Today, we purchased a veil, tiara and necklace/earrings set for Joanne from Veiled & Bejeweled. We got all three together for a total of $52 including shipping!! That’s pretty good considering the average veil in a bridal salon is over $100.
For her veil, she picked a simple two teired fingertip veil with a ribbon edge. The taira is a small, very delicate design in silver and rhinestones. And the necklace is silver, with rhinestones and pearls, and matching earrings.
Here is another great resource for all you brides-to-be looking looking for affordable honeymoon options. Rentalo is a great site that contains a complete database of rental cabins, lodges, etc world wide! From Canada to the Bahamas, California to Paris - were ever you want to go, you can find great deals on private vacation rentals here!
Some examples:
A Coral Beach Condo in the Bahamas starting at $64 per night - that’s cheaper then a hotel!!!
A two bedroom apartment in the French Riveria for $37 per night - NO KIDDING!!!!!
A Banff Boundary Lodge for as low as $61 per night!
What really shocked me was that I could find an apartment in the French Riveria for $100/night less then the cheapest place in Puerto vallarta, Mexico!! On a two week vacation, you would save $1400 - more then enough to cover the extra flight costs!!Â
I don’t know about you - but I have a pet peeve when it comes to guest books. For my wedding, we spent $35 on a guestbook, and even with 200 guests, we only used about 1/4 of the pages. So, now I have a mostly empty guest book that I spent way to much money on. Joanne is apparently much smarter then I am, lol.
We found this mini album on eBay for $3.99. With shipping, it came to less then $8! It is 5 x 7, with 12 pages inside. It is also photo safe, and available in a large number of colors! Joanne picked orange, to match her Orange & Yellow Gerbera Daisy theme.
A small photo of the couple will go in the front, and we will dress up the cover just a little bit with scrapbook supplies. We will probably pick up some white or yellow ribbon at the dollar store and replace the black ribbon as well. Then, a picture of the couple will go on the right hand side of each page, and guests will have the facing pages to sign their wishes on.
Joanne doesn’t know this (and I don’t think she reads my blog) but I also purchased two more matching ones and I am going to create some memory albums for her to match the guest book.
OH - and the wedding date is set: October 14, 2006!! YEAH!!!
We have decided to make invitations ourselves. I made out four, 4.25 x 5.5 inch designs. Joanne is having a hard time deciding between the first two. (By the way, if you click on the images, a full size will open and you can save it. They are free gerbera daisy invitation templates that you are welcome to use:) If you do use one, let me know - I’d love to see the results)
The invitation will be made as a card. The gerbera square (also free, take if you wish) shown below will be on the front, right hand corner of each invitation, with the guest’s names printed next to it (one of the benefits of DIY - fully customizable!!!) For those that need to be mailed, the address will be printed right on the front of the card so envelopes will not be needed.
The design Joanne chooses will go inside the card, with the invitation wording printed there as well. Each card will be sealed with a daisy sticker - purchased as a set from ebay for 99 cents!
Once we finish them - I will take some more pictures:)
Back when our mom’s got married, plus sized lingerie looked something like this:
Anything that even closely resembled a sexy nighty was ridiculously expensive and very very hard to find. Thank goodness designers have finally started to get a clue!! Today, you can find almost anything you wish - from bridal garters to wacky costumes, in plus sizes - and at really reasonable prices. Take the samples shown below: all available online in plus sizes, for less then $40!!!
Some Tips for Buying Plus Size Lingerie:
1. Shop online. The selection available online is much much more impressive then in store collections which tend to sell out rather quickly. THey are also generally more affordable online.
2. Consider what you wear regularly. The items that look good on you or you are most comfortable in while give you an idea of the type of lingerie to look for. Do you look great in halter tops? Look for halter styles. Do you prefer long skirts over short ones? Pick a floor length gown rather then a cami. You fill feel sexier and more confident if you are comfortable: and condifedence also makes you look sexier!!!
3. Check for styles that offer support. Even at my optimum weight, I have D cups. Any peice of lingerie that does not offer good bust support looks horrible on me. So, I stick to designs that have built in support.
So - go shop:) You’re a bride - enjoy it:)
Well this past week Chris and I went and spoke with the Pastor at a church near our house. We had thought it was going to be hard for us to find a church that would marry us. Chris is a confirmed Roman Catholic, though he does not pracitic the religion or even believe most of what they do. I was baptised Methodist but did not grow up in a religous home.
So we have been doing research online and thought we would be able to be married in the Methodist Church. We both believe the beliefs of the Methodist Church, which makes things easier. We thought we would have to join the church and attend services on Sunday and then go to some counseling sessions. Well come to find out we only have to do two counseling sessions with the Reverand and we do not have to attend church on Sunday unless we want to. Though we are considering joining the church since I do want to expose my children to church so it would be good if Chris and I were members of a church.
So besides reserving the church for our special day. I have been in contact with different vendors for our pictures, dj, videographer. We have not picked any of these yet. I really need to sit down this weekend and sort through all the emails and stuff I have. But Chris did find a great website called WedAlert. Once I signed up and I told them what I was looking for information on I started receiving a bunch of emails from differnet vendors in my area. This sure was a great find.
Well we need to pick our colors so I can really start lookin into braidsmaids dresses, flowers and invitations. Well this is were we are at as of today. I am enjoying this so much. I love being engaged to such a wonderful man.
Until next time…
Hugs Kirsten
If you are planning a late summer wedding, lighting is one issue you should consider. If your reception is to be outdoors, as the evening draws on, you will need lighting for the dance area, table areas, path ways and more. If you are environmentally conscious person: that would say “ELECTRICITY WASTED”.
So, go for SOLAR lights!! While these may not work for the main reception area, these are a nice, energy-wise option for lighting pathways other less used areas. Solar lights don’t have to look tacky either. Both of the lights shown below run on solar power and are beautiful as well! These are also great for areas were you need a light more light but do not want to run unsightly extension cords.
Prices vary, but the two shown here are about $10 each.Â
Well, my brother-in-law proposed to his girlfriend last weekend and they had decided to have a August 2007 wedding. On Tuesday, she discovered she was pregnant!!! YEAH, I’m going to be an aunty! So, they have decided to move the wedding to October 2006 and tonight, she (Joanne) and I began wedding planning! We covered a lot today so I will share it in a few posts.
The Theme: Orange & Yellow Gerbera DaisiesÂ
Joanne’s Wedding Favors (130 guests)
She has decided to keep it simple. We purchased 200 of these orange organza on ebay for $2. They will be filled with chocolates or mints(undecided so far). We will make tags with their names and date and a small fabric daisy will be attached to each bag. We also found the daisies on ebay - about $5 for each 100 daisies.
She is also apparently looking for a husband, lol. I can’t wait to see how it works out for her! Maybe her next project will be a pixel wedding! Now there is an idea….
Anyway, the site and blog are very entertaining - so take a break from all that planning and go take a look. There’s also a Date Night Out contest.
I just got this month’s newsletter from Flowerbud.com and it includes complete instructions for making a boutonniere yourself. I thought I would share it with you. If you are doing your flowers yourself, this is an invaluable resource 
Enjoy.
