Creative Entrance

If I were going to have a wedding party, I would certainly have done something like this! Watch it....too cool!

Wedding Accessories On Ebay

I just recently started dabbling in selling wedding accessories on ebay. I thought I would just give it a shot to see how it went. Thus far, doesn't look all that great. Of course, I won't give up that easily......I'll give it a bit longer.
I guess right now that I'm into looking for wedding stuff, I'm drawn and attracted to it. I feel as though I never want the planning to end. Is that normal? Probably not, but then again, I've never really considered myself to be "normal"

Cake Plates-DIY

I thought this was such a great and creative idea. It wasn't my idea, but I ran across it on a blog that I am following (http://2000dollarwedding.com/2009/06/diy-vintage-wedding-cake-stands.html).
I love the fact that you use vintage items you can find at a thrift store, or even in your own kitchen cabinet, to make these. Very low cost and since you're reusing these items you're doing something great for the environment.
For your base you can use anything from cups, to candle holders, to vases.....and much more.
For the cake plates that I have created for this picture, I used a blue and white decorative plate from an old plate set that I inherited from an aunt of mine. The other decorative, larger glass plate is actually a flat cake plate that I found at a thrift store for a couple of dollars. For the bases I found a glass candle holder in the back of my candle cabinet, and an ice cream cup that I also found at the thrift store.
So all you do is make sure that the narrower end of the base is touching the plate, glue it to the center of the plate with epoxy glue, and let it dry overnight(plate laying flat on table).
And this is what you get. You can get so creative with this idea. You can even use these as a centerpiece with fruits, flowers or whatever you can think of.

I found another blog that had some great examples! Better pictures than mine.............
http://athomewiththefarmerswife.blogspot.com/2008/06/make-take-cake-plates.html

Our Wedding Vows

I've been thinking about our wedding vows a lot lately. I think I decided in the very beginning that we would have our own....or at least incorporate some of our own wording. Those thoughts immediately made my mind flash back to wedding ceremonies I myself have been to. And from what I can remember, it's always been very difficult to hear the bride and groom. So.....did they not have a microphone? Are microphones only for the pastor? Or did I not hear them because there was only one mic pointing at the pastor? Should we have our own mic? So many questions! But I figure if we say our own vows, I want people to hear us loud and clear. I don't want them to hear meek little mumbles, but at the same time I don't want to stand there, mic in hand, saying my vows to an audience as if I were reciting Shakespeare in a play. So how do we look into each others eyes, professing our love to one another loud enough for everyone to hear clearly? AND not look awkward?
I still have to meet with the pastor at the church we'll be getting married at, but that won't be until about this time next year. That's when I'll be able to discuss the whole microphone thing with him. So until then, I guess I'm stuck with just working on the wording.....which I do every so often in my head, but then forget the brilliant things that I thought of. I really need to start jotting them down.

Paper Lanterns

So these are the type of paper lanterns that I am intending to sell. They are not battery operated. They are simple, round and colorful in a variety of sizes. I absolutely love these! I know I keep saying that, but I can't help myself. I love them, I love them, I love them!
They're especially at their most immaculate when used in tent weddings. In my opinion, a must have for that type of wedding.
They look best when using 2 or 3 different sizes to add depth and dimension. It's gives the illusion of floating.
If my battery operated lanterns sell well, I will probably incorporate them into my sales also.
O.K., well just thought I'd share!

Introducing My New & Current Passion!

Aren't they just beautiful? These are my latest passion. Paper lanterns. I think about them all the time. Weird, huh? I find myself looking for pictures of them constantly (due to too much time on my hands, I'm sure).
It all started when I was researching wedding ideas on the internet. I saw pictures of these at wedding receptions, and I was hooked! I had never been to a wedding with paper lanterns, and had actually never even entertained the idea. I never knew it was something that was done. But as I dove into the research of these whimsical, romantic things I learned that they are quite popular. I began my quest to find the most inexpensive ones I could find, and bought about 28 of them for my reception in 3 colors. Purple, Lavender and White (I'm planning on buying about 4 more in Mulberry) shhhhh. Now, the ones that I found were considerably lower in price than all the others I found....including wholesale pricing! So where does this guy buy them from so cheap? I've been looking high and low to find a wholesaler to buy in bulk from so that I may sell them as a home based business. I've scoured the internet...even wholesalers in China and Thailand! But this guy has them so much cheaper. So I continue looking.....because this has developed into a dream for me. I really want to sell these things that I love, and bring beauty to people that seek them.
I've already got a "store" name picked out for myself, begun making rough drafts of business cards......I know, I know. Dorky, right? But that's me. It's all part of being a Pisces. It's the dreamer in me. A determined one at that.
I ran across some very inexpensive small paper lanterns....battery operated ones. I bought them. They are the ones pictured in my pic above. I figured I would give selling a little test run, and am currently trying to sell them online. I just wanted to see how well (or not well) they do. I'm crossing my fingers. But, even if they don't do well, I will continue with my research on finding larger colorful ones to sell. I mean, I can't give up on the first try, right?
Well, wish me luck. I'll write an update later on whether or not my lanterns sold.

Shooting For a $3,000 Wedding

Peter and I have been planning our wedding since the start of April of this year (2009), and we knew from the beginning that we did not want to spend a lot of money. Money that we don't have. I lost my job of 8 years just 5 days before Christmas (2008) due to the economy, and am still currently unemployed. Money is just so tight, and to be completely honest, if not for wanting so much for our family to share in the joy of our most special day, we would probably have just run off somewhere by ourselves to get married. But having the people we love there is very important to us. So now we're faced with how to keep from going into debt to accomplish this.
I jumped into researching all sorts of things related to weddings on the internet. I found out that the average wedding in the U.S. is from $15,000 to $25,000! I can't even begin to imagine spending that much! So I picked a doable number......$3,000. This will not include our wardrobe. It will be for everything but. Now whether or not we will meet that is something else. I'm researching everything myself and making a lot of the stuff myself. As you can see on my previous blog, I already bought my dress. I also got my shoes, crinoline, veil, tiara, garter, table covers, table centerpieces, favors, paper for invites, paper for programs, thank you cards, place cards, buffet plates, cake plates, plastic cups (wine, champagne, drink), plastic eating utensils, napkins, balloons, reception decorations, guest book & pen, printed pics for display and frames, wedding banner, pew bows & clips, petals, unity candle & holder, candles, and basically all other table decor. This "unemployed" status is definitely paying off in this way. I've been able to get lots accomplished that I would not have been able to if I were working a full time job.
I don't know exactly how much I've spent so far. I am keeping track, but just haven't added everything up yet. In a future blog I will give my itemized totals. Cross your fingers for me! I already know the most expensive thing will be the food for the reception. I have started investigating that, but will look further into it when the date is a bit closer.
Unfortunately, because of budget and size of hall, we will have to exclude many from the wedding. My immediate family alone (Mom, Dads, Brother, Sister and their families, Daughters and their families) is 19 people. And Peter's family is humongous! So yeah, cutting is inevitable. Our max is about 80 guests.
Well, that's all for now. My shopping time has recently come to a halt, seeing as the only things really left are food and drinks, reception hall, dress alterations, grooms clothes, brides bouquet, DJ, photographer, fresh flowers, cake, disposable cameras (which only have a shelf life of 6-12 months), and security (mandatory for the hall I'm renting). So all of this will come later....closer to the wedding. Time for me to find a job now, huh?

Wedding Dress From Ebay?

OK......So we had finally decided to set the date and get hitched after 8 years of loving each other. I was so excited and immediately started looking around for a dress. Because of the economy and seeing that I had just gotten laid off in December, I knew it would have to be a great bargain dress. As I began to scour the internet, I saw that dresses were not very cheap. Then I had a light bulb go off in my head. Ebay! The place I had gotten so many bargains from in the past....why not a wedding dress?
I found a beautiful ballerina-style dress from a store in China. I breezed through the feedback of this seller, and everything seemed to be ok. So for $68, free shipping and a beautiful custom made dress (replica, of course), I thought, what the heck? After all, through Paypal I had full purchase price protection. Definitely worth the gamble at such a bargain price. Besides, I had heard that many bridal dresses come from China anyway, so it seemed plausible that this offer wasn't THAT good to be true. It made sense to me. So I did it!
3 weeks later, I wrote the seller asking if my dress would be shipping out by May 31st, which was the timeline he had given for making and shipping the dress. I never received a response. I went back to his feedback....which I had been doing in between time anyway, and saw a recent negative feedback for him. Hmmmmm...I thought. I watched daily as the negative feedbacks rolled in. One after another. I wrote him again, telling him my concerns because of his non-response and negative feedbacks. Still no email.
I finally filed a claim through Paypal and am currently waiting to see where that goes. Lesson learned. I actually learned a lot about the whole feedback thing. Did you know that with some sort of program, they can actually put up FAKE feedback? I always do a lot of researching on the internet, and learned SO much on this subject. There are ways to tell that's it's fake, but that's a whole other blog!
After all this chaos I decided to look for a dress the conventional way. I got in my car and drove my butt to David's Bridal where the staff was more than helpful. After trying on eight dresses, number nine was "the one". I absolutely LOVE it! I have a little over a year to lose a few pounds so that the dress can look like it should on me. lol
Thus far, for my wedding attire, I've purchased my dress(David's), my veil(ebay), my petticoat(ebay), my tiara(ebay) and my shoes. I still need jewelry and I'm still contemplating on gloves(but probably not) and putting some straps or sheer 3/4 sleeves on dress.