Mother of the Bride Dress

Hey everyone, I had a pretty productive day today. I am following my knot.com task check list to stay on top of all the things that need to be done for this wedding. The next up on the list was to finalize the DJ and to buy the ceremony decorations. Check and Check. My big brother Johnathan is going to be our DJ for the reception. This is turning out to be a family effort and I am really appreciative of all the help.

I also talked to my godmother the other day and she will be doing my hair and she also offered to do my make-up. I am really happy about that. She is excellent. There are only 3 people that I really trust to do my hair, my mother, my cousin and my godmother. For whatever reason, I have had bad experiences going to hairdressers. But, anyway that is settled now.

Now for the ultimate wedding saving thing that happened today. My mother has been looking for her dress for the wedding and hadn't found the one yet. Until today. Well, my aunt really found it for her. Here is a picture of the dress. Take a look at it and try and guess how much she paid for it.

Wait for it...wait for it. $30.00. Yup a similar dress was at David's Bridal for over $200.00 and my aunt found this dress for $30.00. Super happy for my mom. It is perfect and its a light fabric, perfect for a summer wedding and its absolutely beautiful. If you know how to shop and take the time to find what you need in the price range you are comfortable with, you can find just about anything within your price range.  

Lesson for today, my aunts are probably the best shoppers that I know. LOL. Well that's it for today. Save those pennies and bargain shop. Its actually really fun. 

Custom Made

Hey everybody. The time is really flying. I am getting more and more excited with every passing day. I have been really reflective on my life lately. It is about to change dramatically in the next 104 day. A little over 3 months from now I will be a wife. Crazy. But anyway, there is a lot to do in a little bit of time.

I posted a while ago in my "Something Old" post that I planned on wearing a pair of earrings that I found in my grandmother's jewelry box. They are very simple, classic and chic. I mean, I would expect nothing less from my grandmother. But, I wanted to have something unique to go with the earrings. One of my best friends and bridesmaids started a jewelry making business. She makes very beautiful and unique jewelry. She has a store on Etsy, check it out when you get a chance. http://www.etsy.com/people/zoereflections?ref=pr_profile Her pieces are very pretty. We brainstormed this weekend and came up with a design that I love and I can't wait to see the completed piece. Not only will this be very unique and I am sure nobody will have the same necklace, but it is also very cost effective, because I actually let her know what my budget was, and we came up with something that could be made within that budget. If you are a bride trying to save some money, you may want to play around with this kind of idea for your wedding jewelry. Maybe look around in your mother or grandmother's jewelry box instead of spending $50-$100 or more on new jewelry, you will have something sentimental and cost effective. Or, if you are crafty, try finding a design you always wanted to try and make it yourself. You never know what you will come up with.

Ok, my ribbon theme has really taken off. Here is kind of an inspiration board of all the things I plan on doing with ribbon. I found a great price on ribbon on papermart.com 100 yards for $3.00. I will definitely need a lot of it by the time this wedding is over. But anyway, invitations, seating cards, wedding programs and a greetings tree for the reception (words of encouragement for us as a new couple and/or date night suggestions). After this semester is over, I will be knee deep in DIY projects regarding lots of ribbon. The biggest one being my ribbon wands from the last post.

    

Side note: I am really enjoying this warm weather that we are having here in Pittsburgh. It makes me smile when I don't have to wear a jacket somewhere. Well, I hope you find something to smile about. Brides, remember what this is all about. The wedding is one day, but the marriage is for a lifetime. I refuse to let myself stress about things that will only matter for a day. I am a perfectionist, but if some of these projects don't turn out exactly like I want, ehhh, things will turn out beautifully no matter if its perfect or not. That has to be my attitude. Most important thing is I love John.

Have a great evening and save those pennies.

Wedding Theme - Ribbon in the Sky

So, I have been telling everyone that the theme of our wedding is kind ribbon in the skyish. I think I am going to make it official and just go ahead and make this the theme. The invitations, place cards and ceremony programs will all have swirls on them (the ribbon part), the colors are skyesque (blue and silver). The song is sort of old school which both me and John love, so I think it serves the purpose. Not to mention, the words to the song are really powerful.

The main reason I settled on this idea today was because I was looking for an alternative to bubbles, rice and glitter to "send us off" when we leave the church. I was looking through the blogosphere and came across this cute little DIY project called "Ribbon Wands". I think they are really cute and easy to make (I probably need about 500 of them LOL). Which is why the bubbles idea wasn't very ideal anymore. I would have to buy 500 containers of bubbles for the ceremony attendants. Yup, you read that right, our ceremony attendants list is nearing 500. CRAZY. Still gonna rattle around some ideas, but I think this one is really cute and I won't need to be super DIY bride to make it happen. It also popped out to me because the project was displayed in our wedding colors.



Here I am saving the DIY instruction link for future use: http://thetwips.com/blog/diy-ideas/ribbon-in-the-sky-diy/

                                               

I think this is very pretty and classic looking. Falling more in love with the idea with every google search.

Anyway, does anybody have any other ideas on how to incorporate the "Ribbon in the Sky" theme into our wedding. I am looking for a cute way to ask people to give marriage advice at our reception. Have a wonderful day and save those pennies.