another trip into the deep dark world of weddings

it is true i still *sometimes* look around at wedding dresses. it wasn't something i found myself doing a whole lot of before i looked for mine so i find it a bit weird that it is something i find myself doing now that the whole wedding thing is over. but never the less there are some really pretty dresses out there. and then there are some really really pretty, really simple and really glad i didn't see this a month before our date dresses out there ... like this one from j.crew.

{j.crew long whitney dress available here}

and while i am sending you to j.crew you might as well click here and here to see a couple other things i adore.

registry bliss

about a week ago mas finally traded in a few of our williams-sonoma gift cards for what was one of the BEST purchases of our lives, a breville juicer. we wavered for a while, as it is a pretty pricey piece of equipment after all and do we really like to juice things? well the answer is an unequivocal YES. i just made a lovely morning treat consisting of - ginger, lime, asian pear and cantaloupe. can i tell you wonderful and splendid the entire experience is? i could try, but i won't do it justice. so if you are looking for things to add to your registry, or just your kitchen arsenal ... click here.

so ....

{from graphic designer yulia brodskaya found via this is glamorous}

it seems as though a lot happened while i was gone. i don't mind, in fact i kind of dig it, but it is crazy. so thank you, and thank you and thank you ... and i would be horribly off if i didn't thank you because you started it all.

needless to say i am back and will get to posting right now ... or at least once i get all my christmas cards out.

sarah perlis on sale

as you may know sarah perlis made our wedding bands which we both LOVE. but something you don't know is that she also made a special little something for me from mas that i was given the night before the big party, a very lovely something that might i add is my only diamond to date?!?!



but back to the original point ... sarah perlis is having an online sale. just enter joy2008 at checkout and you will receive a 25% discount on all items ... i know there are some people on your christmas list that would very much appreciate a little bit of eco-loving jewelry.

the menus

so it is about that time i suppose. now that i have had more than a month to bask in the glory of newlywedom i am ready to start hashing out some of the finer details of the wedding. plus there are some vendor shout outs i would be remiss not to mention.

on to the menu ...
the front and back of the menu - the trees and birds were pressed into the paper with a translucent white ink so they were just visible. i found some martha stewart labels at michael's that came in various shapes which i was a fan of, but unfortunately the adhesive on the back of those labels wasn't the strongest and when they were put out on the tables we had to run around pounding them back on. i think some fell off as they were taken down to dancing, but at that point they had served their purpose and i don't think anyone noticed.



the inside - i had this idea of having two blank pages at the beginning of the menu but that turned out to be a giant waste of paper so the first page was in turn had some text and those blank pages ended up being used for something else a bit more respectable.


the courses - well if you didn't know food is a really big part of the lives mas and i lead, so catering was kind of a big deal. and in a small town it could have gone horribly wrong. however, we worked with laurey and jamie from laurey's catering and were hands down impressed with the quality of food ... it really felt (and tasted) like we were eating at a restaurant. i still can't get over it. i remember talking to laurey a couple of months before the event and she was still fretting over plates. it was awesome. the attention to detail and her unwillingness to sacrifice quality really showed. and the best part ... she was able to source just about everything locally ... yay!

so kudos to laurey's ... the best caterer EVER!!! oh and the inside pictures are taken on one of the cakes stands that micaela from clara french ceramics lovingly made for us.

elizabeth dye

{photo via elizabeth dye}

my wedding was perfect, i mean really perfect. i didn't get to do half of the stuff i had originally planned on doing, but really that was for the best (thank you east side for informing me of that fact). instead of running around like a crazy the week before i was able to enjoy the company of my family and friends who i see very rarely now that i live on the far away coast. anyway on to elizabeth dye ...

if i had the option to change one thing about the wedding it would be my dress. don't get me wrong i absolutely loved my dress and it worked out very well, but honestly i spent way too much on it only to spend way too much in alterations to make it different enough so that i wouldn't feel like a million other brides out there in the world. if i could do it all over again i would take a long weekend, head up to portland (hello my favorite city on the west coast and maybe even in the world) and meet with the most wonderful elizabeth dye. i swing by her blog every once in a while to see what she is up to and i love all of it.

i may be crazy but,

i have always wanted to have scented candles around my ceremony and reception. i don't know where the idea came from, and maybe it is my insane sensitivity to all things smelly, but i am going to purchase these for the bathrooms and tents. have i lost it? i mean really?

{votivo deep clover candle, aka the scent of our wedding, available here}

do i need any more diy projects???

not really, but i do so love them. i saw this image on a desert fete (originally found here) and couldn't help but imagine a bunch of these lovelies hanging from the trees around the ceremony, or maybe scattered about the tables? so many options and all so fabulous.

finally ...

we have done it. we have actually booked our honeymoon tickets. it took a lot of searching and planning and rearranging of schedules, but we figured it all out in the end. and where are we going? ICELAND!!! i cannot wait. with the promise of lagoons, fjords, and fantastic fashions i can hardly contain my excitement. we spent the weekend pouring over travel guides, websites and various other resources to discover this little jem pictured below.


we are hoping to hotel hop a bit but this is at the top of our list and i could see our plan of two nights here turning into three, or four, or maybe a lifetime ...

table trends

emily from once wed has started a new feature that will appear twice a month and will devote itself entirely to the most wonderous and creative tablescapes. she along with other members from the blogging communtiy will create a completely finished tables for $250(or maybe less). and they will try to use as many easily sourced items as possible making it simple for you and me to get the look.


the first table is from chelsea fuss the lovely lady behind {frolic!}. you should just go ahead and click over to once wed right now to see what i am talking about. hurry along it is just fabulous!

escort card love

aren't these amazing and wonderful and just fantastic?!?!

{found on brooklyn bride via parcel post}

we solved our escort card problem long ago, we just aren't going to have them. people are going to be seated as they saunter into dinner. however, i do so love it when people stray from the typical table set up and if i thought i could come up with something like this i would do it in a heartbeat.

oh karl

karl lagerfeld's 2009 for rosa clara. need i say more? found here.

oh what a day

sorry to be off to such a late start, i had a crazy morning. things are back to normal and i am sitting at my computer once again. ohh and look at what i came across.

{inside out champagne glass set available here}

i could see these gracing our tables, but they aren't cheap and i have this feeling that our rental company isn't exactly stocking them. no matter, we aren't even doing a toast so i guess all of the wanting is for nothing. they are very pretty though.

hello fabulous

i saw this picture (really one just a shutter click away) by jenny jimenez over at what junebug loves and it makes me want to toss the dress i have and never look back ...

is that so wrong?

i don't mind if i do

hello cake toppers! thanks to emily over at once wed i now have step by step instructions on how to make the most fantastic cake toppers ever. i am so happy i would say i am giddy.


we aren't having a wedding cake, but instead have acquired four (maybe more) of our favorite cakes, being made by family and friends, that will be served after dinner. the thought of enough critters to top all the cakes was quite enjoyable to me, until i added up the prices of such lovelies. but now i have another option. i am going to venture into the world of crafting one more time and see if i can't concoct a wedding party of sorts out of yarn.

rings

it took us a long time but we have found them and they are perfect. made by the lovely sarah perlis.

the venue

about 18 hours after mas asked me to marry him we started the wedding conversations. the first of which was all about location. we both thought about it for approximately three seconds and at the same time we said "the farm."

{the ceremony will be held on the flat piece of land directly above this little stream}

you see my parents have this lovely little plot of land out in the middle of nowhere north carolina (40 minutes outside of asheville) that we all refer to as the farm. it is no longer a working farm, but when the property was still new to us there were cow grates and barns all over the place.

{dinner to take place on the flat spot below these trees}

sorry these pictures were taken during the end of winter, hence the naked trees. hopefully they will be a bit fuller and loads more colorful at the end of october.

the inspiration board

no, this inspiration board is not of my making. it is one of kathryn's wonders and it is exactly what we are hoping for. (funny since our save the date is actually part of it ... kudos to kathryn's keen eye and amazing board skills)

heading south for the day

i am heading to santa barbara for the day to run a couple of wedding related errands. the first being my dress fitting! and the second being a meeting of the minds with megan from nutmeg press, who is helping me with our menus. i cannot wait for this project, it is going to be fantastic. i have a couple of posts scheduled today with a sneak peek into our upcoming nuptials so stay tuned ...

{after much deliberation i have decided to go the grey and sparkly route for my shoes. this decision was made after having no luck finding these in my size and seeing mas' eyes light up when he saw them. i have these in mind for when my feet give out, which will be earlier rather than later i am sure}

envelopes

here are some sunny day pictures of the inner and outer envelopes.

we decided to forgo calligraphy (gasp!) and instead we just printed everyone's address onto this wonderful cotton backed with an iron-on fusible of sorts. we did our return addresses the same way. also we nixed the button idea that i had originally intended to act as the closure. it was getting ridiculously expensive and time consuming. instead we opted for eyelets. they made it possible to use the string that we used to tie our save the dates and actually weren't all that hard to attach.


the last part of this project was the inner envelope. originally we had planned on designing a letterpress cover of sorts. but it just never happened. i would come up with an idea i liked and mas would be luke warm about it or my mom wouldn't sound excited at all, and vice versa. it got to the point where i was going to have to ask for a rush printing and i decided it would be easier to toss the whole thing out the window ... about two days later we all agreed on an inner envelope and i got to gocco'ing.


and there is where my story about our envelope ends. also did you notice the stamps? my mom found them on usps.com. the image on the stamp is of the smoky mountains of north carolina ... just where we happen to be getting married. good find mom!