Little updates: bridesmaids and favours

The bridesmaid dresses arrive (super quickly!) and they are gorgeous! Only problem is, they don't fit. Fortunately, we were able to send them back to be replaced with the next size up so everything should be fine. The eBay seller that we ordered them from was so lovely and really helpful - and I really do think the dresses look lovely - even if they wouldn't fasten all the way up!

Excuse the slightly weird expressions on my sisters' faces - they did like the dresses, I promise!

I also bought the test tubes for our Damson Vodka Shot favours!

100 tubes, with caps for £15.99. Bargain!

I'm really excited about these - the plan is to make little cards to attach with ribbon, which will double as place cards. I think they're going to look really nice.

Spending money = eek!

There have been several wedding related updates since my last post - arguably the most important of which is that I finally ordered my dress! Hurray!

I'm so excited - I can't wait until it is ready and I can try it on!

I also ordered a simple bolero to wear with the dress, which I got off eBay for £15. I will try to remember to take a photograph of it at some point.

The second very exciting purchase this week was the bridesmaid dresses. You might remember the post where I revealed the bridesmaid dresses and how I mentioned that I wanted to order them soon in case they became unavailable. Well, guess what? When I checked again, I couldn't find them anywhere! Just my luck. But it all worked out okay, because while looking for the original dresses, I found some other dress that I loved!

This dress is very similar to the first dress I chose - it has the same halter neck, very similar bust and same flowing skirt. The only real difference is that this dress is chiffon instead of satin, but I think chiffon will be more comfortable in August anyway!

This dress is available from an eBay seller called Dresselicious for just over £40 each. I have ordered 4 of them, but 2 of them are pre-order because they didn't have the correct size left in stock, so they will take 6 to 8 weeks to make.

Just last night, I decided to buy the test tubes that we will be serving our Damson Vodka Favours in. I got 100 of the 20ml tubes, with caps for £15.99. Absolute bargain! And this past weekend, we got the hair extensions that I'll be wearing on the day.

It is really nice to actually be able to buy things for the wedding, as opposed to just looking, and bookmarking websites! I am really enjoying be able to choose things and not have people say "well, come back when it's a bit closer to the wedding".
However, it also feels a bit weird - to be actually spending the money in "the wedding fund" is a very strange feeling indeed!

One thing that is making me feel better however, is the quote from our venue. The final figure was less than I was expecting (not dramatically less, but pleasingly less!) and I feel like I can relax now, knowing exactly what money will be going where.

Anyway, we will have a busy wedding related weekend coming up - we're going to finalise the guy's suit choices on Saturday, then off to a wedding fayre at our venue on Sunday. I can't wait!

Of Bridesmaid Dresses and Wedding Licenses

I know, I know - I haven't updated for ages, but I have been crazy busy at work. Deepest apologies, and to make it up to you, I will show you  picture of the bridesmaid dress that we have finally decided on!

From the front

From the back

Pretty, right? They don't come with the belts, so I'm going to tell the bridesmaids that they if they want to wear a belt, they can choose their own black one. That way they all have the same dress, but there is a little bit of individuality coming through with the belts. They also don't come with the underskirt, but we are going to wait until the girls try them on to see if they actually need one. My mum says she could make the underskirts if we decide we want them (which we probably will).

I love this dress! I love the 50's style, the colour, the halter neck, sweetheart neckline, everything. I especially love the price! This dress is available from this eBay shop for only £34.99.

Now all we need to do is order them! I really want to order them now, because I'm impatient like that, but I know at least one of the bridesmaids wants to wait a few months because she is planning on losing weight. I might have to demand the dresses be ordered soon though, because I will constantly be worrying that the dresses will sell out and be unavailable by the time we get around the actually buying them!

I will be asking the girls to wear black shoes on the day, but I don't mind what kind, and they certainly don't need to match or anything. I will also need to speak to the girls about their hair, as I don't necessarily want them to have matching styles, but I'd like to either all have their hair up, or all have it down. 

The other very exciting thing that Karl and I did since the last post, was go down to the registry office to give notice of marriage! They will display the notice for 15 days, in which time anyone can raise objections, and then on the 16th day, our marriage license will be issued and be valid for a year. It's nice to get all the legal formalities out of the way, it makes everything feel a lot more real!
It was really simple to give notice, just lots of repeating our names and addresses, and confirming that neither of us had ever been married before. We had a few issues with the fact that Karl doesn't have a passport yet, so had to take his birth certificate and a parents birth certificate. However, the only parent he is on contact with (his dad) is not actually named on the birth certificate (long story!). Luckily, the registrar took pity on bus and let us off with just Karl's paperwork. Unfortunately, she didn't let us off the fee - £33.50 each!

Bridesmaid Mood Board

Bridesmaid Mood Board by kaygray on Polyvore.com

I created this mood board on Polyvore, to show the general bridemaid look that I'm hoping for. 

What do you think?

Bridesmaid Gifts!

WARNING! IF YOU ARE ONE OF MY BRIDESMAIDS, STOP READING NOW! YOU WILL SPOIL THE SURPRISE! 

Remember a while ago, I posted about ordered some cosmetic bags from ArtsCow with their bargain discount code? Well they arrived today!

I have to say, I am so impressed! They all came individually packaged inside cloth bags, and the quality is fantastic! I am really pleased that the colours and designs I chose are exactly the same.

I ordered 6 cosmetic bags - 4 for the bridesmaids, 1 for me and 1 for Karl. I had the bridesmaids names put on one side, and a tag with "Bridesmaid Survival Kit" on the other side. 

The bags are a really nice size, big enough to fit everything in, but still compact. They also have a small zip pocket on the inside.

As part of the bridesmaids gifts, I'm going to collect lots of little cosmetics and things to make the survival kits. So far I've thought of:

• makeup removal wipes
• nail file
• lip gloss
• safety pins
• hair clips
• lint roller
• breath mints
• mini hairspray
• blotting paper
• party feet
• paracetamol

I also ordered a bag for me to use on the morning of the wedding, and one to make a Grooms Survival Kit.

In this one, I think I'll put:

• mini bottle of Jack Daniels
• breath mints
• safety pins
• spare socks
• deodorant
• mini  body spray
• lint roller
• spare buttonhole pins
• plasters
• tums
• paracetamol

I mad it black and very simple so that it looked more manly, and less like a makeup bag!

Anyway, I am very impressed with ArtsCow - I would definitely reccomend them for personalised gifts and such. And with the discount codes, you can get some decent bargains!

Bridesmaids fabric swatches

You may recall my post a while back about the bridesmaid dresses that each girl had designed on Style Shake. Well I asked them for some fabric swatches so that I could check the colour, and they arrived today.

I asked for a sample of the Violet Silk, the Purple Cotton and the Matt Silver Cotton. My plan was to have the dresses in purple cotton with silver sashes. However, when the samples came, I think I prefer the violet silk!

 

You can't really see the colours properly on this photo, but the violet silk is more of a bright, cadburys purple, which is what I wanted.  The purple cotton looks more like burgundy to me and the more I look at it, the more I don't like it! 

It's a shame, because I wanted the dresses to be cotton because it will probably be hot and I just thought that cotton would be more comfortable than silk. 

There is also the price to consider. The dresses in cotton were around £54 each, which I though was a pretty decent price. The dresses in silk are about £80. Now this might not be too bad in the (ridiculously overpriced) world of bridesmaid dresses, but to me, that is a lot of money for a dress. I have never spent £80 on a dress in my life. My wedding dress will not even cost double that! As much as I've prattled on about letting the girls design their own dress so that they have one they really love, at the end of the day, I am making them buy a dress in a certain colour, fabric and general style. The least I can do is let them save some money!

So at the moment I am unsure what we will be doing for bridesmaid dresses. :-(

I really want the Style Shake dresses (who wouldn't want to do business with a company that starts their letters with "Hellooooooooo" ?!)  so maybe I will have to discuss with the bridesmaids how much they are willing to spend. I will also keep an eye out for any high street dresses that fit the bill.

Holy Cow!

Have you heard of ArtsCow? I hadn't until a few days ago - but it is a site that prints your photos onto all sorts of products (such as bags, umbrellas, playing cards, keyrings etc ).

Very cool, but a little bit pricey. Especially when you consider the fact that it is an American site and so the shipping to the UK is about £25. Anyway, the best thing about ArtsCow is that it is similar to Vistaprint in that you can sign up to the news letter and they will send you deals.

Today I received an email from them, offering 3 cosmetic bags for $8, with free shipping when you use the code 3COSMETIC8 before the 2nd of October 2010.

You can have anysize cosmetics bag (small, medium, large or extra large) and you can customise them however you want with photos, colours, text, patterns etc.

So I thought they would work well to hold the bridesmaid gifts I'm planning (I won't go into detail incase any of them are lurking...). I decided on the large cosmetic bags, which are $11.99 each, so 3 for $8 is a massive bargain.

I chose a different background pattern for each bridesmaid and put their names on one side. Since I have 4 bridesmaids and the offer is 3 for $8, I also designed one for myself and one as a "Grooms Survival Kit" which I'm going to put things like breathmints, spare socks, cufflinks etc in for Karl on the morning of the wedding.

Here's the one for me to keep bits of makeup, hair grips and probably chocolate in:

I was trying to keep it simple, and I wanted it bright green so I wouldn't lose it! You can make them as detailed as you like, with as many photos or embelishments as you can fit.

Anywho, so I had 6 bags at $11.99 each, plus about $25 minimum for shipping. I put in the code and got it all for $16 (which was just under £10.62) and free shipping. According to the website, that was a discount of over $80. Bargain!

I imagine you could use ArtsCow for lots of things, maybe favours (I love the playing cards with your picture on them, or the keyrings) or even Save The Date's or invitations. At the very least, you could get your wedding photo's printed on pretty much whatever you like!

Just sign up to the news letter and wait for the offers to come through. If you are in the UK then I would reccommend waiting for one that offers free shipping, as that costs more than the products do!

 [all pictures from www.artscow.com]

Flower Power!

Our flowers arrived from Excelsior Wholesale  this morning (super fast delivery or what??) and I am really pleased with them.

A very large box. I wonder what it could be...

it's...some paper?

 It's a box full of flowers!

Everything laid out nicely

So there it is! I am loving the lime green roses! I was a bit unsure of them on the website as they looked a tiny bit too bright, but when they got here they are so lovely. I'm also very impressed with how realistic the foam flowers look - my mum even tried to smell them!

Anyway, everything came packaged really well, with plastic bags over all the flower heads and the stems all tied together.

If you have a very keen eye and an even better memory, you might notice that in my previous post I said I had ordered Vibutnam, but there is no Viburnam in the picture. That's because they were all out, so I changed it to spider mums instead:

spider mum

which I don't like very much now that they are here. The colour looks better in this photo, but in the real life it is more of a dirty, khaki type green. But never mind, luckily we don't really need them.

So my mum and I had a play around at making a bridesmaid bouquet - what do you think?

Bridemaids bouquet

close up of bridesmaid bouquet

I'm really pleased with them - I think they have just the right combination of green to white and they are a really nice size. If we had used the spider mums of viburnam, they would have been to big, I think.

Next, we had a go at the birde's bouquet. This is using the same roses as the bridesmaids, plus the purple eustoma and agapanthus:

Bride's bouquet

Close up of bride's bouquet

I am so in love with my bouquet! I love the colours, I love the size, I love everything! It took us a while of playing around with it to get each flower exactly where we wanted it, but I'm so happy with the end result.

Karl also decided that he would like the green roses for the buttonholes (remember how his only choice up til now had been blue or black roses?!). I'm very happy he chose those, since they are what I wanted, lol. 

I had a little play, cutting down the stem and wrapping it in ribbon to see what it would look like:

Buttonhole

Buttonhole

I think these are so cute!

I also had a play about with making a corsage, which our mums will wear:

Corsage

I was trying to keep them nice and simple and I'm really happy with how this looks.

After that, I decided that I might as well have a go at putting the other bridesmaid bouquets together:

Bride's, 4 bridesmaids, a buttonhole and a corsage

I have just put a little bit of stemtex around the bouquet stems to hold everything in place. but we can still take them apart and rearrange them if we want. I might have a little play about with them before I bind them properly and wrap the ribbon around the stems.

I must say though, I have a new found respect for florists! It is really hard to arrange a bouquet - you need 3 hands!

Now I'm wondering if they will be ok stored as bouquets for so long, or whether I should store them as seperate stems and put them together again right before the wedding?

My bridesmaids have such good taste!

I am having 4 bridesmaids - my friend, Christine and my 3 sisters, Kim, Kat and Kara.

And yes, before you ask, my sisters and I all have names starting with K, and so does my fiancé.

Anyway, back to the point. I have 4 bridesmaids - Kara will be 14, Kat will be 21, Christine will be 24 and Kim will be 26. So when it comes to choosing dresses I needed something suitable for both the youngest and the oldest girls.

I always wanted knee length dress for the girls, because the wedding wont be formal enough for long dresses, and none of the girls are particularly blessed in the height department (sorry, but it's true!) so floor length dresses would not be the most flattering option for them.

So we started looking on the highstreet for purple, knee length dresses as we definitely did not want to pay the prices of proper bridesmaids dresses. No more than £100 a dress, and that was an absolute maximum if it was an amazing dress.

A couple of dresses that I liked:

Debenhams

Debenhams

Debenhams

Monsoon

ASOS

I figured it would be easy - purple seems to be everywhere on the highstreet at the moment, and I'd seen so many gorgeous dresses, the only difficult decision was going to be choosing which one!

Unfortunately, I didn't factor in my sisters and their very conflicting ideas about what the dresses should be like.

My older sister, Kim, is a curvy girl and basically refused to have a strapless dress, or spaghetti straps, or halter neck. And she didn't want anything too clingy or tight. Fair enough. But then there's my younger sister, Kat, who is a teeny tiny petite girl and would prefer something strapless, or halter neck ad preferably slinky. Right...

To be fair, my youngest sister Kara, and my other bridesmaid Christine have been very good, and seem perfectly happy to wear whatever I choose. But I'm very aware that Kara will only be 14, so I don't want her in a strapless dress or anything too grown up.

So all that left me with only one option: a different dress for each girl.

And I'm very happy with that - I don't need them to be all matchy with the dresses, I just need them to be comfortable and happy. However, I do want the dresses to all be the same colour. Exactly the same colour.

I'd heard about Styleshake.com, where you can design your own dress, so I thought I'd check it out.

You can choose to design a dress, top or skirt and you start by choosing the fabric. There is silk, poly-silk, cotton and jersey. You can get lots of different colours depending on which fabric you choose.

I went for purple cotton - because it was the right shade of purple, and because the silk looked too shiny for my liking.

I was pleasantly surprised at how simple it was. You get this lovely model in her underwear, and you choose each part of the dress, step by step. You start with the upper body, choosing the style, e.g. empire line, dropped waist, natural waist etc.

You just continue, choosing the neckline, sleeves, waist panel, skirt and trimmings. So simple, and there are just enough options to give you a wide choice without being too much.

So I let my bridesmaids loose on Style Shake, giving them the instructions that their dress had to be purple cotton and knee length, and if they wanted trimmings they could be purple or white.

I have to admit, I was a little bit worried that they might come back with something horrible, but I should have trusted them more. My bridesmaids have such good taste!

Kim's dress

Kat's dress

Christine's dress

Kara's dress

Gorgeous, right? I really love each dress and I think they look amazing together. Kat gets her slinky halter neck and Kim gets her sleeves and loose skirt. Kara originally chose a one-shoulder top, but we decided it was a bit too sexy for a 14 year old, so we compromised on a halter neck, and I added an extra panel to make the neckline a tiny bit higher.

My favourite thing about these dresses? The amazing price! Kara's and Kat's are £57 each and Kim's and Christine's are £54 each. I think that's a bargain for a custom made dress!

Plus, Style Shake give 10% off on orders for bridesmaids (3 or more dresses).

I just need to order a fabric swatch to make sure it's perfect. I probably wont decide to order the actual dresses until a bit closer to the wedding, to make sure they fit right (Kim, especially, is shrinking before my very eyes!).

But seriously, I'm so impressed with my bridesmaids and their excellent taste!