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Shower for a Dirty Hippie

  • July 28, 2010 at 11:57 pm

I feel so special and loved and supported and excited and happy. This weekend I was showered.

Shower for a Dirty Hippie :  wedding bridal shower scranton D6  Every bride needs a wedding bell and candle, right? Thanks Great Aunt Veggie.

**All photos in this post by my amazing FSIL, Jen, from Jen Lebo Photography.

My bridesmaids (Veggie Sisters Kale, Eggplant, Carrot), Momma Veggie, and little brother Bridesman Veggie threw me a fantastic bridal shower at the Veggie parents’ house in New Jersey.

We missed Veggie Sister Tomato, who couldn’t take time off of med school in Arizona to join us, but I got to see so many wonderful women that have been a part of my life throughout the years. Friends from elementary school, grad school, and even one from NZ managed to find their way to the party. And the Veggie ladies did not disappoint. They cooked the most amazing most drool-worthy food. They are clearly not doing their part to make sure I fit in my wedding dress in a few weeks. Veggie sisters, we have about 1/16 of an inch in wiggle room in that dress. If it doesn’t fit, I blame the stratta from the shower.

Shower for a Dirty Hippie :  wedding bridal shower scranton Screen04  Momma Veggie’s cupcakes, which will also make an appearance at the wedding got rave reviews:

Shower for a Dirty Hippie :  wedding bridal shower scranton Bradyti  Unbeknownst to me (well, actually pretty knownst), the Veggie sisters interviewed Mr. Veggie via Skype and recorded it so we could play a “how well do you know your groom?” game. Veggie sister Kale read the questions and I tried my best to give answers that wouldn’t embarrass either of us too badly. I was doing well until they asked about our first kiss, which may or may not have been in the middle of a crowded party in a bit of a drunken stupor. Sorry mom! Veggie sister Eggplant played back Mr. Veggie’s responses to the joy of the crowd. They particularly enjoyed this response by Mr. Veg:

Veggie sister Kale: What is the first thing that Miss Veggie will want to do after the wedding?

Mr. Veggie: Blog about it.

You know it!

Then we played a game that was really all about embarrassing me… it was kind of a roast where guests wrote down their favorite Miss Veggie moment. Then they were read out loud and I had to guess who wrote them. I’m just thankful that my friends used good judgment and censored a bit.

Shower for a Dirty Hippie :  wedding bridal shower scranton Screen05  After games it was time to get serious. There was a pile of treasure waiting with my name on it. I was a little nervous about this part of the party with some registration hesitations still lingering. All week I was practicing my “Gee thanks, this is so thoughtful of you, even though it weighs 50 pounds, is breakable and bulky, doesn’t work with NZ electrical outlets, and is a totally ridiculous item that we would never buy ourselves”-face. But I should have had more faith in our family and friends. They totally get us.

Shower for a Dirty Hippie :  wedding bridal shower scranton Screen06  Veggie Sister Carrot diligently recorded names and gifts while I tore through handmade wrapping paper of one kind and another. Our guests were so thoughtful in their choices of wrapping, keeping in mind our desire for a low footprint wedding. We got gifts wrapped in magazine pages, new dishtowels, and recycled fabric. Most of the gifts really fell in-line with our lifestyle too, being light, non breakable, and recycled or eco in some way. And the best part was that we got a lot of donations for our non-profit and really generous contributions to a “travel home to visit” fund. I know I sound ridiculous and snobby right now, and should be thankful for any gifts that we received, and I totally am, but it really just felt nice that people understood us so well to pick gifts that worked for us. I did get three bars of nice soap. Is that a hint? Because I really tried to clean up nice and leave my dirty hippie-ness out on the porch for a day.

So, thanks Veggie Fam. You rock.

Shower for a Dirty Hippie :  wedding bridal shower scranton D34  Momma Veggie, Veggie Sister Kale, Me, Veggie Sister Eggplant, and Veggie Sister Carrot.

Did anyone have any embarrassing moments at their bridal shower? Anyone else have any gift-induced nervousness? Did it turn out for the better or for the worse?


This article was originally posted onWeddingbee.

Board #496: Secret Garden, Revisited

  • July 28, 2010 at 11:30 am

One of the very first inspiration boards I ever posted was inspired by The Secret Garden, and when I saw this post over on Dress Design Decor a couple of weeks ago, I immediately wanted to revisit the theme (and hopefully improve upon it). Faded blue, vintage keys, overgrown vines, and romantic stationery pull the look together, while a chandelier hung in a tree, a unique candelabra, and paisley printed linens add something unexpected.

Mood: romantic, storybook
Palette: faded powder blue, pale garden green, white

{click image to enlarge}

Top row from left: secret garden door via Dress Design Decor, chandelier from Brides, faded blue door via Dress Design Decor, ring bearer ensemble by Marie-Chantal via Brides UK
Row 2: photo of weather vane candelabra by Elizabeth Messina, springerle cookie cake from Martha Stewart, botanical RSVP card by Austin Press
Row 3: white wine and vintage wine glasses via Style Me Pretty, vintage key via Dress Design Decor, vine save-the-date by Austin Press, The Secret Garden and vintage key via Dress Design Decor
Row 4: blue display box-frame from Cox & Cox, garden bridal hat from Martha Stewart Weddings, white garden chair with roses from Wedding Style Guide, blue paisley linen by Peter Dunham Textiles via Style Court

PS – I am so excited about being able to hang out at the Film Is Not Dead workshop while I’m here in San Diego. Thank you to Jonathan Canlas for inviting me to speak!


This article was originally posted onSnippet & Ink.

It’s Not Going to be the Best Day of My Life

  • July 27, 2010 at 7:32 pm

I’ve heard a lot of people say their wedding day was the best day of their life or that they expect it to be the best day of their life and I just can’t relate. I do not expect my wedding to be the best day of my life and, frankly, future me is going to be pretty disappointed if it is.

I love this guy, but marrying him better not be the high point of our lives:

It's Not Going to be the Best Day of My Life :  wedding emotional toronto Watch


Don’t get me wrong, I am so excited for our wedding and I know it will be a very special day. It might even be the best party I ever attend, simply because I’m going to be surrounded by all my favourite people (and a couple strangers!). However, despite how excited I am and how much effort I’m putting into the wedding I really don’t want it to be the best day of my life.

I sincerely hope that one day Mr. Knitting and I will have professional successes that make me even happier and more proud of myself and my husband than our wedding day. I firmly believe that we will have happier moments with our future children and I suspect that becoming parents may in fact be one of the best days of our lives. Who knows, it might even be a completely random day that ends up being the best day of my life.

Basically it comes down to the fact that while I expect my marriage to be an integral and very precious part of my life, I do not expect or want my wedding day to be the best day of my life. It will be a day, it will be amazing, it won’t be the best.

Where do you stand on this?


This article was originally posted onWeddingbee.

Board #493: Blue & Spanish Moss

  • July 13, 2010 at 11:30 am

I’m willing to bet that I’m not the only bride who gets caught up in all of the zillions of pretty wedding things popping up all over the internet. It’s so easy to feel overwhelmed, and to lose track of what’s right for my own wedding – in going through my inspiration files, I realize that there are so many ideas I’ve saved that just plain don’t fit with my own personal style. So I’ve been thinking about what exactly my personal style is, and I think if I had a motto* for my wedding it would be “timeless with a twist.” Or maybe “classic not cookie cutter.” I don’t want to look back on my wedding twenty years from now and roll my eyes at how trendy it was, but I do want to feel like we made it our own. And though today’s inspiration board is entirely different that what my own wedding will be (we’re getting married in San Francisco in December, not in South Carolina in the spring), I think those two mottoes apply perfectly here.

(*I was going to say “aesthetic motto,” but actually, this applies to our ceremony choices, too. Putting our personal touch on tradition.)

Mood: something old, something blue
Palette: brown paper, cream, faded Tiffany blue

{click image to enlarge}

Top row from left: photo of oak trees with Spanish moss by Liz Banfield, photo of boy in seersucker suit by Sarah Rhoads, blue cardigan with vintage brooch styled by Shana Faust
Row 2: miniature pecan pies and red velvet wedding cake with sugar magnolia flowers both from Martha Stewart Weddings
Row 3: blue chairs via Oh Happy Day, magnolia flower photo by Alicia Bock, black and white photo by A Bryan Photo, vintage Mississippi stamp
Row 4: photo of vintage blue car by Thayer Allyson Gowdy, photo of vintage guest book journal by Jenny Liu, blue and lace ring pillow and paper-wrapped grits favor both from Martha Stewart Weddings

Make sure to stop by later for a beautiful wedding in the English countryside!

This article was originally posted onSnippet & Ink.

I Never Thought I’d Find This!

  • July 9, 2010 at 12:18 pm

I don’t like flower girl baskets. All of the ones I see are satin-y and white and frilly… and not me at all.

Like this:

I Never Thought I’d Find This! :  wedding austin flower girl W08 57c

(Source)

I mean, it’s beautiful… but it’s so fancy! It does not at ALL fit in with the theme of our wedding – fun, cheerful, and slightly whimsical. So, to be honest, I figured that the FG basket was something I’d just forget about until a week before the wedding and then I’d just cave and buy a fancy one.

I tried to think of an alternative, but I really wanted our flower girl to be able to throw petals, and I just couldn’t think of a cute option to hold the flower petals that would actually fit in with the rest of our wedding! There’s no such thing as a cute, non-fancy flower girl basket, right?

WRONG! A few days after Easter, Mr. C and I were in Hobby Lobby, and when we walked through the door I saw a huge display of Easter stuff, on sale for 50% off. We decided to walk through the aisles and see if we saw anything fun, and then, I saw this:

I Never Thought I’d Find This! :  wedding austin flower girl P3210175 p3210175

It’s cheery! And yellow! And fun! And only FOUR DOLLARS! I hadn’t really thought I would find a cute Easter basket that would work, because most of them are pretty large with ridiculously long handles, to fit all of the Easter loot. But not this one! It’s the perfect FG basket size, with a proportionately sized handle to boot!

I’m so glad we decided to check, and I’m ecstatic that I actually found a flower girl basket that I like!

Did you have any wedding items that you didn’t think you’d be excited about, only to fall in love with something?


This article was originally posted onWeddingbee.

Board #492: Love and Surf

  • July 8, 2010 at 12:08 pm

I was having so much fun thinking about where my honey and I might go on our honeymoon, and then we found out we might not be able to take one right away. So disappointing! But, one thing inspiration boards are good for (aside from helping to pull together a look for a wedding) is imagining, so I imagined up a trip to Hawaii…

Mood: Hawaiian casual
Palette: sand and surf, red and yellow

{click image to enlarge}

Top row from left: surfboard photo by Thayer Allyson Gowdy, vintage surf postcard, tropical fruit wedding cake from Martha Stewart Weddings
Row 2: tropical orchid bouquet by Matthew Robbins, photo by Thayer Allyson Gowdy, beach wedding from Martha Stewart Weddings
Row 3: beach and palm tree photo from Real Weddings, popsicles via Ruby Press, red and yellow hibiscus in bud vases by Nancy Liu Chin via Green Wedding Shoes
Row 4: pink Hawaiian quilt from The Quilt Complex, ukelele photo by Dave Robbins, signature cocktails with dried pineapple garnish from Martha Stewart Weddings, surfboard and food truck photo by Ericka McConnell

This article was originally posted onSnippet & Ink.

The Jellyfish Invitations

  • July 8, 2010 at 12:08 pm

Our invites from Ajalon Printing & Design came in looking amazing, but because I like to make more work for myself, I decided to spruce them up a bit. Here’s how they looked before my additions:

The Jellyfish Invitations :  wedding diy invitations pleasanton stationery 1 1

Very “Tuscan Romance” dontcha think?

The Jellyfish Invitations :  wedding diy invitations pleasanton stationery 2 2

The little food icons are Mr. Jelly’s favorite part of our invitation suite :)

The Jellyfish Invitations :  wedding diy invitations pleasanton stationery 3 3

Accommodations/Website card

Here are the additions I made:

Cardstock backing:

I really liked the look of cardstock backing, but I wanted to save money so I decided to DIY this part of the invitation. I Googled “burgundy cardstock” and came across Paper-Papers.com, and it looked like they had the perfect burgundy shade. I emailed them asking for a sample, and it matched our invites perfectly! I proceeded to order 3 packs (100 sheets each) so we could use it for menus, programs, place cards, etc. Overkill? Maybe. But you don’t find the perfect share of burgundy every day!

I then cut 2 backings per sheet of 8.5″ x 11″ piece of cardstock to use as backings on our 5″ x 7″ invites using my handy guillotine paper slicer. I made sure to save the leftover 1″ x 8.5″ strips of paper, as I would later turn them into belly bands.

Next, I had to figure out a way to adhere the invites to the cardstock. I thought about double-stick tape, Zots, or even using my Xyron, but it all seemed too pricey and time consuming. Mrs. Snow recommended 3M Super 77 spray adhesive, and I’m so glad I listened to her!! This adhesive is inexpensive ($10 for a can), extremely tacky and very easy to use. I glued about 175 invitations in only a couple hours, with the only downsides being a minor headache and a sticky kitchen floor as a result (both can easily be avoided by working outside.) :)

Belly Bands:

Next, I took the thin strips of leftover burgundy cardstock, and used them to make belly bands that would hold together the various components of the invitation. I scored each strip of paper with my bone folder, folded each belly band over its respective invite, and then sealed the belly band with a gold wax seal (yes, this was as time consuming as it sounds).

Wax Seals:

For the seals, I used glue gun sealing wax, as it is much easier to manipulate than the old fashioned drip kind. I bought a “D” seal from Michael’s, ordered some Antique Gold wax sticks from www.letterseals.com, and followed the tips from this thread to make my seals.

The Jellyfish Invitations :  wedding diy invitations pleasanton stationery 4 4

So, are you ready to see the finished product? Here’s what you would see as a guest to the Jellyfish wedding:

The Jellyfish Invitations :  wedding diy invitations pleasanton stationery 5 5

Gorgeous calligraphy done by my very talented Bridesmaid Lauren (or done by me, if you’re an OOT guest – sorry guys, you kinda got the short end of the stick :) )

The Jellyfish Invitations :  wedding diy invitations pleasanton stationery 6 6

No envelope liners for this gal. After doing them for our thank you cards, I’d had enough.

The Jellyfish Invitations :  wedding diy invitations pleasanton stationery 7 7

Little bundles of joy.

The Jellyfish Invitations :  wedding diy invitations pleasanton stationery 8 8

The full invitation suite. The Welcome Dinner/Farewell Brunch invite is printed on the reverse of the wedding map (which was designed by my designer/photographer extraordinaire Bridesmaid Amy – what would I do without her?!)

The Jellyfish Invitations :  wedding diy invitations pleasanton stationery 9 9

Getting the all-important Stinson seal of approval.

So there you have it, the Jellyfish invitations. They were a lot of work, but I’m very happy with them and we stayed within our budget nicely. Were your invitations a labor of love? Anyone else buy their invitations, but then add DIY touches?


This article was originally posted onWeddingbee.

35 (Wo)Man Hours Later…

  • July 7, 2010 at 12:01 pm

… and the Lobster wedding invites are done.

Hello. We’ve been working hard and after a week of cutting liners, gluing backings, learning to tie twine, our wedding invitations are officially in USPS’ hands for guests to receive after the hot holiday weekend!

35 (Wo)Man Hours Later... :  wedding brooklyn invitations stationery IMG_816

No line at the post office, what??

Before I do the reveal, I want to give a big shout out to Derek at 4fifteen who created a design that perfectly suited my tastes and our wedding style. He walked me through every step of the way and took care of things I am unfamiliar with including finding a reasonably priced letterpress printer! If only the Internet had feel-o-vision:

35 (Wo)Man Hours Later... :  wedding brooklyn invitations stationery IMG_811" width="400" height="281

35 (Wo)Man Hours Later... :  wedding brooklyn invitations stationery IMG_81101" width="400" height="300

Mmm, letterpress

I shared most of the paper details in my previous post so we’ll just get to the pictures:

Initially, I wasn’t sure if 1 spool of twine would be enough. But it was more than enough even after using over 2 feet per invite (I made 100).

35 (Wo)Man Hours Later... :  wedding brooklyn invitations stationery IMG_806

twines

35 (Wo)Man Hours Later... :  wedding brooklyn invitations stationery IMG_808" width="400" height="300

my work station

My wonky printer made it so that I had to hand feed each envelope with a post-it to avoid printer dashes.

35 (Wo)Man Hours Later... :  wedding brooklyn invitations stationery IMG_80601

Annoying dashed lines!!

A 100 card backs and 100 invites? No problem with some double stick tape and World Cup soccer in the background.

35 (Wo)Man Hours Later... :  wedding brooklyn invitations stationery cardbac

In case you’re interested, a twine tying pictorial:

35 (Wo)Man Hours Later... :  wedding brooklyn invitations stationery twineti" hspace="0" width="600" height="385" align="center

Cross your twine, twist it, flip it over, tie a bow, and cut to length.

Upon opening the envelope, this is what the guests will see:

35 (Wo)Man Hours Later... :  wedding brooklyn invitations stationery inner_e" width="400" height="300

Then this:

35 (Wo)Man Hours Later... :  wedding brooklyn invitations stationery IMG_809" width="400" height="311

And the main invite:

35 (Wo)Man Hours Later... :  wedding brooklyn invitations stationery main" hspace="0" width="600" height="450" align="center

Finally, the full invitation suite:

35 (Wo)Man Hours Later... :  wedding brooklyn invitations stationery invite_" hspace="0" width="600" height="450" align="center

Printing the envelopes was the most time consuming and stressful part of this process. After that was the twine tying. While most guests won’t even bat an eyelash before untying the sucker, I still *had* to do it.

By the time the last invitation was sealed, I was soooo over these invites. And yet I still found it difficult to just drop them in the mail. I asked one of my bridesmaids, “should I go get them hand canceled? or just get over it” to which she responded, “just let it go, girlfriend.” LOL. But I couldn’t…

So early on Saturday morning, I made Mr. Lobster accompany me to the post office for a proper send off after he informed me that the first 50 were free and 5 cents thereafter. The postal worker kindly counted out my invites, put them in a bin, and said OK, they’ll be delivered in 2-5 days. What? I don’t get to hand cancel them myself? I didn’t get to say a proper goodbye…

Did you find it difficult to “let go” of your invitations? What was your favorite or least favorite part about the invitation assembly?


This article was originally posted onWeddingbee.

Board #491: Peach and Pumpkins

  • July 6, 2010 at 11:30 am

When I get emails from readers asking for help with colors or details, I’m usually able to point them in the direction of previous posts that fit their specifications. But when Jacqui emailed me with her dilemma, I thought it would be fun to make an inspiration board based on her ideas. She knew she wanted: an October wedding at a rustic barn venue (complete with Hank Williams cover band), navy and gray as the palette base, white Cinderella pumpkins, and autumn flowers. But she was having trouble coming up with an accent color that wasn’t orange or red, but still seasonal, and then seeing how it would all come together. I chose peach as a seasonal accent color – it’s unexpected, certainly, but it works so well with those pretty white pumpkins, especially when it comes in the form of in-season dahlias. So here we go – my interpretation of Jacqui’s vision.

Mood: soft and rustic
Palette: navy blue, peach, white, brown

{click image to enlarge}

Top row from left: blue and white tea towels from Martha Stewart Weddings, miniature Cinderella pumpkins, rose bouquet by Matthew Robbins, rustic barn venue from Charleston Weddings
Row 2: gray and white invitation by Hammer Press, lavender sachets from Martha Stewart Weddings, navy dress from Emersonmade, photo of apricot jam favor by Thayer Allyson Gowdy
Row 3: dahlia centerpiece by Saipua, gray striped straws via lolliblog, photo of Shaker style chairs by Tec Petaja, gold calligraphy on blue envelopes by Betsy Dunlap
Row 4: white pumpkins, peach dahlia from Carter & Cook, chalkboard in a vintage frame from Blue Bell Bazaar, dahlias in a galvanized bucket from Real Simple

This article was originally posted onSnippet & Ink.

Cheater, Cheater

  • July 5, 2010 at 11:40 am

I have a confession to make. I used a template site for my wedding website (cringe). Yes, I know. But I’m only slightly ashamed. Being a professional designer (and yes, website developer) keeps me pretty busy. And the thought of taking those potentially money-making hours away from my schedule to work on a personal site only up for a couple of months wasn’t really sitting well. And since I’ve been using WeddingWire for all my planning needs, I figured, what the heck? I’ll use their website tool!

Cheater, Cheater :  wedding houston wedding website Picture" width="400" height="261

And I am so glad I did! It was beyond easy, and they have loads of cute options.

I chose the fall leaves design since that was our color inspiration, and though it doesn’t match our wedding exactly (well, really only vaguely), I’m really happy with it. You can personalize your welcome message, and add a photo gallery along with your love story.

Cheater, Cheater :  wedding houston wedding website Picture01

The features alone are worth it, as it would take me hours to code my own database for the RSVP option, and it even embeds my blog as a feed!

Cheater, Cheater :  wedding houston wedding website Picture02" width="400" height="272

It saved me time, added great functionality to the whole planning process, and overall was just a dream to do. Now I can tell guests I have a website out there, and they can find the link to our registry and everything. As much as the designer in me cringes that it was not hand-crafted to match our wedding, the realist in me loves the penny-free process (yes, it’s also FREE!) and breezy completion. I’ve even corrupted a fellow designer bride to use it too!

What is the easiest to use wedding website site you’ve found?


This article was originally posted onWeddingbee.