Georgia peaches

It's the weekend again already?? Where did the week go? Not that I'm complaining, of course, because on Sunday we have our engagement photo shoot with Heidi from Our Labor of Love! Yay!

Our initial plan was to trek out to the countryside and have some photos taken at a local peach orchard. My inspiration being these lovely photos from Simply Bloom:


Unfortunately the owners weren't up for it. Boo. So on to plan B. We'll be meeting Heidi downtown first since there are some great old brick buildings. Then we'll follow her out to the countryside where she has scouted out some locations. We're starting at 6:30pm, so hopefully it will be a little cooler, although I doubt it. The temps have been in the high 90s with equally high humidity. My plan is to pack lots of water, a towel, maybe an ice pack to put on the backs of our necks, and oil blotting sheets for me so I don't ruin my makeup.

Speaking of makeup - I have an appointment at Sephora at 2. I was looking into makeup artists but the prices were way more than I wanted to spend on engagement photos (like $200 more!). Well I saw on sephora.com that they do special occasion makeovers for "free" if you purchase $50 worth of products. What do you know, I'm almost all out of foundation and could use some more powder and blush too. So it really is kind of like getting a free service since I already needed new makeup anyway. Score! Now I just have to finish prepping our outfits.

Where did you have your engagement photos taken? Any tips?

a whole lot of lovely

The following photos are from a sorority sister's wedding back in June. I wasn't very close with this sister as she was a year below me, but these photographs are too beautiful not to share.

(click here to see more)

I absolutely adore the middle photo (of the family tree)! What a great idea! I was just planning on framing the wedding photos of family members and putting them out on either the gift, guest book or cake table, but I might have to rethink that. So lovely.

If you displayed family wedding photos at your wedding, how did you do it?

DIY tutorial

I received a question yesterday about the script I used for my paper dolls, so I thought I would write a post in the hopes that someone else might find my little shortcut useful.

For the cards, belly bands and envelopes I used the font Memoir.* I wanted the names on the paper dolls to match, but the paper I used was too thick to go through my printer. What to do?

I learned this trick in art class many years ago and it's great for when you want to transfer something but tracing is not an option.

1. Print out the text or image that you are wanting to use. For me, I just printed out all of the girls' names.

2. Cut your text/image down to a more manageable size. I left about a quarter inch of padding around my text.

3. Turn your piece(s) of paper to the back and shade it with a pencil. You want to make this fairly dark - see photo below.


4. Next, place your piece of paper (shaded side down) on top of the spot where you want to transfer your text/image. I used a bit of tape to keep things from slipping.

5. Take a pen and begin tracing over your text or image. You don't want to push too hard so that the pen goes through the paper, but definitely give it a bit of pressure. The idea is that as you trace, the graphite on the back of the piece of paper will transfer. If you do this step correctly, once you lift up your image/text, there should be a faint replica left behind.

6. The final step is to draw back over your transfer using whatever medium you prefer - pen, marker, paint, crayon, etc. I just used a black rolling ball pen.

I will admit that this was a bit tedious, but it was very important to me that everything matched (I'm most definitely Type A, can't you tell?). I hope some of you can find this useful!


*I did pay for this font since we plan on using it for all of our wedding paraphernalia, but there are many free fonts out there that are just as beautiful. One of my favorite free scripts is Quilline.

we can't leave out the guys

...even if our groomsmen are being a little slack (only 3* out of the 5 have responded to the future mister's request). Regardless, here's some inspiration for them:

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Enter the ever popular, yet classic, gray suit. I think it definitely says vintage/rustic/garden wedding, don't you? The future mister and I decided on this option for a few reasons. Not only do we feel that tuxes are too formal, but I also have a problem with paying $150+ for something and not even being able to take it home at the end of the night. So the guys will be tasked with finding a gray suit for our wedding. I've been told that stores like Macy's, JCPenney's and Kohl's usually have great suit sales, so I'm hoping this won't be too difficult of a task.

How did you decide on attire for the groomsmen?


*One of those three texted the future mister to say thanks for the cigar, but he didn't realize that he was supposed to open up the letter wrapped around it. Men.

inspiration for my girls

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Notice a trend? I know the non-matchy bridesmaids train is picking up speed in the wedding world. And, well, I'm definitely hopping on board! My hope is for all of my bridesmaids to feel good in what they wear even if they (realistically) don't ever wear it again.

My stipulations:
a. knee length
b. a shade closely resembling robin's egg blue, aqua, teal, turquoise, etc. (and I might allow shades of green, too)

The first photo above is my absolute favorite. They are the chiffon dresses from j. crew and the bride let her maids choose from two colors and any style they wanted. Unfortunately, the crew doesn't have any colors that I really like right now. Perhaps this winter when they release their Spring 2011 line??

What do you think of the mis-matched bridesmaid dress trend?

one year ago today

One year ago today, the future mister went golfing with my dad and asked for permission to marry me on the 17th hole.

One year ago today we went for an after dinner walk at the Botanical Gardens with my parents. The future mister got down on one knee and asked me to spend the rest of my life with him.

I said yes then, I say yes today and I'll say yes on every one of my tomorrows.

Our plans tonight include going out with friends for Mexican food and possibly a movie. What did you do to celebrate your engage-aversary?

busy, busy

Just some of the wedding related things we've been accomplishing this week:

Met with a potential DJ

Met with the restaurant we want to use for the rehearsal dinner

Got quotes for shuttle services to transport our guests from their hotels to the ceremony/reception site and back again

Printed, cut and packaged table numbers for friend's wedding

Receiving/revising contracts for hotel room blocks

Dropping dresses off to be altered (for our friends' weddings)

Driving to Charlotte to get my e-ring fixed (my setting is loose) and hopefully picking out my band

Wow, just typing all of that exhausts me! But at the same time, it feels incredibly rewarding to keep crossing items off my list. Do you get as excited as I do when crossing stuff off the list?

close, but no cigar

They're not invitations (oh, how I wish I were that on top of things). And they're not programs either. So what on earth are they??

The future mister's way of asking his guys to be groomsmen! After my paper dolls went out a few weeks ago, he decided that he also wanted to ask in a unique way. What did we come up with?

Cigars


Wrapped in a letter with the future mister's family crest, printed on parchment paper with hand torn edges (for that "old timey" look)



Sealed in red wax with an "M"

(Notice how I had to channel my inner MacGyver in order to get the paper to stay wrapped)

Ta da! What do you think?

on a roll

Hope everyone had a fabulous 4th! Ours was filled with good food and great conversation.

Here's another wedding project we completed last week:


Come back later this afternoon for the full reveal! Any guesses?

introducing my lovely ladies

I've showed you how I asked them, and now they've all said yes. So who are these wonderful people that I've asked to stand beside me on the big day?

Matron of Honor Ashley - You may remember me talking about her a few times on here. I'm a bridesmaid in her wedding next month and I designed her save the dates and invitations. We met our Freshman year in high school, but our friendship really flourished once we both left for college. Little known facts - she loves Hanson (yes, mmmbop Hanson) and is a borderline twihard (Did anyone else see the midnight showing of Eclipse last night? Ashley did!).

Maid of Honor Sam (on the left) - We met on move-in day our Freshman year of college. We started off as suitemates, joined the same sorority and lived together for the rest of college. Most of my college memories include her, which brings me to...

Bridesmaid Becca (in the middle) - My other roommate in college. We met freshman year because we lived in the same dorm and also joined the same sorority. Some of my fondest memories of college are of hanging out in Becca's room with Becca and Sam on Sunday afternoons recapping the weekend and watching shows like "Little People, Big World", "Deadliest Catch", and "Girls Next Door."

Bridesmaid Katie - My future sister-in-law. I always enjoy spending time with her and gabbing about wedding stuff. She's full of wedding knowledge since she planned her own wedding a few years ago.

Bridesmaid Emily - At 15 years and counting, I have known Emily the longest. We met the summer before 5th grade when her family moved in down the street. Our friendship has survived middle school, high school, college and beyond without drifting apart.

Love these girls and am incredibly honored to have them by my side!