Crinoline Dying

My dress doesn't need a crinoline skirt, so this does not pertain to me...
But this is something unique and fun that some brides are doing.  They are dying their crinoline skirts that go underneath their dress.  It's not visible from the outside, but if they lifted up their dress a little, the color would peek out.  I just thought it was something cute...  here are some pics that show what I'm talking about.
This won't happen with me, but I like the idea...

Black Friday Shopping

Well we really didn't partake in any of the pre-dawn shopping craziness this year (last year we went to Old Navy at 3am for some reason).  This year we just drove by solely to observe the Loonies.  

Here is a pic that we took on our way home from Thanksgiving dinner... it's of the folks camping out at our local Best Buy:

.  There were like 40 tents set up... and the store wasn't opening for another 7 hours!

We did end up venturing out in the afternoon on a hunt for a Christmas Tree sale.  We found an awesome 7 1/2 ft tree that was an amazing deal though!  Score!  We put it up that evening and it looks great!

We're really stoked about our Cyber Monday deal we got for our Bridal Party gifts!  I can't post that on here in case any of the girls are checking this out... but it's such a cool gift and we're happy we were able to find it at an affordable price!  We're happy to be able to check that task off our list... but even more excited to give the gifts to our bridemaids and groomsmen!

Browsing Boutonnieres

My new obsession has been boutonnieres.  I don't even know if I spelled the word right, but I like them!  I think they add a little pizazz to the guys.  I'm trying to steer clear of the prom look and go for something elegant, sophisticated, and different.  Just browsing, but here are a few that caught my eye (some of these are not even close to our color scheme).   We'll probably go with something more traditional, but I thought these were crafty creations...

Engagement Pics

We got our engagement pictures back from the photographer. We were photographed at the Glenview Mansion in Rockville, MD in early November.  It was a gorgeous place... but a little cold and windy.  After seeing the pics Scott and I learned that we need to relax a bit more in front of the camera and angle ourselves a bit better as well.  We also have to learn how not to be so "cheesy" and do something rather than just look at the camera and smile! We got 80 pictures back, but out of those we really only have about 15 that are our favorites.  Here are a couple taken from the day:

I said "Yes To The Dress"

Well I told myself that November was going to be my dress month... and I made my goal...with a day to spare!  Today I said YES to my dress!   I absolutely LOVE it.  It's perfect for a June wedding!

I went to the bridal shop with my mother to browse earlier this month. I must have tried on 15 dresses or so.  There were some that I was able to walk out of the dressing room, then right back in because I knew it just wasn't THE dress...  but there were also a few in my "maybe yes" pile.  One particular dress really stood out to me, but I thought I'd sleep on it before making the decision.  Well I went back a few weeks later, and tried that one particular dress on again tonight and still LOVED it so the purchase was made!

I'm NOT going to post a picture of MY dress on here (big day viewing only!)... but here are a few of the dresses that DID NOT make the cut:

Bridesmaid Dresses Revisited

So the BM dresses that I was originally debating on ended up not working out... the dresses were just not the same in person as they seemed in the photos.  So I am back to square one on that planning.  
Below are my other top two choices.  They are both from Alfred Angelo.  I stopped by there to check them out and they look great.  I'll continue my search, but these are the top contenders so far.  Just imagine them in the color NAVY...

Kim's Wedding

My sister Kim got married on October 23rd.  She and Dave wanted something low key, simple, and stress free. They basically planned everything in less than 2 weeks... amazing!  There were 14 people in attendance (just immediate family) and the ceremony was held in the gardens at the Gramercy Mansion in Maryland.  It was a gorgeous fall day and a very lighthearted afternoon.  Afterwards we all went to a restaurant and had a nice dinner.   In early spring, Kim and Dave will be taking a 2 week honeymoon around Italy!

Bridal party attire

So my goal by the end of November is to finalize what my beautiful bridesmaids and handsome groomsmen will be wearing..... oh and I need to start my dress shopping too.
Below are some contenders for bridesmaid dresses. These were great suggestions from my girlfriends:

We're going for a navy color and a v-neck style.  We figure that would be flattering on all body types.  These dresses were found on JCrew and Nordstrom sites so there wouldnt be a question on quality.  My girlfriends are smoking hot, so I know whichever we choose together they will look fabulous in them!

As for the guys... I'd like to go with a grey tux with navy vest/tie... but I'm not sure how that would look.  Another option would be a navy tux...

 As for my dress... I've been procrastinating.  I hate shopping, so I think that's the reason why I've been putting it off so much.  Back in August I was like "this will be the month that I start looking"... then that came and went and I said "September will be the dress shopping month"... well now here we are at the end of October and I still have yet to start the hunt.
November is THE month.  No if ands or buts.

Cake Toppers

I'm not even sure what my cake would even look like yet... but I adore these little cake topper figures:




the colors/styles (for hair, eyes, flowers, clothing) are customizable too.  I think they are awesome!

Invites

We're way ahead of the game on this one... While browsing around a store we saw these "print at home" invite kits and immediately we were sold.  They are simple, classic, and just what I was looking for.

What the invite would look like closed (rush job with a piece of ribbon I just had lying around):

Opening the invite:

Here's an example that was inside the box so you see what it would look like printed:

And boy do I love ebay... after I came home with the box of invites I hopped online to see if I would be able to find the invitation kit cheaper.... and I did! I was able to find them for less than half the price I paid at the retail store! So I ended up buying (3) boxes of the invites from ebay and returned my original purchase to the store.

The printing of the inserts, ribbon tying, and addressing won't start until February/March-ish though.  Just glad I got this decision out of the way!

Guest Book

Just browsing around some sites and thought these were cute ideas for guest books. 

When I think of traditional guest books, I wonder what people do with them after the wedding is over? At most of the weddings I've been to, it seems like the guests just sign there name rather than write a message.  I personally don't want 2 pages of a book filled with signatures... but do want to have some kind of memory/record of all those people that traveled near and far to come celebrate the wedding day.  In comes Guest Book Trees.  I think it's a creative and unique approach to the guest book and something that I would love to hang up on my wall afterwards.

Fingerprint Tree. 

Folks would place their fingerprint along the branches and sign their name underneath.  With about 100 fingerprints it would look like a full spring/summer tree.  Of course there would have to be wet naps for people to clean their fingertip afterwards.

  Leaf Tree.

This is another example that would not have to deal with ink pads.  In this case people would put their name inside the leaf:

Just brainstorming...