UWB Classmate Married: Katie

You know those people that you were friends with in High School or College that you've lost touch with? You don't talk anymore, but if you were to see them you'd say hi and genuinely smile. I was reading through my Google Reader today and stumbled across a recent wedding post by the wonderful Sarah Rhoads Photo. (Side note: I'm addicted to following photographers - they always catch such great wedding details and are so inspiring!) The bride was a fellow University of Washington - Bothell Business Administration major classmate, the beautiful Katie. We worked on several projects together in college - she's absolutely gorgeous, inside and out. Genuine, friendly, and intelligent.

If I didn't know this girl, I would swear this was a fashion shoot for some fabulous bridal fashion magazine feature. STUNNING.

Congratulations Katie & Dennis! The joy and love in your smiles...it's so heartwarming. You radiate pure happiness.


Photographer: Sarah Rhoads

Ceremony: Holy Names Academy

Reception: Broadmoor Country Club

Florist: Contemporary Floral

DJ: Brian Waltz

I love me SOMEECARDS... and so do you.

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Mama's gotta look fabulous too!

My mom and I have been emailing ideas back and forth for her wedding-day attire ever since last Sunday when we decided on the wedding dress. We spent some time today "out on the field" checking out some of the bridal boutiques that carry Mother of the Bride dresses. To be completely honest - not a huge fan of any of them. They just look so stuffy and they age my mama too much! She's a gorgeous woman, and a young one at that. She deserves to look stunning and I want her to feel amazing.

I'm really trying to avoid black at the wedding... I'll be wearing an ivory/antique white gown, the girls will be wearing chocolate brown dresses, and [at this point] I am leaning towards either dark brown suits or sandy colored suits for the men. I'm also trying to make sure that everything is venue/theme appropriate. It's not a "black tie" wedding, it's going to be very casual. I want people to feel like they can kick off their shoes and have a good time! It's hard finding a good balance with dresses...

Here are a few of the dresses we're currently liking:

This dress will compliment my wedding gown nicely - especially with the layered/tiered look...
I am in love with this dress, but I don't think I can convince my mama to wear this color. How gorgeous and soft is this dress?!?! She would look drop-dead-gorgeous...

I like the two-toned look of this dress...

Above Dresses: Nordstrom - "Mother of the Bride" section online

Above Dresses: Nordstrom - "Evening Gowns" section online

....and now I am daydreaming...My mother would look stunning in this Badgley Mischka Beaded Caftan. One shoulder! Green! I die. Gorgeous. Too bad it's almost $1,000.
Or how about this fabulous Carmen Marc Vavlo jeweled waist chiffon gown. I am melting as I write this....
This ABS by Allen Schwartz one-shoulder silk gown is quite stunning...
We have some time, but isn't it fun to look!?!? :)

Inspired - Beautiful Wedding

Remember the photo guestbook idea I posted here? 100 Layer Cake featured a wedding on Monday that made me smile. I love chalkboards. This is a new thing for me. (Trust: a "current obsession: chalkboards" post is in the works...) This needs to happen:
A chalkboard quote bubble!!! I die. How darling! I can see this being tons of fun, especially with our eclectic group of friends and family.

This couple is amazing. They created everything for their wedding on their own. All DIY. If I had the time, I would do this. She made her dress, veil, invites, decor, bridesmaid dresses...everything. How amazing is that? I am also loving the bunting flags lining the aisle.
Look at her cute 50's inspired tea-length dress. I'm melting - it's so adorable!!! I feel like this bride found my wedding planning binder and ran with it... Maybe we're long-lost sisters? They even did the moustaches!!!
I'll be making mine....per my previous post. I am just in love with the charm that surrounds this wedding. So much love. Check out the wedding here. Check out the bride's site here.

They made their cupcake stands. They MADE their cupcake stands!!! I am so doing this. The couple used beautiful candle sticks and platters...painted white. Just beautiful! SO INSPIRING!
You MUST check out 100 Layer Cake's, Lisa Welge's, and Sarah Maren's sites. Absolutely breathtaking. Click here to see the slideshow that Sarah Maren put together. It's worth a few minutes.

Bouquet Handle Treatments

Martha Stewart featured Bouquet Handle Treatments in today's wedding idea e-blast. I have been thinking about this lately...wanting to find one of my Grandma Arlene's old handkerchiefs to fasten around my bouquet. Here's what I was thinking:

Ahhhh....Martha. So pretty. So simple.

Inspired - Love......Finding Furniture.

Trevor and I have been doing lots of brainstorming for the wedding lately. I am loving it, because I love Trevor's ideas. When he gets excited about particular details, I smile. He's just wonderful. With that, Trevor and I have been brainstorming ideas for our e-session with the lovely Kristen Honeycutt....

Source: Final Download

"Do you want to go to a park?"

"No."
"We could do Pike Place and...or....other noteworthy Seattle Spots since we have so many friends and family from out of town..."
"Nah...then we'd have to deal with parking and people..."
"HEY!!! What about going to the Puyallup [Fair]. Those pictures would be fun!"
"NOOOO..."

(Side Note: Trevor worked the Walla Walla Onion Ring and Burger Stand at the Evergreen State Fair for a few years. He knew the carnies and worked with the carnies...and let's just be kind and say that he refuses to go on any fair/carnival rides. I, on the other hand, go on the rides and let my knowledge of the carnies and their behavior bump up the thrill-factor!)

"What about that walk we take Little Grace on?"
"What about Grace?" ::smiles::
"OHHHHHH!!!! I've got an awesome idea. So, I posted a series of pictures in my blog yesterday where a couple went out and found some old, funky, interesting, statement pieces of vintage furniture from Value Village or Craigslist. They put the furniture out in the middle of a field and took
pictures...it was awesome."
"Yeah - that sounds tight."

........and another decision was made. Or, at least, we have an idea to share with Kristen. I wonder what she'll think? We can make a picnic, sit outside, play with little grace...and arrange and re-arrange our funky furniture in the middle of a field. I am loving this furniture idea. Hmmm... I'm stoked because Trevor wants to hit up some of the local Value Villages to find a fun suit for a wedding that we're going to on Saturday. This means I can hunt for cake stands, funky jars, silver pieces for my succulents, Blue Ball Mason Jars, and funky retro furniture with fun lines. Current Inspiration:

Jeremy Lawson Photography

snippet & ink

Current finds:

Found: On Craigslist
Status: Available, setting up meeting.

Found: On Craigslist
Status: Pending

Found: On Craigslist
Status: Contemplating
(Too expensive, need to negotiate.)

*Imagine with a different shade...*
Found: On Craigslist
Status: Contemplating

Found: On Craigslist
Status: Contemplating

LIGHTBULB!!! I bet I could find some awesome stuff thrifting.....

Just so you know....

Earlier this summer, Kiss The Groom & Green Wedding Shoes both featured a two totally different weddings with the same fun photo guestbook idea.

THIS:

AND POSSIBLY EVEN THIS:


Is totally happening at our wedding... With some "alterations." We'd like to do a fun photo booth and post all of the pictures on a photo sharing website so guests have a fun picture for their memory collection. Click here to see my inspiration. I love this idea. I will change the design of the backdrop wall though. I'm thinking more antiqued white. White chair rail with white beaded wood underneath with a fun teal paint or vintage wallpaper. Then all of the frames will be "shabby-chic", painted white and distressed. Inside the frames, we would like to honor our families by showcasing black and white prints of wedding photos. So, I will be on the hunt for old family wedding photos...that should be a fun project! (Family - If you are reading this, please feel free to email me any family wedding photos! evamwacker@gmail.com!) The large frames will be ornate and painted white as well.

This is a great project for the h2b. (aka Hubby to Be.) We can spend a day on a weekend building, painting, and decorating! Well, I know that we can do the building and painting part together, not too sure if I can keep his attention for the decorating part. Unless, of course, if the decor theme was NASCAR, Seahawks, or golf oriented.

What kinds of projects are you and your significant other working on together?

I'm pooped. Coming tomorrow:

I am pooped. I thought I could slam out seven posts tonight...I really thought I could. But, my back aches and I still need to tidy up the apartment because they're doing "Unit by Unit Inspections" tomorrow. (Whatever that means...)

Coming tomorrow:

• Vintage Furniture Inspiration & Finds
• Photography Inspiration
• Daily Theme Announcement

Have a wonderful night, my lovelies!

Darling Seating Area

One thing that is really important to Trevor and I is to create little pods of seating areas at the wedding reception. We want to create an environment that is friendly to conversation. An open, inviting, party layout. Not too long ago I clipped a fabulous photo of a wine barrel and hay seating area out of some random wedding magazine. The event planner used halved wine barrels and put beveled edge clear glass to create a top. Next they put little mason jars on the table with small floral arrangements. Guests sat on bails of hay that had cushy padding on top with a huge piece of canvas affixed with a strip of leather.

It was simple, charming, inviting - and practically begging for a few people to sit down and chat over a glass of wine. Exactly what we're looking for. Maybe one of these days I'll scan the original inspiration photo...until then you'll have to close your eyes and imagine....

My Mom and I bought three wine barrels at McLendon Hardware over Memorial Day Weekend. They were on clearance - a total steal. (Around $20 a pop.) I figure we can use these babies as planters after the wedding. Since Memorial Day Weekend, I've been on the prowl for bevleed edge glass on Craigslist, but haven't been successful. Then I realized - IKEA probably has something I could use for this project. I found the perfect sized mirrors at IKEA for $19 each. I think that's a fair price.

The IKEA mirrors are gorgeous, but they look too shiny and new for the farm. I found a product called "Antique Mirror Patina Solution" online. This stuff is suppsed to simulate the look of tarnish and distress from an old, antique mirror on a new mirror. The process seems pretty darn complex, I sense this will be a day-long project with a girlfriend or two over a bottle of wine or 6-pack of Hef. This stuff seems a little spendy, so I am going to go to Home Depot to see if there's some other sort of chemical I can rub these babies down with that will help me achieve a similar affect.

There are a few different methods for antiquing the mirrors:

1. Pour: This is a very spotty look.
   
2. Spray: A more subtle, overall antiquing.
   
3. Wipe (my personal fave!): Looks just plain old, old. Perfection!
   

You can But look at how gorgeous this new mirror looks after the "Antique Mirror Patina Solution" wipe-treatment!!!


I plan on purchasing about 6-7 bails of hay to create seats. We'll create a full bench out of four bails for one side of the wine barrel tables (against the wall) and then we'll put three bails in front of the tables. Here's an idea of how the hay will look with padding, canvas, and leather ties.

W. Scott Chester Photography

Who knows? Our little seating area might just be a huge hit!

Are you adding any fun details to your wedding that are a little ouside the norm?

Fabulous Finds

Late last week I had an itch. I wanted to go thrifting so badly. Over the past year, I have been adding items to a thrifting list. We're paying for our wedding (with gifts of items/money here and there) all by ourselves. I am an extroverted, creative, crafty gal and the thought of challenging myself to plan a wedding ceremony and throw a fabulously designed reception on a tight budget was intriguing. So - back to what I was saying...Late last week I had an itch. I wanted to go thrifting so badly. I've been adding items to a thrifting list for quite some time and, gosh darn it, I was gonna go hit up the thrift stores. It was a weeknight after work, about 7:15ish and the thrift stores close at 9:00pm. I got this. I can do it.

Check out these awesome finds!!!
some vintage candy dishes (?) for the candy buffet at the wedding. You got it people - we're doing the ever-so trendy candy buffet. It's genius. It's another opportunity to tie in your color and design scheme. Better yet: it's an opportunity to entertain children and adults. People love candy. It's a people pleaser. My Maid of Honor Holly always has a supply of delicious treats in her purse. I have started this habit as well. I have never met a person that doesn't enjoy a sweet treat every once in a while. So, we're having a candy buffet. Found these three beauties at my local Value Village. These will blend in nicely with my collection of fun candy dishes and apothecary jars that we've been working on this past year. Here's our inspiration for the candy buffet:

Big Wedding, Tiny Budget.

Lisa's Candy Buffets

Modern Bride with a Budget

I was so inspired by a photo that I included in a previous post about succulents, that I decided it would be a charming touch as part of our creative flower/cake stands with cupcakes centerpieces. Here's that photo to help jog your memory:

ToastAndTables

Every time I go thrifting, there's usually a plethera of these little silver goblets, jars, sugar bowls, creamer thingies, and other fancy containers. Here's my little find from the thrift store...

I figure I can pick up four or five of these babies each time I go thrifiting. Maybe even throw a sliver platter or larger containers in there. Mix it up a little. I would like everything to be very unique. By the time the wedding rolls around, I can plop some dirt in them, stick in a succulent and some river rocks (for flavor) and add them to the tables as part of the centerpieces. I am now seriously considering scratching market flowers at the tables for the cake stands and collections (5-7) of these little charming containers with deliciously wonderful looking succulents. Thoughts? I mean...look at how absolutely darling and charming these centerpieces can be!!!! (...if done right.)

Yes, Please.

The Knot

Hmmm...what else did I find? Ohhh! That's right! I found this fabulous beaded purse.for $2.99! I am still amazed at the price. It feels and looks like it was made very well. Nice quality. I did some research. It's a Walborg handbag, vintage. Very very nice quality with a cute little wristlet chain that I can tuck inside the purse should I not want to use it. These babies are going for upwards of $100 depending on the year and quality. SCORE!!! It's an antique gold and will make a charming accessory with my uber-fabulous wedding gown.

I also found an old lacquered handmade wll clock. I took it out to show Trevor and he thought it was cheesy and perfect for his future "MAN CAVE." I then went on to explain that my Grandfather used to invest in wonderful full logs of wood to make these fabulous clocks. They took time and they are absolutely gorges. My parent's have one of my Grandfathers' clocks hanging in their entry way. It's enormous and makes quite the statement. When I saw this little version - I knew I had to have it. It will be great in Trevor's future "Man Cave" and it will always melt my heart just a little when I look at it. :)

I am so excited about last week's finds. I wonder what this week will bring? Have you found anything awesome at the thrift store lately?