Cute as a Button!

My find for the day from Letters4Lilly's Etsy Shop.



I think once you decide to get married in a tree house, anything else goes!

Happy Sunday!
JJ

TGIF?

I normally would be thankful it is Friday. But I have to go back to work this week. And I am sad the weather has been awful. We were going to take pictures for our reception invitations. Perhaps next weekend? When the Japanese Stroll Garden is open?

Pretty.Pretty Paper, I adore you. I want this haircut and these shoes:



I keep saying after we're married, I am going to chop my hair off short. And I will, too, by George.

I never posted a picture of my wedding dress (the last and final dress) from J. Crew (they have fabulous sales).



It's a bit simple and not as frilly as the other one (returned it and am getting my dinero back), but I love it. I can't wait to dress it up with some shoes, jewelery, and maybe some sort of crepe flower? Eh??

xoxo
Jenn

Me Love Crafty Stuffs!

So I have all my supplies I need for my Parents Package. I will be putting them together this week. I will post a blog about it when I am done so as to not spoil the goodies. I can hardly wait! Happy Sunday to you.

xoxox
Jenny

I am a Poladroid

Holy Fabric Flowers, Batman!

I found this beautiful arrangement at Amanda1986's Etsy Shop. Gorgeous! I have been thinking more and more of getting bouquet of fabric/silk flowers instead of real flowers. We are going to Eureka Springs a day before the actual wedding to get our marriage license and just hang. So taking these beauties would be more practical than worrying about wilting flowers. PLUS! These will last FOREVER!

My Etsy Wedding. I have resolved that because of most the things I have bought are from Etsy, that I am not only having a tree house wedding, but an Etsy wedding as well. I drool over all you Etsy vendors!

Meg at Silhouette Blue did us an absolute and is going to print up three invitations for our tree house wedding. One for theJohnsons, one for the Kearbeys, and one for us! After realizing I am not the budding artist I thought I was, I went on the search for the perfect invitation. And there is was- staring me in the face on Etsy. I wrote her and gave her the details of our small, small wedding and she happily obliged in printing out some invites for us! See! It never hurts to ask. I know I will definitely order from her again! Check out her shop!

I also picked up some funny little gifts for the dads! I can't wait to get all these things in the next week or so. It will be just in time for Spring Break and I can totally work on their little packages.

Oh, and I want to thank Snippet & Ink for getting me addicted to Poladroid.net. I have been Polaroiding a ton of pictures since I read their blog today. Oy vey. I'll never get anything done.

Happy Sunday!

An Example of our Invites.....

from SilhouetteBlue's Etsy Shop

So EXCITED!!!
xoxo
JJ

Be Sure to Get In On This!

DIY Bride is offering a three part workshop on making your own invitations with Adobe Photoshop. Registration begins March 15 on their site, DIY Bride.

You can bet your sweet bippy I am going to be all over it. And if you haven't bought the book The DIY Bride, get it! I love it!

Happy Monday to you!

JJ

A is for Ape!

Has anyone seen these delightful little sensations? I found them at Michaels yesterday in the Martha Stewart section! They are these vintage reproductions of animal flash cards. I am thinking about using them in the crafty package I send my folks and future folks-in-law. Giant postcard, perhaps? I also bought origami paper. I can't even do origami, but I have a hankerin' to do something crafty!

xoxo
Jenn

Reason #501 I Love Etsy

BEAUTIFUL JEWELRY! I am in love, LOVE with June Shin's Etsy store.

Here are some pieces that I positively adore and will more than likely end up buying:


I would pierce my ears to wear some of her earrings, by the way. But I am too much of a chicken. Plus, I know I wouldn't take care of them. Just being honest.

Wedding Update

Our romantic elopement has now turned out as, well, not so much of an elopement. My parents and Justin's parents will be joining us. We can have up to four wedding guests. The only catch is they can only show up fifteen minutes before and have to leave immediately after the ceremony and picture taking since the tree houses do not allow receptions or parties (something about insurance risks). While I am a little disappointed that our plans have changed somewhat, I am looking forward to making little packages to send our parents before the wedding. Vintage hankies, anyone?


Aren't these just gorgeous?!?! HankyLady at (you guessed it!) Etsy specializes in vintage embroidered hankies. What better way to welcome the special ladies to your small wedding than a beautiful hanky. Because believe me - there are going to be some tears. Sigh. I do so love Etsy. I think I could stay on there all day long.

They should have a job for that.

xoxo
Jenn

Diary of a Mad Bride or The Bridal Advice Blog

I have racked up some experience the past year and a half with being a planning bride or stressed bride or bride addicted to coffee and clove cigarettes while tearing her hair out over English professors, new computer systems, and that darned ol' election (yay, Obama!) So I thought I would pass on some advice, if you will, to all of those blushing brides-to-be out there.

1) PUT DOWN THAT CREDIT CARD AND BACK SLOWLY AWAY FROM THE COMPUTER!

Tip numero uno: do not buy your wedding dress until you are absolutely, positively sure that it is the one you want. Just because you see it on J.Crew does not mean you have to have it. Wait a while. Let it simmer. Let it digest. Look around. Maybe if you wait long enough, it will go on sale. J. Crew has really good sales on their dresses. I went through buying THREE wedding dresses. YES, THREE! That I did not try on, that I based on the picture then when I finally had them delivered into my possession, they either did not fit, were too casual, or eventually I did not like them. Better yet- skip online shopping altogether and go try some on.

2) Be sure about your budget and who is willing (or able) to help out.

Times are tight, the economy has taken a nose dive, but you want a nice wedding. The day you get engaged - start saving. Things can happen. For instance, my father lost his job. My car kept breaking down. I had a medical emergency. Save up! Be sure whether or not you want a big wedding. We had to downsize our wedding from the beautiful Olivia because we realized it just wasn't in our budget anymore between school, car, bills, etc. This leads me to number three....

3) Wedding Packages!

Yes! Especially if you live anywhere near Eureka Springs, Ark. They have B & B's with wedding packages, fancy hotels with wedding packages, treehouses with wedding packages, even wedding packages at the wildlife rescue reserve. These range from any price range from simple to elegant, anywhere from $100 to $2000. And the best thing is, all you have to do is book it and show up! The majority of these packages include two or three nights in a suite, plus cake and punch, music and photography for your wedding. Plus, have your wedding during the week and its cheaper! Not only for you, but for your guests to find lodging. Do it!

4) Can't We All Just Get Along?

BE NICE! Be understanding. Do not be mean to that nice girl at the dress shop because chances are: you'll want to shop there again. Weddings can be uber stressful. But take a minute or two or five and just relax! I eventually started making lists of things that made me unhappy, then I would deal with them one by one. It will be okay. But do not turn into a Bridezilla. You are only embarassing yourself.

5) Listen to your groom!

Well! Listen! It's his day, too, and even though you are a pretty, pretty princess, it is his special day, too. And you might be pleasantly surprised at his suggestions. For example, after we decided to downgrade our day, it was Justin's suggestion that we could get married in a treehouse. However, I was not so impressed with his idea of a Halloween wedding with him dressed as Fat Elvis.