The Power of Candlelight

I won't blog in full about the beautiful, vintage wedding of Knottie 99 Vintage Glam, as it has splashed through the blog world!
But I WILL say that her budget wedding (under $15,000) according to Snippet&Ink, has further convinced me of something I've already known...candles go a LONG way and, in my opinion, give more bang for your buck than flowers ever can. Unless, that is, you are using someone crazy like Preston Bailey or working with an outrageous budget.
But for any bride really seeking an intimate and dually dramatic look, candles are the way to go.
This is great news especially for budget brides!

Tonight I am basking in the candlelight of some of the pillar candles I have purchased for our wedding...and certainly planning on buying many more:)

my hodge podge of after-work candles!

convincing me more and more

to cut my floral bill!!

Estelle!

I don't watch tv, so I only saw this video because I heard and love the song and was just curious. So I sought it out on YouTube.
I love it!!
No, this is not off (wedding) topic, because I really love Estelle's eyes in the video! I also really love her first outfit (the halter neck dress)! Such a feminine look, perfect for spring. And the pretty damask back-drop at the end. Not to mention the song is just crazy hot! Definitely qualifies as inspiration (in odd form).

PSA: DIY Pocketfold Invites=Tape Guzzlers!

So, as you probably know, I am in the process of assembling our wedding invitations which are vertical pocketfold invites with three inserts, including a "Directions" card, a "More Information" card and an RSVP postcard.
The only thing on each invite that needs to be adhered down is the main invitation, which I have to attach to the top portion of each pocket...
But this is using up an exorbitant amount of double-sided tape!

pile 'o tape

My pockets were very cheap to have created and printed...but the cost of tape is adding up fast!
I'm using simple 3M Scotch permanent 1/2 inch double sided tape, which is working just fine. But one small roll of the tape only gets me through FIVE invites!! That means I am going to need 25 rolls of this tape to finish the 125 invites I still have left!! That's $1 per roll (they have it at Dollar Tree)= $25 added onto the final cost of my invites...just for sticky stuff! And that's not counting glue dots I will need to secure the decorative ribbon for the closure.
YIKES!
There must be a better way. Help!

The Brooch!

Came yesterday. It's so beautiful! I am using it for my bustle. Pics don't do it justice AT.ALL, but here goes...



And as a very boring added bonus--our $1 ring bearer pillow from the Dollar Tree!
Of all the details of our wedding, this is prolly the one I care absolutely least about. It prolly won't even be used!
And yes I know it is plain and cheesy, but NO, I am not going to decorate it...Because I don't care!

Ciao!

The DJ...Or....Party Music!!

One way fiance and I have been able to cut wedding costs is by hiring a club DJ instead of a 'wedding' DJ to spin at the reception. This is right up our alley because we love a mix of music and we really appreciate 'turntablism' I think it's called, and DJs who are great at mixing and really getting the party started. A nice flow of music is important to me and I'd really love a 'club' feel for the dance floor the last few hours of the reception.

Of course, I was set on hiring one of the hot club (and mix tape) DJs right now and one of my faves who happens to live in Cleveland and be the official DJ for the Cleveland Cavs, Mick Boogie.
BUT, he couldn't commit because he is likely moving to New York City this summer.
(If you're a hip-hop fan check out his website to see how hot he is! And, there are some very worthy downloads there, namely a mix tape called "Brooklyn Soul" which is a fusion of Marvin Gaye and...Jay Z. Ridiculous.

DJ Mick Boogie

But, over the holidays while fiance and I were in Cleveland we heard another DJ, Majette (who spins with Mick Boogie) play a party at the House of Blues--and he was oh-so-fabulous. We loved the way he intertwined classic soul with classic 90s hip-hop, new soul, jazz...it was perfect! So we booked him. And at an unbeatable price.

The savings also allowed us to add some other nice touches for our guests, which I'll talk about later.

What's important to you in a DJ and how did you go about finding yours?

Whatcha Doin...?

After about three weeks of bombarding you with an insane number of posts--sometimes two a day--things have calmed down a bit.

Save-the-dates are out, our guest list is finally stabilizing, and I am happy to report that fiance is getting really excited about the wedding now, as he sees it inching closer and has heard from many of his friends about the save-the-dates (he was largely opposed to save-the-dates at one point...)

Soooo....I am slowly assembling our DIY invitations at a rate of 25 a week so I don't get burned out. They are scheduled to be sent out May 15th.
Here's what's happening right now and what I'll be doing in April and what you have in store:

• Assembling my pocketfolds! Cute but super tedious!
• Waiting for my clutch to arrive. Ok. So I ordered this from a China-based Ebay seller and it is taking entirely too long to come! I have already sent the seller an email and if I don't get it by Friday I will be opening (my first) Ebay complaint. If it comes I get to show it to you!!
• Waiting for the brooch I ordered last week for my bustle to arrive. I have tracking info for this, so I will show you when it gets here.
• Waiting for my stamp to arrive. It was destroyed/lost in the mail and the Etsy seller is graciously making me another.
• Working with a jewelry designer who is making my bridal bracelet and a few other goodies. WAIT until you see the fabulosity that she is concocting!!
• Deciding on a shoe. I'm sure you know about this from the Shoe Sagas...
• Going to Cleveland to finalize our menu with the venue and tie up loose strings. Meeting with my florist for some mock-ups!
• Craft project for April: Placecard trees. Woo! I'll be getting started on these soon, so stay tuned!

Happy Thursday!

The Card Box of All Card Boxes!

So, I almost had a heart attack when Knottie Poetic Justice (see her blog here) showed me this over the weekend:

It's from the Ebay store Modernbrides, which will make this baby for you in your wedding colors.
Now, I almost had a heart attack at the price of this card box, too, which can be up to $125 for a box piled 8 gifts high. For two stacked gifts, you'll pay $70...
Examples of other styles:



Now, as excited as I got about the look of that first box in my color scheme...I have had to decide against getting it because I already have a card cage--and because that Ebay store says it is booked with orders through August.
But if I didn't have a cage, I know I could make that card box with relatively little effort using either nesting boxes or hat boxes, hot glue,a utility knife and embellishments.
If you're interested in making something like it, check out Nashville Wraps or Box and Wraps.

Another Pink Pump

If you don't follow, please see the shoe sagas:
Part I: What A Girl Wants
Part II: What A Girl Needs
Part III: The $15 Shoe Risk
Part IV: The $15 shoes arrives

The Tyrie Fuschia Satin shoes from Moda in Pelle--apparently a UK brand not readily ship-able to the United States, at least not through Amazon.    The brand's web site will ship to the U.S.--but for a shipping fee of 59 pounds!!!  Which of course is probably about $100 given the weak dollar.  (They only charge 4.95 pounds for shipping in UK mainland).... *sigh*
The shoe is 70 pounds...which again, is about double that when converted to dollars.  Not bad, until you add on the shipping!

Looks like the shoe saga will be continuing...

Four (4) (IV) Friday Finds

Since I'm not doing anything wedding-related today (I started assembling my pocketfold invitations last night...and let's just say I'm glad I started early)

<---sneaky peaky

me with tape roller that kinda sucks...

I thought I'd share a few cool things I've recently come across.

1. Custom Family Signage
What a thoughtful Wedding/Housewarming Gift this personalized sign would be!  $28 from Etsy store, Nestlings 

2. Envelope Back!

In case you missed the original discussion of envelope back...
An alternative to the decorative stamp we are using on our invitations are these very fab stickers that give you a three-punch value: decoration, color AND information (your return adress). Hey, that's one up on our stamp...well, depending on what kind of ink we use...From Etsy store Zoopri.

3. Couture Stationery!
From Studio Ayt. I have had this photo saved to my desktop for some time now. So I thought I'd share the porn. I mean look at it!!!! These are somewhere around $15 a piece! But I'm sure you creative ladies could if necessary, create an "inspired by" version for cheaper!


4. Hot Necklace
I'm not wearing a necklace for the wedding, but if I was, I would love something like this with a simple gown. Absolutely stunning.
Just $75 from DesigningBride--a website I don't hear cited that much--so check it out of you haven't.

And yeah...that's all. Have a great weekend!

Save-the-Dates

From what I know, the save-the-dates I mailed and yes, hand-cancelled, Saturday afternoon have been received from those as far south as Florida, so I can now share! This may be sorta deja vu for those of you on The Knot, but you can always pretend!

Envelopes
100 Azalea Pearlescent Metallic from PaperandMore:$22
Save the Date Postcards: 100 from Vista Print: $4.99
Seals: 100 from Littlebean Boutique:$17
Stamps: "Beautiful Blooms"
1 Fine Sharpie (for my self-adressed envelopes): $1





And there you have them!

Shoe Saga Part IV: The $15 Shoe

The shoes came today.

You know, the ones that I thought would be so cheap (because they cost $15) but were the perfect color?

Well, I must say I am pleasantly surprised.  These shoes are incredibly comfy and honestly, are well made.  The only thing I am not feeling is the patent leather, glossy look.

Now, to be clear, I like the shoes and I will definitely be wearing them this summer!

I'm just not sure if I'm feeling them to go with my wedding gown--but as fiance is quick to point out, it is just one day I'd be wearing them...I had fiance take some photos of me in the shoes...
I cannot believe I am about to post many photos of my ugly, rough, nail polish-less, un-manicured winter feet (dogs)...but here goes!






Fiance says he likes them--but of course, I don't know if that is genuine or if he's saying that because he KNOWS my alternative pair cost a couple hundred dollars (which he would be helping pay)!


So ladies pleasssse tell me what you think of these shoes and help me decide.
Will these shoes work or do I go for the much-much-much more pricey J.Crews (thanks Sarah!!:

Or Weitzmans:


I don't mind purchasing a pair at a higher price-point if it's WORTH it.
So...Honestly?

Best View in the City?

So, being the newspaper nerd that I am, I was digging around for anything that has been in the news in the past few years about our wedding venue.

The most useful thing I found was that our Venue, the BP Tower in downtown Cleveland, is apparently no longer CALLED the BP Tower anymore...Umm, yeah. Now it is just referred to as its Public Sqare address. Weird...

Second and perhaps most interesting info was the subject of the Plain Dealer article I found, "The best view of Cleveland." Useful mainly when thinking about where to take cool pictures that will really capture the city for me and fiance's wedding and day-after photos, and my bridals.
The article talks about how the Terminal Tower used to have a 42nd-floor observation deck that was by far the city's best view. But now that space is used as storage and inaccesible to the public...Boooo!

It then mentions the Key Tower and our venue (the former) BP Tower as having great views--but neither has an observation deck!


So now, apparently the best view in the city is: (drum roll) the deck of the Superior Viaduct, the remaining seven arches of the 1878 bridge that spanned the Cuyahoga River, connecting downtown to the West Side.

**shot from the Viaduct**
There is also a restaurant, Ponte Vecchio Ristorante Italiano, on the viaduct that has a patio and offers a stunning city view.

**parking at Ponte Vecchio** (Geez, that'd make for some amazing photos)

Also, I have seen photos shot from Edgewater Park that provide a great panoramic view. Like these:

So, if you are planning to take urban engagement or wedding or whatever photos in the city, this is news you can use!

Also, has anyone ever been to that Ponte Vecchio restaraunt? I had neverrr heard of it before today!

Baby Got Back...Of Envelopes, that is...

Hi, my name is Meg, and I am an Etsy-holic.
No, seriously.
As if the treasures to be found on Ebay weren't
enough...
So I'm back to share my latest Etsy purchase, again
paper related--more specifically, invitation envelope-related.
Now that I have our save-the-dates off my plate (I mailed them over the weekend) I can focus on the invitations, which will go out in mid May. That seems like a lot of time, but considering I'll be assembling 150 pocketfold invites between now and
then...it is not.
Although I spent hours hand addressing our save-the-dates, we've already decided to buck etiquette and use cute clear labels for the actual invitations. But what about the back of the envelope? How will we place our return address? That is where the Etsy purchase comes in. And my envelope-back inspiration, from the ever-talented Knottie ItsmeSenam, also owner of custom design
studio, My Design Diva.

• Here was her stamp, my inspiration:
  

*Photo belongs to: ItsmeSenam*

• And here is mine, from Etsy seller AbsoluteCreations.
  
  

I like it because it has our return address, but it's also a decorative, custom element for the envelopes.

The stamp comes with a wooden handle, so I'll have to decide what kind of ink I wanna use and get some ink pads. I'll stamp this right on the back of our envelope flaps.

What are you using for your envelope backs?

Check!

I will be sending out our save-the-dates tomorrow Saturday morning, so as soon as I hear that they have been received I can share them here with the blog world! Instead of using the labels I am planning for the actual invites, I did my own "calligraphy" but it wasn't too time consuming or taxing on my hands, and it was actually kind of fun!
Stay tuned!

Like.com...

Is like, my new best friend, especially as I am searching for shoes.
Wayyy cooler than ShoesByColor.com or Zappos.com--Like.com is a "visual search" that let's you choose a shoe and then produces dozens of matches to that shoe, from hundreds of web stores, based on style, color etc.! It can also search bags by shape...shirts by pattern... shoes by color or material...
For example:
Here is a visual search:

This has been incredibly useful, because you can search for the perfect shoe and draw results from all over the web--not. just. ZAPPOS.
Plus, I have just come to my senses that online shoe store dominatrix Zappos.com POWERS 'ShoesbyColor'--so it only produces shoes from Zappos!!

Like.com, on the other hand, pulls from lots of different sources.

From Like.com website:
We believe that there are literally millions of items that are difficult to describe via text-based search and where individual tastes are all over the map -- think of your favorite pair of earrings or shoes and what an ordeal it can be to find something new but in a similar style.

We created Like.com to solve the challenge of finding "the perfect you" for a broad range of aesthetic and soft goods.

Like.com utilizes our Likeness Technology" to create a digital signature that describes the photo's contents and enables a more accurate search for similar looking items and products.
Our initial launch focuses on handbags, jewelry, shoes, and watches - allowing users to search and purchase items from thousands of leading and boutique brands. We will very quickly add clothing and a number of other aesthetically oriented product categories.

Key features of Like.com include:

Likeness Search" - the ability to search by image instead of text;
Like Detail" - finds items that have a specific feature you like (such as a buckle, straps, bezel, etc);
Like Color" - find color variants of the item you desire;
Like Celebrity" - find clothing, shoes and accessories similar to those worn by your favorite celebrities;
Like Upload" - the ability to upload your own photo of your favorite item and find the same or similar products, coming soon.

Bustling...

This is how I want my gown bustled.
Not even sure what a bustle like this is called, but I love how simple and flattering it is.
And I love that I can use a brooch to accent it.
So I have been vintage-brooching on Ebay for the past week or so.
And there are so many lovely pieces to be had.
Like this vintage estate dangling brooch I won yesterday:

From seller Midwest Vintage Estates.
(I cannot remember where I got the photo of this bride, so if anyone recognizes it, please let me know so I can source it)
So, are you bustling your gown, and if so, how?

Shoe Saga: Part III

Part I: What A Girl Wants
Part II: What A Girl Needs
OK. So everyone keeps suggesting that I take a chill pill and wait until spring to look for my shoes! But I don't wanna wait!
I am so anxious to just get everything nailed down.
I know someone out there must be able to relate...
So, again, I have been scouring the internet for the perfect pair of shoes!
(And, thank you to all of ladies who have given me countless suggestions. Unfortunately they are either a) just not thee shoe or b)definitely thee shoe but out of the budget.)
Fiance won't let me spend more than $200 on my shoes.

Against my better judgement, this weekend I ordered a cute pair of shoes in a color really, really close to what I need.
The purchase was against my judgement not because they were too expensive, but because they were really cheap...
Just 15 bucks! And you know you normally get what you pay for. They are not even real leather...BUT they are cute. (And I can send them back for my 15-buck refund if they are super cheap-o)
I know I will probably hate the shoes once they arrive and/or they will hurt like hell. (I actually think I had a cheap pair of shoes from this 'brand' a long time ago that I never wore because they hurt so bad.)
But just what if I surprisingly dig them and have wedding shoes for 15 bucks!


Comments, yay and nay, are encouraged.