Robert + Erin
Sunday, March 29, 2009
DIY projects so far:
Our wedding colors: Dusty Blue
Orange Sherbert
Cream
Vendors: Venue: Vintage Villas Photographer: Red Letter Photos Florist: Donna Foster at Central Market North Invitations: The American Wedding Save-the-Dates: DIY and GotPrint.net Cake: Matty Cakes DJ: Bryan with Complete Music Ceremony Musicians: Anima Strings Officiant: Larry Todd with Austin Wedding Chaplains | About us Robert and I met while working for our college newspaper at the University of Texas. Robert told me point blank that he liked me, and I, not being accustomed to such a direct statement about someone actually being interested in me, laughed in his face! But I thought about it for a few days and realized that he was a very funny and sweet guy that I had probably overlooked, so I asked him to go to a movie with me. Within a couple of months, I knew he would be the one I was going to marry. We have been together about 4 years now, and we are now both journalists living a couple hours outside Austin (but we visit often!), planning our wedding and a happy life together. The engagement
Robert proposed to me when we were out for a lovely dinner for, I thought, my upcoming birthday. Then he said something like, "I hope you're not mad I didn't get you a birthday present, because I got you this" -- and got on one knee with this ring to ask me to marry him. I said yes immediately! Not only did he do a great job picking his future bride (haha), he chose a more beautiful ring than I ever imagined. The center stone is an heirloom diamond from his family. I'm kind of a paper/design snob and wanted letterpress ones on thick paper. But back in reality, we just don't pay $800 for a set of invitations and response cards for a 100-person guest list. (If I were to go nuts, I might get these.....if I were REALLY crazy I'd get these!) So after a long search and ordering tons of types of samples that we weren't that excited about, we found the Tranquility invitations at theamericanwedding.com. They're letterpress on very thick paper, with a blue flower to match our wedding decor...and with the 20% coupon I got from the company, they cost just as much as a lot of the plain, flat invitations we were considering!
Tranquility invitations I also found printable labels really cheap at labelsbythesheet.com, which also provides document templates so you can print them easily yourself...I will be printing them with our "wedding logo" to use as envelope seals and accents on the favor boxes. Since I have access to Adobe InDesign at work, I was also able to make our own personalized wedding map for the directions/accommodations insert. I took advantage of one of Vista Print's many specials to get 100 of these printed for free as postcards (well, almost free -- just $9 in fees for uploading my own graphics). Here's the card (front on top, back on the bottom):
Here's how they came out:
I also made our Save-the-Date cards with one of our awesome engagement photos, taken by fellow Austin Knottie Mrs. Purdue. These are postcards that I printed at gotprint.com, because they offered the maximum size of postcard you can mail while still using a postcard stamp (Vista Print's are actually a little smaller). These were $26 for 100 with my uploaded files and full color on both sides:
These are the address tags that I ended up making for them (since I'm a dumbass and did the nice UV coating on both sides of the card, which makes it so you can't write on it):
The ceremony
Beautiful outdoor wedding ceremony site overlooking Lake Travis, with a gazebo that will be covered in blooming vines in the spring. I feel very lucky to have a wonderful father who is helping us have a lovely wedding here -- I never imagined it would be in such a nice place, with dinner and drinks and the whole package! The "garden at sunset" feel of the ceremony will be repeated through all our wedding decor and invitations/programs, which will combine blue and hints of orange with vine and scrollwork motifs.
And just in case it does rain, since that's the price of choosing a cooler time of year in Texas...they have a very nice area for an indoor ceremony, if needed. This room would also serve as the dancing area, and a separate room next door (below) is where we would have dinner.
Programs I loved the idea of making these fan programs (with instructions from knottie Aylee). I was kind of dreading how much work it would take, but with FI's help, it wasn't that bad -- just three evenings of watching TV and movies with scissors and an eyelet setter. I printed our fans at Kinko's on Stardream quartz paper from Paper Source and tied the ends with blue ribbons.
Sand ceremony Our officiant, Larry Todd of Austin Wedding Chaplains, suggested the option of a sand ceremony, and we loved the idea. I'd like to find a nice glass jar to preserve the sand as a keepsake, but wasn't able to find exactly what I was looking for. My only real requirement was that the jar should have a lid, so we ended up getting this one from memorysands.com. We're going to have it etched with our names and wedding date.
Pew markers I decided to use silk flowers so I can make the pew markers in advance and just put them out on the big day, since we only have a couple of hours to set everything up at our venue. If you want to find out more about these, check out my tutorial or knottie Jillers' DIY Knottie blog. Here's how they turned out: Here are more DIY ideas for pew markers, for anyone who's looking: Cone-type markers at Save-On Crafts The reception
We're doing the ceremony and reception in the same place to cut down on rental costs and keep people from driving all over Austin. Vintage Villas provides the tables, chairs, linens, place settings, and glass for the centerpieces. I love package deals! Wish Tree I also love the idea of having a "wish tree" rather than a typical guestbook. I never liked entering a reception and immediately having to stand in line to sign the book...this way people can take a card, write on it at their own pace, and add it to the tree, which is visually interesting and more of a focal point than a book on a table. Then we'll save all the cards in a little box to look over later. Manzanita branches are widely considered the best type of branch to use for wish trees, but I couldn't find any in local craft stores and the shipping from online vendors was usually around $20-$25...blech. I almost ordered from manzanita.com, which seemed to have the best prices. But I ended up reserving a rental tree from Etsy vendor CiCiBridal that rents 3-foot trees with crystals, silk flowers and a clear vase for only $50 -- much cheaper than having to DIY. Our tree will look similar to this one (but with light orange flowers):
For the cards, I will be using these rounded-edge ones from Papersource. They fit inside a photo album box, similar to the one pictured, on eBay for $15 -- it was $50 from Bombay!
At the top of the wish tree will be two origami cranes, symbolic of peace, honor and loyalty for the wedded couple. We got these nice blue, hard-glazed ones from Etsy artist localcolorist:
And finally, someone on Weddingbee made a nice sign to explain to the guests what to do, since many of them may be expecting a guest book:
Reception details A few of the special touches we're adding to the reception:
Escort card idea: (Source: Fleurs de France, Cleveland, OH) Food and Catering Vintage Villas also has on-site catering for dinner, and we also chose to have a full bar with beer, wine, and house liquor! Here's our menu (we chose the most basic dinner option and might consider switching out the beef for salmon): ~ The Celebration ~ Display: Elegant seasonal fruit and berry display with chocolate fondue Salad: The Villas signature salad -- Panache of greens tossed with candied pecans, red pepper, feta and red onions and served with balsamic vinaigrette Accompaniments: Sauteed seasonal garden vegetable medley Warm dinner rolls and butter Side dish: Garlic mashed potatoes Entrees: Pistachio-crusted chicken breast with coconut-ginger beurre blanc and fresh mango relish Shiner Bock marinated London Broil with rich adobe sauce and wild mushroom bordelaise Beverages: Fruit punch Roast coffee Decaf coffee Iced tea For the cake, I'm a big fan of the scrollwork design -- it's a given that will be incorporated somehow. It will probably be white with blue or peach scrollwork accents and blue hydrangea (real or sugar? not sure). A few photos for inspiration:
Bouquets and other flower ideas Another thing that I have a hard time spending a ton of money on is the flowers -- I may have my bouquet preserved, but everything else will die in a few days. But even after being rather conservative on our floral budget, we're spending about $900. We waived the setup fee in favor of hiring a wedding coordinator/decorator who can help arrange the centerpieces and set up other items at the reception. The fresh flowers we're planning on for the wedding include:
My flower inspiration board:
I also want to sprinkle the aisle with flower petals -- probably a mixture of peach and ivory petals, since the blue in our color scheme will be on the pew markers and the wedding party attire. I'm looking at ordering the petals from Flyboy Naturals for that ($18 for 8 cups). Centerpiece ideas Despite my aversion to spending a ton on flowers, we decided that using real flowers in the centerpieces at the reception was important since those are the flowers the guests will be close enough to really enjoy. I'm not sure whether we'll use blue hydrangeas since they're not in season in March, but I'm looking at ideas for using them just in case! I especially love the look of floating candles surrounded by smaller votives as a centerpiece. Here are a few ideas and color combos I liked from other weddings:
There are so many options for table decor that I've had trouble deciding what I want to include and how I want to use our wedding colors. My mom and I were going to make our own table toppers along with the white linens that Vintage Villas provides, but bolts of fabric don't come in large enough sizes to make tablecloths. So, using the white linens and napkins provided, here's what I'll have decorating the tables:
Other items for each table include:
After looking at photos for months and trying on a few dozen dresses, I pretty much narrowed down what I was looking for in my ideal dress. I wanted something A-line in satin with beading, a corset back, sleeves or a jacket (which could be added in alterations), a dropped waist or an asymmetrical accent on the waist to make me look thinner, and some decoration on the train, whether it was beading or a scalloped lace edge. With that list of must-haves in mind, it was easy to pick out my favorite dress -- Maggie Sottero's "Heather"! A bridal shop was selling their sample on Ebay in my size and color, and it went on sale just as I was considering putting in an order...it was meant to bbe my dress! :)
Just need some heels and a petticoat so it's not dragging the floor like that...
Lace detail (click to enlarge) Professional photos of the dress My first fitting! Luckily, my dress needed very few alterations. My favorite shoes turned out to be exactly the right height to keep the dress off the ground and avoid some costly hem alterations (the bottom has a lace edge). The only awkward thing was my chest is too big and the fabric panel behind the corset didn't quite stretch across, but it was an easy fix. We added a simple American bustle (1 point) and I'll be adding some lace sleeves.
Other dresses I considered... Impression bridal style 2735
Alfred Angelo Style 1136
With a jacket? Hmm...
Jacquelin style 9690 I had really wanted low-heel shoes, but it turns out I needed some higher heels to avoid some complicated alterations to hem up my dress. I looked all over the place until I found Liz Rene Couture's "Melissa" shoe, which cost more than what I was planning to spend ($86), but no other shoe comes close. I love the peep-toe, d'orsay cut, and the little rhinestone and pearl accent. Now the question is: to dye them blue or not to dye them?
Most importantly, our wedding rings! For the wedding, since I'm wearing a fairly simple dress, I think I can afford to jazz it up a little with some jewelry. I chose the bracelet and necklace below, and will probably just wear some stud earrings (don't wanna overdo it), although I love these earrings:
Nadri cuff bracelet, $158, Nordstrom
Nadri necklace, $55
1928 bridal earrings, $28, www.1928.com
I'm having a hard time deciding whether I want to wear a small tiara or do something more creative with a comb and hair pins...I may end up doing both! (Maybe just some hair jewels for bridal portraits and the full veil and tiara for the wedding). Here are some hair accessories I like: These are very simple and affordable hair jewels from Hair Comes the Bride...I got one of the ones on the left on sale for $12 and the smaller ones on the right for $4 each. Then there are tiaras -- nothing too big or fancy, just a short wreath of vines or flowers made with crystal would do the trick. I chose this one from David's Bridal (via another bride on eBay). Possible hair styles:
If I did the whole half-up/half-down or sideswept thing, I'd want my hair to be wavy...which might be a problem, since my hair is fine and straight, and won't hold a curl.
Bridal Photos / Hair and Makeup Trial Lisa Woods did my bridal portraits. Katie Astoria of Modern Muse Makeup Artistry did makeup, and Johanna Escobar at Hairy Situations did my hair. I loved how it all turned out! I may tweak the hairstyle a bit since I'll be wearing a veil and headband, but that's it!
Bridesmaids attire I have 3 bridesmaids of various shapes and sizes, and since I'm not all that impressed by the idea of making all 3 of them wear the same dress (and possibly not liking it and never wearing it again, which is a waste of $150), I decided to let each pick her own style as long it was the same color. We're going with any dress in the color "windsor blue" from Dessy Group. We will be ordering them from The Bridesmaid's Store in Austin. They are wearing neutral-colored, strappy shoes (beige, tan, taupe, etc.) that they will pick out themselves. Here are the styles my bridesmaids picked: And some of the shoes up for consideration:
Mossimo brand shoes at Target, $20 each
David's Bridal shoe styles dyed in bisque Groom's and groomsmen's attire Since my fiance's groomsmen are spread all over the country, we decided to rent tuxedos from a chain -- Men's Warehouse. The groom will be wearing a black tuxedo with a diamond white tie and vest (matching the color of my dress), and the groomsmen will be wearing the same style black tuxedo but with a platinum vest and the windsor blue tie (matching the color of the bridesmaids' dresses).
Groom's tuxedo (click picture for details)
Groomsmen's tuxedo with matching tie from Dessy I likely won't be spending a lot on additional gifts for my bridesmaids, since I'm paying for their dresses and paying for them to get their hair done the day of the wedding (I may also make them matching earrings, since I make jewelry). That said, the only gift I've picked up thus far is for my 6-year-old ringbearer, who looooves Legos. Here it is:
Us as Legos, made specially for us by a vendor on eBay!
We've both been to Hawaii (he's been once, I've been about 13 times, because my dad lives there and I visited every summer). We decided to go back for our honeymoon to enjoy it in a whole new way — together! We'll be staying 3 nights in Waikiki at the Hyatt Regency and 4 nights on Kauai at the Sealodge condos in the Princeville Resort.
This is NIMBY (he's an indoor cat, therefore Not In My Back Yard). He thinks he's a dog. He meows a lot, licks your face when you wake up, and is very friendly to just about everyone. He's probably chewing on a nice ribbon that would have been used for decoration as you read this.
More to come as we figure it all out! |
