Find Your Table

I'm on a wedding roll! I've started to print Escort Cards for those of our guests who have RSVP'd. (*ahem, gentle reminder if anyone hasn't RSVP'd that the deadline is in 3 days) I wanted to keep this classy and elegant so I printed the names on the front of the card in a gorgeous font and the inside will feature the table name they're located at. Our table names are some of the countries Curtis and I have been to together and the signage will be a picture of us in that country! I thought it was a good way to continue the subtle travel theme we have going on. :) Here are a few pictures of my parent's card:






And here is how I'd like to have it setup!



I love the rose petals and candles scattered between the cards and I'll have a large arrangement in the center of the table. This will be in the foyer of the venue as guests get off of the elevator. Since our guestbook and time capsule will be in the main ballroom, and this is the only thing in the reception foyer, I'm hoping crowding won't be an issue. I'm also going to have it set up as a round display where the cards are coming out from the middle of the table instead of having them all facing forward like in this photo. And of course it will be alphabetized by last name of the guest invited or married couple's formal name (mr. & mrs. curtis gulick).

I love the way these are turning out! And knowing I have most of them done already really makes me feel better about the entire wedding planning process. 27 days!!! :D

Signature Cocktails

Even though we're having an open bar, I love the idea of having Signature Cocktails. So we are! I've selected 4 cocktails from each country we're featuring and they are delicious! The cocktails featured are:

Beijing Bellini- Dry Prosecco, Lychee Liquor (a sweet candy-tasting liquor)

Classic Italian Bellini- Italian Prosecco, Peach Puree

Mediterranean Sunset- Greek Ouza, Orange Juice, Grenadine

Rum Punch- Light Rum, Pineapple Juice, Orange Juice, Banana Juice, Lime Juice, Grenadine

The menu: I printed 4 of them and then backed it with metallic gold paper for a little pizazz. :)

I find that people generally enjoy having some sort of pre-set option at an open bar plus it makes it fun to try various drinks from around the world! :) All of the non-alcoholic parts of the drinks will be pre-mixed so I know they'll be mixed properly (I am SUCH a control freak, I'm aware) and then the bartenders will simply mix the alcohol with the pre-made mixes.

In addition to the alcohol, we'll also have the standard Coke and Diet Coke, Dr. Pepper and Diet Dr. Pepper, Sprite, Water, Iced Tea, Coffee and non-alcoholic Champagne. (sparkling grape juice) I hope everyone enjoys cocktail hour and the reception! :) And maybe give a few people some liquid courage to hit the dance floor, haha! :D

Time in a Bottle

29 days away!!! I cannot believe I'm marrying my Prince Charming in 29 days! :) Ok, back to the subject...

I recently read one of the sweetest guest book ideas I've ever heard on none other than Weddingbee. The bride and groom write love notes to each other the morning of the wedding, their parents write notes to each of them as well and during the ceremony, all are placed in a box with a bottle of everyone's favorite wine, a gift from the families. Then on the 10th anniversary of the couple, they open the box, enjoy the wine and relive the feelings they felt on wedding day! Lots of 'bees are doing this now instead of a guestbook and since we already have a guestbook (thank you Ma!) and a Unity candle, I thought this was still be something special and sweet to have out at the reception.



I already made a sign that will go on the guestbook table explaining what to do. Guests will first sign our guestbook then move on to the capsule. Using small pieces of paper provided, they will write either their favorite memory of us, a small piece of advice or something they think we should do/where we'll be then place it in an envelope already labeled with a year. Guests may choose if we are to open it on our 1-5th anniversaries, 10th, 15th, 20th, 30th, 40th or 50th. Then, each anniversary of the year on the envelope, Curtis and I will open the box and read the lovely words from our guests to take us back to our wedding day. (getting teary-eyed thinking about this) What a wonderful way to really bring back those feelings the day of the wedding!



I don't have any pictures yet because the house is slowly becoming chaotic, haha! The wedding room has now been gently dismantled and the front room consists of a "ceremony" side and a "reception" side so I can feel that much more on top of the organizational process. I will post pics though as soon as I have them! :) All I need is a pretty box/chest, cut some paper, label a few envelopes and print the sign to frame. Viola! A simple project that I know will lead to years of happiness of reliving this special time.

"Please Mr. Postman, look and see. Is there a letter in the bag for me?"

Yep, just quoted the Marvelettes. And for good reason, because our invitations are MARVELOUS!!! And they've been dropped off at the post office. I had to do this rather quickly after receiving them because if not, I'd just sit and stare at them all day long. After 4 nights of assembly and figuring out who gets what and matching belly bands to envelopes, I can say that I still love them as much as I did when I first saw them. And that's very unusual for me! They are so classic, so elegant, so Park Avenue that I pinch myself thinking that they're ours. I'm working on setting up a photo shoot with the full suite sometime soon (in ALL this free time I have...not) so until then, I simply have PDF files and giddy photos I took of them on the pool table. (which has finally served a purpose in the last 18 months!)

Our beautiful envelopes with stamp and all!

Example of an exploding guest list

They're not orange, it was 1am.


The full suite in a more normal color!



They're not the greatest of photos showing them off so here is the actual design not printed to see the up close gorgeousness! :)


Invite & reception card

Back of the reception card

RSVP Card

Personalized Belly Bands!


And if that wasn't enough to make anyone swoon, the invite and RSVP card are backed with a beautiful stardream chocolate brown paper! :) I LOVE LOVE LOVE these!! The way the calligrapher carries through to the invite, the return envelope (not pictured) and the way she wrote out RSVP just makes me so happy! Caroline & Charlotte with The Blue Ink have completely blown me away. They're doing our programs and menus too so now I'm excited to see what those look like also! And Abbey with Chips & Salsa will forever have a special place in my heart.

Be on the lookout, it's in the mail and on it's way!!!!

Here comes the Bride....

On a bed of rose petals!! As you may have remembered from a few different posts now, I planned on having rose petals lining each side of the aisle for our ceremony. Then, because I can't stop looking at WeddingBee.com and StyleMePretty.com, I saw yet another detail that I'd love to have! Why walk down a boring aisle with rose petals on either side when you can walk down an aisle that looks like this:





How gorgeous is that?! I saw it and immediately my brain went into full "how can I make this happen" mode. Our Sanctuary has a raked floor so as people walk in, they'll be able to see the full design a little bit better, which I love. I think this is such a classy and unique way to add a high impact visual aspect to the ceremony. Yes, they will be scattered everywhere as I walk down the aisle but still, I can only imagine the beautiful photos our photographer will capture from the balcony of this.

What design should I use? You guys should know me by now! :) Our invitations have a beautiful flourish that is subtly shown behind the text of our Reception card. Not that anyone will remotely recognize the flourish, but to tie in our programs, invites and our ceremony, I'm thinking that design would be perfect! So it would look a little bit like this:



But not as ornate, turned sideways and spread along the aisle. (I can see our coordinator cursing at her screen right now reading this, lol) To make this seamless and easy though, I'm going to create the entire pattern in paper and lay it out on the church aisle sometime between now and the wedding for size. It will also give me an idea of how cool it will look from above. Then, on wedding day, the pattern is laid out, petals are put on top of it and then the pattern is removed from underneath. It sounds simple and if there's anyway to simplify it even more, I will! If only this came pre-assembled! (and the bride wheels are turning again)

So, friends and family, have I lost it yet? :)

Official Wedding Shoes!!!

I know I have posted about shoes before but alas, the Christian Louboutin beauties I blogged about earlier were simply not attainable. After reading many reviews online, I'm pretty sure that I'd be out a couple hundred bucks and barefoot at our wedding waiting on a shoe that would never arrive. :) So I began a long search for the perfect shoe. 5 purchases (and 5 returns) from DSW later, I ventured on to Zappos.com and found it. Not just any shoe; the Carrie Bradshaw "A Woman's Right to Shoes" SATC episode shoe. The shoe that people have swooned over for years now. And there it was, staring back at me on my computer screen. It's not a knock off of the Manolos in the sense that they're posing as Manolos but they're identical. And beautiful. And they make me so very happy and do a little happy dance around the living room. I finally feel excited about my shoes! :)

And my little bridal secret for the shoes :)

I would have purchased the identical silver ones that Carrie struts around in but the white ones came in my size and are just too perfect. I'm so in love and beyond ecstatic that I'm wearing a little piece of Sex and the City as I walk down the aisle. :)

Petal Cones

This past weekend I made petal cones! These were so easy to make and only took about an hour and a half from start to finish. Another DIY success checked off the list!

First, I found a template on Weddingbee that another wonderful blogger posted about. Very easy! I added our monogram to it and printed.

The part that took the most amount of time was cutting each one out. I made 60 to be safe so cutting out 60 cones took about an hour. Nothing 2 episodes of Say Yes to the Dress couldn't get me through. :)

Before they were folded and after cutting

Then I shaped each one into a cone and voila! A petal cone!



These will be filled with rose petals for guests to toss at us as we're leaving the reception. And the basket I was going to use for flip flops (that idea was scrapped) has a purpose again!