Plain Cake

I live near a famous television bakery and every time I pass the place, the line is wrapped six ways around the block with fans trying to get a glimpse of the over-the-top wedding cakes.


So I kind of feel like I'm betraying my neighborhood when I think about what I want for my cake. I like something (wait, get ready, this is going to be shocking) simple and classic, in white and gold.

 The first cake I saw and liked was this very simple one, with a band of gold fondant:

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Unfortunately, our venue also charges $50 extra for the use of a shimmery fondant ribbon, and I am determined not to spend a dime extra on the cake. Plus, this is maybe a little boring.


I really like the below cake, for its simplicity, giant icing peonies, and the pearl-like dots at the bottom. It would fit in perfectly with our lace and pearls theme! 

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But that might be a little too plain, even for boring ol' me. I like this jazzed up option as well:

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The pearl effect is so pretty.


So I'll bring these photos to our caterer soon and see what designs they come up with.

Oh okay, and let's address cake toppers. I feel like brides usually fall into a few camps: cute animals/birds, personalized Etsy creations, small wooden people, flowers, or vintage toppers.


We're vintage, borrowing a topper from Mr. B's parents that looks similar to this one:

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What's your cake and topper look like? 

Bandwagon

You may have noticed I'm not the trendiest of brides. I go for simple and classic, steering away from those mason jar wildflower weddings that are so popular now. 

Although there is one element of those that I love, and it's bunting. This is bunting, in case you are not familiar with it (and if you're not, you must not spend a lot of time on wedding websites!):

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It's basically a really festive and cute banner. Unfortunately, it's all sorts of inappropriate for my formal wedding, so I'm hunting down some other options.

Like this glitzy Just Married deal:

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Or maybe I should skip a banner altogether, and come up with some type of fancy sign. This one definitely fits our wedding:

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 This one's cute too, but I think probably everyone knows I'm the bride:

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I'm also really drawn to this, but that's probably because it's surrounded by fluffy white flowers and gold candelabras, two features of our floral design:

So that's where the DIY section of my brain is hanging out lately, attempting to figure out a way to turn goofy bunting into something elegant and classic.


Did you guys use bunting and/or Mr./Mrs signs? Share some pics!

Program Planning

Mr. B and I are in the process of planning our ceremony, and it's got me thinking a lot about programs. I really want to create something useful and elegant, even though I know 90% of the guests will leave them on their chairs after the ceremony. 

To avoid the black hole of craziness that I hear occurs in the month before the wedding, I'm compiling my program inspiration and brainstorming the project now. I'll share the progress with you guys in the hopes that maybe it helps with your own program design.

I know there's lots of cool programs out there, from fans, to trifolds, to those little origami fortune tellers we all used to make in fourth grade, but I'm into square booklets, like below:

 

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There's so many ways to make these look elegant and beautiful, from messing around with cool font layouts:

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To fancy ribbons to bind the booklet together:

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I ordered some sample folded cards from Cards and Pockets, and loved the quality and color, so that's the cover stock game plan. Turns out C&P also prints, and provided it's not prohibitively expensive, I'll have them print the cover too. I'm all about convenience. 

I don't have to tell you that I'm obsessively debating between these two near-identical colors, right?

(Personal Pic)

For the inside, I'm using Mrs. Corn's incredibly helpful template, adjusting her margins to match my 6 x 6 folded cards. I plan to print on resume paper, to give the inside of the booklet a nice heft and a classier appearance over normal printer paper. 

And I'm also brainstorming the content, right now planning to include:

• Order of ceremony
• List of ceremony participants (bridesmaids, groomsmen, etc)
• Explanation of traditions, since it's an interfaith crowd
• Secular love quote (unless I can break down Mr. B, in which case I'm totally using this awesome quote from CS Lewis, a recent favorite author).
• Thank you to guests and parents
• A line remembering our deceased grandparents

So that's the start of the program project! What did you guys do for yours, and what kind of content did you include?

Not With This Ring

My engagement ring is pretty. Please hold for some gratuitous Instagrammed ring porn:

Yay!

Unfortunately, the wedding band that matches my ring boasts some odd architectural features that make it pretty weird looking:

I have no idea what Tacori was thinking with that odd shelf like design (and no, I don't have the band on upside down- it looks like the diamond would sit in that concave spot, but it doesn't). 

I'm kind of relieved that I hate it. Paying for the Tacori name would probably bump us over our budget, and we'd have to send my e-ring away to California for a month to have the band made to match it exactly. 

And now, I can have what I always secretly wanted: A shared setting half-eternity:

                                          

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I felt guilty not wanting the matching band, but after seeing how ugly/expensive/annoying getting the "right" band is, I feel no such qualms. I love how classic this band is - equally perfect with my wedding dress or a white tee and jeans. I will wear the two on separate hands.

So we've found a jeweler to use, and we just need to make some budget decisions and figure how big Mr. B will let me we can go.

Anyone else picking a wedding band that totally doesn't go with their engagement ring?

In Search of a Veil

To me, the veil is what really makes the bridal look, and I can't wait to wear one. Unsurprisingly, I'm incredibly picky about what type of veil I want. I hate veils that are really long, and I hate drop veils. I hate lace on the edges, and I hate retro-y, birdcage style veils. I mean, all of these are perfectly nice and appropriate with certain style weddings, but they're not me.

According to me, the perfect veil is:

Petite fingertip length:

Extra full:

Edged in satin:

Angled sides:

And definitely with a blusher.

So armed with that nitpicky list, I'm going to start my shopping soon.

Were you guys really picky about any specific detail of your outfit?

(all pictures from veilshop.com) 

Crazy Lady Alert

Obsessively creating online samples of your wedding invites to test font variations is normal, right?

Please say yes. I'm starting to worry about myself.

(In case you're wondering, we chose the William Arthur Ecru Gilt Edge Invitations).