Addressing the Envelopes

Finally we have our guest list finalized and it was not easy. We have a lot of family on each side and so we were only able to invite a few friends. I wanted so many more people to come, but we just couldn't make it work. After dragging our feet for a couple months we squared everything away and were ready to address the envelopes.

My friend Jacki has amazing handwriting so I asked her if she would want to help, and she did! She even brought over yummy cinnamon rolls from Dozen Bakery. So good. How come she is the one doing me a favor and she is the one bringing goodies?!

Above is one of Jacki's envelopes, she addressed the actual invite envelopes and I did the save the dates.

This is one of my envelopes. Not as fancy as Jacki's, but it'll do.

Now time to make some return address labels and find some not too ugly stamps. (The purple heart wedding stamp the usps currently has is not so pretty.)

Save the Date!

Saturday afternoon I went to the lovely Charlee Brodsky's home to work on our save the dates. Charlee is the amazing photographer who took engagement photos of Mr. Pineapple and me. She spent another 3 hours with me working on the layout, so kind. Here are the results:
You can click on the image to enlarge. I feel like I should have mailed these out a month ago since most of the guests are from out of town. Hopefully, I will get these printed and mailed this week!

When did you send out your save the dates?

Engagement Ring 2.0

My first engagement ring was custom made to fit the diamond Mr. Pineapple picked out, so we have to send it away to have a wedding band made to match. This makes me sad. I will be without my ring for 4 weeks. You would think that being engagement ring free for 4 weeks after being engagement ring free for 23 years would not be so bad. I just love being engaged to Mr. Pineapple and having the ring remind me of how lucky I am every time I look at my hand.

So, I we to Claire's last weekend and got 2 sweet fake cubic zirconia rings for $6.50. (They had their usual BOGO deal.) I purchased 2 because they were all fairly ugly and because I wanted Mr. Pineapple to be able to have a hand in the choice. For a while, I wore the first one, but it felt kind of ridiculous. It is so big and there were definitely clouds in my stones.

Here is the first ring:It's huge! Look at the pseudo blang!

Here is option number 2, smaller stones which is good but there are more of them:
This weekend we spent some time with folks we havn't seen for awhile. All the girls were excited to see my ring. At which point I had to go through the explanation of where my real ring is before they told me how beautiful the fake was. Also, why are my hands gray and pink? Oh silly camera.

Did any of you brides to be have temporary engagement bling?

Paper Roses - Progress 2

This coffee-filter-sticky-awkward-frustrating-never-going-to-end project is definitely time and double stick tape consuming, but I am going to forge ahead.
Here is the first dozen paper roses:

I think they look better in bunches than as single roses. I think I will put them in little bunches of 3 on either side of the candles centerpieces. (Far enough away not to catch fire of course!)

Are you using non-floral centerpieces? If so, what are they?

Paper Roses - Progress 1

Today, I almost pulled all of my hair out. Seriously. I had so much trouble with the floral tape. According to Martha and Cassie you are suppose to wrap each petal around the last and secure it with floral tape. Maybe it was the brand I was using, but it really wasn't holding. I've used floral tape a lot in the past and never had this much trouble. So, I switched to double stick tape and will wrap the flower in floral tape after it is done.

Here are the pieces:
Here is a photo of the only one that resembles a flower so far (I have a trash can full of other attempts):What is your most regretted DIY project? This may be mine.

Picking Up the Dress - Round 1

I went to David's on Saturday with my Bridesmaid Katie to try on and take home my gown. (** Don't you dare click that link Mr. Pineapple ;) **) It was a size smaller than the one I tried on in the store. When I first put it on it was too tight in the boobs. Luckily though, not way too tight. The dress has built in boning and such that allows you to go bra-less. Initially I thought I would feel really uncomfortable without a bra. However, one I took it off I couldn't even tell and the top of the dress fit perfectly. Loosing the bra (which went down to my hips) made the waist too loose, but nothing alterations cannot fix.

The dress end up with a failing grade though. Katie noticed a light spot on the front of the dress. It look like some sort of discoloration in the fabric rather than a stain. So, David's said they would "fail the dress" and order me a new one. Hopefully it will get here soon! I can't wait to take it home!

Has anyone had any trouble with David's Bridal? Should I worry that this is a sign of bad things to come?

The Paper Roses Project Begins

My coffee filters for the paper roses project have arrived!
After searching around the internet for cheap cone shaped coffee filters I found the best deal at Amazon.com. I decided to go with the "natural" colored filters. I thought the white would be too much white and I also did not want to have to paint all of the roses like Martha did. There was no mention of what size filters were needed so I bought size #6. This is a plus in two ways 1) they are the largest available and 2) they are the type of filters my coffee pot uses just in case this project ends up being a bust.After receiving the filters I may do some white and some natural after all. They filters are quite brown. Also, depending on how long they take my bridesmaid Katie and I to create, I may want to make more.

Has anyone else attempted this project?

Spring!

Even though it was flurrying out this morning, I am super excited that it is finally spring! Soon there will be sun! I love sun! (In Pittsburgh we don't get much sun between the months of October and June - so pretty much all year.)

On the first day of spring I bought myself a present - tulips! They were still closed when I left work on Friday, but today I got a lovely treat. Tulips are my favorite flower and Mr. Pineapple said when we buy a house he will plant hundreds of bulbs so I can have tulips every spring.

Lining Envelopes - Part II

Today I began the DIY envelope lining project.
Materials:
Paper you would like to line with
Envelopes
Paper Cutter
Double Stick Tape
Card Stock or Cardboard
Pencil


Step 1: Create Your Template
This was definitely the hardest part of the project. I traced around the envelope onto a thin piece of cardboard. Then I drew a line slightly inside the outline and one line below where the lick and stick part would be. Now, this sounds simple enough, but for some reason it took me several templates to get the angles on the top portion just right.

Step 2: Trace Template on Lining Paper

Step 3: Cut Out Lining Paper

Step 4: Insert Lining Paper into Envelope

Step 5: Tape
I found that you only need on strip of tape for each envelope. Place the strip of tape right were my fingers are in the bottom left photo.

Step 6: Close the envelope and crease. VOILA, FIN!

Candles!

One of the first things Mr. Pineapple and I decided to cut because of budget was floral centerpieces on every table. I absolutely love flowers. Growing up I dreamed of being a florist. In elementary school, my plan was to open a shop called the Flow-Pop Shop. Each bouquet would contain real flowers along with chocolate ones. Anywho...

I love the look of candles so creating candle centerpieces to replace the flower ones doesn't hurt too much. I made sure to ask about decorating and candle restrictions when we visited venues and fortunately our venue has none. In fact, they supply each table with 4-5 three inch votives.

I have been searching the internet for a few months now for discount pillar candles. There were a few websites I almost purchased from, particularly candlesforless.com. They sell four-packs of pillar candles for $13.99 each. My plan was then to use 3 per table and buy 15 packs for $209.85 + tax + shipping and handling. We are using 6-person rectangular tables rather than the typical 8-10 person round, but it still worried me that 3 candles would be too skimpy.

Then I decided to go to Ikea's website to find plates or chargers of some sort to put the candles on. Lo and behold they sell 5 packs of pillar candles for $7.99! I could then get 5 candles for each table for only $159.80! Such a better deal. So, I went to Ikea on Saturday after a so-so trip to pick up my dress...more on that to come. Here is what I left with:

I have until June 20th to return them if for some reason I change my mind.

As far as what to put under and around the candles? I am still not sure. I will probably go with 10" mirrors from saveoncrafts.com ($2.39/each) for under them and of course the paper roses somewhere. I think there still may need to be another detail like ribbons around some of the candles.

Any suggestions? Something vintage-y perhaps?

Another DIY Project

Miss Cherry Blossom from Weddingbee posted a great note about her DIY lined envelopes. This will be a definite addition to my DIY to-do list. The inside of the "folder" portion of the invitation has a great copper pattern and this is an opportunity to introduce it again. Martha has instructions for creating your template. Here is the pattern that I will be using (updates to come):
I purchased the pattern as a vector illustration from istockphoto.com. I was then able to change the colors to match the copper used throughout the invitation.

Engagement Photos

I had many amazing professors while I was attending Carnegie Mellon, one of which was Charlee Brodsky. After graduating we worked together on the School of Design's newsletter, Re:View. Working with Charlee is always a wonderful experience. During our many months working on Re:View I lived in 4 homes with 5 different cats, a dog, several goldfish, and 4 different roommates. For the cars I purchased 2 new tires, a new battery, a few windshield wipers and a new wheel. Also, I got my first pair of glasses and my first fiance :)

Engagement photos were not one of the things to make the tight budget, but Charlee said she "would love to take pictures" of Mr. Pineapple and I. She is amazing.

She took a lot of photos of both of us as well as of parts of us. We are going to get together next weekend to put together some sort of composition of the images for the save the dates. In the meantime I did some quick edits, here are a few of the results: (Mr. P is dapper, no?)

Cake-spiration

Our cake is included with the rest of the reception package from the River's Club, so that is one less vendor we have to choose. We have not yet met with the baker for a tasting and to discuss the design. In the meantime, I have been looking for some cake-spiration to bring along when we do meet with her.

I love the simplicity of this cake with the cute little bows around each layer. I think this would be perfect for a spring or summer outdoor wedding. (So, maybe not ours.) I colored the flowers to see what they would look like in a light copper - I guess it looks more peach though.

This cake is ultra-modern. A look that I originally thought my wedding would follow. However, it seems I have been heading toward a traditional and vintage look, so I don't think this would work for us. I love the stripes, but these are made of ribbon and I don't like having so much inedible garnish on a yummy cake.

I love the linen paper look of the butter cream on this cake. This cake could work for any wedding depending on the flowers or other adornment chosen.

I love the flowers that adorn this cake. They were pulled from a fabric that was used throughout the wedding. They are definitely vintage.

I am drawn to this two-tone cake, especially when picturing it in champagne and copper. The couple had wreaths of rosemary around the base of each tier as a symbol of eternity. Which is lovely, but would the cake then taste like rosemary?

Here is another modern cake, very elegant. I think the use of ribbon is more appropriate here because it is so minimal. Also, the use of one flower as an accent is very striking.

This is my favorite cake so far. The lace on the sides mimics the bride's dress without going way over the top. By way over the top I mean this cake. I also like that is not white, but it doesn't scream birthday cake either. I would probably replace the fondant bow on the top, but other than that - gorgeous.

Which is your favorite?

The Buzz About the Blogs

Everyone these days is talking about the Etsy Handmade Wedding Series, and for good reason! There are great articles from blogger you may know such as Style Me Pretty and Poppytalk.

I bookmark pages from Esty everyday with inspiration and items to add to my wish list. Here are some of them (I am on a bit of a jewelry kick at the moment):


Row 1: Persephone Necklace, Copper Dome Key Chain, Seven Sisters Stacking Rings
Row 2: Copper Plated Bell Charms, Copper Satin Fabric, Vintage Copper Star Flower Earrings
Row 3: Hammered Copper Earrings, Samanthas Earrings, King Midas Garden Necklace


Row 1: Lola Lola Necklace, Copper and Silver Leaf Mirror, Victoria Bobby Pins
Row 2: Vintage Carved Ivory Flower Necklace, Vintage Paper Roses, Turning Leaf Votive Holder
Row 3: Ivory Rose Earring, Pocket Album, Embossed Copper Notebook

What are some of your treasured Etsy finds?

EW!

I thought it would be fun to go a little funky with the shoes I will be wearing to the ceremony and for photos. So began my search for copper 3" heels. Yeah and as you can see from the photos, it is not going so well. Also, I have big feet - size 10, so that doesn't help matters much.

I will only have them on for a couple hours, tops. I have a special pair of shoes to wear to the reception, more on them later!

Any suggestions?

Let's Hear it for the Boys

Since the ladies will be wearing all black, I will be in champagne, and Mr. Pineapple will be in black, he and I thought black for the groomsman's suits would be too much dark (it's a wedding not a funeral). So, we decided on gray. In keeping with the different dresses for the bridesmaids we will have the boys wear any gray suit they would like, a look such as this:


I prefer the light gray, but it really is neither here nor there.

Our wedding colors still had not come into play with the attire at this point (other than my gown). So in order to incorporate a bit of copper and champagne we decided to buy ties for all the men. Again, they are all in the same color family, but different.

My fiance will be wearing the solid copper tie on the right. We got a great deal on these ties at Macy's. We dropped in to check out the selection after attending a fairly traumatic bridal show.

Has anyone else left this much up to chance as far as attire is concerned? How did it go?

What to Wear

One of the very first decisions I made about my wedding was concerning the bridesmaid's dresses. Only one of my maids lives in the same state as I do and I knew it would be a nightmare trying to get everyone together to get the perfect dress for everyone. I also want my bridesmaids and best friends to feel pretty and comfortable in what they are wearing.

So, I decided on letting each girl pick out any black dress they wanted. My only request was that it be tea-length. Here are some great dresses I found from J.Crew:


How do you feel about the black? Too dark or chic?

Save the Date Magnets

I am a fan of the trend to send magnets as your save the date. I like that people can just throw them up on the fridge and they won't get lost in the pile of junk mail. On the other hand, I can't help but think they can look kind of cheap, I love love love paper.

So, I decided to combine the two. I am making paper save the dates and little magnets to send along with them. I am still working on the paper portion (I have to jump on that!), but have finished the little magnets.

I made over a hundred of them - just in case. Here is how:
Materials:
Card Stock Paper
Magnet Sheets
Double Sided Adhesive
1" Hole Punch (used for scrap booking)

1. Draw the monogram using a program such as adobe illustrator. (You can use any program you are comfortable with photoshop, corel draw, microsoft paint - anything. A vector program such as illustrator will, however, give you the smoothest results.)

2. Print out sheets of card stock with about 40 per sheet

3. Apply double sided adhesive to the card stock

4. Peel and stick the card stock to sheets of 5 mil magnet. The brand I bought was about $2 a sheet at Jo-Ann Fabrics. If you don't have adhesive you can buy sheets with adhesive already on them. Such as this one.

5. Using a 1" round paper punch, punch out the individual circles. Here is the one I have.

How are you doing your save the dates?

Color!

I love the unique color of my engagement ring (rose gold) and wanted to somehow incorporate it into the wedding. My primary concern was that I would not be able to find enough accents that were the same tone. So, I decided to use champagne as a base color and copper as an accent. They have a similar feel as rose gold, but are much more common.

Here are some of the details I have so far in the copper color family:

Copper has turned out to be a pretty tough color as well. Some coppers are really dark, almost a burnt umber (such as the paper for my invite). Other coppers like the flashing in the photo above are really bright.

I have not exactly decided what I am going to do with the above items yet. Some of my ideas are to use the flashing to make the place cards and cover the guest book, the ribbon to cover the metal cups the tea light candles sit in and the crazy sparkley leaves inside the candles holders.

Any ideas of how I can incorporate copper on a budget? (Yes, pennies are cheap - like 1 cent each ;) - but also cheesy maybe?)