who has two thumbs and needs something blue? this girl. well, not anymore. thanks to norakaren.

she's great. she'll do anything you want. she has a catalog of about 500 white and dyeable shoes. so, if you're looking for some schmancey caramel heels ... i'm just saying.

so, the winmock at kinderton has a crapton of nooks and crannies to decorate. and i have my table decoration plan down for both ceremony and reception — even the guest book table and gift area. i'm covered. but all those nooks and crannies, and all those places you never think about but will need something the day of? i'm not so covered. or should i say wasn't so covered?

i looked around the apartment, and realized that matt and i have a ton of crap we don't need. you know, combining two adult apartments and all ... in fact, we have a crapton of promotional pint glasses.

a crapton of crannies and a crapton of glasses? they should meet.

as you know, we're doing bulk flowers in white and blue. maybe some succulents. but you gotta have something to put them in, right? something you can put water in. and in a nook or cranny, they won't have to withstand really close scrutiny. so i made pint glass vases.

what you do:
- clean the glass

- put the ribbon on with the hot glue gun, or just tie it. tying works.

and ... there you have it. "free" BACKGROUND vases that you can just throw away when you're done with them. i'm pretty brilliant.

xoxo,
the bride

ohmygod, hi. hyper-excited rachel here with the perfect way to start a d.i.y. post: "you'll think this is an amazing idea and i might recruit you to help even if you don't think this is an amazing idea."

ok, so. let's say we have 150-200 people at this shindig. let's just say. that's possibly 25 tables of 8. and we need to dress 25 tables of 8, possibly.

you can rent some really way too tall hurricane vases, 3 per, for $45 a table. then you have to fill them with flowers or rocks or floating candles. and for a long table, that's gonna feel pretty sparse.

i know, i know. i've already invested in the vintage mismatched china. (and i'm still over the moon about it, so excited.) but what if we make it a theme?

because we not only have the tables at the reception, but the standing cocktail rounds at the champagne ceremony to dress. not to mention all the nooks and crannies in that huge room.

my mom and i already had the stroke of genius to use plates (because there are extra plates) on stands — salads as table numbers and dinners as nook-and-cranny decorations. and, as luck would have it, she just happens to collect these totally cool rare vintage teapots.

why not use them? and if we're already using plates and pots, why not cups? and bowls? so i went to ebay, and had an ebasm. yes. an ebasm.

hello, mismatched teacups. i can float a single bud in them. i can make them into candles. i can pot herbs in them. and i can sell them all packaged with my china when we're done. because it's china. wow.

but that's just the reception decor figured out. what about the many standing cocktail tables we'll need for the champagne ceremony? i want them to feel like the whole event belongs together. enter, anchor hocking and hazel atlas. yes, depression glass. and 70's glass. sue me:

let's get some bulk gardenias, maybe some succulents. let's get some fancy white sand. let's make some candles. this wedding is decorated. and it feels like it has a theme. i love that.

oh, and crazy, you can get personalized teabags as a favor. thinking about it. also, excited to make candles.

xoxo,
a very excited d.i.y. bride

oh, hi there. rachel here. thanks for stopping by. 

so, i was home last week looking at venues and wedding dress shopping. and i cried a of couple times.

my mom and i spent two days going from venue to venue that had a date open even remotely near the one matt and i wanted. and matt liked none of them — from afar. so i cried. (we ultimately found one we're quite happy with, i posted about it earlier.)

then i went dress shopping with my m.o.b., m.o.g., m.o.h. and future s.i.l. (i get the acronym thing from the army men in my life. o.m.g., i kind of like it.) and i cried that horrible happy cry you cry when you say yes to the dress. i never thought i'd be that girl, but i should have known the karma would come back on me when i named my wedding dress inspiration folder "that girl."

anyway. i posted earlier about first dance songs. ready for a real tearjerker? father-daughter dance songs. there aren't enough hankies on earth. the only thing saving me is the fact that my dad can't dance and i'll most likely laughcry the whole time.

those are just the tame ones that i culled it down to. imagine dancing to one of these with your dad on your wedding day. i dare you to try not to cry, ladies:

yeah, you see that puddle of tears you're in right now just reading those song titles and imagining dancing with your dad? i just did that to you. i wouldn't hit play if you haven't already. it's just so bawler. too bawler.

and you know what's worse? my dad's a bigger crier than i am. i could play "baby got back" and my dad would cry. in fact, let's laugh at that right now:

you're welcome. love you.

xoxo,
the bride

rachel here.

so, i've been thinking of ways to invite my girls to be a part of my bridal party. i can't get them all together, or go see each one individually. they're as far flung as new york and to as close as a 90 minute drive. and only two even live in the same place! i've seen cards on etsy, "i've got the guy, now all i need are my girls" and so on. there are actually some pretty cute ones.

but.

not all of my girls know eachother. so i wanted to include little bios. and i'm asking them to pick their own dress and shoes, so i want to give them as much info as possible on that.

you've already seen my d.i.y. dress color guide. but then i went a step further.

each maid gets a tote bag. "totes a maid," get it? i also made a "bride," a "m.o.h.," a "m.o.b." and a "m.o.g" — perfect to tote things on the big day.

she also gets my handy dandy wedding color cheat sheet with attached peacock feather, a personalized card and a "meet the maids" bio with contact info.

well, we couldn't find a venue available for the weekend after labor day 2014. that sucks. so we booked the winmock at kinderton in bermuda run, north carolina for the following weekend. yay!

k, so, rachel here as always.

i've picked my maids and matt and i have picked our colors. i've been working on an "invitation" for my maids to be a part of my party to send to each of them. i'm pretty sure they all already know they're being invited, but i need to make it official.

when it comes to dresses, i've got one who hates to show her arms, even though there's nothing wrong with them. one who worries about baby body, even though she doesn't have one. one who thinks she weighs too much even though she weighs less than most americans. seriously, if we're not all candidates for body dysmorphic, i'm not sure who is.

so, i'm letting them all pick their own knee-length cocktail dresses. my only criteria, minus "knee-length cocktail dress" is that the color be in the wedding palette. basically, my rule is: if you can find it in the feather of a (nonalbino) peacock, and it's not black or tan, you can wear it. with tan shoes. tan HEELS to be exact. tan = warm caramel from the wedding colors.

i'd love it if the dress could have some type of 20's flare, like fringe or drop waist or lace. but i'm not real picky. i made a handy wedding color guide for each of them:

and (hopefully) there you have it: the best damn bridesmaid dress guide on earth. i guess we'll see ;)

xoxo,
the bride

rachel here ;)

anyone who knows me knows that we aren't a couple that's going to register for china. not because we won't use it. but because we don't need it. i kinda already own it.

not only do matt and i collectively have 3 sets of everyday tableware, and not only do i collect alcohol-themed decorative dessert-sized plates — but i got a wild hair one day to hit replacements limited and create my own mismatched china set. i had a lot of fun:

i'm kind of in love with the set. and i looked all over for a company that rents vintage mismatched china in the north carolina area for receptions. and i found a few. crazy expensive.

but i really think it's a great way to decorate a table without needing much by way of centerpieces. i also really like the idea of really long communal tables, as opposed to rounds. so any centerpieces would need to be low so people can meet and talk over them. the table will really need something.

but i was starting to think my mismatched china dream would never come true, because of the cost.

until i saw libby's listing on tradesy for her full wedding vision, which included 285 mismatched dinner plates at $1 a pop and 402 mismatched salad plates at 50 cents a pop. even with more than we'd need, the cost would be less than renting.

libby and i are now working out transportation, through family and friends. so no crazy shipping costs for such a heavy delivery. here are libby's photos from her wedding:

xoxo,
the bride