This is ashleyw44's Pink Wedding!

So, finally after all these months on this site I am posting pictures of my ring. No, i didn't just get it I've had it since the day we were engaged I'm just slow about uploading my own pictures. There it is... it's perfect and he picked it out all by himself. I still find myself staring at months after receiving it.

35 days until the wedding. David's bridal has been giving me the run around about my dress. Hopefully, I will actually be able to have my fitting today as planned! Hope everyone else is doing well with their planning!

I know someone posted on here a few months back about getting a logo bride and groom tailored to look like you but I can't find the post! I really want to get a set for Adam's cake, he'll love it, he's such a child at heart. Can anyone help me find where to get them??


Thanks!

Hey ladies, i need your help. I have been searching for the pockets for programs that you see in the picture but I still have yet to find them. I am getting to be on a time crunch with 6 weeks till the wedding! I was hoping that someone out there has seen these for sale online or in a store and could point me in the right direction. Thanks so much for any suggestions.

Engagement pics were so much fun! We were in a hurry though, it was freezing! We were going to go to another location and I had lots of ideas for pictures I wanted but the wind was blowing and our noses were turning red. You can't necessarily tell but between pictures we were huddling for warmth. Anyway, I loved it so much that I wish I had an excuse to do it every year!

I need help ladies! I can't for the life of me decide how to word our wedding invitations. I have been searching and searching and I just haven't found the perfect thing yet. There are some really horrible ideas out there too! I have the wording other than the intro. I need a really sweet verse to stick at the top before the parent's names. Any ideas?!?!
I have to mail them out this week!!

Please help me!!

So, I have been working on invitations but I have hit a few snags in the road! First of all, I am making them myself and I can be a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to things like this. I finally decided how I was going to do them and set out to buy all of the materials. THe store that I bought my paper at only had half of what I needed in one of the papers. They said it would be a few weeks before it was in and they would call me, but it has been a month and I hadn't heard a thing. So, yesterday I called the store and they tell me that they don't have any in and they don't plan to get any again. I was shocked! They told me that the ordering lady would be in today so I could call back and talk to her. Instead, I went to the store and gave the lady the sad puppy dog eyes and fortunately they are ordering it now!! Whew!! They are going to call when it comes in (at least they better!!) and it should only be a week or two, so that should still allow me to get them out by my goal of the beginning of April. The other stressful part is the fact that we want to include an engagement pic as part of the invite... but we haven't taken the pics yet!! We are planning to have them done soon, I am just anxiously watching the trees and grass for some color so we can get out there and take the green, springy pics I have always wanted. HOpefully, that will happen soon so that we can get them out as planned!! Ahhh!!!

79 days... I really need to get cracking. By the way... still no decision on flowers...

Some days I just have to make myself stop thinking about wedding stuff and all the planning and I find myself thinking about the honeymoon instead. It is much more relaxing to think about!!

Adam and I discussed many different options for our honeymoon from Europe to Alaskan cruises to a cabin in the woods even to Beijing! Our friends and family think of us as world travelers which pleases me greatly but we are letting them down for our honeymoon. We met in Japan and have traveled to Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand together. We each have done some other traveling before meeting each other: Australia, New Zealand and China for him, South Africa, Namibia, Mexico and Belize for me. Although our traveling expeditions are far from over, we decided to have a simple, quiet, (English) honeymoon. We are going to Portland!!! I am so excited about it! I have wanted to go to Portland for years and now I am finally going! I have heard nothing but wonderful things about it, save for the rain, but I love the rain. We are only about 6 hours from Portland here in Boise and it was one of the most enticing things to me about moving to Idaho. We are planning a quiet week there, although we learned that it's the week of the Rose Festival (whatever that is...), but we may make a day trip to the coast for some great seafood and deep sea fishing. We are both really pleased with our decision. Who knows maybe we'll go to Russia for our first year anniversary!

So we have officially decided on a photographer. It's difficult because I don't live in Toronto anymore and certain things about planning a wedding from a distance are stressful. But, we now have a photographer. He does it as a hobby and I feel good about this decision. We are saving a lot of money by using him!

There goes another big check!

With 97 days to go and the reality hitting and the pressure hitting even harder I feel the need to start thinking about my skin and wedding day glow. I need help ladies! I am hoping that someone out there can recommend the perfect skin care routine to me. I'm talking great face wash, moisturizer, spa treatments etc. I am stepping up my water intake so that one I've got covered. I also saw somewhere that if you eat fish twice a day for the week before the wedding your skin will be beautiful! (or just take a fish oil pill for a few months). But I need more ideas!!

Does anyone have any recommendations for things I should start doing now? Also things to do as the big day gets closer???

Incredibly enough, the ring that I ordered Monday night off of the internet came today! I am amazed at the speed!!! I am a little sad that we can't engrave the ring still but I absolutely love it and Adam does too. It's a great color and a good thickness for Adam's hands plus Adam loves the comfort grip. I am so happy to have that checked off the list!!


Speaking of the list... we are in the 2 digits and I am getting a little nervous. My list is absolutely huge!!! 98 days to go and it is starting to feel real... I'm getting married!!

Adam has chosen this wedding band. We are ordering it online so I am a little nervous about the whole thing. He knew he wanted Tungsten. He works with his hands a lot and likes the fact that it is so durable. Plus, he said he likes the weight of the tungsten versus the lightness of titanium rings. I wanted to get it inscribed but you can't do that to tungsten without lasers or a gold inside. The company we are getting it from does not do gold or laser engraving... so maybe someday if I find another way. In the meantime this is it... I hope we still like it after it arrives!! I'll let you know...

I know I need to get my ring up here... it's beautiful... i'll try to get it on here soon!

The choice of my Maid of Honor's dress is done! Another check on the list! Thanks Mandy! I'm excited about this dress. I know lots of other brides on this blog are using this dress, and I know why... it's just so darn cute!

Now... I just need to decide on flowers... eeeee!

I was wondering how many brides out there are writing their own vows. My fiance and I have discussed it and he says that whatever I choose is fine. But, I get the impression that he would rather not write them. So I don't know what to do.

Who is writing their own vows? Are you pulling it off the top of your head or what resources do you have to help you? How does your fiance feel about this??? Are you writing the vows as a couple and saying the same ones or are you writing them individually and keeping it a secret?

I need some help making this decision!

Another adventure from my wedding planning weekend was the cake. Before I flew home my mom had found someone that we thought we were going to go with, we just needed to talk some more. Unfortunately, after talking to him we felt that the cake was going to be a little more than we wanted to pay... although it would be delicious! So, we looked elsewhere. We found one woman who we think is going to do the cake for us.

At the moment, it looks like we're going to have a 3 tier round cake. I personally like square cakes but we're having a small wedding so I don't know that we need that much cake, plus i'm not sure this woman does square ones. I guess it's something we could ask. Anyway, one tier will probably be white cake with raspberry filling. Another may be chocolate cake with cherry filling and the third may be a white cake with a lemon filling. I'm not sure yet, but i'll let you know when we decide.

As for decoration, we're not having any. It's going to be white icing (no fondant!) and have the not perfect look to it. We are going to put a Silver monogrammed C (which i'm still looking for) on either the top of the second tier. Then we will have various shades of pink flowers/petals on the cake. Also... we may do some ribbon, i like that look but we haven't decided.

So, I have returned from my very busy wedding weekend planning. I feel pretty good about it but I also wish we could have done more. We spoke with 2 bakers, 3 florists, 1 photographer, as well as bought centerpiece supplies (diy) and lots of other little things. I finally got to see the wedding site and I really liked it. I would say I loved it but It was under about half a foot of snow and then 2 inches of ice so it was a little difficult to see. I am excited about it nonetheless. It was really nice to get the layout figured out in my head, that will help the ideas for decor to come easier.

Anyway, for my first post weekend post: Boutonnières! This is something I hadn't given much thought prior to the weekend but I feel we have decided on and I am very excited!! We are going all green! My fiance has been telling me he doesn't want one, he just thought a colored scarf in his pocket should be good enough. Everyone I have told this to just tells me "no, he needs a boutonnière." So, he's getting one whether he wants one or not. But, it's going to be very small and manly, slightly rugged and all green which I feel will work nicely with the setting. We are going to use lime green berries! I had seen red ones before but I didn't know they had green ones! So, a little bit of berries, maybe a twig of bear grass, something else green and voila we have a beautiful, flowerless bout! I am very excited. I haven't found a good pic online yet but here are two that show berries.

What do you ladies think??

Veils are just so darn expensive! Fortunately for me, my soon to be mother in law has offered to make my veil for me. So that's about $75 to $200 I will be saving! Yippee! I just can't seem to decide what kind I want. She did offer to make a couple so that I could try the different options with my dress... and I may just take her up on that. I have been thinking for awhile now that I want a really long, one-layered veil. I am in love with pictures where the bride and groom are walking along outside and the veil is blowing in the wind. However, i'm a mere 5'1" and I am wondering if that would emphasize my lack of height. I definitely don't want a very poofy veil, I think it will make me feel huge and awkward. So, i'm hunting for the perfect picture that I can show my MIL because she is wanting ideas.

What is everyone else wearing? Long or short? One layer or multiple? Are any other short brides wearing long veils??

This weekend I am finally getting to go home to do some hardcore wedding planning. I have been relying on my mom a lot to do stuff for me and ask the questions since I am too far away. But, now I finally get to be a little more hands on. Hopefully, we'll have the photographer, cake and the florist all nailed down by the time I leave. Also, I finally get to see the park that I'm getting married in!!! No more pictures! Even though it will be covered in snow... at least it's something.

I really need to be productive, and decisive!!! Wish me luck!

Is anyone else planning on using postcards for your R.S.V.P? I am having serious trouble finding some for a reasonable price. I am actually considering making my own but I'm a little hesitant. I am making the invitations but I don't have any ideas for the postcards. I want to be sure that I don't make something that will fall apart in the mailing process. Anyone have ideas?

We are slowly working our way down the MASSIVE list of wedding planning. Last night, we asked our officiant. He said YES! Check! That feels good.

I was hoping everyone could tell me what song they are walking down the aisle to. I am finding this song to be the most stressful one to chose. It's going to be the song that I base the rest of the ceremony around. So, I was hoping to poll ya'll for your ideas!! THANKS!

I have been assuming i would just have a white wedding garter just because I'm not a big fan of the blue ones and I don't care about it so much. But... I'm getting excited about it now. I want something that will get a reaction from my husband-to-be. So, i have been racking my mind for just the right themed garter. I've got a few good ideas. He has so many hobbies and interests though that I am having a hard time picking the perfect one. I'm thinking about either a soccer garter or a spiderman garter. Soccer is his favorite sport and he has a childlike fascination with spiderman! I am kind of leaning towards spiderman because I think he'll laugh and be so surprised went he sees it! I have a hard time keeping secrets from him though so we'll see how this one goes... is anyone else using a fun garter?

Oh I am also considering making one myself so that it will be just what i want! Has anyone made a garter? I need tips!

First thing you need to know is that I am a very indecisive person!!

I have been planning to have pewter bm dresses since shortly after we got engaged. I really don't know why. I have always thought that light colored dresses make a wedding more elegant/classy vs. bright reds and blues that make a wedding more fun and unique. I wanted it to be classy and beautiful. So, I looked at various light colors. But, I am so pale that I decided that it would probably be best if we went with something darker. But, I am trying to stick with the lack of bold color. Pewter won and then I found a picture of flowers in my first post that I just fell in love with! I thought that the pink/coral bouquet would go great with the pewter and add the slight punch of color I felt all weddings should have. However, out of completely nowhere I have been contemplating just doing white and silver as my colors. It's going to be an evening wedding in a park so I feel like the colors are appropriate for the evening and that the park's greens will be a natural color palette. ( I would make my bouquet white but I would include a nice green leafy bit to make it stand out against my dress. ) But I just can't decide. I haven't had to set it in stone yet because it's really all about the flowers and the candy buffet and little other things that we're not in a rush to purchase. But, I know that very soon i'm going to have to make a decision and I am just not sure what to do.

Honestly, i just don't care anymore, I just want to be married. Who cares what colors I use that day? I'm going to be married and that's all I care about!

Anyone have any strong aversions to the pewter/silver white wedding idea? (I actually read on The Knot that platinum weddings are the next brown!)

So... I have been reading about ceremonies and trying to find out about the order of things and what other people include. In my search I found this idea. It's called a Hands Ceremony. Sometimes it's used in lieu of the sand ceremony or unity candle or just as a complimentary part.

Here is an example:
Nancy, please face Joseph, and hold his hands, palms up, so you may see the gift that they are to you.
These are the hands of your best friend, young and strong and vibrant with love, that are holding yours on your wedding day, as he promises to love you all the days of his life.
These are the hands that will work along side yours, as together you build your future, as you laugh and cry, as you share your innermost secrets and dreams.
These are the hands that look so large and strong, yet will be so gentle as he holds your child for the first time.
These are the hands that will work long hours for you and your new family.
These are that hands that will passionately love you and cherish you through the years, for a lifetime of happiness.
These are the hands that will countless times wipe the tears from your eyes: tears of sorrow and tears of joy.
These are the hands that will comfort you in illness, and hold you when fear or grief overwhelm you.
These are the hands that will tenderly lift your chin and brush your cheek as they raise your face to look into his eyes: eyes that are filled completely with his overwhelming love and desire for you.

Joseph, please hold Nancy's hands, palms up, where you may see the gift that they are to you.
These are the hands of your best friend, smooth, young and carefree, that are holding yours on your wedding day, as she promises to love you all the days of her life.
These are the hands that will hold each child in tender love, soothing them through illness and hurt, supporting and encouraging them along the way, and knowing when it is time to let go.
These are the hands that will hold you tight as you struggle through difficult times
These are the hands that will comfort you when you are sick, or console you when you are grieving.
They are the hands that will passionately love you and cherish you through the years, for a lifetime of happiness.
These are the hands that will give you support as she encourages you to chase down your dreams. Together as a team, everything you wish for can be realized.
Bless these hands that you see before you this day. May they always be held by one another. Give them the strength to hold on during the storms of stress and the dark of disillusionment. Keep them tender and gentle as they nurture each other in their wondrous love. Help these hands to continue building a relationship founded in grace, rich in caring, and devoted to reaching for perfection. May Joseph and Nancy see their four hands as healer, protector, shelter and guide.
Give the highest priority to the tenderness, gentleness and kindness that your connection deserves. When frustration, difficulty or fear assail your relationship - as they threatened all relationships at one time or another - remember to focus on what is right between you, not only the part that seems wrong.
In this way, you can ride out the times when clouds hide the face of the sun in your lives - remembering that even if you lose sight of it for a moment, the sun is still there.
And if each of you takes responsibility for the quality of your lives together, your life together will be marked by abundance and delight.
Inasmuch as you have consented together in this ceremony to live in wedlock and have sealed your vows in the presence of this company and by the giving of these rings, it gives me great pleasure to pronounce that you are Husband and Wife.
Congratulations, you may kiss the bride!

Or you can do something like this which has the couple look at eachother's hands at the same time and so it's a little shorter and less repetitive:

As an expression that your hearts are joined together in love - will you please face each other and hold hands, so you may feel the
gift that you are to one another.
These are the hands of your best friend, young and strong and full of love for you, that are holding yours on your wedding day as you
promise to love each other today, tomorrow, and forever.
These are the hands that will work alongside yours as together you build your future.
These are the hands that will passionately love you and cherish you through the years, and with the slightest touch will comfort you
like no other.
These are the hands that will tenderly hold your children.
These are the hands that will help you to hold your family as one.
And lastly, these are the hands that even when wrinkled and aged will still be reaching for yours, still giving you the same unspoken
tenderness with just a touch.

What does everyone think about this? I have never seen it done or spoken with anyone who had seen it.. Any thoughts??

I was wondering what kind of readings or poems everyone else is including in their weddings, either in the programs or having a friend/family member perform it during the ceremony. I have a song i was thinking about including in the wedding... if my friend will sing it. But... I was hoping everyone had some ideas for a reading or poem. And really different song ideas would be great too!

Any suggestions would be great! Thanks! Good luck planning!!!

My niece is only 3 and this will be her third time being a flower girl. She was great at the last two weddings, quite entertaining actually. Let's hope the third time is the best yet!

Has anyone found any reasonably priced flower girl dresses?

I'm not much of a cake person. For me, the only reason we're having one is because I want the pictures of us cutting the cake. It's nice that I don't care about this aspect so much because I care about other aspects way too much! The only thing I know is that I want a monogram cake topper of our last name. I think they are great! I like the ribbons too...

It's a program. It's a fan. No! It's both!!

I am so excited... I just bought my wedding dress! And the best part of the whole thing is that when I went to pay I found out that it is $50 less then I thought I would pay because I ordered it without a train! So... anyone looking to save money on their dress, consider going without a train! I'm so excited! It's so much prettier in person... I completely overlooked the dress at first and even still i don't like the picture with this model.

I may post pictures of me in it later but I'm a little afraid that my groom may see it on here if I do.

Invitations
RSVP postcards
Wedding website
Lantern centerpieces
Boutoneers
Corsages
Bouquets (?)
Programs
Aisle decor
Jar Candle hangers
Front decorations

UPDATE:

I'm not doing any of the flowers, which I feel good about.

Wondering if anyone has any good diets or workout plans that actually work and don't take forever! I want to lose about 20 pounds.

Anyone have any ideas?

So, we have decided to bump our July 11th wedding up to May 30th. I have always wanted a May wedding and the reasons for having it in July are no longer there, plus my fiance was pushing for February...

But, now I feel a little bit of pressure. Over the past year I have gained about 15 lbs. and I am anxiously trying to get it back off. Not to mention the fact that I don't have a dress, bridesmaids dress, flowers, photographer, caterer or anything really. Just ideas not put into motion.

I guess it's time to step the workouts and the planning up a notch!

Do i go with brown chairs like in this picture or traditional white?? I don't know!

I really want a candy buffet and I am planning on using that as my favor station. After a little researching about them yesterday I am shocked at how popular they are. I thought they were a relatively new thing emerging in the world of weddings. Anyway, I am a little overwhelmed by it. It's going to cost a whole lot more than I was thinking. So, I am wondering from other brides out there: where are you purchasing your candy? How much are you planning on buying? and how much are you planning to spend??

I also was wondering what size bags and boxes everyone was using for their guests to take candy home in. I found some organza bags for .14 that are 4" by 6". There are other sizes too, but that's the size i am considering.

Cutting corners is for me, so I need help on how to save those pennies on the candy buffet! Thanks in advance!

I am so overwhelmed with the crazy prices for stationary for weddings! Do people really pay for some of these prices?!?! It's just paper!!

Don't get me wrong, I understand that the invitations are the first little taste of your wedding. They set the tone, mood and probably help your guests decide on their attire. But they are so over priced becuase vendors know they can gouge us brides with crazy figures because we want everything to be perfect!

I am so proud of the many brides on here who are planning on trying Do-It-Yourself invitations. I am definitely joining the band wagon.

Anyone out there doing their own invitations that include photos... where are you having them printed??

My fiance and I have decided that our wedding parties will just consist of one person each. We had both wanted three friends but some of his and maybe one of mine will not be able to make it to our wedding. And since i'm not interested in uneven numbers, (and because we can save money on BM bouquets and boutaineers) we are just having one. So, that also means that we will not be including our siblings in the party. I have two brothers who he doesn't know that well, and he has two sisters who I don't know that well but we are still thinking we'd like to recognize our siblings somehow so that they aren't just another person in the crowd. I got the idea to have our siblings walk down in pairs with their husband or wife, each carrying a lantern. THey would either put the lantern along the aisle or up front as part of the decor. Oh, the wedding is outside about 6:30 so it won't yet be dark. My fiance thinks that if we want to include them that we should just include our siblings in the actual wedding party so that everyone isn't wearing different clothes and because he thinks that they will feel like an afterthought and therefore awkward about this role.

I need some suggestions or thoughts on the subject!!!

Oh also, does anyone know of a good place to buy cute cheap lanterns?

I really like this pewter color.

My fiance and I met in Japan. We don't want a themed wedding but we did want a little something at the wedding that more so reminded us of our time spent there and how blessed we are to have found eachother (even if we had to go around the world for it!) This is an idea... but it looks like we'll have to make them and they won't be easy. Any suggestions would be great!

We are still looking at other centerpieces too.

I am in love with this first picture and the color combination and simplicity of it. I also love the aisle idea, but I would definitely change the flowers. Thinking about doing flowers myself, but i'm a little nervous about it. I am also in love with orchids so they will be somewhere just in small quantities due to budget! Does anyone have any ideas for using hydrangeas out side of bouquets?