I Want Candy!!!!!!

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One of the drawbacks of having a long engagement is having more time to add things you dont really need. When we first started planning I wanted a candy buffet, but after discovering that it would cost several hundred dollars to have one that didnt look skimpy, we decided to go with a late night buffet instead. But during an episode of Four Weddings that I forced my fiance to watch, the guests were going crazy over the candy buffet and he decided that he really wanted one. Who am I to crush his dreams?

While doing my research, I have come across several elements that make a good candy buffet:

• coordinate the candy with the colors of your wedding
• use smaller containers with stems, that give the illusion of being tall but take less candy to fill
• use more than candy, add cookies or other treats
• check with your venue since some dont allow outside food for liability reasons
• dont forget a nice background

So now the search is on for purple, silver, and black candy and some cute containers. Luckily my DOC has some containers and scoops for rent at a reasonable price and she sets everything up so we have no worries. We know its something we dont need, but I'm really happy we are going to do it.

Are you splurging on any fun items for your wedding?

Getting Things Done



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 We have really been getting things done this past week. Not only did I get a great new job (yay me!), but FI's parents gave our our wedding gift early. We decided to use part of this gift toward the wedding to get the more expensive photographer and videographer we wanted. It's such a relief to know that we can get the quality we want and not have to sacrifice the coverage we want due to budget constraints.
The  biggest news of the day is that I ordered my dress and the next post will cover how I finally made a decision and where I decided to buy.

All the big deposits are out, all we have left is lighting and chairs to put a deposit on. And I guess i have more work to do on my ever growing DIY to do list.

What things have you checked off your wedding to do list this week?

The Garter

I made my garter! The actual garter is my something old, since its my best friends garter that my fiance caught at her wedding. I just made the flowers and attached them. Originally, I was looking into some garters on Etsy, but at $40+ I really didnt think it was worth it. It was so cheap to make that I think I'm going to actually toss this one instead of spending the time to make another to toss. The whole thing took me less than 5 minutes to make, since I already had the extra flowers laying around. I think it would have looked better if the garter were black, but since I already had this one why waste money on another? Plus I like the idea of incorporating something from my BFFs wedding.

Did you make your own garter or did you buy it?

One Love...Our Honeymoon is Booked!

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I have to be honest...I care more about the honeymoon than the actual wedding. I was never interested in a huge wedding and I was willing to cut back on certain things to have an amazing honeymoon. Luckily, we have been getting really great deals, so we have not really had to give up anything and we get to have an AMAZING honeymoon.

We will be going to Sandals Grande Riviera in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. We knew we wanted to honeymoon in Jamaica even before we were engaged. We went on a cruise for our first vacation together and one of the ports of call was Ocho Rios. We went on a private tour and our guide took us to Royal Plantation which is a boutique hotel (now owned by sandals), and fell in love with the place. While we were there we vowed to return for our honeymoon.

Ocho Rios has everything we were looking for in a honeymoon destination; culture, great  nightlife, sun, sand and amazing food. We originally considered Royal Plantation but determined that we could get more for our money at Sandals Grande Riviera. We booked a villa with a butler and a private pool, and since Sandals is all inclusive we dont have to worry about food, drinks or activities. But we are not the type of people to stay on the resort so we will be out and about soaking up the Jamicain culture.

Now we just have to book our flight. Where did you decide to honeymoon and why did you choose that location?

I'm Baaaak! Bride Brain Burnout



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My last post was in November, and though I would like to blame my lack of posting  on the holidays or work, but its  simply not true. The truth is, I just didnt feel like planning for a while. I was warned, that at some point in my planning I would not feel like doing anything wedding related for awhile, but I didnt believe it. Planning was so fun and I had so much to do. Who could get tired of this? Well I did.

I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that we had 2 years to plan. And after having Bride Brain for a year, my brain got tired. So, I simply stopped working on wedding stuff for a few months. But all of a sudden we realized we have 9 months left and we have a ton of things to take care of. So, I guess its time to get back to business.

Was there a point in your planning where you didnt want to think about the wedding?

Save the Dates are Going Out!

We are just under the year mark until the wedding and we are finally sending out our save the dates. Actually, I thougt it was kind of early but we kept getting questions about the date and accomodations so we decided to send them out earlier than originally planned. We got these babies free from vistaprint.com.

Bouquet Alternatives : Brooches & paper & Crystals, Oh my!

Purple bouquet

As you all know I am not a very traditional bride and I could really care less about flowers. Though flowers are beautiful, they make me sneeze and they die. And I have a huge problem with spending so much money for something that is not going to last beyond the day .  At first I wanted purple calla lillies, but after pricing them out and considering how low the bouquet was on my list of priorities, i decided to forgo one all together. But after browsing the wedding blogs the past few months, I have come across a few unique bouquet alternatives that I would consider.

Crystal Bouquet

I originally wanted a winter themed wedding and I thought these crystal bouquets would be perfect. They are really expensive, but pretty easy to DIY. I still love them but they no longer fit our theme.  You can find a great tutorial here or buy them online here.

  

Brooch Bouquet



I love bling so I am drawn to these brooch bouquets. They are kind of expensive but seem pretty easy to DIY if you can find the brooches. I really love these but think they are too vintage for my theme. What do you think?  You can find a tutorial here or buy them here.



Composit Bouquet

I loved these and considered one for my flower girl. I think they are pretty chic and I am still considering them for sure. You can find a tutorial here or buy one here.

Fabric

These  fabric bouquets are by far my favorite. Super easy and the price can vary depending on the type of fabric you use. I will post a tutorial when I'm done making mine but here is where you can buy them.

Some other ideas that are cute but did not fit my wedding

Metal:

Metal

Feathers:

Feather

Fans:

Fans

Paper:

Paper

Candles: 

Candles

In the end I think I'm going to try the fabric bouquet since I like how they look and they are fun to make. Im still going to try the composite flower since that might turn out to be pretty awesome.  But who knows, i might still decide to walk with nothing. So do you/did you have an alternative bouquet? Do you think they are trendy or will they stand the test of time?