Alive and Kicking Some Wedding To-Do Butt

Hey there, just popping in to give you all an update on where I've been, and how we're doing now that we're only a mere 46 DAYS out from our wedding! Sorry I've been MIA. But I've actually accomplished a TON in my time away from blogging...

• Made some bout's - don't have any good pics, but basically took out some of the cute small flowers from my bouquets and made boutonnieres out of them
• Sent out some invites - that's right, it's official now, the invites are out! Stay tuned for a reveal of our simple yet pretty invitations
• Lost a bridesmaid, and in turn, a groomsman - yep, my Friendster H had to back out of her role as my bridesmaid. After moving to Texas a while back, she and her hubby are having a hard time getting the time off work, finding plane tickets they can afford, etc etc. I would never want to put a friend in a position have to go broke in order to be at my wedding. So we decided together that she wouldn't be in our bridal party. *Tear*. And as a result, Mr. S gave one of his groomsmen a choice to either walk by himself, or just to come as a guest. Since said groomsman is one of the most laid back dudes I've met, he was totally fine just coming as a guest to enjoy the festivities. Phew!
• Picked a hotel - after getting group rate quotes from multiple hotels near our venue, I decided on the closest one, which also happens to be the least costly. And in addition, their online booking rates are CHEAPER than their discounted group rates! WHA? So I've encouraged our guests via our wedding website to book online for the best pricing.

My bachelorette party, planned by MOH/Sister K, is this weekend! I still don't know what we are doing, but I've been told we have to leave at 8 am Saturday morning, and won't be back until Sunday. People, I have no idea what to expect. Mr. S keeps messing with me saying that MOH K told him where we're going and that he will never tell. Then he says he has no idea. I guess I'll find out when we get there!

My bridal shower is planned for Sunday May 5th. My lovely Cousin's J and L are hosting it for me, and I couldn't be more appreciative and excited! I'm trying not to be a registry stalker, but as soon as I saw things being taken off our list, I couldn't control myself! Please tell me I'm not the only one :)

Well that was a lot. I hope you aren't overwhelmed with all my accomplishments ;) I have a lot more to share in the coming days so stay tuned!

Happy planning!
Miss Spaghetti

I'm No Florist...But These Things Look Pretty Good!

MOH K and I took the day Saturday to do some much needed wedding planning. Here's what I had on my list:

• Flowers for bouquets/bouts/corsages/mason jar centerpieces
• Shoes for me
• Order sash for my dress
• Fabric for mason jar centerpieces
• Discuss timeline

While we didn't accomlish everything on that list, we did have quite a productive day, because...

We figured out the bouquets!

One of my finished, handcrafted bridesmaids bouquets! Personal image

We made a stop at Michael's to look at a few things, and found these cute little Ashland Spring Stem Bundles on sale for 50% off, regularly $9.99. They contained an assortment of about 7 different stems, in a variety of purple colors.

Ashland Spring Stems from Michael's - Personal image

We found 3 at that store, and had an employee call around to the other 2 stores in our area. Altogether, we were able to get our hands on 7 bunches. Unfortunately, this was a Spring item, which meant they couldn't order any more (of course). And we figured that we would need at least 11 to make all four bridesmaid bouquets plus my bridal bouquet.

Yesterday, I stopped in at a different location to pick up two that they had on hold for me. Mr. S and I went back to look at the floral section to see what other options we had to fill the bouquets. As I looked, he reached down and pulled out a small stem bundle, with many of the same purple flowers in it, plus some light green hydrangea stems, for only $7.99! Plus, the 50% off sale continues through this week. We grabbed 5 of them, thinking that should be enough to fill up all of the bouquets with. I also had a coupon good for 15% off your entire order, even sale items. Altogether, I spend only $50 on all 5 bouquets, plus ribbon to tie around the stems, and pins with little pearls on the end!

 I spent the afternoon on the couch separating these bad boys out, and experimenting with the arrangements. Here is what I started with:

All of the bunches together, plus the ribbon and pins I plan to wrap the stems with. Personal image

And here is how the four bridesmaid bouquets ended up looking:

Bouquets for my ladies! Personal image

 Side note: they look much better in person. I kept trying to send MOH K images on my phone, and it just doesn't do them justice.

I didn't think I was going to use any of the green hydrangea stems because I wasn't feeling the color. But I was able to use them as a filler for all of the bouquets. It turned out perfect!

Here are some other angles and closer up images (all images personal):

 The Little Noodle's comment when I pulled them out of the bag, was "Those look real!". As honest as 6-year old's are, I took that to mean they looked good :) Did you DIY your flowers? How did they turn out?

Happy planning!
Miss Spaghetti

I Don't Know Who "Mason" Is, But I Like His Jars

I'm really diggin' the "rustic" look that so many weddings have nowadays. Luckily for me, BM M got married a year and a half ago, and still has tons of leftover mason jars. All of us bridesmaids spent the entire morning of her wedding in a field picking wild flowers, then we brought them back and filled them with water, and arranged all of flowers in them for centerpieces. Tons of work, yes, but the end result was beautiful and the decor really suited her outdoor, backyard wedding. While BM M's wedding and mine have a lot in common (both rustic, outdoors-y locations), they are still quite different. So the big question in my mind has been "I have all these mason jars, now what do I do with them?".

Enter: Pinterest. I'm not going to dote on it and talk about how awesome it is because I honestly think it's played out (please don't hate me). That being said, I have utilized it a couple times, this time being one of them. I found these:

Stones with a candle (no shells for me) - Easy Wedding Centerpieces

Water with a floating candle and twine - Emmaline Bride

Jars with fabric wrap - 100 Layer Cake

I really liked the look of the candles and water, but the thought of having to fill all those jars (I'm thinking 2 per table of 8, at 20 tables) just exhausts me. Same with the stones. So my mind is almost completely set on doing the fabric wrap. MOH K told me she saw a pack of fabric squares, which I'm guessing would be considered quilting squares, at JoAnn Fabrics. It had different patterns, but all with the same purple color scheme. I like the idea of having a variety of patterns! I would also like to try wrapping it with twine instead of a ribbon.

Now, what to put in them? Depending on what flowers I choose for the bouquets and bout's, maybe I will put a few stems in each one. And how cute is this?!?

Lemon slices in water! Makes me want yellow as a secondary color! - Pinterest

Obviously there are a lot of cute and easy things you can do with mason jars. I think the hardest thing is trying to find and collect enough of them. I've got that part covered! Anyone else use mason jars in their decor?

Happy planning!
Miss Spaghetti

Petal Picking

As I mentioned in my last post, my next task is to pick some gosh darn flowers. Being the DIY freak that I am, I immediately wanted to do my own bouquets with artificial flowers (they don't die) and they are cheaper than real flowers, or so I thought. Once I started pricing out the two options, I began to realize that real flowers weren't so far out of my price range. I have yet to look at the local flower markets, but I'm really intrigued by some of the options for buying flowers online.

Once site I found is Fifty Flowers. I've read some good reviews about this place and I was especially excited when I found my beautiful white and lavender Dahlia on there!

Pink Lavender Button Dahlia flowers - Fiftyflowers.com

Yes, it looks pink. It's actually lavender, thank you very much. I LOVE how the petals fade from lavender to white inside. And the availability? Starts in June. Oh yeah! You can get 30 stems for $129.99 shipped. This, however, would only make about 2 bouquets, based on the amount used for my inspiration:

Dahlia bouquets wrapped in lily grass - Flowers by Shirley

My other fave flower? Ranunculus.

Ranunculus Flower - Fifty Flowers

Problem is I don't see any online in "our" color - lavender. And the price? $239.99 for 100 stems. A bit over my budget of $200. It's not out of the question, but I'd rather have some purples in there!

Now for the artificial options...

I found these pretty white and dark purple dahlias online:

Artificial Dahlia Stems - Afloral.com

But at a price of $5.29 per stem, it's actually cheaper to buy the real ones!

Conclusion: I love the lavender and white in the flowers. I like a soft and romantic look for the bouquets. I guess I'm not so particular as to "need" a certain type of flower, as long as it fits my colors and vision. Is that too much to ask? ;)

I have yet to check out the local pickings (hopefully this weekend). So we'll see what I can find. Anyone know of a particular kind of flower that might be what I'm looking for, that also wouldn't break the bank? How did you pick your flowers?

Happy planning!
Miss Spaghetti

Let The Music Play

In other words, we've found our DJ! We met with Mike from Studio 616 on Wednesday. I can't say enough about how helpful he was with figuring out what we really need for a DJ. Remember when I talked about their DJ & photo booth package? Turns out we didn't really even need or want the photo booth, and Mike worked with us to create a package that was in our budget, but also gave us enough time for the DJ to be there for the whole event, ceremony included!

Even Mr. S, who is pretty hard to win over, was ready to sign him right then and there. So to everyone who is looking for a DJ in the Grand Rapids area, check them out!

Now that we have the tunage figured out, my next task is the flowers. I'm still on the fence about whether I want to go with real or artificial, and whether I want to DIY or let a pro handle it. So basically all I know at this point, is that I want some pretty purple flowers ;)

I love love love the look of an all Dahlia bouquet, but sadly, they will not be in season for my June wedding.

So delicate and natural! Dahlias wrapped with lily grasses. Image courtesy of Flowers by Shirley blog

I've asked a couple local florists if they have any other suggestions that might be a similar look. My budget will definitely play a factor, since I don't want to spend more than $200. I actually don't want to spend more than $100, but considering everything I need, I've accepted that I have to plan for a bit more. I need:

• 1 bridal bouquet
• 4 bridesmaid bouquets
• 1 grooms boutonierre
• 4 groomsmens boutonierres
• 2 dads boutonierres
• 6 mother/grandmother corsages

If anyone can do all that for under $100, sign me up! I'm pretty confident I could do it myself if I find the right flowers. I've heard Costco has a good variety and pricing. And there are a few fresh flower markets around here that we might have to stop in and check out this weekend. Did anyone else DIY their flowers? Any tips or regrets?

Happy planning!
Miss Spaghetti