Rings, Bridesmaids, Altar Decor, Oh My!

I am currently trying to look for rings. Problem is, our budget for rings is under $300, and the ring I want cost at least $400! Blah! We bought my engagement ring from a pawn show for a mere $75, so you can imagine the sticker shock I am having right now. His ring is easy to find. Tungsten Titanium rings are reasonable, under $100 for a good one. The one above is the one he wants. But me, I might just go for a simple 14k white gold band, my engagement ring has a lot of fake bling, I can deal with it, haha!

Finding bridesmaid and MOH attire is easier and cheaper than I thought! All my girls will have to pay is $45 for a black dress and red pashmina from Target. And they should already have black heels to wear with it. And I was worried about the cost for them. Psh!

Winfrey Point, like I said is a blank canvas... meaning alot of decor, meaning, CHA CHING!
We are trying to come up with options that we could do on our own instead of some decorator doing it for us for an extra fee. If we have the ceremony on the stage, we need lots of decor and flowers to dress up the blah stage. This idea is a work in progress.... I like that flower idea above, and we can do that with foam and silk flowers. Or just having a bunch of dangling flower balls along with paper balls. I like the ball idea. Lights are another must. I will be hitting the after Christmas sales for christmas lights and maybe some red decor (love that my main color is red!).

More pics of Winfrey Point

location if the wedding ceremony is outside... weather permitting.

Inside looking to the back right corner

the air vents I would like to drape with lights

front entrance lobby area

front door, where we will put the guestbook table and gift table.

new chairs! there were only 20 or so of these, hopefully by the time our wedding hits, there will be more. All we would have to do is put a red or white sash around it!

the window on the back wall where we can put votives on the ledge

One of the hallways heading toward the entrance

look sideways and that is where we will get married. that doorway will be the arch or where we would put an archway and the chairs for guests will round us like a rainbow

showing how much the fireplaces are in width

this is in the 2nd room, much smaller, but it would be most likely where the food will go.

the lights on the stage where we can hang things

Inspiration Board

So this is my inspiration board. What I want the wedding to look like. Its what I'm aiming for, anyway.

So I have become addicted to wedding blogs. Wedding websites are giving me a ton more information and inspiration than I really need. But I'm starting to get a better idea of what my wedding will look like every time I look at a picture I like. The above pictures shows a wedding at Winfrey Point. I want to incorporate the paper lanterns and lights like above. I think it will look awesome! Tomorrow me and mom are going on our lunch break to look again at Winfrey Point and measure and take more detailed photos and take more notes on what options we have.

These are some ideas for wardrobe. I love the idea above where the guys are in suits, but look so casual, but look good. Mismatched pants, ok, I kinda like... there has to be something wrong with me. But yeah, the groom is in the vest instead of suspenders, which is what I plan to put David in. Now if I can get my brother and his cousin to wear suspenders, that would be great. But I just don't see it. They just may be in different colored vests. David in red, the guys in white or ivory or black.

And I love this shawl from Etsy.com, which by the way is my new obsession! I want something like this for my MOH and BM to wear with thier dresses.

I will post more pics of the venue after we get back from Winfrey tomorrow.

Down to one.

So the whole wedding will be at Winfrey Point. I feel a big relief when that decision was made because I got really stressed out when I started thinking about decorating and taking down 2 locations at the same time. My eye twitched. I don't like my eye twitching. ever. The decision was made when the Lake Highlands Baptist Church denied my choice for an officiant because she is a woman. Pffht! So we decided to save ourselves about a thousand dollars and have it all at Winfrey Point. So it brings a whole new mindset when it comes to decor for the wedding now. Not a total transformation, just really where everything will be.

I finally got the dress out of the shop. FINALLY. It took forever for Alfred Angelo to get all of the extra stuff in. The veil, jacket, bodice, corset, hair comb... and after we have mentioned it about a million times, the dress still had a dirt spot on the train! It wasn't touched. So while we were there, and since we were taking it home that day, they cleaned it. I liked Alfred Angelo when I was trying the dress on and they were wonderful in dealing with us then. After the fact, I don't know what happens. I've heard from other brides that this happens too. They highly suggest a separate tailor when it comes to final alterations. I have a person in mind, thanks to a woman on the train, who gave me a tip on a "fantastic" tailor and she would do it at a reasonable price. Her name is Becky Fowler. I googled her, she's legit. Not a bad review out there for this lady.

I found a great price on paper for the invitations at Micheals. I didn't see them before, but I found them! For a box of 100 with envelopes, $15. oh yeah! And with that I get to design my own. Love it! And I was thinking postcards for the reply cards... way way cheaper than traditional RSVP cards. And I'm all about saving money and coming under my ever growing "budget" of ours.

Next month, I'm booking the DJ and continuing on with plans....

Pricing

So I went on a trip to Micheals and Walmart to kind of price around what things would cost for various things like diy invitations and decor. Here is what I came up with, and I apologize for the photos.


I'm thinking this garland can wrap around the cake or be some sort of table top decoration And that frame, you know, for the signatures.


I found some boutteneers (I will never spell that right?) if we decided to go the cheap route and get all fake flowers. I don't want that, but it is Valentine's day. And people hack up the prices just because of that day. Silly.




These toasting glasses are so cute, but I'm gonna have to wait til they go on sale before I get them. And the rubber duckies... have to get them... have to. Not an option not to.


More invitation ideas that are in my color scheme...



The toasting glasses above ARE on sale at Walmart. Only $15 is a steal, and they happen to be perfect! And the rose petal deal up there for only $10 for 500 petals. Heck yeah!


Doilies! Blame Martha Stewart for the idea of doilies as decor for the wedding. Its got the lace texture that I'm looking for and the craft ideas are limitless. The table cover is an idea. But most likely just an idea.


More invites... The only downside to the diy invites, is that I have to figure in how much ink i will use from my own printer and how expensive that could get. And the hope that my printer will cooperate for 200 invites. It's a cool idea, but i don't know so much anymore. I hate the fact that invitations cost sooo much its ridiculous! Stamps alone will cost around $150 for invites, reply cards, and then thank you notes. So I am still on the search for a good deal on invitations. A good deal has to be out there... somewhere.

The tradition

Something old: grandma's jewelry
Something new: shoes
Something borrowed: my grandma's jewelry
Something blue: garter