Birds Birds Birds

I never had intentions of having birds as my cake topper... in fact, I had no idea what I wanted... it took a few nights browsing on etsy (ack, love this site TOO much)... and I found creations that WOWd me!

RedLightStudio's Shop

TrinasClayCreations's Shop

Garden4Art's Shop

Prices are a bit different. In fact, the first one is WAY over what I would spend, though they look beautiful... the third one is so cute and the price is right, but I think they don't fit my theme. My lovely Aunt Carol decided to buy us the cake topper as part of her wedding gift to us. I almost cried when she told me, such a moving helping hand!

And that's when I found Trina (number 2)... and her wonderful creation.  So I requested a custom model of this... no base... pink flowers... beige hat... sage green tie... and she was WONDERFUL the entire process with updates and communication.  

 

This is what she has so far... it is not finished yet tho... the birds are still 'raw' and yet to be antiqued...

I LOVE THEM! I LOVE THEM! I LOVE THEM!

Best part is... Steve loves them too! He actually smiled when I showed him these little creations... not just a nod, but a smile! YAAAY!

From Cupcakes to Tiered Cake

My dream: cupcake tower....

 MAINLY BECAUSE: Homemade cupcakes=Cheaper

BUT THEN: 1)Finding means of making cupcakes before the wedding was becoming a headache though family was offering their services... I just felt awful if I was putting the pressure on them too.
2) My fiance' has asked for very little in this wedding...I've been able to develop theme, colors, DIY, everything... and he is a good boy and just approves with a nod. So the other night he strongly voiced his desire to have a tiered wedding cake. I put up a bit of a fight (I was just THAT set on cupcakes), but once I did some more research at the library, I decided I'd give him this option.

So we met with a family friend who made his parents cake back in the 80s.  Fiance' wanted something very BAM WOW BAM... like an 80s cake... but... I... don't.  I want it to be elegant and nice... head turning but not :

That would take up 1/4 of the room...

Turns out our cake decorator has amazing work... SO I've been looking at Martha Stewart cakes (I'm a sucker for Martha):

Sigh... I'm in love with these styles... we shall see what I can come up with!

Table Numbers - DIY

There is nothing better than cheap anything for a wedding, but my biggest annoyance is when cheap looks cheap.  We don't have a gigantic budget, far below what the average American spends on a wedding (ack, I think it's somewhere around 30-50k).  So I suppose I find myself grateful and lucky that I'm a bit creative, observant, and a tad of a researcher so I can find cheap ways to make my wedding not-so-cookie-cutter.  Observe: table numbers:

Dollar Tree Wooden Frame: $1 each (I bought 15)
Scrapbook Paper: 30c a sheet (I'm still buying some, as I only started with 3 different patterned sheets)
Wooden numbers: 49c a number (I bought enough to make 1-15)
Lace: 1/2 yard for 2.50 (50% off coupon at Hobby Lobby)

Est. total cost: $30

Hardest part: Hot gluing the lace around the numbers... SO many curves and such. AAAGH

SHOES!

I love love love love these!  I don't want to spend over $100 on my shoes, and these seem to fit what I'm going for very well! :)

Bridesmaid Bags- DIY

It's a work in progress... BUT I finally got the back part of the bag stitched! YAAAAY! It honestly didn't take as long as I thought, which is wonderful since I want to start on the front ASAP.

The fronts will be posted as I get to them, but I will quickly share my idea. I am making a large fabric flower with embellishments for the lower corner, and I will paint on a french or latin translation of parts of 1 Corinthians. Girl 1: Love is patient, Girl 2: Love is kind, etc, etc. And my bag (still in progress) will say "Love conquers all".

Engagement Photos from August

I'm posting these NOW because I just started this blog AND because I love love love love them so much.  Here are just a few glances :)
Jessica Valle Photography

http://www.jessica-valle.com/
http://www.jessicavalle.blogspot.com/

 

 

Our photographer did such an amazing job! I can't wait for her to shoot our wedding day!

From outdoor to indoor....

So we had a beautiful plot of land picked out. A friend of ours has a lot of land... a pond... gazebos... it was awesome. AND we could use it for FREE. The only issue is 'Free Outdoor Wedding' doesn't actually exist.  We were so excited, UNTIL... the tent and chairs and tables would cost $1500. A fancy portable toilet would be $900 for the afternoon (I suppose I can understand with elderly family members.. but I'm the type of girl that would hike her skirt up in the woods to take a pee).  The caterer would be $1000 PLUS travel and set up fee. So there we are at almost $3500 without favors...paying the rest for our photographer... plates... cups.... silverware... etc etc etc...

So then we looked around for indoor venues. PROBLEM. We live in a small city with the most popular wedding date of 2011. 9-10-11. Everywhere was booked.  We dragged our feet to the Marriot just thinking they'd be booked and/or out of our budget. Guess what... THEY WERENT! :)
$3000 would cover food, location, set up, services, basic decorations, all the dishes and silverware, and gratuity. YAY! Positives: No bugs, paying one person and everything in one lump sum, bathrooms right across the hall, steady room temperature, electricity (hahahaha).

Okay so obviously this is a picture of my hotels business type banquets, but it's just giving you an idea of what kind of room I'd be having (and obviously a lot more space). However... I had been planning an outdoor wedding. My ideas and decorations were very Victorian/modern outdoor. HELP! 

• Would mason jar centerpieces still look okay inside (no windows in hall)?

• Can I still incorporate birds (aka, my wedding topper)?

 
There is lots more but my ideas are all so soft... the room is tan... I'm going to ignore the carpet but ack... I'm just... sigh... I feel like I'm planning a second wedding.

Then money still comes into play... if mason jars don't work (and mason jars are FREE)... they hotel has hurricane centerpieces... eck, I don't like those... at all. And reflection mirrors... ack again. Sigh, sigh, sigh.