Ideas I Shamelessly 'Borrowed' From Other Brides... #1

I have made no secret of the fact that I found a LOT of my wedding inspiration in my precious Google Reader... from you all! I also make no secret of the fact that I do this shamelessly!! The simple fact is this... we read blogs to share in eachother's journeys, be inspired, support and get supported, laugh, swoon, and sometimes even debate! So, when you are under a time crunch, as most of us brides are, I don't think it is obligatory to add your own personal touch to an idea if you just straight up love it... COPY THAT IDEA!! Afterall, isn't this the greatest form of flattery?! So... since many blogging brides are not so upfront with admissions of wedding-plagiarism, I am here to write my reference list, and to give credit where credit is deserved!!

First up... a gift for my man!! I had been tossing back and forth whether or not I would look-like-crazy to get my hubs matching socks for the infamous sock-shot. I really loved those pics, but to be honest, it was just another thing to add to the to-do-list! I kept my eye out for fun purple-ish socks, of course to match my rocking purple heels, but never found anything great. So I kinda dropped this item to the back burner... not necessary, and only adding shopping time to my already jam-packed schedule! BUT, when I saw this post from Mrs. Lighting on Weddingbee, I knew I had to find a great pair!! She showed this awesome sock-wrapping idea that she originally found here, and I thought it was a perfect, simple, DIY fun job that would put a smile on my man's face the morning of the wedding! This is Mrs. Lighting version... "Just to make sure you don't get feet"

photo from here

So... I went to task... shopping! I broke down and went to Holt Renfrew where I knew I would find some fun socks, and I did! Purple Polka Dots ladies!! Yep, my man can rock the dots!! And then, well, then I copied Mrs. Lighting's wrapping idea, and this is how it turned out: (oh ya, I even used the same quote... cause it was perfect! "Just to make sure you don't get cold feet")

personal photo

And I really think my man loved them. This is him putting them on the morning of the wedding... cute right?

And of course... the shoe-sock shot!!

NOTE: last two photos from the wicked [6:8] Photography.

Dr. Bride

OK, I am actually back... after a successful PhD defense!! I'm not gonna lie, it was probably the hardest day of my life, but in the end, I heard the words "pass", so I am a happy girl. I would have LOVED for it to go more smoothly, and I have spent a few days feeling sorry for myself, and mourning the loss of those 2 hours that I had envisioned being confident, strong, and impressive, and am now coming to terms with the fact that they simply were not my best hours, but it's ok... I passed, and life goes on. Thank-you all for your kind words of support, it really did mean a lot!!

OK, I am actually back... as a bride 8 days away from getting married?!?! WHAT?? I know I know, catch your breath, relax, and hold on for the ride!! I can't believe the wedding is almost here, and I have been so MIA with you guys I barely know where to start?? We leave for Fernie on Thursday next week, so I have a mere 6 days left to get everything ready... the only problem is, I don't know what to do?! The defense took EVERYTHING out of me, and I am finding it difficult to convince myself to get up and get productive. On top of that all, the PhD was definitely a stress on the important relationship... with me and my man... but I know in the end it will make us stronger. The only unfortunate thing, is it coincides with the inherent stress of wedding planning (time, money, emotions, energy... the works!). So, we are going to try to spend some time today on us, just good ol' fashioned fun time together putzing away in the garage (yes, on wedding DIY stuff, but still, it will be fun!), and trying to bounce back from the last couple of months where it has admittedly been all about me, with very little attention paid to him. I know we will get through it, and in 11 short days, we will be drinking wine together in France, as husband and wife... yes, we can get through this!!

BUT, because I have been so negligent here for a long time, I will share some goodies with you... nothing will be in order, all is random (like the thousands of thoughts swirling around in my head right now... someone to deliver bouts.... Cajun appetizers?!.... remember to bring steamer.... did I ask P to bring Cranium or did I just think about asking.... get licence renewed... YOU GET THE POINT RIGHT!!).

Today though, let's talk about the rehearsal dinner... otherwise known as the welcome BBQ! We have decided to throw a casual lunch at the wedding lodge, to which all of our guests are invited! And yes, a LOT of them are coming... 90 to be exact! So, my mom and step-dad, famous for their steaks, are bringing 90 AAA Alberta (the best!) beef tenderloin steaks from their butcher, and grilling them up with some homemade baked beans, and my grandmas buns... with a little Caesar salad thrown in for some greenery! Most of the food has already been cooked and frozen, which should make the process pretty simple. We aren't afraid of the big parties (we have a cabin where we regularly have 30-40 people over for steak!), but this is definitely one of the biggest ones we have done!! What does this have to do with DIY... well, this isn't all that creative, and definitely not challenging or even original for that matter, but, it is still worth sharing (I hope you agree!):

UTENSILS: you might remember this post about Ecoware utensils, so you've maybe already seen these before, but here are a few more details...

I bought green and white IKEA napkins (super affordable, nice and big, and pretty thick and soft!). I bought 100 white and 100 green, which I believe came to something like $12 or $15. We are also using the utensils for the day-after-brunch, but yes, we will definitely have MORE than enough!

Rolling utensils is not too exciting, but for those of you without waitressing experience (I have rolled quite a few 'roll-ups' in my day!), I thought I would show you the process:

You definitely want to leave some of the utensil showing (I think they are adorable!)

Because our napkins were pretty big, and I was a bit anal about how the final product looked, I folded the corners of the napkins in, to ensure a straight edge at the end:

To secure the roll-ups, I used some of that homemade paper (in purple) that feels like fabric. This paper ended up being awesome. Because of the texture, it rolled really easily, and laid smooth (sometimes a normal paper will get creased/crunchy, and in my opinion, doesn't look as clean as these turned out). The lady from the paper store that I bought it from told me definitely don't use a glue stick... she suggested double sided tape. BUT, double sided tape just got caught up in the fibres of the paper, while the glue stick worked really well! (Just a note about the paper, I bought one sheet for $5, and cut it into strips ~1" wide, and maybe 3" long... I did 200 roll-ups with it, and still have some left over!!)

The finished product front and back. You can notice the nice straight edge on the back (and I made sure the folds were such that the edge would land on the back and not the front of the roll-up... I told you I was anal!)

The stack getting bigger:

Kinda cute right? But wait, since we're on the topic of welcome BBQ, I thought I would share with you the outfit... and I am just gonna put it out there... I think I almost like this dress more than my wedding dress... yup, I said it! I LOVE this dress... it is just so unique and fun that I want to where it at every possible opportunity. I will likely be overdressed for the party, but heh, it's my party right?! And I'll over-dress if I want to ;) So without further adieu... The first 2 pics are taken in the dressing room at BCBG when I was trying to convince myself that since it was waaaayyyyy over budget, I would take pictures of it just so I could think about how it felt, but that there was no way I could afford it!!

The super cute embellishment:

And even though it TOTALLY broke the bank... I bought it!! And, I have already worn it to one wedding (check out me with my man back in July...)

Whew... first post in a while... sorry it was so random!! How are y'all doing?! I've missed you!!

My Man's Look

This is a detail that started way-back-when... I dunno if you remember, but I had some issues with an etsy seller (catch up on the rant here). I didn't want to specify the seller in case something terrible had happened, and as it turned out, there was apparently some sort of 'family emergency' that made it difficult to fill the order. I tried to overlook everything, but was hoping at least for some sort of apology for being totally MIA for over a month, but alas, I didn't get an apology, and after another 2-ish weeks, I finally got our... ties!!

We ended up going with etsy's Cyberoptix ('Ties that Don't Suck'). Because I have been in such an 'execute' mode lately, I hastily gift-wrapped these suckers to give to our groomsmen before I got a picture, but the picture shows you what my man's tie looks like (gold on beige). The three ties for the guys were printed on khaki, which is slightly darker than my groom's, and they were printed with ink matching the girls' dresses... remember?

The ties really do look great... we are both really happy with how they turned out, and hopefully the boys will love them too! The engine print really suits my man, who is all about cars, and swears one day the Alpha Romeo that is sitting in our garage will be spiffed up and we will drive to the coast in it with the top down!! I had my eye on a fiddlehead print, but let's face it, this is one of his only ways to show his style, and he loves the print! I wish that everything had happened more smoothly with the seller, especially since I know how great of reviews she has had from so many of you blogging-brides. I have already purchased one of her ties for my man as a stocking stuffer last year, and, well, it did not make it in time to get stuffed. To be honest, I'm not sure if I will buy from her again, but rest assured, those of you willing to wait will end up with a product you love... the ties really do rock!!

Another quick note about bridal-party-fashion... my sis, MOH, best friend, and now... MOM TO BE... can't fit into her bridesmaid dress?!?! We both knew there was a good chance she would be pregnant at the wedding, but the dress she got was well suited for a small baby-bump. Well, as this is her 2nd baby, her 'small' baby bump is a little bit bigger than expected, and, yup, last week, with less than 30 days till the wedding, she broke the news... the dress simply did not fit. She had already been out shopping, and found a cute maternity dress she liked (which fit in with the color scheme), but then I found out the price... $250+. Now, considering the cost of bridesmaid dresses, this isn't bad, but one of the main reasons my girls were able to pick out their own dresses, was to give them the opportunity to stick to their own budget. If you remember my post about their gorgeous mis-matched dresses, my sis originally paid something like $60 for her dress... so I was really not keen on the idea of her spending nearly $300 on a replacement. Well, next to etsy, my favorite wedding shopping store is ebay!! And yes, I found her exact same dress, one size bigger, brand spanking new, for around $60 including shipping!! WAHOO... crisis averted!!

The best part... the tie that I got color-matched to this exact dress, still matches!!

So, with the ties, the groomsmen are taken care of (easy-squeezie, they're wearing their own black suit, white shirt, and black shoes!), and my groom was one step closer to being dressed!! Check and Check!

Tie One On

In the midst of my overwhelmingly stressful work situation (that is, 33 days until proposed submission date of my PhD dissertation, with a LOT of work still to be completed), I have been trying to win mini wedding-battles to at least maintain a rolling momentum. To be honest though, the wedding is NOT my priority, which, considering the short 3-ish months to the day, is slightly scary.

One of the items on the to-do list is to order ties for the groomsmen. I knew from way-back-when, that I wanted the geniuses over at the Cyberoptix Tie Lab (shout out to etsy!!) to create some magic for our men. I mean, not many people can make ties look original... think about it... you can head over to Banana Republic and get some nice ties for your boys, or splurge and go to Holt Renfrew or Harry Rosen (yup, I am a Canadian!!) to get the creme de la creme, OR, you can rock it out with some kickin ties that will make your boys look like they have a bit more personality than a young and cocky investment banker... ya, that sounds like a better option!!

Take a look at some of the beauties...

So, what's the battle then you ask?? Well, the biggest issue (in my bride-eyes) is the fact that her color selection for the ties themselves are not rocking my world... she has a decent selection, but considering our girls' different dress colors, I wanted to keep things pretty simple... I don't need people getting dizzy when presented with our bridal party!! Well, when I saw this...

... the battle was more of a slight conflict! Color matching people... this I can work with!!

So, I figured it would be simple enough to clip a tiny piece of fabric off each of the girls dresses from an inside seam or something, send it to the Lab, and order some rockin ties... not so much!! Clipping fabric was NOT an option. Bethany at the Tie Lab told me that digital pics would not be the best option, since, as we all know, the colors don't necessarily translate from reality to computer screen, let alone from one computer screen to the next. WELL, what to do?? I don't live in the same city as the dresses, but my mom (I LOVE YOU MOM!!) offered to take care of it... she came through, BIG TIME!! Bethany mentioned that a Pantone # would tell her all she needed to know... a wha?? I didn't even know what a Pantone was, and neither did my mom, but without stressing me out with the details, a few days later my awesome mom emailed me the Pantone numbers!! Victory!!

So, here they are... the official colors of the girls dresses (keep in mind that these are the colors, but in reality they each have their own unique metallic finish to them, but the colors are as shown) (SIDENOTE: the color palettes were all created over at ColourLovers.com)

Beautiful right?!?! You might remember my post about my color inspiration, where I showed you this palette:

Well, although none of the girls dresses match exactly to my inspiration palette, I think they look amazing. Actually, I think they do a better job of capturing the colors of the mountains than I did with my palette... yep, that's me, I'm a happy bride!

Ok, so I digress. I now have the Pantone #s for the girls' dresses, which means that I can (and have) ordered ties that won't cause dizzy spells with our guests (at least with the color anyway... stay tuned for the ties we chose). sigh. of. relief. I can now work work work, knowing I will progress through this wedding planning process one mini-battle-victory at a time!! I repeat... sigh. of. relief.

What online/long distance vendor required you (or your wedding helpers) to step outside the box and problem solve? Or, a more fun question, what off-the-wall wardrobe decisions are you contemplating?!?! Or, even better in the name of gratitude, who pulled one out of the hat for you and relieved some serious wedding stress??

Hello old friend

My dress is currently being stored at my sister's house, which is in a city 3 hours away from me... so needless to say, sometimes I wonder about her, how she is doing, how she feels, and occasionally, I wonder how she is fitting (read: have I gained/lost anything that is affecting how gorgeous she will look on September 6th!!). I have only tried her on about 4 times since I bought her online (that's 4 times total I have tried on ANY wedding dress), and it has been a good couple of months since I have seen her... until today!!The pictures were found over at Style Me Pretty... and definitely go check out this post... many great shots of the beautiful wedding over there!!

I am still in love with my dress, and when I see such gorgeous pictures of it, it makes me smile!! It also makes me hungry.... you can tell the dress doesn't leave anything to the imagination!! MUST STOP EATING CHOCOLATE!!!

Have a great day!!

Colour Combos Considered

Created over at colourlovers.com

OK, I considered, and selected, mostly by default, and then I made a gorgeous image!! Here's the evolution of the colors that will be seen at the wedding...

You will notice I refuse to say my "wedding colours", instead hinting that different colours will be seen, incorporated, or suggested. One thing is for sure, my dress is IVORY. After that, the colour choices have been somewhat organic, inspired by our setting.. the mountains!! We will have greys and indigos (think mountains and river rock!), browns and greens (think forest and meadows), and wheat!! Yes, I have a thing for wheat!! It has no doubt popped into the whole planning process once or twice. I am a prairie girl, so the wheat is mandatory!!

this makes me swoon...

The story of my three bridesmaids definitely needs a bit of explanation. Here's the family tree: I have an older sister, Candy-Cane. Candy-Cane (or CC for short) is the 2nd oldest cousin on my dad's side, preceded by Jelly-Bean (JB) by9 months. JB's sister is Pea-ah (P-ah), who is only 2 months older than me. Did you get that... JB (32, my cousin), CC (31.5, my sista), P-ah (28.5, cousin, JB's sista), then me = 4 Musketeers!! OK, you got that sorted! CC got married first, 3 years ago, followed by P-ah who got married 2 years ago. The bridesmaids in both weddings were the remaining 3 of the 4 musketeers... and the same will hold true in my wedding.

So, the point of this discussion, is of course, bridesmaids dresses! Well, in CC and P-ah's weddings, the 3 girls wore the same dresses, and while some considered one or the other pretty nice, there was also a few very negative responses to wearing named dresses... and I should know, cause I wore one that made me look like a stuffed sausage (see if you can spot the dress I didn't like, below)! Of course, all my whining and complaining (to non-involved parties of course) is coming back to haunt me, but I am fighting off the demons with one chosen defense: PICK YOUR OWN DRESS GIRLS!!

moi!, JB, CC, P-ah

P-ah, CC, Moi, JB

Seems like a fair approach right? Well, it has gone extremely well, the girls each chose a dress in one of the three named colors (brown family, purple family - but more on the greyish side, and the grey family). P-ah just had a baby, and was 8 months pregnant when the other two girls were buying their dresses, so I picked one up for her on a whim... in the grey family. It was $99. Not bad right?!?! Well, fast forward three months, she has a beautiful baby boy, and the dress fits, but more importantly she, she like it!! YAY!! CC picked up an off-the-rack (ie. CLEARANCE-RACK) Banana Republic dress in the brown family... and it is STUN-ning!! How much you ask?? $65!! YEEAAHH!! And finally, when CC and I were out shopping for my mom's dress, we picked up a gorgeous little number for miss JB, the pickiest of the bunch. It is sexy, stylish, and the most beautiful purplish-grey colour ever! And the final number... $68!! WHAT?!?! Three dresses for $233!! This of course was less than the cost of ONE of the dresses in each of the prior weddings!! SCORE!!

So, here is the lineup of dresses:

CC's dress... it looks purple here, but in person it looks brown from afar, and on closer inspection, has a metallic purple undertone

Next in line, the gorgeous P-ah... Charcoal grey silk with sequin embellishment

And then we have JB and sexy little number... love it!! It's the grey-purple, and JB is getting the neckline adjusted to a V-neck to match the other girls.
So, those are the dresses... I wish I could figure out my cheap digital camera so I could show the actual colors of the dress, but I think you get the idea. In the end, I will have 3 bridesmaids that look amazing, are comfortable in their dresses, are NOT broke after having bought them, and, if they like, can most certainly wear them again... I know, every bride says that, but I think they will!!

Whatcha think??