Mission Slideshow Has Begun ...

So I admit it - I am "that girl" who always has her camera and loves taking pictures of anything & everything.  I feel bad for Mr. BB who is burdened with the task of taking the pictures whether he likes it or not.  THANK YOU for that, honey, and I must commend you on being an extremely talented photographer. :)

When I first got engaged and started thinking about the reception, I knew that I wanted to incorporate a slideshow in some way.  Since our relationship began almost 12 years ago back in high school, Mr. BB & I have tons of pictures together throughout the many phases of our relationship.  (And yes, those pictures highlight the various interesting fashion/hairstyle choices I have had along the way.)  But it wasn't until my mom, the driving force behind this whole wedding extravanganza, came up with yet another genius idea - that I knew exactly how I wanted to incorporate a slideshow into our June garden wedding.

We have spent the weekend going through boxes of pictures from boxes that Mr. BB & I have together & boxes from both of our parents houses (Which is quite entertaining, I might add, and I recommend it whether you have a reason to do it or not!).  Our main goal is to gather pictures of my father & I, Mr. BB and his mother, and of course, of the two of us.  The day of the wedding, as we have our first dance as husband and wife, the slideshow with pictures of us will play on a large screen behind us.  As I dance with my dad (a guaranteed emotional moment for me), a slideshow will play with pictures of us, and when Mr. BB dances with his mother, their slideshow will play.  This will serve dual purposes - as it will provide a great way to incorporate the many pictures we have - and will also provide a diversion for our lack of dance ability.

THANKS, Mom, for the idea, as always.  Back to gathering pictures ...........

Bridesmaid Dresses ... CHECK!

It wasn't until I became a "wedding planner/bride" (Did you notice that wedding planner came first?) that I grew to appreciate the value of a check during this process ... but oh, how I love one now!  And by a check, I mean a check off the list of the 2,145,302+ tasks there are to complete when planning a wedding.

Today marked a check of the bridesmaid dresses - and for any fashion-obsessed bride - other than the dress, this certainly is a big check.  While I chose the dresses back in the summer and had each of my fabulous nine bridesmaids place their order (thanks girls!), today they actually came in!!!!!!!!!  And it was completely by accident that we were in my favorite bridal store, Pure English, to find out that they were here.  If I must confess, when we found out that they were in, we were actually there to stalk them, as usual, because my mother and I love that place so much.  In fact, we were actually thinking of inviting the owner and all of her sales associates to the wedding.

So here they are, the big reveal ...

Jim Hjlem, Style 5054, Color:  Pear

The dress caught my eye because it just screamed garden party, and because I knew it would be flattering to the shapes of all of my girls.  And yes, it also happened to match the floral print shoes that I had already found for them to wear.  Pictures of those to come ... 

Christmas in October!

Yes - I do realize that the rest of the world is consumed in the details of their Halloween costume, pumpkin carving, and candy for trick-or-treaters ... but in my house, it's Christmas that is on my mind.  It came early this year!  That is, in the sense that I was greeted at my door yesterday by my SECOND favorite man ... don't worry honey, you are definitely the first!  And if you were wondering, my SECOND favorite man was dressed in a UPS uniform and was bearing gifts!  He had a box marked Forever 21 on the outside.  My heart skips a beat every time that I see those words, beautifully written in that same font I have grown to love so much.

Now why does this pertain to my June wedding, you ask?  While perusing http://www.forever21.com/ last week, as I do most days, I found what appeared to be the perfect short, white lace dress - fit for a bride.  It's not what you are thinking ... while I absolutely adore Forever 21, I acknowledge the fact (halfway unwillingly) that I cannot get my wedding dress from there.  This dress, however, ...

Would be absolutely perfect for a bride on her rehearsal dinner, bachelorette party, bridal shower, bridal luncheon, esc.  And at the affordable price of $27.80 (Did I mention my adoration for Forever 21?), who could resist?

Birdcage or Fingertip Veil?

Not for Mr. BB's Eyes ... Wedding Day Style Will Be Addressed!

The very topic of today's blog entry is the reason why I am loving the experience of being a blogger ... because, other than my mother, I don't know that there is anyone who could understand the significance of what this will play on my June 25th wedding day.  Before I was engaged and had the vision of myself as a bride, I always imagined a long veil flowing as I walked down the aisle to my gleaming husband-to-be.  It wasn't until about two months into the wedding planning, after I had said "YES TO THE DRESS," that I started to think about the possiblity of a birdcage veil instead.  It has now started to consume my thoughts (I know, this is crazy, but I am a fashion teacher! ... ). 

So, being a type-A personality that I am - when in doubt, write a list!  Here are the advantages and disadvantages to wearing the birdcage veil instead of the fingertip veil:

Birdcage Veil; Advantages: 

1. Would look better with my hair down, which is how I plan to wear it in the ceremony.  I already have purchased a flower from Etsy that I am LOVING and so excited to soon have in my own possession ... and can perfectly picture the birdcage veil, with the flower, with the hair down.
2.  Would bring the "vintage, Sweet Home Alabama" vibe that the rest of the wedding will have.  Who wouldn't want to look like Reese Witherspoon on their wedding day? 
3.  The birdcage veil would be more of a fashion statement, and aren't you supposed to bring your personality and style into your wedding day?

 Birdcage Veil; Disdvantages: 

1.  I have always pictured myself with the traditional fingertip veil, which is definitely the more "classic look."  When I look back at my pictures from now, will I look trendy with a birdcage veil?
2.  My mother prefers the traditional veil. 
3.  Joe would probably prefer the traditional veil.

And so - what to do?  Do you prefer a birdcage or fingertip veil?  And is there a way to incorporate both?

Save-the-Dates

As promised, details on our final save-the-dates ...

As a fashion teacher with a love for design - I knew from the start of our wedding planning that our "paper products" were important to me.  Lucky me! ... I have a bridesmaid with graphic design experience & tons of talent!  Niki agreed to design both our save-the-dates & the invitations for the wedding (although after the save-the-dates ... Niki, are you still in for the invitations?!!!).  After getting lots of inspiration from my favorite wedding blogs, http://www.weddingbee.com/ & http://www.greenweddingshoes.com/   ... my mom & I met with Niki to share our vision!  Needless to say - she certainly delivered and created more than we could have hoped for!

Final Save-the-Dates ...

The save-the-dates were entirely designed by Niki and printed at Kinko's on their white glossy paper.  The labels were created by a girl that my mom found on Etsy to match the save-the-dates that Niki designed.  The brown envelopes are Kraft envelopes found online, and the smaller envelope is "vellum" and was also found online.  Mr. BB, his mother, aunt, and my mother spent one afternoon stuffing the envelopes and embossing the "save-the-date" on the outside with a stamp that she purchased online.  The magnet in the small envelope was designed & purchased on Vistaprint.

We are really happy with the end result!  It was worth all of the hard work!  Next step - INVITATIONS!

Save-the-Dates ... In the Mail!

It's official!  Save-the-Dates are IN THE MAIL and one giant task is checked off our to do list!  We are really happy with the end result - but were surprised at how long they ended up taking ... from picking out the envelopes/paper/stamps/magnets to getting everything printed in the right format, to collecting all of the addresses, finalizing the guest list, & FINALLY stuffing & labeling the envelopes before taking them to the post office - it was certainly an overwhelming task.  So although I am currently feeling the joy of completing them - I know it has to be short-lived, because it is now on to the invitations.  If the save-the-dates took this long, I can only imagine the amount of time it will take to perfect the invitations for my June 2011 wedding.

Stay tuned for pictures of the final save-the-dates ....

First Image is Posted!

I finally learned how to add images on my blog!  And yes, now I do realize how unbelievably easy this is to do and I should have been doing it all along!  So now I have DOZENS of images to share ... but today wanted to show my FI's fantastic birthday present to me!  He actually burned the A & J letters on the wood, plus our wedding date on there himself!  He kept this piece of wood since it looks like a heart!  How precious!  We will have it on one of the tables at our June 25, 2011 wedding and it will definitely fit our vintage theme to perfection.