Additional Favors

Some days I am having the hardest time letting go of wedding things we can't afford.
To stick to our budget I have given up a lot of things that I would love to have for our wedding.
Don't get me wrong, I love the things we are having and I am very excited for our wedding!

But if money was no option, I could think of a million more things I would buy.

For example, no matter how much I talk myself out of it, I keep coming back to wanting a Candy/Dessert Station.

I have even tried to figure out a cheaper way around it, by incorporating an additional favor that has candy in it...Instead of a full out Candy Buffet.

But come on, how cute would a table full of just hot pink, black, and white candies look?!


I even found this poem for if I decide on having Jordan Almonds:

"Five sugared almond for each guest to eat: that symbolizes that life is both bitter and sweet: five wishes for the new husband and wife: health, wealth, happiness, children and long life.""



I found a lot of cute pink, white, and black individual candies that would make up an adorable buffet table. I also found several mixed pink and white candies...And even some pink, black, and white candies all in one!
I cannot post pictures of all of the individual candies I found, so here are just some candy buffet photos:


Pink Candy Buffet




Black & White Candy Buffet




Hot Pink & Black Candy Buffet


I am also still addicted to the idea of having pretzels dipped in dark chocolate, white chocolate, and pink sprinkles...And then attaching a note that says "Thank you for helping us Tie The Knot!"


I guess that's pretty much it for now.

Just 55 Days to go! :)

Uber Quick Updates!

Only 185 Days left! :)

Here are a few really quick updates.

Saturday was our appointment for our Wedding Invitations...And it went really well. She is going to make up a couple of designs for us to chose from.

Then on Sunday we met with the Priest. We were so comfortable with him that we decided on having a mass. We were originally just going to have a non-mass ceremony...And I am actually very very excited about our special wedding ceremony and mass!

Last night we met with a different florist...And I am absolutely in love with this man! He is just so fabulous!

And he gave us a good enough price that we can actually afford to have flowers in our centerpieces! So we no longer have to go with the flower-less centerpieces.

I am sooooo excited for this florist!

Now I think that we have every vendor we need booked!! OMG!

The only thing left to book is our Hawaii Honeymoon!! :)

I am finally way more excited than stressed for this wedding now!

Once we have our honeymoon situated and booked, there really won't even be too much to worry about or do for a couple of weeks at least.

The biggest things I still need to decide on:

• What linens I want
• Escort cards and escort card holders
• More Favors in addition to the photo booth favors
• Location of the Rehearsal Dinner

Then there are just little decisions like what songs to play during the reception...What readings to have during the ceremony...Etc.

Either way, I think I get to start relaxing a bit now...And then I'll stress again as the wedding gets closer.

All I know is that I am soooo uber excited!!

Only 6 Months & 4 More Days left to go!! :)

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.

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. :)

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.

More Color Inspiration

More about the black and white Damask/Paisley/Brocade patterns and splashes of hot pink wedding theme idea...

So I was thinking that instead of my girls wearing the pattern as a dress...They can wear solid hot pink and my MOH can wear solid black.

Or the girls wear solid hot pink with a black bow/ribbon/sash and my MOH wears solid black with a hot pink sash/ribbon/bow.

Since I do definitely want uniformity with my girls, I still always figured (and probably have mentioned a few times) that my MOH's dress will be slightly different. And this might be a good compromise since my sister really doesn't want to wear pink.

I originally figured they would all have the same dress style and color, and the top of the dress would just differ slightly (ie, strapless, halter, tank, etc.) so that the MOH could be easily distinguished from the other girls.

But the exact same gown on all of them, with the opposite color is another idea that I think I will run with.

I never really cared for the idea of say all the girls in dark purple and the MOH in light purple, for example.

But black with pink and pink with black, I'm liking that idea...

I mean obviously if my girls look horrible in pink, I will choose something else.

And then of course the hassle will begin to try to find a dress that will flatter all of them.

But right now, back to my wedding color ideas.

FLOWER GIRL DRESS!!! :)

I know I used to always say I didn't want anyone wearing black or white to my wedding...Black is for a funeral and white is just for the bride...But look how classy this looks:

So elegant!

Such classic beauty!

So now of course I have to rethink my wedding cake idea.

To something more like...

That. Only I would want all of the tiers to have that same pattern that is shown on the 2'nd and 4th tier...The white background with the black pattern. And then I guess the bottom of each tier could have an (edible) hot pink ribbon going around it.

More Wedding Ideas

I usually severely dislike Table Number Cards...But these are cute!

Truly Cut Out For Each Other Heart Shaped Cookie Cutter Favor!

Precious Moments

Flowers and Flourishes

Zoe

And it already has a "J & C" :)

Misc. Wedding Ideas

Despite the fact that we definitely do not have a flower girl for our wedding yet...That totally doesn't keep me from looking up cute flower girl dresses!

I think I want my flower girl to wear a dress in the color scheme. Or even very similar to my maids' dresses.

I have seen absolutely precious miniature brides' dresses...Usually you will have a miniature bride in place of a flower girl, but I suppose you can have one in addition to.
Either way, I have no need for a miniature bride at my wedding.
Don't get me wrong, the last wedding I was at had the brides' daughter be a miniature bride and she was simply breathtaking! She matched her mommy's tiara and hair and gown!
But Jon nor myself have any children of our own that we will need to incorporate into our wedding.


Anyway, here is a beauty by my Love (Alfred Angelo):



Fuchsia





Gorgeous Hairstyle!


Shot Glass Favors


Wedding Chocolate Oreos!!



Tie the KNOT!



More 'criss-cross' wedding cakes for me to swoon over!

Lucky Bamboo Favors & Centerpieces

The site where that cute favor came from has tons of customization options! You can chose from 1, 2, or 3 bamboo sticks. And you can change the color of the rocks and marbles in the vase, as well as add gold, silver, or red metallic ties to the bamboo sticks.
I saw these and thought that they would make adorable favors, but I would prefer that there was some personalization...Maybe the vase could have our names and wedding date in-scripted on it.

Well they do offer a personalized tag:


Of course, this favor sure is simple enough that I could make it myself.
But sometimes the ready made favors actually come out cheaper than buying all the pieces yourself and putting them together.

I never really thought that I would do too much DIY wedding stuff. I just always assumed I would whip out my credit card and then deal with paying everything off later.
Of course, I love crafts, and I consider myself quite crafty. So I would probably have a ton of fun doing some DIY wedding projects.

As long as I obviously start them all enough in advance that I can get everything done without getting stressed and rushed.

I wonder if I could just find some twisty stalks to tie together and make them look like hearts, cheaper than buying the ready-made heart stalks.


With that being said, here are some more favors and centerpieces that I found:


So sweet!




Source


I never thought of using them as Escort Card Holders!





Source


I try to like them straight or curly, but can't help but love the hearts the best!



5 tier tower!



Cute!



Flirtatious




Pink Roses




Source


So after all of this research I just learned that there are several different kinds of bamboo...Some have leaves and some have flowers.


This is called Lotus Bamboo