Bedazzling The Belt

I’m back!  I hope all of my blog readership (which consists of my best friend and my mom and dad) didn’t think I’d given up on this project.  The last month has been absolute insanity.  So here’s a quick recap before we get into today’s post:

First of all, our social was a fantastic success!  After all the stress, planning, gathering of prizes, selling of tickets, and working to ensure the night went off without a hitch, I am happy to report that everything went relatively smoothly.  Or at least I think it did.  The night went by so fast that I’m not sure what happened.  One minute I’m writing numbers on the prize bags, the next minute I’m pulling out large trays of meat, and the third minute I’m throwing out half empty drink cups and telling Guy We Haven’t Seen In Eight Years to stop hitting on my bridesmaid and to go the hell home so we can clean up.  I learned quickly that it certainly goes by a lot faster when it’s your social compared to someone else’s. 

Another thing we learned:  never underestimate the ferocity of hungry drunk chicks.  My mother worked to create the most amazing cupcake display known to man, with 18 different specialty flavors in gorgeous wrappers.  However, the problem with that, is you cannot set up a table filled with sweets in the middle of a hoard of woo girls and expect them to stand back nicely while you place your handmade, exquisitely delicate signage in front of each type of cupcake and then stand back to admire and take a picture of your excellent craftsmanship.  As soon as the first cupcake hit the table it was like...

 

FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!

And my MOH was having to throw elbows to try and keep my mother from being stampeded.  Thankfully, she made it out alive, and I received a million compliments on her delicious confections. 

We owe a huge thank you to our families and wedding party, who really stepped up and helped us immensely with this event, as well as to all the wonderful people in our lives to attended our social to support us.  We love you all! 

 

 

The one picture of us from before the night started...

Immediately after the social, I had 4 days to get ready to leave for Grey Cup with my cheer team.  Between tying up loose ends at work, laundry and packing, ensuring our routine was ready to go and not leaving the hair team behind (which almost happened) there was no time for blogging.  Grey Cup weekend was also a great success!  My feelings would best be described in a song:

 

 

 

And a photo:

 

No caption necessary.

Immediately after getting home from Grey Cup, I had 4 days to get ready for a two week trip to Germany for the World Tap Championships.  By this time, my life is in complete disarray.  I’ve been living out of a bag and in airports since September, and I haven’t even had time to think about my wedding much less blog about it.  But I returned home in one piece last weekend after many a delayed flight and missed connection and had a couple days at home with my love to relax, decompress and recover from jet lag.  And what’s the best way to do that?  Why, with wine and strassing!

I received my Swarovskis in the mail a while ago, as I mentioned last blog post, and they have just been sitting there, taunting me, ever since.  So when I sat down to work on Aislin’s belt, I thought it was a project that was going to be completed over a number of weeks, but I finished it in two days.  Turns out, strassing for small people?  Much faster.  Strassing on a flat surface?  Much easier.  Strassing with Clear Diamond Swarovskis?  Much SPARKLIER!  Is sparklier a word?  I don’t care.  It is now.

As I posted before, Aislin’s dress looks like this:

 

 

Look at that punnum.  Isn’t she adorable?  Squee.

But the front of it is much too plain for my taste.  So I started with a piece of plain white silk ribbon, and used an embroidery hoop to keep it taut and in place while I strassed.  I was also concerned the glue would seep through the ribbon and onto the table, so I wanted to keep it up off my work surface.  Turns out it held up well!  When I put the first row of crystals on, I felt that same overwhelming feeling when I started Meadow’s tap shoes, because it seems like such a big project with such little stones.  But I worked about one square inch at a time, and it went pretty fast!

 

 

You start with some ribbon....

 

 

 

 

...you pull it tight...

 

 

 

 

...and you get down to biz.

I measured Aislin a couple weeks back at dance class (dance!  Awe, she’s doing so good...) and she’s 10 inches from hip to hip, so I added a bit more for growth and worked on one half at a time, meeting in the middle.  I think I finished the whole thing in about 6-7 hours.  I’m getting pretty fast at strassing now, which is good because I have a giant pair of size 9 pumps to finish before the wedding. 

 

 

Progress...

 
 

 

Usually worked in square inches...

 

 

 

 

Almost halfway....

 

 

 

 

Just about done!

And voila, the finished product!  I feel sad that these photos don’t do the belt justice, because it is so sparkly and cute.  I tried it on her at dance last night and it looked so bloody adorable.  She’s going to be such a little doll.  :)  So now I’m excited to strass more things for her outfit!  Shoes!  Hairpiece!  Flower basket!  She will probably blind everyone walking down the aisle, hahaha...

 

 

Finished!

 

 

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas season and a Happy New Year!  I will be back after the holidays with lots of wedding planning fun!

 

Happy Wedding Wednesday!!!

 

~M

 

 

WARNING: Cuteness Overload

Hello all!

So as much as I loved trying on bridal gowns, and swishing and swaying in all the gorgeous organza and lace before finally settling on the perfect one, let me assure you that it is nothing compared to going through the same process with the cutest and tiniest of humans! 

 

"Their small features and oversized eyes trigger a hormonal response in humans.  It's autonomic.  It's what keeps us from eating them."

We took Aislin flower girl dress shopping on the weekend, and it was so fun!  I loved seeing her in all the adorable little dresses.  There is nothing cuter than a little girl in a fancy dress.

The first was a floaty white dress with an organza overlay and white flowered belt:

 

Oh she's cute....and she knows it.

 

 

Floof!

I liked this dress, but I really wanted Aislin to be a mini-me and there weren't really any flowers incorporated into my dress, so we passed on this one.


The next was a pink strap dress with rosette detailing on it (that did come in white) and pretty trim:

 

OMG.  She's just wee.

I liked this one too, and I loved the poufyness factor, but again wasn't a fan of the big rose on the belly.  So although she looked really cute and princessy in pink, we passed on this one too.


The next was a layered and striped dress, and in Aislin's words, "this one's a bit big":

 

Gasp.  I have no words.  What a little doll.

This dress is cute, but for someone older.  I don't believe that spaghetti straps belong on three year olds, so even though I loved the coutureyness of it and the fact that it looked different, it wasn't the right one.

It was around this time that I learned that trying to photograph a child is just like trying to photograph wild animals.  You have to be incredibly patient, you need to stalk them as they go about their business in their natural habitat, and if they get even the slightest sniff of an inkling that you are trying to take a picture of them, they will run away in the other direction.

One of many blurry action shots that ended up on my camera phone...lol

 



It was also at this point that she couldn't understand why we were parading her around in dresses like a circus monkey oohing and ahhing at her when all she wanted to do was run around naked and play.  So we shoved another dress on her, but she was pretty much not having it.  And I can't blame her either, I also have zero shopping stamina.  Five outfits is like my max, and then I just wanna get the hell outta dodge and have a cocktail.

But luckily for us, and her, we found the perfect adorable little dress for her to wear on our big day, this floaty organza dress with a crinoline underlay and ribbon detailing on the back:

 

CUTENESS.

 

 

Love the interesting back...

 

 

 

 

Another photo of her on the run...

 

  

Now I can't let my cutie little mini-me go out in front of all those people without being appropriately blinged.  So in addition to strassing her a little pair of ballet flats, I'm going to make her a strassed ribbon belt, to go with the dress since the front of it is pretty but plain.  And we changed the organza ribbon on the back to white as well.  And of course, when the sales associate asked me if I wanted an extra layer of crinoline underneath for extra pouf?  UM, YEAH.

 

 

 

I know.  Shopping tires me out too.  Let's blow this pop stand

and get some Kinder Surprise.



I would tell you about bridesmaids dress shopping as well, but there's not really much to tell.  I have the most efficient set of bridesmaids a girl could possibly assemble.  We were in and out of David's in about 15 minutes, and zero photos were taken.  It pretty much went like this:

Me:  "Okay, you guys pick some dresses you like, and I'm gonna go sit over here."

Jess:  "How about this one?"

Melissa:  "I like that one."

Tara:  "Me too"

(they all try it on)

Me:  "Okay so we're all good with this one?"

Bridesmaids Superforce:  "Yep."

Me:  "Want to try anything else on?"

Bridesmaids Superforce:  "Nope."

Me:  "Awesome, let's go to Joey's for bellinis."


Done and done.  They ended up choosing this famous Vera Wang in black:

 

Unique, chic and super fashion forward.  It looked awesome on all of them, and I love it!  I also love that it was on Gossip Girl.  Except we will do without the weirdo fascinators.

So that's two more things crossed off the list!  Yay!  I feel like a wedding planning beast these days.


Just a reminder that our wedding social is coming up on November 16th!  I will be doing another post soon about our awesome prizes!  Based on the crowd that has already bought entry to this shindig, you will not want to miss out.  It's gonna be an awesome party!  Message me for tickets!
 
 
Happy Wedding Wednesday!!!



~M

Progress!

It feels like I have been in a flurry of wedding planning activity lately!  So I just wanted to give a quick update on some of the progress we've made so far!


For starters, we have booked our reception décor, lighting, invitations and stationery with Ashley from Sweetness Stationery and The Little Linen.  When I went to Ashley's home studio I was amazed at all the beautiful displays she had and her flair for creativity.  And when she told me she can do all those things for my wedding in a one-stop shop, I was sold.  She had so many wonderful ideas, and I just loved her sample invitations.  I know she's going to do an amazing job on our wedding!

 

 

 

I love the way the design flows through every aspect of the wedding...

 

 

Then we went ahead and booked our flowers with Academy Florist.  Lauren was such a lovely person, she too is very creative and you can tell she loves her job a lot.  She taught me a lot about flowers just in the short time I was there!  For example, this is a lisianthus bloom:

 

 

 

It smells divine, it is very floaty and soft looking, and comes in purple!  Aside from roses, carnations and callas, I had no ideas, so it was awesome to look at everything she brought to the table.  They are also going to do all the centerpieces for the reception, and all the ceremony décor, including the flower petals design I love so much!  Squee!

 

 

So pretty and interesting...

 

 

 

Love love love this...it looks so amazing against the plush red carpet of the Convocation Hall!

 

 

 

So now it's onto bridesmaid dress shopping!  The girls and I are going out in a few weeks to check out the Vera Wang line at David's Bridal.  We're going for something in black, fashion forward but not too weird looking, and beyond the shiny satin strapless dress that seems to be all the rage these days.  Definitely excited for this aspect of the planning, because I want my girls to feel as beautiful in their dresses as I do in mine!  Yay!

 

 

 

Short?

 

 

 

Long?

 

 

 

Unique?

 

 

 

Chic?  Love them all.

 



 

 

And finally, I am taking this little doll to D'Ella for flower girl dress shopping soon!  She needs a princess dress to go with her princess shoes! 

 

 

 

Oh, she is going to look so pretty....

 

 

 

...and she is doing so good in dance class!  (Proud Auntie Moment)

 

 

So we have made a lot of progress lately!  Stay tuned because I will be blogging about our fabulous social prizes very soon as well!  And if you don't have your tickets yet, send me a message on Facebook!

 

 

 

Happy Wedding Wednesday!!!

 

 

~M

 

 



DIY Delight

Well, we are officially getting married in one year and two days.  I feel like time is just flying by!  I can remember thinking to myself, “Oh boo, I can’t do anything yet, we still have 18 months, it’s too early to start planning” but now, I’m more like...

 

 

Wheeee, it’s time to start planninnnnng!

 

Which is sometimes followed closely by...

 

 

OH GOD I ONLY HAVE 12 MONTHS TO DO ALL THIS?!?

 

But mostly the excited kid thing.

Eric and I got all our big ducks in a row early:  venue, ceremony space, photographer, videographer, officiant, bridal party selection, and social venue.  These have all been booked and taken care of, so now we can focus on some of the smaller details.   My current most important mission is finding a dress.  Not only do a lot of dress places require a long ordering lead time (sometimes up to 8 months, and then you need time for alterations) but I also can’t make some other important decisions until I select the Big Kahuna.  I have heard a lot of great things about Bliss Bridal, so I’m taking the MOB and MOH there a week from Saturday to see what we can find. 

 

 

 

 

Love some of these gowns that Bliss carries...

Now that we are within the time frame to start looking at some of the smaller details of the wedding (although it is still a little early) I am taking an inventory of all the DIY projects I want to tackle.  I definitely don’t want to be frantically gluing rhinestones to napkin rings at 4 am, 5 days before the wedding, so I want to make sure I have lots of time to get everything done that I need to so that I’m nice and relaxed prior to the big day.  So I thought I’d share with you some of the DIY wedding projects that I am digging right now!

 

Colossalpieces

First off, Pinterest is a great source of inspiration for weddings, but it can kind of be a double edged sword.  You see all these lovely designer gowns and cathedral length veils, candid romantic photos of the couple looking immaculate from every angle, the 3 foot high spray flower centerpieces with individual lighting and ostrich feathers, the gorgeous tulle draping held up by hummingbirds with glittered wingtips, and the gorgeous brides with their perfect hair and teeth without even a hint of armgina in their strapless dresses (you know what I’m talking about).  This can give you some unrealistic expectations about what your wedding day should look like and also can lead to some budget-busting ideas pretty quick.

 

 

Gorgeous, stylish, blushing bride:  Seen on Pinterest.

 

 

Armgina: Not seen on Pinterest. 

 

However, there are some awesome ideas you can get from Pinterest and almost all the inspiration I’ve gathered for centerpieces has come from there.  I really love the idea of tall, grand centerpieces, especially since the ceiling in the Millennium Centre is so high.  So what I have in mind looks something like this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

So pretty.

Pulling all the pieces together (there are 22 individual parts for what I have in mind) will likely be a challenge, especially staying under budget.  Luckily I have access to some very crafty people with big discount cards.  ;)

Strassy Strass Strass

You all know I’m a big fan of strassing, and I’m going to do my wedding shoes, probably a Hyper Prive pump strassed in Swarovski Clear Crystal (again, depending on the dress).  But literally the only thing stopping me from strassing everything in sight is the time it takes to do it.  I have decided I am going to strass a pair of shoes for Aislin to wear so she matches me, which won’t take long because she has tiny feet, but I also want a strassed bouquet holder!  I saw these on Pinterest as well, but I don’t like the rows of fake rhinestones and prefer the sparkle that the strassing pattern gives.  So there will be many a night in the next 12 months where I will be hunched over the living room table with a big glass of wine, bedazzling!  (If anyone out there knows where to get a plain bouquet holder, let me know.)

 

 

Like this, but better.

 

 

Like this, but better.

 

And here's a video of a completed strassed ruby slipper that I have been meaning to post - just ignore the Packers game in the background :)

 

 

 

Put A Cork On It

Some of you might be surprised to know that Eric has been very involved with the wedding planning right from the start, and has really great ideas.  I know some grooms couldn’t care less, and just want to know what time to show up to the wedding and don’t have any further involvement.  Eric couldn’t be further from that, he’s in here like a dirty shirt!  He came up with the idea for our seating chart that I love – we are saving all the corks from all the bottles of wine we’ve shared, from the time we got engaged to the date of our wedding.  We are going to use the corks to make the seating chart which the table assignments will be pinned to.  I love that it’s such a personal touch and it incorporates our love of wine into our reception.  We will probably have enough corks to make three seating charts.  We drink a lot of wine.  Don’t judge.

 

 

 

Like this, but better.

Take A Number

I saw this in Martha Stewart Wedding (basically just a print version of Pinterest in that you feel like an inadequate piece of shit after looking at it) and I totally loooove the idea of glitterized table numbers.  Well glitterized anything really.  And my crafty MOH said they would be very easy to make!  Then she started saying something about heat embossing and something else, and I knew this would best be delegated to her list of tasks as she is the crafter extraordinaire.  I can’t even make pancakes without searing my hand, so something called heat embossing is probably best left to the professional.  But so pretty!  I love the 3D ones as well.  Very excited to sit down and craft it up with these....

 

 

 

Ombré....trés chic.

 

He Gives Me Butterflies

Squeeedeeeleedee I love these butterfly place cards.  They are so sweet and delicate looking, perched on the edge of a wine glass.  I know that place cards are not super popular with guests, and a lot of people just switch them around anyway, and to be honest I don’t care where anyone sits at the table, I just like these little beauties so much.  It’s sort of a pie in the sky DIY project, as they need to be hand calligraphed (um ya right?) and require a special cutting machine.  I do know a verrrrry nice lady with a Cricut who might be able to help me out, so it’s on the list of maybes.  ;)

 

 

 

Ahhh!  Love.

 

I’m not like a big butterfly lover or anything.  Sure I think they are pretty, but they wouldn’t figure prominently into the wedding or become part of any kind of butterfly “theme”.  But these do have a personal significance to me because of the story of when Eric and I first started dating.  For those of you that don’t know, this is not my first foray into the world of blogging.  Back when I was single, I had a dating blog called “Diary of a Mad Dater” that basically detailed all the hilarious, ridiculous stories of the dates I had been on with total duds.  Guy who Wears Woman’s Jacket, Guy who is the Intellectual Equivalent of a Ham Sandwich, Guy who Pays 3/4 of the Bill, Guy who is Weirdly Obsessed with Andre Agassi...et cetera.  So after quite a few of these disappointing dates, I was a little jaded about the whole process and males in general, and my expectations of dating (particularly blind dates) were starting to drop to the point where I just thought it was straight up funny.  And just as I’m starting to legit lose my faith in humanity and the male species, I went on a first date with a guy who actually made my heart skip a beat when I first saw him.  Okay, this guy is seriously handsome.  And then as we talked, I was further and further impressed.  Wow, he actually has a post-secondary education.  Okay.  He’s travelled the world!  That’s pretty awesome actually.  He has some really great stories.  He’s funny!  (“Does this rag smell like chloroform to you?”) Articulate and well spoken, check.  Charming!  Confident, I like that.  So by the time he walked me home, gave me a hug and I went inside, I was happily surprised.  I remember thinking to myself, well what do you know..........butterflies.  :)

That’s a really sweet ending to the story, so I’m going to leave out the part where I ran upstairs and phoned the MOH and excitedly yammered “I just had the BEST DATE!  Totally going to marry this guy.”  To which she appropriately responded, “Okayyyyyyy there.  WHOA.  Whoa there.”  And the part where he took six days to call me back after that.... ;)

 

 

<3 this boy.

 

Happy Wedding Wednesday!!!

 

~M