This is dreamstar's Orange Wedding!

So, once I get on a kick, I can't stop. It happens all the time. My FH is worried that when the wedding is over I'll be bored without anything to plan. He may be right ;)

Today my obsession is orange peacock feathers. Orange Peacock anything. Of course that's super hard to find.

My question:
I want the mens boutonnieres to be a peacock feather arrangement. Who all gets boutonnieres? Groom, Groomsmen, Father of the bride, who else? Grooms dad? Ringbearers?

Should the feathers be incorporated in the boquets or headpieces?

My mom wanted some sort of broach, should I get her a peacock one?
Do I get something similiar for the mother of the groom & stepmom? What about grandmothers?

My centerpieces have feathers in them, which I have to dye to be my colors. Should I also ad peacock in there?

I'm thinking I'm getting crazy... I think I want a variety of everything....
Argh!!!!!!!!!

Any organization to my craziness is much appreciated.

I think once I take a step back & let things flow it will be fine, but I truly don't know who gets what with boutonierres & such.

I'm in love!!! I just bought these gorgeous peacock feathers. I am trying to get more because the place only had 10. I would like to do the mens boutinniers like the 2nd photo, and if I can get these in yellow, I may mix them. I prefer the ones I bought rather than the last 2 pictures, but if I can't get more in this quality, I may incorporate the others. I'm thinking of using them in the boquets as well.

It all started with a dream the other night that I wanted to incorporate a turqouise in our wedding. Well, I'm not going to because I love the originality of just orange & yellow, but I'm so thrilled with these feathers!!!

Any more fun ideas for me girls?

P.S. I found them on ebay, so simply do a search for the color you're looking for, and whatever is available will come up. Make sure you choose the "search stores" option on the side as well

I'll be having a tierra and a veil. I'm known for my long red hair, which I usually curl. I have decided to wear it down because I truly love my hair ;) but I may put a little up like shown in the first.

I must figure out my favorite color red!!!!!! I've had soooo many shades of red. My natural is as shown to the right... shhhhhhh, it is!!!!
LOL, it's actually more like an auborn and stawberry red in the summers, but I haven't seen the 100% natural for like 10 years. So I've put up a few pictures of me & my reds through the last few years :)

Vote which you like!!! , Please.... :)

Update: I've decided I for sure want my hair like the first photo, and I'm still deciding on which red.

:)

Finally! I have found the perfect orange color! My maid of honor (big sister) really wanted a yellow dress, but it was nearly impossible to find the perfect orange and the perfect yellow in any brand. She will have the first pictured dress because it will cover her full figure a little better, and the bridesmaids will have the dress shown in red, although it will be the same orange as pictured in the first dress.

The prices are good & most importantly I love the orange! They are all ordering them within the next month.

Uh oh, now I have to figure out the perfect color red for my hair so that it doesn't clash with the orange ;)

I just splurged and bought these hurricanes that I will use as my centerpiece. I had to buy 13 of them and they were $17 each after shipping. I really didn't want to spend that much, but I had been looking forever for a wrought iron base and they are harder to find than you would imagine. I will put a little piece of foam on the bottom to stick the wispy/glitter/feathery branches I already bought. Then I will fill half way or so with faux crystals.

Do you guys like? I hope I didn't spend too much :( Centerpieces are looking to cost about $30 each total.....
They are taller than I wanted, but should look great in pictures. I may have to buy extra plain wispy branch peices to make them fuller, but we'll see when they come in.

I'm also painting the feathers to match my colors.

Spontaneous me! I bought a dress without ever trying it on or seeing it in person!!! I came across the deal of a lifetime & couldn't pass it up.

I had been looking through bridal magazines & searching for brands I saw that I liked on ebay. So I did an ebay search for Sottero & Midgley because I liked her couture line. Up comes a few dresses, and one completely caught my eye. Looking at it brought me a peace, and it looked like everything I ever pictured since a small girl. It was different than the all lace mermaid look I've been looking for, but staring at it made me so happy. I couldn't find any stores with the dress so I could actually see it or try it on before I bought it.

The dress was an ebay listing that allowed to send your best offer. So I offered a low offer, and the seller accepted!!! I suggest anyone looking for a dress at a great price, try http://stores.ebay.com/Half-Off-Bridal they sell their store samples, but it's odd because my dress is a new style from the designer and is featured in theknot winter 08 Spring 09 isssue, it arrived quickly and in perfect condition, looks like it was never tried on!!! They also had the maggie sottero evita, which I have in a post below.

It arrived yesterday!!!! I'm in love with it and it makes me sooooooooo teary eyed, and I can't believe it's mine. It has made me forget about all other dresses.

My HAUTE COUTURE, lol it says that on the tag. Fun. It needs taken in a few inches so as to hug my curves, but the length is perfect.


I'm in love with my dress!!!

What Your Wedding Colors Say About You
Your natural selection is indicative of your true self and innate style. (expert advice) From Project wedding.com

The colors you choose for your big day reflect your personality and style. You can create a sophisticated environment or a whimsical escape. Colors can influence moods and exude sensuality, coziness, earthiness and youthfulness. With tasteful variations from vibrant to pastel and shimmery to matte, your wedding day colors speak volumes about you and what you hold dear. Whether you choose your favorite colors for your wedding or select hues to complement the current season, we have compiled a list of some wedding color choices and what they say about you.



Black: A conservative choice, black complements almost any color, especially lighter hues. Dignified and mysterious, black denotes sexiness and sophistication with a modern twist. Black is classic, never trendy, alluding to a modern bride. As an opulent choice, black is timelessly elegant.



White: Symbolic of purity and innocence, white has strong connotations of youth and perfection. White aficionados seek excellence and enlightenment, as simplicity and recognition are constant ventures. White is a glorious hue (or lack thereof) that denotes a clean palette or fresh start for those who seek serenity and peace.



Red: A passionate, romantic choice, red is impulsive and outgoing. Depicted as zealous and ambitious, red symbolizes love and rage. Whether it denotes joy, celebration, happiness or prosperity, red elicits a dramatic response from both sides of the emotional spectrum. Red lovers tend to be restless and optimistic and go along with people with uncomplicated natures. A powerful selection, red is sure to represent a fiery hostess with ?look at me? flair.



Pink: A softer, girlish choice, pink is the sweeter side of red. A delicate hue, pink represents a sensitive heart that is affectionate and nurturing. The bride surrounded with pink has a maternal grace and compassion and a desire for protection or shelter. The rosy hue fan may also have a strong personality, but one that is willing to share.



Orange: Spontaneous and daring, brides who choose orange are bold. Because orange is a happy and trendy hue, orange enthusiasts tend to be popular, have excessive energy and are part of a large social circle. From a bright and happy backdrop to an exotic, spicy richness, brides who prefer orange tend to be fearless and curious, with a zest for life.

Yellow: The color of a sunny day, yellow denotes happiness and hope. Exuding warmth and vitality and usually possessing a great sense of humor, people who love yellow have cheerful spirits and optimistic values. You tend to look forward to the future and are intellectual, creative and idealistic. Yellow represents enlightenment and spirituality, lending itself as a great color on your day of matrimony.

Green: Green shades symbolize life, freshness, nature and fertility. A common choice for eco-friendly brides, green shows that you value your health and the environment. A harmonized and balanced color, green is a mixture of warm yellow and cool blue, just like its admirers. A calming and tranquil hue, brides who select green are affectionate, frank and responsible. You seek stability and balance, yet remain fiercely principled and refined.

Blue: Soothing, compassionate and cool, blue is the color of tranquility and royalty. Blue belles are deliberate, introspective, conservative and patient, tending to be sensitive and wise. Serene and cool, blue denotes cautious partners who are faithful but require a calm and harmonious existence. From watery aqua to a deep shade of midnight, blue can be soft and sweet or strong and bold.

Purple: Often associated with both royalty and luxury, purple is a passionate color. Choosing purple symbolizes dignity, tolerance and value. Violet lovers tend to be unconventional and observant, with a multifaceted personality. Tolerant and witty, purple devotees are likely to achieve authoritative positions. From light lavender and lilac buffs, who tend to be charming, witty and cultured, to deep eggplant lovers, who are creative and talented, purple can be provocative or sweet.

Brown: A natural, neutral color of the earth, brown represents wholesomeness and dependability. Symbolizing comfort and contentment, brown represents honesty. Just right for your wedding day, brown is substantial, steady and responsible. From rich chocolate and dark coffee to cream and soft beige, this earthy shade can be intense or pale, dramatic or modest.



The aforementioned color synopses are not strict rules or character definitions, but rather are designed as an indicator of what is important to you. Whether you select a spicy orange to match the falling autumn leaves or a peony pink simply because it is your favorite color, choose what looks and feels good to you. Your natural selection is indicative of your true self and innate style.

Thought I would post a picture of my ring I finally took :)
The proposal was known to be coming as talk of marriage had been in the air for a bit and I knew we'd get married next year. He did surprise me though, and he's very loving & thoughtful! He proposed in July, right before a trip to visit my parents in Arizona. He brought me coffee, got down on his knee, and I cried and laughed thinking he was joking and the ring was fake (I was wondering where he got the money to buy such a big beautiful diamond, so gee, it must be fake, lol but no, it's real, he's just sneaky) We had already bought our house here in sunny California in 2007, so that's been taking all of our money since we bought it. I was starting to think with the expense of a wedding on top of the house, how would we afford a ring too. For my wedding band he wants me to have an eternity band, so that is just going to looks so pretty together!
What a delightful surprise ;) I'm so in love with the greatest man since my dad.........

Oh my,
So my work is cut out for me (again) I've decided against ordering my dress as a replica, and now have to find a new dress. I will be trying them on next week. I hope the stores I go to have a good selection of Pronovias, because thats what I really want, and I found a great online resource for them. But, I've started to be in love with these tiered gowns. I'm excited to see if the dresses look amazing enough on me to help me let go of my Pronovias "hebron" a few posts down.

I am obviously in to lace ;) Crazy about it!

Uh Oh! This is inspiring me to have babies sooner than planned, LOL (4 to 5 years from now is planned ;) )

Thanks to all the other brides who posted this, it's too cute!

Yesterday I was bored and somewhat aimless. I'd spent all day online looking at decoration accessories.
I'm tirelessly looking for the right kind of vase for my centerpieces (see wispy sparkly branches below)

I decided to make a trip to Home Goods, and Voila! There at the front was the most perfect cake stand ever!!! It's the black iron look, with dangly chandelier like crystals all around it! (I didn't take off all of the protective coverings) Our reception decor is going to have a black iron influence with crystal accents everywhere.

Then I found a smaller one, that I just had to buy as well, just in case I find a use for it, and also the adorable candle pillar sticks made out of the black iron, with a huge crystal diamond votive holder!!!!!

My whole purchase there was only $70!!! That's a cake stand, 3 diamond votive pillars, 1 small stand, and 1 three diamond votive holder.

These are also things I can use in my home afterwards ;)

I'm in love with them! Everything is going to tie together so wonderfully. Being as the whole event is outdoors, the iron will be "tamed" down and just mix well with the rustic glam feeling I'm going for.

If anyone finds a good deal on vases with a rod iron looking base, or even hurricanes, please let me know! I saw some at Michaels, but wasn't ready to splurge on the price yet. Plus they didn't have the amount I needed :(

Oh!!! I also found the gorgeous crystal Mikasa toasting flutes. I got them for $15 !!!!!!!! They are so beautiful in real life!!!

So as many of us do, I've bounced back and forth with centerpiece ideas. I originally wanted the branchy manzanita tree look with crystals. I've now morphed that because we are incorporating the black rod iron look into the wedding as well. I was playing around on Save-on-Crafts.com, and found this wonderful branchy ensemble! I love them! I am going to incorporate my colors by painting the feathers. First I will practice on other feathers though to see what works best. ;)

I ordered 10 of the 18" and 3 28" ones. I will be looking for a vase with a iron base and I will fill it with some sort of crystal filler.
I'm pretty excited, I love these!

Oh! & they were fairly inexpensive 4.99 for the small & 7.99 for the large ones. Shipping was also very inexpensive & I even ordered my birdcage card holder at the same time.

I ordered this pre-made design from Vista Print & got 100 postcards FREE! I did however, pay to add photos, to have a backside, and to have envelopes. Still, it was only about $20.00 for 100 of these babies! I was too excited to wait for professional pictures, but I so love this as it is! The pictures are meaningful ones to us.
I also ordered FREE matching return address labels that match well.
So, again, many thanks to gratefulbride! She is so wonderful & helpful!

With direction from GratefulBride, I am now in love with Vist Print. I made my own Placecards & bubble stickers! I uploaded my designs, and only had a very minimal fee from VistaPrint.

The back of the placecards have the cute little poem "Ring for a Kiss" You'll have to click on them to get the full effect.

I will replace the ribbon on the bells to be orange, and also tie an orange ribbon on the bubbles.

I purchased 100 bells for a total of $30.00 with shipping & the bubbles I purchased 72 for a whopping deal at appx. 10.00 total!

I love the earthyness of the butterfly on these, but I think I'm going to jazz them up a bit with rhinestones.

So, the path to figuring out bridesmaids dresses has been long and full of many changes. I believe I originally wasn't truly thinking of all of the girls body sizes appropriately. I've been bouncing off many ideas to them, and some would like the dress, some wouldn't. I've taken it in my hands now, to listen to their likes and dislikes, and choose the perfect dress that will compliment my own dress, & will compliment the girls beautifully also.

My sister, the Matron of honor will have yellow, and the other 4 bridesmaids will have orange. I also am having my neice whom is 14 be a flower girl, but since she's older she isn't your typical one. She will also be reading a bible verse during the ceremony. So my neice will have a shorter matching dress as well.

The dresses are Dessy, which have many great dresses

The pictures are poor quality because I had to take a picture of the pictures on the computer (couldn't save or copy) but the house of brides are a better example, but wrong colors :)

I went shopping with the intentions of just seeing what looks good on me... & then I was going to have a dress re-created by one of the China dress makers to my specifications. So, the first time I went shopping for dresses I found this one, and my bridesmaids & neice all fell in love with it. I got butterflies trying it on! Everytime I think of it I have butterflies. The pricetag however makes me naucious, and I even talked them down! With alterations & everything it would cost over $2000 and I just can't afford to do that. I've tried on almost 20 dresses since, and none compare!

The Dress Hunting Continues!!!!!!!!!!! Must stay under $1000

So, I had tons of planning done on my laptop, and silly me didn't have a correct form of backing it up. Sent it in to Best Buy Geek Squad, they returned it with a new motherboard and hardrive. Oh, I'm so sad! Photos, wedding planning, important documents, all of my internet favorites, ALL GONE! I've had to dry my tears and move on. Hope I can recover and re-find some of it.

One of my bridesmaids moms is making my cake & I'm so excited because it is such a sweet thing (literally, lol) for her to do! It's going to save us $$$, and I get a fun cake too! This is the cake we've picked out, except it will be brighter orange & yellow, and the colors will be reversed (2 orange tiers, 1 yellow) The pearl beads will probably also be a glitter looking bead instead too, because I'm not having any pearls in the wedding, just crystals, diamond & glitter ;)
For the inside I think it would be awesome to have orange, yummy!

I've decided to walk down the aisle to our song. I chose this because
it's not really the song I want for our first dance, and I know it will stir my fiance's emotions like crazy. I have included the song in this post. I believe the length of my walk will be a
long one, and am sure once I talk to the owner of the property she can help, but do you think 4 and a half minutes is too long for my wedding walk? If it were up to me I'd make
it longer, lol...... I've listened through the song and think starting it at 1 minute and ending it at 5 minutes 30 seconds will work great. That makes for 4 minutes 30 seconds total.
Does that sound appropriate?

Also are any other brides choosing a non traditional wedding song?
How long are you planning "the walk" to be?

Thanks!

P.S. If you want to listen to the song you'll have to turn off my other
player to the right.

Hello Ladies!
I'm going back in forth with my table covering ideas. I really wanted orange tablecloths. I'm buying my own however, and it seems more expensive to go that route, and the venue already has white for the head table and a few others and I think it would look weird to have a few white and then orange. I found some yellow linens for a great price too, but I really want the main color to be orange, Argh!!!!! so many decisions.

My question though, is if anyone has any pictures they could share with me for inspiration on using ribbon on the tables. Thank you so much!

You must check this out: Funny Father Daughter Dance



I was thinking something non traditional would be wonderful, I LOVE what this bride and her dad pulled off! Not sure if I could get my dad in on choreography though!

I have yet to choose an exact layout of paper lanterns, but they will for sure be a part of our reception decor. There are already pre strung lights, so we can just add the paper lanterns fairly easy. I will be mixing it up between shapes and sizes I think.

So, I've looked online for wedding locations for years. It's always been somewhat of an addiction, even before I was truly planning a wedding. I swear I've looked at a thousand, and gotten quotes on at least a hundred. With all this knowledge I would make a heck of a wedding planner ;).

So a few weeks ago I had showed my fiance THE location. The website for it was outdated by about 6 years, and the pictures on it are poor quality. Something about it seemed enchanting & totally us though. As soon as Tim saw it he said, That's it, book it! And I was like, really? Are you sure? So we scheduled to see it that weekend. It was, and is the one. How exciting! That's how the true full on planning has begun for us, because we have truly reserved a day, and the day is a few months sooner than our original day of our 3rd anniversary, June 5 2009. So now we're to April 18. 2009.

The Location:
It's a 41 acre private horse ranch/estate. Nestled against mountains in Wine Country, CA, the entire property is exclusively ours from Friday morning to Sunday evening. Thats the best part! No hurried timelines or schedules, no curfew, no end to the party if we don't want it. There is a cabin that will sleep 22 of our closest, probably more "partying" friends.

We will be married on a 21,000 sq. ft lawn covered in an oak tree canopy with a backdrop of wildflowers. Our reception will move onto a 3000 sq. ft deck. There are tons of twinkling lights already arrange and hung which is awesome. After hours will be at a fire pit just off the deck & a spa awaiting all whom dare.

It's all BYO so that sort-of cuts down on costs, yet definately makes for more work and planning on my part.

But the most important thing, It's PERFECT! I love it! My fiance loves it, and it will be a wedding weekend for all to enjoy.

The pictures are all pretty old, so the property has changed alot for the better since.

We have yet to book our caterer, but will be doing a BBQ Buffet for our reception dinner. We both love BBQ, and my fiance especially does, so this will really scream out our personalities. We've both never been big fans of a banquet hall sit down dinner sort of reception for ourselves. Our venue is has a rustic feel so the BBQ will also fit right into that. We originally were going to book a bbq caterer that my fiance had while at work in the studios, but now that we're getting married a few hours away, we'll have to look for someone over there. I'm so excited! Our wedding is definately going to be different from any that him or I have ever attended, or our family for that matter!

So, I've purchased a commercial 60 cup coffee maker and a Rival 5 pound chocolate fountain off of ebay so as to save the hundreds of dollars that could possibly be charged from a caterer for the two. I bought the 60 cup coffee maker for $30.00, and the chocolate fountain for $22.00 (total! shipping is included in those prices :) !)
I've found a cool website for liquid chocolate for the fountains so that there is no mess & no fuss when putting it together. You simply poor the chocolate in the fountain withought any preperation. It's $4.25 a pound or so.

http://www.jdfinefoods.com

With my 65-75 guests this shouldn't be too hard to pull all of this off. I will be having hired college students at an hourly rate to assist in preparation & such.

These pictures are a large array of all the searching I've been doing to find the perfect idea. I'm still on the fence with what exactly I'll choose, but I'm DIY, and wanting to spend as little as possible. I've thought of putting just one manzanita branch in a tall eiffel vase. I will probably add a splash of my colors throughout as well. Definately love the idea of having a few candles throughout.

I would love my bridesmaids to have Sexy Dresses, short or long, not positive yet. I think we'll hold off on buying them until I have my dress. As for their boquet, I may have them just carry one long stem yellow rose. We'll see. I will probably change my mind many times, isn't that a surprise, lol

Update: I'm starting to think that I wasn 't considering my bridesmaids different shapes and sizes as I was picking styles for them. I just hope I can find a bright orange that will compliment them all. My sister, the matron of honor will be wearing a yellow dress now.

I have always ADORED this bit That Anthony Hopkins says on