Precap: Table Number DIY

We housed our table numbers in vintage looking, mismatched gold picture frames. Calling this project a DIY is kind of a stretch, but bear with me, this is an easy one:


Step 1: Go to Home Goods and TJ Maxx and immediately see large collections of gold frames.


Step 2: Estimate 20 tables. Find five differnet style frames you like, and buy multiples of each. (That's important! If you have 20 entirely different frames, it looks ghetto. If you have 4 of each of 5 kinds of frames, it looks cool and intentional).

Step 3: Buy frames. Get annoyed when you realize the 30 day return policy means you're stuck keeping all these after the wedding.


Step 4: Take shimmery cardstock and cut down to the size in the frames. Call calligrapher at last minute and feel relieved she only charges 30 cents to write a number on a piece of paper.


Step 5: Pop the numbers into the frames. Voila!

Extra Credit: Beg calligrapher to make signage for the bars as well:

(All frames were purchased at Home Goods and TJ Maxx. Cardstock was Opal Stardream from Cards and Pockets. Calligraphy was done by Carmela Mazzarulli).


(Also, my best friend and her cousin are using these for their weddings, so I feel better about spending $100 on picture frames).
What did you do for table numbers?

Precap: Menu DIY

Okay so before I get into the recaps, I want to finish my last DIY posts. My personal favorite DIY was the menus I created for our wedding:

Pic by Spark Photography

I used Microsoft Publisher to create this. I started with your standard 8.5 x 11 page, and split it into two columns. I copied and pasted our monograms off our invite proofs and placed that at the top. The text was all written in separate text boxes so that I could center it appropriately, and then I just copied and pasted from one column over to another. Very simple. I liked this because it allowed me to print two per page, which saved me about $80.


I had them printed on Opal Stardream cardstock from Cards and Pockets, like all my other DIYs.

Then, we had to cut down the middle of each page to separate them.

I used a corner rounder to round the corners, and then swiped the edges through a gold stamp pad.

Below, you can see how much that little edging added to the menus. (It also matched the gold edges on our invitation, though I cannot imagine a single person besides me would have realized that).

To make it easier, I ran stacks of about 20 menus at a time through the stamp pad. I had to do it twice to ensure everything got a bold enough gold color.


At the reception, we had these slipped into the fold in an ivory napkin. They looked beautiful and I felt this was a DIY well worth the effort.


Are you designing menus?

A Blogworthy Shower Recap

This past weekend was my best friend and MOH Jenn's shower, which I thought I'd post here because her future in laws did a beautiful job on it, constructing a shower that really looked like it walked off the pages of Style Me Pretty.

Unfortunately, as I was a busy bridesmaid, I don't have a ton of pictures, but I'll do my best.

The event was held in a family member's beautiful, huge backyard. They set a big tent up next to the pool, with round tables covered in pink linens. The centerpieces were linen wrapped mason jars with paper flowers:

They look good here, but looked so much better in context outdoors!

Her FI's mom just happened to have a huge collection of mismatched yet coordinated vintage linens, which she used as napkins. Pink linens provided a nice backdrop:

On the deck, a drink table was set up with the ubiquitous notes to the bride, a specialty cocktail of gin and tonic with elderflower liquor (the bride's favorite), fresh squeezed lemonade, and a variety of appetizers. The table was accessorized by a bunting banner made of scrapbook paper that matched the linen napkins.

Food was simple sandwiches, pasta salads, and roasted vegetables, but dessert included amazing carrot cake cupcakes decorated with fondant that matched the paper flowers:

 And my favorite was the favors! The groom's aunt paints watercolors, so she took a few of her paintings of dresses, shoes, and other girly things and made a set of six notecards for each guest. These were wrapped in various mismatched yet coordinated linens, with sheer ribbon and a little flowered heart:

The day was great and the bride loved everything- and we thank God, we had AMAZING weather. It was awesome to see a very bloggy shower in real life.

Have any of you attended any showers you really liked?

Floral Look

So I haven't shared something with you, mostly because it's not the hugest deal in the world, but Mr. B and I decided to switch florists a little while back. When we booked ours I was really excited about it, but over time we had a few miscommunications, I found her a bit cold in personality, and when I began delving into the idea of rental items, I realized she was shockingly overcharging me for things- $40 for plain tablecloths, $5 per votive candle on tables when I'd want around 9 per table, that kind of thing.

So on the recommendation of a wedding planner, we booked our house florist, Touch of Elegance instead. I instantly loved Lisa, the florist there, because she was warm and really excited about her job. She had fun looking at my inspiration board, immediately whipping out fabric swatches, brainstorming napkin ideas, and sharing a flurry of sample photos. I felt like she really understood what I wanted, and she was giving us much better prices. So we switched.

And this past weekend, we saw our sample centerpieces, which I think fit in perfectly with our theme of  formal, traditional elegance:

The centerpieces are a vintage look gold candelabra, stuffed with peonies, hydrangeas, some type of chrysanthemum, and dendrobium orchids. We're also going to be adding hanging bits of ivy as well.

Something else I liked about Lisa's work was her attention to detail. Our last florist would only give us plain white tealight candles, no votives, included with our centerpiece. Lisa is giving us nine candles, an assortment of votives and floating pillars, all included- no $5 per candle rental fee. We're switching these plain votive holders in the picture to a gold mercury glass look: 

I really love the look Lisa captured and am really happy with this particular flower arrangement. However, there's one thing I need your opinions on, and that would be our linens:



I LOVE this linen. I think it perfectly encapsulates our theme and I think it's absolutely beautiful. However, sometimes I think that in order to pull off a look the right way, you have to exercise restraint and cut something you love. I'm concerned that this blue linen is too much blue for the room. I'm afraid it might match the carpet too much. Here's a pic:

It's really similar to the carpet. I'm not sure that having that carpet and very similar tablecloths is too much. Maybe I should be opting for a damask linen in the beigey color in the carpet, so that it coordinates but isn't the same shade.

What do you guys think? Use the linen pictured here, or opt for something else?

Tasting Recap

Apparently our wedding is fast approaching, because Mr. B and I have just had a whirlwind week of wedding tasks, including the super fun food tasting!

Attending our tasting made both us and our parents feel so relaxed about our venue choice, not that I was doubting it. We met our coordinator, Alex, for the first time, and she was unbelievably organized and sweet, putting us all at ease. She led us into a private room in the kitchen, with a glass wall so we could watch the chef do his thing (I didn't realize this and sat with my back to the view- whoops!).

We started with wine. Our venue offers a red and white option served tableside during the party, and our wine waiter (yes, wine waiter) led us through a tasting of three whites and three reds. We settled on a Laboure-Roi Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir for the table wine, though all six varietals will be available at the bars throughout the reception.

Next, we sampled three appetizer choices: a delicious crab cake, perfectly seared scallops with chive oil, and mozzarella en carozza, basically a fancy grilled cheese with slices of salty prosciutto. Though all were delicious, we chose the mozzarella option, figuring it was the most crowd pleasing.

We also chose to combine our appetizer and salad courses to leave more time for dancing, so that's the big pile of baby greens you see there. It's topped with a smoked tomato vinaigrette.

We sampled the three entree choices for the wedding.  They were served exactly as they would be presented on the big day, both in look and generous portion size.

For the seafood option, we selected halibut served over risotto and wilted greens, and topped with a relish of capers, olives, and sundried tomatoes. It was delicious. Mr. B's mom loved it.

For the chicken dish, we chose a garlic and herb roasted Cornish hen, cut up and served with a bread pudding (which reminded me of Rachael Ray's "stuffin muffins"), and roasted root vegetables. This was easily the majority favorite.

And for the beef, we'll be serving an herb-seared filet mignon with a port wine sauce. I don't eat steak, yet I'm considering ordering this, that's how good it was. It was tender with a nice charred crust, mmm. We sampled it with a potato gratin with gruyere cheese (delicious!) and rosemary baby carrots, but opted to swap the carrots for asparagaus to get a little green on the plate. I have a hang up of always thinking a plate needs green.

We will be having a Viennese display for dessert, so we got to sample a chef's selection of desserts, including pineapple upside down cake, blueberry frangipane, cherry chocolate mousse, mini tarts, and cheesecake. Our Viennese also features a flambe station and a "boardwalk station," serving zeppoles in mini paper bags. My Jersey shore upbringing is extremely excited about this.

We sampled our cake as well. I loved the way they presented it- we chose three sponges and three fillings, and were able to mix and match to find the flavor combo we liked.

We surprised ourselves by opting for a hazelnut sponge cake and chocolate parfait filling. I could care less about cake, but really found this very delicious.

We also got to go through our cocktail hour menu options, though we didn't taste anything. It's extensive, with fifteen passed hors d'ouevres and multiple stations. We chose the offerings for our carving station, pasta station, saute stations, and opted to include a paella station and raw bar as well.

Overall, our tasting was phenomenal. I do expect that the food quality may drop a bit when they're cooking for 225, but it started out so good that I really don't think anything will be bad. I was super happy with our venue and the classy, organized way they handled everything.

The wedding is starting to feel really real now and it is so exciting to see it all take shape! I loved going for the tasting!

(All pics courtesy my iPhone)

An Awesome Calligraphy Discovery

I am picky about how things look, and my wedding invitations are no exception. So the idea of computer printing the envelopes, or, God forbid, hand writing them myself, is horrifying. (Well it wouldn't be horrifying if I could do calligraphy. But I can barely even print legibly).

However, I am not a bride on an unlimited budget, which means paying $4.00 an envelope for calligraphy wasn't going to happen.

And that's why I'm grateful to have discovered Carmela Mazzarulli, a South Jersey based calligrapher with a huge amount of talent and an affordable price tag. She charges $1 total for BOTH inner and outer envelopes! Combined! Carmela was also really sweet. I'm sooo happy for this discovery. Silly as it may be, calligraphy matters to me, and I love hers.

Check out some of her font styles (All pics are from Carmela, via email):

Spoiler alert, Mr. B and I chose Formal Script (second image) for our invites.

Carmela is also doing our table numbers and placecards, and can create signs and other custom work. She doesn't have a website, but you can email her at melsinkwell@comcast.net . And you can check out some reviews and additional pictures at Project Wedding.

Carmela is based in southern New Jersey, but I believe accepts work from all over, you'd just have to ship your invites (which may or may not offset the low price).

We'll be picking our envelopes up at the end of March, and I can't wait to share them (and the invites) with you guys!

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!

Wedding Shoes

This is a picture of my closet:

You might not be able to tell from this picture, but almost every pair of shoes here are high heels. I LOVE heels. I wear them every day to work. I would never be caught dead in a skirt or dress without them. I don't even own a pair of sneakers (seriously- there were Cons once, I don't know where they are now.)

Unfortunately, heels are an impossibility for my wedding, as the fiance and I are the same height. I wore wedges for our engagement pictures, and gave both our mothers a heart attack when they saw how I towered over him in the proofs. Needless to say, they're already hassling me about low shoes for the big day. And though it devastates me to not wear heels, I have to agree that they're right.

So I've been doing a little research on some wedding - appropriate flats. I found a few options, though I don't really love any of them:

From top: Steve Madden's I-Dreemy, Karisma, and Kinetic, from Zappos

Bottom left: Jcrew leather ballerina flat, Kate Spade Flash flat

I'm leaning towards the glittery Steve Maddens, since they're inexpensive and and festive, but for now I'm going to keep shopping, missing my high heels all the way!

What are you guys thinking for wedding shoes? My best friend wants to wear sparkly Toms- any other fun ideas?

My Latest Wedding Obsession...

Is table settings! After our meeting with Jenny last week, I’m all about them. Putting some effort into the table design really make a difference in the look of the reception. I mean, think about it- what are your guests staring at all night? The table in front of them. I kind of can’t believe that as wedding-obsessed as I get, I never even considered this.

Oh well, now I am making up for lost time by drooling over the billion combinations you can create, mixing napkins, chargers, china, and linens. I won’t be using all, obviously, but I’m starting to gather some inspiration. I’m hoping to create an elegant look with a hint of vintage:

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Although my mom is busting my chops about using these more modern chargers:

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 And I love, love, love the classic, simple lines of this set up:

Anyway, I am working under some budget constraints when it comes to choosing the linens, so I have to choose carefully. Right now, I’m considering using champagne linens for the tables, ivory linen napkins, and a beautiful china plate or a charger (budget doesn’t allow for both). I’m really into these particular china patterns, both from Party Rentals LTD:

 Gold Florentine

Palais

But I’m not sure if renting china is worth the money. A charger would be a bit cheaper, and size-wise, would make more of an impact, though the china is more theme appropriate.And prettyyyyy.

Anyway, as much fun as I’m having, our florist doesn’t show us the whole look (full sample centerpieces, linen options, etc) until one month before the wedding, so I’ve got a really long time before I have to make a decision. Not that that's killing me a little bit or anything.

Did you do anything to jazz up your tables? What did you use?

Save the Date Poll

Alright, we're really trying to choose a save the date by the end of the week. But I need your opinions! 

Would you get something you absolutely love that's a bit more expensive, that matches your invite suite, as below:

 (Gilt Edge Card, customized at William Arthur)

Or something that uses your nice engagement photos, your fiance likes better, and is much cheaper? Like below:

(Wedding Paper Divas "Beautiful Band")

If it helps, we're talking like a $150ish difference. I do love the first option, and the difference isn't exactly bank breaking, so I'm questioning if it's dumb to obsess over the budget. But then again, $150 here and there it adds up- it could be tips for vendors, my hair, makeup for two bridesmaids, etc. Cause it's not like the save the dates are the only place where we can scrape a bit off the budget.

So which would you go with? Pricey but you love, or pretty good and less expensive?

STDs: I'm So Lazy

I'm surprised at myself, but I can't get interested in save the dates. I never thought I could lose enthusiasm for something like this, but here I am, doing another 180 on my previous convictions, shamefully admitting that I'm just not on the ball with STDs. 

We have a few invite suite ideas in mind, so we've decided our STDs will be a simple, classic card that would coordinate with any of them. (I'm completely obsessed with everything coordinating. It's so classy!). We’re thinking something like this, except in all black font:

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But taking the lazy way out means that I had to give up my favorite idea: save-the-date stickers, for guests' calendars! Functional and cute. 

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 (Mine would definitely have a much plainer, elegant look, but you get the idea).

I gave this up since you can't just put a sticker in an envelope and expect people to get it.  We'd have to design a little card with our date and an explanation ("Put me on your calendar!"), complete with slits cut in the card to attach the sticker. That's just too much graphic design and formatting for me, I had enough of that with the e-party invites! But should you be more of a champion bride than me, feel free to take over the idea, if you like it.

Here's some sticker sites options to get you started:

Vistaprint 

With pre-made designs or the option to upload custom work, this site offers sheets of 24 stickers starting at $3.99 per sheet. Not bad, considering you'd barely hit $50 if you ordered 100. Costs increase, of course, based on number of colors, paper quality, etc.   

Zazzle

Same deal as Vista, but more shapes and the ability to get your stamps too, though they have a very slightly higher price tag. 

Sticker Giant

My top choice, since they do stickers in bulk rolls of 500 (for only $125!) I like the bulk idea so the stickers could reappear in other wedding elements, like OOT bags or to seal thank you card envelopes (like I said earlier, I love when stuff coordinates!). (Also I guess then you couldn't actually write "Save the Date," you'd have to just put your names and the date and let the card say "STD").

 

Anyone else give up a good idea because they just didn't feel like working on it?

 

**As an FYI, these prices are all estimates- obviously it depends on many design factors. I also have not actually USED any of these sites, so I can't vouch for quality, just sharing some research I did on an idea I loved but had to discard.

Giving Up My Morals for a Photo Op

I always planned to skip the bouquet toss. As a wedding guest, I hate awkwardly running out on the floor, pretending like I care, or getting shoved out there if I try to hang back and skip the whole deal. And as the bride, I feel like there's something sort of demeaning about making your single friends desperately clamber all over each other like they just can't wait to get married. It’s a little unbecoming.

But, um. My venue has a Juliet balcony:

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And I LOVE the idea of getting to stand up there and throw the bouquet. Just look at these pics (both actually are at my venue)

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So without a second of hesitation, the bouquet toss is now in. I will totally admit I completely backed away from what I still think has a cheesy meaning just to get a picture op. Hopefully the ladies at my wedding don't have the same feelings I did (do?) on the bouquet toss. Because this balcony thing is so happening!

(And hey, it’s not like I’m asking my MOH to give her speech up there!)

What did you say you'd never do, then promptly changed your mind on?

Hair Trial

Remember when I was crazy and did my makeup trial one year prior to the wedding? It appears I have done the same thing with my hair.

See, the hairstylist works with my makeup artist and I was warned she tended to book up fast, which seemed plausible given her glowing reviews online. Nothing gets me more panicky than hearing that, so I decided to go for the trial.

I wasn't in the mood to think about wedding hair or spend the money, but again, I'm glad I got it out of the way. I tend to be a person who gets stuck in beauty ruts, so I don't think I'll change what I want for the wedding, and I'm thinking maybe I won't even need another trial. It seriously looked perfect, exactly what I had in mind. My MOH and mother, who joined me, agreed. 

So without further ado...check out the style after the jump (unless you are Mr. B in which case, don't click that link!)

Ahead of Schedule: Makeup

It’s clear from my doing things like seeing sample centerpieces or thinking about hotels with over a year to go that I am a Type A person with an obsessive need to cross things off the to-do list, no matter how early it seems.  So it follows that I did something that I thought was the ultimate in wedding planning crazy: I went for my makeup trial exactly 367 days before my wedding.

Before you think I’m totally nuts, let me explain. After my engagement picture makeup fiasco, and other makeup artist fails over my lifetime, I got nervous that it would be really difficult for me to find someone whose work I liked. So on a quiet day in the office, I looked at makeup artists on Wedding Wire, and contacted a few of the top people in my area, just to get an idea of prices.

I got a big surprise when it turned out that people were already booked for my date! And many artists commented that while they were free for my date, they’d booked plenty of other summer 2012 girls.

So maybe I’m not crazy?  Or maybe I am, but I don’t care. My first choice artist was free, and since she’s kind of well known in the area, I immediately scheduled a trial, which went down last night.

I liked her right away- she was warm and friendly, with a house full of cute little dogs and kids running around the backyard on a Slip n Slide. She talked a mile a minute, sharing kooky stories, shouting outside to the kids in the yard, and simultaneously doing some genius shaping to my eyebrows.  I liked her laid back attitude and knew that it would be fun to work with her on the day.

And the results were great:

My skin looks tan and glowy!! It’s not, normally! I went to Mr. B’s house after the trial and he kept saying he liked my “skin color.” His mom complimented the look as well. I liked that my eyes weren’t over done, although we did talk about doing a little more drama and adding fake lashes for the actual wedding. Regardless of the small tweaks, her talent is definitely there, and I’m relieved not going to get caught up in the heavily contoured eyes and orangey foundation that initially made me fear makeup artists.

Obviously I will have to go for a real trial much closer to the date, but I wasn’t going to book someone without testing them out first. Glad I did, and crazy or not, I like having this off my list!

Tone of the Wedding

So now that I’ve talked about my imaginary wedding, and shared the engagement party invites  that will look nothing like the rest of the wedding stationary, maybe it’s time to discuss our actual wedding. Honestly, it’s a pretty formal, traditional affair, starting with an interfaith religious ceremony and continuing on to a ballroom reception. Here's my inspiration board, the starting point for our wedding designs:

I surveyed some people on one of the Bee boards and got some great descriptors for this board- my favorite being "champagne and romance!" (Suggested, I think, by Sandy Toes Bride.)

Our Color Palette

Hopefully your monitor doesn't make these colors look too strange. I love this color palette, but hate that four months after deciding on it, I’m suddenly seeing it in every wedding magazine out there! I didn’t want to be trendy and I hope it won’t be dated by next year!).

Style Description

Classic:

I want us to look back and still love the details of our wedding years from now. The ivory and gold in our color scheme is very timeless to me. Our wedding is a formal ballroom event with a band, and skips a lot of trends like letterpressed invites, cupcake towers, or candy buffets. Of course, the class factor may be tempered slightly by the fact that we'll be running Weezer's Pinkerton album straight through dinner, and offering up a signature beer, but we need some personality in there!

Elegant:

To me, elegant means tasteful, luxurious, refined- basically knowing when there’s too much going on. I’ll be passing on the chains of dripping crystal and shiny rental linens, or gigantic overstuffed floral arrangements. We'll keep things beautiful but restrained. Like these invites, which are both classic and elegant:

I am so in love with these! Too bad they are WAY out of my budget! Source

Romantic:

This is where the sky blue accent comes into play, adding a dreamy, refreshing, and slightly unexpected touch. Our gilded décor and chairs will be complemented by lush and girly peonies and hydrangeas, as well as warm amber lighting. Something about the image below really captures the refreshing, romantic feel for me:

The original inspiration for our color palette. Source

Opulent:

Our venue is really what brings in the opulence. It’s designed to look like the Palace of Versaille, and it features a beautiful, huge ballroom with 36’ ceilings, a Juliet balcony, and a spiral staircase. Plus, it’s got an over the top feast for a menu- the cocktail hour alone features over 30 passed hors d’ouevres and stations, and a decadent Viennese display for dessert.

I'm loving the opulent gold in this picture of the Palace of Versailles, which our venue was designed after! Source

What words do you want associated with your weddings?