aaaaaand.....scene.

I'm totally married. And exhausted. Check out my other artsy blog - ilovedrywell.blogspot.com - for a wedding recap and craft projects, probably in the next month or so!

bunting

all over the blogs these days, but I love the festive look. we'll see if I have time. This one was made with colored masking tape!

Frolic guest blog for Santa Barbara Chic Wedding Blog.

got the dress

with just 15 days to spare. I ended up ditching my original plan of altering a sundress I bought years ago [and doing so was not because the saleswoman at Britex thought it wasn't "special" enough]. Instead, I bought an anthropologie dress, off the rack, and had it slightly altered. I love it.

And I loved my seamstress Glenda Pongiglione, in Bernal Heights. She was super to work with, was very excited about the dress, very nice, and did an excellent job at a reasonable price. Any San Francisco brides looking for a seamstress should definitely check her out.

[no pictures .... yet!]

i saw the sign

From Signs By Diane on etsy


From ThreePotatoFour

In the next few weeks, I'll need to make a couple of directional signs for our home (saying "reception") and maybe another at the base of Tank Hill for the ceremony. We have a bunch of scrap wood in the basement, so this should be pretty easy.

(I really wish I had acted sooner on that sugar plum sign though! It would have been great for our plum cakes!)

music time and flashdance love

so now we're getting to more fun wedding planning stuff. You know, less linen selection, more cocktail experimentation. Next on the agenda is music. We're using an ipod to DJ, making some playlists to use at different points during the reception (despite the warnings from the American DJ association).

Our backyard isn't really going to be set up to have a lot of dance space, and neither of us are big dancers anyway, so there will likely be a pretty eccletic mix of indie, old punk, rock, and hip hop. odd, but so are we.

Even though we are not going the expensive DJ route, I am taking a lot of cues from an awesome DJ - Michael on The Flashdance. I am loving the mixes he's posted on the site, especially the most recent one highlighted on A Practical Wedding. They are giving us a ton of ideas!

shoe clips?

Now with my new dress (!!!) I've had to restart my accessory shopping. These great shoes clips echo the flower on the dress and bring a bit of pizazz to my yellow jcrew flats. might have to buy them....

from b.poetic

felt brooches

love these felt flower brooches...maybe for night before party or on the cardigan?

from A.Alicia

table centerpieces

via Brooklyn Bride

guest book ideas

via Brooklyn Bride

organic flower arrangements

i love these simple, natural looking flower arrangements. I think we are going to get our flowers the friday before the wedding and make the arrangements that day, so they will all be ready to go on saturday afternoon.


flowers from Leif, via Brooklyn Bride

martha's lighting ideas

ok -- so we need some outdoor lighting, since reception starts around 4pm, and sunset will be around 6:30. Here are some DIY options from martha. I especially like the round lanterns on poles! how to here.

This one is an example of the old "mason jar on a wire" lighting.


This isn't so much an example of lighting, but rather a way to secure lighting. We want to hang those round cafe string lights like:



Instead of using buckets with concrete, martha suggested using flower buckets, filled with gravel. much nicer look.

pointy colored flats

I have a similar red pair by the same company and they are ridiculously comfy. Great simple option...maybe to embellish?

MIA Hepburn flats, via Zappos

vintage letter round-up

So we're searching for vintage letters and numbers for the wedding and reception. There was a HUGE "A" at the Alameda flea market this weekend, but no matching "S" for the boyfriend.

We're specifically looking for "AT" and "SH" for our initials, and then maybe something funny, or marking the reception, or something for the backyard.

Here are some great finds on etsy. Man I love etsy.

"Gone sailing", "Entrance" and "89" from bluebellbazaar
Red "8" from craftycatladyvintage
Red "0" from 26olivestreet
"H" from SalvageNation

oh crap

ummm...we've recently realized there is a lot to do in the next 11 weeks before the big day.

so far we have:
venue
caterer
night before dinner plans
save the date
photographer

in progress:
succulent arrangements
invitations (should be out in a week)
seating for reception


nothing done:
decorations (balloons?lanterns? lights? a way to hang lights?)
table decorations (linens, candles)
officiant
vows/ceremony
dress
grrrrroom clothes
rings
registry
landscaping/cleaning backyard
photobooth

crap.

adorable little succulents

continuing the succulent obsession, I love these little arrangements, via brooklynbride. I love the contrast with the nature and concrete pots.

martha and her paper

More paper love from martha. These are from the most recent (I think...) MSW. Her stylists are amazing to be able to make simple paper accordion decorations look so swanky.

I wonder how I can fit these into our reception. Maybe as a backdrop for the photobooth?

.

paper paper paper lanterns

photo from design sponge

I love this creative arrangement of paper laterns that I stumbled on while searching on party perfect for some baby shower ideas (NOT me... for a co-worker).

close up (photo from party perfect)

Everything from Martha's walmart line. I wonder if they still have these things??

Amazing creation by Ashley Ann, with DIY here.

envelopes

Because what is more important than envelopes?

well, everything, actually. like .... the whole getting married to your best friend part.

but you still gotta send your invites in something, right?



I have some kraft paper envelopes from Thailand that I bought in a random art shop in Mae Hong Son, but I don't think any of the sizes I bought will actually work.

The one above is$1 per envelope, which seems cheap, from Jam Paper. But not compared to the thai ones, which I purchased for the very reasonable price of 45 baht (about $1.20 USD) for a pack of 40. man, I miss Thailand.




These are 10 for $8. Plus they seem a little brighter in color. oh shit. I just became the bride who cares about the shade of an envelope.

oh shit.

I'm done.

most awesome photo booth ever?

yeah. I think so.

created by sasha souza for kristen*’s wedding (via kiss the groom - check out more pics there)

Made with a huge sheet of plywood, covered in wallpaper, with frame holes cut out. Nice added touch of the bride and groom's family photos.

I mean, this is clearly very ambitious, but not totally out of the realm of DIY possibility, right? riiiiiight?

even woodier

love this kraft paper + wood veneer combo (and rounded corners!) from night owl paper goods

woody

ok. still in the invitation abyss. Our moo cards came and they are nicer than I expected. (full post to come...). But as for the invitations, we are still a little stuck. I think we have a general idea of the text and formatting, but need to decide on paper. and, um, order said paper.

Steve and I both have had a thing for wood veneer for awhile, but true to our pattern of "excitement! creative idea formation! no execution!" we haven't ever made anything with wood veneer. I've seen a couple of invites using wood, and I must say I really really like them. Nice, but still a little different. And I think we could print on them with our gocco.*

I love this one, with darker wood and light ink:



via Oh So Beautiful Paper

And here is a super helpful post on where to get supplies and how to work with veneer to make invitations from Paper Crave.

* Paper menagerie seems to have had great success with gocco on veneer, but I wonder if our smaller text might bleed??

more succulents

another succulent bouquet:


from housemartin (via Oh Joy!)

And how cool is this succulent arrangement? I love the floppy dragontail succulents!



(via housemartin - which has some great arrangement examples!)

moo cards

Just spent much much MUCH longer than I intended making moo cards as part of our invitations. We ended up deciding not to include an RSVP postcard or anything like that. We figured everyone invited is an adult, and they can RSVP as they would for any other get together we would host.

But it is a special get together, so we put together little business cards with our contact info and RSVP options. I'll post again when we get them, but I think they are going to look great. Steve's mom had suggested moo cards for our Save the Dates. Since we decided to do the video instead (will be posted soon!!!), we thought the RSVP was a great use for the moo cards.

For the front, we chose photos of our travels together, our succulents, and little drawings we've made over the last 9 years.


Hanoi 2009


Chianti 2006

And... they have a "green" option, with 100% recycled paper and no chlorine.


Valentine's card 2006


Baby Toes succulent 2007


Amsterdam 2005

...so let's look at food!

lobster bake in massachucetts

Even though we already have our caterer finalized, it's still fun to look at more food. Check out this great slideshow from the nytimes of wedding food from around the world.



cracker men with idazibel cheeze in madrid

The accompanying article is actually pretty interesting. It discusses the trend of seemingly causal weddings, including those at home, which actualy cost as much or more than a traditional formal affair (particularly in L.A.).

I haven't really found that to be the case so far in planning our own backyard wedding, which, while not necessarily born out of a financial need, will likely be cheaper than the wedding in Stern Grove we were originally planning.


freshly sliced jambon from madrid

But it is kind of annoying to think that our pre-existing homemade aesthetic is a trend, co-opted by the wealthy in an effort to not appear ostentatious.

The bottom line is that our friends and family will know that isn't who we are...that we aren't some trend-hopping folks making cobblers and grilling in an effort not to appear wealthy (which we decidely are not).


persian kabobs on an 8 foot grill

(if there was a Moby Dick's House of Kabob out here, we would DEFINITELY be doing this)



fava bean puree with burrata crostinis

hitting the wall

I am completely hitting the wall when it comes to invitation ideas. We went with a video save the date (to be posted soon!) so I never really put in the time to create a visual aesthetic for the invites. the inspiration board is helping some, but not as much as I'd like. I love doing things myself, but it is starting to feel like a lot of pressure. And I look at all the great pro invites on other blogs and realize that even though I have my own cool skills, I doubt I'd be able to create invites like those. argh. Anyone other DIY brides feel like that?

I feel silly even complaining, because in the Big Picture, something like this doesn't matter. I do enjoy the act of making things, but I feel like I'm getting down to the wire (with an October wedding) to be creating and sending out invites.

well this was a grumpy post! Sorry about all that! But sometimes it is nice to have some grumpy reality thrown in with all the beautiful flowers, fancy shoes, and pretty pictures. or maybe not...

so cute it's sick

what a great invite design! From the folks at see saw designs. These guys resemble some of the little characters I draw. I love that it is this cute funny little illustration, but so restrained and well-done that it looks, well, fancy enough for a wedding. love it.

um, yum

We have a caterer! Living in San Francisco, we had a lot of options, not only for caterers with delicious food, but those who also focus on local, organic, and seasonal foods. yeah, I know the whole local food thing can get kind of annoying to some, but it is important to us, and so the majority of our budget is going towards what I know will be fabulous food prepared by our caterer Christian Noto of jersey tomatoes.


We had our tasting on my birthday. we left stuffed but very excited.


mini grilled cheese with spicy tomato soup shooters (um, yes.)


We are going for an extended cocktail party vibe, with appetizer stations and small plates. Christian will be a'grilling on a 6 foot charcoal grill in our backyard.


pulled pork crostini with aioli, wilted spinach, and parmesean



seasonal bibb salad with cherries and strawberries

My parents have been preparing the relatives for some "non-traditional" wedding fare.


grilled salmon, with purslane (an edible succulent!!!!)



meyer lemon tart with dirty girl strawberries and creme fraiche

These aren't necessarily the dishes we'll have at the wedding, but a sampling of what he can churn out. (But the grilled cheese will very likely make an appearance on the big day.)

Christian has been great to work with so far. When I called to tell him we had chosen him, he said "Your wedding is going to be epic."

My kind of caterer.