I'm a big shot...

Or at least I will be after I buy this great new toy!!! I will use it to create a textured envelope flap for my invitations because I think that's just haute sh!t lol!!!!

I am a huge fan of Stampin Fabulosity and she has created several great and awesome projects using this system!

I want to create these fun and cool yet chic embossed envelope flaps with it for our invitations....

(Ms. Duckling's STDs )

I am even considering doing a die cut of a chandelier and making a pocket fold type thingie with it...

(Something like the one on the left from Paper Nosh, picture courtesy of Blush Events)

Here is the dicut that I was thinking of getting (the Chandelier uses the same as the cuttlebug which is another advantage of getting it!!)

The inside would still totally have a chandelier or two on them and the pocket fold would be very very simple probably only card stock folded in half something like the Basic Pocket Fold Jacket on the left.

I am thinking of using a silver metallic paper or a blue metallic paper with a black insert for the cards and the invite stamped in the metallic silver I think.  I am also thinking of the chandelier matching the inner cardstock color with perhaps a shimmery black or something like that and tying it with a great ribbon.

Semi DIY invitations, Sandra Lee ain't got nothing on me!!!

I'm soo excited, I have been thinking about my invite designs of course as soon as I had completed my save the dates. I wanted something elegant and posh and modern and wow. I remembered back when Sciz and I decided we were going to learn calligraphy and began searching calligraphers on the internet to see how much they charged to design invites etc. I was blown away at the prices (faint). Then I found www.calligraphybyjennifer.net and it was a SCORE! She and I have been conversing back and forth and she can do our names in a digital format (I am using a level four font) and I will design the invites and print them out but our names will have the custom calligraphy. And the it's not too cost prohibitive especially since I'll be doing my own printing and the rest of the design Here are my fave fonts by her.




Platinum Flourish I think this is our number one font, can you imagine our names in the scrolly squirly swirly fonts?!

and Hollywood Swirl... love ths one too but it's not as dramatic and the first one and we know I'm all about the drama!!

She will also be addressing our inner and outer envelopes and I'll use a lower tier font for price purposes... This is a Level 2 about 1.50 to 1.75 depending on if I choose Monoline or traditional calligraphy
Flourished Italic

This is also an invite by Jennifer and it sort of sparked my aha moment (yes I had an Oprah moment)... Our invites will have our names in an incredibly scrolled and large design and the rest will be a stock print that I will design and the chandelier will be stamped in the background or on the right hand side!!! i'm soooo excited!!!!!!  This design is from Jennifer as well.

I think I may attempt to make the above  invitation look more like this with my new stamps  I think the juxtaposition of the imperfect stamps with the perfect names will be amazing, don't you?

There is something so deductive and sexy about a black invitation, don't you agree? (source) but we could still stamp it with three different chandeliers in a metallic silver?  So sexy and vintage.

I will probably be adding little crystals at the bottom of the chandelier (gotta have a little bit of bling, right?!)

First Wedding Purchase!!!

I am soo very excited!  Thanks to my good friend, Kris (KMSULL), I discovered these wonderful chandelier stamps for all of my wedding related projects!!! This totally rocks!! I have soo many plans for these, our OOT bags, our invitations, the envelopes for our invitations, our thank you cards, our RSVP cards our menus, our... hell I don't know our everything!! I think I'm about to go utterly chandelier insane!  They say you can have too much of a good thing, I say naught!! LMAO I hope M is able to reign me in!
And here it is (duh duh duh) .....

Just thought of another project, little cut chandelier-y type monogram tags for our pecan candy favors!!

Anyone who is blogging with me, please text to raise $5.00 for Haitian relief

Wyclef on the ground in Haiti, "We need to raise a million dollars a day". Donate $5 to Haitian Earthquake Relief by texting YELE to 501501 (Wyclef Jean's charity is organizing this effort) Please post this on your FB page, on your blog pages, twitter, everything. I am in tears watching CNN and would love to see if we can make a difference.  Remember it only takes one small step to make a big change.

Bless you and give your family hugs and kisses.

A love affair... my photographer has been chosen

Have you ever seen a photo so striking that it brought tears to your eyes?  For me, my tears came looking at the work of the phenomenal, great and funny Fola Adewole.  I saw her work and blinked to hold back the welling emotion. I remember the very first shot I saw, a great and sassy couple on rocks at a beach, she was wearing a gorgeous blue bathing suit, he a cool pair of shorts and they were holding their initials, JB.  I thought "WOW.  What a cool ass shot. I love that, I wish I could have a photographer like that whenever I am married (insert sigh)".  I then shrugged it off, no more daydreaming, I'm not yet engaged, but my clients were, I thought to myself.

I then emailed Fola asking if she traveled.  I was astonished by her prompt response, her enthusiasm and her prices!  I was very happy thinking to myself "Well, at least if one of my clients book her I can use her work for my own portfolio".  Little did I know that six months later I would be able to book her for my very own wedding!!! I have a love affair with her artistry, her persona and her talent.  To say I cannot wait to see what my pictures look like is an understatement. I honestly hope that my wedding lives up to her talent.   For me Fola captures the essence of people, I feel as if I have been given a glimpse into someone's most intimate moments and yes ladies, she is booked, she is mine!!!!!

Now, let's see if you get the same emotion that I received from her pictures...

 All photos courtesy of Fola Adewole .

The beauty

The passion (Source)

The laughter

The love

And the Artist (and yes she loves kick-ass gadgets too!!)

 I plan weddings for a living, and I know the difference a phenomenal photographer can make and for me, photography was not something up for negotiation.  I am so happy with my "magazine quality" photographer (M's words not mine). 

Did you have a love affair with your photographer before you booked them as well?

My centerpieces!!

These are actual pictures of the feathers I'll be using...

I will also be using the white garden roses in silver mint julep cups.

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The entire look will be a lot like this picture without the damask runner, I may use a black runner though to tie in the colors against a cool blue tablecloth.

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I do my little turn on the catwalk

Some of you have met Sophia, but you didn't meet the other poor ladies that didn't make the cut.  I have been feeling down about my weight my entire engagement (all 8 days of it lol!!!) but I definitely knew I wanted to be sexy, a screen siren, a well diva.  I have gained a fairly substantial amount of weight since M and I began dating a year and a half ago and well it shows.  After speaking with my assistant and friend, I agreed to go to Alfred Angelo to just "look" and get an idea for what type of dress I like.  If you view my previous posts you know that the look is slim and ruched and oh so sexy.

I literally wanted a dress that made me sing the brilliant lyrics of Right said Fred, "I do my little turn on the catwalk..... WILL I BE ABLE TO COMPLETE THE SONG???

Wax on Wax off, Wax on, Wax off (wait that's not right)

Hmmmm I sort of hear the lyrics but something's not quite right... No, I don't hear the lyrics, that's the sound of that ugly ass bow on my ass.

A whole new world, a new fantastic point of view, no one to tell us no (sound of record scratching, wait a minute this ain't the song!)

I don't think you ready for this jelly I don't think you ready for this jelly I don't think you ready because my body too bootylicious for ya baby... (We're getting closer but this still doesn't do it for me)

In the still of the niiiigght I held you, held you tight... (wait wrong wrong wrong)

I'm a I'm a DIVA I'm a I'm a DIVA a Diva is a female version of a hustler of a hustler of a hustler

La la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la Doo do do do do oooo AYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEE loving you has made me feel the colors that you bring stay with me while we grow old and we will spend each day in the spring time

I am in love with you, you set me free... I can't do this thing called life without you here with me.  I am dangerously in love with you...

(record scratching) I DO MY LITTLE TURN ON THE CATWALK

I'm too sexy for my shirt

 too sexy for my shirt

SO SEXY IT HURTS!!!

SING IT WITH ME NOW!!!

I'M TOO SEXY FOR MILAN

TOO SEXY FOR MILAN NEW YORK AND JAPAN!

And I'm too sexy for your party

Too sexy for your party
No way I'm disco dancing

I'm a model you know what I mean

And I do my little turn on the catwalk

Yeah on the catwalk on the catwalk yeah

I do my little turn on the catwalk

Did you hear music when you tried your dresses on, what were you looking for when you began dress shopping?  BTW Sophia aka Alfred Angelo 2047 was the first dress I tried on and the last EIGHT pictures posted here, yes I heard several different songs while looking at her from various angles, and she conveys everything I ever wanted to convey being a 30 year old bride.  As Bey infamously put it, some call it arrogant, I call it confident) 

(BTW she comes in SLIGHTLY over budget at 625.00 +125.00)

The art of negotiation...

I am currently in the beginning process of blocking the hotel rooms for our guests.  I will have anywhere from 30-40 guests coming from out of town to witness our marriage.  The town that we are getting married in is a very small quaint town, full of antebellum homes and history.  I have chosen three different avenues for guests. 

One is a 200 suite golf course on 18 pristine holes.  The prices range from $159-200 per night for the suites.

They have 2 two bedroom suites (wouldn't it be great if some of my guests decide to share and save moolah?!)

The next is 12 bedroom antebullum home, I am waiting to receive the pricing for it (which may mean it's too expensive since I had to ask, I'll let y'all know if I'm pleasantly surprised). Unfortunately this home has a history of slavery, some of my guests may not mind, others may be turned away.

And finally a very budget friendly option on the lake.  If guests are on a definite budget, they will be happy with this choice, this option is priced at only $75.00 per night.

I am only blocking 10 rooms each at the larger hotel and 5 rooms at the antebellum home.  I, of course, am determined to get my guests the best bang for their buck.  How did you go about blocking hotel room guests for your OOT guests?

How to Save the Date while Saving money?!

I think I may have figured out an awesome way to save money while saving the date!   Here's what you'll need to complete this easy project:

• a google account
• pictures of you and your fiance, your reception site, etc
• an idea of accommodations for out of town guests to include
• everyone's email address

Yep that's it, no fancy software, no learning curve, nada!  Here are the steps to create your very on slide show save the dates!!!

1. Log into your google account or create one at google .
2. Click on the documents tab, it will open a new window.
3. There is a drop down tab labeled create new, click on that.
4. You would like to create a new presentation.
5. You can begin working on your document from there adding new backgrounds etc....
6. BUT I'm lazy and decided to see if someone else did the work for me :o)
7. Sure enough after searching for wedding in the template section, I found Tony and Rita's wedding album and decided to use the template by clicking the button entitled use template.
8. After deleting a few pictures that I didn't need and the first page, I was able to complete my email-able slideshow for my guests!!! 

Here's the completed project, let me know what you think!!!!  All pictures were taken by me.

Total Cost of project: $0.00!!

Helpful hints for this project are as follows:

***Link the hotel information for your guests so they will be able to utilize the email in the future

***Give them an idea of the weather during this presentation

***Don't make the presentation more than 4 or 5 pages or else it will become cumbersome

***I included where we were registered and had it hyperlinked to the stores

There are even forms that you can send for guests to put their information (versus emailing it to you), there are also various forms and invitations that are predone (and it's all free!!!)

I am so excited to send these out to guests.  The feedback from the bridal party, including M has been phenomenal thus far.

How are you creating your save the dates?

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There are times when you don't realize how blessed and how lucky you are. Today I received the greatest gift ever in the mail from a very very very dear friend. I am so surprised and lucky to get exactly what I wanted in a ring and a proposal. Tonight I didn't pop the question he did.   And my very dear friend will get a rocking present as a thank you!


Tonight my M (with the help of our 8 year olds) got down on one knee and asked me to marry him with the most gorgeous aqua ever!!!

Now with the macro working lol!!!

I just noticed that the below picture has all of my wedding colors in it except the gold!!! they look great together lol!!!!

Move over candy buffet, How about a Breakfast Dessert Buffet

OMG I had an epiphany while chatting with one of my friends, Kristen (shout out to Kris!) and thought it would be awesome to do a buffet of only donuts and sweets instead of candies!  I would use rice krispy treats, plain glazed dounts, chocolate donuts, donuts with sprinkles, and beignets,  We would totally greet our guests with the donuts, beignets, etc and coffee as they arrive and are seated. After the wedding we will bring out the rest of the food, or let them go into the house to be served. Because let's face it, 10 or 10:30 is really early to have a wedding lol!  I plan on using apothecary jars, etc to bring the same luxury to the donut buffet as they do to the candy buffets.  Will you be greeting your guests with anything foodwise as they arrive to the ceremony?  What are you doing to show your guests that they are appreciated and loved :o).  BTW the donuts, beignets, etc will be gathered from local restaurants etc and they are about 2 dozen for $12.00 or less depending on where you go.

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Here is an idea of a coffee station

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