I want these ties!

There's nothing else to say. I simply must have these. I found them on knottie redshoegirl's bio. The colors are perfect and would work so well on the groomsmen and FI! Unfortunately they are no longer on the Charles Tyrwhitt website. This makes me incredibly sad :( Guess I'll just have to stick with the dotted watermelon ties our tuxedo rental place offers for now, but I will be searching high and low for some like these because I have tie envy really bad!

Trashing the dress

I am so stoked that my man and I will be having a trash-the-dress session after the wedding. It's sort of a new concept to me as none of my friends in my small town had ever heard about it (nor had I until I was educated on The Knot), and my grandma thought I was crazy when she heard I might be getting my dress a bit dirty lol It's a trend that I'm totally on board for though. Our photographer is throwing it in with her regular wedding package since she usually includes a free engagement session but we didn't need that seeing as how we'd already had those pictures made. FI and I are very excited about this because we see it as a chance to get some really fun, relaxed photos. I love the idea of doing a trash-the-dress session because it's unique shots of me with FI. Much more appealing than bridal portraits of just me cheesin' it for the camera by myself. Now of course I'm not going to actually literally trash the dress since I plan on donating it to Brides Against Breast Cancer afterwards, but I still plan on getting it at least a little wrinkled in the process! I'd love to get some pics around downtown Asheville since it's such a colorful and eclectic setting. I'm also hoping we can take a trip to the trainyard just because I think that would make for some very unique photos. And I've seen some wonderful trash-the-dress photos taken in trees too, so I'm not opposed to climbing!

Of all places...

So of all the places I could've found a wedding garter, it just so happens that I found a super cute one at Hot Topic. Total randomness, I know. I was in there with my friend who was shopping for nose rings and happened to stumble upon this turquoise blue garter, completely void of lace just like I wanted and with a cute little bow on it, hanging on the wall right next to the stuffed skeleton animals and bottled neon hair dye. It's a highly unlikely location for a wedding item but hey...I'm not complaining! In fact I'm pleasantly surprised because it was under six bucks and the exact style I was looking for. Just goes to show you should always keep your eyes peeled!

Ceremony decor

I've got a few ideas now for the way I want to decorate where our ceremony will be held. We've got to choose decorations that are minimal and easy to clean up since our ceremony and reception are taking place in the same location. After we say "I do," the room is going to be reconfigured for the dinner reception. I really want to have rose petals lining the aisle on either side because since we're getting married on hardwood floor, we can't have an aisle runner. I'm not the most graceful person and a thin piece of fabric on a freshly waxed wood surface doesn't seem very safe to me. Add heels to the equation and it's just not a good idea! I know if we use the petals on the floor they'll have to be swept out of the way afterwards, but I figure if we use silk petals instead of real ones that won't take too long. Plus in not using real rose petals we won't have to worry about any residue being left over on the floors. I'm also debating using pomanders. I'm a little obsessed with them right now, in fact. I've read up on how to make them with tissue paper and it seems like an easy enough weekend project I could recruit FI for.

Shoe possibilities

The wedding dress I bought is simply gorgeous. It is, however, more ornate than I thought the dress I picked would be since I went into the store looking for something more simple. Because of all the embellishments on the dress and the fact that it is fitted so every step I take my shoes will be peeking out from under the material, I'm not going to be able to pull off the pink shoes I'd wanted to wear. The dress just has a lot of designs on it and the pink shoes absolutely clash and are a bit much with all the beading and draping going on. I don't want my shoes to be competing with my dress and the colored shoes just stand out too much. If it was a poofy dress we wouldn't have this problem! But I'm unwilling to change my dress simply to satisfy my desire to wear pink shoes to my wedding since the gown I picked is absolutely perfect, so it looks like it's back to the drawing board. I'm okay with wearing white shoes as long as they are not particularly 'bridal' looking. I don't want plain, boring shoes since I'm a bit of a shoe whore. The other problem I'm encountering is that the size dress I got fits me perfect...but because I'm so tall the length is only right when I'm wearing below a 2 inch heel. All the shoes I had in mind were at least 3 or 4 inches! FI and I are basically the same height essentially so when I wear heels I'm towering over him a little. But I LOVE wearing high heels all the same and with the shoes he was wearing having a bit of a raised heel and inserts, I figured the height thing wouldn't be a problem. Well now I'm having to find cute shoes with barely any heel and surprisingly, it's quite difficult. I refuse to wear flats so that's not an option here. I found some shoes that would work so I'm making plans to get to a bridal store to try them on. I want something fabulous on my feet even if they don't have a heel and aren't hot pink!

Our for real save-the-dates

I know I posted a blog on here before where I had a picture of our concept for our save-the-date magnets. Well, things change frequently in the world of wedding planning and our save-the-date design is one of them. We went a totally different direction (although still DIY because I think projects made on your own add a nice personal touch) and utilized my mother's help as well as her plethora of scrapbooking supplies and gadgets. It's tri-fold made with brown and pink and orange glittery cardstock. We also used a bit of vellum for the wording in the middle. I think they turned out pretty darn good! My mom deserves praise for working so hard on them :) The bottom portion is actually a magnet and I'm hoping that our guests will realize that they can take them off and put them on the fridge!

Mosquito netting

FI thinks veils look like mosquito nets. If it were up to him, I wouldn't be wearing a veil on our wedding day. But the way I see it, my wedding day is the only day I'll actually be able to pull off a veil...and I'd imagine I wouldn't feel very bridal without one. I'm not wearing a blusher since I think they're a little too old fashioned for my tastes, and it's not like I'd pick some horrible, multi-layered, fru fru nightmare so he can't complain that much. I initially thought I would buy one of those long, plain silk tulle veils because I think they look so elegant. For some reason though (maybe subconsciously to appease FI) I ended up purchasing an elbow-length veil with a beaded edge. It's very pretty but I'm having second thoughts now thinking I should've gotten a longer veil. I hate second guessing decisions...urgh! I was a little upset at my normally frugal self for spending $140 on a veil, but I justified my purchase by reminding myself how perfectly it went with my dress since the beads used on the edges are the same type as the ones on the bodice of my dress. Being matchy is important to someone as OCD as I am, so that realization helped me deal with the shopper's remorse lol Below is a picture of the type of veil I originally pictured myself wearing, and below that one is the actual veil I purchased from David's Bridal.