themed weddings.

Brides.com

Sarah Bastille

Nautical Wedding Cake

rope-knot escort boards

Inspiration Board - Pink Princess Themed Wedding

Pink Princess themed Wedding

Inspiration Board - Clean, Classic & Beautiful

Clean, classic & beautiful wedding whites & creams

Fall Wedding, without the fall colors

So, I'm planning on having a lovely wedding bash next fall.  However, I don't want fall colors.  I'm afraid it will feel to halloween-ey for me.  Red and orange has never been my thing really.  What to do when fall is so associated with Orange, reds & yellows?

I'd love to pick colors that are a rich brown and dusty rose.  I feel they'll look fall, but not be too bright and garish.  Decorations will still have a flair for the season.  I'm doing pumpkins, leaves and branches.  But again that tricky orange, red and yellow comes into play.  No problem.  I'll only select barely yellow & brown leaves and I'm planning on painting the pumpkins white and stenciling them in brown or carving them.

Check out my plan with my inspiration board for decor and food.

I can't remember the sources for all of the above photos, but quite a few came from Martha Stuart.

In addition to the cute ideas above, I'd also love to do white pumpkins with pink flowers similar to the idea in the above right by Eddie Ross.  Get the DIY tutorial by clicking his name.

DIY flower balls - Part 2

I found another great tutorial for DIY flower balls.  I actually like this one better because its even cheaper than the last DIY flower ball tutorial I found.

Believe it or not these are made of coffee filters!  Hard to believe when the end result is so pretty.  I also like this better because you can customize the colors to whatever you want with a variety of food coloring.

Find the full DIY tutorial here.

DIY Will you be my bridesmaid cards

Your wedding is a special event and you should carefully decide who you want to have be there for you when you need it most. I helped two of my really good friends when they got married with their pre-wedding decorations, invitations and other needs even though I wasn't a bridesmaid.

The problem was they selected bridesmaids that they felt obligated to pick, not ones that were really good friends. One of my friends, Erica I remember was in tears. She had 300 invitations to make and all her bridesmaids were MIA. I offered to come over that night and help her. It really upset me that her bridesmaids could ditch her like that.

Another friend I helped with all her table decorations and bouquets. She had bought fake fall flowers over time and we spent the night putting the bouquets and centerpieces together. Its a fun bonding experience. I don't understand how you friends can ditch you?

My point is that you should carefully consider who you choose as your bridesmaids and let them know from the beginning what their duties are. You don't want them to be unprepared for the responsibility and the costs involved in being a bridesmaid.

Being a bridesmaid should be fun and exciting as well. Because I wanted to ask my bridesmaids and give them a little keepsake I decided to make up little dress cards in the color scheme I'm thinking about. I've seen dress cards on places like etsy, but felt the colors weren't exactly what I wanted. They also can get a bit pricey, especially when you get into shipping.

So I marched myself down to AC Moore to pick up some tools to make my cards & then went to Jo-ann fabric to get my fabric for the dresses.

What I used...
1 package of folded plain cards $2
1 mini glue gun $5
1 pack of glue gun sticks $2
1 piece of brown satin reminent (found it in a bin) $3
1/4 yard of pretty sparkly dusty rose fabric $3
1 roll of brown ribbon $1
1 package sparkle embellishments $1

Technique
I just freestyled drawing my dress shape on the fabric. If you aren't good at drawing then find a paper doll dress shape you like online, print it, cut it out and trace around it on your fabric on the backside in pen or pencil.

Iron your dress down if needed.

Iron the dress if needed

figure out where you want to place your dress on the card and glue down with a gluestick if you have one. If not, lightly tap glue gun dots onto the paper and press your dress ontop. If you put too much, you'll see the glue drops through the fabric.

Then I decided I wanted the pink sparkly fabric ontop of the brown, but wanted you to see a "wrap-dress" sort of look so i placed the sparkly fabric on top of the top part of the brown dress and then drew where i should cut the pink fabric(leaving a small bit of extra around to tuck). I then cut the pink out and glued it over the brown fabric, tucking the edges under so they weren't frayed.

Onto the bottom of the dress. I sort of freestyled this as well. I cut long strips that were short in height and then got increasingly taller as I cut them. I think I did a total of 3 strips of fabric. Lets say 2", 3" and then 4". I took the first 2" strip, cut it in half and tightly accordion folded it. I glued the first tightly acordian folded piece from the left edge of the "hip" to the center of the dress. Then I took the other piece I cut and did the same thing except I glued it from the right side of the hip to the center.

Then I took the slightly thicker piece (lets say 3") cut it in half again and accordion folded (slightly looser than the first time) it and glued it underneath the first 2" piece from left to center. Then I repeated this process with the piece I cut in half going from right to center.

The last piece and tallest piece I kept in tact. I took the left edge and glued it underneath the 3" piece and then very loosly accordion folded it and glued it as I went over to the right hand side of the dress. The main part of the dress was done, but it looked kind of blah.

Time to embelish! I took a small piece of the brown trim and glued it to the waist like a belt. Then to make the belt look like it was tied I took another small piece of trim and folded it in half and glued it down to the corner. It needed some sparkle, so I glued a tiny star embellishment (found in the scrap-booking section) to the belt. Viola! you have a super-cute card.

I still think the card looks kinda plain, so I'm planning on printing out crowns and gluing them above the dresses. For the inside of the card I'm going to have my mother write "Will you be my Bridesmaid" since she has caligraphy-style handwriting.

Enjoy and have fun making your dresses!

You can also embellish your dresses with beads, feathers and other fun things. Don't be afraid to try other dress styles as well!