Engagement pictures...we got them done at Sears a few days ago(needed an inexpensive option, although I hope that our photographer is not offended that we went with Sears for this thing). The dress I'm wearing in the picture is actually my going away dress.
Ok, well the metal bouquet needs arranged, but the stems are all finished. I need to get back to sewing and finish up the construction on my chemise...then I'll be adding trim by hand.
I signed up for Practicum next quarter, so I kind of consider the chemise(and everything wedding related that I still need to do) my project(s) before I need to do more crafty things in the theater department when I get back from the Honeymoon.

recent projects

On the left is our card box for the gift table. My Mom bought the supplies for it at Jo-Ann Fabrics...there are two types of fabric, two types of scrapbook paper and white ribbon. We bought the boxes as a set, I'm not sure how much it cost for the set. We'll probably add some other decorations to it in order to cover the seams.







We got the cake server set at Jo-Ann Fabrics as well, this cost $6.99. We couldn't justify paying very much for it because it is just not that important to us. It looked nice enough for the price as well...there was another set that looked very similar, but that set had a bow on it and cost $25...we decided that we can put a bow on this on our own.



This is not really completely wedding-related, but I bought the base mask at the costume shop/record shop in Athens and decorated it to wear to phase one of my Bachelorette Party--we went to Outland's Broken Hearts Masquerade Ball--...we're thinking of doing a scavenger hunt for phase two...if that comes up...not sure how busy I'm going to be every weekend leading up to the wedding though...



I bought a pattern to make a chemise to wear under my dress and corset so I don't freeze to death.... I'm not convinced that the weather is going to be much better in 20-some days. So that will be black with black lace and white buttons.

Inspiration pictures--flowers

My bouquet will be similar to this one, but the beads I have used are clear Czech Glass, solid blue glass, swarovski crystal, grey glass cubes, and glass pearls. The florist will be adding white and cream colored roses.





The Bridesmaid bouquets are going to be hand-tied blue irises...similar to these.

Mina will carry a white rose pomander.

I kind of spaced out on what the boutionnieres and corsages look like. The tables will be decorated with a combination of potted spring flowers and glass containers with colored water and floating glass "bubbles." I want to combine spring with a kind of laboratory feel. We ordered two altar decorations which will be kind of flat and placed on columns.

The tables will have a dark grey tablecloths and we're renting plates that are white with a platinum edge.

veil and invitations

I'm not sure if I'm going to use this veil or not, but I did make it. I bought the tulle at Halloween and it has multi-color "raindrops" on it. I really like the fabric. I'm not sure if it matches the dress or not and I'm also not sure if I want to wear a black veil....since I'm already wearing a good deal of black.





The Invitations
The first set of invitations were initially intended for our engagement party, but we were too busy to plan a party. So we adapted them for the invites...we obviously did not have enough of them so we came up with a second style of invitation.
Anyway, the first invitation style is built from some pre-made library cards that I bought at Hobby Lobby. The black and white flower paper was pasted onto the outer envelope with glue stick. James designed the invitations and the gear/flower design in the corner. We used his printer to print them all. We used grey Wassau Premium Cardstock in 110lb weight for the invite card. The blue ribbon was bought at Hobby Lobby.






The second invitation features a sheer vellum overlay with a really nice monogram that we thought went well with the gear/flower design. The same cardstock was used on these invites.







James printed the response postcards on the grey cardstock. the black ink started to run out in the printer, but I really like the green that it decided to print so we decided to use them.

busy

I do have stuff to add, but I also have a mid-term to study for...so I'll have to really update later.

We ordered flowers, found the bridesmaid dresses and James and his groomsmen have suits ordered. The invitations are completely redone and much more professional-looking. I'm doing the calligraphy on all of the envelopes, fun fun.

I made a veil, not sure if I'll use it or not....still debating. We got the wedding rings also. I'm working on decor. James is making jewelry out of clock parts. This weekend Mom and I are going to the party rental place to get the plates and linens rental set up, I think we're going with dark grey tablecloths with some sort of DIY table runner...the plates will be white with Platinum trim.

Ok, well I better get some studying done, I hope to have pictures of all the progress we've made on our projects by Friday or Saturday.

I am apparently still sick, but mostly okay now. Since I was not feeling well I haven't done the project that I wanted to do.
I do have some new pictures of things that are in progress though. The first image is our first idea for the invitations. I'm not sure if I like the edges clipped like that, but the silver leaf is good. James completely scrapped the design in the corner and made a new one the other day. We're using the same fonts and paper for the real invitations, but we still have things to work out.

The next picture is my daughter's dress...I'm still deciding on if I want to add something to this, or not. The hanger makes the shoulders look huge, but it is not like that at all. The dress is tea-length and I might make a black petticoat to put underneath of it, but I suppose that it is also okay for her dress to be shorter because it is a little girl's dress.
I have some nice metallic silver ribbon that has matte black scroll work design over it, but due to the reflective material it is being nearly impossible to take a nice enough photograph of it. I also found some bright blue transparent PVC ribbon with silver edges at a thrift store, I'm not sure where we will use that either.

As a final picture, something completely unrelated to the wedding--I made a cake for my friend's pirate-themed 30th birthday party a couple weeks ago. The red icing decorations are store-bought, but the skull and crossbones are made out of chocolate that I melted on the stove and then I carefully laid out the chocolate on a pattern I made on wax paper. We put it in the freezer for a while, then James finished it with a little carving and teeth made out of sliced almonds.

Not good

well, it has been an eventful December...well at least the past week has been eventful...and not in a good way.
Mina's 5th birthday was December 21st, her face started swelling when we got her birthday pictures done. Luckily we were able to get her a doctor's appointment that day. We found out that she has a tooth abscess and probably needs surgery. She is being really naughty about taking her antibiotics as well.
We went to Cincinnati for my uncle's wedding, we drove there on the 21st--Mina got stomach flu at the rehearsal and vomited in the church. We tried going to the dinner, but she was sick several more times. We got our dinner in carry-out boxes and spent the night at the hotel. I was supposed to do a reading at the wedding because my aunt didn't feel well enough to. Well, we had to leave that morning since Mina was still sick and my sister covered the reading for me.
Morning of Christmas Eve James and I wake up with stomach flu. I recover enough to go to dinner, but James was still sick. I was achy and exhausted by the end of the night, so my Mom helped me wrap all of Mina's gifts so I could go to sleep.

This morning James called me and said that his mother's best friend Jeanie passed away...I'm assuming some time overnight because a friend went to check on her this morning and she was already gone. I only met the woman a couple times and she was a tough lady, she had been dealing with a disorder for a long time and had breast cancer--James said that she had been sick for a couple days and refused to go to the hospital. James' Mom really depended on her a lot, so she is obviously not taking it well from what I've heard.

I really hope that January is better.

Anyway, I found the cord that I need in order for my camera to work and I'm going to make a wedding-related post later today once I get everything organized. I think Mina and I are going shopping today as well...maybe that will offer some distraction.