Seriously. :\

First the weather, now this...


Hi Natalie~
I have some bad news.  There are NO light pink peonies anywhere in the world  for next week.  Sometimes this happens due to weather.  I don't know if you might like garden roses in light pink instead of the peonies.  I think that the garden rose would give you the closest look to the peony.  Or another option is to group carnations into bunches.  I'm so sorry about this.   I wish I could control everything, but I have to remind myself I can't.   Just let me know how you want me to proceed.  If you do want the garden roses then we need to know as soon as possible. 
Thank you and again I'm sorry!


I know it is no one's fault, but it is still disappointing. 

The poor man's peony.

Houston Flower Girls

What's the deal with the flowers, you ask?  Well my cousins are making up 20 beautiful centerpieces for the reception and traveling from Austin with them before the wedding.  I know they will be just stunning!  As far as the bouquets and corsages and boutonnieres, my Mom has made these before and I have watched several youtube videos on the topic, so we are certain that we can tackle this on our own.

So we needed to find a place that would sell us flowers at a reasonable price.  I found this really great wholesale place that isn't far from us called West Side Flower Exchange.  They are wholesale only (no wonder their prices are so good!) so they wont sell to us common folk.  I was referred to Houston Flower Girls by the people at west side when I called.  Well they hooked me up with Mary Ann, and she is just wonderful!  We met with her Friday - her office is inside WSFE- and her concept is totally unique and awesome!

She offers classes on how to make bouquets, flower arrangements, or anything you need - and once you take the class, you can buy what you need from the West Side people.  OR if you don't have time or need for the class, you just have to buy $250 worth of flowers.  Such a neat concept!  We opted to pass on the class for now, but my Mom and I totally want to go back sometime after the wedding and take some flower arranging classes!  Mary Ann was really really nice and cool and helped us compile our order.  We got to go into the giant refrigerator and see every flower they sell, which was helpful when you aren't a florist and don't know every flower out there.

Source

After seeing all the different flowers they had, we decided on pale pink peonies (my favorite, so of course!), white roses, and freesia (which smells fantastic!) for mine and the gals bouquets.  I think for the boutonnieres we are going to do freesia and roses.  We also got a boatload of babies breath for this idea we are doing for the church pews, and some white orchids that my Mom plans to string together to hang from a tree in the entry, which I don't know what that is about and just learned of this idea when we were there.  

We had the funniest conversation about corsages.  Mary Ann and my Mom both connected over their anti-corsage ideas.  I am in agreement and don't care that much about corsages, I just want everyone to be happy.  But wrist corsages are pretty but sort of seem more appropriate for a gal going to the prom.  Pin-on corsages get smashed when you hug people, they make your dress hang or pull weird in some situations, and a lot of times fancy dress fabric does not lend well to things being pinned on it.  My Mom's dress has a really pretty neckline and she didn't want flowers to deter from it's prettiness.  Understandable!  So we think for the Moms and Grandmas, we are just going to make a mini bunch of flowers for them to carry when they walk down the aisle at church, then they can set them down and be done with it.  Everybody wins!  Our total order ended up being right at $250 dollars, which was perfect!

Peonies

Freesia

Roses

White Orchids

Just an update

Hi Everyone!  We are officially 17 days away from Aaron and I's big day!  After a few bridezilla episodes from last week, this week has gone pretty smoothly.  I am actually feeling quite zen, despite a still semi-lengthy to-do list.  I think I had a light bulb moment over the weekend or something.  I really want to look back at my engagement in a positive light.  The wedding is just a few hours of my life, but my engagement has been over a year of my life.  I don't want to think back and shudder over the amount of stress I went through, I want to remember being excited and happy.  I am of the opinion that all of these wedding TV shows feed into our minds that if we aren't over the top stressed, we aren't doing it right.  It is easy to get caught up in the hype.  I have basically surrendered to the idea that everything will be beautiful and fun, and I need to just trust the people I have hired or family and friends helping out and let it be.

Total Zen. 

Ok so I am in a happy mood for a change, so that is nice :)  I have a bunch of things coming up this week that I am looking forward to.

This afternoon (weather permitting) Aaron and I are taking professional engagement pics to display around the entry table at the reception.  (Better late that never, right!)  If these don't get done today, then Monday will be the back up day.  It rained a crazy amount in Houston two days ago and flooded much of the city.  It has since drained off, but it is still muddy in some nature places where our photographer usually shoots.

Tomorrow Aaron and I are going to go get our wedding license on my lunch break.  It is just getting me eager for the wedding, I want it to be here already!

On Friday, my Mom and I are going to meet with the wholesale florist to see what flowers we are going to need.  My cousin from Austin is the mastermind behind the floral elements of our centerpieces - a gift from my Aunt Gloria and Uncle Howard.  But since they are coming from Austin, and that is going to be tricky enough, my Mom and I are going to handle making the bouquets and corsages.  We also are going to make some really simple pew decorations for the church.  So our flower needs aren't huge, but we want to check out what we like, etc. 

Saturday morning I have an appointment for a badly needed haircut, and my hair-do trial for my wedding 'do!  I am excited to see how it turns out!

Over the weekend we will be assembling wedding programs and working on a seating chart because we have gotten all our RSVPs in.  I must say, I am really proud of my guests for responding.  I only had to call or email a handful of people out of the nearly 300 that were invited!  It looks like our guest count is going to be right at 200, and I am so glad that many of Aaron's family from all over the country are making the trip to Texas for the wedding.  I can't wait to meet them!!  I am also over the moon excited to see some old friends I haven't seen in a good while and having all my extended family together for a happy occasion.  Life is good :)

Everything is really falling into place just like everyone said it would :)

Labor Day Love

My Labor Day weekend was pretty fantastic.  My Mom and I headed down to Austin to see my Aunt Gloria and Uncle Howard, and my Granny and cousins came over too.  We ate barbecue and swam and visited and had a lot of fun.  It was really great to catch up with everyone, especially my bridesmaid/cousin Heather.  

Heather and Aunt Gloria

Well speaking of gifts from heaven, Heather's husband Randall's family owns a flower shop (two actually) in the Austin area, so my Mom and I went with intentions to get some advice on how best to DIY our centerpiece idea.  Florists around here are a little out of reach price wise, and I figure we could probably do a good job ourselves.  Time was really the issue - who knows how busy we will be on the days leading up to the big day.  Well Aunt Gloria and Uncle Howard offered/insisted that they and Randall were going to cover the flowers for the wedding - creating and financing!  Which is so awesome because the flowers at Heather and Randall's wedding were absolutely gorgeous!  But yeah, I couldn't believe it... Aaron and I have been saving and such because we didn't want to burden anyone with costs for our day, and we are learning that stuff adds up quick.  So it is such a wonderful blessing to have this area covered, and we are so appreciative of the generosity of everyone, even with their time.  Sometimes I am just overcome with how lucky I am to have my family, they are truly wonderful to Aaron and I.  <3  

Centerpiece Idea

It is T-6 months until the big day!  I am feeling a bit overwhelmed because school is starting in a few weeks and I was totally going to have everything pretty much planned by now, so I can focus on my learning.  We aren't quite there yet.... 

However, lucky us (my mom and I), because right down the street from where we live a HUGE Joann's craft and fabric place opened up.  I think this may be one of my mother's favorite stores, so she was there the first day it opened, lol.  And did she find a gem:

That's right!  David Tutera, of My Fair Wedding fame, has a whole line of wedding decor things at Joann's now.  So fun!  I used to be a huge fan of that show, but it has sort of turned into "David Tutera Tries to Turn my Circus Wedding into Something Attempting to Resemble Elegance Show". Thankfully some brides' (err...) unique (?) tastes are left out of the design/style of these pieces.

The design theme I am trying to have in the reception is one of a winter wonderland kind of look.  Think snow covered trees, lots of white and silver, and sparkle. 

My mom found this super cool lighted tree branch thing:

David Tutera Battery Operated LED Branch

And it is kind of hard to see, but the picture there on the bottom of the box is the look we are going to try to recreate with our collective DIY skills.  Here is the picture from the Joann's website, but the bottom part is cut off :\

But I am pretty excited, if we can pull it off I think it will look really cool!  And I love the bonus of getting a lit up look without creating a fire hazard at the top of a skyscraper.

I will post the pics once we have a completed centerpiece making dress rehearsal, send us some good crafty vibes :)

Cake!

My favorite topic! :)

So we have come to that portion of the program where we need to figure out a cake concept and find a bakery to make it!  I have had a couple referrals of some good places around town that are reasonably priced, so I just need to schedule a time for Aaron and I to go sample some of the goods.  This will no doubt be my favorite part of wedding planning, I can already tell!

As far as cake concept goes, I am still proceeding with caution.  We don't have a humongous cake budget, and we need it to feed 200+ people, so I have no idea what I can afford at this point.  I only know the obvious - the more detailed = more expensive, fondant = $$$, regular icing = $$.  With that being said, here is the picture dump of cakes I like from the internet!  (they are all from http://www.weddingchannel.com/)

I like the interesting texture on this cake.  Aaron is like dead set against fondant because he claims it tastes horrible, so I think something like this could make everyone happy.

I think the details on this cake are just gorgeous!  It is just my style too.  I like simple, with a touch of something to give it some personality. 

I sort of dig the square shape.  And I adore the vibrant colors, and how each tier is a different design.

I like how the middle tier is different, and I like the birds on top :)

I like this cake because it is tall, and I like the criss-cross-ish design.  Very modern looking.

Bows <3

How cool looking is this?

I like all the different shapes, makes a simple cake much more interesting!

Man, I wish I had some cake right now.

Flowers I am Loving

Happy 9 months until your wedding, Natalie!

When I think about my impending nuptials, my mind tunnel visions to invitations and flowers.  I was googling pictures of bouquets with such intensity, I felt like my wedding was in two hours.  Is that weird?  I realize that these are merely 2 things out of the 50 or so that need to get done, but who knows where thoughts come from, they just appear!  (Bonus points if you know the movie I just quoted, lol)  I need to seriously try to stay out of panic mode, it doesn't do me any favors.  Though during my frantic search, I did find some flowers that I just adore, so I thought I'd share!  I will also post the meaning of each flower, because I like secret meanings and symbols of things. (Language of Flowers) You can find the picture sources by googling the flower name.

                                                      Peony - Shame or bashfulness (eep...)

Stephanotis - Happiness in Marriage

Lily of the Valley - Trustworthy

Garden Roses - Love (but a lot of meaning depends on the color)

Calla Lily - Purity

I think those flowers are just lovely!  I need to check them with what is in season in January so I can get good prices.  Though it is January, so probably nothing is in season, except maybe roses because Valentine's Day will be right around the corner.  Are there any other super neat or pretty flowers that perhaps I overlooked?  Let me know!