Freaking Out!

I took a little break from Wedding planning the last couple of weeks...I needed to focus on me...And get ready for Christmas.
I actually enjoyed the time off...Which is VERY un-Christinalike of me!!


All day I was excited that there are only 8 months left until the Wedding.
Until it just hit me...And now I am freaking out.
So it just hit me that starting tomorrow there are less than 8 months until the Wedding...So now I am freaking out that with only 7 months and change left to go, I am quite behind!! :(


How can I, the Queen of Wedding Planning, be so behind in planning my own Wedding?!


I don't have any Save-The-Dates, Invitations, or Favors picked out.

I don't have a photographer, a videographer, a baker, a florist, a DJ, a limo, a tuxedo place...

*Sighs*

Countdown

EXACTLY 8 MONTHS UNTIL OUR WEDDING!!!!!!!!!!!!

Twitter

Last night I decided to join Twitter.
I have no idea why...But, why not?


So if anyone is interested, here is my URL: http://twitter.com/Born2BMrsHines


Anyone else use Twitter, so I can follow you?

Hi!!

I have been so sick and so busy trying to catch up on all of my Christmas shopping that I got behind on that I really have not done any wedding planning in like 2 weeks!!

This is the first time that I am attempting to blog from my new iPod Touch...Early Christmas present from my Great Aunt! :)

Wedding Jewlery

For the last several years I decided that I would wear a pearl necklace for my wedding. I have never owned pearls, but I think they are so classy and elegant.

However my wedding dress is quite busy on the neckline to have a full strand of pearls. The halter is just like the rest of the dress; covered in lace, pearls, and diamonds. So it would look bad to have a big necklace.

When I first tried the dress on I also tried on different necklaces for ideas. I am a jewelry person, so I definitely want to wear a necklace, but the more simple ones looked the best with my dress. And I really didn't want to wear costume jewelry.


Well my Mom found a jewelry set that she thought would be perfect...But she wanted to make sure I loved it before she bought it.

So she took me to go see them, and I loved them...So she bought them. But I will wait until August to get them. If she tries to give them to me for Christmas, I won't let her. :)


The set (which doesn't come together, but I am just calling it a 'set') is 14K White Gold, Freshwater pearls, and diamonds:

Necklace


Matching Earrings

So I would obviously wear those studs in my first earring holes...But I have a total of three holes in each ear. So do I not wear any earrings in my second and third holes?
And actually, I have the upper cartilage in my left ear pierced, I usually wear a heart-shaped diamond stud in it every day...But I can leave it out for the wedding if it will look better.

Speaking of ear piercings, Jon has a barbell in his cartilage...I haven't decided if I will ask him to take it out for the wedding or not.
Maybe we do the classier, less earring look for the Church Ceremony...And then wear whatever earrings we want during the reception?
I dunno yet.

Wedding Dress Update

So my dress came in last week...And my Mom, my Gramma, and I went to David's Bridal yesterday to pick it up. So of course I tried it on, and we found some flaws. On the front part of the halter, right by my collarbone, there is a lace finish on one side and no matching trim on the other side...I don't really know how to explain it, but it is totally noticeable.
Also, I think one of the pearl beads fell off.
And there was a pull in the train.
Also, at the top of the dress...Like the top of my chest...Where there is a 'bone' something-or-rather, one side noticeably sticks out and one side does not. Ideally, neither side would be sticking out the top at all.

So they got the seamstress or the manager or someone important to come look at it. And without hesitation she said they will just order me a new dress. Because the issues were too delicate and important to risk trying to fix on the dress...And possibly not even being able to fix it.

So that was nice of them...Considering how rude they have been some of the time.
So that's cool.
She asked how long until my wedding, and I told her 8 1/2 months. She said my new dress should come in after the New Year...And that will be plenty of time before my wedding.
So that is one thing I am NOT stressing about right now, surprisingly.

I am glad we don't have to try to ignore the dress issues, since they will not only be fixed, but they will be non-existent since it will be another new dress.

It worked out well, since the dress would only be chillaxin' in the closet for several more months. Since we got the dress in a Petite, it shouldn't have to be shortened...As long as I have a heel of probably at least 3 inches. (Which means that Jon will need shoes with a heel or a lift or something...Since on flat feet he is only like 3 inches taller than me...But that's another post for another time!)

So the only alterations that really need to be done are to the halter strap...It is way too big. And the chest and waist have to be taken in a little bit.

But I am holding off on those alterations until closer to the wedding, because I have no idea how much more weight I will lose by then...And I don't want to keep taking it in a million times. So I will wait until closer to the wedding...Not the last minute of course, but just a bit closer.

I really don't know how much weight I will lose...Presumably I won't gain any weight.
I go to my personal trainer for Boot Camp Class every single night, Monday through Friday..And sometimes Saturdays too.
I have lost 10 inches since mid-September. So, we'll see what happens.

Too bad we can't go back to a few years ago when I was still underweight. I mean, I am not overweight now or anything...But just definitely not underweight.
Anyway, the whole weight topic can be a post for another time as well.

So that is the update about my wedding dress.

I don't feel like it was a waste of a 2 hour trip, since we came home empty handed...Because we did accomplish something...I am going to get another new dress in a month that will hopefully be perfect. And we have plenty of time. So, hopefully everything will be wonderful.


EDIT: I found the shoes I tried on with the dress...I don't know how high the heel is...But this should hopefully give an idea of how high the heel needs to be about:

Willow

My Centerpieces

More detail about Update Topic # 2...My Centerpieces!

There it is! Gorgeous, right?

Well, of course that is just the stock photo...But the idea is still the same.

It is hard to know how many of them to buy right now...Since we do not have a final guest count yet...But I was not willing to wait until the summer to start purchasing these.

Last Friday Mama Hines and I went to the local Joann's Fabrics and Michael's stores and bought every centerpiece they had in stock...So we ended up with 7 of them. And the stores said they are probably not getting any more in. I can order them online, but I would rather hold off on the extra added cost for shipping and handling right now.

On Friday my Mom and whoever else from my family that she forced to help me, ran around and bought 9 more.

Mom and I went looking all around on Saturday and Sunday, but came up empty-handed.

So for now we have 16 of these guys. My guess is we need about 20 of them.

They do not come with the tea light candles...So since there are room for 6 candles, I originally wanted each centerpiece to have 2 white candles, 2 black candles, and 2 fuchsia candles.

But I CANNOT even begin to explain how difficult it is to find any shade of pink tea light candles! If you are lucky, you can find a pale pink color...But that seems to be it.

Minus of course if you want to spend a fortune on actually making your own custom candles.

So I might have to settle on black & white candles...Or just white. The base is more like pewter than black, but that's close enough to black I guess.

And then I can just do hot pink flowers.

It looks like you can fit a dozen roses in each vase...But there is no way I am spending that much money for each centerpiece to have a dozen of any flower.

So one of these days I will buy some experimental flowers to make some mock-up centerpieces...And see what flowers and what quantity look good, without looking too cheap.

Also, I am determined to try out bamboo in them. If it doesn't look good, at least I will know that I tried it out!

Also, I am going to buy some mirrors to see how necessary mirrors under the centerpiece are.

Well, I guess that is about all I have to say about my centerpieces right now.

Oh, and if anyone is in a 3 hour radius of me and is looking for those centerpieces...Sorry, I probably bought them all! :(

K, 1 update down...6 more to go! ;-)

UPDATES! UPDATES!! UPDATES!!!

Boy do I have a lot to update about!!

I do not have time to write about everything right now...So I will make a list now to remind me what posts I need to write about later.


1) I got my Wedding Dress, my Bridesmaid Dresses, my Mother's Dress and Jon's Mother's Dress! Surprisingly, none of them are by Alfred Angelo...And surprisingly I am totally fine with that.

My Mom surprised me by purchasing my dress for me. She also got me a nice new tiara, and a double veil with sparkles and pearls just like on my dress.

I have yet to pick out jewelry and shoes.

2) I finally decided on and started buying my centerpieces…Very exciting!

However, I have not decided on favors yet. Or about the photo booth. Or a charity.

Or a dessert table. Or a candy buffet. Or an ice cream buffet.

And speaking of desserts, we haven’t gone to talk to the baker I think I picked out…Or gone for cake tastings yet…To make sure that the cake I designed will also taste delicious!

Come to think of it, we haven’t even gone for tastings for what we will want for dinner at our reception. I wonder when we are supposed to tell the lady what we decided on…

3) I spent my first Thanksgiving without my family...But I also spent my first Thanksgiving with my Future In-Laws! And Jon's Mom took us to pretty backdrops around her town for a set of our Engagement Photos! :) She took us down by a lake and the court house that has really nice scenery.

It is a good thing we took advantage of the sunshine in the afternoon on Thanksgiving, because it was all crappy and rainy out later on in the day as well as for the rest of the days.

4) We asked Jon's Aunt and Uncle if his cousin could be our Ring Bearer...So we have that all set.
And the search for a Flower Girl is finally over...As we asked one of his Groomsmen and his wife if their daughter could be our Flower Girl.
So by the time of our Wedding in 8 1/2 months...Our Ring Bearer will be about 4 1/2 years old and our Flower Girl will be about 2 1/2 years old.
Should be cute.

5) My hair dilemma. My dress is a halter…Which is a style I hadn’t originally planned on…And it changes the whole idea of how I will want my hair done. I have been growing my hair since before I was engaged, so I can have long curls…But the halter has gorgeous beads and sparkles all around the fabric…And if I wear my hair down it covers the gorgeous details.

But I don’t really want my hair completely up either. Sooooo maybe I can do a half up/half down type style…To try to get the best of both worlds. Or maybe I can try a style that is mostly up, and displays the beautiful halter, but also has a lot of long curlies hanging down too.

So I have a lot of ideas to try out.

6) I can’t remember if I have written about it before or not…But I have always dreamed of having an Engagement Party. Everyone I talk to about it, just sees it as an unnecessary cost.

My Mother has offered to pay for an Engagement Party for us. However Jon (and everyone seems to 100% agree with him) would prefer to take the money that would go towards the party, and put it towards the wedding.

I can see how that makes sense and all…But I just feel like I am making a lot of compromises to my dream wedding as it is…To make it more affordable and all. Why should I kill yet another dream of mine?

So I thought maybe we can compromise…And have a more low-key Engagement Party, or just invite less people…And then there should be leftover money that can also go towards the wedding.

Etiquette says that you CANNOT invite someone to your Engagement Party that is not invited to your wedding…But it also says that you DO NOT have to invite everyone to your Engagement Party that is invited to your wedding.

So what if we just invite our immediate family, very best friends, and the Bridal Party?

I don’t think that there is anything wrong with a smaller more intimate setting to celebrate our engagement.

We were thinking of trying to have the party in February or March. It will be hard to plan it too far in advance, since there is a huge possibility of a snow storm in either of those months.

7) Since I was away from Wednesday until Saturday, I got very behind on my email...So I was just getting around to checking my old unread email this afternoon...And lost among a mess of emails was an email I got from David's Bridal last Thursday. I was very close to not opening it since I get a lot of emails from them about sales and such.
But this one was a very important email...Telling me that my dress was ready for pick-up!!
HOW EXCITING!!

I can't believe how fast it came in! It's only been like 2 weeks! None of the other dresses are in yet...And I expected mine to take the longest!

I mean it isn't altered or anything yet...
So I don't actually know if they had to make a new one from scratch or just order the dress in my size...
But still…We are talking about the most important garment I will ever wear in my entire life!!

I can’t help but be giddy. :)

Hair Flower

This is pretty much the hairstyle I would want for my dream beach wedding in Cancun/Bahamas/Some tropical place:

And despite me never having an urge to wear a flower in my hair, I totally would with that style.

So now I'm thinking that I probably won't do the casual flower hair style...But I am thinking that since my girls are going to be a solid or mostly solid black dress with hot pink accents, that I can have them wear hot pink flowers in their hair.




Anenome Hair Flower





Another idea




Another Idea





Crystal Hot Pink Wild Magnolia Hair Clip

David's Bridal Dresses for me

I have an appointment set for Saturday, November 21st with David's Bridal in Albany (2 hours away)
Now I am getting nervous that I am not going to be able to find a dress for myself that I will fall in Love with.
Granted last weekend was the only time I ever tried any dresses on...And I totally tried less than 10 dresses on.

I know I want lots of bling on my dress...Nothing overwhelming of course. But I totally want to sparkle on top and bottom and the train...I do want a decently long train.
It would also be awesome if it could have a corset tie in the back.

The mermaid and fit to flair look good on me, but I don't feel like a bride in them...So I am thinking I need more of an A-Line or ball gown type dress.

I am not against going away from strapless gowns...I planed on trying on a halter but just seemed to only try on strapless and just one with slight straps.

Oh and for some odd reason I realllyyyy dislike buttons on the back...Especially going down through the train.


So since I am home sick in bed all day, and can't go out and do any wedding things anyway...I have been glued to David's Bridal's website, trying to find a dress I like.

So here are a couple of dresses from David's Bridal that I like...But I obviously don't know how they will look on me without trying them on:




Strapless Satin Ballgown

I don't always like all those pick-ups.



Draped Satin Bodice
The only problem is that I can't see what the bottom front looks like...I tried on a gorgeous dress last weekend that I would have loved but there was no design or anything on the front bottom...And they said they couldn't add anything to it. Thus I discovered that it was too plain for me.




Tulle over satin ballgown

I can't tell if it sparkles enough or not.




Satin Corset Ball Gown
I can't tell if it sparkles enough and if the train is long enough...But it ties in the back! :)



Satin halter A-line gown

I don't know if it sparkles, but I enjoy the lace.



Satin A-Line with Beaded Lace Corset

Looks good from the picture.

Desserts/Candy Table

I am 100% Italian...I am used to having too much food and desserts at every event...Including nightly dinner.

When I presented Jon with the idea of having additional desserts at the reception, Jon said it would be a waste of money and that we will have the wedding cake and don't need anything else.

As much as my budget-conscious side agrees with that statement, my creativity and Italian side does not.

Thus I continued to be creative with different dessert ideas.

This is as close to a visual on my idea of Black & Whites with our last name initial in pink as I could come. Come on, that looks just like pink frosting! ;)

Or it looks like I am back to making mock-ups in Paint.

And don't forget my Rainbow Cookie in my wedding colors idea!

So what if instead of that...

The colors were more like this:

Or like this:

I don't think I would want one of the cakey layers to be black, because black is such a hard color to dye...No matter how much black food coloring I use, it always looks purple. So I think we can stick with the outer chocolate layers being enough 'black color'.

Other dessert ideas I had included dipping pretzels (the real twisted pretzel shaped ones, not rods) in white and dark (assuming that would make a better 'black' color than milk chocolate would) chocolate and then adding pink sprinkles.
I really love that idea for favors and then include a tag that says "Thanks for helping us tie the knot!"

Another idea was having white and dark chocolate dipped strawberries with pink sprinkles.

White Chocolate Strawberries with hot pink and magenta edible glitter

Or Wedding Chocolate Truffles

And then another idea was forgetting the dessert table and doing the trendy Candy Buffet table instead.

I am sure we could easily find black, white, and pink candies to adorn the table.

And then have to-go boxes for guests to fill up with their desired candy, and take home as a favor. Instead of us putting favors together with candy that the guests may or may not like.

Also, when preparing to make candy for my bridesmaids, I bought every kind of wedding candy molds that Wilton makes. So that is another thing I can make for either a dessert table or a candy buffet table. As long as it isn't too warm out and the candy melts.

I can make these candies in any color.

I can also make these candies in any color...And I can make them into lollipops too.

I also have these...But haven't tried them out yet. They look like just candy...But really, they are candy covered Oreos! How cool is that to be able to make a candy coated (in any color) Oreo?!?! Well they look like Oreos would work best with them at least. And I thought that they were too cute to pass up. I need to try them out one of these days.

I don't own these...

...Or these...But I can easily buy them, and they could work too...Unless I was definitely going to make my other pretzel idea, then that would be too many pretzels.

I just had to post this idea of desserts and candies because my creative brain comes up with so many ideas that I can't keep up! So I needed to document it so I could remember my ideas better. :)

Of course we can always use any of these ideas for the Engagement Party (if we have one) instead of the Reception, too.

MY DAMASK FABRIC!

I have been doing research for a while now on where to find the best deals on damask fabric.

The consensus among fellow damask brides was that damask fabric was damn near impossible to find in person and thus you must order it online...The popular vote was to get your fabric for $6.98/yard via Warehouse Fabrics.


This is the pattern I picked out from their site that I loved the most:



Traditions Black & White Damask


By the time you factor in tax and shipping costs, the fabric was going to end up costing me an arm and a leg!
So I thought it was about time I find a use for etsy...Since I seem to be the only bride who isn't obsessed with that site!

A quick search on that site, and lo and behold, SEVERAL sellers willing to custom make my table runners in the black and white traditions damask fabric with a fuchsia border!
Some of the sellers were reasonably priced...Others were a bit more extravagant.

I decided that I should check my local stores to double check that they do not sell damask fabric. And if they do sell it, I need to see the costs per yard...Plus factor into it all of the labor and time on my part...I am quite crafty, but not a great sewer. So I began to wonder if it would be better to have one of these more professional etsy sellers make my runners.


Well, Jon and I had today off from work and we went to Joann's Fabrics to look for our damask fabric (Read: "Jon and I had to do some errands, and since we happened to be near Joann's Fabrics, I brought him in kicking in screaming to find the damask fabric I want.")



I found an extremely similar fabric, but I guess not 100% exact:



But I still love it!

AND it is usually $9.99/yard but was on sale for $6.99/yard!!
My Mom had a coupon that I could use on top of the sale price...But I didn't have the coupon with me. So I decided to just grab 3 yards of the fabric while it was on sale.
And I can play with this and see if I can even make a decent looking table runner or not...If so, then I can go back and buy more fabric. Especially now that I know that it exists.
Also, they didn't have nearly enough fabric in the store today...But the lady said they can order more for me. So that's good.


So for 3 yards of fabric WITH tax (and no shipping, yay!) the total came to $22.81

I don't know the width of the fabric...But I know that it is much wider than the runners will be.
I also am not positive of the table sizes at our venue...So we might need more than 3 yards a runner...Or we might need less. I don't know.

But let's just say hypothetically that 3 yards a runner is what we will need...And the width can be cut in half...So we can make 2 runners out of every 3 yards of fabric (2 runners for $22.81 not counting the cost of the outlining ribbon)

And if 8 people sit at a table and we have 150 guests...That's 18.75 tables. So say 19 tables...Or maybe make that 20 so we have one for the cake table.

And if $22.81 makes 2 runners than we need to divide 20 by 2...Which equals 10

And 10 x $22.81 = $228.10

Sooooo 20 runners will equal about $230...Give or take a few dollars based on possible coupons and ribbon costs.

I don't think that is horrible...The average etsy prices were over $200...

But I guess that is an unnecessary wedding cost...But it totally completes my dream vision.

PLUS when I brought the fabric to show my Grandma, an 87 year old who worked as a seamstress practically her whole life, totally volunteered to make all of my runners.
And my ring bearer pillow and flower girl basket...And whatever other projects I decide to use this fabric for.
So that makes me really excited.

And now I feel like even if any etsy seller could be cheaper, that Gramma might get insulted that I didn't think she would do a good job or something.
I think this will be a great personalization for the wedding. And it will be sentimental that Gramma took so much time to do it for us.

We have a little over 9 months until the wedding...So if we get started soon, she can have a nice relaxed pace and take her time making them...Instead of making her feel rushed and stressed.

So once I get the table measurements from the venue, I should go back and get more fabric while it is on sale...Or make sure they order more for me, so we have plenty of time for it to come in.
Because I can totally see them like discontinuing the fabric or something before I have bought everything I need. And that would suck big time.

Another Favor Idea

I had another favor or dessert idea that will play off my 'black and white' theme nicely.

What if I get Black & White Cookies...And put frosting "H"s on them?!

Of course they have to be the good cookies I am used to from Long Island (my home!) or New York City. None of this Half Moon crap that they make up here in Central NY. :-P

"There is some confusion as to the origin of the black-and-white cookie and the sometimes synonymous name Half-Moon. The name Half-Moon is common in Upstate New York and New England. In New York City, however, one will find only Black and Whites. However, while the two names are often used interchangeably, there may actually be considerable differences between the two, most notably in the textures of the base and the icing.

Half-Moons originated in Utica, New York at the famous Hemstrought's Bakery in the early part of the 20th century. Half-Moons most often come with a chocolate cake base, dark fudge icing on one side and sugary white frosting for the "half moon" side.

Black and Whites have a drier, cookie-like base and fondant frosting."

So in conclusion, Half Moons are more cakey with regular cake type frosting on them...And Black & Whites have harder frosting and are way more delicious! :)

That is a Black & White (Sooooo good!)

This is a Half Moon (Not terrible, but not nearly as good!)

So yeah, just another cute idea for my black/white/and subtle pink idea. :)

Quiz Time!

I thought I would do a little de-stressing with some fun (hopefully fun) wedding-related quizzes! :)



Quiz: Are You a Bridezilla?

Yay! According to this quiz I'm not a Bridezilla (but close)

Find Your Wedding Cake Style

Not my dream cake, but not horrible.

Quiz: Which Wedding Colors Best Suit Your Style?

Yay! It says, "Fuchsia!" Hehe

Wedding Hairstyle Quiz - Wedding Quiz - What's Your Best Bridal Hairstyle - By TheKnot.com

I wish it would have shown a picture or two to go with my result.

Quiz: What kind of groom is he?

OK...I guess that's not a bad result.

Honeymoon Quiz - Honeymoon Quiz - What's Your Ideal Honeymoon - By TheKnot.com

WORKS FOR ME! :)

Escort Card Holders & Table Linens

Remember my love for the Blume Bud Escort Card Holders?

I found some more pictures of other brides using them...And it makes me love them even more!

They are so elegant and classy, right?

I just haven't totally decided what kind of flower (or lucky bamboo) I would put in each vase.

Of course the down side is, I don't know how many times they can be re-used. Like say, a mini picture frame holding the escort card can then be used again to hold a picture.

Especially since I am in love with the photo booth idea again.

I had talked myself out of it for a while...But am loving it again. (Especially since they have had them at 2 of the bridal shows I have been to...And now I'm in love with them again!)

On another note...I have made a mock-up of how I am pretty sure I want my table linens to look:

I didn't really draw the chair covers in...But white chairs kind of gives you the illusion of white chair covers.

With fuchsia chair sashes and bows.

And a black table cloth with white napkins.

And the black and white damask table runner outlined in fuchsia.

And then of course some kind of centerpiece that incorporates fuchsia.

I think I did well not making the hot pink the sole color.

I didn't even use shades of pink like I could have.

I am totally trying to go more sophisticated and elegant than sweet 16.

Hence why my original thought of hot pink napkins have been replaced with white napkins.

PS Try not to mock my mock-up! I made it in about 5 seconds in Paint! :-P

Weekend Update!

Friday Night my cousin, and one of my bridesmaids, came up from Staten Island for a visit. On Saturday, my Gramma, my Mom, my cousin, another bridesmaid, and I went to 4 different dress shops (would have been 5 but they changed their hours, so we got their after they closed). My 3'rd Bridesmaid came down with the flu and couldn't come...And my sister (my MOH) had to work and only made it to one of the stores.

I have narrowed down my favorite Bridesmaid Dresses to two top choices.

I hadn't really planned on trying any gowns on for myself. But while we were at the shops, I tried a couple on.

I now have a better idea of what looks good and bad for my body and height.

I also now know that if the dress doesn't have very much sparkle or bling...I apparently don't like it on me.

I tried on some styles that I never imagined liking...Such as the Mermaid...And it surprisingly looked good on me.

But I learned that I seem to love the ballgown styles the best. AND not every poofy dress looks like it is eating all 5 feet of me! :) So that's exciting. I just don't know how I am going to be able to pick just ONE dress!!

So we hit up all of the local shops on Saturday that we wanted to accomplish...Minus the 5th that was closed.

My Mom is trying to plan a trip to a big bridal store that is like 2 1/2 hours away. We want to do it before December and snow. She decided that we should give my girls this weekend off from dresses...And plan our trip instead for November 21st. Jon's Mom is going to try to meet us there, too!

On a different note...I went to my third Bridal Show yesterday. I didn't win anything, but it was still fun.

The weather outside was uncharacteristically gorgeous!!

It would have been PERFECT for some outdoor Engagement Photos.

Forget the turning leaf photos, because that is over.

Plus I really wanted Fall Engagement Photos more when I thought our wedding would be in the fall. But now that our wedding is technically the Summer, I don't really care what weather our Engagement Photos are in.

But by the time I got home from the Bridal Show...And would have had Jon and my friend who is taking our pictures, meet me at my parent's house (it was nice and sunny out, and my parent's have a GORGEOUS view!) the sun would have went in.

So we are probably going to end up doing indoor photos at the train station in Utica.

It sounds strange to me...But it is a VERY popular location for wedding photos.

The train station is actually quite beautiful.

And now I have to stress over what to wear in the photographs.

If we ended up doing them outside yesterday, I would have just worn jeans and my black pea coat and maybe a cute scarf.

But for indoor photos, I am thinking I need a cute skirt or dress or something.

OK So maybe need isn't the correct word...Just more like really want.

So hopefully we can get that done this weekend.

Escort Card Holder/Favor Possibility

Originally I wanted some kind of picture frame as the escort card holder. I thought it would be nice to have the escort card holder double as a favor (whether that be the only favor or just an additional favor.) I also thought a picture frame would be cute since we might have a photo booth at the reception too.

I have been trying to find some really cheap mini frames that I could some how decorate to match the theme. Either by wrapping the borders with my fabric or just adding a hot pink flower or something.

But then I came across these:

They are kind of cute, right?

They are definitely escort card holders AND favors.

AND I can get black ones for the guys and pink ones for the girls...And with about 150 of these babies on the escort card table, I think it would make a pretty black and pink and flowery scene.

Of course I don't know what flower to put in the 'vase' (which is actually glass, and not plastic like I thought it was!) I wonder if I can put a tiny bamboo stalk in each 'vase'...Then it can match my {possible}bamboo centerpieces.

Of course, flowers die...Thus the guests will have to throw out their favor eventually...But how long does everyone keep the little knick-knack favors that sit and collect dust anyway?

Of course if we do bamboo, we should probably tie a little note to each vile with instructions for lucky bamboo care...Which can also double as assistance for anyone who takes home the {possible} bamboo centerpiece...Since I was worried people wouldn't know how to care for it (Granted, they could always just Google it.)

So I see that the test tube vase comes with the card holder...But the cards probably don't come with...Which is fine.

Also, on further inspection, the patterns to chose from (which is only on the inside anyway) are: orange chain link, mocha birds, passion pink damask, silver damask, lime slice birds, red burst damask, pretty-n-pink damask, black & white birds, and gold damask.

So I can always get the hot pink damask and the black birds and hope that no one notices the birds. OR I can just get all pink and make the escort cards have my black and white damask pattern with hot pink writing for their names and table numbers.