Wedding date is getting closer

Last Monday was two months before the wedding, and I still am looking for more inspiration. Here are some cool inspiration from great weddings:

Kelly has offered to design some for the wedding!

If anyone has a pretty sheet or sheets, I would really like to place a backdrop for photos.

Table inspirations. I love the messy coordination.

At some point I'm going to have to stop looking at wedding porn, and just sit down with Andrew and decide what we are taking or leaving.



Photos from Once Wed

The downside of not having a wedding party

We decided not to have a wedding party. We feel that everyone that is part of our wedding is just as important and cherished by us, and it does not feel right to assign "roles" to people. It also feels like we are assigning people responsibilities, and everyone has so much going on.

This being said...after looking at my list, we realize that we need help. There is sooo much to do, and so little time. Fortunately, some people in our families are coming a few days early, father-in-law to be has offered to pay for food, and many friends have offered to make decorations and cupcakes. The problem is, we have not figured out who is doing what. We are sure it will come together at the end...but I still like to plan things.

I have realized that we need to ask for help. It takes a community to make a wedding happen...no matter how small it is.

So many things to do!

It has been a long time since Ive written...it has been a busy month. I have not only traveled, but turned in a crazy amount of papers, fund raising in school, and so on. Nevertheless, I now have time to start focusing on the wedding again. Here is part of my to-do list:

- Get invites mailed-thus getting RSVPs
- Add information about hotels on our website
- Start making my wedding dress (mother in law to be will be helping!! Yay!)
- Buy-find more mason jars
- Buy-find table cloths
- Make practice centerpieces (still deciding on which one I want-twigs or flowers)
- Find more plates (we have around 40 so far...about 20 more to go!)
- Make napkins with all my fabric
- Decide on ceremony spot decoration: twig circle and flowers, paper cranes, or pom poms
- Wedding ring for Andrew (I am blessed to get his grandmothers ring, a beautiful, vintage, gold ring)
- Find shoes! (fun!)
- Practice recipes for cupcakes (so far I have decided on lemon cupcakes with cream cheese frosting)

For silverware we have settled for plastic. Hopefully I will be able to wash them and reuse them in school or for next parties. We will also have some paper napkins for cupcake holding.

More things to do:
- Ask friends to lend us blankets (seating for the ceremony and laying in the sun)
- Choose games to take
- Bubbles and pinata!
- Start stocking up on wine and beer
- Ask for lemon contributions (so many lemon trees!)
- Make head piece
- decide on whether we will have a photobooth (how can we make it work???)
- Start sorting through pictures for our picture display
- Music playlist
- Most important of all!!!! DECIDE ON OUR CEREMONY AND WRITE OUR VOWS!!!

Although the list is long, it feels good to write it down. Now we can start checking stuff off. (Dont you love to-do lists???)

wedding sites are the new black

Everybody has one. Some are pretty elaborate, and actually sort of cool. Andrew spent a few hours making ours. It's pretty simple and to the point, making it easier to navigate for our family and friends.We decided to stick to the following tabs:
- Map of the location
- Date and time
- RSVP box
- Registry
- Link to the blog
We still need to add information about hotels and hostels nearby, but it's basically finished.
I think it's super cool....

Check it out!

Pom poms Vs. Cranes

This is what we want our wedding to be! It looks like a fun, warm, happy day. Nobody looks stressed, and everything just kinda fits together.

And check out the decor... so beautiful, and so simple! I'm totally rethinking the pom poms...or maybe do both.

Photos from Once Wed, Nancy and Ethan's wedding

Oh, so true!

This is probably one of the funniest wedding-related things I have read so far...

"…when you mention you're getting married, strangers, store clerks, and vendors give your bare ring finger a long look mixed with pity and suspicion".

Yup...they do!

on offbeat bride

To favor or not to favor

I love the idea of people taking a little something home from the wedding, but it can get really expensive. I also hate giving people more stuff, especially when I know they already have too much stuff to begin with (cough cough,,,,you know who you are!). Bay area apartments are way too small, and half of the people are flying from out of town...so....you see my conundrum.
My first thought was having a bucket with soapy sponges, so people can wash and take a plate or a wine glass that they like from the wedding. I think this could work out, but I'm sure some people are not interested in having one-of-a-kind table ware. So, my thoughts were on making something edible. I love the heart brownies featured on 2000 Dollar Budget Wedding, or maybe some fun chocolate. My goal is to keep it simple, transportable, budget friendly, and yummy. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

Wedding dress- Part 3

My pattern arrived in the mail a couple of days ago, and it looks a bit more complicated than I thought it would be. I have never lined a garment, and much less made a cummerbund.


Today I bought some cheap fabric to make my practice dress with. I got about 6 yards, in case I mess it up. It has a pretty, retro looking pattern, but I really wasn't too picky. I just chose something from the sale rack that didn't involve seasonal prints!

I also saw my dream crinoline at a vintage store in the Castro. Puffiness supreme! I hope they still have it when I am not so broke, and I actually have a dress to put it under. My goal is to look like a cross between a ballerina, and an upside down cupcake.
:)

We can't escape being stereotypes...

Browsing for cute Valentine ideas, I found these buttons on Etsy. At least they are titled "Buttons for Cool Couples". I guess that makes us cool? They are pretty cute, though!



All we need to do know is get married to completely fit in the stereotype.

Hello Super 8 Wedding films and Guestbooks

I saw this in Offbeat Bride, and I fell in love with it. Maybe it's because I loved watching my family's old movies when I was a little girl. They were so magical!

They also made me cry. If there is anything I would splurge on, it would be this. Check it out:

Hello Super 8 Weddings from Megan Hill on Vimeo.


Hello Guestbook from Megan Hill on Vimeo.

Flowers vs. twigs

As much as I would like to have flowers at the wedding, it's not so great to cut flowers to have them die in a few days. Plus, it would be hard to have things ready in advance, and I would have to scamper around to buy affordable flowers the day before. Instead, I was thinking of combining flowers in jars, grass grown in pots, and these awesome twig arrangements. The flowers glued on are miniature versions of the pom poms which I will also have hanging from trees.



To see more of this awesome reception and the making process, go to Crytal's Fiesta on the Prarie

Making my own wedding dress

I'm not great at sewing, but I do take pleasure and stand in awe after I put a few pieces of fabric together and made it into a garment. So far this year I've re sized t-shirts, made a skirt, a dress, and a shirt. Now I'm moving to the big leagues, since I am thinking about making my own wedding dress.
Why?...you might ask. It's as simple as this: it would be more meaningful, cheaper, and it would be so much fun to reply "what..??! this old thing???....well, I made it myself!".
The only problem is that I haven't found a pattern I like. I'm looking into tea-length poofy dresses, and use a fabric other than satin. I cannot sew satin! It is the hardest fabric to work with. Instead, I am thinking about making a cotton dress with some lace.

Here are some inspirations:

Yet another tradition I'm unsure of...rings?

I usually run away from traditional wedding rituals, not because they are traditional, but because I don't totally believe in them. Some things we are cutting out of our wedding are:
- wedding party (everyone is the party!)
- performing the ceremony at the church
- having a traditional religious ceremony
- rehearsals (dinner and ceremony)
- first dance

The one tradition I'm still debating is the exchange rings. A lot of people plant trees, make quilts, or even get tattoos. None of those fit well with our lifestyle, so I'm leaning on a ring to symbolize the celebration of our love. Here are a few that I found on etsy.com.

flea market finds

An interesting bottle



Pretty wine glasses



Awesome made into a plate

Table arrangements

Inspired by the beautiful wedding arrangements on A backyard wedding, I have started collecting jars and bottles for the table arrangements. We will be putting summer wildflowers in them.
Check all of these out at Once Wed.

Happy times pom poms

I just made these, inspired by Martha Stewart weddings. I made them with some old birthday paper, anthropologie wrapping, and other tissue I found around the house. We plan to put these hanging from trees. They are a better alternative to paper lanterns (cheaper), and easy to recycle. I will try to post them on Craigslist, maybe the could be reused?...