When Your DIY's Go Up in Flames

... literally.

This morning, I woke up with a zeal for DIY projects.  It's time to get things off the list.  For real!

So, I started with what I hoped would be a pretty straight forward project: the boutonniere.

My inspiration came from online:

Boutonniere by Whichgoose via etsy

I had purchased a bunch of sola flowers from save-on-crafts.  I had feathers from amazon.  I found ribbon to match the FI's tie at Jo-Ann Fabrics.  Plus, some floral wire from earlier projects and my hot glue gun...  I was ready.

I attached the wire to the flower.  Applied some glue and put the feather where I thought it looked good.  Then, I wrapped (and wrapped and wrapped) the ribbon around.  Finally, I tied a knot near the top and cut the ribbon to a good length.  Then, I held the ribbon close to a candle flame to keep the edges from fraying.

Can you guess what happened next?

I'll give you a hint: Sola flowers (and, feathers, apparently) are EXTREMELY flammable.

Poof (personal pic)

Seriously?!?

Attempt two involved me trying the ribbon and flame step a little earlier...  

Voila! (personal pic)

This one went a bit faster since I already knew what I was doing.

I'm pretty happy with the results.  But, this made me wonder: how many DIY fails does the average bride have under her belt?  And, how would guests react if they could see some of the major comedies involved with wedding planning?

Up next: sewing the lace onto my veil.  At least there is no fire involved with that one.

Staying Organized

One of our very first purchases after getting engaged (second only to a bunch of bridal magazines I grabbed on my first trip to the grocery after the ring was on my finger) was the iDo Couple Edition by Elm Software.  At $35, this was probably the best investment I could have made.  Seriously.  Let me explain how this program is still making me say "wow".

First, it met my expectations for contact and invitation management:
- Database for contacts has all the fields I would expect and then some: name, address, nickname, email, phone numbers, A or B list, friend of (bride, groom, both), role, gender, child indicator, out of town indicator and a place for notes.  This is quite a list of ways that you can filter and analyze your guest list.
- Contacts are then dropped into groups under invitations.  This function has an auto-wording setting, ability to add guests for single invites, RSVP ID's and an invite sent indicator.
- RSVP's are soooo easy to track.  Find the RSVP # (which I put in the corner of each RSVP I sent) and click on received, then click on boxes by each guest not expected to attend.  Also, it's easy to click on a guests name to correct spelling or update someone's "guest" with the actual name of who's coming.
- It was also easy to import and export contact info and invitation lists using the software.  This was way better than typing in each contact sent by family or having to address each save the date/invitation envelope separately.

Next, it surprised me with additional ways to stay organized:
- Hotel lists for guests.  Where is everyone staying - Create a hotel and drag everyone who is staying there.  Plus, there is the ability to add a map picture of each.  This is going to be great for OOT bags.
- Flight information.  I'm not planning to use this one, but it would be great for weddings with lots of VIP's arriving on planes.
- Gift tracking.  Its easy to add a new gift, select the person/people who gave it (which automatically populates the address for a thank you card), indicate when it was received (and for which event: wedding, bridal shower, etc.) and mark when a thank you was sent.
- Table layout.  Add tables in several shapes and seating counts and then drag attendees to their table.  The tables can be named and arranged to show the floor plan with simple functionality.  And, a report can be created for printing and staying organized on the day of.

There is also a lot of planning help that I am probably not making 100% use of:
- Vendor List.  This contains all of the contact info for each vendor and a place for notes.
- Budget.  This is a place to keep track of money paid and still due with date functionality and groupings to see where your money is going.
- Checklist.  This one was auto-populated upon opening the software.  Its easy to edit, add or delete items as needed.

Finally, there are a bunch of other things I haven't even played around with yet like timelines, events, songlists, etc.

Seriously, the only thing I would change about this software is to make it online so that I could access my information at any computer (this is why most of my personal wedding checklists are in Google Docs).  Otherwise, this software does exactly what I bought it for, plus more.  I definitely recommend it.

Any questions about this?  Let me know.  Or, have you used a different wedding planning software that surprised you (either in a good way or bad)?

Playing Dress Up

Tuesday was the first fitting for my wedding gown.  The whole experience was a little different than I expected, not all in a good way, but I'm glad my dress is finally on its way to being ready for the big day.

The day started with me feeling a little bit like this:

from wiki

And, as a quick tangent, because I was already on the wiki page about elephants...  Did you ever notice the ridiculous eyelashes on an elephant before?  This girl can definitely get by without eyelash extensions...

also from wiki

Anyway, I was feeling huge, sausagey and unpleasant.  I don't know if it was nerves related to the idea of putting on my wedding dress or my knowing that I haven't lost any (not a single pound) of the weight I'd hoped to lose by now...  But, either way, I wasn't actually looking forward to having the dress on or seeing what I looked like in it.

Don't get me wrong, I was super excited to see the dress.  It had been over seven months and I barely remembered what it looked like in person.  I wanted to see how my final shoe decision and recent jewelry purchases looked with it.  I wanted to visualize it standing next to the brown suit the FI purchased over the weekend.  I wanted to imagine it with a veil and see if I could make a decision on that finally.

I just didn't want to have to wear it.

So, I may have been less than enthusiastic as I stopped by my mom's house to pick her up.  And, I may have been less than charming through the appointment.  I may have also been close to tears as I drove myself home after.  But, I'm assuming that the alterations and (fingers crossed) being good about food and exercise for the next two months may get me to where I want to be.

But, less about me and more about the fitting appointment...  After being shown to a dressing room and changing into my strapless bra, my seamstress helped me dive into the dress.  Then, she gave my mom a quick lesson on lacing up the back.  

Once the dress was in place, we started to talk about the details.  First, she cut off the attached bow and broach, which I'd known from the very beginning would not be a part of the final look.  She also pinned the chest area a bit, so that I won't be showing off all the goods.  Next, a preview of the bustle and the new belt was pinned into place.  Finally, I did a slow spin as she pinned the bottom for length.

It was quick...  But not so quick that I didn't try on my new jewelry to see if they were compatible with the dress: 

Sweet Zinnia by Kate Spade via Nordstrom

I had actualy bought these over the weekend from amazon.com (thank goodness for Prime shipping) because they were a little less expensive.  They looked gorgeous with the dress.  So sparkly and definitely a statement but still elegant and kind of timeless.

After all the pins were in place and I'd signed the alteration order paperwork, we removed the dress and that was it.  A quick trip to front desk for final payment and I made another appointment for my second fitting.  The seamstress warned that the bottom of the dress will be "opened up" when I return and I shouldn't freak out.  Now I'm uber-curious to see what that means.

Did anyone else have a less than stellar first fitting appointment?  Did trying on the dress again make you feel more worried about how you'd look on the big day?  Or, did you fall in love with your dress and the way you felt in it all over again?