This is dirtndiamonds's Black Wedding!

So my friend and bridesmaid, Teresa, is expecting another baby next year! She'll be about 5 months along at the wedding. I'm so happy for her! She and her husband made the decision to have another baby just recently, so I knew this was a possibility and I'm just excited for her.

I do have to decide what to do about the dress, though. Should I have a talented seamstress see if she can alter the dress we picked? She'll be about 5 months along at the wedding... Or should we just find a different dress for her entirely? Anyone else had any experience with this who can offer suggestions!?

The dress we chose is shown in the post below...

I feel like I blog 3-5 times on the SAME things. lol. "thinking of dresses" "shopping for dresses" "finding dresses" and finally FINALLY we have a dress.

Here it is, girls! :) I posted it in my last dress post about shopping so it's the same photo. It's the OFFICIAL dress now. I love it and all my girls do, too, so I guess that's what's important! :)

The style: Bill Levkoff #372
Click here to go to House of Brides (where I found the cheapest price)

I'm having the girls pick their own black shoes and I'm planning a little something special for jewelry.

To see this post as it was originally, visit our official blog here.

Hey everyone!
I had a fellow bride who wondered if I had any pointers for designing your own monograms and I thought hey, why don't I blog about it? :)
I have a love for monograms, I don't know why. Perhaps it stems from my love for weddings or just love for design. Mostly I like the idea that you can say something about the couple with just a few simple letters and shapes. I'm not going to be able to give a step-by-step how-to since everyone will be using different programs, etc... I just want to give some pointers and hopefully inspire you. I'm just going to start rambling now, so take what you can from it!

Software
Obviously to create a monogram you will need some sort of software to create it in. I use Photoshop, but unless you have connections or a healthy pocketbook, this might not be an option for you. If you're willing to put a little learning time into it a good alternative is Gimp. It's free to download and use as you will. Other options are Microsoft Word, Powerpoint, etc... Powerpoint will let you move things around a little better and overlap, so many people prefer this to Word for designs.

Fonts
I like to use a combination of simple serif or san-serif fonts and script. I'll call the simple fonts "base" fonts and the script fonts.. well... "script" fonts. Many of my fonts are free and downloaded from dafont.

Base Fonts:
Optimus PrincepsCheboygan
Organic ElementsChocolate BoxThere are many more, those are just some I use often.

Script Fonts:
Stephanie MarieMiama
Scriptina
Black Jack
Mutlu Ornamental
Jellyka, Saint-Andrew's Queen
I'm sure there are more there, also, but those are ones I usually remember to try.
A good site besides dafont.com to try is Fonts for Peas. They have some GREAT handwriting fonts.

Flourishes
Another way to make a monogram unique is to add flourishes to your design, or perhaps just a simple symbol that represents a couple. This can be anything from an ornamental swoosh to swirls to a little feather or heart or house or flower or even just a simple line. I have shared a link for some great resources below.
DeviantArt
- Great place to download free brushes, shapes, etc... especially for Photoshop and Gimp

Techniques
Now here are some basic tips and tricks I use when creating monograms that I think can be useful to brides you wish to design their own. I'll try to show photos when I can, either of previous designs I've done or a sample monogram done for this blog.
1. I like to start by typing either the first letter of the couple's new last name or the initials of their first names. I usually start by making them the same font, etc... and I like to highlight the letters and cycle through some fonts to see what they look like applied to the specific letters.
2. Once I find a font I like (and sometimes I combine both this process and the first) I'll move both letters around to see how they fit into one another. As a general guideline you should put the last name initial in the middle and the individuals on both sides, the brides on the left and groom's on the right. This can be changed if they don't look or sound good that way. For example, if I had done that with our monogram it would have looked a bit like "BS" so I flipped them to read "SB." Consider things like this and how different letters balance each other out.
3. If you have a symbol you would specifically like to add you can do that next. Move it around to see how it looks in different spots. If you don't have a centralized letter, such as the initial of a last name, you can use a small significant graphic or even just an ampersand to add more visual appeal.
4. I like to use a different font for the "and" or ampersand for contrast. Probably my favorite ampersand is from the font "Miama" it's straightforward and yet elegant and isn't too italicized.
5. Use colors to add contrast, as well. Make the "and" either a different color or a more subtle shad of your dominant color. I like to make it 30-50% of my main color.
6. If you have letters that overlap, especially when they are in different colors, it sometimes looks too busy. There are two methods I like to use to make it look cleaner.
- Add a stroke (thick border around your letters) that is the same color as your background (usually white) on the TOP layer. This will give space around it and let it be seen better.
- Intertwine the letters by using an eraser or mask, etc... to make them look like they are wrapping in and out and around each other.
7. Monograms seem to look best to me when they are able to stand on their own. It should be able to look good smack in the middle of a page or at the corner, etc... sometimes if you give it too much imbalance, even if it looks good it could look wrong on things you decide to put the monogram on.
8. Depending on the monogram it may look better if you "close it off" by adding a border around all or part of the design or putting mirrored flourishes on 2 of the sides, etc...

Examples
Please refer to the uploaded images
I hope this blog will be able to help some of you brides out there who are wanting to make their own monogram. If you'd like to talk to me more, feel free to comment or message me. I love talking (especially weddings :D) I'm also always available for custom design work if you don't want to bother with it. If you message me or email me at dirtndiamonds@silverdoves.com I can quote you a price.

Now go out there and make your beautiful monograms like a pro!

-B

I've been excited about making my own garters and I finally sat down to make them last night. They didn't turn out QUITE as awesome as I imagined, but I'm kinda bad about having high expectations for DIY projects, etc... then not being able to live up to them. lol. I originally planned for the black and white one with the thick black lace to be my featured one that I kept, etc... but after I made them I think I like the one with the pink lace better for me to keep. What do you girls think? I'm also thinking of trying a few more. I love this and I'm thinking of making some to sell, too. I just have TERRIBLE seams, so I'd feel bad selling something. lol. So tell me what you think. Also... I'm not sure what embellishments I should add to the black and white one? Here are some relevant links:

My primary resource for the "how-to"
My favorite Garter Shop On Etsy

Garter 1:
Black 1" ribbon (double sided) and lace I found I must have purchased awhile ago. It was a fortuitous find.


Garter 2:
White Satin with black lace and folded black, satin ribbon. Any ideas for embellishment?


Next project up: Flower girl box!

I finished the design and ordered them today. In the end it ended up with a cost of $38.04 for 250 4x6 postcards, including shipping for front in color, back in B/W, UV coating on front. I ordered them from nextdayflyers.com. if anyone's interested

Here's the design we ended up going with. A slightly modified version of my first choice with a matching back in B/W

I FINALLY have something to show for my save-the-dates. I haven't shown the man yet, so it could change in terms of style and pics, but I wanted to show my WBC community what I have so far! The featured picture is probably my favorite, but I'm not sure if it goes with the rest of my wedding "look" since it has so much brown in the tones. Our colors are white and black (and some grey) with light pinks. It is ALSO in a barn so I've been trying to find ways to mix my stark colors with the warm, laid back theme of a barn wedding. I love the whole aged look with letterpress type styles, etc... and that is why I really love this first one. The others are based more on my wedding's elegant look (and one that is a mix of the two)

I would LOVE to hear any suggestions about what I should change, etc... I design these myself so I can change anything I want pretty easily. It's designed to a 5x7 postcard but we'll probably make them 4x6 for postage sake. WEe'll either print cheaply on glossy card stock or (if I can get my way) on linen.

First of all...

My best friend in the whole world got engaged last night!!!!!!!!!

Hopefully we'll all be seeing her on here. I was SO happy he did it while she was visiting so she could celebrate with her family (and me :D) I am WAY excited for them. I expect to be working on wedding stuff for them too.

I also have ANOTHER friend who got engaged on Saturday! They're dropping like flies! :) So that's 2 weddings I'll be involved in and I plan to be helping them. Sigh. It'll be crazy but fun.

So I have DROPPED THE BALL! I have to get going on my DIY projects because there are SO MANY OF THEM!

Here are the ones for which I have all the materials, etc... and just need to do. I'll probably do them after Thanksgiving.

- Save the dates - Design and print
(Hoping to design and order today)
- Garter
- Flower Girl Box

Others that need done soon but I don't have materials for:
- Ring Bearer Box/Chest
- Cupcake Stand
- Shoe buckles
- Hair Fascinator
- Invitations
- Programs
- Menus
- Table Numbers
- Hanging Door Monograms
- Thumb print Tree
- Cake Knife/Server
- Bridesmaids Canvas Totes - Gifts
- Earrings for me and girls
- Hair Fascinators for girls*
- Junior Maids Pomanders*
- Paper Flower Garlands*
- Veil*
- Bathroom Basket
- Guest Welcome Baskets
- Test Treat Bar Snack Recipes
- Cupcake Trial Run
- Flowers for Cupcakes
- Backdrop for Treat Table
- Photo Booth Set

So those are what I'm hoping to do within the next 5+ Months! Not to mention flowers, which is a whole other thing.

Pray for me girls! Once Thanksgiving is over I am DONE being lazy. This also means I will be working out EVERY DAY after the holiday and will be back on my diet.

* are ones that are maybes at this point

Hey! So we went shopping Saturday for dresses. 90% of the time we spent was finding the shops, lol. The boutique I found my bridal gown at had moved and was in a VERY inconvenient place with NO signs. One of the stores (the only one I could find in the area that carries Mori Lee) was having a sample sale on bridal gown and didn't have the bridesmaid dresses out at the time. The couple places we went to we made quick work with four girls trying on like lightning speed. I'm attaching some of the photos of my girls from the day as well as a couple of our favs they tried on. :)

That night we went to see New Moon and it was AWESOME! It worked out SO well and that movie was IN-CRED-I-BLE!!!! :)

It was a great day all in all and I'm so excited to have my BFF here this whole week.

So 5 of my 7 maids and I are going shopping to look at dresses for them on the 21st. I'm SO excited, we are all. I've been waiting for my best friend, the MOH, to come into town so we could do this and so I've had quite a bit of time to shop... :) I've been all over the place online and have so many "maybes" and I'll be glad to get it settled once and for all. So I'm attaching some of my favorites as images on this post. As you can see, many of them I crudely changed the colors to black to match my vision. :)

PS - I want to go into this with as much detail/info as as I can, so if you see one of the photos to the left and it doesn't have the designer/store name as the caption feel free to let me know if you have that info! :) Thanks!

Here are some of my FAV favs big:
[edit: I took off the big pictures since we have already chosen the dress! You can look at the pics on the left to see the ones I liked at the beginning]

Yay! I have some favorites to show you from our engagement session with Kenny! I love them!

<