Foto Friday :: Wedding Hair - Ideas!

As it gets closer and closer to the wedding day I have to start thinking more and more about my hair.  1st I would like to say, my hair is currently longer than it has been in a long time.  I cannot remember having it this long and I kinda like it (as does Kyle) ... so I may keep some length to my hair post wedding. we shall see...

Anyway.  I have decided on one thing about my hair.  It is going to be down.  I HATE when girls wear their veil down low because they have a low hairstyle and since I have a veil that means no low hair style.  But with down it looks so lame straight and boring which means I will need curls.  And my hair - yeah, it does not hold curls; therefore, I will need extensions.  But I am going to have the extensions cut and then died to my hair color.  But extensions will give me curls.  (Ok, maybe I have decided on 3 things about my hair 1. down. 2. curls. 3. extensions)  ....but that leaves me with the most important part: how will I have it styled.

MY THOUGHTS:

Yes I know they are all VERY similar.  Especially the last 2 - but this is where my mind is going.  That way I can attach the veil above where the hair criss crosses and then I can ditch the veil post ceremony and still have amazing hair.  But I do like the curls in the 3rd picture the most because they do not seem as tight, but I may need tight curls with the hops they fall but not fall too much.

And I would like to thank pinterest for giving me all these ideas.

Wave of Accomplishment *almost*

 

my parents will be in route to Atlanta tomorrow to make some final wedding decisions.  Thursday = flowers!  and once the flowers are decided … I will be 100% planned.  The only thing that will need to be decided from there is the rehearsal dinner.  And well that is out of my hands.

But… with 4 months, 2 weeks, and 2 days to go I am pretty much 100% planned and that is awesome.

From there the only “to do’s” to do  --- buy the rest of the candy bar candy and candy bags.  Finish getting all the goodies for the welcome bags and stuff them and buy the 3 different signs from Etsy and buy the guestbook!

I would like to say the venue made all this so so so much easier.  But yeah it feels good to be pretty much DONE! 

Three Things Thursday

how is it already November?!

1. wedding invitations have been ordered (and are actually sitting on my front porch as I type this....)!  I have not seen the completed look and I will see the legit final product (other than the proof) when I get home today. I am pretty sure my mom thought I was out of control since we thought I was settled on some and then as my mom was about to order the invites I changed my mind on the color scheme.  I wasn't in love with the blue - it was too bright and even though my mom and my friend Afton said that no one will remember the invitation it just bugged me.  so we went more with the color scheme - but more of the muted colors.  Yes - I am that out of control bride who has a hard time making decisions.  ....which i kinda how/why the purple has been kinda kicked out of the wedding ceremony decor but kept alive in the reception decor.  HOT BRIDAL MESS I TELL YOU!!  ....but anyway, back to the wedding invite.  I am glad there are extras left over because (a) I want to keep one for the guest book but (b) I want to make a Christmas ornament out of it.  I saw the ornaments on Pinterest and LOVE the idea.  You just cut the invite up in small pieces, curl them and then place them in a clear globe.  So cute, right?! And Kyle and I are all about sentimental ornaments - all of ours on the tree have a meaning behind them. :o)

2. I have my flower appointment in exactly 7 days!!  Flowers are legit the last BIG wedding decision we have to make (that we have control over). I am still in love in love with this bridal bouquet so here is hoping that those flowers are (a) in season (b) able to be put together and (c) looks just as good on the wedding day.  My Mom of course is coming down and hopefully she knows a little more about flowers than me because I know nothing.  And I am unsure how his appointment is going to work because it is at the venue not the flower shop... are they going to bring flowers to me?  Erg, I need to see the final product to make a decision. With that said, I think I am just gonna trust the florist on the boutonnieres (hopefully I can see them).  But I think the longest conversations/decisions will be over ceremony decor and reception decor. ...After this meeting it means the wedding is getting seriously close!  I hope everyone has their dancing shoes and party pants ready!

3.  So... Saturday is a HUGE game.  In case you have not been watching or listening or caring.  Alabama is #2 in the BCS rankings and LSU is #1 - so we pretty much have the national championship game this weekend.  Kyle and I are excited and nervous for this game.  It would be a big win for The Tide so I am hoping for another W.  And then a W at the SEC championship and then at The National Championship!! But most importantly, I am irked that some dumb LSU fan made shirts that have a picture of the US with Alabama missing with the tag line "Imagine a World Without Alabama" -- like, isn't it too soon?  We just honored the 6 month mark post tornado last week.  Many parts of Alabama were destroyed and are still struggling to recover and get over the heartbreaking storm.  Even though it is known that LSU does not have the classiest for best fans, it really is kind of too soon to be rocking shirts like that. Especially in a town that was devastated and destroyed.  GRANTED:  My friend from college said it best "So tacky... in a way it's them admitting that we're better though! "If Alabama wasn't there, then we could win this year!"   ROLL TIDE!  ok. so here is to an awesome win and hopefully another Tide win!

3 Thing Thursday–Picture Edition.

 

1. I have had this wedding nightmare that when it came time for our sparkler exit that there was like no one left to see us off.  And I want there to be LOTS of sparklers for us to run under and to make our wedding exit photo amazing.  But 2 weeks ago I was at a wedding and people we dropping like flies and leaving early.  I figured our wedding will be ending around 10:30 or 11:00 and that scares me that people will be leaving and there will only be a handful of people left to see us off.  So. if you’re coming to the wedding you better stay and see us off.  Kyle told me to be prepared for a smaller send off since we have a smaller number of invites going out.   But it looks so bad with a small send off, so if you’re coming to the wedding please be prepared to stay till the very very end… I need to there to see us off so the pictures are great. Please and Thank You.  I feel like this is a total rational fear right? 

2. Originally Kyle did not want a grooms cake.  He is a kinda closed off person and because I was joking that I was going to get him a groom’s cake shaped as a dragon with a Redskins jersey (he just may kill me for putting that on here. muhahha) on  he told me he didn’t want a groom’s cake.  Then we were standing in line for cake at Chrissy’s wedding a few weeks back (btw. phenomenal cake. holy cow.) and Kyle asked why he doesn’t get a cake.  When I reminded him that he didn’t want a cake but if he had wanted a cake of his own that I wouldn’t have embarrassed him and now I think he wants a cake of his own – shaped as a redskins jersey.  And he wants yellow cake.  And if we actually give him his own cake it will say Shanahan on the back of it and it will be after him, not the head coach or the Kyle Shanahan football coach.  it is all so ironic.  If I let him have a groom’s cake is still to be determined.  It is 100% going to come down to cost.

3.  I am not going to show a picture on this one, but I chose our wedding cake and emailed it to the venue. Totally not going to share it with you because I do want some surprises.  ;o)  But it is amazing. I love it. Kyle actually likes it too and he called it “classic” and “classy” and when I asked him if he was just saying that he was being serious and I mean actually serious.  So I am glad he likes our cake and I am glad to have that checked off my to-do list too!!

5 months and 5 days to go.

Great Cake Decision { round 2 }

I thought I had decided on a cake and I think I have decided on a cake - but I am REALLY on the fence about it.  The cake I like I am scared it will not turn out well and being the perfectionist that I am ... I want it to turn out well.  So... here I am going back and forth between 3 cakes and I want your opinions.

Cake 1:  It would not have the sparkle bands since my dress does not have sparkle on it.  But I would want the lace applique to match the lace applique on my dress.  That is where I start to get worried. 

Cake 2: I really like this cake.  I just cannot decide what color I would make the flowers.  Light purple? Light blue?  But I like the flowers because that too has a touch of my dress.

Cake 3: I like the simplicity of it.  You cannot tell but it has lines etched into it.  Again, I like the flower part because it has a touch of my dress to it.

What's your opinion?!  I need suggestions & help!  I am pretty sure I have to turn this into the baker soon so I need to make a firm decision.  Comment away please! =D

Tux! Success!

Today was our "preview" for our different tux choices and it was so easy for Kyle.  The store was pretty chaotic with people picking up tuxes for weddings today and getting measured and brides and grooms picking out what they wanted for their previews and wedding so we were pretty much on our own and had to get him in his tux and all set up. 

We decided that we didn't want a black tux (too formal) and we didn't want tan (too informal) so we went with a gray.  Kyle had to try on both a light and a dark gray but it was a clear, easy win when he put on the dark gray.  It just looked sharp and since it is a night wedding it fit with the time of day more.

Oddly enough the hardest decision was the tie and the vest and I swear our consultant probably wanted to murder me.  But we decided on a paisley tie (looks soooo good) and a dotted vest.  But we swear the tux was not made for a vest because you cannot even see it when the jacket is buttoned.   But when you take off the jacket the vest and tie look really good together. 

Of course the event was not complete without me "embarrassing" Kyle by pulling up his pants and telling him the needed to be pulled up.  And after he scolded me, the consultant scolded him because his pants were not high enough (not as his waist) and he didn't have all the buttons on his vest buttoned.  I just may have to have him do a spin for my father to ensure he is put together 100%. 

But I am REALLY happy with the final outcome.  I think that the gray will look really good next to my girl's navy and that the gray will fit with the night wedding and not too formal idea we have.  ....Now to get all the guys measured and tux orders in.

Countdown: 161 days.

The great aisle decision.

I feel like planning a wedding is 100% about compromise.  (eeeh, kinda like a relationship and a marriage.)  And the biggest compromise I am having to make *currently* is around the ceremony.  One of the many reasons I chose our ceremony site is because I thought it would be absolutely GORGEOUS with candle light.  So I envisioned a ceremony at dusk – candles lining the aisle and the front where Kyle and I would be.  But… evidently the sun is not setting until like 7 something on our wedding day so we had two options.  Push the wedding back and see each other before the ceremony OR not see each other before the ceremony and keep the ceremony earlier so the photographer has plenty of light.

Well… we went with option #2 and kept the ceremony earlier since I refused to see Kyle before hand.  So with that …. all my aisle ideas are out the window. 

For example – how gorgeous would have this been?!  All those tiered candles.  I die.  The aisle would have had to be pretty wide since I can only assume how deep the different vases would be.  But still gorgeous. But I feel like for that to really work it would have to be a dusk ceremony.  Oh well. I really thought the sun set earlier in March.

Or the this one with the petals and the different height vases with the floating candles.  Obviously, I LOVE the floating candles look.  This one in truth would have FREAKED the control freak in me out because with one gust of wind petals would have been ever where, but it still looks amazingly beautiful.

I think the biggest solution would be to talk to my florist and the wedding coordinator.  They do weddings for a living so they would know for sure how it would or would not look.  The biggest thing is that I want simplicity at the ceremony.  Flowers up front but the actual aisle, I have no idea.

I also REALLY liked/like this look but it goes back to the one big gust of wind and there goes all the petals.  But I love the bunched up candles.  And I cannot tell if it is the flash in the picture that makes it look like it is daytime-ish or if it is really daytime…. but those don’t look bad.

But long story short, I am a huge traditionalist and I do not want to see Kyle before the wedding.  One of my favorite parts of weddings is watching the groom’s face when he sees the bride for the first time, so I want to see his face. 

If anyone has any simple aisle ideas – I know a bride who would love any and all suggestions.  =D

Oh. 168 days.  Where is the time going?!

Time to torture Kyle! =D

After all these months of making wedding plans and decisions, Kyle J has pretty much been on the sidelines.  Which is 100% fine, I don't really need him in their mixing and voicing opinions and making decisions harder than they really need to be.  Let's be honest, it is MY day and Kyle is just my arm candy.  But now it is time for Kyle to step in and help make some decisions.

...it is Tux Time!  Time for Kyle to play dress up and spin around for me.  Granted, he will only try on probably 2 Tuxes (and I tried on 200 dresses) he will still be miserable and unhappy.  Buck up Buddy!

We are going with a Gray Tux rather than a black one since Black is WAY too formal and I hate how Black looks with Navy and my girls are wearing navy.   I am leaning towards the darker one.... but it is ultimately up to Kyle since he has to wear it and then look at it for who knows how many years in pictures.  ....But I am going to find joy in tomorrow afternoon's excursion.  (I have bribed him with wings after though. But he knows he has to behave.)

we have a dark shade of gray.

....and a light shade of gray.

invitations.

Goodness.  theknot.com and their to-do list is all sorts of crazy with their reminders and making things red to tell me that the task is overdue.  rawr.  for some reason making wedding decisions is not has fun as i had once thought it would be.  probably because there is so much to decide.
anyway. one of my overdue tasks was to look at wedding invitations. i always loved the invitation my brother & his wife did, but you cannot steal someone's wedding invitation that just wouldn't be cool.  so that idea was washed away.  and then i was like .... well, i have always loved wedding paper divas so i started there. and ordered a bunch of sample wedding invitations (and by a bunch i mean 6). too bad a few invitations i liked you were unable to order samples. unfair and not cool. 

the samples came in the mail yesterday and since i am home sick today, i decided to take a look at all the invitation sample i ordered.  SO, my bed. it looks like this:

my invitation criteria is this:

• it needed to be classy but fun.
• nothing too loud, but not too boring.
• i want people to open it and say what a cool invitation
• ideally, i would like it to incorporate my wedding colors. but my wedding colors are so weird i am finding that to be a difficult task.

this is harder than you would think. out of the 6 invitation samples I ordered, 2 were immediately selected as "no way no how" and there were 3 that I am like "yeah. yeah i could chose this one"  ... but needless to say, none popped out as BAM I must have those ones.  So obnoxious.   I really don't want to sit at an invitation store flipping through invites but I fear it may come to that....

if you've been married or are planning a wedding -- where did you get your wedding invites from?!