WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER!!!!

a picture is really worth a thousand words... need i say anything else?

flower girl dress... CHECK!

tan suits!

So, I do believe michael has agreed to the tan suit.
photo courtesy of a bee!

in love...

well, i hit the jackpot today... while browsing the david's bridal site as I often do to keep me occupied at work, i came across this lovely number.


and found myself a dress to wear for eric and melinda's wedding! :-) The question will be when to bite the bullet and buy the thing... Lucky me, I have a coupon from David's from buying my wedding dress there sooooo score!

off the cuff... link.

I think I may have had my first bridezilla moment yesterday... yes, over CUFF LINKS. Well, I seem to have prematurely "decided" on the cuff links...

When I showed them to Michael he said the most dreaded word in wedding planning history... TACKY. *shudder* THEN the Ryans of the wedding party also said the word... I like to think of this as the "vuldemort" of wedding planning... "he who must not be named.." "that of which we do not speak..." The T work completely and seriously pushes my buttons, in this "case" my beer caps. (ohhh puns) Soooooo this t-work fiasco has prompted me to rethink my decision for my "wedding day surprise" for Michael but, that's a secret... So YET AGAIN Michael (who claims to want NO part in planning the wedding) has made me go back to the drawing board. Yes, made ME go back to the drawing board... he only wants to veto and nix ideas not EVER come up with ANY of this own. YES the capital letters are made to STRESS my ANGER over the WHOLE SITUATION!

Well, etsy to the rescue this time because I DO have ANOTHER idea for cuff links. Michael actually used an exclamation point to respond to the "what about this..." text message which, is like... completely unheard of in Michael land. Mr. Straighasanarrow got EXCITED about something for the wedding... and of all things? CUFF LINKS. Well, here it is...

My little pirate himself has unused treasure all over the house, I can't believe I didn't think of using his coins for things before... BUT we don't want a pirate wedding all bootied out with glass eyes and wooden legs strewn about now do we? Well, I think they are just darling and much less *gasp* "tacky" than the beer caps. And, they got a rise out of the man... so how can I say no? I think I will utilize the maintenance department here at work... soldering or welding these coins to the blank cuff links...

really... FREAKIN' CUFF LINKS.

with this ring...

so, I often say this phrase... but I fell in love with something today...


fingerprint wedding bands!!! from etsy shot fabuluster. If you haven't checked them out I strongly suggest it. Even if it isn't for a wedding band... this would be a fantastic gift for a LOT of occasions! birthday, anniversary, christmas... So, if it so happens that michael does not want to get these, I will most certainly want one any way!

yuengling to the rescue!!!

So, I've been racking my brain for ideas for DIY cufflinks... of course at first I was thinking starfish.

BUT, I understand not EVERYTHING in the wedding can be full of starfish, including mike's groomsmen... So, I went searching. First, I found these...

if you can't tell they are champagne bottles and corks...

Well... then i thought to myself... what do all the groomsmen like... BEER!!!



SO i just ordered blank pairs of cufflinks off of ebay for less than a dollar a pair, and plan to use the furnace here at work to melt some of our resin, pour it in the cap, pop in the cufflink, let cool... BAM cufflinks. Not to mention... THANK YOU YUENGLING for using our wedding colors on your bottle caps... ALSO, for the one and only groomsmen that doesn't drink lager... my very own brother... his very own, custom, one of a kind set of, still matching, champagne of beers, high-life cufflinks!!!


And well, since I ordered 10 pairs of cufflinks and I only need 6 I plan on making some for the ushers as well.

With all these ideas I keep coming up with I'm seeing myself creating an etsy shop after all this wedding planning is done to "showcase" and sell some of my creations!

yes yes... ANOTHER inspiration board...

This one is flower related...

I <3 dahlias, daisies, and roses... and of course STARFISH! So, this board includes.... red flowers for flower inspiration as well as random other colored bouquets with starfish in them... I absolutely adore sugar starfish (the orange/golden bumpy ones) if you look at the bottom right corner there are champagne sugar starfish I hope to find that color... After all, the reason I picked a champagne and red theme was because of the oh so soothing and beautful reds and tans you see in sea shells... I just keep imagining tropical red flower petals on the beach as my wedding colors... who knew red could be so soothing???

wedding party inspiration...

lots of inspiration this week...

notice the lack of continuity with the groomsman's inspiration board... the black and tan debate is still going on... But, i've officially decided that I've decided nothing. haha I love the color combos though! <3 I'm swooning over dress #1.. they are all from the dessy/after six collection... as are the colors of the ties/vests.

hmmm if YOU were a bridesmaid which dress would you pick?!?!

more inspiration...

oh wedding planning... so many ideas! I hope it all comes together. Its hard to imagine some of my ideas in all their glory when they are sitting in the closet in the basement...

i keep trying to put my "theme" into words... so here are a few words for thought...
Sunset, Sand, Champagne.... Now to eleborate... my bm's will be wearing champagne/gold, I will be wearing "soft white." All the flowers will be red. I've been trying to convince michael to wear a linen/tan colored suit but he hasn't been receptive to the idea... It really screws my vision. I don't like black, never really did... but Mike seems to think its the only appropriate color for him to wear... Now how sexy is this?!

Now, I understand its his wedding too and all that crap... but why is this the only thing he has to butt heads with me about? everything else he's just like "yeah that's nice" "i like that" "whatever you want hunny." When it comes to the suits black is what he wants... why? no logical reason... will someone talk some sense into this man?!?! Annnd, the BM dress I fell in love with, I'm no longer in love with... *sigh* This wedding planning thing is a constant "back to the drawing board" process. On the positive end of things... Alice bought me some plain, rather sturdy well constructed flower girl baskets today for $2 a peice. So, the veil that I made and dismantled seems to be a perfect accent! Starfish, pearls and shells... I already have a great idea using tulle and ribbon for the handle... We'll see how that works out.

As far as invites are concerned... I've picked out cardstock and paper as well as envelopes! I'm very excited about my decisions! Thanks to Kristi for showing me the website! It should only cost about $300 dollars for supplies... (estimating 150 invitations) and grossly overestimating the amount of paper and cardstock I need seeing as though i will need extra for placecards and what not... Also, since they are only going to be printed in black, i'm going to use my printer at work... it'll only be about 75 pages (2 invites per page) so I don't even feel bad about it... The color on the invites I will be handstamping with stamps I bought from e-bay for 5 dollars. Oh yes, that 300# includes the envelopes for the save the dates as well. On top of that, I already have a million and 1 address labels... and the RSVP postcards were only 6 dollars from vistaprint... So the total "suite" will cost about $3 (that includes the STD magnets) My lab partner is in for a treat... I want to hand address everything so I'm going to ask her to help out... oddly enough we have REDICULOUSLY similar handwriting... even we can't tell the difference sometimes. So it'll be like cloning myself and cutting the work in half! Phew, invitations were hard... I have like 42 envelope samples... so if I have to send any letters to anyone in the near future and you get a really fancy envelope you know why! Haha

Can I quit my job and become a wedding planner? Ooooo and a florist on the side... *sigh*

Time for shredding!!! Level 3 you get me everytime.

You're my inspiration!!

as some of you may remember... idea board #1


I now present... Idea board #2


a little info on WHY i'm posting this at nearly 4am. Oh dear ICO bribed us 2nd shifters into working a double shift... Yes, bribed us... I'm making time and a half and getting paid for the holida. WOOP WOOP double time and a half. Is it worth it?? We'll see... Its been a very very very long night! I am oh so glad I get to leave at 5am.

This weekend is jam packed... Go home, sleep, wake up, go shopping with Evie, pick Channy up at work, go to philly, celebrate Ms. Milf-of-honor's B-day!!! <3 Sleep in a hotel in Philly, wake up, go home, get ready, go BACK to philly, celebrate mine and Michael's 15 month-a-versary, stay in a different hotel... Flyer's game at noon! What a weekend... Happy Easter everyone!!!

Hairspiration!