Ring Bearer ✔

I don't know how much it cost to rent a tux or buy a nice suit for a 2 ½ year old so while I was watching my nephew the other day we went shopping. We found a suit that is the same coloring as my fiance's suit. The suit, for the ring bearer, has a white windowpane pattern for $19 at Burlington Coat Factory. The original price was $50 so I'm thinking $19 is a good price (since he's going to grow out of it by the end of the year).

BUT the most important part is how cute it is on him!!!

When all else fails, DIY!

A few weeks ago I was shopping around for jewelry for my bridesmaids. I knew I wanted to provide it for them but wasn't sure what I wanted. Finally, I ended up finding a beaded necklace that I liked a lot but it was like $40, without earrings! (It was really somewhere around $35-$45, I can't remember exactly.) When I looked at it closer I realized I could totally make it! There was no way I was spending that much on something that I had the proper skills to create myself.

I ended up finding the perfect beads at a local craft store for just under $6 per strand, I bought 6 strands (I did discover that I needed 1 more). When I finished the necklaces I found I even had enough for 5 sets of earrings. So in the end I will have spent under $50 for 5 necklaces and 5 pairs of earrings that are completely unique, when I could have spent around $300 for something similar in a store.

My sister(maid-of-honor)'s necklace is double stranded and the rest of my maids get a single strand. No 2 are alike! Each necklace and each pair of earrings are different and they match my dresses PERFECT! I can't wait to see them on!

I love when I find time (and space) for a little DIY project.

3 Months!

I was just reminded that today is the 22nd and that in exactly 3 months we will be getting married. Yay!

✷♥✷ May 22, 2010 ✷♥✷

like a river flows surely to the sea
darling so it goes, some things were meant to be

take my hand, take my whole life too
for I can't help falling in love with you

Shoes are Here!

My shoes came in this week. They delivered them to my neighbor/bridesmaid instead since I guess the fedex guy couldn't get up our driveway with all the snow we've gotten.

They are running bigger than the black ones I tried on in the store so I'm not sure if it's just because my feet are cold or what so we'll see how that goes. The color is great though, I was worried about that since ivory can be more yellow or just a shade off from white.

When I get around to it I'll post pictures!

Awful Bridal Store Experience

So I don't even think I could begin to explain the horrible experience I've continued to have with MB Bride. To all the brides out there, do NOT go there. If it's too late then I just pray you have a much better experience then we have had. We have had every issue from incredibly rude service, over charging on a dress, to dresses coming in, in the wrong sizes and everything in between.

Thankfully, after 2+ hours of arguing with the owner this morning I finally was able to get discounts on 2 of the dresses.

I heard a few other horror-stories about that store today too. My sister found her wedding dress from there, but she will NOT be purchasing it from there after this experience. I certainly want her experience to be better then mine!

Español

I've decided to learn some Spanish words and/or phrases in prep for our honeymoon. I took it in elementary school and some in junior high but Christian never did. When we were in Punta Cana 2 years ago we were completely out-numbered as far as language was concerned, even the resort staff barely spoke English. Even though this time we are staying in a 6-star resort (assuming that means less of a language-barrier) I thought this would be fun! So I've asked a co-worker to give me a random word every day for me to look up.

Palabras en español de la semana (spanish words of the week)
Thursday
Portamonedas - Purse / Bolsa - Bag / Catera - Wallet
Friday
Abogado - Lawyer

Bridal Shoes ✔

Just ordered my bridal shoes, I'm so excited!!! As I was checking out I noticed that it would be just under $100 for my shoes, and I sighed a bit. Then I thought... well maybe if I sign up for the email list I'll get at least like free shipping or something... within 10 seconds I got an email with a new customer coupon code and it made my shoes just under $70, YAY! So it was totally worth it, I cannot wait for them to come in!

I always love it when brides to a bright 'pop' color for their shoes. Unfortunately with our colors - charcoal grays + ivory whites - we don't have any real 'pop' colors. But I always recommend it to people who ask for advice.

Another neat thing about the shoes I chose for the women in our wedding... all the shoes are the same just in 2 colors, black for the girls and ivory for me, but the company does custom shoes for a little bit of an additional charge. They have lots of colors to choose from and you can choose from 2 or 3 different heal heights, depending on the shoe. So for example, my sister is a pink girl so she might do something like this...

Bride: Pink w/Pink Crystals 3.25" heel -- Tall Bridesmaid: Pink+Black 2.5" heel -- Short Bridesmaid: Pink+Black 4" heel

Bridesmaid's Shoes ✔

I love these shoes with my bridesmaids dresses - Nina Culvers. I think I'm addicted to Nina shoes for special occasions. I'm also planning on buying them in Ivory for my dress. These shoes run big so we all went down a size in them. There is a slight possibility that I am just addicted to coordinating and matching things. I've got 4 pairs of these in my possession and none of them are mine - torture!