Hello Lover....

For as long as I can remember, I vowed that I would marry in pair of truly, utterly ridiculous, over the top shoes. Designers I would lust after included Manolo Blahnik, Jimmy Choo, etc. The one that I always defaulted to though for truly classic, yet gorgeous, shoes was Christian Louboutin. The details, the handmade designs, the unique shapes, that oh-so-recognizable red sole, you get the idea. Something about a Louboutin just screams class. I had made a decision that my very first bonus check, after paying off my debt, would go towards a pair of these incredible beauties. Every woman, after all, needs one pair of truly amazing shoes in her closet to wear to that last minute black tie event (because we have so many you know, haha), a high end wedding or that week in Paris for your anniversary. :)
You all know how much of a slight fanatic I am of Sex and the City. I nearly passed out yesterday when I happened to notice the new trailer for the new movie came out and promptly watched it 5 times over. The clothes, the locations, the jokes and most of all, the shoes. It made me lust that much more for my dream shoes but I stayed on the "do not even look" track. But I digress...
As life continued, my goal was starting to work out nicely. I'd have 2 bonuses not allocated towards wedding expenses at all and I'd be out of debt. This is where God decided life was going a little too well. After going through a rough patch, my dream of my Loubs disappeared. And as life decided to kick me in the butt, I gave up. It's just not possible, nor remotely feasible, to drop over $800 on a pair...of...shoes. I realize how ridiculous it is for anyone to spend that kind of money on shoes but when it's the only indulgent thing you own in your closet, there's something that just makes you happy to look at them every morning.
So coming to terms with what will be DSW shoes (nothing wrong with it! I've been sporting an array of $4-$15 shoes from Charlotte Russe for quite some time so DSW is a nice change) for my wedding, I stopped looking. Then, yesterday, Caroline decided to show me the shoes she wanted to wear for the wedding. The link took me to a pair of Loubs. Did she secretly become a lawyer last year just didn't tell me and saved up for these? I was so confused! Then I clicked on the link...and angels sang!
There, staring at me on my computer screen, were over 50 pairs of Loubs, ALL UNDER OR RIGHT AT $200. Yes, still ridiculous, but $167 for a pair of shoes that last year were selling out for $1,200?!?! I mean, there are shoes that some people wear for "comfort" that cost $167. (flashback to Christmas shopping with mom...) Some of the beauties on the site include....



For those who would like a small prison for their feet. :)





A little animal print for those who like animal prints.



Easily the most fun pair of shoes EVER! I love these!



Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore. We're in a magical place that has fabulous shoes!



Yes, these are so Sex and the City that they became the hottest selling pair of Loubs 4 years ago and you can just now find them.


And now for the classics. Clean lines, great build, and a red sole.



(this tiny peep toe makes me smile)



And this shoe just screams wedding to me. I picture our photographer going nuts during our coupley, "Just Married shots" with a hint of red peeking out. I image myself wearing these 10 years from now when Curtis and I are perusing some gorgeous vineyard in the Champagne region of France or for dinner on our anniversary while we're overlooking the Sydney Opera House. It's the shoe that makes me smile because I can think of our wedding day just by looking at them and know it was fabulous and I'm the luckiest girl in the world. :)

So, a BIG thanks to Caroline for possibly making my Loubitan dreams come true again! I have NO idea if this is something I can even get but with free shipping and no sales tax, it's most definitely a more "attainable" goal.

Curtis still thinks I should paint the bottom of a pair of $20 shoes red but something tells me that's not quite the same, lol.

Another DIY Project Idea!!!

I saw this for sale on Weddingbee.com and of course, HAVE to have it! :) They're tissue holders that say "For your tears of joy..." Very simple to make and I'm only going to make 50 or so but they'll have our monogram and will be in our wedding colors. They're so perfect for our formal wedding ceremony and with a family of waterworks (mom cries at all things wedding, haha) I know they'll come in handy. It's something small and super easy to make but again, one of those small details that help make this wedding personal and just awesome. :) Added to the to-do list!

Bridal Portraits

About 6 months ago I got an email from a vendor I met at a bridal show. Shocker, I know. This one, however, was holding a contest for brides to enter for free bridal portraits. She had a venue that doesn't have any wedding photos to show brides and wanted some test brides to do a test shoot at. After sending her a picture of my oh so beautiful dress and a headshot (what, you don't have one of those on handy at all times???) she selected me as one of the two brides to shoot!

After going back and forth for a long time, we finally settled on a date. May 5th at 8am at the beautiful Garrett Creek Ranch in Paradise, TX. Here's why I freaked out. 1) I just got my dress a few weeks ago and haven't even tried it on yet. It needs hemmed but luckily, that's it. 2) Hair and makeup. I haven't selected this vendor yet. 3) Makeup I can do before 8am (in an effort to save costs) 4) A hair stylist willing to do my hair at 5:30 am 5) The fact that I have to be awake at 5:30am 6) No shoes, jewelry or bouquet picked out or purchased.

After a mini panic attack I realized how fortunate I am to have these done for free and settled down a bit. The average bridal session with our wedding photographer is over $350 so this was a nice surprise! I am currently scouring websites looking for hair inspiration and makeup looks. I am having a mild dilemma though. Do I try and find my wedding day 'do now and try to recreate it for portrait so it's more traditional? OR Do I let loose and have fun with this since it's not something I originally planned to do?

I think I am going to blend both by having fun shoes and props but keep the overall look about the same. Here are some hair and makeup inspiration photos!





I love the loose curl look but I think I may end up with something like the last picture. It feels more formal to me. And here are some makeup inspiration photos!

All of these ladies are beautiful even when they're not made up but I love how their makeup accents their best features, looks "bridal" and yet, still has a dramatic look to them.

So now that I have some looks pulled to show the hair stylist, I feel a little better now. And I even found someone to do my hair that early in the morning without charging me 3 months salary to do so. So now I just have to find jewelry, shoes, get my dress hemmed and make a bouquet between now and then. The bouquet will be nice practice since I plan on making my own on wedding day as well.

Time is flying by it seems at this point and I can't believe I'm already planning my bridal portraits!!!

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