Shower the people you love...

So I have been waiting for a while to share the photos from my bridal shower which took place back on February 21st with all of you lovely ladies!  Unfortunately, we've had some problems with getting the photos.  You see, my family is not as 'blogger' friendly as I would like them to be.  So they are not huge on having a camera at their disposal every 30 seconds.  I did not bring my camera as my daughter and my cousin happily brought their own and assured me they snapped photos of everything.

However, when we went to download the pics from my daughter's camera, they were all deleted!  GASP!  Seriously?  WTF?  We still don't know how it happened but they were totally gone :(

I frantically asked my cousin about the pictures she took.  She said she gots lots of pics of me opening gifts and a good amount of the decorations and details that my sister took so long creating, making and setting up.  But unfortunately, she only had like 2 pics of me with my mom and a bridesmaid.  All of the photos with me and all of the guests were on my daughter's camera!  :(

Needless to say, I was pretty bummed about the whole thing.  Then it took over a month for me to get the pics from my cousin (who is also a bridesmaid) because she is battling breast cancer right now and has been laid up in bed dealing with all kinds of healing and pain from many physical problems, tests and a surgery she just recently went through.  :(  Again, another one of the stupid health issues that we are trying to struggle through and deal with in the midst of our wedding plans.  I am really praying she feels whole and healthier by the wedding day in 3 weeks because she is super adamant about how important it is to her to be there for me in the wedding.  She even postponed her surgery to have one of the tumors removed so that she could still be in the wedding!  She's crazy but I guess the doctors were okay with it.

So, here they are.  Rather than post a ton of pics here on the blog, I just put them into a Shutterfly album.  If you click the link below the album to 'view larger' then you will be able to see all of the captions and explanations of the photos below them as the slideshow plays.

Click here to view these pictures larger

Have you had any unfortunate camera or computer related disasters where something very important, memorable or precious to you was destroyed or deleted?

Share the love

So Mrs T over at Ninenty-Nine + Forever blog recently posted about this super cute photo sharing card idea.  I have been wanting to do something like this but put it on the back burner with everything else going on lately.  I had glanced at a couple of sites that offered this type of service but free was the key word and I wasn't too thrilled with some of the options I had found.

But Mrs T shared this site http://www.weddingphotoswap.com/ and it is free and lets you upload and download high resolution images into separate albums for all your wedding related events.  You just create a simple account using an e-mail and password and it provides a code for your guests to log in with.  I couldn't pass that up!

Plus I got a http://www.vistaprint.com/ catalogue in the mail two weeks ago that showed business cards on sale for like nothing!

I signed up for weddingphotoswap.com and then I quickly created a simple business card using Mrs T as my inpsiration and a template they had in a blue color.  I added in some red to make it wedding color related and listed all the info.  Since we're still a month and a half out from the wedding date, I picked their slowest shipping option and the total for 250 cards was only $15 including tax and shipping and the cost to upload our own photo! 

I got the cards like 2 weeks earlier than what their estimated arrival date was, too!  And here they are:

Sorry for the grainy image quality.  I scanned a card in at work instead of trying to take a photo with my crappy camera.  I love the little computer monitor on it since the whole idea is for them to share their pics with us via the web site (computer). 

Now I am trying to decide where to leave them for the guests?  I am thinking the best option is going to be to give them to the valet service and ask them to hand them to each guest as they pick up their car at the end of the night.  This way, they will not lose or forget them at the wedding.  The other option is to mail them with thank you cards but then we won't get pics back as fast and I think I am going with a postcard option for thank you's instead of an envelope option so that wouldn't work.

So fellow brides, did/are you using a photo sharing site for all your guests to share photos with?  If you did, how did you notify the guests of the info?

If he's getting cold feet....

Over on Chocolate Lover's Confessions, Mr Milk talked last week about a joke he made that he might be getting cold feet.  I commented on his post about the little gift I am giving Mr Fix It on the morning of the wedding regarding 'cold feet.'  Since I had a couple blogger friends mention they want to steal my idea I figured I'd share the site with you all.

While I'm at it, maybe you can give me some feedback?  At first, I wanted to get socks for each groomsmen that would be personal to him.  For example, for Mr Fix It's surfing friends, I could gift them these:

For his brother who is an environmentalist nut, I thought about these:

For Mr Fix It himself, how about these?

The problem with that, was that getting different colored silly socks for each guy would not make for the greatest shot (in my opinion) that I was hoping to nab like this:

So I thought about it and decided perhaps argyle *IS* the way to go.  So which of these two do you think I should go for?  The classic black with the red in them (all the guys will be in black tuxes and shirts with red vests) or the bright fun red with grey?

I'd get the one on the left in red from http://www.tonsofsocks.com/ ($13.50 per pair)

These are from http://www.sockdreams.com/ and are only $7.00 per pair

So, ladies?  Which ones should I go for?  I am leaning towards the black ones just because I'll save half the money I'd spend on the Ralph Lauren ones.  But the RL ones are brighter and funner.  But the guys might actually wear the black ones again?

Anyway, the point is...once I buy them.  I will throw them in with their groomsmen gifts that we're handing out at the rehearsal.  But Mr Fix It will get his on the morning of the wedding (I'm going to have a brother hand them off to him while they're getting dressed).

And his pair will be wrapped in this cute little label that I found on this site

  

They have a different one that is very similar but with a little more color and a slightly different phrase as well.  The label is only $7.50 and they e-mail you a .pdf document to print it on whatever paper you want.  You could probably DIY but I don't have time at this point.  It says "For My Husband To Be -  For your potentially Cold Feet - From your loving Bride"

Cute, right?

And don't forget to enter my giveaway for a free $25.00 gift certificate to MyWeddingFavors!  Click here

A very special Spring giveaway! (MyWeddingFavors.com)

Remember my post about being featured as a Bride on the Brink a few days ago?  You can check out the interview I did with MyWeddingFavors.com here. 

Well, I am so excited to be hosting a super cool giveaway via the amazing http://www.myweddingfavors.com/.  When I first started planning my wedding, I instantly new that I wanted a very unique, untraditional, unexpected wedding favor for my guests.  But I also knew that I was on a budget and trying to figure something out for 200 people was not going to be easy.  I instantly began looking through all kinds of online favor sites...there are tons of them out there!

And I was so excited when I finally found the lovely little keychain tape measure that I will be gifting each guest. 

Well, now, I am able to assist some of you other brides out there with a $25.00 e-gift certificate to http://www.myweddingfavors.com/.  As a spring bride myself, (Just about 47 days away now!) I figured we could put a fun spring twist on this giveaway.  So here are the rules:

1)  Go to the http://www.myweddingfavors.com/ web site and share with me what your favorite spring favor or item would be for your wedding and how you might use it (1 entry)
2)  Blog about this entry on your site and leave the link in a comment here (1 additional entry)
3)  Let me know that you are a follower (1 additional entry)

Be sure to leave me your e-mail address to contact you if you win.  The winner will be selected at random and announced on this blog on Saturday March 6th, 2010.

Best wishes everyone and can't wait to see your own ideas for some fun and unique favors!

**  Contest starts March 1st, 2010 and ends March 5th, 2010 at 8:59 PM PST (11:59 PM EST)

The card box post

We've all seen very pretty unique card box ideas.  You know what I'm talkin' about?  The place on the gift table where guests who bring you cards to your wedding (usually filled with gift cards, checks or cash) leave the envelopes?  In today's day and age, brides have come up with creative places for them to be left rather than just throwing them on the table.  Though that is perfectly fine and always acceptable, it's kind of nice to have a box, basket, or whatever to collect them in so that they don't get lost, dropped or misplaced.

Some creative options I have seen are things like this:

Source

Serendipity Designs

Source

Some people like to get a little more creative and do something like this:

I liked most of these ideas...very creative.  And of course you can always just set out a simple bucket, basket, box, etc.  But one day I came across this super cute idea that can last forever.  It's a photoframe card box that is able to be locked with a key so you don't have to worry about people taking the cards out...hopefully none of your guests would do this but if you are at a venue where strangers may be able to walk by, something to think about?

I have had this box saved in my favorites for almost a year probably and just bought it yesterday with some cash I received as a gift at my bridal shower :)  Thanks cousin Erin and Aunt Sylvia! 

 

                               

Source

Anyway, I am going to put some pics of me and Mr Fix It in it and then on two sides it will have signs that my sister designed indicating it is a card box.  It's from this site.  It might be a little pricey for some but it's on sale for $69.99 right now for the 8x10" box.  And the cool thing is, you can take it home to use as a decorative frame even after the wedding...you can even put flowers in it, too!

I'll be sure the photog gets some detailed shots of the little signs my sis made in the box on wedding day.  I'm hoping to have this in my hands within a week or so and this is one of my very last wedding related purchases other than the groomsmen's gifts and the candy for the favor boxes. 

So what did (or are) you all doing for your card box?  Or did you not even use one?

This Week...

Disneyland - So last Saturday I took eight 14 year old girls to Disneyland to celebrate my daughter's 15th birthday - apparently she is the oldest of all her friends :)  We were so amazingly blessed as it did not rain once in the entire 11 hours we were there!  And yet, at home, all the parents were telling me how it was pouring showers just 20 minutes away from D-land.  We were really watched over by the Lord that day and had a great time.  It wasn't too packed either so we barely had to wait in lines over 10 minutes or so.

Birthday Dinner - Tuesday night me, Mr Fix It, my mom, my daughter, her dad and his mom all took Little Miss out to dinner for her official 15th birthday.  So much fun to just celebrate my little girl turning into a little woman.  Afterwards, me and Mr Fix It went back to my place and listened to a message on finances and investing given by the pastor who is marrying us in preparation for our next pre-marital counseling meeting.  Only two more to go!

DJ Planning Meeting - Last Friday I had such a fabulous 2 1/2 hour meeting with my two DJ's, Pete and Justin.  Justin is a serious music officianado and I am so excited about what the two of them are going to do at our big event in just two months!  We finalized our time line of events for the ceremony and reception and I shared me and Mr Fix It's idea for what we want to do with the grand entrance.  Pete and Justin had some great input and ideas to fine tune everything.  Then I showed them the beginning of the video that I am surprising our guests with at the ceremony just before I walk down the aisle.  They both laughed and said it is their favorite part of the wedding so far.  :)  Justin is also excited to get to see our strolling magician at the cocktail hour.

Photog Planning Meeting - This past Friday I met with my talented photographer, Robert Mullins to finalize the schedule for the wedding day since we want to be sure to get all of our pictures done before the wedding ceremony.  Robert is amazing in that he puts up with my anal controlling need to share all kinds of photos with him that I save off of blogs to give him an idea of the style I am looking for on our big day.  I hope he doesn't think I am over-directing him.  :)

Wedding gifts - We got our very first gift purchased off of one of our three wedding registries last Monday!  And it was one of the more expensive items, too - our knife set.  It's a 20 piece set of kitchen knives and steak knives that sits in a very cool modern black block.  Can't wait to see who bought it for us!  Yes, I stalk my registries online to see if anything was bought!

RSVP's - The invitation responses continue to roll in daily.  It's so fun to rush home and check the mailbox to see who has returned their reply.  So far, everyone that has responded has said they're coming, except for my grandparents who live too far away and cannot travel and their daughter (and her son) who will be on a missions trip during our wedding :(

100 Followers - And a giveaway!

It's official...I've been watching that little image on the right side of my blog wondering if I'd reach 100 followers.  Well, on Friday evening it happened:

YEA!

So of course, with a special landmark like this should come a giveaway of some sort, right?  I am excited to say that I have been contacted by a company to host a giveaway on March 1st.  I am in the process of finalizing the details so stay tuned next month for that one.  But for now, I'd love to give something away to a fellow blogger as a thank you for all of your support and wonderful feedback, comments and overall encouragement.

Problem is, I'm not sure what to give away!  I actually have two things leftover from the wedding (that hasn't even happened yet) that I am not going to be able to use.  I was thinking of selling them originally but figured maybe I'd just give one of them away instead.  So how about some feedback?

If you would be interested in one of the two following items, let me know.  By Wednesday morning I will announce which item I have decided to give away and will have a contest started that will end Friday evening with a winner announced on Saturday. 

Item # 1:  100 Red Chinese Take out Boxes

These are half pint size and measure 3" x 2 1/4" x 2 1/2"  I originally purchased them as favor boxes for the wedding but the red didn't match the deeper shade of cranberry that is my wedding colors.  So now I'm left with these brand new beauties.  You could use them to hold mini cupcakes as a favor at a bridal shower, birthday party or wedding.  Or for candy bar containers.  We decorated ours with colored ribbon and favor tags/stickers.  Since Valentine's Day is just around the corner, they'd make a great way to package gifts for friends, a classroom, church group, etc.

Item # 2:  Flower Girl or Junior Bridesmaid Dress

                    

You may remember that I didn't feel like this dress matched the style of my wedding after we received it.  It was originally purchased for my 6 year old cousin shown above and can be worn shorter or longer depending on the height of the girl.  The turquoise sash is detachable and so it can be coordinated with any color.  You can even add some embellishments (rhinestones, brooches, flowers, etc) if you are crafty enough.  It is a size 8 and cost $85 at a bridal salon...brand new, never altered...could be an amazing prize and dress for the right bride/person.

So majority will win.  Whichever item gets the most feedback as being desired will be the one I'll giveaway.

Happy New Year! And my fave Christmas gift recaps!

So last night, Mr Fix It and I did the low key new year's celebration...we had dinner with his brother and sis-in-law (actually, she worked by waiting on our table while we ate at the restaurant she works at).  His best friend (and groomsmen) and his wife also joined us.  We also dropped my almost 15 year old daughter off at her very first New Year's Eve party - my how she's growing up!  Then we settled in for some Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve and some sweet lovin' to end out at 2009 - if ya know what I mean :)

I also was gifted these little beauties as my final Christmas present from Mr Fix It...he got me some nice warm boots via UGG style and these new sunglasses by Electric that I have been vying for!  Why?  Because I love me the large sunglass style look that's in but have never found a pair that actually look good on me without buggin' out my eyes!  Until these!

My favorite gifts I gave last week?

*  The Garmin that literally made my mother cry when she opened up.  Silly to cry over a garmin I know but if you knew what a pain it is loaning her mine or having to look up directions on mapquest for her every time she can't find something while driving around, you'd understand why this was a must give gift for her.  And the fact she couldn't afford to buy it for herself - well, it made her cry when she opened it.

*  The Tachyon helmet mount video camera that I gave Mr Fix It...as a surfer and athlete extraordinaire, he saw this on his little brother while they were out dirt biking and just had to have it.  Whether or not he'll use it and get any fun stories out of it we'll see but since he loves to wakeboard and such, he was definitely in love with it when he opened it.

*  Of course my teenager just loved the new cell phone she got...how can you go wrong with technology for today's teen?

*  And finally, I gifted my boss (the most difficult person to shop for in the entire world!) the mini version of the camera I got Mr Fix It.  Hearing this man tell me that I gave him the 'perfect gift' for the first time ever was just music to my ears!  I mean the man's a millionaire and pretty arrogant about gifts he gets that he doesn't think suit his standard of living so finding something he'll enjoy that he doesn't think is stupid is truly a feat in my opinion!

What about you?  Did you get or give any gifts this past Christmas that you were just super excited about?  Why?

PS  Do you see that over there on the right side of my blog?  ------->  The past posts have all been lumped into 2009!  So crazy!

Budget brides: Don't forget to use your wedding coupons!

So over the summer I was having SO much fun purchasing all of the little things online.  Here's what I have so far:
* Black Gloss Gable Boxes for Out of Town Guest Gift Bags

* My Memorial Vases courtesy of Jean M products (a small one for my fiance's mother and the larger one for my grandmother, grandfather and aunt)

  

* My toasting flutes courtesy of Get Married's shop

* Bridesmaid Gifts:  Jewelry Rolls (from Amazon.com) and Blue Parasols

 

   

* My Guestbook (Super excited about this fun idea from a previous blog post)

 

* Favor boxes (chinese takeout boxes) from http://www.papermart.com/

I made all of these purchases online and I always suggest taking plenty of time to browse the internet and see what you can do to 'bargain shop.'  But here are my latest tidbits of advice for wedding shopping:

Use the net and use your coupons!

That's right, I said coupons.  I recently discovered that you can do a google search for coupon codes by putting in the store name and the words 'promo code'.  I was able to get free shipping and save 5%  by using an online coupon I found and I saved 10% off my Guestbook by using a code that I found online.

Another great site I used to find a lot of my little detail items is http://www.thefind.com/. This site will let you type in a description or item name and it will bring up literally hundreds of stores online that are selling the items.  Don't get me wrong, it takes some leg work to find the best deal...I found a site that had my favors for 88 cents each but once I saw what the shipping costs were, the site was actually not that cheap. But I did find a site to buy my placecards from!  Definitely play with this site.

And I already mentioned in a previous post about why it's a good idea to buy items sooner than later for your wedding needs.  But another reason it's a good idea to start shopping sooner than later is that once you decide what you want, you can take your time browsing the net and your fave sites for when sales come up.

I listed a lot of information above because these are sites that I have found have the best deals for a lot of items that many of you may need...trying to save you some leg work.  The gable boxes for example - I bought 50 of them from this supplier rather than the 25 I would probably need because it was actually cheaper to buy more from a wholesale supplier than to try to buy the amount I needed from gift stores and such.

So ladies - any other suggestions for how to bargain shop?

I want to sit at the kids table at your wedding!

One of my favorite things I have planned for the wedding details:  the kids favors.  So fun!  I almost wish I could give these favors to all of the wedding guests.  But that would actually be a bit expensive.  For the kids, you go a little more over the top...why?  Partly because children are the life of a party in my opinion.  Even when my little cousin came screaming as she crossed the dance floor during my sister's grand entrance, we all loved that the moment was remembered because, let's face it...kids are unpredictable!  And they are so sweet, too.

But the kids at a wedding may tend to get a bit bored and mom and dad won't have much fun if they are trying to keep them entertained all night.  I am still not sure if we are going to have an actual kids table or not at the reception...we will probably just have the kids seated at their parent's tables.  The only children being invited are family members only but that still leaves our guest list with 5 babies under 18 months old, 18 kids between 2 yrs and 12 yrs old and 5 teenagers!

We have decided to set up a kids corner with some paid babysitters monitoring it to watch the youngest kids.  I will blog more about that in the future...but at the reception for the actual tables, I have come up with some very creative ideas for the little favor boxes and treats that will entertain the littlest of these guests.  But first, here's a couple of original ideas I had which I chose not to implement but still want to share with you.

And for my own favor boxes, here's what I will be gifting for my dear little cutie pie cousins and nieces and nephews:

I have rented high chairs for the babies in lieu of the chivari chairs...trying to think of the convenience of my guests.  :)  Here's what will be waiting for each baby on their high chair:

And for the kids, they will find a fun placemat at their place setting courtesy of Jean M products.   We ordered the placemats in our wedding color with our names on it and it has a wedding word search, maze, and scavenger hunt on it for the kids to find things like a bouquet, cake, groom, butter, etc.

They will also have a circus shaped favor box at their place setting.  Instead of this flower on it, we will have a label with some fun kid designs and their name & the box will be in one of the two wedding colors with a box belt in the opposite color and decorated with a few paper flowers.  I found these pretty inexpensive at http://www.bayleysboxes.com/ and they had a TON of different box colors and patterns to choose from.

Inside, they'll find the following items (see the slideshow below for pics and links to sites where you can find these items):

* 2 oz Play-Dough  * Mini mad libs book or Bible Activity book  *  Flashing sunglasses or flashing mouth guard  *  Bear Stickers or Make your own car stickers  *  Finger puppets  *  Silly flower straws  *  Jesus is the Light flashlight  *  Mini bowling ball set  *  Heart shaped slinkys  *  Frog photo frame craft kit or a Beaver magnet craft kit  *  Lollipops in funky holders  *  Gel pens  *  Hair clips (for the older girls)

My favorite two things in the kids box:  the Beaver craft kits (since my fiance's last name is Beever) and the flashing mouth guards which will only be for the older kids:

How fun will that be for the kids to be walking around the dimly lit reception room and dance floor with their flashing sunglasses and mouth guards?

There is plenty for these kids to be kept entertained with.  My favorite site I found in the midst of all my shopping:

http://www.designed2bsweet.com/  (And yes, I found a coupon code online for this store!)

I will definitely post pictures of the finished product closer to wedding day!

So, what do you think?  Are you doing any fun favors for the kids at your wedding if they are attending?  You could also make these little kits for your ring bearer or flower girl to keep them busy throughout the day.

Words of Wisdom - A Bride's Keepsake

I absolutely love throwing/planning weddings. I even once seriously considered becoming a wedding coordinator - even had business cards made. But alas, it is not meant to be for me other than through my own wedding dreams and the assistance of helping friends and family when they have planned their big affairs.

So when it was time for my baby sister to get married 3 years ago, I made sure I pulled out all the stops to make her big day as special as possible...including all the fun events and parties leading up to the big day.

One idea I came up with that I thought I would share with the blogosphere was our main gift to her at her bridal shower. We had at least 40 family and friends attend a luncheon in baby sis' honor. For the months leading up to the shower, I became a nuisance to every invited guest...for I asked each person (even those who were invited and yet could not attend) to please e-mail me a photo of them with their significant other (or with the bride if they were single) as well as e-mail me a very brief message with their blessings or words of wisdom on being a bride, wife or making your hubby happy.

The very first gift that baby sis opened at her shower was the book we (I) had made her with everyone's contributions.  Now she has a lifelong keepsake from her big day that she will always be able to read and remember those that celebrated her and 'showered' her with love, blessings and words of wisdom. 

In today's day and age, just about anyone can easily make professional looking hard cover albums on internet sites...I prefer shutterfly.com.  This was the creation we came up with: 

Click here to view this photo book larger

Another take on this I've read about is asking each guest to make a scrapbook page and bring it to the shower to place in an album for the bride at the event. 

Now I know that most of you brides will most likely not tell your MOH's and BM's what to get you for your shower, but thought I would share this anyway as I know you will inevitably host or attend a shower in the future and might find this a thoughtful surprise for the guest of honor.  And maybe your BM's follow your blog and might see this little post and be inspired?  It was so much fun to put together for her and so much more fun to watch her open it and browse through the photos of loved ones.   She's not emotional like me, I would have bawled...but she really loved it.  Here's a little 1 min video of her opening it up (sorry the first few seconds are a little blurry):

Do you have any special gifts or surprises that you have received or planned for a bride on her celebratory shower or bachelorette party?

How to keep your guests dancing all night long

I've said it before and I'll say it again:  If your guests are not enjoying themselves and comfortable, they will not be partying with you all through the reception.  In planning my own wedding, I am always making sure to remember what it felt like to be a wedding guest.  So I am very excited about one of my purchases for my own event: I want to be sure that my guests are enjoying themselves and comfortable.  I have lots of ideas to keep them moving and entertained all night.  But one of my favorites comes from my wedding coordinator's portfolio.  She suggests that brides provide a 'Kick your heels off' basket filled with inexpensive flip flops for the ladies (or anyone) to remove their tight fitting dress shoes and dance the night away without being in pain.

She suggested hitting stores like Old Navy or Target at the end of the summer when they are having their sales to get rid of these type of items.  But I found a wholesale site Dollar Days that sells these items to you at super great deals!  I bought 72 pairs of various sized flip flops (we have 200 guests total) for our event at the cost of about $1.51 each including tax and S&H.  You can get them in your wedding colors if you want, but I opted for a variety of colors so that they can maybe find a pair they'd wear again.  And the best part is, your guests will know you're thinking of their comfort and they get to take home an extra little favor at the end of the night.  Here are some sample images courtesy of In the Now Weddings.  But first, here is a picture of the flip flops I purchased for my own event:

And some ideas on how to serve them up:

Photos courtesy of In the Now Weddings

So ladies...what do you think?  Are you doing anything to show your guests you are thinking of their comfort and enjoyment on your big day? 

Pretty pretty bling bling (custom designed jewelry)

A couple months ago I had a fun weekend as far as wedding planning goes.  I had searched high and low for the right jewelry (bracelet and necklace) to wear with my gorgeous Maggie Sottero Sabelle gown and had found some great ideas from the little site known as Etsy.com.  But when I continued to browse Etsy, other web sites and bridal salons and jewelry stores, I just could not find what I had pictured in my head.  I'm kind of weird, too because I have this thing about the little 'dent' in my neck where I really want it covered by the necklace.  It's like an insecurity about how it emphasizes how thin I am which I do not want to do.  Anyway...back to the search.

I found this on Etsy:

Gorgeous, right?  Very different and yet still pretty.  Not quite what I wanted to spend...above the $100 range but somewhat worth it.  And though I loved them, I was nervous about buying something online and I wasn't totally thrilled with the brooches in the pieces.  So I posted a status update on Facebook asking friends if they knew anyone who made custom bridal jewelry?  I was connected with a woman about 15 minutes from my home and she told me about this cool little antique/vintage swap meet that happens once a month at a local college.  So a month ago my sis and I trekked down there and found the most beautiful brooch and a pair of earrings.  I was so excited.  The more I look at the brooch, the more I fall in love with it.

And the honey knew that I was heading down there and out of the kindness of his sweet little heart handed me $40 to spend as I wished.  Well, the brooch and earrings came in at under the $40 so I was happy about that.  I met with Jeanette (the jewelry maker) and showed her the pieces.  I showed her the pictures I had found and she began pulling out pretty pearls and sparkly things and lots of bling bling.  We matched the colors to the brooch and my gown.  I asked her if it would be possible to take one of the earrings and use it as a brooch for the bracelet and she figured out a way to 'make it work' (in the infamous words of Tim Gunn).  I was THRILLED!

Granted, the prices she quoted me were not really saving me much compared to what I could have bought online but now at least I custom designed it myself and know that I will L-O-V-E it!  And it will be my something 'old' for the wedding day since I bought it at a vintage swap meet.  So, here they are...my necklace and bracelet (made out of a brooch and a clip on earring):

What about you ladies?  Anyone custom designing their jewelry or have ideas of what they want? 

Great bridesmaid gift idea

So being that I am all about practicality I have come up with the following that I have recently purchased for my six bridesmaids as their gifts:
1)  A blue parasol for picture taking...the nylon kind (not paper) so it can actually protect well from sun AND rain.  Matches our pretty wedding colors (not exactly but a good shade).  And I found them on sale on theknot.com for $4.99 each!

2)  A jewelry roll...a pretty silk roll up holder for the girls to pack up jewelry neatly when traveling.  I ordered them in 6 different colors so the girls can fight over which one they like best.  But I have also seen them on the net with monograms and personalization...there are tons of them in many price ranges but these were only $12.95 each, are silk and were some of the bigger ones with the most pockets.  Found these on amazon.com but you can search google as well:

How cute will we all look like this?

3)  And finally, I will be buying them some type of bracelet or necklace to wear on wedding day...but that will be something different for each girl.  All in all, I think am spending about $35-40 per girl for some pretty and useful things that they are sure to use/wear in the future.
What have you gals come up with for bridesmaid gifts?