Cake Toppers...check!

rumroll please. Ta da!Cake toppers for our not so real wedding cake! I've been seeing a bunch of these wooden peg wedding couple cake toppers, but they're always so ridiculous in price. Ranging anywhere from $80-$120, it's just a lot to pay when so many little things keep popping into your budget and you're bleeding money that you don't have. But I love them and decided to try making them myself. If it didn't work out, no harm no foul, I'd be out like $8. I bought a set of 3 girl and boy wood couples but used only one set ($2.66). Then I bought a set of brushes for $2.99 on sale, and a handful of acrylic paints for about $4. About 6 hours later, I was done. I also had a claw of a hand. It was not pretty. I think it gets easier and faster as you get used to painting them. The groom was first and took a very long time. But the bride was MUCH quicker, thank goodness. I then sealed them with gloss varnish, which I regret because now they look way too shiny. I think I'll go over them with a matte varnish. eek. But now that's one more thing I can check off my list, yay!

Wedding Venting

ver the past few weeks, I've been trying to amp up the wedding planning and buckle down. So far I've chosen bridesmaid dresses, which was actually a bit difficult because I did not want to go over $100 per dress. No one wears them again and being part of a bridal party is expensive to begin with. I found these really classy/elegant and pretty dresses from David's. I love them. I want one. I also booked a florist, which is great because I don't have to deal with ordering the flowers myself! Which was my awful and overly ambitious plan. This florist works independently and will go out to the flower district in the early morning to buy everything wholesale, which allows me to have a really low budget for so many flowers! Success! Now in the not so successful news, I am still searching for a hair and makeup artist. This. Process. Sucks. Let me tell you why. Because trials are EXPENSIVE! They are at least $100. I've had rotten luck so far and did a trial with a company that came highly recommended. I liked it, I didn't love it, and I felt like we didn't get the "look" that I wanted. But I was denied a second trial (unless I paid the entire trial fee) and THEN when I tried to book them, they already signed with someone else! That....pisses me off. Majorly. I'm trying to be cost conscious here. Every penny adds up and I intentionally only got a hair trial because I did not want to pay for both hair and makeup trial. The least that they could have done was to give me a deadline to give an answer, or to tell me before someone else took my date! I understand that they're under no obligation until you give a deposit, but YOU TOOK MY MONEY. Sigh. So now I'm back to the drawing board and so far, everyone is booked. Suggestions?

Next, I've been doing some DIY here and there and my weekend project is to make cake toppers using wooden peg people. Would you believe these go for $120+? Nuh uh. Not happenin' over here. I think more than having the "perfect" wedding, I refuse to give in to the madness of wedding prices. Yes, some things you have to. But other things that may not be as important need to be let go of. Example: I just spent $52 on a hair clip. Who am I? But...it's important. It gets photographed. It's on my head. And I can probably re-sell it or gift it. Ugh. Weddings are so expensive.

A DIY Wedding

his was quite the DIY wedding weekend for me and the Fiance. I've been trying to re-create the pinwheels that are so "in" now, but I absolutely refuse to pay these insane prices, just because the word "wedding" is attached to it. Plus, I'm a bit obsessed with paper and picked up several sheets of gorgeous italian print paper for about $3-$5 a sheet (sorry, I don't know the specific measurements, but they're huge).

These are harder to make then they look! Good thing the Fiance was there to help. After I threw a few mistakes down on the table in frustration, he picked them up and reconfigured them and voila! We have pinwheels, folks. I sewed a button in the center for one of them, and plan to do the same to the others. Then fix a stem piece and pop them in a vase.

Next, I tried my hand at making some pom poms to hang around the venue. I think our wedding will have a very DIY look, but I'm trying to be cautious so as not to make it look like we just threw up some arts and crafts and went too cheap. But these pom poms were very easy to make and cost $0. I used tissue paper that came as the wrapping for a West Elm purchase from last week.

Instructions are on Martha Stewart's Craft Page.

Handmade Weddings

just saw this post on Sally J Shim's blog and I MUST get my hands on it! I've already overspent on wedding books that promised to make the process easier and found that not all of them keep their promises. In fact, most of them haven't. Who woulda thunk it. But Handmade Weddings seems so lovely!...I want it. It's the second DIY book by the women at Hello! Lucky and I want it I want it I want it!

Closer to Free

h my, what a week! We are coming to a close of a very intense case and I see my freedom on the horizon. So close! I've been trying to get back on the horse with wedding planning and have a hair and makeup trial this Friday. This may be a dumb idea, but I think I'll be going with the same makeup artist a friend of mine used, and she was NOT happy on her wedding day. Well, to be fair, she wasn't happy because the agency sent over a different person from her trial to do her hair, and it just wasn't coming out right. My conversation with the artist went something like this: "Remember, I was in the bridal party of the bride who hated her hair and cried?" Hm. You'd think I'd get the hint. BUT, they've had some great reviews in the past, and I recently saw pictures of a bride whose hair and makeup I loved, and this artist happened to have worked on that job. So...I'll chalk it up to a mistake. And at the end of the day, the bride liked her hair. It was just a struggle to get there.

In other non-wedding news, I have a serious shopping bug. I really want to buy something...that's not for the wedding. Obviously, I can't buy anything expensive and will have to satisfy my craving by going to Forever 21 or H&M or ooh, Uniqlo, and going nuts. Then return everything.

And lastly, I have a strong desire to make some of these over the weekend.

{gorgeous strawberries}

{light and buttery biscuits}

~Strawberry Shortcake a la Heart of Light~
Aren't her photos scrumptious? Strawberries have been very cheap as of late, and I plan on doing some damage. A friend of mine suggested using a oatmeal cream, which is popular in Sweden and supposedly very very delicious and "healthy" (or rather, healthIER than regular cream). Hopefully I will get to this.

24 and Shoes!

osh, where does the time go? Once again, I've been in the office almost 24/7 and have had little time for myself or the Fiance. But we've been making it work. The secret is that we've picked a new show to obsess over. I get it - it's not really considered "quality" time, but you know what? I'm ok with that. Because by the time I get home from work, all I want to do is just veg out and at this point, I'll take whatever "quality time" that I can get. So the Fiance and I have been watching back to back episodes of 24, starting from Season 1. I know, I know, I'm coming in way late in the game. Oh well. Reminds me of the time we were obsessed with Alias and I watched every season during my first year of law school. Good times.

In wedding news, I've been searching for wedding shoes via the internet - oh how I love technology. Since I'm pretty short (5"1), I want to get a high heel with a platform front to give the appearance of, dear God, being lean. Here are my options. P.S. I also do NOT want to spend a fortune on shoes. I capped myself at $50 but am willing to go to $100. Here are the contenders. What do you think?

Weekend Happennings

appy Easter! Although we had a very grey and rainy Saturday in New York, the city was filled with warm weather and plenty of sunshine on Easter. Thank goodness because we were due for a nice day and some promise of spring! On Saturday, I woke up bright and early, after having worked until 3 a.m., to hit the wedding shops, determined to find a dress. This whole dress shopping thing is supposed to be the most fun part of wedding planning, but for me, it's been just a pain. I really don't enjoy sorting through hundreds of dresses and trying things on one after the other...everything starts looking the same. I didn't have an "ideal" dress in mind, but had some sense of the shape and style. Too bad there are thousands upon thousands of dresses with the same style, yet almost nothing that was exactly right. Until....I found the one. I didn't know it was the one until a few minutes after trying it on, then leaving the store, then coming back to try it on one last time. But my sister just fell in love with it and so did I. I can't give much detail about the dress (the Fiance reads this!) but I found it at a little french boutique in the East Village, Atelier Merciel. The designer owns the shop and will be doing the fittings, etc., and the seamstress used to do Vera's dresses so I know I'm in good hands. The bonus is that the fabric is all imported from Paris and the francophile in me was totally suckered into that notion. It's overbudget, but it's beautiful. And the best part? My mom will be picking up the tab on this one and she didn't really give me a budget (although, I obviously couldn't go crazy, nor would I) but that totally made me think....I'm going to get the dress I love. I was debating between this one and a $350 preowned David's Bridal dress, which is also gorgeous but I hadn't seen it in person. All in all, I'm very happy and things worked out. A group of passerbys saw me in the dress and started cheering and applauding, giving their approval of the dress...and I was sold. It was a moment.

In other news, today we had an easy day...went to Easter service in the morning, then grocery shopping for Easter dinner. Dinner involved a LOT of red wine. We used almost 2 bottles just for cooking. My sister made a "drunken" risotto and I made Boeuf en Croute -- beef tenderloin coated in sauteed shallots, garlic and mushrooms, wrapped in puff pastry. Very easy, very yummy, and very elegant. Click here for the recipe. Mine was a bit odd shaped since the pastry puff was not cooperating with me. But you can get it to look like a nice loaf or pie shaped. Highly recommended for a dinner where you want to impress while doing minimum amount of work. Warning, the prep time is a bit long (around 1.5 hours) because the recipe requires you to refrigerate the beef and sautee. I chilled them for about half the required time, and it was fine.

Oh the Places You Will Go...

ell well well...look at who's fallen off the blogging wagon yet again. That's right, yours truly. But I have a good excuse! I promise! A ton of things have happened in the last month and I have had all but zero time to gather myself. First off, on March 16 at almost midnight (the time I've been regularly getting home from work!), I opened the door to the Boyfriend's apartment to find him on his knee with candles all around and our sweet cat Oliver Atticus who had a bow tie wrapped around his neck. Of course, I've forgotten about 90% of what the Boyfriend said (as did he), but he held up Oliver who had a tag on his bowtie that asked me to marry him (the Boyfriend, not the cat). To make a long story short, the Boyfriend, now the Fiance, proposed with a beautiful beautiful engagement ring, which he had custom made using various inspirations provided by moi, but also with many of his own details. He also engraved it with his pet name for me and included a little pink sapphire. It's absolutely perfect and I love it with all of my heart and I love even more that he personally had a hand at designing it...it definitely surprised me because it was even nicer than what I had imagined!

That was March 16. In almost a month since then, we have booked a venue, our photobooth, our photographers, our coordinator, drafted a guest list, and have gone dress shopping. In addition, I have billed over 250 hours of work, pulled some almost all nighters, gone to court, and coordinated my firm's community outreach documentary series on anti-trafficking. The Boyfriend has studied and taken his licensing exam and has worked countless hours with tons of stress. I'm pretty proud of what we've accomplished so far, and at how smoothly it's all gone. I can't wait to get the bigger stuff done so that I can focus on my favorite part, the decor!

I've been very very blessed in my life and I can't believe that I will be marrying the most perfect match for me! With him...everything feels extraordinary. I'll keep you posted!

Perfect Wedding Mugs

hile browsing the web I came across this great photo with the most perfect mugs for any engagement/wedding! I wish I could get a pair for later on, but I believe Hallmark is out of them. Well...one can hope, can't she?


{photo courtesy of Sweet Nothings}

Once Wed: Whimsical French Wedding

elcome to my obsession with weddings. I love love weddings, especially those that really display the bride/groom's personal charm and taste. I myself am partial to the rustic french feel, with a twist of country, and a dash of homemade DIY accessories. I love it. It's personal and it's sentimental.

During one of my daily runs through some photography/wedding sites, I came across this beautiful wedding featured by Once Wed.

Sigh...isn't it just so romantic?

J'adore Wedding Blogs

ellow bloggers, I have a (non) confession to make. I am a wedding junkie. Ok...that's putting it a wee bit harshly. I'm not quite obsessed, but I do enjoy reading wedding blogs and seeing how people personalize their own weddings. But please understand, I do not read wedding blogs daily, or even weekly. I don't like everything about weddings, I do not have a secret file stashed away with my own wedding ideas, and I do not pick up wedding magazines at Barnes and Noble. I just really like anything about wedding invites, photos, and tablescapes.
I have a couple of friends who are planning their wedding and wanted to post some of my favorite wedding blogs. Below are a few:






I love The Classic Bride--her writing is sweet, her style is simple, and she is, in fact, very classic. I would say my style is close to hers--the vintage feel mixed with a classic/clean look and a dash of intimacy that brings its own charm.









I love Style Me Pretty. Love. This site has all the best photos, features a wide variety of weddings, and truly brings a lot of inspiration to the table. Plus, they make sure to feature all the vendors responsible for creating such beautiful weddings.









100 Layer Cake is similar to Style Me Pretty, featuring amazing photos and color schemes. They provide color boards with ideas that will definitely get you thinking. I love these guys as well. So pretty!
I know there are a lot more wonderful wedding blogs out there, but these 3 are definitely at the top. Below are a few others in case you need more ideas:
:: Rock My Wedding :: Very different. Very chic. Very cool.
:: Etsy Wedding :: Great place to go if you are looking for one of a kind wedding trinkets.
:: The Preppy Wedding :: The name is self explanatory.
:: The Sweetest Occasion :: This is also a gorgeous site filled with a ton of DIYs and other great ideas. I love her projects...she really brings DIY wedding decor to a whole new level!
:: Brooklyn Bride :: A site that provides creative ideas and solutions for the modern bride.

What are some other great wedding sites?

Hydrangea Heaven

Every once in a while I'll run across something that will inspire me to build upon and add to my own home, decor, or even wedding! I've been to so many weddings in the last 2 years and the one thing I really want for my own is that intimate feeling--sort of hard to explain but I'm sure you all know what I mean. This is really hard to do since you, the bride (or groom) may know the sweat and tears poured into this very special day but your guests may not.

I've never put a lot of thought into floral arrangements or center pieces but I really love these hydrangeas. Don't they just make you happy? They make me happy. They're so poofy and pretty!




Peonies make gorgeous centerpieces as well. So feminine and pretty!