Corks & Labels

This post is for one of my best friends, Kristen who is going to be the first of "us" to get married in May. Kristen is going to use wine corks to hold her escort/place cards and I thought of her when I saw this:

Knottie ibekatieg was behind the above escort card holders and she also came up with one of THE neatest ideas for a “guestbook." She brought in 5 bottles of their favorite wines and asked each guest to sign the label of one of the bottles. For each of their first 5 wedding anniversaries, they will use one of the bottles to celebrate, and look back on their big day and the people who were there to celebrate it with them.

For more info and tips on how to pull off the wine guestbook, see this post.
For more wine inspired ideas/details for your wedding day, Check out these posts:

Brooklyn Bride- Turn wine glasses into table lamps for your reception or rehearsal dinner!

An Imagined Reality - An insight into a winery wedding
Our Wedding Plus - Custom wine labels!
The Preppy Wedding - A great wedding shower idea!

Tag!

I've been tagged by Tara at In This Instance! Here it goes:
1. What is your occupation? Auditor. And yes, it’s just as boring as it sounds.
2. What color are your socks right now? No socks. Although today I debated buying THE cutest J Crew socks. They didn’t come home with me. Hence the no socks.
3. What are you listening to right now? I’ll tell you what I’m NOT listening to. Alicia Keys- “No One” and Fergie- “Clumsy”. Both are overplayed and now sound like nails on the chalkboard.
4. What was the last thing that you ate? Hardee’s. I was on the road and desperate. It was all I had to choose from on the exit.
5. Can you drive a stick shift? Yes! My first and so far only car is a Yellow Jeep Wrangler. At times the stick shift is “fun”, but you try driving/shifting, talking on the phone and trying to wolf down fast food all at the same time. That is when I want an automatic.
6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Kelly Green
7. Last person you spoke to on the phone? My fiance
8. Do you like the person who sent this to you? Yes! Her blog is being stalked by my Google reader. Here is one of her inspiration boards (my favorite):

9. Favorite drink? Starbucks Peppermint Mocha, Diet Coke, or a Blue Moon.
10. What is your favorite sport to watch? NFL football on Sundays & my college basketball team

11. Have you ever dyed your hair? Hasn’t everyone?!

12. Pets? Eagerly awaiting the day and I Chris get a puppy. Too bad I’ll be eagerly awaiting that day for quite some time.

13. Favorite food? Penn Station, Puccini’s Pizza, Pickles, Chicken Noodle Soup

14. Last movie you watched? 27 Dresses.
15. Favorite Day of the year? Halloween. The date Chris and I started dating and the day her proposed 2 years later.

16. What do you do to vent anger? Vent about the issue to Chris in an e-mail. Normally the more upset I get, the louder I start to punch the keys….

17. What was your favorite toy as a child? My Mom said that when I was REALLY little that I used to get the most joy out of playing with an empty Kleenex box. Hmmm.

18. What is your favorite, fall or spring? Fall. Hooded sweatshirts, campfires, carving pumpkins, Halloween…

19. Hugs or kisses? Hugs.

20. What kind of pie? I’ll pass on the pie. Unless it’s a pie chart. Those are always fun for an auditor.

21. Living arrangements? A cozy apartment with my MOH and bridesmaid.

22. When was the last time you cried? About a week ago. I had it up to “here” with the wedding planning stress.

23. What is on the floor of your closet? Gold shoes to wear in KTo’s wedding that I haven’t had a chance to break in yet. All my other shoes and clothes are scattered all over my room. Nothing is where it should be. But I will be able to find those shoes come May.

24. Favorite smell? Chris’s cologne, the smell of fall and campfires, the smell of the lake in the summer
25. What inspires you? People with great hair, family & friends, people who can go with the flow.

26. What are you afraid of? Having a bad hair day on our wedding day, heights, the feeling when your stomach drops out when you are falling.

27. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers? Plain with extra pickles only. I despise cheese. I know, I am a freak.

28. Favorite car? Anything with a trunk, since my Jeep doesn’t have one.

29. Favorite cat breed? I’m a dog lover. But if I ever got a cat I would get a big gray or black SUPER poofy one. Like Bridget has on “The Girls Next Door”.

30. Number of keys on your key ring? No idea. Too lazy to look.

31. How many years at your current job? Went to college, got my masters, and passed the cpa exam. Entered the real world 5 months ago.

32. Favorite day of the week? Friday. It’s when the long week is over and I get to see Chris

33. How many states have you lived in? Sadly, only Indiana.

34. How many countries have you been to? Sadly none. Cannot wait for the honeymoon!

The Parents

The happiest people witnessing our big day will undoubtedly be our parents. For all of the things that they have done for us over the years, I am looking for little special ways to thank them during over the course the day.

Renee & Joel's wedding

The bride got the button idea from Martha Stewart’s Wedding magazine. And her husband-to-be made all of them with a button maker! I am a fan of the "Thanks Dad" button!

Travis Hoehne

A special label marks the seat of the Mother of the Bride at this wedding. As seen above, the thought could be carried through to the place cards and escort cards.

How are you planning on honoring your parents on your wedding day?

Aqua, Navy, & Chocolate

Out of the 5 weddings I am going to or going to be in this summer, three of color palettes focus on a hue of plum, including the wedding of yours truly. And clearly gray is the new pink (or chocolate) for weddings this season. Just check out all the gray posts on Elizabeth Anne Designs and the "Gray is the New Black" post at Style Me Pretty. Yellow is becoming more popular, thanks in part to Knottie Springchic. And, of course there are the ever-popular pink and green color palettes. But what about blue?! I fell in love some of the images from the wedding of Brett & Steve featured on The Brides Cafe. So, I thought I would share my love for a color scheme that hasn't been overdone, or done much at all: Aqua, Navy, and Chocolate:

(The Brides Cafe, The Brides Cafe, The Knot)

(The Knot, The Knot, Preston Bailey)

Why strictly stick with one or two colors? I like the look of going with a color family, like illustrated on the inspiration board, and letting the colors compliment themselves. Various shades of tiffany blue, aqua, and navy look so great when paired with this chocolate color....who would have thought?!

I would love to hear from you, are you going out on a limb and picking a unique color palette?

A Locket for the Bouquet

I always knew that on my wedding day I would hand-tie a locket to my bouquet with the pictures of my grandparents inside. It is one of the details that I won't overlook or forgo.

(oh happy blog)

The locket can be placed on the very front of the bouquet, like the one in the picture above. Or it can be hidden under the petals and facing the bride. However its done, its a sweet way to honor important people in your life that cannot physically join you for your big day.

(the preppy wedding)

{Update: See Mrs. Magnolias' bouquet lockets here }

Favor Ideas

One of my daily reads led me right to bakerella, were I started drooling over this:
And now, I present to you: The Favors

(All images from bakerella)

I don't know how I am going to display them, or if they will be packaged. I don't know if it's possible to make plum and or raspberry colored icing. And I sure don't know how I am going to make them a day before the wedding and get them to the reception site to be stored. But what I do know is that our guests will be taking them home as favors (or devouring them right then and there).

Get excited. And visit bakerella! Her blog is loaded with all sorts of easy-to-make treats perfect for wedding showers, favors, or Grey's Anatomy viewing parties (returning April 24, mark your calendars!).

Because I Can

Because I can, today's post will be filled with inspiring images of "this and that." Some eye candy, if you will.

I received such a great response on my Ring Shot post the other day that I put together another one! My favorites are the pink and the blue in the middle. Breathtaking.

(evoke, nicole green, evoke, apertura photo, the brides cafe, evoke)

I think it would be neat to blow it up your ring shot onto a canvas or putting it into an oversize frame and hanging it on a wall in your home. Ours will be on display for sure.

Definitely enjoying this low centerpiece arrangement shot by Jennifer Skog . I was originally going with white centerpieces. Now, of course, I am changing my mind.

Erin over at Lucky Me! had this invitation designed (by her Mom!) for her baby shower. I'm totally ripping it off for our save the dates (the magnet idea is out. tear.) Our picture will replace the damask on the right and then all the save the date info will take up the other 2/3 of the invite. Get excited!

The socks, people. We need to find these socks. ASAP. This shot (by Jose Villa) WILL be recreated at our wedding. The socks are imperative to make the shot work, but I cannot find them. Help!?