- :: the challenge ::
I think I must need my head examined… seriously! First it was challenging myself to abstain from buying mass-produced retail for a year (on month six and still going strong!). Now I’m set on planning a wedding on a teeny-tiny budget in a very short time frame. Anyone else a sucker for punishment, or is it just me?! rofl.
Anyway, here are the details, since I’ve been getting a few, curious inquiries lately. hehe! This is the challenge: plan and execute a wedding in 5 months, for $5,000 or less. It sounds rather impossible, doesn’t it? But considering that I love nothing more than to have to approach a problem creatively, I think this will prove something we can do, and still stay within budget and deadline, while having a stylish and fun wedding.
[ okay, this has nothing to do with the wedding... it's just a vintage petticoat I bought recently! ]It’s taken us about a month since he popped the question, but we finally struck upon a “theme” that we could run with, fits in our budget, and gave me some creative direction. (Me, without the creative direction is a very sad, very forlorn thing!) As you can probably guess, the overall look for this wedding is going to be Japanese, with a dash of retro (since it fits us so well!). I’m envisioning a beautiful array of colors, Japanese-inspired accents, and retro styling. Something that draws inspiration from Memoirs of a Geisha, Spirited Away, and the beautiful Uykio-e art that caught my imagination during last spring’s History of Design class.
We’re fortunate to have a venue that is going to fit within our budget very nicely, which is leaving more for the photographer and decorations. I admit… I’ve already been out buying paper lanterns for the reception hall, since I found them on sale at Target last week while L. and I were doing our wedding registry. I’ve got a ton of really swanky, really inexpensive ideas for giving us the most bang for our buck. So be sure to stay tuned throughout the next few months as I blog about some of my ideas and projects! Things like finding a budget gown (even though I bought mine a year ago… lol!), putting together fun and artistic invitations, guestbook alternatives, fun decorations and lots more. It’s going to be very DIY!
Needless to say, I’m not sure whether I’m more excited about getting married or the challenge! haha! (Of course, I’m jumping up and down for joy over getting married… lol!)
Here are some great resources for the budget (and not-so-budget) bride for inspiration and ideas… enjoy!
- ♥ Kate has some fantastic tips for the bride!
- ♥ a practical wedding
- ♥ one of my favorite wedding blogs! indie wedding guide
- ♥ diy bride
- ♥ something old, something new
- ♥ this one is definitely pure eye candy, but lovely and inspiring: southern wedding style
- ♥ snippet and ink
- ♥ this is a great idea… an etsy wedding
- ♥ $10,000 wedding
- ♥ and of course, the OhJoy! here comes the bride category
(Thank you to everyone who has been emailing me links and resources… you all are so sweet and helpful!) Have a lovely Monday, friends!!!
- :: things to come ::
L. had three days of liberty this week (hurrah for reenlistment perks!), so my week has been completely and utterly taken up by wedding planning, registry shopping, and hanging with my guy. We’ve finally been able to pinpoint some dates for our big day! Which totally makes me feel less stressed. haha. This photo is a snippet of the post that is coming next week about our wedding plans…
I hope you all have a lovely, fun-filled weekend! I’m off to do some socializing (how come it’s like my social life has spend up since I got engaged?! lol!), and take my sister to a concert for her 21st birthday. Be back Monday!
- :: faded images… ::
Remember this dress I posted about in May? I washed it the other day and it took out a lot of the staining, and after a quick chop-and-rehem job, I think it looks quite fetching as a new, summery frock! Very late 1910s, early 1920s-esque. It proved to be the perfect little, lightweight dress to wear to a family reunion and cookout I attended Saturday afternoon. Humid Virginia summers are really upon us… even I, dressed all in white started to melt a little! lol. I’m dying to try wearing this with some other accessories too; especially after spying Abby’s inspiring post over the weekend!
As a little tie-in with the Gatsby look of the dress (which honestly, isn’t a period I tend to wear a lot of; the straight-cut style just doesn’t flatter me as well…), here are some sweet images from the period for Vintage Monday!
Finally, I have a wedding-related question for y’all! (So put your thinking caps on!) We both love sushi (our first date was at a Japanese restaurant where we got sushi… I knew from that point forward that L. was definitely worth dating! lol), and are planning to have a small selection of it at our reception. However, not all of our guests are quite as enthusiastic about it, so I’d like to come up with ideas for foods that are similar (Japanese preferably), but don’t involve raw fish. I’ve got a couple ideas floating around, but thought I’d ask for suggestions as well! So, any great Japanese food ideas for appetizers an dinner?
I promise, more updates late this week about wedding plans… L. and I have a powwow scheduled this week for some serious wedding decisions. lol!
Have a lovely Monday, my friends!
- :: something for your weekend ::
I know, it’s shocking–I rarely ever post past my “big” Friday post! ol. But I ran across a site I couldn’t even wait until tomorrow to share with y’all!
I ran across Miss Vintage this evening, and I think my jaw literally hit my desk! This website is the kind of place I wish I had known about years ago when I first started really searching for vintage style information on the internet. Be prepared to spend far too much time browsing through the various pages!
Enjoy…
