Photo inspirations!

"Must-take Wedding Photos"

Our photographer asked Matt and I to put together a little packet for her of some photos we want to make sure she tries to capture (besides obvious ones)...so much fun to find them!! Here are a few of them...

Memorial Day Weekend

(the small lake in the middle left of the picture is where we're getting married!)

We decided to go to Bluemont Vineyards, to do a wine tasting. Bluemont is owned by the same people that own Great Country Farms, where we are getting married in September. From the vineyard, there was a beautiful view of the Berry Barn, where our wedding will take place, and a great view of the Blueridge Mountains. It was a beautiful day to go wine tasting, and we got to bring Mocha along.

We enjoyed the tasting very much, they have some great wines. The strawberry dessert wine was really good, also we liked the vidal blanc. Mocha had a good time also. She likes to meet new people, and there was quite a few people there. Also, Friends of Homeless Animals were there. They brought several dogs up for adoption with them. So Mocha was excited to see other dogs there.

After the event was over, we headed home. The weather was still beautiful, and we got some great pics of the sky as the sun was going down.

Happy Memorial Day!

-Matt

Our new wedding monogram

Thanks to my [awesome] brother, Josh--we now have a wedding monogram/crest to use for our invitations, address labels, etc! I'm so excited! Thanks Josh!

Homemade Wedding Cupcake Stand

How we made our Wedding Cupcake Stand

Since we are serving cupcakes at our wedding, and also have an 8'' cake for us to cut on top, we needed to find a cake stand to fit all these. Not so much, as the ones we found were too expensive (over 200.00) and our cakemaker only rented theirs out (again an unnecessary cost)...So, we decided to go to Michaels and Home Depot and create our own.

For a 5 tier cupcake stand (holds approx. 100 cupcakes and a 6-8'' cake on top) you will need:

1. 4 cans of food of approx. same height and different widths (biggest to smallest from top to bottom). We used an empty Gatorade tin filled with sand for the bottom one--worked great!) = $0.00 (in our pantry)

2. Spray paint for cans (or wrap with wrapping paper or ribbon to go with your wedding colors)= $4.00

3. White paint for the base wood (I recommend gloss paint if you're expecting to wipe it after)=$3.50

4. Round "pre-cut" base wood from Home depot (in their ready-to-assemble table section in lumber)=$15.00

5. 4 White Plastic Scalloped edge Separator Plates (we got ours at Michaels in the cake decorating aisle -by Wilton-, you need: a 16'' one, 14'' one, 12'' one and a 10'' one)= 9.99, 7.99, 5.99, and 3.99 respectively: total: $23.00 with Michaels 20% coupon!

6. A strong glue--we used Gorilla Glue= $4.00

Total cost: $49.50

Directions:1-Spray paint or decorate your tin cans
2-Paint Base wood
3- Apply Gorilla Glue to bottom of biggest can, attach to center of wood base
4-Apple Gorilla glue to top of biggest can, attach the 16'' separator plate
5- Apply Gorilla Glue to top 16'' separator plate, attach next can, apply glue, then the 14'' separator plate...and so on.
6-After all the cans are glued, you have yourself a 5-tiered beautiful cupcake/dessert stand!

You can use something other than glue, you can leave it up to chance and not attach it, either way--you saved a bunch of money!

This Post has had a lot of hits, so we decided to post an "After" Picture of our homemade cupcake stand from our wedding day on 9-12-09!

DIY day

We are Do-It-Yourselfing a cupcake tower/cupcake stand for the wedding! It's shapin up to be coooooool. Check back later.

The thought of buying a stand to fit 100 cupcakes for a huge amount of money ($200.00 + !!!) is not the way to go...we have come up with a much better solution. (And one that we can use again someday)

Check back tomorrow and I'll have step by step directions and pictures!

4 Months from today i'll be a Mrs!

Groomsmen' Gear

Groomsmen's ties:

For our wedding, we nixed the Tux idea (I've never liked the look, and neither does Matt) I much more prefer the Khakis and Navy Blue blazer look on men--plus with our nautical theme it works wonderfully. We actually decided against the blazer, and Matt's groomsmen and best men are wearing Khakis. Light Blue Oxford Shirt, and a nice tie. Which brings me to the ties...These are the ones we are deciding between...we're going to hit up the Memorial Day Sales in 2 weeks to get them! I love living near the outlets!

Here is a picture of the Tie matt is wearing with his tan suit (red with navy stripes):

Girls are wearing Navy Blue strapless knee-length silk shantung cocktail dresses with light blue and white flowers

(pic from DCnearlyweds)

(I want the guys to both go with our navy/white & nautical theme but complement the girls and also Matt's tie)

Here are the ones we are deciding between:

(Ties images: In order: LandsEnd, Joseph A Banks, Vineyard Vines, Ralph Lauren, )

Which one do you like? (Comment below...)

Some things I never knew about weddings...

Here is a list of things I never knew of (or even thought of!) that I thought was interesting:

-The ZIP CODE is only used on certain part of wedding invitations (etiquette!)

-Tossing the bride's bouquet: Tossing the bouquet is a tradition from England. Women used to try to rip pieces of the bride’s dress and flowers in order to obtain some of her good luck. To escape from the crowd the bride would toss her bouquet and run away. Today the bouquet is tossed to single women with the belief that whoever catches it will be the next to marry.

- Bride to the left of the groom: Because grooms in Anglo-Saxon England often had to defend their brides, the bride would stand to the left of her groom so that his sword arm was free.

-Best Man: In ancient times, men sometimes captured women to make them their brides. A man would take along his strongest and most trusted friend to help him fight resistance from the woman’s family. This friend, therefore, was considered the best man among his friends. In Anglo-Saxon England, the best man accompanied the groom up the aisle to help defend the bride.

-Decorating Bride & Groom's car: It was considered that having a noisy car for leaving the reception would frighten any evil spirits away, and so as a result the cars were decorated, and the tradition of having cans tied to the back of the care to fend off evil spirits was started.

-Tying the knot: In many cultures including Hindu, Egyptian and Celtic, the hand of a bride and groom are tied together as a symbol of their new bond and commitment to the marriage. This is the origin of the expression "Tying the knot"

Thanks to Living Life Media, The Knot, and Globetrotting bride for some info!

Wedding Inspiration Photo Collage

Here are a bunch of pictures that gave me some inspiration on how Matt and I could decorate the wedding venue for our big day. A classy nautical theme (not campy like Wedding Crashers*-see below) in a rustic barn in the mountains brings about a multitude of options. Here are our inspirations!

I love a blank slate!

*Wedding crashers reference: Cheesy nautical vows...We will NOT be doing this (but it makes me laugh every time I watch the movie!):

“I, Craig,
take you, Christina,
to be my wife, my best friend, and my first mate…
through sickness and health, clear skies and squalls.

I, Christina,
take you, Craig, to be my best friend,
and my captain…
to be your anchor and your sail…
…your starboard and your port...

You may kiss the first mate.”

Haha! On that note--Have a good one!

-Bre

Funny!

I just had to share this. I was looking for a cute/funny countdown for our wedding for my Knot.com bride profile and found this one


Wedding Ticker from WhenIsMyWedding.com

I love it!!!

I found THE dress!

Today, with the help of my sister and my mom--I found my wedding dress---1st store and only the 3rd one I tried on actually! All I will say to fellow brides-to-be is to try on any and all dresses--even if you think "Oh NO WAY!"--you might be pleasantly (very pleasantly) surprised!!!

Now it feels super real that it's happening in a little over 4 months! yippee!

Thanks to my sister for finding it and making me try it!!!

-Bre

The Dog Days of Summer...er...Spring...

The Dog Days of Summer are here...and it's only APRIL??!!!

With our weekend temps averaging at 97 degrees, It has been quite the change for canine, feline, and human alike within our house!

But here are some fun things we discovered helped make the spring weather (that feels more like mid-July) a little more fun.


1.) A simple misting squirt bottle--our dog Mocha went CRAZY with this today. It also helped make us feel a little bit cooler.




2.) Our doggy Baby pool that we got at Target for 3.99 a couple weeks ago. She loves to lay in it like its her private oasis--and the cats like to come and drink from it.


3.) Homemade "frosty-paws" or "cool claws" for dogs and cats alike.
We made a dozen in tupperwares in the freezer for Mocha for around 4.00 total (as opposed to buying frosty paws for 4.00 for 4! So easy:

Homemade frosty treats for doggies

1 32 Oz. container of plain or vanilla yogurt

2 tablespoons of peanut butter

2 tablespoons of honey

1 mashed banana

(Beat lightly until creamy, pour into containers, and freeze!)

4.) If you can't make the frosty treats for them--most small ice cream joints will give you a "doggy cup" of vanilla soft serve...Our favorite is in Clifton Virginia, called Peterson's Ice Cream Depot-where dogs are always welcome, and for a little over a buck, they make Mocha the happiest puppy around!

Stay Cool everyone!!!