My two dresses went to therapy....

...to work it out and they still don't like me. I am not sure what to do and am in a bit of a state over the fact that I have two dresses that don't like me and I don't like them. One I bought from Running of the Brides with my mom and sis and at the time, I think I forced myself to love it cause it was a good deal, a nice designer and I wouldn't have to think about it anymore. Upon learning that it would be $500 to alter, more than half of what it costs, I found another dress that very day at a bridal shop we were visiting it and immediately purchased it. Much to my chagrin, which I close my eyes, it is not the dress I see in my wedding pictures. It is beautiful but is it me? What is me?

Dress selection has an interesting way of pulling up all sorts of old hurts, images issues, self-esteem problems and mother/daughter relationship buttons. I continue to ask myself, how do you want to be seen, how to you think people see you, are you stuck in a box in people's minds and can't get out? More important, are you stuck in your own box, banging on the walls, looking for a crack to break it wide open and let in some air?

[As I type, visions of Pink Floyd's The Wall pop into my head]

All this over a dress, which I thought could be JUST a dress. But it is far more than JUST a dress. It is an extension of my psyche, my personality, my isms, my identity. I guess. I mean for some people, it is certainly not that big of a deal....oh this one looks good, I'll take it, and off to the next thing.

I purchased my dresses emotionally and financially but not lovingly. And I think that is where the problem lies. Not lovingly of myself, my worth, my value, my own right to want what I want, not lovingly respectful of my own process, or patterns or desire to be just as perfect as the brides I see in all the magazines and blogs.

This lovingly issue is getting in the way - of work, I look at dress websites instead, of my personal life, Juj told me yesterday "this is getting a little out of control", of my planning time, I have appointments with bridal shops and only 108 days left, of my emotional serene path, I am starting to feel the pressure.

With all the pro and cons, do this, do that, 'best dresses for you body' type of advice running around the internet and magazines these days, it is really really hard to also reconcile the emotional aspect that comes with being perfect in your imperfection for one day, the most important of your life.

With all that being said, I am still heading out to another bridal shop tonight and I will let my dresses fight it out between themselves, stuffed in Juliano's closet because I couldn't bear the thought of looking at their heartbreaking beauty and glorious baggage any longer.

Beantown Bride Post!

I was asked to do some writing for the blog Beantown Bride and today, my first submission to them was published. How exciting! It is a Real Wedding piece on Jason and Barrett, a very sweet couple, who were married last year. The task was to summarize their relationship and wedding in 250 word, no easy feat! But here it is.......enjoy and stay tuned for more posts to come!

Barrett and Jason

Author: Mellissa A. Knowles

Barrett Ward and Jason Ellis are avid Red Sox fans, so it makes perfect sense that they met at a game, watched the Sox on their first date and were engaged near Fenway Park. As Barrett recalls, even though Jason was late to pick her up the first time, "It was the most perfect date I had ever been on." And of their proposal, "I don't remember what he said, all I know is I said yes."

Jason and Barrett's wedding celebration took place on August 15, 2009 at Roxbury Latin School, where her father teaches. Rev. Tony Jarvis, a close family friend who baptized Barrett as a child, married the couple. As she walked down the aisle, Barrett's dark purple calla lily bouquet popped against her champagne colored, silk shantung Romona Keveza gown, purchased at a Brides Against Cancer Event in honor of her grandmother. Her bridesmaids wore Aria dresses in a complimenting pear shade while the men wore classic black tuxedos with green ties.

Guests dined on grilled chicken and cannelloni at long, family style tables with simple green hydrangea centerpieces. The couple gave each guest an individualized jar of homemade mustard. Sun streamed through large reception hall windows, as the newlyweds danced to Allison Krauss "When You Say Nothing at All." Remembering their special day, "It was probably the hottest day of the summer. Everyone was dripping with sweat on the dance floor!" Heat aside; they agree the most memorable part of the day was "I Do."

Wedding Day Details:
Photography by:Gwyneth Colleen

Invitations: Wedding Paper Divas
Gown: Romona Keveza
Florist: Halls of Tara
Caterer: Gourmet Caterer Boston
Venue: Roxbury Latin School
Music: DJ Ed Mullen

Inspiration for the day - Blue

I am in love with the color combo of our wedding, festive fuchsia, caribbean blue and saffron yellow. It is fresh, vibrant and really speaks to us. And what I love most? Apparently the colors we chose are now the hot colors of the year, according the The Knot. Yup, you heard it here first, we are hot. I love being "in" "hot" "trendy" although I don't need The Knot to tell me so. HA!

Here is The Knot's picture for the new "hot". My colors to a T! (minus the saffron)

Here are my other favorite blue things today....oh yeah 123 days til the wedding!

The fuchsia flowers with the blue door make my heart melt. I got this here.

Hello Sangria...our signature drink. I love this picture!

This may just be too beautiful to eat. From our friends at Cakes and More

If I had my say, the whole world would be beaded! So much so that I ordered these from Overstock.com where they have a fabulous selection of loose beads!

Have a happy day!

Inspiration for the day - Centerpieces

Ahhh....I love these. So classy, simple and unfussy....they have a confident personality.

Paper Scraps + Celery = Fabulous Gift Wrap

I found this absolutely fabulous blog called Creature Comforts with an appropo post for DIY gift wrap using celery. For anyone who knows me, I am having a love affair with celery. This could be more perfect. I am reposting this blog and give credit to Ez over at Creature Comforts Blog. Check em out!

Yes, you read the title correctly... Celery! Today I put together a little photo tutorial on creating your own gift wrap and tags using celery as a stamping tool. This has been done before (it's not an original concept)... this is just my take on it.

I got into trouble for calling my last project "eco" so I don't want to make the same mistake here. I do however encourage you to use paper scraps that you have laying around your home. For the wrapping shown here I stamped paper bags from Trader Joe's as well as scrap tissue paper and other tiny bits of paper I had saved up from random craft projects.

You will need:For the Gift Tissue (shown in the main image) you will need:
Scraps of tissue paper (white or colored)
Scissors
Paint (I used acrylic, but you can try other options)
Celery stock base. You will need to have cut this as smoothly as possible to leave a nice straight stamping surface)
Art tray or plate (basically just a flat surface that you can pour your paint onto)

For the Gift Tags:All the supplies listed above + paper scraps such as paper grocery bags, patterned, lined or graph papers
Standard Hole Punch
Large craft punches in the sizes you wish
Twine, ribbon, or string.

Optional:Jazz up your package with little treasures from around your home. Buttons, beads, pinecones, mini animal figurines, etc... all have potential!
Create sturdier gift wrap using paper grocery bags (for small gifts) or kraft papers.
Don't forget to save the wrapping after your gifts have been unwrapped. Even if it's been torn you can still create gift tags, etc from the leftovers!

STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS:

Step 1) Cut open a brown paper bag so that it lays relatively flat. You can use either the printed side or the blank reverse (I used the printed in my example because I really loved the design).

Step 2) Put paint (any color you want) onto your tray/plate (you may need to brush it around so that it's not all in one lump). Take your prepared celery stamp and dip it into your paint. Check and be sure that it's fully coated.

Step 3) Press your stamp down onto your paper with steady even pressure. Be sure not to rock it from side to side or let it slide around. Lift off your paper with a smooth motion.

Step 4) Repeat as desired. In the image I am stamping an area intended for gift tags, so I chose to make more than one print so that I could cut several tags from it.

Step 5) Once your stamp has dried (if you're impatient like me, you can dry it with a hairdryer on a low setting) use craft punches to cut out your tags. Punch at the top with a standard hole punch (so you can string twine through it later).

Step 6) Using tissue paper or other gift wrap sized paper, repeat steps above until paper is covered in as many stamps as you like. TIP: For tissue and other thin papers, be sure to place a scrap piece of paper beneath the sheet you are working on in case some of the paint comes through. If you use more than one celery stock you can overlay colors for a really cool effect.

Step 7) Allow paper to dry completely and then wrap up your gifts.

Step 8) Embellish as you like!

This is also a great project to do with the kids in your life. Always be sure to supervise, and take care when selecting your paint (you might want to pick something that is not permanent). Whomever you create this with or for, have fun!

By EZ from Creature Comforts

DIY Wedding blog post #1

This is my first DIY project posting, originally on Weddingbee website. I will also post it on Project Wedding website. I think it means I am a bona fide DIYer!!

When I started planning my wedding, my already married sister gave me some advice: choose three things that are important to you and leave the rest to someone else. Invitations and decorations top the list and although I have a whole slew of DIY projects up my sleeve, this is by far my favorite.

THOUGHT PROCESS: Sangria is our signature drink so corks and empty bottles will be decorating the three different wedding locations. With this in mind, I really want to have some interesting flower holders at the cocktail hour for people to take away as favors. But who wants a boring old empty wine bottle and another bud vase? Thinking cap!

I saw this catalog for a company called Artful Home and tucked in the back were these colored bottle that had been reversed etched with very cool sayings (the entire bottle was etched, leaving the letters in clear glass). Sayings like: LOVE - Warning causes dizziness. Recommended in excess, DREAMS: Drink deeply and believe. They were perfect wedding sayings but outrageously expensive bottles so I decided to make my own version! No etching only labeling....my style.

ITEMS NEEDED:

Wine bottles - lots of 'em. I retrieved the wine bottles being thrown out after a christmas party at my work. No worries, they knew what I was doing. Straight ones are better than v-shaped ones I have come to find out. Soak the labels off and clean well. I like clear ones, but colored ones are fun too

Paper and printer - you will have to experiment to see which works best with your printer. Paper cutter, Glue stick, Embellishments - I used a silver paint pen.

Using Word, I took the sayings from the catalog, added our names and wedding date, put them into a border I got from Clip Art, played around with color and accents and then printed on a laser printer at work. SHHH.

Here is my first attempt:




I lined the edges with a silver paint pen, trying a couple of different options - silver paint, a silver sharpie, but the silver paint pen worked the best.

This is the final label product although the picture is not as crisp as I would like.



Here is the corner.



So now that I have the label, a bottle is in order. I recommend buying lots of bottles of wine you like, sharing them with your FI, all in the name of science, well, an experiment, ok, a trial of sorts. Or you can steal them from parties you attend. I found that the perfectly round bottles, while boring in shape, make for the best specimen.

I thought I would try spray glue first, I hear it is good for everything. At my first attempt, it turned out gloppy, too thick in one area and not enough in another. It oozed out the sides of the label as I tried to smooth it out...yuck. It also soaked into the paper in the areas where is was thicker and ruined the label. Here is what it looked like.



So for my next experiment, I tried a super bond glue stick and a completely cylindrical bottle which made the smoothing out a lot easier. I would highly recommend using the glue stick cause it allows for adjusting.



Here is one of the final products, with some added ribbon and voila - a personalized wine bottle/vase to go the tables at our cocktail hour and to scatter around the mansion we are using for our wedding day festivities. Tags will be added with little notes encouraging people to take these home as a momento of our wedding.



It is an easy project and adds a personalized touch to your special day. Enjoy!

Draping Dilemma!

Currently being obsessed with the idea of tent draping...no correction, forever being obsessed with tent draping, I am having a difficult time figuring out how and what to do within a budget and time frame.

Originally, I wanted to drape the ceremony area, which is an outside grape arbor as well. Imagine, white chiffon or cotton panels floating softly above the quets, protecting against the harsh sun but casting warmth around the nuptials. It would be beautiful and whimsical, soft with perfect light. Ahhh....it seems like a dream and impossible on our budget.

So, I move to the place where we will be spending the most time, the reception tent. BIG HIGH tent with three poles. I originally wanted draping from the center pole out to all corners of the tent with chinese lanterns in the colors of the wedding hanging in between. Ok that how the hell do we get up there??

This would be perfect.

Other thoughts or ideas to fake the look?

- Draping fabric in a few openings between the poles

- Using just the colored chinese lanterns to break up the white space of the tent

- Line the perimeter of the tent with colored fabric to give hint of color

A few images I love:

I love how the natural elements are tied in with the lanterns.

(Top pic) Example of an initial thought I had to just drape around the poles like curtains.

Adds color but not too difficult to create.

With lots of ideas, not a lot of time or money, the first place to start is with the tent itself, dimensions, poles, how long, how tall. I actually just got off the phone with Justin at Taylor Rental in Haverhill. They are providing the tent and are super super nice. Gave me all the info I needed, 40x80, 24 poles, every 10 feet, and even some suggestions based on what I want to do with the chinese lanterns. We discussed heavy gauge fishing wire. I will still snoop around for a design that I like. Here are the colors thus far:

I would like to use saffron ribbon to hang at the bottom or use to hang on the wire. We will see cause that ribbon is expensive!!

Thoughts for now. My brain is overloading but I think my ideas are starting to come together!