Thank you all so much for your sweet congratulations, emails and comments after my little announcement this week! Both L. and I are very touched by all your kind words! I’m sorry I haven’t been able to reply to each and every comment; I’ve been really struggling to get back on the ball this week after the excitement of the weekend. hehe! (Is Bride ADD a real disorder? I think it should be! lol)
I’m sure you’re all dying to know what our wedding plans are. lol. At this point, we’re still very much tossing ideas around. One thing we know is that this wedding will have to be very creative because we’re on a teeny-tiny budget. I must admit that going over the numbers of how much it does cost to have a wedding intimidates and overwhelms me quite a bit. But L. has taken this on as a challenge, and has inspired and encouraged me to try and give it a go too. I think this will definitely be an event that pulls in my creative and thrifting skills!
One thing I am certain of is that I don’t want this blog to become a “wedding blog”, but rather the wedding discussion compliment the usual topics I post. So keep an eye open as I formulate creative ways around the big ticket cost of weddings and share some resources I stumble upon.
♥ I love the idea of hanging an image in front of a panel in this space
♥ Lorajean is having a fun art giveaway!
♥ I just stumbled on the inspiring line of Mine [ via ]
♥ I am drooling over the elegant stationary in the Mr. Boddington line
♥ have you check out All This is Happiness? I have lately been enjoying her posts immensely!
♥ speaking of fashion, Johanna has been inspiring me with her unique, retro style
♥ more fashion fun… I have been staring at this dress for days! I wish I could find something similar… (check out the rest of her amazing outfits too)
(See! I was good–not a wedding-related link in there! lol!)
Now I must trot off and catch up on all your lovely blog posts I’ve been missing out on all week! Take care my friends and I shall be back to my normal posting schedule on Monday!! Have a fantastic weekend full of joy and creativity and relaxation!
email me 
del.icio.us digg stumbleupon
Posted on 05.30.08 to casey's musings. Tags: inspiration friday, life, wedding.
lovely thoughts / 13 lovely thoughts
Lorajean added this comment on May 30 08 at 11:07 amHe he, Casey I can never resist your lovely links! In fact it may be one of my favorite things about your blog! (Next to your lovely photography, great fashion sense, writing style whit, and much more!):):):):) You never cease to inspire me! OH and Bride ADD is a real condition!!! LOL! I suffered from it for 6 months! And sadly, I’m sure my friends and family ended up suffering as well he he! Then after your married you go through planning withdrawals! ha! So no matter what it’s tough!
P.S. Thanks for the link and heres to your chance to win! :):)
Cheers!
-Lorajean
Cece added this comment on May 30 08 at 3:28 pmCongratulations! I got married almost 3 years ago and we had serious budget issues too. But, I got super creative about it and not to gloat but it turned out sooo beautiful! I made my dress for starters, are you going to make your dress? And, we got married in a state park out in the woods in a grove of redwood trees. By getting married in a state park the location was only $300! But it was so enchanting and so beautiful! We had a formal sit down dinner with crystal and everything but it was out in the woods like a fairy tale! We had a “real” photographer but we paid our teenage nephew to film it all. Your ring is so so gorgeous by the way! It totally suits you! Personally, I think a real dJ is cheesy so we made cd’s of all of our favorite songs, and roped a friend into being in charge of the music. We rented speakers and a generator and snuck the speakers amongst the trees so the music was like this mystical ambience. Oh my…I’m totally rambling! When I hear “wedding!” I just get too excited! Well, thank you for letting me share some of my stories with you. Oh, one more thing…since you guys will be on a budget too…I wanted a insane amount of flowers but that gets well, insanely expensive so I supplemented by convincing our local small town nursery to literally rent me some flowering trees and plants that I had scattered all around the wedding site.
Best wishes to you and your fiance!
Congratulations! Cece
Jassy added this comment on May 30 08 at 7:16 pmYou know I totally wouldn’t mind this turning into a wedding blog. I’d love to know what you came up with especially on a budget. Maybe I can cull ideas from you!
Ms.Cleaver added this comment on May 30 08 at 11:49 pmCongratulations on your engagement and best of luck with the wedding planning!
I got married about seven months ago on a pretty small budget - so I know what you’re up against. The thing that made it work out so well for us was keeping it more casual and setting up a buffet with food from our favorite restaurants instead of getting it catered, buying my wedding dress off of ebay for $50, decorating with pumpkins from a local farm and faux leaves from the dollar store, using a photographer who shot digital, and having tons of family and friends who went out of their way to support us: one of the groomsmen was the DJ, another’s wife made favors, a friend of mine took our $30 of grocery store flowers and made them into beautiful bouquets/boutonnieres and my brother officiated the ceremony. It was really moving to seeing all these people volunteer to make our wedding special. It was incredibly personal and I wouldnt have changed a thing.
Other people’s wedding photos are usually boring to other people, but if you’re intersted in seeing how a low-budget wedding turned out - my photographer still has the pictures posted on her website : http://www.amyrootdonle.com/leahjohn/
In any case, I’m sure yours will be fantastic!
-Leah
mick added this comment on May 31 08 at 9:38 amI definitely went through a time of being a bit overwhelmed (we’re also doing this on a tiny budget), but now we’ve been engaged 5 months and things have calmed down. Take deep breaths and it will go fine! I love the idea of treating it as a game; my fiance and I are doing the same thing.
Also, I really recommend the book “Offbeat Bride” if you haven’t gotten it already. It’s got a ton of ideas, as well as really helpful advice, for planning, budget, and sanity. So many of the brides and grooms interviewed in the book had incredibly creative, DIY weddings on small budgets. It really saved my sanity, and it’s hilarious to boot!
Rhiannon added this comment on May 31 08 at 5:55 pmWow, congratulations!!! I’m sure you’ll make the wedding lovely. Plus I think that small-budget weddings are always the most fun . . . my sister had a tiny, quickly planned little wedding and it was the best one I went to. Can’t wait to see the dress!
kater added this comment on May 31 08 at 11:17 pmOh goodness, thank you for the link and your sweet message!
Despite the fact that I won’t be planning a wedding for myself for a while, I have to say I’m really interested to see how and what you plan and all kinds of interesting links! I’ve always said I didn’t want a wedding, but I find as I get older it’s easier to think about it as a reality!
Laura added this comment on Jun 01 08 at 6:19 pmI’m sure your day will be filled with creativity and love. I had a handmade wedding brought together in 2 months (I’m a kind of spur of the moment gal!) and it was an amazing day. A budget brings out the best in artists so you’ll be fine
Jennifer added this comment on Jun 02 08 at 12:33 amI think this will definitely be an event that pulls in my creative and thrifting skills!
I think so too! Tight budgets for big things like weddings can be very frustrating, but it can also be a neat challenge. The best of luck with planning and whatnot!I’m drooling over Mr. Boddington stationary as well! I really like the idea of buying myself some calling cards — a rather pointless idea for me because I have no idea how I would use them, considering most of my friends, family and acquaintances are usually not the sorts of people who would appreciate stuff like that.
Mae Jane added this comment on Jun 02 08 at 2:39 pmi am soooo happy for you two! how exciting
Shante added this comment on Jun 02 08 at 6:29 pmLet me say I love your site! I am inspired everyday. Now, onto wedding. I got married on a relatively small budget. One thing I did was have my bridesmaids all wear their favorite black dress. I have yet to see a bridesmaid dress I truly love and since I had so many bridesmaids of all shapes and sizes I thought the best thing was for each of them to feel beautiful and comfortable in their favorite lil black dress. The photos turned out amazing! I will with a photographer that shoots very candid shots, cuz I’m not into the to-posing thing. Also, my mother and her best friend did all the food themselves. My father in law went to a wedding in beverly hills the weekend after and he said the food did not even compare. You should definitely design your own invitations. I did that and then had them printed at a local print shop - they even assembled them for me. Though I didn’t make my dress I recently found this vogue pattern that if I had the opportunity back when I would have totally made this: http://www.voguepatterns.com/item/V2979.htm?tab=evening_bridal_includes_designer&page=2.
I’ll send more ideas as I remember - I had such a good time doing my wedding on a small budget. My only problem is that I have so many new ideas I feel like I need a do-over!
elissa/SpandexPony added this comment on Jun 02 08 at 11:08 pmHey sister! Congratulations! I just got engaged a few weeks ago as well and am facing the same budget issues. We’re looking at a local castle for our Halloween wedding… it’s only $300! But if not, he thankfully has a large family (I’ve got 2 bros and a dad, and mom can’t help because she’s mentally handicapped) and we may do it in one of many cool, abandoned barns near where he lives. The fam will cook (and how!). But if you’d like to share ideas and tips, that would be so excellent!
Yours,
Elissa
jocelyne added this comment on Jun 03 08 at 4:56 pmHey there just found your site throught wardrobe remix, I’m not sure if you have heard anything about ariel who wrote the book ” Off beat bride” , she is friends with some people I know in seattle and her blog and book are amazing. check it out for some great inspiration! Congrats!
Jocelyne of pretty pirate designs
