holiday diy project

I saw this on Style Me Pretty yesterday and thought that in addition to being a holiday DIY project, it would also be a great wedding favor. I'm not much of a baker (i.e. I really stink), so I think I might be more inclined to create the cookie cutters for everyone instead of the actual cookies. But after looking at the supply list, it could be quite a daunting task.

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What are you giving out as favors (if anything)? Do you have any ideas for favors that would be enjoyed by most everyone?

pretty, pretty peonies

I'm on quite a roll these days with inspiration. So let's move on to flowers. [Sigh] Prior to my eyes being opened by what the future mister calls my wedding p*rn, I was quite content with roses or my particular favorite - gerbera daisies. Then I jumped down the wedding rabbit hole and discovered the beautiful world of peonies. Excuse me while I wipe up my drool.

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Luckily, my spring wedding is right smack-dab in the middle of peony season. Yay! However, they are quite expensive. So maybe I'll have a few in my bridal bouquet and get a similar look by substituting garden roses elsewhere.

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Overall, I think the floral theme will be fluffy and romantic with a just picked garden-y/wildflower look. Did wedding planning open your eyes to different kinds of flowers? I've lucked out, but did you end up falling in love with flowers that won't be in season for your wedding?

dress me up in pearls

The future mister and I have been invited to a wedding in January. The ceremony is at noon and is being followed by a luncheon and waltz at the Deerpark Restaurant on The Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina. Although the events are taking place in the early afternoon, I found out from family that it will still be a fairly formal event. After looking at TONS of dresses, I finally decided on a simple black dress that I'll probably snazz up with colored shoes or a fun wrap. As far as jewelry goes, I decided on these beautiful vintage style pearl earrings (and matching bracelet) from etsy seller Jewelry Designs by Janice Marie.

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Don't you think these would be great bridal jewelry as well? Or even perfect as gifts for your bridesmaids? To top it all off, this seller specializes in custom orders for brides or bridesmaids.

more save the date inspiration

Remember this? That's still my first choice for our save the dates. But here's some more inspiration I've been collecting throughout the months:

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Sometimes I find it problematic that I have so many beautiful ideas saved and bookmarked. It makes it quite difficult to actually make a decision. Does anyone else have that problem?

pools are meant for swimming...or maybe not

Remember our beautiful venue? Well what I didn't show you is this:

Yes, there will be a pool at our venue - and the combination of fun times and alcohol makes me a little nervous. In my mind I am picturing something like the introduction to FRIENDS.

Most likely, our cocktail hour will be held around the pool before the guests move to the tent in front of the house for the reception. Although our event planner assured us that they've never had a problem with any guests jumping in, I'd like to come up with a deterrent to make sure it doesn't happen. Here's what I've come up with:

1. Floating Monogram - I think this would look very pretty during cocktail hour, before the sun sets. Plus it's large enough to send the message, "I'm here to make the pool look beautiful, don't even think about sticking your toe in to test the water."

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2. Votives - Placing votives along the edge of the pool looks pretty and also acts as a barrier between the pavement and the water. But it probably won't be noticed until after the sun sets.

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3. Floating Candles - This also won't look pretty until the sun sets, but I think it's by far my favorite. In case you can't tell, various size candles were set in large dishes of some kind to float through the pool. I'm sure we could achieve a similar effect by using floating candles.

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I am also playing with the idea of using a combination of the above. Maybe a smaller floating monogram surrounded by a few floating candles? What do you think? Any other suggestions?

save the date

About a year ago (before I was engaged), I discovered the wonderful world of wedding blogs. I think it started out with Style Me Pretty, then included Weddingbee and it quickly ballooned out from there. It became my new obsession - bookmarking ideas and inspiration for a wedding I wasn't supposed to be planning, at least not yet. Where am I going with this story? Well, one of the first things I bookmarked happens to be my dream save the dates. You see, the future mister is in graduate school to get his PhD in Southern and Appalachian History and I love almost all things vintage and shabby chic. I think these STDs are such a creative way for us to express who we are and the type of wedding we want to have. Now I just have to get my hands on a bunch of vintage hankies and either a Gocco or Yudu.

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Did you fall in love with anything wedding related before even being engaged?

30 day shred

When we lived in Kentucky I was a huge fan of Jazzercise and went about 3 times every week. I love to dance and it was one of the only things that didn't feel like a workout to me. Many times I have purchased gym memberships only to go a few times. That's a lot of wasted money! They have Jazzercise where we live now, but since we're trying to save money I figured it made the most sense to just rent a fitness DVD from Netflix. From reading Weddingbee and other wedding blogs, I heard a lot of good things about Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred, so I decided to give it a shot. I'm not really interested in losing weight, but rather maintaining and toning and the reviews said that these workouts were a good way to build lean muscle.

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The DVD contains three, 20 minute workouts. You're supposed to start at Level 1, which is the easiest, and work yourself up to Level 3, which is the most difficult. Each workout is based on Jillian's 3-2-1 strength/cardio/ab training circuit. First you start with three minutes of strength training, then move on to two minutes of cardio, and finish with one minute of ab work.

Let me tell you, after the first day I wanted to die. It may only be 20 minutes, but it's a very difficult 20 minutes! I don't think I ever worked that hard in Jazzercise and those classes were an hour long! I woke up the next morning and thought that maybe I had been run over by a truck in my sleep. So I skipped day two. But I picked back up on day three and I've just finished day five. Although it's still difficult, I'm finding that it gets just a little bit easier every day. I'm hoping to work my way up to level two on day 10 and then level three on day 20. I'll let you know my final conclusions when I'm finished with the 30 days.

What are your tips for staying fit leading up to the wedding?