This is septemberbride08's Blue Wedding!

Talk about procrastinating! I just bought my garter belt - and I love it!

Purchased on etsy.com

late post - I finally finshed the monogram letters! I glued moss to the letter and then glued hydrangea florets to the letters......a lot of work, but worth it!

Finally my mom and I finished all of the favors!! We are having a garden theme wedding so I saw this great idea on Martha Stewart for favors, but took it a bit further than she did in the show.

I purchased Nests - two types of moss and boxes that would fit the nests. My mom and I spent a long time making these. We did little at a time and finally were able to get all of them done. The final thing to do we had put the almonds in the nests, closed the boxes and wrapped the box with a blue ribbon - we had two different shades of blue and then I labeled each favor with all of our guests names.

~hope you all enjoy~

Alright, so 3 more weeks until the big day - trying to finish last minute details and all...so it's been quite hectic.


the issue of the hour - well it seems The Eccentric Cake Diva thinks that sky blue is the same color as periwinkle. My wedding planner has tried to explain to her that they are not, but she insists they are....hmm........I don't want a periwinkle cake. Yes the photo I have posted is how we want to cake to look with the exception of the PERIWINKLE!!!

So what am I doing? I am going to home depot - getting color swatches and going to NYC to drop them off to her.......man the things we go through to get what we want.......


I am just venting.....thanks for reading!

What is everyone doing about place cards? Are you doing a place card for each person attending or are you going by couples/family?

What are you all assigning your maid of honor/bridesmaids with?

My wedding planner suggested I utilize them for as much as possible? But in all honesty not even sure where to start?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

So I have been toying with the idea of having a 2nd gown (tea-cup length) for the reception. My idea: photos, ceremony, cocktail and 1st hour of reception will be in my beautiful gown. Then once dinner is done, go up to bridal room and change into my 2nd gown and enjoy the remainder of the reception in a comfortable bridal gown (not that my 1st gown will be uncomfortable but it will be heavier and the bustle will most likely be an issue). What is every one else doing? Is anyone doing two gowns??

Input would be great! Thoughts appreciated.....

The picture on the left is the dress I am thinking of it's $130 dollars and I think instead of an ivory satin sash I will buy a sky blue one so I can have some color on the dress.

Hey lovely Brides, so I have two *yes two* maids of honors - they are my two closest and dearest friends and I couldn't just pick one or the other so I gave them both the job.


Well with that said, what is everyone getting their attendants?

Any ideas??

OK, so I have been receiving rsvp's and so far every thing has been good - everyone is responding accordingly. With the exception of 1 member of the family on the groom's side. Some background - this woman came to my bridal shower 2 and a half hours late, she literally showed up with her oldest daughter, ate (more like scarfed down food) and left taking a ton of food with her home! Yes.....a lot of nerve...and I am being 'kind'.

Anyways, this same person who I had put down for 5 people to attend my wedding has responded with 7 people!!! It should be her, her husband and her three daughters - no the daughters need to bring their boyfriends!!!!


Now after the way she disrespected my mother and me at my bridal shower I have very good sense in not inviting he at all, but that is not how I am. Do I tell her that her daughters can't bring their boyfriends?
Hugo and I are paying for most of the wedding and we really can't afford another 2 heads........after I spoke to groom's parents about the whole situation they insisted on paying for the two boyfriends. I explained to them that that was not the point, the point is have some decency and RESPECT!!

Do I let the in-laws pay for these to free-loaders or do I say NO???

Any advice is greatly appreciated.....

Went for my sample appointment with my florist - she was absolutely wonderful. Laurie from Laurelwood Flowers is amazing, she works with your budget and comes up with ways to save you money and makes your wedding breathless.

www.laurelwoodesigns.com

Our wedding invitations were custome made for us - I found this really great website where I have made several purchases for the wedding to purses, it's called - www.etsy.com - their motto "your place to sell & buy everything handmade".

So I got in touch with this artist from Hawaii - Lani Blue Stationary - she was absolutely wonderful, easy to work with and so very flexible and understanding.

If you haven't purchased your invites yet - I highly recommending this website and especially Sandy's (Lani Blue Stationary http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5157072) .

I was searching and searching for the perfect wedding cake - we wanted something that was quirky, unique, different and totally represented who Hugo and I are. We looked through theknot.com, wedding magazins, etc. Anyway.....we found this one on the knot and we loved it. It's so picasso like and well.....it's quirky alright. Now our venue provided our cake.....we went to try the cake vendor's sample and we were not happy at all. So one day Hugo saw they were doing a show on wedding cakes on The Food Network and tivo'd it for me.

So I watched it and found "The Cake Diva" who is out of Manhattan, we loved her so much we immediately booked her. She is giving is a great price and we were able to knock off our price at the venue since they are not providing our cake.

here is the cake diva's website: www.cakediva.com

Some background information.......


Hugo and I met online (match.com)....I dated a couple of guys from the website and was about to give up when I saw Hugo's photo. So...we started to email one another, eventually talking on the phone and going on our first date. The minute I met him I knew he was the one......I know sound very silly. But I felt really good and unlike anything else I had ever known.....so 3 years later.....we are on vacation. I do photography and went on a photography shoot - my father, best friends were there and we went to visit Moab, Utah. For those who never visited Arches National Park, go! It's unlike anything in this world.

I have always dreamed of going to Moab, it was at the top of my list.....so we all made the hike up to Delicate arch. As we reached the top I saw such unbelievable beauty - we waited for the sun to set and I was taking as many photos as possible. Finally the sun was setting and people started to leave - Hugo asked me to walk to the arch, so we did. we stood right below the center of the arch and he got down on one knee and proposed to me! I immediately started to cry and eventually said yes - people were applauding and congratulating us...it was such a special moment.

Now - a year later - we are getting married!

Hugo and I went to visit several locations for our outdoor ceremony and reception. We wanted something outside since we both love the outdoors and it defines who we are. The place I had my heart set on was Willowood Arboretum which unfortunately was booked - so this was the last place we were visiting and fell in love with it.

The outdoor ceremony location is so beautiful, surrounded by horse corrals and mountains, the inside is elegant, classy, clean and the staff are such wonderful people. We knew we wanted to have the wedding there immediately.


We are so happy to have the wedding there - I did speak to a mother's bride who's daughter also got married there and she said she wants her daughter to relive the day because the wedding was absolutely perfect! The staff was wonderful and the price was just right!

If you live in the NJ (Morris County area) and your looking for a place that gives you a bang for your money, check out Flanders Valley -

http://www.flandersvalleyweddings.com

I saw this on "Whose Wedding is it anyway?" and I thought it was such a great idea.

Basically the package includes a poloroid camera, film and the guest book. Book is good for 75 guests (groups/couples) I am purchasing 1 more book to make sure I have enough.

Here is the website:

http://www.adessoalbums.com/weddings.html

I wanted to personalize our wedding a bit more so I decided to buy monogram letters from etsy.com ( http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9443744) I will be hanging these on the glass panel doors of the reception hall.


I will be decorating them myself - will be using moss and dried flowers. I see a couple of brides on this website have done some pretty amazing DIY letters.

Here are a few:

http://www.weddingbycolor.com/marta12/milestones/4328

http://www.weddingbycolor.com/soontobe/milestones/6591/

I saw this idea in a Martha Stewart Wedding Magazine and absolutely loved it - since we are having a garden theme wedding and our colors are blue, green and ivory this is a perfect idea.

My mother, matron of honor and myself started this project back in March and completed all of them *100 boxes - I purchased the nests from the following website:
http://www.weddingthings.com/product/birds_nest_wedding_favor/wedding_placecard_holders

I purchased boxes to put the nests in from this website:
http://www.efavormart.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1358

Moss: http://www.driedflowersrus.com/sheet-moss-preserved-green-p-215.html

The labels I purchased at a dollar store and printed our names and wedding date and glued them onto the labels.

We will wrap a blue ribbon around the boxes and this is the ribbon we selected: http://www.jkmribbonwarehouse.com/wsheer.html

So after initially picking my wedding gown from a magazine - I decided to go and try it on before I have my dress made for me - To my horror - I hated how I looked in my dress - it was NOT ME! It was very princessy - and 'puffy' and I didn't feel comfortable at all in the dress.

So then I tried on a 2nd dress - a bit better, but not quite what I was looking for then the lady at Klienfields who was helping me asked me to try one more so I did and she had not even zipped it up and I knew this was the dress!! I am sooo excited.....it's beautiful. SO I took photos of it and my aunt is making it for me - few minor changes but I have my own couture dress! :)

So I have gone through several ideas for my hair and already purchased the flowers I will be wearing in my hair - I will be using hydrangeas silk petals in my hair since the hydrangea is my flower - I am most likely going with the 4th (4th picture) hairstyle and the flowers will be like the 5th photo.

It will definitely be up! Since it is the end of summer and will be an outdoor wedding I don't think I can have my hair down since it is quite long and very thick.

I have created this wedding collage to kind of keep myself focused on the items I want for my wedding. So far everything in this collage has been incorporated into the wedding.

My colors are blue, ivory and green - I have been very fortunate to create and get almost everything I have dreamed of for my wedding.

It's a garden theme wedding - throughout the blog I will share my custome made DIY wedding favors, my custome made invitations made by Lani Blue Stationary in Hawaii, my wedding cake made especially for us by the Cake Diva (www.cakediva.com), my photographer - Tiffany Atlas, my DJ - DJ Jose Oliverias personal friend/DJ of Mark Anthony and Jennifer Lopez.

My dress is couture - being made specifically for me.

I hope to inspire and share everything I have learned over the past year with others.

Happy Wedding Planning!