THE | DRESS

This one is definitely out-of-order... but I couldn't share this information before the wedding in case a certain someone were to see it!  And now I can!

THE | DRESS

I wasn't sure what type of silhouette I was going to go with, because while the 1920s calls for a fit & flair or drop waist...  being short & athletically built, this was not the most flattering for my body.  What I would suggest, is if you are planning to go to a David's Bridal, or House of Brides type of place to find your dress, but you have NO idea what kind of dress you want...  go to a boutique as your first stop.

Why?  Because the attention will be 100% on you while you are there and they will actually care enough to help you figure out what looks best on you.  Even if you aren't able to purchase a dress at an upscale boutique, it is worth it to go to one for the experience.

I did end up going to a David's Bridal eventually, and it was exactly what I thought.  A mad house.  Making a reservation is cute, but you will still end up standing there with your mom & bridesmaids & whoever else is along for the ride for a good amount of time before they actually call you to the dressing rooms.  Luckily, my consultant was amazing and grabbed a spot for my guests that was NOT in the dressing room for me to reveal my dresses, because the ones that are in the dressing room just don't give you that glamorous feeling every bride looks forward to.

What I was looking for with my dress:
 - Texture
 - Lace
 - Beading
 - More Texture

While we struck out a few times, I eventually found MY DRESS and it was perfect for my theme & my body type.  It is from the David's Bridal Luxe Collection, Style PWG3511.

Here are some pictures from our big day!

I ended up purchasing a lace bolero jacket from Tulip Bridal to wear during the ceremony.  I would 100% recommend them.  The prices are very affordable and the quality is really great.  I was worried about it being restrictive on my arms, but it actually had a little stretch to it & the ivory color matched my dress perfectly.

They also have a variety of other styles of shrugs and bolero jackets to choose from:

VISIT THEIR WEBSITE!

While I love my dress and am SO happy to have found it - the biggest regret I have for going with David's Bridal is they give away your information... and you will get calls and emails and texts from all kinds of wedding vendors - long after the wedding date.  I thought it would stop after the wedding date, but now I get "congratulations, you've won a newly married package!!!!" voicemails  ... super annoying.

What I would suggest to at least avoid some of them, is to create a temporary wedding email on gmail, or a similar service, to use for things like this.


As for the other items, the veil, the shoes, the garter, etc...

Up next... MY | BRIDAL | ACCESSORIES

TABLE | CARDS

Like almost every other project or piece of stationary for our wedding...  I decided to create, print & cut out the table cards myself to keep our budget down.  The plus, was I got to make sure they were all custom to our theme.  Here's how:

TABLE | CARDS

I used PowerPoint to create my template.  I was able to print out 4 cards per page, which means I could make 200 table cards with 50 sheets of metallic card-stock.  

The easiest way to create a template is to create 4 square outlines, and then put a fold line horizontally down the middle of each square.  The bottom of the square will be the front of the card, the top of the square is the back side.  Anything you want printed on the back should be upside-down.

Here's an example of how ours were laid out:

We thought it would be cute, instead of just having table numbers, to have each table named after a famous person (real or fictional) from the 1920s.

Our table names were:

 - Great Gatsby

 - Daisy Buchanan

 - Al Capone

 - Roxy Hart

 - Velma Kelly

 - Bob Fosse

 - Louis Armstrong

 - Nucky Thompson

 - Arnold Rothstein

 - John Dillinger

 - Charlie Chaplin

 - Josephine Baker

Annnd finally, using my favorite 3-in-1 Swingline paper cutter....

....this is how they ended up once printed & folded:

Next - choosing THE DRESS

MENU | CARDS

This is one of those projects you have to wait to do - luckily it isn't very time consuming so it is easy to get done in the last couple of days.  You will most likely finalize your menu with your caterer or venue once you have your finalized list of attendees.

THE | MENU | CARDS

I used the metallic cardstock from Office Depot (50 sheets for $10) and went with a soft silver tone for the menu cards.  By printing 4 per page, I was able to print 200 cards with only 1 pack.  I used Photoshop to create the design - but you could really just use PowerPoint to create this as well.

I used clipart images to add a little flair to the cards, and organized them by Hors D'Oeuvres, Soup/Salad, Main Entree & Desserts.  I found it was easiest to outline each one with a border, so once it is printed, you know where to cut so each card is even.

Here is how they were made:

1)  First I cut around the entire outside border

2) Next I cut across the inside lines to create 4 cards

3)  In almost no time, I had 200 menu cards ready to go!

Next project to tackle?  THE | NAME | CARDS

THE | PROGRAMS

I went through a couple different versions before I came up with our final program idea.  Like everything else, I wanted it to be fun as well as serving it's purpose.  We had a very set time for our ceremony space, so it was important our guests were on time to get the ceremony started on time... so we put an earlier start time on the invitations (which was advised by our venue).

For our guests who arrived before or by the time given on our invitations - I wanted to make sure they weren't just sitting around bored for 30 min waiting for things to start...  which is why we decided to include a game in our programs!


THE | PROGRAMS


Our programs were made as a kind-of-3-fold arrangement - but the center portion was wider than the 2 side portions so it created a slight overlap when folded.  Here's what the front looked like:

For the back side, we decided to include a THANK YOU for both sets of parents, as well as a quick thank you to all of our guests for coming.  Below this - we included a personalized WORD SEARCH.  We purchased plain black pens in bulk and used one pen to "clasp" each program together so each guest had one to use for the game.

To create your own word search for free online, go to:  http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/WordSearchSetupForm.asp


On the inside, we listed each member of our wedding party on the sides, and the processional / order of events down the center.

All the programs were printed from my own printer, but I found really nice Metallic Cardstock from Office Depot that was $10 for 50 sheets.  We used a champagne colored cardstock for this project - and they really looked sharp!

The final product:

TISSUE | PACKETS

I had also seen something online that I thought was cute, which was to include a tissue packet for each guest.  I decided to use up the rest of my reply card envelopes (4x6 ivory envelopes) for "Emergency Tissue" packets.  I used microsoft word to create labels that said:

FOR USE IN CASE OF:

Extreme Happiness

Makeup/Lipstick Smudges

Chewing Gum Disposal

Cell Phone Screen Cleaning

During back to school times, they sell these in packs of 8 (each pack has approx 10 tissues) for $2.00 at multiple retailers.  They also sell packs at The Dollar Tree too.  We stuffed each envelope with 2 tissues and then sealed the envelope with one of the labels.  These were placed inside each of the programs before clasping the programs with a pen.

Unfortunately I don't have a photo of these.... so you'll just have to imagine how fun they were!  :)



Next item to create...  THE | MENU | CARDS

THE | INVITATIONS

All of the stationary for our wedding, including invitations, programs, menu cards & name cards were designed & printed by me, and then cut, folded & stuffed by me & my family or bridesmaids.  I can't even express how much this helped us to be able to stay in our budget - and make sure that every piece of stationary fit our theme and personalities as well.

THE | INVITATIONS

I used Photoshop to create my documents, but there is a similar program that you can use online for free called PIXLR that can really help out with projects like this.

Most of the items were printed myself using my home laser printer - I only used an outside source for our invitations and went through staples via VistaPrint.  Keep an eye out for online deals for VistaPrint - they usually have 25-40% off on orders and for some products, free matching envelopes!


FOOD | FOR | THOUGHT:

Here's something I've never understood.  What is with the square shaped invitations that seem to get thicker every year... with tissue paper, engraved print and an unnecessary amount of inner envelopes with hand printed calligraphy?  Honestly I feel like this is just an excuse to make brides pay too much money to invite the people they love to come to their wedding.  I think they are beautiful and elegant, don't get me wrong - but I would just rather use that money for a bigger part of my wedding.

According to the US Post Office, you'll incur an additional $0.13 surcharge on one oz. or less envelopes if any one of the following apply:

• It is a square letter
• It contains very rigid items such as wood or metal
• It has clasps, string, buttons, or similar closure devices
• It has an address parallel to the shorter dimension of the letter
• It contains items such as pens that cause the surface to be uneven
• The length divided by height is less than 1.3 or more than 2.5

OUR | DESIGN

OK.  Here is what your guests absolutely need to know:
  - who is getting married to who
  - when the wedding date is
  - what time the ceremony is & the location
  - is there a reception to follow?  when & where
  - RSVP by date & contact person
  - hotel accommodations?
  - RSVP card & stamped return envelope
  - directions  (optional... 99% of people will just use GPS anyways)

What I decided to do was create an 8.5 x 11 image that could be printed on one normal sized sheet of (nice) cardstock paper, with cut lines so each sheet of paper included our invitation information, reply card, hotel information, directions - and even had room for an "attire card" since we encouraged all of our guests to dress to our 1920s theme.

Here's what it looked like:

HOW IT WAS PRINTED

HOW IT WAS CUT OUT

And here's the kicker - because I designed the invitations in thirds - once all the parts were cut out, they all compacted down to fit in a regular, #10 sized envelope... which means only 1 stamp per envelope!  YAY!

You can find "fancy" #10 envelopes at most office supply stores.  I found ours at Office Depot:

I also found "reply card" envelopes from Office depot that fit inside the #10 envelopes.  If you are choosing to do this for your invites, make sure you design the reply card to fit inside the reply card envelope!  They were just plain, ivory colored 4x6" envelopes.

The hardest part was printing each envelope.  However, I was willing to put in the extra work to make them look nice because I knew it was helping us to save money to put towards another part of our wedding.  I created a 4 x 9.25" image using Photoshop, and then only had to change the name & address and then save each one as a separate file.  Once I had them all saved, I selected all the files, went to print and set my paper size as a #10 envelope!  Boom!  Done.

PS - we had so much fun reading through our reply cards!!  I would definitely suggest sending something with personality - we got a ton of compliments from our guests about our invitations.   Here are all the pieces close up!

Next on the list:  THE | PROGRAMS

THE | BACHELORETTE | PARTY

My Maid of Honor / Big Sister did an amazing job with my bachelorette party.  It was exactly what I was looking for!   I wasn't into having an inappropriate, strip-club type of thing ...  I just wanted to have a fun "last night" with my girls, and that's exactly what she gave me!  


THE | BACHELORETTE | PARTY

From the food & drinks to the games & projects, she really made it so fun and memorable... here are some of the details & games that went into making my night a blast!



THE | DRINKS

She planned to have 2 pre-mixed alcoholic drinks available for the girls, as well as supplies to "mix-your-own" on the side.  It worked out amazingly well, simple and super tasty!  (My personal favorite was the Carmel-Apple punch!)

THE | GAMES

I'm not a huge fan of games that make guests feel like they are obligated to play... and my MOH did a perfect job of planning fun games that were simple, easy and fun!

     [scrap | book]

A table was set up with cardstock designed papers, stickers, glue sticks, markers and scissors for each girl to create a personalized scrapbook page.  They could each write a note or funny story for the bride to read another day, and left a space to put a photo of them & the bride from the night!  This was super cute, and the notes from my friends were so heartwarming!  A great keepsake!

(example)

     [drink | ribbons]

Each girl was handed a party bag when they came in which contained a photo frame where they could later place a picture from the night, a pink boa, beaded necklaces and a piece of ribbon.  They each used a sharpie to write their name on the ribbon.  They had to, at least one time in the night, have a drink or shot with the bride-to-be and then tie their ribbon on to the bride's beaded necklace.  A cute way to make sure all the guests have a special "cheers" moment with the bride!

     [toilet | paper | gown]

This was the most "game-like" event that was planned, and I thought it was SO much fun!  It worked out that there were 5 of us that were all engaged ladies - so all 5 of us stood in as the brides, and we were each teamed up with 2 "designers".  Each team was put in a different room and given 7 minutes to create a bridal gown and then (after a fashion show) I got to choose my favorite team as the winners who got a special gift to take home!

     [gift | buzzer]

Super simple.  Super fun.   Just set a timer to go off after a few minutes.  Whoever's gift the bride is opening when it goes off, wins a gift to take home!  Really cute and keeps everyone's attention while opening presents too!

THE | PHOTO | BOOTH

Having a photo booth was so much fun for before the bars!  My Maid of Honor made sure I got a picture with each girl who came, as well as group photos.  We had a backdrop set up on one wall, and set up a digital camera on a tri-pod across the way so we could set self timers to get everyone in!  Most cameras will have a self timer - our camera had a self timer that took 4 consecutive photos to give the feeling of a real photo booth.  The pictures are PRICELESS!!

THANKS AGAIN TO MY BEAUTIFUL & AMAZING MAID OF HONOR!!

Coming up next?

THE | INVITATIONS

WEDDING | SHOWER | DECOR [Part 2]

Here is where I started to really have fun with our decor!  I wanted to personalize everything I could to make sure our shower was fun and memorable for our guests.

WEDDING | SHOWER | DECOR  [Part 2]

I have a background in graphic design - so I decided to design the table cards, table numbers, dessert signs, and hanging banner for the head table myself.  Many of these were very simple and easy for anyone to do.  Here's what I came up with!

TABLE | CARDS

We had about 50+ guests who RSVP'd for our shower, so to make things easier we decided to do assigned tables.  I had the idea to create a template on VistaPrint where I could have them all printed out the same, and then write in each guests name and specific table.  VistaPrint has Folded Business Cards that worked perfectly for this project (250pc for $14.99).  I used the front of the card for the guest name/table number - and then used the bottom of each card to give each guest useful information about our upcoming wedding that they could store in their wallet!  Here's what they looked like:

TABLE | NUMBERS

Using the Dollar Tree once again, I found small black and gold photo frames that I thought would be cute to display the table numbers.  Then all I had to do was print out each table number to fit the frame.  (If you create the documents as a photo/JPEG, when you go to print them, it should give you a size option of 8x10, 3x5, etc)  Here's what we used:

 

SWEET | TABLE 

When we sent out the invitations, we encouraged any of our guests who were up for it, to bake and bring their favorite baked dessert (cookies, brownies, etc) ...which was a great excuse to use those Pinterest recipes we all save!  I printed out cards for people to write down what the dessert was and who baked it.  I also had a "Candy Bar" as part of the desserts.  We purchased different glass serving dishes from .. where else ..  the Dollar Tree and bulk candy from Sams Club.  The Dollar Tree has really cute tuxedo take-home boxes that come in packs of 10 for a dollar... and were PERFECT for the candy bar!

Here is a close up of some of the signs we made!  We just used card-stock so they were sturdy and stood on their own  (If you create a square image and only create the text/image on the bottom half, once you print it out, cut it in the square shape and then fold it in half to create a free-standing sign)

MR | MRS | HANGING | BANNER

I thought the idea of hanging a banner in front of the head table was a cute idea - and figured... why not make my own!  SO easy to do... you can even do this using microsoft word or powerpoint!  I added a chevron design to the background and in a bold font, typed out one letter from the sign.  I chose to do M R & M R S because it has a lot of the same letters and is short & sweet.  All I had to do was make 1 M, 1 R, 1 & and 1 S.  Just print the M and R pages twice (cardstock is best for durability).  Using a hole punch, punch a circle in the top 2 corners of each page.  Take ribbon or string to tie them together in the correct order.  boom.  done!

WEDDING | PARTY | SIGNS

I wanted our bridal party to feel special - since they were the ones who helped plan, decorate and were doing the brunt work when it came to opening the gifts, keeping track of which guest brought them, and packing them up to be taken home...

So I made them all signs to put up at their tables so everyone would know who they were!   ...these also came in handy for cute group photos!

Our shower was amazing and I still can't thank everyone enough for their help, for attending and for all their generous gifts!  :)


Hmmm... what next.  Oh, right...

THE | BACHELORETTE | PARTY