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I have come up with so many amazing centerpiece ideas in the last two weeks, it is unbelievable. I should be a centerpiece designer/salesperson! I would be rich by now. I have had some really creative and wonderful ideas. But now the problem is that I cannot decide on one that I 100% want to use for my wedding.

I am also trying to be fairly cheap...But still make a totally gorgeous centerpiece.
I know when I go to weddings I am rather critical of the centerpieces. So even though I don't want to go broke over making fabulous centerpieces, I don't want them to look like they came from the dollar store either.


And I have changed my mind for the millionth time. And as of today I have come back to the whole Lucky Bamboo Centerpiece Idea...

I want to document this idea, and then look back on it later and see if I still really like it, or if I change my mind and totally hate it.





Heart-Shaped Lucky Bamboo Stalk...Comes in 10" or 11" for $5 or $6 respectively (without a vase).



I came up with a couple of different ideas...Such as going to the 99Cent Store and getting additional straight stalks to add to the centerpieces (for only $0.78 each!!)
I also thought of adding pretty colored stones or pebbles.
Plus, depending on the width of the vase, I might need to put some kind of stone in the bottom of it to keep the bamboo stalk upright.
And I even thought of adding a water resistant illuminating light to put at the bottom of the vase...And/Or dying the water pink.


But then I found this:





I am pretty sure it is supposed to make the water a sparkly pink color.
And it is only $2.99/pack. AND each pack is good for one gallon of water. I have yet to pick the size vase I want to use, but I cannot imagine it needing a full gallon. So maybe I can figure out how to split one packet among several centerpieces.
The only problem is that I have never actually seen this stuff in person to know what pink color it will really look like or anything.

Maybe I need to order a few things and make a mock-up centerpiece?



Let's see...I think I will want to put it on a mirror. And possibly have 4 votive candles flickering around it...And scatter rose petals or pretty marble thingys on and around the mirror and base of the vase and the votive candles.

I also MIGHT want to (I would really have to see how it looks in person, and also the size and shape of the vase) tie a hot pink ribbon around the vase. Or use a piece of the black and white fabric to tie around the vase and a hot pink ribbon over that.

OR instead of using a mirror I can use a piece of the black and white fabric. And then I wont need to make a table runner like I was considering doing.

Hopefully that isn't getting too pricey. But I bet I can get a lot of those things at Michaels...And I can go each week with a coupon and slowly add pieces. (But not too slowly, in case they run out of something I need.)


Oh, and depending on how everything looks, I might add 1 single pink rose or a stargazer lily to each centerpiece. I really don't know yet...Just tossing out ideas.


I have a big feeling that something that keeps drawing me back to the Lucky Bamboo is how unique it is. I don't think that it is so far fetched that people will walk in to the reception hall and be all "WTF?!"...But at the same time they definitely will not be all, "this is so overused at every wedding!"

I do want a lot of traditional elements at my wedding...But some modern aspects couldn't hurt. Plus, as long as I am consistently keeping it classy, I don't really care what era or genre it is.

PS

Two things just occurred to me.

1) I also need a dress for the Rehearsal Dinner. :)

2) I have to be really careful with getting black and hot pink things...Because I don't want it to look too Sweet 16.

And I want to make sure that nothing looks juvenile. I want to keep everything looking elegant and classy.

So maybe I need to stop looking at party dresses in the Juniors department?

Also, I think that it is good that I am shying away from just pink and black decorations...And focusing a lot more on the black and white with pink accents. I think as long as I keep incorporating the black/white/pink combination, it will keep it classy and less babyish.

Dresses for Me :)

I have been so crazy focused on looking for bridesmaid dresses that I haven't stopped to think about me.

So here goes...I came across a few dresses that might be cute for Engagement Photos (if we ever get any done) and an Engagement Party (if we ever have one.)

Or I can always wear one for my Bachelorette Party.

OH! I also need a dress for my Bridal Shower, too.

Yay for lots of new dress purchases! LMAO! ;)

This dress is pretty much my colors (it is cream, not white) and pattern...Oh and it is currently on sale for only $5.99 Yeah, so I might just have to get it because ummm it is only...$5.99!!

Again, this dress has my colors (well, cream again, not white)...And it is not as cheap as the previous dress, but at $22.80, that's really not too expensive either.

I probably totally need this dress for one of my events...Since it absolutely displays all of my colors! :)

If only this dress had pink instead of red, it would be perfect, too!

There are surprisingly a lot of black/pink, black/white, and even black/white/pink party dresses out there...Which must mean that I picked an 'in' theme for my wedding. Hopefully that is a good thing. I am not going to post every dress I have found...Just a few.

I have been coming across a lot of zebra and cheetah prints in black and white, but I am not really feeling them...At least not to match my theme. Unless I was just going for colors...

...Then something like this could work...

This dress is another possibility, based on colors.

Again, this dress is based on colors.

The thing that is good about this dress, is that it has sleeves that can cover up my shoulder surgery scar...Which is the reason I am considering capped sleeves for my wedding gown.

And then of course, I also wanted a white dress...To play up the whole 'bride' theme.

This dress is cream, but it is oh so cute! And it is only $27.80!

And the Damask Continues...

I went to a Bridal Show with my Grandmother yesterday.

She must have been good luck, because I won one of the drawings!

It was a cake from one of the vendors there.

So nothing helpful for the wedding...But I still won something. :)

My family ate about 1/2 of it last night already. Hehe

I talked to a couple of the cake vendors there and showed them the cake design I drew...And they were all so impressed that I came up with the idea by myself. Go me.

Anyway, I found a guy (not the place I won the cake from) who said he can make the exact cake as I described...And it will supposedly be less than $1,000...Which is fantastic! Because I really thought for all of the intricate details I want, that they would charge me an arm and a leg. So I am really excited about that.

When I told several of the vendors my wedding colors/pattern...They all said how popular that was lately. I don't even know what gave me the idea for that style choice...So I had no idea it was popular.

But I guess it's good that so many other people like the idea too...It shows that I'm not totally crazy with my color and style choices then.

Also, I got to thinking...Instead of just having my MOH wear black with pink trim and the maids wear pink with black trim...Maybe they should all wear black with pink.

Because I got to thinking about flowers.

I want pink bouquets. And against a black dress it will look really sharp and it will really pop nicely I think. But with a pink dress, what kind of flowers could they hold? I guess they could hold pink flowers against their pink dresses, but I feel like it just doesn't 'pop'...You know?

And there is NO way they are holding black flowers!

There is always white flowers with the pink dresses...But I think that I am loving the idea of black dresses with hot pink accents and pink bouquets...And maybe even hot pink shoes!

I still need to find a way to make my MOH stand out.

Unless she is the only one who gets a pink ribbon with the black dress, and the maids just get the black dress without pink...

Or maybe they get pink ribbons and she gets a white ribbon...

Or back to my original idea that they all have the same dress...In this case I guess black with pink trims...And they all have halter tops and she has strapless...Or whatever style they agree on.

Just something subtle to make everyone know she is the MOH, without ruining the uniformity I want.

And now for some fun inspiration:

Guest Book and Pen Set...I can probably make that.

Or Black with white designs.

I am planning on going to a fabric store to look for the exact black & white pattern I want, and then try to make a lot of these things instead of buying them...Hopefully it will save money, but also this way everything will match 110%!! :)

I will probably pick white with black designs, as opposed to black with white...But I can decide better when I see them in person.

And if I was ordering all of these items, the patterns wouldn't be the same and all. So I think for the uniformity that I want to be pretty strict about, I will be forced to have a lot of DIY projects.

Which will be fine, if I can get things figured out and then start the projects soon. So I can do them all nice and calmly over the next 10 or so months. And not be stressed and rushing to do everything like a week before the wedding.

I was thinking of making my own table runners...Jon said I should make my own tablecloths and chair covers too...But come on now, who has THAT kind of time? Even if we have like 10 months until the wedding. LOL

Plus, I don't have a sewing machine. Sooooo, I think that will pose a problem for the big crafty items.

This is a Unity Candle...But I had been thinking about something similar for a centerpiece. Like probably just the middle candle. But it was just an idea I had as an alternative to flowers.

Damask Centerpieces

So I am not sure that the original bamboo centerpiece I designed a little while ago will match my new theme...


So here are a couple of damask centerpiece ideas I came across:



Just picture the yellow in pink.



And this one is in my colors! :)

Damask Flower Girls

It is rather difficult to pick out a Flower Girl dress, when I have no idea who she is going to be, how old she is going to be, or if there will even be one.
But none the less, here are a few possibilities:




Black and White Damask...But no Pink...
(To me it looks more like black and silver, but the website describes it as "Black & Diamond White")


Pink & Black Damask...But no white...


Just Pink & Black Colors...But no pattern...



I am not too crazy about this one...But it DOES fit the Black & White Damask theme...




All 3 found here.

UPDATES!

Update # 1) My "Soon to be Mrs. Hines" hoodie came in yesterday...

Wait, let's take a closer look:

"Williams"..."Hines"...Same thing, right?!

*Sighs*

I wonder if there is a future Mrs. Williams out there, just as upset as I am!

But the invoice that came with the package clearly has "Mrs. Hines" written on it...And when I called Exclusively Weddings to ask them about the mix up, they have "Mrs. Hines" in their records as well...So at least we know this wasn't my mistake.

Anyway, they said I just have to take a picture of the hoodie, email it to them, and they will send me my correct hoodie.

They also said, I can keep the wrong one. LOL

Any Future Mrs. Williams out there need a hoodie?!

I wonder if I can sell it on eBay...Or if I should just wear it as a joke.

Maybe it would go good with my Bridezilla Halloween Costume? LOL

I think a Bridezilla would freak out about a mistake like that.

Ha

Update # 2) I mailed out my "be my Groomsmen/Bridesmaid" cards yesterday. I cannot wait for my girls to get their cards! I am so excited to find out if they will be excited and surprised!! :)

Update # 3) My girls' pink buckets have been sprayed with the silver glitter...And they look AWESOME! :)

They seriously look like they were made that way.

Update # 4) Since I started going to Boot Camp in September, I have gone every single day and have not missed a single class. But I had to miss it last night so we could go to our Daniele's Appointment (which went fantastically!) And I have to miss class AGAIN tonight to go to our Beardslee Appointment. :(

I think I will force myself to wake up early tomorrow morning and go to class, to try to make up for missing two in a row. :(

At least I am still eating healthy, so I HOPEFULLY won't gain any weight.