Flower Power!

TLC aired a show last year that changed my life. No, it wasn't one of those health shows or a show about families with 8,000 kids. It was Flowers Uncut; a reality show that followed the crazy vision and world of Mr. Jeff Leatham. I was instantly hooked, obsessed and starting googling this man every second I could. I had found the floral inspiration for our wedding. The talent, the unique arrangements, the beauty he brings it out in every flower; my jaw drops with each new show that airs. (It's finally back on TLC after a 6 month hiatus, probably due to my many angry emails to the TLC programming staff) He brings to life all the insane ideas I have in my head and it's rare to find someone who can do that. Here are some pics of his incredible talent:

I love how traditional he is with his flower choices (hydrangea, calla lilies, roses, etc.) and yet he uses them in a very unconventional way. Through it all though, it looks complete, polished and unique and still has that nod to arrangements people are used to seeing. From there, the stage was set. Our floral design would be a Jeff Leatham knock off.

I scoured dozens of florists websites and one kept jumping out at me. Their eye for detail, knack for original designs and very modern/traditional wedding arrangements was oh so perfect. The company is A Stylish Soiree and it is run by two young women who truly love what they do. From the second we sat down with Becca and showed her my, um, 17 page picture inspiration board, she instantly got it. There was no explaining who Jeff was, there was no playing of the 20 questions to try and understand the vision; she looked at the pictures and said "So you want Jeff Leatham to design your wedding and came to me to make it happen? :)" Since I hadn't mentioned his name yet, she stole my heart right then and there. They have done hundreds of weddings in DFW and she loves doing weddings like this one. It gives her the ability to be very creative with the designs and allows me to breath a big sigh of relief. I never imagined I could have a vendor this amazing!

For the ceremony, I'm doing a replica of Eva Longoria's wedding in Paris. The church itself (it's almost done!) is so beautiful that I wanted to do something to compliment it and not compete with it. I'll have pics soon of the church! Here are my inspiration photos:

If this isn't bridal done right, I have no idea what is! We'll have rose petals everywhere, lining the aisle and all around the arrangements. I'll have a few large vases in the back of the church to draw the eye in but the bulk will be at the front of the church on the alter. We'll have four 5-6 ft vases with large hydrangeas and phaleonopsis orchids in them and then it will taper down to 4 ft vases on the outside of that with roses and calla lilies in them as well. Add rose petals and candles to the bottom of it and viola, Eva Longoria's wedding! I literally cannot wait to see what this looks like all setup!!

Moving on to the reception: Becca drew out each of out designs for us for each table based on what we discussed. She also provided a picture of the flower she'll be using for each table to help visualize the entire process. Here are the flowers we're using;

Each table will have a different arrangement on it and the arrangements will only be featured twice. (so 6 different ones on 12 tables) The vases are varying heights ranging from 2 feet to 4 feet and I love the idea of having all of them "pointing" towards the center of the room. Here are the drawings she sent to us.



Our head table will be in the shape of an X with a large set of arrangements in the middle and vases filled with water and floating candles coming down each arm. The focal point will be this table and particularly the center arrangement.

I am so excited about the flowers that I'm having a hard time waiting for it all to get here! :) I hope everyone enjoys them during the reception and they feel like they're part of something truly special.

Forget Something? No problem! It's in the bathroom!

Have you ever been to a wedding and realized you had horrid breath/a run in your hose/a small tear in your dress/realized you had BO? To ensure our guests are comfortable and well off during the reception, I created bathroom baskets! These are similar to the ones found in bathrooms at restaurants and high end bars. They are decked out with just about any and everything a person could need during the reception. Here's what the pool table looked like after I returned from the store.

For the women; breathmints (orange and mint flavors), gum (orange and mint flavors to compliment the breahtmints), sewing kit, spray deodorant, bandaids, Tylenol, Excedrin, clear nail polish (for runs in pantyhouse), pink Q-tips, strawberry hand sanitizer, travel tissues, emory boards, mini lint rollers, barettes, brush and comb, panty liners, hairspray, bobby pins and warm apple pie throat drops.

For the men; breathmints (orange and mint flavors), gum (orange and mint flavors to compliment the breathmints), sewing kit, spray deodorant (boy smelling), bandaids, Tylenol, Excedrin, blue Q-tips, frangrant free hand sanitizer, travel tissues, shoe shine kit, mini lint rollers and wild cherry throat drops.

I printed a small sign for the front of each one that says "Just in case you forgot something..." and used ivory ribbon to complete the look. This was another quick and easy DIY project and I know people will really appreciate the time we took to consider their needs.

Cheers!

As noted before in some of my inspiration pictures, I loved the idea of having custom drink tags to place on the champagne glasses at each place setting. I purchased a circle punch from Michaels and started putting it to good use! I printed our monogram and a small quote on each one then simply punched them out and cut a small slit. They sit on the side of each glass and it designates that the glass at their table is for toasting. This was a really easy project and another little detail that helps bring the whole look together. :)

Shutterfly

I found a great deal online with Vistaprint for business cards. So after scouring the internet I found a great idea that I just had to replicate. :) Many of our guests love taking pictures and instead of having our wedding photos all over the place, we figured we'd give people one place to upload their personal photos to share with everyone else. We created a Shutterfly account for this very reason. Plus it was an easy DIY project to get out of the way!

Our shutterfly account: http://curtisandfrances.shutterfly.com

Saving the Date

Our save the dates have been signed, sealed and delivered! I'm very proud of how they turned out and spent around 2 months putting them all together. Everything about them is custom and handmade. I Gocco'd the actual text, created and lined each envelope with thick, gold wrapping paper, embossed our address on the back flap, stamped a quote on the back and even DIY'd the calligraphy. And to top it all off, I ordered beautiful ring stamps that matched the coloring of the envelopes. Here are a few pictures I took of the entire package.

Now that I have the hang of my Gocco and I know exactly how I want the invitation suite to look, I'm thinking it will take me roughly 3 months to get everything completed and out the door. I already have a template for the envelope liners, learned how to use my Gocco to create what I want and I've started designing the layout in photoshop. Those will be going out the first week in August. I hope you all enjoy the Save the Dates until then! :)

Wedding Website is in Full Swing!

The wedding website has been up for a while now but it's officially live to all guests! It includes all details an out of town guest may need to make proper arrangements for the wedding plus some fun extra stuff too! We have a link to the slideshow our church has on it's website showing the progress of our new sanctuary, a listing of all restaurants near our reception venue for those staying downtown, a place where guests can RSVP now if they'd like, a place where guests can request song choices, and even our full engagement story from my side and Curtis'! I'm very happy with the way it turned out and hope you all enjoy it!

www.wedding.gulicks.com

DIY Projects

Most people hire someone else to do the amount of work I plan on doing in just the short 7 months we have until the wedding but in an effort to keep our budget in check, and truthfully, moreso because I am what one may call a *ahem* control freak, I am doing them all myself. :)
Here is the list of all of the DIY projects that I'm doing, come hell or high water.

-make signage for dessert bar
-make drink tags for toasting champagne and cocktail hour
-make WE DO letters for cake table or guest book table
-make Unity candle
-bathroom baskets
-make food trays
-create invitations
-create full playlist
-make programs
-order guestbook (already created!)
-finish Out of Town bags
-make basket for "dancing shoes"
-make church door monogram
-make menu cards
-made signage for food stations, table names
-make alcohol drink list
-make escort cards
-rehearsal dinner invites
-make door hangers for out of town guests
-make petal cones
-make elevator cling


Crazy? Yes. Will it all be done before it needs to be? Absolutely. Will I probably double this list? Yep. But it's all completely worth it! This weekend I'm making the drink tags, designing menus and starting on the drink list. Here are some photos I'm using as inspiration for some of the items listed above.














I can't wait to start knocking some of the projects off of the to-do list! All of them take a little time and elbow grease but I think it'll help take the wedding from great to out of this world! Everywhere you look, there will be some small detail that I've dreamt up into a crazy wedding detail. :) And for those of you reading this, I hope you take note in that little detail. If one person notices it then it's worth it and I'll be happy knowing I gave it my all.