Broke Bride

Broken

2007-12-20T20:10:00.000-08:00

The wedding is off. I am deeply saddened by this, and do not feel like posting details.

Now I am just broke, I guess. Ironic.

OMG...I love this dress! But do they?

2007-12-17T18:25:00.000-08:00

I found a dress that I absolutely love. It is an adorable style and the perfect color. Not for me, silly...for my bridesmaids. Now, the question is: will they love it? Will it be flattering to them? Oh yes, it is only $24.99. From Target's bridal area. All of their stuff is uber cute and inexpensive.

I am thinking about getting one for myself as well. Maybe to wear on the honeymoon.

Thoughts?

UPDATE: They love the dress and we have ordered them. Whew!

Picking out a bridesmaids dress is like picking the perfect pair of jeans...impossible!

2007-12-17T13:35:00.000-08:00

I am having the worst trouble finding bridesmaids dresses. Here are the issues:

the fabric: I hate prom dress satin. I really do. It is not flattering on very many people. Why is every friggin' dress made of that?

the colors: Do you get matching colors? coordinating? If your wedding has unusual colors (read: not the colors that everyone else has had in the past year), it is impossible. Ok, who can really pull off Canary yellow around the face? My girls are my sisters and I don't want them to hate me for this!

The price: I spent $230 on mine...it seems that I should be able to find one for them for less expensive. Nope, apparently not.

I am tempted to tell them to just get a pretty dress in any color would match the wedding and be done with it. Why must they match anyway...they are not decoration...they are standing up there to support me, not accessorize me. Hmph.

what to do, what to do?

Colors! Colors! Colors!

2007-12-14T10:51:00.001-08:00

Look at this! How beautiful...with my other pallete. So many choices. Dresses in this color surrounded by yellow and grey. I love it! Maybe yellow and blue accented by grey...the beautiful possibilites are endless!

Color Scheme ideas

2007-12-13T20:51:00.000-08:00

So, apparently you are supposed to choose 'colors' for your wedding. I always thought this was ridiculous. Then I realized that this is so that everything matches, which is good and bad. First, I am not a big fan of anything really matchy-matchy, secondly I don't want to stifle my and Scott's personalities behind a color scheme. However, after looking at MarthaStewart.com (I tried to hate her, but she is so wonderful!), I saw 2 colors that I LOVE LOVE LOVE. Yellow (like orangey yellow, or Marigold) and grey. Accents of pretty much any color would look beautiful (think white or red or blue or green...anything), and how beautiful would that look for an outside wedding?!
I still have to check with Scott, but if I had to specify my colors, I think I would say 'A springtime pallet of marigold and grey, accented by any color found in a garden". Doesn't that just sound divine? I think so too. Check out the picture that inspired me here. yummy and sophisticated all in one, like myself! ;)

gifts that are the 'bomb'!

2007-12-12T14:45:00.000-08:00

That may be the cheesiest title EVER. sorry!
I am pondering the idea of giving seed bombs as wedding favors. I was convinced that seeds in a cute, handmade envelope were the way to go, but now I am wondering if seed bombs are better.
What is a seed bomb you ask? Well, according to answers.com it is this:

Seed bombing, also known as "Seed Grenades" is a technique of introducing vegetation to arid soils or otherwise inhospitable terrains. A seed bomb is a compressed clod of soil containing live vegetation that may be thrown or dropped onto a terrain to be modified. The term "seed grenade" was first used by Liz Christy in 1973 when she started the "Green Guerillas". The first seed grenades were made from balloons filled with local wildflower seeds, water and fertilizer. The seed grenades were tossed over fences onto empty lots in New York City in order to make the neighborhoods look better. It was the start of the Guerrilla Gardening movement.

In other words, you just take one of these and drop (or throw) into any area where you want some pretty flowers. People use them to make urban areas greener. I think that they can also be used in planters or that spot in the yard that is barren.

I love the idea of a garden in a ball. I am planning to make some of these and throw them around my neighborhood and on the way to work, and possibly give them to other urban dwellers as Christmas gifts.

There is a recipe for them here.

google Guerilla Gardening. I am in love with this idea and would love to do something like this in birmingham. We have so many areas downtown that need some green lovin'.

so far behind

2007-12-06T07:16:00.000-08:00

I haven't even been able to think about our wedding. Life is too insane right now. New job, moving, etc.
We are going to be starting pre-marital counseling (hopefully) soon. I know that this is a bit touchy of a subject, but I think it is really important. Scott and I differ a bit on this, but he is still willing to go with me. The thing is, most marriages end for all the same reasons. If we can talk to someone who has seen those and can see how our interactions may support those reasons, etc, then how can that be bad? Let's face it, some people are better at seeing our sins and relational missteps than we are! I firmly believe that this is not just for couples with 'problems'...all couples have problems. If they don't show up now, fear not, they will come calling. I guess I would rather invite them in and then kick their ass on my terms!!!

well, we may be getting married with ice tea, beer and cake if I don't get my ass in gear. We also may end up having to send out evites if I don't pull it together. gulp.

delays and life

2007-11-27T16:42:00.000-08:00

I need to send out Save the Date cards. Which means I need to go to Staples, get the paper, decide on a design, print them, cut them, address them and send them. sigh. Unfortunately, life is not letting me do that.
I did check out a book from the library called "Love, Marriage and Money". I also checked out "Frugal Luxuries, simple pleasures to enhance your life and comfort your soul" and "Total Money Makeover". It is time for pre-marital debt confessions and budget making. Really, if you spent as much time as people want you spend planning a wedding on things like this, I think the divorce rate would be lower. I want to plan for a marriage, not just a wedding.

Well, must go read and pack. I am moving soon! I think.

Any budget tips and/or motivational words to get my ass in gear would be appreciated. You know, for the 2 of you who read this!

Love!!!!

Countdown: 169 days!

2007-11-22T17:46:00.000-08:00

Ok, here is what is done:
Dress
place

Yikes! that's it. Lots in the works, but when you are DIY-ing most of it, it seems to take a while. I want to make sure it is right and representative of us. One example: save the date cards. At first I thought we would make and send out seed packets with the date on them. Great idea...except the shipping costs! So that was sidelined and is going to be used as wedding favors. Back to Save the date drawing board.
The final decision is to send out postcards. I am going to make them, by printing them on good, thick cardstock and cutting to postcard size. I love postcards, so this idea resonates with me. Here are some ideas that I have for the postcards, that I may or may not do, but are adorable (in my humble opinion).
-making Tshirts (either screenprinted or just iron on letters) for each of us to wear that say 'Save the Date' and 'May 10, 2008'. Taking a picture and printing it out as the postcards!
-Simple font with only 'A celebration of Scott and Elisa. May 10, 2008'.

You know, thinking of new ideas is much more fun then actually making a decision and doing it. Story of my life!

My dress was only $230 bucks (thanks Bridesmaids in Birmingham, AL). It is a tea length 'bridesmaids' gown, and i love it. Tea length bridesmaids gown: $200, Tea length 'wedding' gown: $1000!!! Ridiculous. A dress is something you think about your whole life, and that is totally taken advantage of. Most of the time you only wear it once. I would love to pass it on to my daughter and I have no doubt that I can pass down a $200 dress just as easily as I can pass a $1000 dress! ANYWAY, I love it and feel so beautiful in it. It only took me 45 minutes to pick it out, be sized and order it. Yea knowing what you want!

That's all the wedding talk I can muster on Thanksgiving!

Thankful for Scott and the family we are going to have together in 169 days!
Elisa

So, I've started yet another blog

2007-11-16T17:45:00.000-08:00

Hi there! Welcome to my 'cheap wedding' blog, that I am calling how I Do. This is sort of a spin off to Cheap Women, a blog that my friend Carrie and I started. Check it out here. This blog will concentrate on my upcoming nuptials, hopefully showing fun, creative, thrifty ways to plan a lovely wedding.
Here is the story: Between both families, we (Scott and I) have been given $10000 for a wedding and honeymoon. Well, we have decided to spend most of that on the honeymoon (no cheap honeymoon tips here!), so we have approx. $2000 to throw a wedding on. We are inviting about 175-200 people and have a little less than 6 months to do it. Oh yes, rings are included in the $2000.
We have already booked flights and lodging in Athens, Greece for $4800 dollars, so we can't change our mind and spend more money on the wedding! I want our wedding to be a fun, classic, hip party that reflects us, both seperatly and as the awesome couple that we are. Scott loves cooking and entertaining, I love decorating and creating (crafting, etc), so we want all of that to show.

So...welcome aboard my wild ride. I plan to include tips, links, ideas, etc. In addition to a place to share my spend-thrift ways, this will probably end up being a reflection of my ideas of the 'wedding market', our culture and my ideas on marriage. {I may extend it to 'how to make a tiny budget and 1.5 incomes(Scott is going back to school) work for newlyweds who are both in debt and in love' when the wedding is over and real life begins.}

Countdown: 188 days!