Steal-Worthy Ideas

The whole point of perusing the wedding blog-o-sphere is to find ideas to steal. Plain and simple.

Well, it goes without saying, that I have find quite a few things that were steal-worthy, including this genius idea from Ms. Fancy Pants. It used to be a huge trend to have disposable cameras at each table for guests to take pictures at the wedding and leave for you develop. It's a great way to catch those fun cadid moments. Unfortunately, this doesn't really work for the way our wedding is set up. We don't have assigned seating and not having pictures in digital form wouldn't make me very happy.

Enter this tutorial. Business cards with information leading to a Flickr account to which all guests have access. This way, digital photos can be uploaded and shared with everyone who attended the wedding, and even those who couldn't come.

So here is our version:

It took barely anytime at all at the cost for 100 business cards was $11.97 + $3.49 to have the address update put on the back. These are going to go inside the favor bags (homemade peppermint bark), so that people will already have them. A very creative and useful idea.

What ideas have you stolen from around the interwebs??

Hello Gorgeous!

Mamma's got a brand new bag. Bask in it.

I bought this bag yesterday at Ross Dress for Less. It's a Liz Claiborne carry-on piece that originally retails for $260.00.

I bought it for $49.99. Oh yeah, swoon. It'll be perfect for the honeymoon trip. I'm striving to pack as light as possible and not bring much more than what I can cram into this baby, but we shall see. I mean how much clothing do you possibly need to bring to Mexico?

Creative Ideas for Covering Hideous Walls

Making the effort to keep our wedding costs down and the reception close to the adorable historic church we're getting married in, I would definitely say we settled when it came to the reception site. And by settled, I really mean we said we would deal with the hideousness that is this site.

Allow me to paint the picture for you. First of all, it's kind of a "U" shaped building which isn't very conducive to big gatherings of people. Secondly, there are wetland murals painted on the windows... and doors... each and every frikking piece of glass has something atrocious on it.

Proof:

To put it nicely, it ain't pretty. So while I've done my fair share of bitching and moaning over the site, I'm starting to see it as a challenge. Yes, a month and a half away and I'm just now starting to see this. Awesome, huh? I have literally spent the last 2 hours brainstorming ways to make this pretty. Not glamorous or amazing, just pretty. Another thing you should note, is that we are getting married in a small town, with about 2 wedding resources. So that means no Pipe & Drape, no fake wall to be put up, nothing. Oh, bring it on.

We do have some advantages.

1. The reception will be in the evening, so there won't be much sunlight to shine through the animal infested windows.
2. The site actually has good lighting. It can be dimmed to achieve our desired look. No harsh fluorescent lights.
3. I know my way around the creative blog-o-sphere.

Okay, it's about to get crazy but stay with me. I'm thinking tulle and flower strands.

Tulle is the lightest fabric I can think of which means it can be hung easily and it doesn't have to be hemmed. While it won't completely mask the zoo on the windows, combined with the dimmed lighting it will provide a lot of coverage.

Then I thought that alternating strands of silk flowers (on fishing line so it looks like their floating) would be a great way to get more coverage and make a statement. Here are some inspiration pictures. It's a little tough because there's no common color scheme but it's something.

Do you get it? Does it make any sense? Am I crazy? Maybe... Probably.

Bathroom Improvements

While the rest of the apartment is coming together nicely, both of our bathrooms have been severely neglected. Of course, they are the part of our home I spend the least amount of time in. But I finally decided to end it when bathroom items (still packed in boxes) were crowding and cluttering my favorite room... the bedroom. Not happening.

So, off to Target I went to find some storage solutions. I ended up buying two wall ledges for us to put our frequent flyer products on. I also picked up two small fabric crates, for us to put things in to leave the bathroom feeling more pulled together. I definitely think the new items vastly improve the "room".

Here are some pictures: (Pardon the quality. Bathroom lighting clearly sucks.)

Before:

After:

Mucho better. Our bathrooms will definitely evolve over time. When we registered for our wedding, bathroom stuff was high on the list. So, as those things come in, we will transition the current shower curtain and towels into the guest bathroom (which is completely barren).

A note about the shelves. If you're thinking about getting something like these, be wary. I would not recommend them for holding anything heavier than what I have on them now. They are only supported by a bracket attached to the wall. There is no 'internal' support, which makes them a little shaky. They work well in this situation, but I wouldn't use them for books or anything like that.

Another thing marked off the to-do list! And another project I did by myself! Installation and all!

Happy Birthday to Me

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Yesterday, I turned 20 years old.

Oh yeah, I'm still a "youngin' ". But I don't feel 20. Honestly, for the last three years I've felt more like 28. My fiance and I live on our own and support ourselves, we both attend school and work, and we are always in the process of building up our home and our relationship. So while I am still very young, I feel like I'm in the right place to get married and take that next step in my life.

Earlier, this week a co-worker asked if I was nervous about the wedding. I explained to him that I was really just ready for the "party" part of it to be over, but that I couldn't wait to be married. "So, you're for sure he's the one and you're not nervous about actually being married?" No way. Being married to Josh is what keeps me calm about the whole thing.

There's a quote from the first Sex & the City movie where Samantha asks Charlotte how often she feels happy in her relationship and Charlotte responds "Everyday. Not all day, every day, but every day." That is exactly how I feel with Josh. I'm not fibbing, exaggerating, or trying to portray my relationship as perfect. This is just how we are and I'm thankful for it everyday.

Our New Custom Curtains

Okay, maybe "custom" makes them sound a little bit more flashy than necessary, but they are indeed custom, because I made them.

Yup, I made them with our new bedroom specifically in mind. And the best part? It. Was. Simple.

I saw this exact tutorial on Young House Love (which is a flipping awesome blog and the couple who writes it (and their new baby) are so cute! You can find their DIY No-Sew curtain tutorial here.

Here are the pictures of our new curtains.

Before:

After:

Mostly the bedroom contains solid colors. Obviously the walls, but the bed spread and sheets are all solids as well. The curtains add a fun pattern that also provides a general theme for the room. I'll be adding some nice prints that I picked up at Hobby Lobby for 50% off and a huge frame that was marked down from $50 to $10 over the bed to continue the leafy pattern.

Oh and I hung up the curtain rod all by myself! That was a pretty proud moment. The bedroom is shaping up nicely. Lots of more DIY posts and my first "rescued" furniture piece are coming this week!!!

MIA

Yes, I have been gone for quite a while. But it has not passed without a whole bunch of progress. Not exactly wedding progress per se, but progress none-the-less.

In super exciting news, Josh and I are moved in to our new apartment!!! It is amazingly spacious and I love it. Right now, I'm still in the process of clearing the massive mountain of crap that was tossed into the living for lack of a better place to put it, but don't worry. Pictures are on the way. It looks pretty bad-a if I do say so myself.

It has been pretty crazy around the soon-to-be Willis household. I experienced a super week of illness right before and during our move. Needless to say that was not fun. And with summer school and work, I have been a super busy bee. Which is okay with me. **Please see addendum**

Honestly, wedding planning has been at a stand still while we finish adjusting our life. And we're less than 2 months away from the big day. I need to get on the ball.

But, never fear, more updates will be on the way!

**Upon reading this post the FH flat out told me that I did not give him enough credit for being amazing while I was sick. So, in order to swiftly correct the situation I must say that my fiance is the best person to be with when I'm sick. He's comforting, caring, and all-over lovely. (Too thick?). I love you, honey. **