Invitations in progress

I was able to get all the stamping & embossing done this weekend. Here's some pics... completed invite to come soon!

Dad got these for me from some guys cutting down trees at a local car dealership. $1 a piece and I have 50 of them!!


They're cedar & they smell so good! We need to wash them and let them dry out and then they will be used for our centerpieces. I've posted my inspiration picture below for the finished look.
I will be wrapping red & natural raffia around the mason jars, and using the mason jars to hold our red gerbera daisies & tea lights candles.

I'm so excited!!! I have so much more to do.... *sigh* :) I hope to post tomorrow with all the goodies I bought at Michael's this weekend.

Wedding Ring Giveaway

"Superior Wedding Rings is an online company that offers a HUGE selection of wedding rings. Their rings come in everything from ceramic to palladium, and in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Superior Wedding Rings is going to giveaway your choice of ring from their site (up to $120 in value)."

WOW! What an amazing opportunity to save some money & get a beautiful wedding band! I hope I win! The giveaway is taking place on one of my favorite blogs - Greylikesweddings! Check it out!

Sarah

Quick Progress Update - 5 Months Left!!

I'm going to be working on invitations tonight so this is a super quick update on things we've bought for the wedding. I will update hopefully tomorrow with pictures of the invitation process. :) (excuse the picture quality, I was in hurry)

Here is our FINISHED rhinestone cake topper. It's very sparkly, much more than in the photo.

Here is the cake serving set we bought from theknot.com for $10.00 engraved!

Here is my hair flower & Emma's hair flowers. Her's were from http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5653412 and $7.50 and mine was from http://www.muscaridesign.com/and was $30. Aren't they pretty?!

Here is the birdcage I ordered for our card box. I plan on decorating it with ribbon & flowers. The basket is for Emma's flower basket. I'm going to decorate it as well. The basket was $4.99 and the bird cage card holder was $9.99 at http://www.save-on-crafts.com/.


Our living room closet has become the "wedding closet"

and if you look closely you can see my MASON jars!!


This is the look I'm going for below. My dad is going to cut up a tree that we cut down from my house. The pieces are going to be round and approx. 12" wide by 2" thick.

Okay, leave me comments & keep checking for new updates. Lots of stuff being checked off! 5 months left and we're getting stuff done.

Off to work on invites! :)

This week's progress

I have printed invitations - just need to stamp them, emboss & matte them. I ordered my toss garter, Emma's hair flowers, the birdcage for the cards at the reception, the mothers' gifts, the paper for the programs, the flower girl basket, the bubbles, & the cake serving set...I also bought 48 mason jars for the flowers/candle centerpieces.

I talked to my matron of honor's mother about doing the bouquets & boutonnieres. I plan on ordering 240 Red Gerbera Daisies from Costco for approx. $280.00 and working with her to hand tie the bouquets with ribbon, make the boutonnieres & create the centerpieces. This is a major cost saver as both florist in town charge $3 per stem.

We're getting stuff done! I'll add some new pictures of our current projects in the next couple of days.

My dress is here!

( NOTE: All photos of the actual dress are behind links at the request of Mr. H… he doesn’t want to stumble upon them accidentally.)

In early March, I was having a little crisis of faith about my dress. I had only visited two dress shops when I fell in love with the one. I'm not a sparkly, flashy gal. I like simple, romantic, clean lines with a hint of color. So when the lady at the bridal store asked our budget, I said around $300. That was the most I could possibly bear spending on something I was only going to wear once, even if it was on the most wonderful day of my life. She, then, suggested going with a bridesmaid gown saying that dress could be ivory and I could add a bit of color with a red sash.

I ordered the dress that day. It cost me $163! Excellent...

I knew I didn't want white as it would wash me out so I planned on getting ivory. I changed my mind when I looked closely at the fabric swatches and found "latte". Oh yeah, a richer, warmer, kind of ivory. After placing my order, I got super nervous about the color not being what I thought it would but on Saturday, when I tried on my dress, I knew I had made the right choice. A September wedding deserves warmer colors as does my pale, freckled skin.

Emma's dress fits great, mine needs taken in about a full size in the body. Alterations are free. (score.)

So...Drumroll, please… Finally, we get to the part of the story where I actually have a dress! (and so does Emma, doesn't she look adorable! She can never just take a normal picture.

Dress - Front

Dress - Back

Dress - Side

Emma - Front

Emma - Back

Let me know what you think!! *eek*

My DIY Rhinestone Monogram Cake Topper

One of the first DIY wedding adventures I decided to tackle was our rhinestone monogram cake topper. I used our font to create a template for my dad to cut out on his jigsaw. My dad is a 30 year retired shop teacher so this project was a breeze for him and, in my eyes, a great way for him to contribute one of his many talents to our wedding.

Letters: $3 (for the wood)
12 mm Rhinestones & supplies (Tami's place): $40
Labor: About 3 hours


They're almost done! I needed to order some more rhinestones and will post a completed pic when they're done. We love how they're looking so far and can't wait to see them on the cake! I love that we saved some money making them ourselves. To purchase them, already blinged out, costs around $140 a letter.