Jeff Williams made my monograms a reality!

I have a vision of what I like but most of the time I can not explain it correctly or people just don't get me, so I did not know what to expect when my cousin/MOH told me I should contact Jeff Williams about designing the monograms for the wedding and talk to him about what ideas I had for it. You maybe asking who is Jeff Williams ? Well he is a highly versatile web and print designer based out of San Francisco! My cousin knows all the talented peeps!

I had seen a lot of monograms but they all looked the same, the only difference was who was selling the monogram. I knew I wanted something elegant but with a splash of fun and casual, but what did this mean? I did not know, but when Jeff sent me his first draft of the monograms, I was astonished, somehow he had listened to what I had wanted, and used his own artistic ability and vision to make it a reality. He had created 5 design concepts each having their own initial, seal, monogram and pattern and I love each and everyone of them. They were exactly what I had wanted smooth lines, flourishes, damask and contemporary font to keep it cool and casual. The picture I posted doesn't do it justice since it only shows you one design & I blurred out the font. You should check out Jeff Williams website yourself, and not just for monograms, this guy has some serious superpower design skills that include illustration work and typography.

I *love* what he says on his website "I create engaging, smart, and wonderful things including advertisements, billboards, brochures, dreams, websites, posters, time machines, love stories, amazing playlists in iTunes, emails, plans for world domination, storyboards, illustrations and much more" Thank you to my cousin/MOH for introducing me to Jeff!

LA: A High Concentration of Sensitive Men

Although not directly wedding-related, I wanted to share with all you lovely ladies an interesting article I came across today in LAist."Study says LA guys (tied with SF) are most sensitive."

Not really quite sure what to think or say about those results. In talking to WestsideWedding about it, the more sensitive the guy, does that really mean the better? In my mind, it means more game playing, more cloak and dagger type of work... more egos being involved rather than being honest and as recent yoga classes have taught me "leading with your heart."

The most ironic part about the whole deal is I used to DATE the guy who wrote the article for LAist. By date, I mean we went on one date and I was so abashed by his insensitivity (taking out a 10 bucks and declaring that I put in the rest of the money, trying to wield me over to the rooftop of not so romantic bad-part-of-Hollywood apartment and me politely excusing myself abruptly during the whole debacle) that it ended right before it started.

But you can judge for yourselves on what you think about the results. Click here for the article.

Wedding Conversation Starters

Last week after leaving Legally Blonde, mi amor, MOH/cousin and I were discussing ways that we can get people to mingle at the wedding since most people will not know everyone. I should have wrote their ideas down because I remember them being great, but for the life of me I can not think of a single one they mentioned. Hopefully MOH/Cousin remembers and she blogs about it ;-) Until then...I found some great conversation starters at MarthaStewart.com check them out *here*. I really liked the one titled- "Song and Dance" because it gets people not only to mingle but gets them on the dance floor! The idea is each table is assigned a song title and when the tune plays, the whole table has to get up and get down! Another good one is "Change is Good" - Each guest opens their favor box which has a penny & then shares with the table an important event that corresponds to the year on the penny. Are you guys doing anything to get them to mingle? One thing we are doing is proving a 5 hour open bar, that should help loosen people up!












{Source Martha Stewart}

Etched Monogrammed Glasses for BM & GM!

I bought some etch cream to make monogrammed wine glasses for the bridesmaids and monogrammed low ball glasses for the groomsmen. I was inspired by this tutorial from Michaels (see pic to the left) but it mentioned using an engraving tool and that sounds too complicated, then I found this tutorial on Michaels which only requires etching cream & a stencil...SOLD!. I took my 40% coupon to the nearest Michaels and bought myself some etching cream! Martha also has some directions for etched glass monogrammed glasses (see pic to right) check it out *here*

I'm still on the look out for the right low ball glasses but as soon as I find them I will make sure to post my DIY skills to ya'll! (btw I am not southern but I dig the word ya'll, I don't use it in my every day lingo but I am known to use it profusely when emailing my home skillets)

Wedding Hairstyles

I'm going to wear my hair 1/2 up because I don't trust it to stay nice completely down and don't trust it to look nice all up - due to a terrible up do my junior year in high school that left me with a horrendous looking bee hive on top of my hair. Plus the up do is so my "work style hair" i.e I never do my hair for work and a hair bun always looks great with a suit ;-)

I used these resources to try to get an idea for how I want my hair styled:

1. haircomesthebride.com: This site has a lot of pictures of celebrity hair styles. Like everyone on theknot that wants their hair 1/2 up, I am inspired by Carrie Underwood's hair.
2. brides.com: Refine your search by the type of hair you have, the length and the look.
3. Theknot.com: They have wedding 101, you can search by the same above criteria and you can even take a quiz on how you should wear your hair. One of the questions was "You can't leave the house without…" but all the options had to do with beauty, I needed an option for iPhone!
4. Oncewed.com: They have intersting wedding styles from "Mariah Carey", "Wild and Crazy" and "Spanish Up Do", I had serious doubts that they would be able to show me pictures of hairs that could be described in such titles but let me tell you that wild and crazy did look wild and crazy and the spanish up do is how 90% of girls wear their hair at the quincinera!

How are you wearing your hair?

MOH: Recommended Reading

Like any great player or actor in the game of life, one must make sure that they are completely prepping for their big role... Because of this, I have recently added to my library the following books purchased on Amazon:

• The Quintessential Wedding Guide ... Maid of Honor
  
  
• The Bridesmaid's Guerrilla Handbook
  
  
• Everything Bridesmaid: From Planning the Shower to Supporting the Bride, All You Need to Survive and Enjoy the Wedding (Everything Series)
  

Just another day in one of several lives! I'll be posting reviews on these books in the next following few weeks. Stay tuned!

County Clerk: Another Happy Costumer(s)

I love these kinds of facebook updates... when you notice casual friends or acquaintances statuses change to "engaged" and "married" and then you notice their latest mobile upload...

With stuff like this, who needs reality TV? Am I a sap that I said "AWWWW" audibly when I saw this?

Brownie Pops Yum

{Source Intimate Weddings}

I decided that I *need* to make those brownie pops that I recently saw on Intimate Weddings and The Kitchn (that's how they spell it). I was about to purchase the Wilton Round Brownie Pop Mold that both sites recommended when I saw the Wilton Bite-Size Brownie Squares Mold Pan, the pop pan has 8 molds and the squares mold has 24- um sold! I can make 3 TIMES more, faster & more efficient - can you tell I work in finance ;-) And as you can see they look just as cute! It's my future father in laws birthday next weekend so perfect time to make them and ship them out to Florida! I hope I get the molds in time!

{Source Amazon}

Bridesmaids' Dresses

Update: We are coming down to the wire for dress shopping. I'm crossing my fingers that our excursion to David's Bridal towards the end of the month will show that these dresses we're eyeballing (crossing fingers) are the ones. Call me a crazy (because I am) but I know these are the ones! I only believe in love at first sight when it comes to clothing and my heart skipped TWO beats when I saw these beauties.

Save money & make yourself a kissing ball!

{Photo By: Perry Aslyn Portrait Design via theknot.com}

In an effort to save money and take care of wedding projects way ahead of time, I've decided that my flowers girls (my 2 little nieces) are going to be holding kissing balls aka pomanders. I'll be using silk flowers, but considering I don't have any wedding colors yet or wedding theme, this project will have to wait. In the meantime here are some great sources for creating your own kissing ball!

An awesome tutorial by Miss Labrador of weddingbee.com *here*
HGTV.com tutorial for floral kissing balls *here*
Vintage Glam Blog tutorial for tissue pomanders *here*
or just buy some silk red rose kissing balls from saveoncrafts on sale for $16.49 *here*

bakers twine is mine

what shall I do with it? hmm more like what won't I do with it...

{Source Hello Friend}

{Source Project Wedding}

{source Pen and Ink}

{Source Classic Bride}

Girls Night Out on the Terrace at Westfield Mall in Century City

Speaking of Legally Blonde... For those of you in L.A, Westfield Mall in Century City is having a Girls Night! They'll be having "tasty treats, cocktails, makeovers and a double feature screening of Legally Blonde 1 & 2" You can also enter to win tickets to see Legally Blonde, The Musical and a Girlie Girl Raffle prize package worth over $1000! AND the first 300 guests to enter to win will receive a VIP gift bag.What What!
The Low Down: Wednesday, August 26
6pm Festivities , 8pm Movie Screening
Address: 10250 Santa Monica Blvd. Los Angeles CA 90067
sending emails to MOH & Bridesmaid now....

A week in the life of...

Monday: Visit Bridesmaid/GBBF in the valley (gasp!)- tackle 405 N freeway, both eat mexican food, both discuss need for weight loss, tell her MOH/Cousin says we are going to vegas for bachelorette party, wearing wigs & corsets and there are rumors of an inflatable man -her draw drops. (mind you - she is a church going gal, 3 kids and happily married over 10 years)
Tuesday: Watch District 9 with mi amor - vote for aliens, I'm a sucker for the under dog. After movie, get text from MOH/Cousin about watching More to Love -snap thought it was Thursday, I'm such a space cadet sometimes.
Wednesday: Watch The Time Traveler's Wife with MOH/Cousin & Bridesman- sneak in wine, cry, reminded once again how love is grand.
Thursday: See Legally Blonde @ The Pantages Theatre in Hollywood with MOH/Cousin & mi amor - All three are dragged to the show by some force, no one wants to go but no one says anything, get there 10 min late, freaking love the show, laughed, mi amor states we must put Legally Blonde in netflix because he's never watched it (mind you this is a manly man- all 6'4 of him, NRA card carrying, tennis playing, look under your hood kind of guy) , MOH/cousin announces we *must* make our own musical (mind you neither her or I cared for musicals, one could even say we detested them) We are all shocked that we *loved* the show, so far it was our fav from our season pass to the Pantages.

I'm ready for the weekend! How was your week?

Put a cork in it.

I received a lovely wine bottle stopper at a wedding I went to this summer & use it frequently & I've been to my FSIL house and she too proudly displays a heart wine stooper from a wedding. I think they make awesome favors and gifts, it's something people don't always buy for themselves but something everyone should have. Here are some of my fav ones from MyWeddingFavors.com . "LOVE" , "Fleur de Lis" and "Love Birds"

It would be cool to include a quote with the stopper, perhaps the Old English Toast "May our love be like good wine, grow stronger as it grows older."

Even if I don't buy the wine stoppers as favors, I'm seriously thinking of buying the "Love Birds" one to have around as gifts for birthdays and housewarmings and out it in a bag with a nice bottle of wine.

The 99 Cent Wedding

Luckiest day of the Year?

I overheard a radio interview this morning with a spokesperson from the 99 Cents Store about an interesting contest they are having to honor couples who are concerned over getting married given the current economy. They are celebrating the "Luckiest Day" (09/09/09) with giving away a 99 Cent Wedding to 9 lucky couples. (See a theme?)

The couples will get married in a 99 Cents Only store decked out with 99 Cents supplies, food and if the brides chooses a mock Chanel dress made with 99 Cents Store items... WOW!

The deadline to submit your entry is August 24th. You can call (323) 881-1247 to enter.

They do not have the giveaway mentioned on their site but here is the tweet from the 99 Cents twitter account.

Butterfly Bouquet

I'm kinda digging the Martha Stewart's butterfly bouquet, it's pretty and it won't die. Still debating about it, and wanted more info so the other day I googled "butterfly bouquet" and came across Bride Craft;they also have a tutorial of a butterfly bouquet, along with tons of other great diy for brides. I love Martha Stewart but I have to give props to bridecraft because their directions are very detailed, have great pictures of the steps and show you exactly how to make the bouquet, where Martha's directions pretty much just say buy this, twist that, tape it all together and ta dah!










I also really like these bouquets...

Water Bottle Labels to DIY or not to DIY

I really want water bottle labels for the OOT bags, but since I don't have publisher or photo shop, it may prove to be difficult in designing them. I found a water bottle template on weddingbee.com that was so nicely shared by Mrs. Firefly but I would want to add more design to it & personalize it with a theme and I don't think I can. While looking through MyWeddingLabels.com I found a couple of water bottle labels ($14 for 10 labels) that I really like & I would even be able to get matching favor tags ($0.33 - 1.50 per tag) ! hmmm still contemplating what to do...



Are there DIY items that you wanted to do but ended up buying the item instead?

The Bridal Bar with the Bridal Party

I heard about The Bridal Bar on The Wedding Planning audiocast with Ralph Mucci - when they mention they give you cocktails, as you look at a bunch of resources I was IN. I thought it would be a great thing to go to with MOH/Cousin, bridesman/BFF, and BM/FSIL so we can all hang out & do some wedding planning. It would be the first time all 3 of us would get to spend some quality time together. I wish my BM/GBFF (girl bff) & BM/SIL could go too but they both have kids and it would be a hassle to get to West Hollywood for them on a Monday by 6:30, so I will have to set up another event during the weekend so they can all meet. Before I tell you what went wrong with this event I'd like to preface it by saying that I'm a planner, I would not say I love to plan, I would say I *have* to plan, I have to research the heck out of everything so it comes as a surprise to everyone including me that I decide to check the hours of the bridal bar at 5 p.m on the day we are suppose to meet there at 6:30. Well they close at 6! gasp! It's called a BAR and people that have reviewed it talk about drinking, ergo I did not even fathom they would close early oh ya and it's in WEST HOLLYWOOD (We Ho)! So really you can't blame me for thinking they would close late. So at 5:05 I sent a text to MOH/Cousin, brides man/BBFF (boy bff), and BM/FSIL, letting them know it closes at 6 - MOH/Cousin texts back "ditching yoga, on my way now", BM/FSIL texts "will get there but maybe at 6", brides man/BFF texts "no way!" and I in my hysteria think he means no way cant make it, but really he just meant no way! so unfortunately he did not get to meet up with us due to text miscommunication on my part.
So MOH & I check out The Bridal Bar & it was cool, they were VERY helpful, gave me lots of magazines, good tips on some venues & said they could even help me more once I have my venue. These were the first wedding magazine that I had EVER looked at and now I know why lots of ladies like the wedding magazines, so many great things to look at right at your finger tips. If you live in L.A, Atlanta or San Diego then you should definitely go with your girls and check it out! Only thing that bummed us out was they did not have any cocktails but they did say that we could make a private appointment to go over stuff and drink champagne. Luckily Bridal Bar is in We Ho, so MOH and I skedaddle over to the Fiesta Cantina for 2 for 1 & FSIL ends up meeting us there. It was so great to hang out with them and discuss the wedding and just every day life, it was the firs time ever I got to hang out with FSIL without mi amor being there and I must say she rocks! We decided that we must make a point of all hanging out every few weeks until the wedding. (next time the other ladies and gentleman will join us)
It's very important to me for my bridesmaids to get to know each other, so by the time the bachelorette party & wedding roll around we will all have bonded by then :-)
Just for background sakes-
Brides man & MOH know everyone but have not spent bonding time with everyone.
BM/GBBF (girl bff), BM/SIL & FSIL/BM only knows Brides man & MOH and do not know each other. Wowzers I was hoping to clarify things but I think I may have confused you more!

anyways...do all your BM know each other? Do you have any plans for events so they can get to know each other?

Sparklers exit & DIY instructions

{Source: Jose Villa}

I love the look of the sparkler exit! I'm thinking we may do it, but I'm still not sure if we will because we don't want to actual leave the party, we want to party till the wee hours of the morning, even if it means moving the party after we have to leave the venue! But it would be the perfect way to tell the guests, hey we gots to go because we only have the venue till midnight & although we don't got to go home we got to get the f*** out of here! (I actually would not say this because I don't cuss but I always laugh when I hear this saying)
If we end up doing this exit, I am going to get the sparklers from MyWeddingFavors.com ($1.75 each) and going to personalize them by following Abby Larson's instructions on stylemepretty for creating custom sparklers!


Are you having an exit? Will you be doing bubbles, sparklers or doing ribbon wands?
Btw Chic 'n Cheap has a tutorial on doing ribbon wands!

The Low Down: Save $15 on your order of $150 or more at MyWeddingFavors.com with code SPRING25 at checkout!

Wedding Favor Sites

Still in my quest to find favors... MyWeddingFavors.com has a great search feature for favors under $2 & under $3, how cool is that!

My top 3 favors under $2

1. Silk Fan for $1.50 - Perfect for summer & spring weddings
2. Personalized mints $1.25 - everyone can use a mint :-)
3. Sweethearts Wedding Bell - Bell and Place card Holder $1.55 - kill 3 birds with one stone - place card, favor and a bell to make the bride & groom kiss.

My top 3 favors under $3

1. Mini Classic Gumball Dispenser $2.98 - I *love* these dispensers!
2. Black Floral Personalized Mint Tin $2.25 - yum mints!
   
3. Silver Plated Fortune Cookie Place Card Holder- $2.25 - place cards & favor - score!

The lowdown: Save $15 on your order of $150 or more at MyWeddingFavors.com with code SPRING25 at checkout!

Have you decided on your favors yet? What are they?

Top 5 things I wish someone told me about The Knot

The number one website that people who were recently married told me to look at once they found out I was engaged was theknot.com, So I checked it out, but the only feature that I really look are the boards, where other brides help each other out with advice. They have different forums, DIY, the dress, honeymoon, etc etc.

Tip #1: Write a post introducing yourself.
As soon as I joined, I jumped right in and started giving people feedback and advice, I only found out later that you are suppose to introduce yourself, but how the heck would I know this? well if I had been what is called a "lurker" I would have known that you are suppose to write a post introducing yourselves. Thank goodness I did not post a question asking for help, because then I would have really been screwed.

Tip #2 Do NOT write a post asking for help finding a venue and saying you are on a budget. This is a total no no.
Alot of girls actually make this mistake (thank goodness I did not) - Knotties are more than willing to help a fellow knottie out but they need as much info as you can provide them. If you need help finding a venue you MUST also include the following info: guest count, exactly what your budget is (to some low budget is 5K to others it's 20K) and what area you would like the venue to be.

Tip#3 AW is not Awe (like awe so sweet) it's Attention Whore. Knotties speak a different language.
When I would see AW: Engagement Photos, I thought aw how cute! it was not until much later I learned it was attention whore. I learned quickly that FI meant Fiancee, but other things did not come so quickly, like TIA at the end of a post, I thought their name was TIA which is odd to me because I call all my aunts Tia. I finally found a link that explains all the lingo *here*

Tip#4 How to add a wedding tickler or picture to your signature.
Most people have their wedding tickler as their signature, that way you know how long till they are getting married and some who choose not to remain anonymous post a picture of them and their FI. Find out how to do it *here*

Tip#5 Join your local board for help with venues, vendors etc. Look at the other boards and decide which one you think maybe more helpful for you.
I only looked on the L.A. Board but recently found the April 2010 boards and I love it because everyone is on a similar schedule. On the L.A board I was getting depressed and feeling so behind with everyone talking about how many things that they have accomplished, when one day one of the L.A knotties told me about the month board. I felt so much better when I joined that board, although the feeling of not being behind lasted a week, because since then many of the April Brides already had their dresses! and I on the other hand need to lose 10 pounds so there is not way I'm stepping into some wedding dress and the only thing I have really accomplished is buying one candy jar for the candy buffet.

Are you guys on theknot? What do you find most helpful about it?

Address Stamp and Pointing Finger stamp arrive

My stamps arrived yay!!!! As I mentioned to you in a previous post I bought my first address stamp from terbearco along with the pointing finger stamps and WOW, they are even better than I could have ever imagined! They are high quality stamps beautiful made and mounted in a nice dark wood. I have not been this anamored with a purchase in quite a while. There is something to be said about buying an item from etsy, knowing that you bought it from the person that had envisioned it in their mind and then proceeded to create it with their own hands. Can you tell how much I am swooning over my new stamps? After buying these beauties, there is no way I could ever go back to buying stamps from the local Michaels.

Fabulous and Free Ohio Printables!

These printable are so fabulous! I love the treat bag topper that says "Ohio welcomes you" they are perfect for out of town bags and how great are the labels that say 'The Heart of It All"! (the saying on Ohio license plates). You can download them for free on Kirei Nest.com.

Scrabble and Happily Ever After

Isn't this so cute!

{source RememberMeEmily on etsy}

Bachelorette Party store

I know I am not suppose to be writing about the bachelorette party, especially since my MOH/cousin is guest posting, but I have to share with you some items I came across while looking through Bachelorette.com which btw is "The world's largest bachelorette party store". Some are very funny, like the penis beer bong, penis straws and the Bachelorette on the Loose Shot Glass! Although I must say my fav thing on the site is a shirt you can wear anytime that say "F*** off I'm drinking" lol!
Ok I better stop writing now before I get schooled by my cousin!
FYI: Bachelorette.com has free party games you can download and print.

30 Day Shred - Time to get fit!

When I first joined theknot.com, I kept hearing about "the shred", I had no idea what this was but knew it had something to do with losing weight, that apparently works so I had to investigate asap! I soon found out that said Shred was referring to Jillian Michaels - 30 Day Shred dvd & I bought it right away! I've been carrying around an extra 10 pounds for over a year, I definitely see that as you get older it is not as easy to lose weight. I have a love affair with food, as soon as eat bfast I'm already wondering what I am going to eat for lunch and dinner. I hate to admit it & hopefully my MOH/cousin doesn't get upset by me telling you all this but...we once watched the biggest loser while each eating a medium pizza?! who does that? um me, it was my idea. I've always been conscious about my weight because my mom is pretty fit & never has had to struggle with her weight, her nickname that her sisters call her is "flaca"(skinny), I on the other hand have to work at it, I can not eat what ever I want but I can't complain too much either because for all the crap I eat I should weigh 300 pounds and have high cholostral (but thanks to my genes I don't). I remember the first time I had to lose weight, probably my freshman year in highschool, my jeans would not fit and when I told my mom to get me a bigger size she said no - lose weight. gasp! I know it sounds bad but it really isn't she was right , I needed lose weight & if more parents told their kids that, we would not have the high rate of obesity in this country. Anyways, that was the first lesson I learned on how to maintain my weight, to not buy a bigger size but to lose weight and when I follow that rule the max weight I gain is 10, ok maybe 15 - apparently some of my clothes have a lot of stretch in them ;-)
Ok so now back to working out! I belong to a gym thanks to my padres (it's my bday gift every year) but all I do there is cardio, I don't like using the weights there. (layout sucks) Which is why I *love* the Jillian Michaels - 30 Day Shred, I feel like I am finally getting toned arms and it's only been 3 weeks! I waved at someone the other day and looked over at my arms and there was less of the bye bye arm (you know the flabby part of your arm that waves bye bye). The dvd is only 20 min, and it's working everything, you have cardio, strength and abs. There are 3 levels and let me tell you there is a big differance between 1 & 2! Last friday I decided to do level 2 and by Saturday I was back on level 1. So far it's been a dvd that doesn't bore me and since it only last 20 min, I can't use the excuse that I do not have time, because everyone has 20 min!
I'd highly recommed this dvd to anyone that needs to lose some weight, it's on sale now on amazon for $6.40! get it *here*