beyond the aisle

Friday, April 22

Dress News

I love my dress shop, but my consultant's many talents do not include leaving good phone messages. While I was at a reading conference, she left a rambling message on my voicemail asking if I had any other bridesmaids I hadn't told her about- I guess some bridezilla didn't tell the shop about an extra girl once and raised hell when they didn't order her a dress? This Wednesday, she left a voicemail that just said, "This is -- from --, please give us a call."

I immediately thought, "Oooh, maybe my dress is in!" but when I told my mom, she pointed out that if that was the case the message could've just said, "This is -- from --, your dress is in!" So my mind went to worst-case-scenario place, in which my consultant was calling to tell me that the dress factory had burned down or something. When I called back, she couldn't remember why she'd called me. Girlfriend sounded stressed out to the max. "Let me look at your card... Heather... we ordered your bridesmaids' dresses... you know your dress is here, right?" No, no I do not. "Oh! Well, if you'd like to come try it on, come on over, and we'll make an appointment for your alterations- but don't come tomorrow because we have four brides coming in and it's going to be ridiculous."

My mom and I made plans to go on Saturday for a try-on. I don't actually have my shoes yet, but plan on purchasing a pair while we're there (remind me to post about my EPIC SHOE FAIL) and we're going to bring a tape measure because we don't actually remember what the back of the dress looks like, and need to know where it hits so I can find undergarments and a veil that doesn't hide the details!

Thursday, April 21

Not My Wedding: Light Colored Suits

While Mr. Spin has settled on a black, pinstriped tux which I think will look smashing and totally hot on him, I still like the look of men in light-colored suits. I apologize that most of these pictures were saved LONG ago so I don't have the exact URLs. But aren't these dudes (and their brides) lookin' fabulous?

The Knot

Stone Blue Productions

The Bride's Cafe

Sunday, April 17

Sunday Simplicity #14

Sun-Dance Photography

Saturday, April 16

Guestbook Options

There are so many options for couples who want to give guests the opportunity to leave wishes for them on the big day!

1. Photo mat or gallery wrap- I've seen several of these at real weddings. My friend K had her photographer print one of their engagement pictures onto a canvas gallery wrap for everyone to sign with a metallic pen. I like the more traditional version, the signing mat, because it can be used to display a wedding-day photo in the home later on. This one from Exclusively Weddings has lots of signing space and you can get an engraved plaque to attach to the frame. It's elegant, yet still more unique than a traditional guestbook.

2. Wish box/vase

But what if the guests want to leave more than just their signatures? I got really excited when I saw a Weddingbee post about the Anniversary Box and began thinking about ways to incorporate something similar into our wedding.

I like this monogrammed vase from Invitations by Dawn; it's 28.95. The vase is 8 3/4" tall. This would be a nice way for guests to leave a wish, and the vase would look nice on display in the home.

Finally, I had a burst of inspiration! While searching for a card box, I kept coming back to the Antique Style birdcages at Save On Crafts, but I'd been questioning the value of the purchase because I didn't know what I would do with the smaller birdcage. Here's my plan: as shown in this picture, I'm going to use the larger cage as a card box, and use the same rubber stamps I'm using on our table numbers to decorate some "wish cards" for the smaller cage. I may paint the cages either black or ivory to match our other decor items...

I am looking forward to working on some DIY projects over spring break next week, and can't wait to share the process and the results with y'all. I am so appreciative of the community I've found via the wedding blogosphere, Weddingbee boards, and weddingplans community on Livejournal- it's so nice to be able to commiserate with ladies who are going through the joy and stress of wedding planning as well!

Thursday, April 14

DIY Flowers - Trial #2

The one thing holding me back from going all-in on a decision to DIY our wedding flowers was doubt about being able to make a bouquet and personal flowers, so I'd been considering having a florist do those and DIYing the centerpieces. of me just wasn't sure I'd want to *deal* with the flowers on the weekend of our wedding. It seemed like it would be a stressful hassle. Just to be sure, I bought ribbon, some bouquet pins, and flowers from local grocery stores that were as close to the actual flowers I want as possible. Here's what I came up with. Pretend that the hydrangeas are blue and the ribbon around the bouquet is an indigo purple.

I think my DIY practice bouquet looks pretty good! I also mocked up a boutonniere, but I think I need a little more practice in that department :)

Cost breakdown for this grocery store bouquet:

- 1 Dozen Vendela Roses - 8.99 at Fresh Market

- Purple Statice - 3.99 at Fresh Market

- 6 stems baby hydrangea - 12.00 at Kroger

Let's see... a healthy-looking made-with-love bouquet for about $25, or a professional bouquet for $150. I've decided- I am going to DIY all of our wedding flowers with help from friends and family!

Sunday, April 10

Sunday Simplicity #13

Elizabeth Anne Designs

Monday, April 4

cake table ideas, part II

This picture appeared on Style Me Pretty today and I think the combination of details that come together in this cake table designs is amazing. The ombre cake is just trendy enough to be special, I love the idea of candles on the cake table, and I like seeing the bride's bouquet and toasting glasses on display as the bride and groom cut the cake.

Please note: If you'd like to add any of the images from this post to your Pinterest boards, please click on the links below the images to pin from the source so that the creators get credit for their work! Thank you!

We know that we will be having more of a "dessert table" setup at our wedding, because we want to offer a variety of flavors. I am a chocoholic, so we will have some mini desserts, and Mr. Spin is super psyched about his banana pudding cups. The only dessert table we aren't sure about is the biggest one of all- the cake we will cut together! We have yet to meet with a cake baker, but it is on the to-do list for the month of April. Here are some of the pictures stored in my "cake table" inspiration folder.