Nala!

Mr. and I got a puppy on Saturday...taking a little break from wedding planning!

Meet Nala!

Tying the Knot: Favors

I love this detail!

{ via Bridal Buzz }

Speaking of Monograms...

How beautiful would this moss and succulent masterpiece be...





{ images via The Bride's Cafe }

...using our monogram?



Seems totally doable...DIY steps here.

For the Pups

Mr. and I have wanted a dog for a LONG time. We are very very close to getting one and will definitely share pictures soon!

In the meantime, I made puppy collars for FMIL's Welsh Springer Spaniels.

The in-process photos I took are totally boring, but in a nutshell I knitted and then felted the collars, and then made buttons. The puppies loved them!

Our Wedding Monogram!

SO excited!! Remember how I found the CK monogram in that book of vintage monograms?

{ image taken from Alphabet of Monograms by me }

Well, I asked my mom to play with it (remember she did that orange tree for our Save the Dates too? Which I changed a bit and redid...story for another day) and here's what she created:

Which I then sent over to UPrinting to have made into stickers!!



{ photo by me }

They are 2"x 4" and I plan on investing in a rotary cutter in order to slice them in half to 2"x 2" stickers. That way I'll have 500 monogram stickers :) I also want to get a 2" circle punch because I think I'd prefer them in circles rather than squares. Although...what if I corner punched them like our Save the Dates?



{ image by me }

Now to figure out what to use them for...So far I'm thinking as stickers on our favors but I'm also thinking of making napkin wraps for the reception and perhaps we could use the stickers to seal the wrap? Or also as an enclosure for part of our invite? Out of town bags somewhere? Lots of ideas.

And it's totally awesome how excited my mom is about these!! Makes me happy that she is such a big part of the creative side of the planning process so far.

Ooh la la!

These earrings from Kande's Etsy Shop would add such a lovely splash of color to a white wedding dress! Not sure if I have the guts to wear them on our wedding day, but perhaps for the engagement session?

Regis, can I use a lifeline?

I'm debating whether or not I should "phone a friend"...ok maybe not a friend but a person who knows more about this wedding stuff than I do.

Now, I'm not saying that I want to have someone completely style my wedding (have you SEEN the latest Inspiration-to-Reality photo shoot from Style Me Pretty??





{ photos by Millie Holloman Photography, via Style Me Pretty }

...Drool.)

BUT, I saw this post on Grey Likes Weddings and it totally hit home for me:

"I’m hoping I’m not alone… but I’m starting to feel really fed up! I can’t seem to make a decision, I think because I want it all to be so perfect… and scared I could get it soooo wrong! I can’t make a decision.

With so many wonderful wedding resources, magazines, and blogs out there, finding wedding inspiration has never been easier. Making decisions, on the other hand, has never been more difficult. Every day, we’re lured into a state of absolute indecision by another real wedding, inspiration board or fabulous vendor feature. How is one to decide when there’s just too much good stuff out there???"

Amen, sistah. I just have so many ideas I'm nervous our wedding will look like a hot mess of all of them and not one cohesive idea.

So then Grey suggests to hire an expert. HAH! Where on earth can we fit that into the budget? But then again, what if we find someone who offers a design consultation? Would the money we spend on a consultant be worth saving my own (and Mr.'s) sanity in trying to make ALL the decisions and the frustration of it not turning out like we had hoped? I definitely have a favorite list of designers, so it can't hurt to just ask, right?

Has anyone out there been in the same boat? Or has anyone worked with a designer just to do a consultation? How did it work for you?