Clay Flower Completion!

Diane worked like mad all week to finish the clay flowers for our wedding. Over the weekend she sent me many photos of the final products. They should arrive on my front step by Wednesday!
In addition to being an amazing flower sculptor, her photos are absolutely top notch. She said that while working on this order she really felt like a florist with the vases and vases full of flowers throughout her home.
Here is my beautiful bridal bouquet! It's so lush and fluffy and pretty! I cannot believe all the detail in every flower. Each of the tuberose has 21 petals, the ranunculus have 20-25 petals each the roses have 20-25 and the peonys have 25-30. Plus she made 112 clay stems and all of those stephenotis flowers. Multiply all those petals by 6 bouquets and 12 boutonnieres/corsages and you have a lot of sculpting to do.

All of the bridesmaids bouquets are slightly different. Since the girls will all be wearing different little black dresses, I thought it would be fun to keep their bouquets from being identical as well, and Diane agreed.
Here is a photo of Mr. Pineapple's bout. It is going to look great with his copper tie.
Like the girls, the boys will all be wearing different gray suits. They will vary from light gray to very dark gray. We purchased their ties, all in the same cooper and champagne color pallette, but with different patterns. So, in keeping with the variation all the bouts and corsages are also different.

Many of you have asked about Diane's pricing. Like fresh flowers, the price of a clay bouquet really depends on the type of flowers you would like. (The only difference is with clay you can have penoys in October and they will never ever die.) Her bridal bouquets range from $175-$400. Bridesmaids bouquets range from $65-$200.

Is anyone else having a fresh flower alternative for their bouquet?

Emily Ink Etsy Store!

Today I set up shop at www.etsy.com. I am so excited and hopefully I will be able to continue working in weddings after my planning is all said and done! Here is a sneak peak of the custom invitations I have up for sale:

Neck Wear

For the last few months I have been casually searching for a wedding day necklace. I would love to find something from Etsy. I have had nothing but amazing experiences from Etsy folks. I plan on wearing simple white pearl earrings (either a pair borrowed from my sister or a pair Mr. P bought me many moons ago).

I am definitely drawn to more vintagey looking necklaces. I love simple pearl necklaces with one big funky chunky accent. Here are some of my favorites:

{Etsy Seller Luxe Deluxe}

{Etsy Seller Lulucoco}

{Etsy Seller Damselle}

{Etsy Seller JC Jewelry Design}

{Etsy Seller Damselle}

My concern with the above necklaces is my hair. I will be wearing my hair down and I think the best features of the necklaces will just be hidden.

So, maybe something more symmetrical or simple is where I should head. I do love these, but I just don't love them in quite the same way.

{Etsy Seller Virginia Geiger Jewels}

{Etsy Seller Kateszabone}

{image}

I would like to go with yellow or rose gold over white gold/silver to match my wedding ring.

Do you have any suggestions (online sellers, specific necklaces)? Which is your favorite?

With These Rings

One afternoon last summer Mr. Pineapple and I were laying around the house being lazy when he asked, "so when the day comes, do you want to help pick out your ring?" My response was a quick, "no thanks, I love surprises and I trust you." I tried to forget the conversation because it was still pretty early in the relationship and I assumed he was asking for future reference, way future reference. Apparently, not so much. It wasn't long after this short exchange that Mr. Pineapple purchased my engagement ring.


He choice was perfect, a Gelin Abaci tension set rose gold solitaire with 26 little diamonds set in the band. I was simple yet very unique and, in my mind, perfect. Because of the unusual shape of the ring there were few options when it came to the wedding band.

Mr. Pineapple and I went to a local jeweler, Goldstock, who carried Gelin Abaci rings. Mr. P had a whole slew of options to choose from. He decided on a hammered rose gold band. I, on the other hand, just left my engagement ring in the hands of the jeweler who then sent it to Gelin Abaci in California to create a matching "shadow band." I really wasn't sure what the band would look like. I had images in my head of what I would do if I were a jeweler, but no actual images from GA.

My engagement ring was gone for six weeks, a very long six weeks. While it was MIA I wore one of two fakies from Claire's and googled the heck out of Gelin Abaci wedding bands trying to find someone with a similar ring. No such luck.

Finally, our rings were in and here is the result:
Since my band is not a complete circle the common symbolism does not really apply; "...the circle of a ring represents undying love and the continually renewed vows of the married couple. Circles have long been archetypes for not only timelessness, but also wholeness and homecoming." {source} That's ok though, unusual ring or otherwise, our love will still be timeless.

The one thing I truly did not expect during this whole process came after we picked up our rings. When Mr. Pineapple put his ring on I was overwhelmed with "oh my goodness, I have never seen him so handsome." It's true, I didn't want him to take it off. It looked so lovely, so perfect on his hand.

Did anyone else have a band made to match their engagement ring without seeing it first?

This Registry Brought to You by...

things I think Miss Candy Corn would like.

After seeing Miss Candy Corn's polyvore registry I had to create one myself. Mr. Pineapple and I buzzed around Macy's and Target adding things to our registry without any sort of plan. I tried to create an image in my head of what I would like each room to look like. For the bathroom brown and blue; for the kitchen reds, yellows, and blues; for the dining room reds, browns and white and for the bedroom brown, orange and blue.



Then after I created my collage I thought, oh gee that looks like Miss Candy Corn's wedding! Lots of brown and blue and birds. Putting together the collage was fun, I love getting the big picture view of all the little details.

Anyone else run through your registry without any sort of plan in mind?

Registry Adventure

This weekend Mr. Pineapple and I decided to pop over to Macy's and Target to start our registries. First, we headed to downtown Pittsburgh where there is a 12-story, super old school Macy's. The clock outside has been a landmark for over a century and is known as the "Kaufmann Clock." The Kaufman family was very influential in the Pittsburgh region and the clock used to be on the corner of the Kaufman department store, until Macy's purchased the chain.
On the seventh floor we set up our registry and were mesmerized by the carpeted walls.

The associate helping us get everything set up was Debbie. She was very helpful, maybe a little too helpful. Being the salesperson she was, she kept pointing out things that were "fabulous." She was kind, but a bit over the top. Just let us start playing with the scanner for goodness sakes. Here she is instructing Mr. P on how to use the scanner. For the most part I left all cooking related items and small appliances up to Mr. P to choose. I took over when it came to baking and more decorative decisions.

This photo documents the one and only time Mr. P allowed me to use the scanner. His past as a stock boy was really shining though.

Mr. Pineapple saddened that the giant wooden dragon would not scan.

Our next stop was at Target the following morning.
I love Target. Many of the same items we registered for at Macy's we ended up re-registering for at Target because the prices were so much better. I may have been overly worried about the price of the items we were picking out. I shot Mr. P down a couple of times when he wanted to register for something I didn't think we needed (like a counter top cereal dispenser). For the most part though we agreed on what to add and what not to. We also took turns picking out essentials that neither of us were really passionate about. At one point, I was looking at the digital SLRs considering adding one to our registry so we could get the extra 10% off after the wedding and Mr. P said "I wouldn't worry about registering for a camera." I didn't push the issue, but I sure hope he means what I think he might mean!

The only thing I am disappointed about is the lack of puppies for sale at either store.

Did you find it hard to register for fancy items that you normally would not buy for yourself?