A Bride and a Bridesmaid

Being a bride is the best...but, getting to be a bridesmaid too makes it even better....and I get to be a bridesmaid twice. Once before my wedding and once after. This will be the year of weddings and I am MOST excited!

So, as a bridesmaid, I got to help plan and host a Lingerie shower for one of my best friends, Westin.

It was a lot of fun and I got a lot of practice making invitations and getting ideas for my own wedding.

My two best friends and I spent HOURS making 32 of these invitations. But I must say...they looked pretty dang good!

I made this box as a gift for the bride and it went along with a game we played!

As an ice breaker, we had the guests decorate clothes pins for Westin and we used them to hang up her gifts on a clothesline.

Best friends since 6th grade.

Westin had this precious hanger made for her by a lady on Etsy. Someone buy me one of these please. I love it.

All her presents. Named appropriately.

Redecorated in Shades of Green

I found them.

Bridesmaid dresses in the perfect shade of green.

Not lime, not neon, not easter, not grass, not emerald, not hunter.

Just an olive-y, avocado-y, perfect green.

But let me just tell you, these were not the easiest of dresses to get ahold of. I had to call about 15 Dillards (literally) with no luck, email the company, and then order them through a store in Arkansas that just happened to have all of them in the approximate sizes I needed. (Surprise bridesmaids! I hope they fit you!)

I first saw one at the Dillards here at Quail Springs. The problem was, there was only one and it had no tag. The nicest sales lady called around, found out the price ($69), and supposedly found some at a few other stores in Oklahoma.

I had three on hold at Penn, but when I went to get them a day later they were holding the wrong dress and they didn't have any of the one I wanted. I then went on a nervous calling spree to every Dillards in Oklahoma, (Did you know there are 12 Dillards in Oklahoma?!?!) only to find out that none of them had the dress.

I was upset and distraught because I couldn't find them, they don't sell them online, and I needed these dresses.

So, I did what any crazy bride would do...email the company.

They gave me the numbers of 3 stores in the US that might have them in stock. I called the first one....they didn't have them.....welp thanks a lot Dillards email help line.

I called the second one....THEY HAD SIX! It was a miracle. The best part? They were now on sale this week for $46. It was meant to be.

Needless to say, I ordered them and they are being shipped to my house this very second!

They even match the green feathers I bought for the bridesmaid's hair pieces.

Fleurs

Welp, I've decided not to hire a florist and instead take on the task of making all the bouquets, boutonnieres, and centerpieces myself.

This is going to save me mucho dinero as well as allow me to stretch my creativeness.

I had no idea what flowers I wanted to use or how I was going to go about this...but I think I've narrowed it down!

The other night I was forced to go to Michael's with David to get some paper because Hob Lob is closed on Sundays. This was a weird experience because I have not been to Michael's in literally ten years and I work at Hob Lob so I felt like a traitor.

While we were there we looked around just to see what they had and to our surprise found these great flowers that both of us loved! The best part?...they were 40% off!

We went back last night and bought pretty much all of them!

I think the centerpieces are going to contain three of these green hydrangea bushes with a black gerber daisy in the middle and sprigs/peacock feathers sticking out all over.

We bought all the supplies to make them so I am going to start experimenting with some arrangements soon and I'll post the results when I'm done.

Wish me luck!

Something Borrowed...

I think the greatest word for any bride to hear is "free."

Planning a wedding is NOT cheap. Yes, you can be economical...and believe me, I am, but weddings are just pricey. Period.

So, you can imagine my excitement when I was recently given wedding supplies from two wonderful people!

Heather Wells (now Harvey) was my neighbor way back in the Gunn Henderson days and she read this blog and saw that I was using peacock feathers in my wedding and generously gave me a TON of peacock feathers from a REAL peacock nonetheless. I was ecstatic! For any of you who have ever researched purchasing feathers you know that they are quite the investment, so this was an exciting donation.

Here are some more peacock feathers donated by Heather/purchased half off at hob lob. Yes.

Also, my future sis-in-law, Jessica, offered to let me use a bunch of vases, tealights, candleholders, and marbles from her wedding. Lucky for me her colors included green as well.

My wedding budget thanks you both!

Donations still welcome.

Buy us things!

This week David and I registered at Target and Bed, Bath, and Beyond.

Registering is a blast until you remember that you don't just get the things you scan...someone has to buy them for you! We would get so excited about "our new thing" and then remember that it is not ours yet!

As far as registering goes...we scanned everything.

Why not?

If someone wants to buy us some Wii games or a camping tent then I will be happy to let them!

The bad news is we didn't find ANY bedding that we liked. We are both picky people. It's hard to find bedding with no flowers, weird patterns, slick, suede, or itchy material. We just want a simple brown and green soft fluffy comforter. Is that too much to ask? Apparently so. But, we WILL find one. I know it.

Here are some of the items we are most excited about. If you want to make us happy you can purchase them for us. Just throwin that out there....

Emeril Cookware. Legit.

A giant shower head. This was David's choice. He was real excited.

Yes, I registered for a Family Feud Wii game. It's my favorite game show.

Pictures

I realized that I never mentioned that we met with our photographer over the break!

She is fabulous, cheap, and artistic. All of which I LOVE. We are very excited.

Honestly, I think the photographer is the most important part of the wedding. When I started wedding planning I said that if I was going to splurge on anything then it would be the photos. Your photos are all you are going to have to look back on so you want them to be good!

As far as engagement photos go, we are having them taken by the lovely Miss Laura Bowles! That way we can save money and give our friend a chance to practice her talent! We haven't taken them yet because

1.) You don't really need them for anything unless you are putting them on invitations (which we are not)

2.) I want to take them when it's sunny and beautiful and perfect outside

3.) I want to take them as close to the wedding as possible so we don't look different

I know, I'm weird and picky.

Also, What is the point of bridal portraits?

The only time I want to be out and about in my dress is my wedding day. I also don't know why I would want any pictures of me in my dress other than at my wedding when I am glowing and in love.

I guess I just don't understand the point. No offense to all you pro-bridal pics out there.

Here are some unique engagement photos I found.

So cute.

Less than five months...

Yes, our wedding is less than five months away.

This statement hit me pretty hard this last week. I started panicking while thinking about all the things I haven't done...but my wonderful level headed fiance straightened me out by helping me make my favorite thing in the world....a list.

I live off of lists.

Sometimes I will have multiple lists going at once.

As of now, I have one on my desktop, one in my planner, one on my dry erase board, and one on the back of one of my paychecks. All for different things.

This is just how I function.

So, we made a list of things we want to accomplish this month and then another for things we need to get done overall.

This month's list consists of:

1.) Sign and pay for our venue

2.) Make the final decisions on our wedding party and ask them

3.) Finalize our guest list, addresses and all...(my least favorite)

4.) Start looking at cakes...yum

5.)Make dinner and show reservations for our honeymoon (favorite)

6.) Start looking at attire for the boys

That's not so bad.

Lists make everything manageable.

So that's our plan for the month, we'll see how well we do.

I'll leave you with these perfect candle holders my mom and I found over the break on clearance at Hob Lob. Not only will they look great at our wedding, but they will also look great in our apartment as well. Double duty decorations. Yea.