Monday, March 30, 2009

wedding dresses on the cheap

Fiance and I just got back from a wonderful camping trip in the California Redwoods. To be honest, I haven't been doing too much wedding planning over the last week or so. However, I was doing a little research and found three dresses that range in price and are overall very inexpensive. I suppose with the wedding a little less than a year away I should be trying to find my dress, but it's so much more fun to shop for imaginary people instead. I just have faith that my dress will reveal itself when the time comes.


$50.00 from Target. I don't think this would flatter my body type, but I think that somebody with narrow hips and a smaller bust line could pull it off. The front of the dress didn't win me over, but the "V" in the back with the small bow is quite elegant.


$295 from J. Crew. Contrary to the style above, I think that this dress would look beautiful on somebody with curves. The dress shape is feminine and reminds me of a Neoclassical painting.


$118 at Nordstrom's. This would be very chic for a more relaxed afternoon wedding/garden party deal.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

More free things!

I've been very busy as I have two lovely ladies visiting me from England, but I had to post these...

Free free free!! You download the zip file and they have a link for the font that you can download too. They are posted in navy today, but they are asking for people to leave comments for what colors they want to see and they are going to post this same set in different colors?

Who is doing this? Wedding Chicks!!

Monday, March 23, 2009

Just found this website

I just found this website, and I'm really loving it so far! I love the different combination of palettes...

http://theperfectpalette.blogspot.com/

Sunday, March 22, 2009

I did it!

One major experience in my life is finally over and done with... I'm a college graduate! Holy cow! It was a whirlwind of a weekend, but it was amazing. Still a little unreal to be done, but oh well...

Here is a shot of my graduation outfit in action (ok, so this was the drive home and I didn't wear jeans or flats to the ceremony, it was just too cold afterwards!)
Before I left for graduation, I came home from work to find this exciting package sitting on my counter! Yay invites! Now I have to find a place to store them for another year... haha
Aren't they adorable? And Mom and I are so excited to start working on the DIY portion of these!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!

Friday, March 20, 2009

t- one year


On sale at JCrew.


Last night Fiance and I consulted with one of our many elves that is going to make this wedding happen for us. She suggested moving the wedding to nighttime, since it most likely won't be sunny in March anyway. The boathouse has a big fireplace, which would look very romantic. The excellent rationale behind all of this is that it is much easier to decorate the room for night (smaller candles go a long way) than for day.

The other idea I am toying around with is a dessert buffet and cocktail reception instead of a traditional dinner. This means that the wedding would be at around 7:00 (after dinner) with photos taking place during the afternoon.

Hmmm, things to consider! My next project is playing around with paper for invitations, save the dates, etc. Scratch that. My next project is reserving the venue.

~Anna

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Shopping divert

So I went shopping last weekend, and it was one of those days (rare and far between but amazing none-the-less) where almost everything fits well and looks cute. My mission was a graduation outfit (I'm graduating this weekend, crazy!), but I got more. I love them, so I'm going to show them off...

Ok, first here is what I decided on. I know it's ridiculously cold and stormy here because it's just about spring in the Northwest, and that this dress kind of looks summery... but it was so flattering! 13.99 from Ross (LOVE Ross, when it's good)

Then I thought, I can't wear a strapless dress in March, so we headed to Target where I picked up a kelly green cardigan to wear over the top. My mom was skeptical, I put it on and proved her wrong!
Another cute cardigan from Target- On sale for 18.99 (with a red tank and some black pants?)

Last but not least my best deal of the weekend... I picked these boots up from Goodwill with the tags still on for $6.99. Our Goodwill has some sort of agreement with the Target near it and there is always a ton of clearance stuff from Target there. These boots had a Target clearance tag marked at $29.99...
There was also at least 20 round tableclothes in an off white linen fabric for $2.99. I told my mom if my wedding was in the next couple months, I might have purchased all those tableclothes.

I'm happy with my purchases...

heh.

The woman cutting my hair today told me all about her wedding which will be happening in Lynden this summer (the local Washingtonians will understand what this connotes).

Here's just a few "highlights":
-Denim bedazzled ballgowns for the junior bridesmaids.
-Cowboy boots. Lots of them.
-Mechanical bull.
-Spicy rib BBQ.

Well, I am being a little bit of a snob reporting this out, but at least this gal picked a theme and went for it.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Just found this

I love this dress from (gasp in horror if you will) Davids Bridal. It's so unlike their usual beaded style...

It's so modern! I love this, probably for something other than my wedding. But so simple, chic, adorable!

Yum

From Flights of Fancy.

Whoa baby, this just about sums up the color combination I have been dreaming up in my head over the last two weeks. Very pretty for late March.

~Anna

Venue Visit #2

So last Sunday, Mom, F and I went to visit another venue possibility (Venue Visit # 1, in case you missed it). It had potential, and all was going well until... Well, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves:

First view, remember that it is winter in the Northwest and all this will be much greener in the summer

You rent out the whole property and basically do whatever you want with it

This little house in the top left is where the girls get ready, it's called the hen house

More views of the grounds

Trying to get a picture of the big pond, the lady who owned it walked in the way

Then trying to get a second picture, F walked in the way... So I gave up

F trying out the bridge

Countryside

Big open space, with the 'Salon' on the right hand side



Here's where I started thinking, maybe too country?

Ok, so then I tried to think positive again, how cute would picture be of people dancing in here with lights all around? (And picnic tables gone)

But here's where things get bad... Her face should have been a warning...

Look at my mom's face, it says it all. The inside of the salon was disastrous... Dirty, gross. It started pouring down rain while we were in there and it all leaked in and there were raccoon and owl pellets everywhere. Yuck.

Stuffed bear with a cowboy hat, stuffed bobcats in the corner, bear heads in the wall... I couldn't even picture our ideas being implemented in this space.

Yeah.

Ok, so I was thinking, well to rent the whole place would be cool, we could just keep the Salon closed. Then she said that it was going to be $1600 for a day. Alright... what does that include? Oh, just the property, nothing else? Oh, huh.

Mom and I talked, and this was more country rustic than we were looking for. F liked the fact that it had a bar, but I don't think he really understood how much work we would have to put into it. I think I would rather pay more and have things included (like linens, set up, and clear away at least).

Then I went out shopping and I came home and I mom had a huge list of places she wants us to check out. It makes me so happy to have her involved, I know that she doesn't want to be that pushy Momzilla, but I love that she is getting more involved. When I told her my vague ideas for the invites, she was like "Totally! We have so much time to make that happen!" And it's all thanks to a small community bridal show :D

Monday, March 16, 2009

...save the date cards continued...

Check out these postcards from Moo.

You can customize them with your own pictures, text, etc. Or you can use one of their designs:


I think this would be a very cute idea for save the date cards. 60 postcards will run you $49.95. Moo also customizes notecards, stickers, and full-sized cards. I think that the stickers could be used in some way, shape, or form as accents for wedding favors.

~Anna

More freebies!

Thanks to iDiY for the heads up!

Cute spring labels that could be used for escort cards, or just for bringing springtime to your house!

Head to Heirloom Paperie to download...

Save The Date Cards...

...necessary, or a waste of paper?

I love the idea of announcing the wedding formally like that, but I have gone to three weddings in the last year that had nothing of the sort.

Humph. Maybe it's one of those things that sounds really good when you first get started with wedding planning, but then falls by the wayside as things start cooking. Which, I've come to the conclusion, is fine with me.

Wedding planning has finally kicked off. I've moved from daydreaming while perusing blogs to tackling the nuts and bolts. The most useful tool I employ? A good old Excel spreadsheet. Not only can I itemize each expense, I am in the habit of plugging in the links to online resources which speak to that particular necessity. I like being able to look at the spreadsheet and see the big picture.

Once we decided upon the amount we wanted to spend on the wedding (we're paying for it ourselves), it was a lot easier to start budgeting. It was also a lot easier to start cutting back. As the dollars and cents start adding up, you start to become inventive.

"Let's just have a small wedding," Fiance said out of the blue two weeks ago.
"Wha-at?" I stuttered. I mean, he has a huge family. HUGE. This would mean bye bye cousins...
"No, I mean, let's just have a small one up here with a small reception and then have the big potluck thing my mom wants to do a couple days later," he explained.

That's the beauty of thrift. Everybody wins and I can sleep at night refreshingly giddy about my wedding plans. Budgeting helped us make the wedding into our wedding. I know it sounds corny, but the spreadsheet saved the big day. Save the dates... TBD.

~Anna

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Oh yeah, and...

I saw an infomercial this morning and now I must have...

The Cricut!

I told F I wanted it and he asked what it was and what it did, and I just couldn't do it justice... I mean, how do you explain pure awesome?

Random...

Updates! Today is going to be a productive wedding day, I can feel it!

First, I'm going to buy those Target invitations I talked about last time (Cheap Wife, I responded to your comment but I totally found those Letter Impress because of your blog and your invites, so THANK YOU! I love the ones you used by the way, another reason to wish pink was a larger part of our color scheme...)! There was some major drama with them: they weren't available online. When I went to the Target store in our area that supposedly had them, they were completely out. The woman who helped me said they weren't available at all- anywhere. I was so bummed, I came home and tried ebay and amazon and no luck. Finally, I googled (love that this is a verb) them out of desperation and got a hit! Where you might ask? TARGET. They were available online again. So long story long, once I realized how bummed I was about not being to get them, I knew I had to have them. I showed them to my mom (F was with me for the Target thing, he so loves to help but he just doesn't get stationary haha) and she agreed that they are amazing and we talked about how to use them and then dress them up a little bit. So it's like semi DIY without half the hassle. I'm not going to discuss my plans now-especially since I don't need to send out invites for another year or so (so I'm ahead of the game?).

Second, we're going to purchase F's ring today! It will probably look something like this:
He really likes the look of the Tungsten Carbide and we had talked to the jewelers where I got my e-ring and they had quoted a price around $500. Ok... that seems like a lot for a plain band. So, I think it was a Bee on Weddingbee, though I'm not sure which, but I was then tipped off to the idea of purchasing a ring on amazon. Voila! There are so many choices, and the one pictured above is $29.99. Seriously. Next to Platinum rings, they are apparently one of the best choices. And Platinum rings, holy cow- so expensive! F likes how these look better, and if there is any issues with it (like he loses it) it only costs $29.99 to replace. I think he is excited about wearing it, because he keeps asking me if I've bought it yet...

Third, we are going to visit a venue today! F set up the appointment for noon today... even though it looks like this outside:
Ok, it's not that bad... but it is pretty gross. Oh, spring in the Northwest.

It is called Hidden Springs and it really is hidden! It's a wedding venue that is just a little over 4 miles from my house that I have never heard of before! I talked to the owner at this little community bridal show I went to, but I'd done so much online research and it never showed up. It's a big piece of manicured land that the owners live next to and maintain, so I'm excited to see the possibilties. I promise to take a camera, even though it's yucky outside.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Judaica

Just found this treasure... great prices for a Ketubah

We're probably moving the wedding up to early spring 2010, and the format will most likely be a small ceremony and reception (50 or so guests) followed by a larger potluck reception (125-150) about a week later. It was the only way we could afford it and make everybody happy!

Dress: Not yet
Colors: Rethinking the whole "colors" thing
Location: Even if we move to California, most likely the Squalicum Boathouse

That's all for now!
~Anna

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Invites

Wow! This makes me wish that pink was a bigger part of our color scheme...


These invites are FREE! You just download, enter your own text, print, and voila!

http://www.empapers.com/floral-wedding-invitation.html


Speaking of invites, I found these on the target website last night and I'm considering going out to the only target store in the area that has them (they are sold out on the website, and only limited availability at one of the stores around here)


Green, dandelions, semi-letterpressed (the dandelions) on really nice paper.

Problem is I don't know how much they are... because they are out of stock it's not listed. And I've for so long thought I wanted to DIY the invites, but I guess I could buy them and do some added DIY to them? Buttons and belly bands... What do you guys think?

Sunday, March 8, 2009

how can I DIY these?

I don't know how I'd use these but I love them!

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Ok, this is the last one I swear.

I promise this is the last long image filled post dragging on and on about movies, but as soon of you know, when you get engaged everything starts becoming fair game for inspiration (literally everything lol, eating out becomes ideas for reception food, every bouquet I see gets a second glance, just in case). Today... Mamma Mia! I love this movie and it's appropriately based around a wedding!

I love this simple, casual look

Who wouldn't want to get married in a place as pretty as Greece?
See? Beautiful! And I love the idea of having candles or lights lining the walkway

This is what I want my bachelorette party to look like, although maybe minus my mother though that could be fun too

One of my favorite parts of the movie is when they are preparing for the wedding is when they are setting the table and Meryl Streep says something like "God knows there is no plan" and they are just putting random plates in any random order and I love that idea! Everytime I go to a thrift store I consider just buying a ton of random dishware and just using it all random and mismatched.

Look how simple and beautiful it is!

I also really want to do this, it would be so easy to get some mason jars and wire them up. Although I would also love to have Pierce Brosnan hang them. Is that possible?

Look how beautiful when all lit up!

And I would never want this to happen at my reception, but at the same time I really really do! It looks like so much fun!

I also love how despite the fact that not everything went perfectly, everyone had an amazing time. This is something I'm going to make myself remember, if everything isn't perfect it's not the end of the world.

Amanda Seyfried is beautiful and I love this dress!


Ok, wedding stuff will be back in the next few days. Have a wonderful Saturday!