This is marta12's Blue Wedding!

I've been away for sooooooooo long. Super busy. We're really aggresively looking for a house, moving my sister into her apartment, also super busy at work.

I haven't done any wedding stuff in about a month (I did buy two magazines to KEEP connected to the wedding world)

Our engagement session is coming up in September and it got me thinking about showing off our pictures.

We are definitely doing a e-session photo book as a guest book. They are easy and cheap to make and I like it much better than the frame with all those signatures around it.

I also want something like a photo room divider or another frame stand in the entrance of the reception for everyone to see all of favorite photos.

The ever famous picture cardbox is another way to display some e-session photos.

Another great idea I've seen on one of my favorite wedding blogs (honeybeeweddings.blogspot.com) is giving a photo frame with e-photo. I would like to do this at either my shower or rehearsal dinner. I've already started getting different frames (damask, vintage oriented) and will put different engagement pictures in them. People will be able to pick their favorite frame/phot combination to take home.

OK now I have to go read and comment on a month worth of blogs.

I am in love with the Alan Pinkus shoes I found the other day (1st photo). They are somewhat expensive (266 US...also its a Australian designer so shipping would be a pretty penny) and i decided i won't be spending $300 on shoes....sooo i have decided to find similar shoes and vintage brooches and make them myself (via a fabulous dye job into blush pink).

I found a similar shoe by touch ups called nona (2nd pic)

when you girls come across similar shoes....and/or vintage brooches that would give me a similar look to the Alan Pinkus shoes can you please keep me in mind.

Thank you much in advance

I saw the first picture when I first started planning the wedding by googling damask wedding. Since then I've googled damask lamps quite frequently with nothing that caught my eye.

Today I went to Target and found these adorable spotlight lamps. They are not quite damask but close enough. I will use them either on the head table or the bar.

I also got two damask picture frames at target.

The lamps are available on Target.com. Do a search for black lamp and then click on college.

We decided from the begining that I would not spend money on personalized stuff...napkinks, cake server set etc....BUT when I saw these matches on SALE at the weddingchannelstore.com for 17.99 (per 100) I couldn't resist! LOL

I ordered 100 with our names, date and a little scroll design that somewhat matches our damask decor. The color is aqua amd a very close match to Tiffany and my other Aqua items.

The matchbooks arrived fast and all look good (yes I checked every single box for imperfections).

I will be personalizing everything else myself in the form of labels, tags etc. But when these arrived I got so excited. It was something about seeing the date of our wedding on these little matchbooks that made me sooo happy.

Once I got into DIYs I can't seem to stop. I really wanted to get my bridesmaids cards that not only have something to do with the wedding but give them a little bit of my personality.

I bought aqua note cards and matching envelopes on ebay. I also got Purse stickers and a Thank you stamp.

I embossed Thank you on the note card.

NOTE ABOUT EMBOSSING: If you are using metalic/shiny paper use a regular ink pad; I've been using Archival Ink in black. If your paper is like linen or notecard paper use the embossing ink. The regular ink gets absorbed by regular paper fast. By the time you pour the powder its pretty dry. On the other hand the embossing ink is a little greasy and stays on top of the paper, however when used on metallic/glossy cardstock and pocketfolds the embossed image easily comes off (its almost like you made a sticker on wax paper)

I added a different purse sticker on each card and rounded the corners with a rounder, possibly my favorite little tool.

I also embossed a damask design on each envelope.

The groomsmen's cards wont be as elaborate because men just don't care about stuff like that.

I've been super busy these days but I still have time for some DIYs. I started and have about 50 finished Take out Candy Boxes for our Candy Table.

I used the packing tape from organize.com and a oval logo (just the middle part from out monogram) to decorate the boxes.

They are a little bigger than I was going to get but they were FREE (from a knottie who changed her mind about them) so I am using them.

The tape goes on fairly easily but it takes a while to get it straight. I did 50 in about 9 hours (not in one sitting).

Hope you girls like, let me know what you think.

I've been on a total shopping rampage. I've bought soo many things in these last few days.

I found these lanters on Amazon.com and loved them. They are 14.95.

I will be hanging them over the bar area.

I might even get some aqua lanters and hang them from the cord of these.

I also got two baskets for the bathroom goodies and damask wall appliques (I posted about the appliques with the direct link yesterday) all on amazon.

I came upon these wall appliques today. They are easy peel and stick on. I bought one for possibly the entry doorway or behind the cake table.

I found one on Amazon.com

and one at Target.com

The come off easy so it wouldn't be a problem with the venue.

In between looking for a house, taking a summer class, being sick and celebrating my last "single' birthday I finally managed to finalize the design of my invitations.

I have not printed anything yet since I haven't ordered my paper...because I don't know how many invitations I need yet.

I bought one tiffany blue metallic pocketfold (its a lot lighter in person, i couldn't take the picture with flash because the paper is metallic and there was a lot of glare) to see how it looks and if the embossing would take to it. I embossed two damask designs on the inside of the pocketfold and added a black background (matte) to the part where I will add the invitation.

For now the invitation and insterts are photoshopped into the photograph so that I can see how the final product will look. They will be printed on white metallic paper. I will post pics once I start printing them but in the mean time let me know what you think.

I'm very happy with the overall look and the design concept. I have to give a BIG shout out to Tammy aka TEMELA808 as I loved her design sooo much I modeled my concept after her invitations! click here to check out TEMELA808's invitation

I've been practically MIA for a week. First of thank you to all you who left me nice messages to get better. I had the worst cold and flu for over a week. I'm much better now.

I haven't done too much wedding planning but I did end up getting the bridesmaid totes this week. I really wanted Victoria's Secret totes, the new ones that came out couple of months ago, but I didn't want to spend $75 per each bag to get them....so I turned to the trusted ebay.

I got 4 VS totes for under $20 each and one baby phat tote for Jr. bridesmaid for $15 bucks.

I can't wait to get the other little nicknacks to put in there.

I definitely am getting coach or dooney wristlets, black pearl necklace and earrings for the main gifts.

I started the summer semester today and we started looking at homes this weekend.

Since I've been sick all weekend I decided to tackle another DIY project.

I painted my I DO letters (3 coats of paint), added a damask stamp detail and rhinestones and voila.

I'm very happy with the way they turned out.

Since I haven't bought my dress yet I have not paid too much mind into what kind of veil I would want. But recently a friend and a fellow bride bought the cutest vintage hat for her wedding...which prompted me to look into veils.

I know I want a short veil (I entertained the idea of a mantilla veil for a while but decided against it since its not really me). There are two styles of veils that are vintage and glamorous...the birdcage and the bubble. The both cover half of the face. The bubble has some tiers in the back.

This seems easy to make so I might be cracking this one as a DIY project...I would hate to spend 100 bucks for a piece of tulle or netting. We shall see. Anyone else made their own?

Here are some of my favorites.

Last week I began my journey onto the fabulous and chic place cards I've been obsessed about. I gave it a try with the card stock and lace I had at home. It turned out ok but most importantly I knew how much cardstock and lace I needed to make my fabulous place cards I found couple of months ago.

Yesterday I began measuring the cardstock and cutting it (using my new paper cutter that I am obsessed about!). I also cut the lace in 4 inch strips. I have to say this was the most tedious and time consuming task! until I got to glueing the lace onto the cards I made. It took me about 2 hours to glue lace to 30 cards.

Here is one finished card. I wanted mine to be a little more square-ish...since I'm doing the whole square Tiffany Box things. So it ties into my theme more :)

I am still debating if they should be hand written or printed. If hand written I can assemble them all now and then later write in the names. If typed on a printer I would have to wait until two weeks before the wedding to assemble the ribbon with the names since that's when I will have a final guest count.

Pros of printing is that they will all look the same. Cons I will have to wait until two weeks before the wedding to finish them.

Pros of hand writing, I can assemble the cards with blank plates now and then just write them in. Cons, its hard to type in the same exact hand writing, height of the letters etc.

OR I can assemble them like this and then print on clear labels...

I'll have to think about this.

I found this picture the other day and absolutely fell in love with the idea. I showed my fiance and he likes it a lot...in his words..."its tight"

So we are combining the sweetheart table with the bridal party table in this unique way. I think its fun, gives us a way to have our own little space and still keeps us together with the bridal party.

The black will be white and the red will be tiffany blue.

What do you think?

I started to order more cardstock paper and I realized I didn't know how much paper I needed. I decided to make a couple of things to see how much paper I would need.

Here is my first try at the place cards I posted about before. That was the only lace I had at home so that obviously will be different and the ribbon will be slimmer.

The size of the cards is 4.5 by 4. The lace is 4 inches. And the ribbon (which is glued to the inside is 8 inches). I still need to buy some rhinestone accents. I used a hot glue gun to attach the lace to the cardstock but I don't like how bumpy it is. Any ideas on what kind of glue would be good to attach the lace to the cardstock?

What do you girls think? (Sorry for the quality, I took them with my blackberry)

Further to my Hpnotiq Matini Singature Drink blog and a fabulous question by sheloves in that blog got me thinking. Do I serve our signature drinks only at the cocktail hour? And if so do I only serve any other drinks or just the signature drinks?

I love Cosmos (my drink of choice) and thought it would be fun to have a martini bar...but I know not everyone likes Martinis since they tend to be rather strong.

I love the idea of a martini bar with a menu of our signature drinks.
Pink Martini for me (coincidence that my name is Marta...I think not)
Blue Martini to match our colors
White Chocolate martini again to match colors

Still have to think of some kind of virgin martini (sans the alcohol) since my fiance does not drink.

Would people be upset if they couldn't get what ever drink they wanted? Will it be a waste to have only signature drinks during cocktail hour?

I need some thoughts, ideas, commens and suggestions!

Callas are one of my favorite flowers. I can't imagine carrying anything else. I want my bouquet to be stunning. I love flowers and I really want something that will take my breath away (I know...how self involved am I!).

I also want the works on my bouquet, a beautiful ribbon preferably tied in the corset style.

One thing I definitely want to incorporate are locket charms. I want to put a picture of my dad who passed away when I was in high school and a picture of my fiance in the charms. I want to keep the ribbon with the lockets as a keepsake and hopefully pass it on to my daughter when I have one.

Are you girls into your bouquets as much as I am into mine?

I'm done with finals!!!!!wooohooo lol anyway I finally started to think about our transportation needs for our wedding day. I recently saw a wedding while driving through the city and saw that the bride and groom's getaway car was a classic red mustang convertible. HOW FUN! I love classic cars! but this would be a MAJOR splurge. It costs $250 per hour (with minumum 6 hours) to get a classic Rolls Royce!

I also like the idea of a Hummer. Modern and Chic!

Who is providing transport for the wedding party to and from the wedding? I was thinking of getting a limo or the ever famous Chicago trolley!

We do have to provide transport for the wedding party from the ceremony to the reception since we'll be driving around for our pictures.

This is one thing I didn't think would be as expensive as it actually is.

I just dropped off my deposit for the ceremony, Sunday I gave the photographer a deposit, wednesday before that a deposit for the makeup artist. In December we gave a deposit for the reception which will include all of our alcohol, food, cake and other sweets.

I had time to sit down right now and tally ALL of my wedding expenses to date. I calculate everything since I want to see how much EVERYTHING will cost us when the day is over. So anything I already bought like cardstock, stamps, glue gun, samples of favors etc. are calculated as well.

I bought quite a bit of stuff the first two months when I got engaged. I got a sample of 12 Something Blue Candles, Crystals for the tables, Thank you cards for the shower (lol I know!) etc.

When I see stuff on sale I can't help but get it. I only have 2 things that I bought thus far that I still don't know if I will use but they fit my theme and were on sale so I got them. I'm curious to know is everyone spending happy or are you waiting for your purchases closer to the wedding.

If you did do some shopping, what are the things you got?

I have been debating the candy bar station for a while because I didn't know how I felt about having ONLY aqua, white and black candy. I have decided that I will line the apothecary jars with aqua, white and black tissue or cardstock paper and fill them with all the candy that we love!

I found a couple of great sites for retro candy! Yes all your (and your guests) childhood favorites! You can buy them by decades! (60s, 70s, 80s!)
Abba Zaba Minis, Bottle Caps, Boston Baked Beans, Bubble Gum Cigars, Chick O Sticks, Chuckles, Cow Tales, Fizzies, Fruit Stripe Gum, Fun Dip, Giant Smarties, Gold Mine Gum, Hot Tamales, Jawbusters, Jolly Rancher Sticks, Jujyfruits, Kits, Laffy Taffy, Licorice Pipes, Mike & Ikes, Now & Laters, Orange Heads, Pixy Stix, Pop Rocks, Razzles, Red Hots, Slap Sticks, Smith Brothers, Snaps, Sugar Daddy Pops, Sweetarts, Wax Lips, Zotz, Atomic Fireballs, Black Taffy, Candy Necklace, Bazooka, Jaw Breakers, Lemon Heads, Root Beer Barrels, Salt Water Taffy, Slo Pokes & Walnettos & more!

Get your retro candy at
www.candycrate.com
www.groovycandies.com
www.nostalgiccandy.com

Another great website for candy is candywarehouse.com. I love it because you can buy the candy in what ever color you want.
www.metrocandy.com offers a great selection. I like this one because if you get the lollipops they come with fun displays old school style!
www.bulkcandystore.com has a great variety of candy as well.

The jars are called Apothecary Jars. Check www.save-on-crafts.com, www.target.com, or ebay.

I've been pondering lately what will be good gifts for our moms. We both love the idea of giving them digital picture frames. We would be able to not only upload wedding photos but also, engagement photos, baby pictures, us through the years. All the pictures are stored in one place.

A lot of the frames can be customized with a cover. Mom's can either have a slideshow of all the photos playing over and over or stop the slideshow at a particular picture and exchange photos as they like. I've seen them cost 100+



What is everyone else doing for parent gifts?

I had my trial with Ms. Sonia today. LOVED HER. LOVED everything about her! She was very cool and nice and definitely knew her stuff.

My inspiration is vintage glamour with a little modern touch a la Ms. Dita Von Teese.

The only thing we didn't really do full on was the airbrush foundation since it was the end of the day and I was already wearing bare minerals when I got to her.

I will be paying for the girls to get their makeup done by Sonia as well.

Following on my previous post, I have a make up trial with Sonia Roselli next week. Sonia is one of the most known wedding makeup artists in Chicago. She's a little pricey but since the dress I chose is cheaper than what I had in the budget I don't feel so bad. Sonia is truly in artist in her profession and she books super fast. I emailed her and she said she just booked the weekend before mine. I'm so excited, I have read only good things about her.

http://soniaroselli.com

Sonia has her own makeup line Sonia Roselli Cosmetics but she also uses cosmetics from Smashbox , Nars, Mac, Cinema Secrets.

The photographer I've been looking at is booked for my date which is a major bummer! So I had to go back to my excel spreadsheet and narrow down my other favorites and the ones that have been recommended by the wedding coordinator.

All of their work is beautiful. I was looking for more of a photojournalistic approach, I want to own my own proofs and copyrights, I want two photographers and at least 10 hours of coverage.

Here are some of my faves, they are priced about the same (all have what I want).

http://www.johnandrewsphotography.com
http://www.briankinyon.com/
http://www.michaelcarrphoto.com/
http://mishamedia.comte
http://www.beckyhillphotography.com/
http://www.jeremylawsonphotography.com

UPDATE: We've decided to go with Becky Hill. We are meeting with her Sunday, the 4th of May. So excited. She'll be doing our engagement pictures as well!!!! UPDATE 2: Contract signed! E-pics in September.

I'm so happy to cross this off my list. I picked a church, called, and set our date. This was one of the things I was putting off. I've had some reservations about a Catholic ceremony because my fiance is not Catholic. But my man is such a trooper. He's totally on board, especially since he knows this is something my mom really wanted.

I will be getting married in the church I attend (when I do) and where I had my confirmation. Its within walking distance from where I currently live (but we're buying a house and it might not be in this area, but that's ok). This is a more liberal Catholic church because they have Latinos, Italians, Philipinos, Polish and Ukranian members so they are not AS strict as some Catholic churches about being a member and interfaith ceremony.

I'm just happy to have the ceremony location set! The church's wedding coordinator was really nice and I talked to one of the priests about my fiances proof of baptism.

We will have to do an interview with two relatives each and attend a pre-cana class. The fee is 550 +175 for the organist. But they have work with their own florist for ceremony decor that's included in the 550.

After my visit to the house of brides and trying out two new styles I haven't considered before I went back online to find more dresses in those styles and I came upon a Sophia Tolli gown (how did I miss it before????) that I think is THE one. Of course I will have to try it on but as soon as I saw it I actually saw myself wearing it. Did anyone else have that happen to them? Did you just know you would look great in a dress you saw before you tried it on? Or did you think that, tried it on and it was a total mess?

I present to you: Skye


Had to delete the photos....found out there might be a close to him lurker!

I ordered these fans from the www.weddingchannelstore.com last week. After a little bit of a order mixup I received all my fans today. They are absolutely adorable. The color is a great Tiffany Blue match. The wooden finish is so smooth and the silk is good quality. Each fan comes in a individual white paper box.

I have to give props to the wedding channel store. I ordered 15 fans (when they were on sale for .99c) and received 5. I called them immediately and they reset my entire order sending me 15 at no additional costs. So now I have 20.

I plan to give them to the bridesmaids and who ever else might be getting ready with us or needs a cool down at the church or limo or whereever. Even with the AC, with emotions running high some people might get hot.

I've been dying to get tix to the Oprah show for Monday since my all time favorite singer Mariah Carey will be on! Well Oprah's people called my sister today and we got the tix.

I'm so psyched! I know I know Not wedding related!

UPDATE: Oprah was great. With my sister's fast thinking we got to sit in the front section. (As we were getting ready to make our way to the back, a lady asked if it was just the two of us, my sister said yes, and we're super fans so can we sit upfront? And of course she was like YES I've been looking for those.) Mariah looked amazing. Oprah was funny (she was sick and I think might have had too much medicine). It was a great show.

I've been DYING to share these! Which one or two do you like the best ladies? Please let me have your vote. I created 19 (all by myself) and now I'm having a hard time chosing.

I made these using MS Publisher 2007. I made custom pages of 2" by 2" and then just added the graphic and text. I downloded the font from a website I got from Ms. Nikki a.k.a. theultimatediyer. The website is http://www.dafont.com. I didn't use any templates. I looked at the monograms I liked and tried to recreate them or give them my own spin. If needed I can take some screenshots and email them to anyone who is interested in my process.

Let me have your favorites! Which row? Column?

Thank you!

After seeing a couple of brides (greatfulbride,
alybrand, kellydave4ever) do a newsletter I decided it might be a great way to communicate with not only the bridal party but also those that are closely connected to the planning process.

I'm pretty happy with it. This first issue is pretty general. A lot of photos and breakdown of bridal party attire, duties etc.

I redacted the text on pages 2 and 3 to post on this board since I haven't asked my bridal party about posting their names on the internet. I basically wrote about what I would need from them and what they will be wearing etc.

I also redacted the vendor info. This is a pretty security-less site. I don't need anyone calling up my vendors to cancel or change things (as it has been known to happen on theknot by classless brides).

You can see the full size pages by clicking on the photos on the left hand side of the blog or click on the tinyurl links below.

http://tinyurl.com/2kzk2y

http://tinyurl.com/339e8q

http://tinyurl.com/2rwt8t

The fun facts game on the back reads
Fun Facts and 6 Degrees of Separation from “Endless Love”
Endless Love was originally recorded by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie
Diana Ross appeared on Diva’s Live featuring Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey sang tribute to Michael Jordan at an All-Star Game in 2003
Michael Jordan is a partial owner of the OneSixty Blue restaurant
OneSixty Blue is next door to HOOPS the Gym, basketball courts
Marta and Dwayne met at HOOPS the Gym


So what do you girls think? Should I add more information?