Wordle

Wordle was recently introduced at our school, and I had a chance to play around with it today and it is AWESOME! I created a "word cloud" for this blog to see what it would come up with and thought the results were pretty neat. It's very indicative of my wedding planning process. I plan on doing this every so often to see how it changes. ENJOY!

Luminaries

With exactly 5 months to go, I've come to realize that one of the worst things about planning a wedding over the course of 11 months is that you have plenty of time to change your mind. With that being said, disregard my post entitled "For the Love of School Supplies." The binder clips are no more. I now have new table numbers that I am very happy with, LUMINARIES! My inspiration came from the following blog post:

http://www.intimateweddings.com/blog/wedding-table-numbers-with-illuminated-numbers-and-monogram-diy-wedding-reception-ideas/

 Being the practical person that I am, my goals were to simplify the method used and not purchase any new material. Here's my project in action:

 1. First, I cut pieces of 8.5" x 11" card stock in half the "hot dog" way, and I folded 3 sections 3.5" long with a 0.5" tab on the end for gluing. The card stock is leftover from the invitations I will be making.

2. I printed out the numbers on the computer and traced them over the card stock leaving an indent, so I knew where to cut.

 3. Using an exacto knife, I cut out the number on each of the 3 panels.

4. I then added some much needed decorations (leftover buttons, obviously!)

5. I then put glue on the tab and glued the luminary into its triangle shape. I found a use for binder clips!

6. Here is the final product. I plan on using tea lights to light them up. I have tea lights leftover from a decorative candle tree that was in the fireplace at our old apartment in South Paris.

Here is my best attempt at taking a picture of one lit up!

Cost of additional materials used for this project = $0

SUCCESS!

"GREEN" Centerpieces

I've had a little extra time to get projects done this week with my 2nd snow day in a row. As of right now we have used 5/6 snow days. 2 more snow days and I will be in school the week of the wedding. I'm thinking the chances of that are pretty good! All the more reason to get things done now, right?

Today I put together my centerpieces, minus the supplies I will need to get at the time of the wedding. Here's a breakdown of my centerpieces which are both "green" and very budget friendly.

SUPPLIES:

Vases borrowed from my sister-in-law = FREE

Grass/Spring Greens from Yard = FREE

Water = FREE

Log Discs from Downed Trees = FREE

Mirrors borrowed from my sister-in-law = FREE 

Rocks from Family Camp = FREE

Floating Candles = $1 EACH

Recycled/Organic Twine = $4.99 for 200'

Buttons = LEFTOVER FROM BOUQUETS











That's a total of $17.99 and an average of $1.50 per centerpiece!!!! The only item that is not reused/recycled (insert Jack Johnson's 3 R's song here) are the candles. As for what I'm doing with these materials...happy guessing! You will see them at the wedding!

Say Yes to the Dress!

First, an update:

• A block of rooms will be available for the wedding for the nights of June 22nd and 23rd at the Grand Summit Hotel at Sunday River. Since Steve works for SR they are giving everyone a $95 deal! They should be ready for booking by the end of the week.
•  Our registry is up at Target!
• In case you weren't aware, it's officially the year we get married. HAPPY 2012 EVERYONE!

THE DRESS:
 The process of my wedding dress actually began way back in the spring of 2004. (Just to clarify, I have not been planning my wedding for the last 8 years...) I made a deal with my mom that if she could make me the perfect prom dress, I would let her make me the perfect wedding dress for when the time came. Being the VERY talented person that she is, she pulled it off (see photo below)! As a result, I am very lucky to have her make my wedding dress.

In August, I went with my mom, grandmother, and MOH to try on dresses and see what I liked. After watching one too many episodes of "Say Yes to the Dress!" I fully expected to have the "I'm a bride" moment when I put on a white dress for the first time. Sadly, all I saw was me in a really beautiful dress. It wasn't until I tried on a nontraditional dress that I fell in love. However, that emotional "Say Yes to the Dress" moment still did not occur. I figured I just wasn't that type of girl.

From there my mom decided she would try to mimic the dress I loved while adding/changing some things that I liked from other dresses (one added feature is POCKETS!). The fact that she decided to do this without a pattern had me a little bit nervous, but I knew I would have a one-of-a-kind dress. To  make sure I got the dress I wanted, she decided to make a practice dress out of some navy blue fabric she had laying around.

Over Christmas I got to see the complete practice dress. Even though it was navy blue, I finally had that "I'm a bride" moment. Not only did the dress surpass all my expectations, just knowing my mom had spend hours constructing the details and my grandmother was doing the hand sewing meant the world to me. With a few minor tweaks, she will be ready to start the final product! Seeing the dress finally made the wedding real for me.

Since this blog is about a bride on a budget, I figure I should lay out some numbers:
Cost of dresses I liked at David's Bridal = $300-$600
Cost of all materials that are going into my dress = $30 (Jo-Ann fabric sales/teacher discount is key)
Love, meaning, and originality of my dress: PRICELESS (<-- I had to throw that in there)

COMING SOON: Centerpieces and Invitations!