Bridal Party Swag: The Bridesmaids!

Up next, the bridesmaids’ gifts!  I seriously, seriously had to stop myself from buying bridesmaids gifts on a regular basis.  It is a small miracle that I stopped here.  It seemed I was constantly running into amazing bargains for off-season goodies.  But thankfully I did stop eventually, because nothing else would have fit into the gift bags!  So here’s what the girls got:

(1) their big gift: monogrammed white cashmere scarves from Land’s End.  My only regret is that I didn’t get one for me!

Ok, I admit this isn't the exact scarf but you get the idea. Click image for source.

(2) Christmas candles from Crabtree and Evelyn. (sorry, no photo for this one…)

(3) Amber bath oil and bath salts from the Body Shop. (I’m a bad blogger and didn’t get a photo of this one either)

(4) Flip flops that went with their bridesmaids dresses, in chocolate, for the reception (hey, cute shoes are generally painful shoes, so I made sure there was a plan B!)

Old navy flip flops- affordable, basic, perfect.

(5) “Bridesmaids Survival Kits” which were a combination of (a) handmade cosmetic bags in Amy Butler fabrics which I had custom made by Woodly Creations; (b) gingerbread lip gloss from Philosophy; (c) tiny “love” sewing kits, bandaids for feet, tylenol, safety pins, and shout wipes.  I was a girl scout after all- gotta “be prepared”!

As an added bonus, these matched the gowns so well that many of the maids used them as clutches on the wedding day!

(6) Vintage handkerchiefs, wrapped with a poem on the back about friendship (I’m a cheeseball, I know, but apparently my ladies are too because they loved them).

You can find great vintage hankies on ebay!

(7) Little scrapbook-thank you notes, which contain photos of me and each bridesmaid through the years, and have a little note from me at the end.  These were such a hit, and there are so many cost effective ways one could re-create this project.  I highly recommend it!

I loved how each scrapbook was different!

The finished gift!

And of course, a Christmas ornament. To top it off, I tied pretty bows on the gift bags- and followed Beyonce’s advice, since I like them, and put a ring on it!  (I had to buy a package of faux rings at the craft store for the ring bearer’s pillow, and I had some extras so I used them to bling things up).  To my surprise, these also turned out to be a hit- everyone was wearing them!

ba-ling!

I hope they liked them as much as I enjoyed making them!

Bridal Party Swag: The Groomsmen

Like most couples, J. and I wanted to give our bridal party members a little something to say “thank you” for being a part of our day.  And though I had created some cute Christmas ornaments for everyone, I couldn’t just stop there.  But the problem for us was that so many of our guy-friends are already married, and also our groomsmen are not all the same age (I have a 16 year old brother) so the traditional beer mugs or T shirts didn’t really fit- or had been done already.  So J. and I shopped around and found some other goodies for everyone.  Ultimately, we decided to give everyone a few fun things- things we thought everyone would like- instead of just one big gift.  And personally, I think they came out great.  Here’s the goods:

(1) Monogrammed silver cufflinks from Groom Stand to wear with their tuxes (J. once received these at a wedding and loved them, so we decided to gift them too).  The guys really loved them!

I love the art deco font on these.

(2) Shaving supplies from The Art of Shaving (This was hands down, the thing everyone was most excited about- to my pleasant surprise!  These little kits retail for $25, and inside is a $25 gift card for the store where the guys can go buy more!)

We went the fragrance-free route, just in case anyone has sensitive skin.

(3) A good book (this isn’t the exact book, but it’s close enough)

Perfect for hotel room reading.

(4) And socks for those tuxes.  Of course for the socks, I had to get some DIY action in, so I took basic black socks (check your dollar store for inexpensive ones) and put belly-bands on them.  I also added labels that say “In Case Anyone Gets Cold Feet…” which is not an original idea, but it did turn out cute!  Now, the groomsmen were maybe less excited about these than me, but they did wear them!

The stars of the show- special socks.

Detail shot!

Everything was wrapped in gold paper with green ribbon, and placed in white gift bags purchased at Paper Mart in bulk.  To dress up the bags and help us keep them straight, I wrote each person’s name on their bag using rub-on transfer letters in gold.  And some green tissue completed the look.

The whole gift!

What would you give your groomsmen?

Bridal Party Swag: Christmas Ornaments!

How on earth can one have a Christmas wedding without Christmas ornaments?  Not possible, I tell you.  So early in the planning process, I started the research to figure out how I’d make some for our bridal party gifts.  Initially I thought I would purchase and decorate plain ornaments but in April, they were somewhat difficult to find.  But you know what isn’t hard to find?  Christmas clearance at Crate and Barrel, and CB2!  Pottery Barn also had some cute sale ornaments, but CB2 definitely had the most affordable options- the only concern was making sure I purchased something with a vintage enough vibe.

So when I stumbled upon these blown glass cuties at CB2 for $.50 apiece, I immediately snapped up 30 of them.  And to my surprise, the arrived individually packaged in perfect square boxes!  So I got to work getting them gift-ready.  I ordered green paint pens and coordinating ribbon from JoAnne , and then I wrote our names and the dates on each piece, adding a heart later after deciding it needed a heart.  It was not as easy as it looks to use paint pens on ornaments… but the great thing about paint pens is that you can use a wet paper towel to wipe off paint and then re-do it if you have to.  And so 5 nights and two cramped hands later, we had these!

I love how cute the scrolled decoration is!

While the ornaments had originally come wrapped in plastic, I decided to re-wrap them in coordinating green tissue, and then I placed them back in their boxes.  But that wasn’t good enough for me.  Oh no, it was April and I was not yet oversaturated with “wedding” so I kept going.  I wrapped the boxes in gold paper (from the Christmas Tree shop, where I bought 10 rolls for $1.99 apiece!) and used green ribbon (purchased on clearance from Michael’s for $1 per roll), and sealed the ribbon using a white embossed sticker with our monogram.

Ta-Da!

So the total cost for this project, even with shipping costs and gift wrap, came in at about $30 for 30 ornaments.  Which was perfect, since we still wanted to give other goodies to our bridal party.  Stay tuned to see what they got!!

I Said “Yes” To A Dress; But “No” To Many More

Even though I ultimately LOVED my Platinum for Priscilla gown, I also loved some other gowns along the way (not as much, but enough to merit some lovin’).  And I think its worth a trip down memory lane to look at some dress porn!  I tried all these on, by the way (and then some).   

I had no real set of criteria for my dress other than a vintage feel- mostly just things I knew I didn’t want.  No pickups or pillowy poufs, no sleeves, nothing to summery.  The one exception to my lack of criteria was that I wanted a train- a fabulous, glorious train!  I had a general idea too of what I wanted to spend, but the truth is that I had plenty of money in savings, and I was willing to spent whatever it took to get that princess feeling for this one day.   Yep, I was a stereotypical east coast bride and I’m not ashamed.

So I went high end.  This is not budget friendly stuff, my friends.  But even if you’re not going to spend loads of money, I highly recommend you go try some of these fancy dresses on, because there are plenty of lower-end designers who copy these looks so you can always find a good substitute if you like a dress.  And in the higher-end salons, you get treated so well, its a lovely experience.   (PS all images link to their source).

I honestly thought this Jenny Yoo might be the one when I saw it! I've seen nothing like it before or after. But it might have been too simple for me.

 Classic Priscilla of Boston.  However, short me + extreme mermaid skirt = sad.

This Amsale dress is so Jackie-O, I just loved it! But I was nervous that the assymetry was too trendy.

Amsale had so many simple, elegant dresses, and I loved the brooch detailing on this dress! But I found even more brooch goodness in the dress I ultimately chose.

Classic Monique Lhuillier- romance, whimsy, just lovely. I could have had fun with that sash too! But this dress has been done so many times, and I wanted something different.

Rivini art deco magic- but just a little predictable for me?

But just stop and appreciate the pleating and detail in the train. And that back. Swoon!

I fell in love with Rivini because they do some seriously gorgeous trains. This dress could have been the one too!

Merry Christmas!

Wow, time really does fly!  I can’t believe it is Christmas- our first Christmas together!  This is our first official family Christmas card, made using an engagement photo taken by the lovely Jessica Morrisy, which was then designed into this amazing card by Erin of Lucky Me!  (And PS, sorry to all involved for the necessary but unattractive redaction!)  J. and I are lucky indeed.  To have found each other, to have such an abundance of good in our lives, and to have so many wonderful people to celebrate it all with. 

I wish you the best of the season and all the joy that goes with it!  Merry Christmas! See you again Monday!

Planning Timeline Template

One thing I hear from vendors and fellow wedding enthusiasts, again and again, is that I’m an organized bride.  I suppose its true, I do tend to get a bit neurotic with my lists and spreadsheets.  I’m a lawyer, so staying organized is part of what helps me do my job- it has always come easy for me.  Given that we planned our wedding with an eight-month timeline, and most people I know usually have 18 months to two years, I feel extra good about how J. and I planned it all.  And one of the best tools I had in the process was my timeline.

I absolutely abhorred the timelines I found on various wedding websites, like the Knot (sorry Knot, I love you for other things!)  They have good tools, especially if you don’t want to make your own lists.  But frankly, using their timeline made me feel insecure about our wedding.  Sometimes those websites suggest that you do certain things on a different schedule than might be appropriate for you.  And of course, they always suggest things like “have an engagement party” or “start getting your facials 6 months out,” neither of which applied to us.  Why should I feel guilty or embarrassed if I decide not to start my facials, um, ever?  Or if I choose my bridesmaids dresses before the date they claim I should?  Nope, that wasn’t going to work for me.

So I found a perfect compromise.  I looked at the tasks from various sites and used those lists to make my own timeline.  I even organized my tasks by month.  This helped me stay focused, and avoid feeling overwhelmed, because I knew everything would get done at the right time.  It looked like a lot at first, but once I sorted tasks by month, I felt much better.  I allowed the timeline to be dynamic, so it could evolve with the planning.  And it always made me feel extra-good when I finished a task early!

Because this timeline has served me so well and been shared already with friend-brides, I thought I would post it here for all to use.  Feel free to take what you want and leave what you don’t- after all, you should be able to do that for any element of your wedding!  Oh, and, I saved this as a google document so that I could access it from anywhere–I recommend that too.

Our Winter Wonderland Wedding: Getting Ready Pro Pics

I’m still sifting through all the amazing candid shots taken by family and friends so I can give my loyal and wonderful readers real recaps, but until then, get thee to Jessica Morrisy’s blog and check out the getting ready highlights!  Our photographer rocks my world, and this is why.  Why are you still reading this?  Go!

(image by Jessica Morrisy)

A Mad Men Breakfast (Without Booze & Cigs)

So next, I began thinking about how to design the actual invite.  I originally had considered victorian postcards, but then I had an “ah-ha” moment.  I love the show Mad Men.  Everyone else I know does too.  So why not try to go with a vintage breakfast advertisement-theme?  So I ran some google searches and found this

Circa 1954, from A&P

Hello Perfection!  Others I liked included this (Sanka ad), this (sheets ad) and this (mildy disturbing and yet somehow hilarious Chase and Sandborn ad):

Sanka, circa 1960

Pacific Sheets, from the same era

Well, it WAS the age of repression, I think?

Ultimately, however, the first ad won out, so I did a little photoshopping and viola!  Our breakfast invite was born!

Thank you Photoshop and Vista Print!

 Would you incorporate Mad Men inspiration into your wedding?

I’m a Mrs! And I’m Not Home!

Peace out! 

the lodge lobby

the relaxation room at Reflections Spa, fancy pants

Restaurant Latour

(images link to their source)

Here We Go!

December 19, 2009

Well, this is it.  My last post as an unmarried woman.  I am rarely a woman of few words, but today words just don’t do justice, so rather than make a feeble attempt I’m just going to bask in the glow of all the goodness.  And on that note, I will leave you with a portion of one of my favorite poems (which just so happens to be in our program too!)  J., I can’t wait to see you at the end of that aisle…

xoxo,

Sarah

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart
i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)
ee cummings

image by Jessica Morrisy