Wedding Hair

I have shorter hair and am having a hard time finding "wedding hair" that I like.... but I found this here.

More DIY!

Not Wedding Related.... I'm a sewing fool!

I went back to the fabric store after work yesterday and bought some more goodies! I got some felt, muslin, a zipper, more buttons.....

I played with the zipper, trying to make a cosmetic case.... I wasn't ready to venture to zippers yet! Thank God for seam rippers! Anyways, this is what I ended up with! It's on Etsy too!

Reception Dress #4

OK, I hate David's Bridal

But, I ordered this in ivory.

Reception Dress #3

Ordered this from Target.com

We'll see how it looks!

Reception Dress #2

Found this on ebay! Thankfully, it has a good return policy if it does not work!

DIY

I bought myself a sewing machine over the summer, and finally found time to play with it yesterday. I am making these little bags for the wedding.... I can't say exactly what their for. I have one that came with a necklace I bought and wanted to recreate it. The blue one is the one that came with the necklace, the brown/paisley is the one I made! I think for my first sewing in about 10 years it came out ok! :-)

PS- I'm selling these on Etsy!


I still need to sew the button on to close it.

New Orange Shoes

I promised a picture of the new orange shoes I bought since my Chloe's are still lost. Here ya go! I wore them last Saturday, and they rubbed horrible blisters on my little toes. They are not what I want, but will do if I don't find anything else.

Yum!

Jeremy claims that I don't cook too much.... that's pretty true. But, I do really like to bake. We had some friends over for the Panthers football game last night and I made these-



Shortbread crust, white chocolate mouse, strawberries, strawberry puree and whipped cream! YUM!

A Friday in December

I absolutely LOVE living in NC.... you get days like we got on Friday... At one point it was 76 degrees!

btw- I drive a convertible bug :-)

Ignore the bad hair, lack of makeup, and bad facial expression!


The Bling

71 degrees!

bridesmaids dresses!

So, I got all the dresses in last week from Target.com. The girls will wear a nice piece of satin ribbon around them, like the picture.



I made nice little name tags for each dress!

Our Venue

Since I started this blog after a lot of details were decided, I've failed to mention where we are getting married! (besides the lighting issues post)...

We are getting married at Sertoma 4-H Center in Westfield, NC. Here are some pictures!


We are getting married on the chapel lawn, provided it doesn't rain! We'll be up under the porch, with everyone seated on benches on the lawn.


This is the "rec hall" as it's commonly called. It's where our reception will be. I used to teach dance in here, and in between classes I would dream of how I would decorate the inside for my reception! And, for photo purposes on the big day, no cars will be allowed to park here!


The stage where the band will be.


The big beautiful fireplace!


The rec hall porch, our bar, present table, and the picnic tables will be out here. I think the picnic tables will have a nice cream tablecloth on them.





The big, beautiful, 100 year old hotel. I included several shots of it, to show it's relationship to the rec hall. The chapel is just to the right of the hotel too. Our bridal party, and whoever else lets us know they want a room will be staying here.

Reception Dress

During my daily online surfing I found this bio....

http://tinyurl.com/3f49bl

I have since ordered her "party dress" she wore from zappos.com I should have it tomorrow, we'll see how it looks! :-)

Rings

We got a call yesterday that our wedding rings were in! YAY! So, last night we went to pick them up. The girl showed us them, the looked right, I paid and we left.

I got home, and wanted to try it on with my engagement ring. I put it on. It doesn't look right. :-(

It seems way too skinny and delicate.

We are going back on Sunday to either find out if it's the wrong ring, or exchange it for something else.

I was sooo excited, but now, I'm a little bummed.

Fantastic Finds!

Occasionally I peruse Pier 1's website. I found a few things I wanted to check out in person on their sale page!

I came home with 3 of these for the wedding! They were $35, I got them for $8.68 each! Two will go on the chapel doors, and one on one of the reception doors (our initials will go on the other door)



I got this to hang above our bed, I'm going to paint it a copper color to match our room better. Again, it was $35, I paid $8.68 for it!



I got some great pillows for our sofa for $3 each too!

Not Wedding Related..... but cute!

I took some fun pictures of the puppies with our tree yesterday!

My First Wedding Related DIY

I had 2 secret santas this year, both from theknot.com

I got each of them things off their "wish list" and then wanted to make them something. They didn't turn out as good as I hoped, but I hope they like them!

I bought 2 sets of 2 ornament place card holders, they are round Christmas ball ornaments with a flat bottom- I wrote his name and her name on them

Then, I got a star ornament for each of them, putting their names on one side and their engagement and wedding date on the other. I was pretty proud of myself!

I got my dress back!!!

I bought my dress on preownedweddingdresses.com about 2 1/2 months ago. I took it to be cleaned 2 months ago. They asked me if their was a "rush" to get it back.. I said no... at this point I had 13 months till the wedding.....

After several failed attempts at picking it up, I marched in there yesterday demanding my dress. They said the box they ordered wasn't in yet. I told them I didn't care I wanted my dress!!!! So I got it, it looks beautiful, and I'm so glad to have it back in my house again! :-)

To see THE DRESS


***Jeremy is determined not to see it, so I don't want to post a picture on here, in case he stumbles upon the blog***

Super, Extra Long Tables!

Originally, we wanted lovely round tables for 10 at our reception, but our venue has rectangle tables for 8 there for free.... so we've changed our vote: rectangle..... I've now been realizing how "in" the long rectangle tables are! Yay for being "trendy" without meaning to be! :-)

**Another plus for the long, skinny tables.... more dance floor room!!! :-)

Our tables will probably, literally, be this long.... seating about 30 people on each side!


Pretty.

Our First Christmas Card!

I've been frantically trying to get our first Christmas cards out!! Here's what most of them look like! I was pleased! I am starting to LOVE Walgreens! You get 20 cards for $9.99!

Dessert Bar

So, as stated in a previous post... we're doing a dessert bar instead of a big expensive cake! I think I will start collecting fun, odd cake plates in different heights! :-)



Here's what items will be on the bar so far-

1. Pumpkin Pie (made by me!)
2. Pecan Pie (made by Jeremy's mom!)
3. Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes (made by Maxie b's our bakery, and my former employer)
4. Kiss Cake, my mom's recipie, maybe I'll make this one too! It's a bunt cake, with a lemon glaze... yummy!
4. Cheesecake! :-) my mom made the best ever... but since this is a relativley hard thing to master, we'll probably buy one from the Cheesecake Factory, or Cheesecakes by Alex in Greensboro.

I plan to have some little signs made to go with each dessert, telling what it is, and who made it!

Non-Traditional Cake

After weighing the pros and cons of a traditional cake and non-traditional cake (in an earlier post) we decided on a "mini" traditional cake (2 tier, that will feed about 20) for just Jeremy and I, and a dessert bar. I was thinking it would be nice to do cupcakes in the same flavor as our wedding cake, so our guests can feel included.

I think a cupcake tree is in our future!

Check out this fun DIY one from Once Wed made of terracotta pots and saucers!



or this from Cupcaketree.com for $29.95

New Shoes!

I had to visit Georgia on Tuesday evening for work. I left work about 11:30 AM on Tuesday to go home, pack, and head to Jonesboro. On my ride down I passed two outlet centers on I 85, one in SC and one in GA. I decided if I could stop on my way back I would!

I stopped at the Tanger Outlets in Commerce, GA first. Stopping in a Gap Outlet, and a J. Crew outlet. I bought an adorable red dress that I plan to wear on Christmas day.

I then trecked another hour and a half to the Prime Outlets in Gaffney, SC. This place was awesome!!!!! I went in the following outlets...

1. Coach- where I bought a wristlet (which, I've been eying for a while) for only $30!!!!
2. American Eagle- didn't buy anything- but they did have guys polos for $11
3. Ann Taylor- had potential, but the store was a mess, and I felt overwhelmed!
4. Yankee Candle- I'm not a fan- but one of my secret santas on the knot is!
5. Pottery Barn- this was the mecca of all Pottery Barns!!! I didn't buy anything, but this store was awesome!!!!!

**6. Banana Republic- I bought a new pair of orange shoes!!!!!!

So, if my Chloes never show, I have another option. They aren't as cute, but they will work! I think I paid about $40. I will take a picture of them and post, I can't find one online!

Bridesmaids Dress Decision!

In a previous post I said I had ordered a dress from Target.com to see how nice it was, and if I wanted to use it for my girls. I got it today! I am pleased! Is it the nicest dress? No. But, it's totally affordable, will more than likely look good on everyone, and at least if they never wear it again, they only spent $32 on it!

I thought it was a good, comfortable, practical, and reusable dress.

Think about it with a cute seasonal cardigan... you could potential wear this thing year round!

7 Random Facts!

**Thanks Mrs. Potts for adding me to your blog!**

OK- 7 Random Facts about me:

1. I'm 25 and am having a hard time parting with my belly button ring.
2. I want to take b-pics each year till I have children.
3. I collect cups... in my car, and on the nightstand next to my bed.
4. My dream job is to go-go dance in Vegas.
5. My realistic dream job is to be a photographer, and have a darkroom in my house.
6. I love pumpkin, orange and anything fall- you should see my house!
7. I have ordered a smart car, but will probably sell it, and make money on it.

My list doesn't seem very random.... maybe I will think of other fun facts later! If you read this... tell us your 7 random facts!

Shoe Fiasco!

OK, I had a request to post a pic of my wedding shoes.... They are fabulous.... too bad I spent $215, and they have been lost in the mail for 2 months now :-(

That's karma saying "I told you not to spend that much!"



I love heels, but Jeremy is only a few inches taller than me, and I don't want to be taller on our big day. I will already look tall enough with my veil! We're also getting married outdoors, so my heels would sink if I wore them!

A Two Dress Bride????

So for the longest time I have not liked having a grand wedding dress, then changing into more of a "party" dress for the reception.... (at least for me) Well, over Thanksgiving my dad informed me that he wanted to pay for my dress since he did my sisters. I told him what I spent, and said he would give me a check sometime before the wedding. Later that night we were talking about the reception and discussing the dancing (he's a BIG square dancer, and we will be teaching and doing a little at our wedding) He told me that I was gonna have to find a short dress for the reception!!!! I couldn't believe he suggested that!!! Well finding it a little odd, and a little cool that he suggested it, I thought a little about it, and then brushed it off... deciding that I was going to spend so much on a grand dress, I hated to buy another and change out of it!

Well, then this weekend we went to Megan and Adams wedding.... where they had a dj and LOTS of dancing.... about an hour into dancing, she went up and changed.... into jeans and a cute tube top that matched her bridesmaids dresses! After seeing her do that, I think I am changing my mind on being anti- 2 dresses!

I think my new mission is to find a cute, white cocktail dress! And, I'll get to show off my shoes! Here's a few I like....

Melissa Sweet

White House Black Market $83

Nordstrom $398

Sax Fifth Ave $113

Boudoir Photo Session

(note- the picture is not of me... just an example of a b-pic)
So, some friends of ours Matt & Aeriel were married back in October. She introduced the idea of B-pics to me! She was having them done as her wedding gift to Matt. I was a little hesitant to the idea at first, but quickly became a fan! I decided to give my photographer a chance to do them, since she never had.

I can honestly say it's one of the best things I have ever done!!!! If for no other reason, it makes you feel like more of a woman than ever! My wonderful hair/makeup artist, Elizabeth Tolley did an outstanding job! She fixed my hair and makeup for each different outfit. While I was going through hair/makeup my photographer, Ashley Stephenson (who did our e-pics, on the right of this page) brainstormed about ideas for poses. My lovely bridesmaid Sabrina came for "moral support" but ended up being my "artistic director" telling me to drop my elbow, turn my head, play with your necklace... ect. Elizabeth also brought her assistant, Brianna, she was awesome too!!!

Every once in a while, Ashley would show me the screen on the camera of a picture she'd taken.... I was shocked!! I never thought I could look like I belonged in a VS magazine!!!

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you to everyone who made yesterday possible! I cannot wait to get the pictures! :-)

So much to talk about today....

My future-sister-in-law got married on Saturday, so our weekend revolved around the big event! Megan and Adam were engaged the weekend after us.... only 10 weeks ago! Even though it made them crazy, they pulled off a pretty good event! Adam's theory was the more time he gave her to plan, the more money she would spend. He'd given her 6 weeks, and she pushed it to 10. The church was beautiful! It was all decorated for Christmas with tons of poinsettias and wreaths! They got luck and had to buy very little decoration. Here's a few pictures from their day!


They had a reception in the church to follow the ceremony and then a big after party for their friends at a hotel. It was lots of fun!

My Future brother-in-law!

Dancing with Jeremys cousin, Galen

Me, Jeremy and Galen! hahaha!

... back to the lighting issue....

ok what about these? but how the heck will I get up there!