Shhh...Can you keep a secret?

As I previously mentioned, I used latex flowers....and I am SOOOO very happy that I did! The results were beautiful, as you can see below. Plus, they were stress free: my family and I arranged all them one afternoon; we delivered them to the reception venue a few days before the wedding and on the day of the wedding, my family simply poured some water in the vases and set some candles around.....VIOLA!!

What do you think???

RELATED POSTS:

http://theinartisticbride.blogspot.com/2008/11/holy-sticker-shock.html

Did you know? Napkins: The Finished Product

Drumroll please...........................
Here THEY are, my napkins! I love them! What do you think?

I ordered the napkins from my local BCD Promos (http://bcdpromos.com/default.aspx) supplier. BCD has great selection, it's almost too many choices, and the best prices I could find. Plus, they are super reliable.

I decided to do 2-ply beverage and dinner napkins in white with black printing. You might have noticed that the proofs I posted earlier included our accent color, chartreuse, and the actual photos above are monochromatic. Well, the 2 color printing was almost double the cost, and since these were pricy napkins anyway, I had to say no. I honestly think they turned out better in just black and white, what do you think?

The day after the wedding, I told my husband (heehee...it still gives me the giggles to say that) that I was surprised that no one said anything to me about the napkins because I was so in love with them. He laughed and said that people were coming up to him all night and saying how much they loved the napkins. Also, my aunts and mother said the same thing and they kept telling everyone that there were several types so try to see them all.

OVERALL REVIEW
COST: Expensive! 9 different designs=9 different setup expenses.

TIME: Just a few hours, could probably be done in one night.
DIFFICULTY: Not too bad, the worst part was coming up with the different sayings.

RELATED POSTS

http://theinartisticbride.blogspot.com/2009/05/did-you-know-napkins-setup.html

http://theinartisticbride.blogspot.com/2009/01/did-you-know-napkins.html

Did you know? Napkins: The Setup

As I previously mentioned, I was working on the Did you know? napkins. Well, here's the skinny on the design and setup.

The hardest part was putting together all the facts for our napkins, I decided to do 9 designs, 4 for dinner napkins and 5 for cocktail napkins. I really wanted to keep the facts fun and lighthearted. As you can see from the images of the setup files below, I think I achieved my goal!

I am not a computer genius, so I typically use Microsoft Publisher for design projects and this was no exception. I used my previously created logo and simply typed the text below using my two wedding fonts: Feel Script and Century Gothic. It was a pretty easy process.

The next step was to convert the files to a vector based file. To do this, I downloaded the free trial of Adobe Illustrator from www.adobe.com and copied and pasted my designs from Publisher into Illustrator. Then, I followed these great instructions I found on www.weddingbee.com for vectorizing. By doing this work myself, I saved a $75 setup fee. It was definitely worth the time (about an hour).

I'll follow up soon with some pictures of the finished product! In the meantime, check out the images from the files I used for printing.

Link Love: Grace Ormonde Wedding Style

My absolute FAVORITE wedding magazine is Grace Ormonde Wedding Style (sorry, Martha)! Well her website, http://www.weddingstylemagazine.com/ is just as good. Seriously, her decor and tabletops are A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! So, go check it out and prepare to be impressed.

Here's a preview:

For your butt

Get your mind out of the gutter! I’m talking about chairs obviously!

Before my marathon planning session, I had budgeted for chair covers and ties at our reception (my venue already has chairs). This was going to cost me $975 for basic (black or white) polyester linens, shipping, taxes and labor. I’m not known for being cheap or frugal (actually, I’m known for being the exact opposite) but this cost stuck with me throughout the process as ridiculous. I just couldn’t see spending more on chairs linens than I did for invitations and I always thought that money could be better spent elsewhere, like an additional food item or better liquor! But I just swallowed my feelings and agreed on the chair covers because I thought I had to have them and renting prettier chairs was out of my budget.

Then, I returned to the reception venue with my fabulous planner and my new reception venue coordinator (my original coordinator doesn’t work there anymore). After seeing the chairs, my planner thought the venue’s retro black chairs, white retro barstools and white gladiator chairs were perfect for the lounge-y theme I envisioned.

Here are some pictures of the chairs (I couldn’t find any pictures of the white barstools, but they are the same as the black chairs only taller and white!):

What do you think? Are these chairs acceptable? What kind of chairs are you using?

Source

Linens N Things

I recently met with my wedding planner, reception venue coordinator and caterer for a three hour marathon planning session, which finally provided me with a clear picture of the reception!

One of the first things we decided on was linens. My reception venue works with BBJ Linen. I highly recommend checking out their selection and website, they have thousands of gorgeous, modern, traditional and even thematic choices and tons of inspirational photos.

We decided to go with two different linen choices: the Black Floral Silhouette and Black Classic. Each linen will go to the floor.

The Floral Silhouette will be used on the Hi-boy tables with a Lime Lamour Chair Tie wrapped around the table leg a la this photo:

Additionally, there will be three regular (60 inch round) tables covered with the Floral Silhouette and Lime Lamour Chair Tie used as a table runner scattered amongst the regular tables to add some interest.
The remainder of the regular tables will be covered in a black cost-effective polyester with a Lime Lamour table runner. According to my wedding planner, who has worked with Preston Bailey, table runners are the NEXT BIG THING! You heard it here first!

My cake table will be covered with White Classic and a Silver Sparkle overlay.

The Groom’s cake (we’re southern…it’s required by law or something) will have a simple black polyester linen without the Lime Lamour table runner because it would probably clash with his golf themed cake.

What do you think of our linen selection? What are you planning to use? What do you think is the next big thing in wedding table linens?

All photos from bbj linen.

Candle Craziness

We are planning to use lots of candlelight throughout our reception, on all the tables, and maybe even one like this:

The next step was deciding on the candles themselves. I, of course, spent way too much time thinking about this and wound up with a list of requirements for the candles:

• be available in a variety of sizes
• not drip excessively
• last for at least 5 hours
• not stink
• not smell too strong
• not be vanilla scented
• be white, not ivory
• be cheap

After receiving several recommendations from family, friends and some florists, I went to Michael's and purchased their white clean linen scented pillar candles to test. And....they meet all the requirements, they are quality candles with a very very light, clean scent and are super affordable (especially if you use a coupon!).

If you're in the market for candles, this bride-to-be recommends Michaels!

Do you over analyze small details too?

I'm obsessed!

Look...just look! At all these great centerpiece/decor ideas using my favorite cymbidium orchids.


I can't wait to receive my artificial flowers so I can begin getting the centerpieces ready!


I've been daydreaming about this setup all day...I would love to use it on one of the buffet tables! It's just so pretty!




I've seen these curtains or garlands many times and I really like them. Has anyone else tried this project?



Source

Holy Sticker Shock!

After I posted about my centerpiece ideas yesterday, I got excited and started to do some pricing research on the green cymbidium orchids I envisioned using. Well, I was shocked…shocked, I tell you.

At about $15-$25 a stem, they were too pricy for me. According to the pictures I posted yesterday, I would need at least 2 stems per centerpiece (each stem has 6 blooms) depending on the size of the vase.

19 tables x $15 a stem x 2 stems per table = $570 = too much for me.

I was really disappointed because I spent over a year searching ruthlessly for centerpieces. I looked at candles, but that made Mr. Inartistic very nervous—he had visions of the entire reception venue going up in flames. I even considered using these fabulous feather centerpieces. But it didn’t feel right. I knew I wanted these crystal wedding trees on my tall boy tables and even though I’m not a flower person, some flowers at the reception are necessary. So I decided on the submerged cymbidium orchids idea.

Not wanting to give up on my ideal centerpiece and months of research, I went searching for alternatives.

I remembered that my fiancé’s dad’s best friend sells very high end silk and latex flowers to florists, gift shops and interior designers. I gave him a call and much to my delight he had green latex cymbidium orchids available for wholesale B2B costs!

I was extremely concerned about the tacky/cheap factor; so I had my mother’s friend, a retired florist, come with me to examine the flowers. We were extremely pleased with the quality. They are latex and the perfect color and size. Plus, every single bloom on the stem will be perfectly full and beautiful.

The price for one stem is about $17, and it includes several blooms (I forgot to count and take pictures….I know…bad blogger!). So, for about $700 I was able to get 42 stems. I know, I know…this is more than the aforementioned cost to have real cymbidium orchids. But here are the reasons I decided to go with the latex flowers:

• These can be assembled early. My mother’s friend generously offered to arrange them in the vases for me.
• They will look good throughout the day, from what I understand real orchids are very fragile.
• One word: ebay! I am hoping to resell them after the wedding and recoup some of the costs.
• No one will know they aren’t real because they will be submerged—i.e., they can’t be touched!

Plus, I did actually order several extras, so I can use them for other potential DIY/decor projects.

I won’t receive them until January 2009, so I’ll post a review and more information then.

Has anyone else considered using faux flowers?

Chartreuse Ribbon

I finally received this Silk Shantique wired edge ribbon I ordered from http://www.jkmribbon.com/. I plan to use the ribbon for my invitations (more on that to come).

Here's my review:

Product: The color is perfect and the picture accurately represents it. After lots of searching, both online and in stores, this is the only chartreuse silk dupioni ribbon I could find. I am picky about fabric quality and appearance and this ribbon definitely meets my standards. It will add some richness to our invitations.

Service: SLOW, SLOW, SLOW. It took six weeks to arrive. Which would have been fine if they had let me know, without me having to email them TWICE! The first time I emailed them, they refused to answer my question about the timing of shipping because it had been less than 14 business days since I ordered. With all that being said, I will be ordering again, because I can't find it anywhere else and luckily I have lots of time.

If you have a vendor review, I'd love to hear it!

Too Plain?

I created this basic logo right after we got engaged, but lately I've been feeling that it is too plain. So I created a few more options.

What do you think? Which should I use? I'm leaning towards all of them. For example, maybe use the simple one on the invites and the more ornate logos for different DIY projects.

Z Gallerie

Maintaining my Z Gallerie obsession for the week, here are some fab things from Z Gallerie that would look great as a part of your wedding decor:

http://www.zgallerie.com/pc-7133-10-beaded-candles.aspx

http://www.zgallerie.com/pc-7072-10-yardley-pillar-holders.aspx

http://www.zgallerie.com/pc-7063-10-quintet-taper-holders-set-of-5.aspx

http://www.zgallerie.com/pc-6959-10-occhio-votive-holders.aspx

http://www.zgallerie.com/pc-6927-10-bella-pillar-holder-10.aspx

http://www.zgallerie.com/pc-7174-10-lumiere-glass-bowl-red.aspx

http://www.zgallerie.com/pc-7165-26-talia-table-linens-brown.aspx

http://www.zgallerie.com/pc-7116-26-squared-jeweled-trays.aspx

http://www.zgallerie.com/pc-7038-26-silver-rhinestone-napkins-set-of-4.aspx

http://www.zgallerie.com/pc-4888-15-mirage-tray.aspx

http://www.zgallerie.com/pc-2298-15-large-atlantis-clam-shell.aspx

My first DIY

As you can tell by the title, I'm not exactly Martha Stewart. I'm not even qualified to take out her trash. The problem is, I want a fab wedding with all the fancy details you see in her magazines. So, I must DIY!

For my first project, I needed something simple and not crucial. I decided to start with some fancy toothpicks from Martha herself.

Image via marthastewart.com

I'm not really a paper flower fan, so I used crystal beads instead and tiny rhinestone on the top to cover hole in the top of the bead.

Here's the end result (I don't have a very good camera, sorry):

I love them! I will post the full instructions in another post.