I need your help! Be on the lookout!

I am having a hard time with many things. I still need a makeup/hair person(s), a place for our rehersal dinner, the corset bra for my dress and jewelry for myself! My wedding in in Miami Beach so if you have referrals for any of the above please contact me!





The corset bra, at my alteration ladys is $79 and the same at VS...pricy for something I'll never wear again. Any suggestions of where I can find one??

Also, after watching the Miss USA pageant I became inspired. I saw what I want and what I want is to look like this!! I love that it was just beautiful earrings to compliment a gorgeous dress. That's all you really need! Simple, clean and elegant...and they ALL did it! Noone had on anything other than earrings!

Black white and green...I loves it!!

ALERT:

I HAVE PURCHASED 2 MORE DYES.

I WILL ATTEMPT TO DYE MY CRINOLINE 2 MORE TIMES

BEFORE SETTING IT ON FIRE.

{this was supposed to be green!!! ahhhhhh!!!!}

THAT IS ALL.

Little known wedding facts

One of my favorite bloggers, Bridal Bliss posted this, and since it was interesting to me, I thought it'd be interesting to you. Enjoy!


"In case you've ever wondered why certain things are almost always done at weddings, the answers are here (well, at least most of the ones I've wondered about). For example, why the bride carries a bouquet or wears a veil? Or why guests throw rice or rose petals over the newlyweds? Below are the origin and symbolism of some of the most popular Wedding Traditions.

This comprehensive list of wedding traditions comes from a delightful little book entitled The Romance of the Wedding Ceremony by Rev. Richleigh Hale Powers, Ph.D. This book has helped many couples personalize their wedding ceremony in a format that is both enjoyable and easy to use.

THE BRIDE'S BOUQUET
Bridal bouquets have evolved through the ages. Saracen brides carried bouquets of orange blossoms to symbolize fertility, and Roman brides carried sheaves of wheat to symbolize prosperity for their husbands. In the eighteenth century, the practice of carrying a bouquet of flowers or herbs became a popular tradition, which symbolized fragility, purity and new life. Bouquets of dill were among the most popular herb carried. After the ceremony, the dill was eaten to "provoke lust." Today, bridal bouquets are tossed to assembled single women to symbolize new life and to pass on the bride's good fortune.

THE SPECIAL MEANING OF THE BRIDE'S VEIL
The veil represents modesty and respect. It symbolizes the sanctity and exclusiveness of the marriage covenant and reminds the couple and the witnesses that the physical relationship is to be entered into only after the vows are completed.

RICE AND PETALS
In the Middle Ages, handfuls of wheat were thrown over married couples to symbolize the hope for fertility. In modern times, rice is thrown instead of wheat to symbolize fertility. In recent years, flower petals have become another alternative, symbolizing beauty, happiness and prosperity.

SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW, SOMETHING BORROWED, SOMETHING BLUE
Old and new items jointly symbolize the passage from the old unmarried state t that of the new married union. The wearing of a borrowed belonging demonstrates community participation in and approval of the wedding. Blue is worn because it is the color that signifies purity, love, and fidelity.

WHITE AISLE RUNNER
A white aisle runner symbolizes walking on holy ground. A marriage covenant is not made merely between two people and their witnesses. It is made in the presence of God and He is actively involved in the agreement. The white aisle runner symbolizes God's holiness.

SPECIAL SEATING FOR THE PARENTS
The parents of the bride and groom are part of the marriage covenant. The commitments they make during the ceremony are just as binding as the vows of the couple. The final responsibility of parents for their children is to determine with them God's will for a life partner. Thereafter, they serve in a chain of counsel for them and their children. Parents enter in the line of authority and leave in the line of counsel.

THE GROOM ENTERING FIRST
By this action, the groom signifies that he is the covenant initiator. This is important because whoever initiates the covenant assumes great responsibility for seeing it fulfilled.

THE FATHER OF THE BRIDE WALKING DOWN THE AISLE
This action has two meanings. By doing so, the father is saying to the bride, "I am endorsing this young man as God's very best choice of a husband for you, and I am now bringing you to him." In addition, the father is saying to the young man, "I am presenting to you a daughter who I have earnestly endeavored to raise as a pure bride."

THE BRIDE AND GROOM TAKING EACH OTHER'S RIGHT HAND DURING THE CEREMONY
The open right hand offered by each party symbolizes their strength, resources and purpose. By clasping each other's right hand, they pledge these qualities to each other so that each partner can depend on all the resources that the other brings into the covenant relationship. The handclasp goes far beyond sealing the contract. It symbolizes the cleaving together of lives which is to be accomplished in the marriage covenant.

THE GROOM MAKING THE FIRST MARRIAGE VOW
The groom must be the leader and assume greater responsibility for fulfilling the marriage covenant. As covenant initiator, he must commit himself to the purposes of marriage which God established in the beginning, and these must be reflected in his vows.

THE SYMBOLISM OF THE WEDDING RINGS
The wedding rings symbolize the promises binding two people together in marriage. The unbroken circle of the wedding band represents the continuity of undying love. Greek theory believed the fourth finger of the left hand to be connected to the heart, making this the appropriate finger to be "bound" in romantic attachment.

KISSING THE BRIDE
During the Roman Empire, the kiss between a couple symbolized a legal bond. Continued use of the kiss to seal the marriage bond is based on the deeply rooted idea of the kiss as a vehicle for transference of power and souls.

THE COUPLE BEING PRONOUNCED "HUSBAND AND WIFE"
This establishes their change of names and a definite point in time for the beginning of the marriage. These words are to remove any doubt in the minds of the couple or the witnesses concerning the validity of the marriage.

SIGNING THE WEDDING PAPERS
The newlywed couple signs the wedding papers to establish a public document and a continuing public record of the covenant.

SIGNING THE GUEST BOOK
Wedding guests are official witnesses to the covenant. By signing the guest book, they are saying, "I have witnessed the vows, and I will testify to the reality of this marriage." Because of this significance, the guest book should be signed after the wedding rather than before it.

THE PURPOSE OF THE RECEIVING LINE
The receiving line is for guests to give their blessings to the couple and their parents.

THE MEANING OF SERVING FOOD AT THE RECEPTION
Food is part of the covenant celebration. It further symbolizes the unity of the couple. Entering into a meal itself is a form of covenant.

THE BRIDE AND GROOM FEEDING WEDDING CAKE TO EACH OTHER
This represents the sharing of their body to become one. A New Testament illustration of this symbolism is The Lord's Supper."

straight from Bridal Bliss

Few more things in the works:

So I dont know if I explained how apparently every single thing I like is "so last year"... My wedding dress:DISCONTINUED. Flower girl I want:DISCONTINUED. The green dye for everyones shoes: DISCONTINUED....the material for the runners, you guessed it: DISCONTINUED!! I dont know whats up, someone has a sick sense of humor becuase if planning a wedding is hard imagine finding the item you like (scratch that LOVE) and then being told sorry, you cant have it!

But I will not compromise my vision!! The damask print for the runners was found after searing 7 different Jo-Ann Fabric, for this effect:
***another great My Mom creation***

This is almost exactly what I'll be doing except for my notations, the menus and I'll have Chavarri chairs :)

and then the dye for the shoes....aye the dye! Well again the greens you usually see for wedding are more pastel...I am not a pastel kind of person so my green is called celery and I've found 1 Davids Bridal that carries it for this effect:

What do you think??

Kickin it Old School

Another post about Mrs. V's wedding!!! I'm a big believer in the non-traditional, seeing the unexpected, and all things that fall within that realm...check out some more sneak peeks in to Mrs. V's wedding that I definately appreciated:

For the Bride and Her bridesmaids

For the groom and his groomsmen

Put it all together and what do you get??

Love it!

all photos courtesy of herastudios.com

Beauty on Budget

This post is dedicated to new bride and Facebook buddy Mrs. V!
I always felt you HAD to have centerpieces! They must be huge they must be extravagent or the table would look bare....and then Mrs. V got married and look what she did with bold colors, print, petal and a candelabra :)

Guest Tables




Sign -Table

Sweethearts Tables

Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. V! beautifully done!

and I'm sure it costs hell of a lot less then I'm spending! lol Ah well, life is all about lessons learned!

all photos courtesy of herastudios.com

Cool DIY site!

Wordle is this funky tool, where you enter some text, hit a few buttons, and you have created a great piece of art-work. The above was created using the lyrics to Ribbon in the Sky which I plan to walk down the aisle to :) and who knows maybe you'll see this around my wedding somewhere!!

Now when I say "Pro" you say "Gress"!

Progess! Progress!! I'm so psyched! and if you know me I'm not easily psyched for fear that things will fall through..taking a minute to knock on wood....but we've found and purchased dresses for the Bridal Party!!! 3 out of my 6 girls are sorta ready to go... By sorta I mean my MOH didnt find it in her size so she ordered on and hopefully when it comes in it'll fit.

As for the dresses they came from White HouseBlack Market Outlet and were on sale for $29.99!!! So my MOH and M(atron)OH will be wearing different styles from the rest of the girls and my MOH will be in Black and white while everyone else will be in black with a green sash {we have yet to start the hunt for the sashes} and I of course in white...the struggle ahead lies in the other 3 being able to find the same dresses...They're in an outlet, which means not everyone will be able to find them...and the other girls are in NY, Miami, and WPB so fairly spreadout. I'll keep my fingers crossed though ;0) My goal is the above, wish me luck!

Feeling inspired...

Now this song is in no way new, but driving home today from the gym I heard Jason Mzra's "I'm Yours"... I just pictured a nice slow stroll down the aisle up to my love to this song...I dont know, what do you think?

Well open up your mind and see like me

open up your plans and damn you're free

look into your heart and you'll find love love love love

listen to the music at the moment people dance and sing

Were just one big family

And it's our godforsaken right to be loved loved loved loved loved

So, i won't hesitate no more,

no more, it cannot wait i'm sure

there's no need to complicate our time is short

this is our fate

I'm yours

The Wedding March is so 1980s

Dancing down the aisle is the hot new wedding trend and I realllllyyyy think we'll be joining in on the trend!







Now to coordinate BMs that are spread all over the East Coast... GMs that have 2 left feet and the kids in our bridal party that I have no clue what their situation is! LOL We'll see but I'd really like to do this.

Here we go again....

In my last wedding related post I was uber excited that we'd gotten a date and time for our ceremony. Well last night after talking to Mr. D's family we're having second thought. Our ceremony is to take place at 7:30, last about 45 minutes, pictures afterwards, then a cocktail hour, then food then dancing.... meaning the food wouldnt be until about 11pm.... which is super late and doesnt leave much time for dancing. His aunt is saying we either need to find another church that can do it earlier (ours only offers 4:30 or 7:30 because they have confession and mass in between and 4:30 was already taken) or X the church.... find a priest that'll do it at the venue and save the $900 they're charging us. Also, when we were there no one could tell us how much the music would cost (not included in that $900), so I emailed the music director to find out it's another $300...so now we're up to $1200....

Mr. D is almost all but convinced that we should just have the ceremony at the venue. My only concern is that "walking down the aisle" feel. Am I willing to give that up? Other than saying "I do" that walk is HUGE! Walking through those doors up the aisle to the alter, standing before God.... I just dont know. I hate how I make a decision and then people have advice! Why didnt they mention all of that before we drove 4 hours to Miami and gave a 50% deposit!? Now his dad is going to talk to a priest they know, and we'll go fro there. But what do you think I should do??

You guys are making me look bad...

So I've been on billions of blogs and everyone is sooooooo creative in their method of proposing to their bridesmaids...I've seen fancy cards, fancy gifts....well I'm not at all creative {we'll I have ideas I just can't create} and I'm broke!! So in my own way I wanted to let my girls know that I appreciate them... Dont laugh at me! It's my first time doing this and I will never claim to be Martha Stewart or anything close... So here's how I proposed to my MOH and one of my bridesmaids:



Needless to say they said yes lol but who can turn down red velvet cupcakes with chocolate frosting?? {no matter how ugly the lettering} like I said I'm no Martha but I try.

Take a look

aqua dream - by omy_o_my on Polyvore.com

Let me intoduce you to my first creation...it's a little biit funky and ALOT me

made this one too...has nothing to do with my theme but enjoy

Our signature drink

Mr. D is Cuban and we love the cool clean look of mojitos and its tie to his culture so are thinking and hoping to have it as our signature drink. During our research we've found there are countless renditions of the same basic recipe. {ie. Strawberry, Raspberry, Pear, Coconut, Mango, etc.}

For your drinking pleasure here's the classic recipe:

1 part rum

3 parts club soda

12 mint leaves

1/2 lime

1/2 part sugar

add mint sugar and lime together and muddle, add rum and top off with club soda. Add mint, lime wheel or sugar cane for garnish :)

http://www.bacardimojito.com/home/default.aspx

I also recommend trying the Strawberry Mojito at Applebees. It's awesome and HUGE! I dont eat there, have never like it but went there once with friends and that one drink makes it worth the drive!

Bouquet ideas

this is my absolute LOVE since I'm leaning towards green black and white as my theme...

white anenomes with black centers with French tulips and sweet peas tucked in

ranunculus or peonies
Roses and some sort of cactustulips (this was my 1st choice)spider mums...maybe as an accenta whole lotta flowers!and nope, I have no intentions of throwing it so keep your eyes off my bouquet!

13 months...that's nothing!

So I downloaded that countdown {to the right} last night and just ealized that I'llbe M. D is 13 month! That is sooooooooooooooooooooo scary! I mean I've had headaches that lasted longer than that! 13 months is nothing and I still have so much to do!

Linens

chivari chairs

catering

BM gowns

church

accesories

bartending

invitations

programs

menus

flowers

GUESTLIST!

omg...and that's just what's on the top of my mind, I'm sure I missed a gillion more things! So, you see, 13 months is nothing!

Will you be my bridesmaid??

So yes, the thought that "I'll be damed if anyone looks better than me at my wedding!" has gone through my head...i'll admit it! But at the end of the day my girls are a reflection of me...and those dresses a reflection of my taste...and those pictures are forever!

So with that said, I will not be a bridezilla in that regard...I havent picked a color but I have ideas...I also dont know if everyone will wear the same dress or just the same color different style..or 2 styles or....well I just dont know! So anywho...these are my ideas, compliments of Davids Bridal:



So I think you can atleast tell that I'm leaning towards a shorter style with a little more coverage up top. I think these are all really elegant and not too stuffy. LOVING the black one and the last champage one! So what do you think? Will you??

Living above my bridal means

So I'm having this issue..maybe you can relate? I am not being strict about my saving! I mean I regularly deposit money in the ING wedding fund...but other than that...any bonuses I get from work...not making it to the bank.

Ex. On Monday maybe I got a $200 bonus...I used that to go grocery shopping, spent about $70 there, went out to dinner, movies, Kennedy Space Center and this weekend we're hitting up St. Augustine.

Even better example....I was about to get a pedicure yesterday...I was driving there and talked myself into buying polish and just doing it myself. I ended up with arms full of polish and spent $35 buck on nail polish...I've NEVER bought that much polish but I just got carried away! And I couldnt possibly leave any of them, they all had a purpose. I have a neutral baby pink on my hands for work, and yellow {that's right I'm rockin the yellow!} on my toes just to make me smile...and they look amazing!

So I feel guilty! That's the whole point of this post btw...to release my guilt into the world and let this post set me free!! This wedding planning is really stressful! Mr. D, as much as I hate to admit it, is no help, it's not his thing and he's not into the little details of it, so every chance I get I treat myself.

My friend Busy Vee, she tells a tale of a time long ago when she was planning and she would forgo a good eyebrow thread and leg wax for the good of the wedding. I havent forgone anything...I just think it's the only way I'll keep my sanity! Does that male me a bad budgeting bride??

P.S. I can admit to all of this because he only reads my blog when I make him :) So I'd appreciate your discretion in the matter