DIY Silk Boutonnieres

While visiting my parents' house this Christmas, I got to spend some quality time with my preferred craft store, A.C. Moore. I wanted to finish table runners for guest tables since my mom has a sewing machine, but stupid me, I forgot the color swatch. So I decided to focus on the boutonnieres.

I hadn't yet figured out what to do with boutonnieres, seeing as I also hadn't figured out what to do with the bouquets, so I wandered around the store.

Lo and behold, I found a bunch of white silk roses that don't look too fake.

A couple of hours and some sore fingers later, here's what I came up with.

Groomsmen Boutonnieres:


Dude's Boutonniere, a slight variation from the other men:




A view into my workarea:




Materials Used:
- white silk flowers
- floral tape
- burgundy filler flowers
- wine colored ribbon
- wire cutter or very strong scissors

I didn't really follow a pattern or directions but I did my research here on eHow. I have some leftover material so I'll be making wrist corsages out of these, and maybe even a tiny bouquet for my flower girl.

The Millionth Reason I Love Dude

We are sitting in Dude's parents' living room, and he is using my computer. I eventually get the computer back, and he made some changes to my Google Docs.

Where I used to have my ultra favorite super duper folder in the world for my SPECIAL DAAAAAY, named "stupid wedding crap," there now was a nice little folder named "awesome wedding stuff."

MonkeyGirl is Married!

We've been away at New Orleans for MonkeyGirl's wedding. It was amazing, and a preview of what to expect when my family descends upon New York City.

Invitations

The invitations are done! And just in time.

I thought it was going to take much longer to finish, but Stampin Rachel introduced me to my secret weapon:



What was I thinking trying to do this with glue sticks?!

Happy Human Rights Day!

Today is the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Let's take a minute to look at how much we have accomplished, but also realize that there is still much left to do. Human rights are only a given for a privileged minority*.

Let us celebrate, but also let us keep working.


*if you are reading this and have a roof over your head, food on your table, and the right to express yourself without fear of getting arrested, you are a member of this minority!

The Best Friends in the World

Our friends have really overwhelmed us (in a really good way) this week.

First, after hearing of our honeymoon plans, two couples who have recently vacationed in Croatia scheduled a dinner for all us to gather with takeout, travel books, and photos to help us plan our itinerary.

Then soon after, my friend Stampin Rachel invited over a few of the ladies for a craft day, where we mooched off her abundant supplies and I made the backgrounds for the day after brunch invitations.



Cute huh?

I didn't want to use up all her silver ink so half the invites have two hearts instead of the stamp shown above.

Finally, my maid of honor just emailed me today with the dates for my bridal shower and bachelorette party!

I think now, it's really becoming real. We have the best. friends. ever.

More Crazy Questions: Following the Recessional

Problem: Our wedding is during off peak season (read: cold, with the risk of rain or snow). That in and of itself is not the problem. The problem is that there is a one hour lag between when the ceremony ends and when the reception begins. Dude and I want to exit via the recessional, sign our marriage license, take some pictures, then exit the chapel with birdseed tossed at us. However, at every wedding I've been to, the recessional seems to signal to everybody that it is also time to exit the chapel/church, and I don't want people lingering around outside in possibly inclement weather. I'd like them to stay in the chapel as long as possible until it's time to go outside and head for the reception.

Question: How to communicate as such to the attendees? Some wording on the program perhaps? Something along the lines of, "Following the ceremony, please remain in the chapel until the Bride and Groom Exit"? Or have our officiant say something after we exit?

Note: We are NOT HAVING A RECEIVING LINE. Not even an option.

So Excited

Who can think about wedding when this is what awaits us in Croatia?





Images of Plitvice Lakes National Park.

A Step in the Right Direction

While I delegated the honeymoon to Dude, he was considerate enough to know that I would at least like to be involved in the process, since I'm so darn picky about my travel. We've dragged our feet long enough about this whole business, so this evening we decided to bite the bullet and just book flights. We'd figure out the itinerary later, and it would give us flexibility to either stay at a certain place longer or leave if it's too dull.

So we did it! A flight into Rome, a flight out of Dubrovnik to London 12 days later, then London to home 3 days after that. Everything in the middle is up for grabs, including how to get from Rome to Dubrovnik.

Success!

On Our Registry, Part 1

Since I've been so eager to criticize registry items, I thought it only fair that I share what we DID put on our registry. So I'm starting the positive spin on the registry items, in the order that they are received.

The registry in general was difficult for us, since we already had everything we really needed. We almost didn't register, but then I realized something. While I was growing up, my parents never had nice kitchenware and dining sets, and I was always jealous of my friends because their families had such nice things. And then I realized that the reason people had such nice things was because they registered for them, and my parents, having married in the Philippines, weren't able to do that. So we decided to upgrade what we already had.

Over Thanksgiving we went to my parents' house and found our first set of registry gifts waiting for us.

We received a set of 450 thread count sateen sheets that feel like butter, and three sets of these:


{Waterford Marquis White Wine Set}

I love stemless wine glasses. Since we have been drinking wine out of my blue plastic glasses that I bought right after college, I was so happy to receive these. So pretty!