Lingerie and Karaoke

Last night, my maid of honor - with the help of other family members - threw an incredible bachelorette lingerie and karaoke party for me.

I just want to send out a HUGE thanks to everyone who came and especially to those who helped make it happen!  I had such a wonderful time and it really made me feel special.

Plus, you know, I got to take home some very pretty and sexy pieces that will be well-appreciated.

In the other part of the very large house, Chris had a poker-bachelor party, and I think he had some fun, too.


Oh yeah and they made me dress up a little silly...but the photo would not be safe for work, so I won't post it.
BUT I will post this picture of me and my adorable niece just before I donned my bachelorette gear:

Thanks, everyone!!!!!

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice

What cures all ailments regarding DIY projects?

Ordering 80 pounds of candy!!

Last night, I ordered all the candy for the candy buffet (or at least I think I did) from Amazon.  I was planning to order from an online candy wholesaler, but it turns out that the shipping for that wholesaler would increase the overall price by 40%.  So, a $200 order would cost $280 to get to me.  Well, turns out that Amazon has some great candy deals that fall under the Free SuperSaver Shipping deal that they have (or are Amazon Prime eligible, if you have that- I have the one-year student trial :) ).

I got all the below for well under budget:

Albanese Beary Blue Raspberry Gummi Bears

Chocolate Toffee Almonds

Airheads White Mystery

Grapefruit Gummi Candy

(my 100% favorite that I fell in love with when working at the Sweet Factory)

Swedish Fish

Sour Patch Watermelon Slices

Peanut Butter Pretzel Poppers

Yogurt Pretzels

Tootsie Rolls

Candy Coated Malted Milk Balls

Cherry Sour Balls

Watermelon Jolly Ranchers

Albanese Lemon Gummi Bears

I think I ended up with a good grouping of chocolate, gummi, nut, sour, and flavors.  I also needed to consider the color situation since I want the candy, when all set up, to look good and cohesive and in line with my overall color scheme.

It was more difficult to determine the line-up than I thought it would be; all the considerations (color, flavor, price) made things somewhat challenging to balance well.

You know what, though?

I'm definitely excited to eat all the candy....you know, to taste test it...in case it's....poisoned.

DIY: Soap for Out of Towners

One part of the out of towner (OOT) bags that was 100% Chris' idea was to hand-make soaps for our guests.

So we did!

To start, we accumulated the following items:

1. Clear vegetable glycerine melt-and-pour soap base
2. Essential oils in various floral scents
3. Coloring
4. Heart mold

Following these directions, we made a couple of dozen soaps.

Then, when they were hardened, we put them in the same (unstamped) glassine bags that we're going to be using for the candy buffet.

After, I made a small tag (2" x 5") that Chris then printed on cardstock and cut.  I folded the bags over and stapled the tags to the front of the bags.

Here are the tags that I made:

The Result:

They turned out to be pretty cute, if I do say so myself!

It doesn't hurt that Chris was very proud of his idea. :)

Final Floral Consult

On Monday, I met with my awesome florist - who also happens to be a family friend - to go over the floral plan for the wedding.

Wow.

I had no idea how many decisions that would involve me making! Not just the style of my own bouquet, but also the numbers of everything else, styles of the bouquets for others, floral arrangements on tables (and just figuring out how many tables would need flowers was crazy!), boutonneires, and anywhere else that flowers can go.  Then deciding on colors and types of flowers I like...and I know absolutely nothing about flowers.

It was fun, but also challenging because I don't know anything about flowers - which are which, when they're in season, what looks good together, cost, etc. - but also because I don't think I have that many strong opinions on flowers.  I did learn, though, that I have more opinions on them that I would have guessed.

I mean, I like flowers.  I think they're pretty.  I like the way they smell.  I have a couple fave-ish, and a couple hate-ish and that's about where it ends.


Regardless, I know that these flowers are definitely going to add a lot to the overall look of the wedding...and I now know that I looooove the smell of tuberose. :)

It's also really, really nice to know that I can trust my florist and I don't even have to worry about it because I know it's going to be gorgeous.

Bridesmaids Dresses: They've Arrived!!

I posted previously about the selection of the bridesmaids dresses, and the vendor I had chosen.

Well, recently, the box arrived from my Etsy vendor: localovespirate, and I thought that she packed them so adorably that I had to take photos.

She put a personal, hand-written note in with the packaging.

Each dress was wrapped with a ribbon and a matching silk flower attached to a clip (which the girls may or may not use).  They also each had attached a business card and some other marketing.

They also came with a photo-list of possible ways to wear the dress (though there are about a bazillion ways these dresses can be worn), which I thought was nice.

I've distributed the dresses to the girls who currently live in the U.S. (sorry Cat!) and got to play around with trying different styles with two of them.  I'm really excited about them, although we did run into two....I don't want to say issues, but that's the only word coming to mind-----oh! considerations!  We ran into two considerations: (1) bras: we definitely need to find styles for these girls that allow them to wear a bra with the dress since my BM's are not flat-chested, and (2) fabric cling: these dresses - in this fabric, anyhow - require that the wearer have a slip or Spanx or similar unless they want every crook, cranny, dip, and bulge evident.

Other than that, though, which should be easily remedied, I can't wait to see them all dressed and prepped and styled on the day.

Yay for my BMs!!!

Shoes: Updated

With the help of my dear friend and bridesmaid, Jessica, we went through all the shoe options I posted before and we made a decision.

On my wedding day, I will be wearing these:

We agreed, however, that the black and silver pouf has to go and that I will replace it with something else.
So I shopped on Etsy for shoe clips that might fit the bill.  Because I'm me, though, I have no idea which one I want.......help!

1. Blue Satin with Pearls

2. Lace and Chiffon with Pearls

3. Blue Chiffon with Beads

4. Wrinkled Turquoise Satin

5. Ivory and Aqua with Beads

6. White Chiffon

7. Crystal and Pearl Flower

9. Satin Bows with Crystal Center

They're all around the same price, and I'm sure that all the vendors would make adjustments to customize for me.

So I have no idea which pair I want.

This is the fun kind of dilemma.  Who wants to help me with it?

Shoes!

Last week, with my best friend - you know, the one who's getting married five weeks after we are! - I went shoe shopping...online.  We spent a good two hours perusing Zappos.com and trying to find the right shoes for each of us to wear at our weddings.
And now I have a little problem.
In the form of about $1000 worth of shoe options sitting in my living.  Blame it on realizing that endless.com ALSO has free shipping, free return shipping, and a 365-day return policy.
Please note that these are "options".  I have approximately 12 pairs of shoes, and I plan to keep 2 pairs (one for the rehearsal dinner and another for the wedding itself).  Four pairs have already been determined as "no-go"s, but I have neglected to send them back yet.
Among the remaining contenders are the following shoes:

These are all the wedding shoe options that I'm still considering.

And even though it may seem like overkill, it's been pretty difficult to find shoes that:

(1) I will wear again

(2) Are under $100

(3) Have a medium-high heel

(4) In which I can walk on gravel and grass

(5) I can wear for a few hours in reasonable comfort

(6) In which I can dance, at least a little

and

(7) Are pretty

Honestly, it's most likely that no one will see my shoes -- unless I decide to hem my dress more.

Such agonizing decisions......