photo by me!This Friday dance might end up getting a little heated. I can't help it. I can feel the anger fires growing inside me. But before I get all worked up, here's a recap of my favorite stuff this week. It's short, but sweet! Or at least as short and sweet as I could manage to get it!
First, Nole at Oh So Beautiful Paper featured these lovely textile pretties, and then Janice at Scissor Variations, the blog of Papier Valise, showed us a most lovely way to display them. Imagine a beautiful painted wall with just this little heart pinned to it! It would be fantastic, no??
Speaking of decorating, how fresh and pretty are these centerpieces that Victory Bird at A Tale of Two Brides' friends made for her recent shower? I've been wanting to use mason jars in my wedding for some time, but I haven't thought of a way to do it, yet. I'm starting to think about ripping off these lemon lovelies.
photos via A Tale of Two Brides
Now, if you're like Victory Bird, and you're going to have a MOH, and some MOHettes (otherwise known as bridesmaids), I implore you to please have fun, patterned bridesmaid dresses like these. Or if you can't do patterns, at least do solid, but fun, color coordination. Do it for me, your dear old pal Marty, who isn't having bridesmaids.
Do you love moo cards like me? Then check these out. Some great project ideas from Vera at A Splendid DIY $10K Wedding! I especially love the save the dates! And if you don't want to DIY the save the dates, then go, go now and enter Oh So Beautiful Paper's giveaway! Yes. I'm ordering you around.
If you want fancy weddings to drool over, go here. If you want courthouse chic, go here. If you want gorgeous floral arrangements, go here. That's right. I'm ordering you around again. Get going. If you're hungry for celery and peach hued inspiration, go here. (I'm hungry for those key lime cupcakes!) If you want pure, unadulterated romance, go here. It's total girlporn. This one is my favorites.
Okay, let's talk about cake toppers. I saw this on Gangsta Bride. It's got Polaroids. Did you really think I wouldn't feature it here??? Then, my friend from across the pond, the Half-Breed Swede, emailed me the other day with these pictures:
photos by The Half-Breed Swede, emailed to me
The Half-Breed Swede (which is my new, most awesomely, awesome nickname for her...it just came to me) is one of two friends who knows about the surprise and the blog. Because I've been friends with her for 9 years now (good GOD!), and because she lives so far away, she has to know. It wouldn't be a proper wedding without her! Anyway, her friend, Anne made these cake toppers for a friend's wedding. She modeled the suit and dress after what the bride and groom were wearing. They're so detailed and lovely, I just had to feature them on a Friday dance. If you're interested in having Anne make one for you, drop me an email and I'll have her people call you. Or she can just email you. Whatever. (PS. I love that the groom has his hand ever so tastefully placed on the bride's ass. Yes. Awesome.)
Finally, there has been some debating around the blogosphere about judging people based on their budgets. I find it pretty annoying that everything has to get so political, and we can't just focus on pretty cake toppers and what we like/dislike and want to have/don't want to have, and move on. But, since so many people brought it up, I might as well throw in my judgmental two cents, right? A.P. and I aren't asking our parents to contribute to our wedding. We're adults, and it's 2009, we're capable of saving and paying for it on our own. That being said, neither of us wants to blow a ton of cash on a one day event, even if it is a big deal. We'd rather have a marriage, not a wedding. We'd also rather have a house. Haha. As of now, the numbers we're batting around are between 5K and 7K. No more than 10K. I'm going to try to DIY as much as I can, with A.P.'s help, and we'll cut corners and cost wherever we can. We also are keeping our budget low because of me. Because I work with a lower income population, and because I didn't grow up with a lot of money, I find it very hard to justify throwing so much of it away on one day. I also find it somewhat irresponsible to blow so much money when there are so many other, more lasting ways to use that money. Also, because of this part of me that believes in social justice, it seems wrong, especially in light of our recent economic downturn, to blow 50K on a wedding! A one day affair! I don't give a flying fuck if it comes off as judgmental. I really don't. My judgement is my problem. Not anyone else's. I have never judged a marriage by its wedding budget. NEVER. One of the loveliest weddings I've ever been to easily cost $40-50K, and I was happy to see those people get married. So please, spare the lecture. But if you must bring it up, it must be said that to talk about budget and picking and choosing what you need and what you don't need, and writing about hating the WIC, and then to write posts about how everyone shouldn't be judgmental about budget, well, it seems hypocritical to me. If you're going to tell everyone to mind their own business, maybe you start by minding your own business. And for Christ's sake...stop being so political. It's wedding planning.
The Half-Breed Swede (which is my new, most awesomely, awesome nickname for her...it just came to me) is one of two friends who knows about the surprise and the blog. Because I've been friends with her for 9 years now (good GOD!), and because she lives so far away, she has to know. It wouldn't be a proper wedding without her! Anyway, her friend, Anne made these cake toppers for a friend's wedding. She modeled the suit and dress after what the bride and groom were wearing. They're so detailed and lovely, I just had to feature them on a Friday dance. If you're interested in having Anne make one for you, drop me an email and I'll have her people call you. Or she can just email you. Whatever. (PS. I love that the groom has his hand ever so tastefully placed on the bride's ass. Yes. Awesome.)
Finally, there has been some debating around the blogosphere about judging people based on their budgets. I find it pretty annoying that everything has to get so political, and we can't just focus on pretty cake toppers and what we like/dislike and want to have/don't want to have, and move on. But, since so many people brought it up, I might as well throw in my judgmental two cents, right? A.P. and I aren't asking our parents to contribute to our wedding. We're adults, and it's 2009, we're capable of saving and paying for it on our own. That being said, neither of us wants to blow a ton of cash on a one day event, even if it is a big deal. We'd rather have a marriage, not a wedding. We'd also rather have a house. Haha. As of now, the numbers we're batting around are between 5K and 7K. No more than 10K. I'm going to try to DIY as much as I can, with A.P.'s help, and we'll cut corners and cost wherever we can. We also are keeping our budget low because of me. Because I work with a lower income population, and because I didn't grow up with a lot of money, I find it very hard to justify throwing so much of it away on one day. I also find it somewhat irresponsible to blow so much money when there are so many other, more lasting ways to use that money. Also, because of this part of me that believes in social justice, it seems wrong, especially in light of our recent economic downturn, to blow 50K on a wedding! A one day affair! I don't give a flying fuck if it comes off as judgmental. I really don't. My judgement is my problem. Not anyone else's. I have never judged a marriage by its wedding budget. NEVER. One of the loveliest weddings I've ever been to easily cost $40-50K, and I was happy to see those people get married. So please, spare the lecture. But if you must bring it up, it must be said that to talk about budget and picking and choosing what you need and what you don't need, and writing about hating the WIC, and then to write posts about how everyone shouldn't be judgmental about budget, well, it seems hypocritical to me. If you're going to tell everyone to mind their own business, maybe you start by minding your own business. And for Christ's sake...stop being so political. It's wedding planning.
I'm glad to hear about all these weddings on a budget. We had a wedding on a budget, and I think it put us off to a great start. Married for over 15 years and we don't fight about money because we're used to living within a budget.
ReplyDeleteThey just had a huge article in our local paper about a couple that cut their wedding budget from 100K to 50K because of the economy. It was hard to read all their whining remarks. People can spend what they want of course, but it's hard to feel sympathy for someone shelling out that kind of cash.
@Tina T.: I completely agree with you! As I said, I try not to judge people based on what they spend, but it's kind of like watching that show on MTV...after a while, some of it comes off as spoiled, especially when you know the people can't really afford it. The really nice, SUPER expensive wedding I went to was awesome, but those people were in their 40s, super wealthy, and paid for it themselves! A little different from 23 year olds just getting their feet wet in the big world.
ReplyDeleteamen girl! when did the wedding world get so judgemental? its really all relative, so i find it hard for people to be able to scoff at others' budgets.
ReplyDeletethanks for the love!
@gangsta bride: it's totally relative. i don't even know if i explained myself well, but basically my issue was with the lecturing. i freaking hate that. i tune into wedding blogs for happiness and to zone out, not to be lectured. hopefully i didn't offend too many people. but if i did, that's fine, too. you can't win all the time.
ReplyDelete: O )
No offense taken. But then, I spent $1,500 on my wedding in 1985. Of course, borrowing a dress and access to a free venue helped. I must say I love the print sundresses for the bridesmaids. Useful afterward and really sweet and pretty for a wedding.
ReplyDelete@Gina: Hey! Long time no comment! I wish we could spend 1500!! Even that seems like a lot to me. I have a hard time forking over large sums of money. Just another reason we have to keep the budget low. That's why I love those bridesmaid dresses, too!
ReplyDeleteHi Marty,
ReplyDelete@Tina T: I too, like the concept of having a wedding on budget. It is nice to have a special day filled with all the wedding frills but, starting your marriage off in debt is not. I truly think you can have style, elegance and beauty all on a budget.