An Affordable Wedding?

Well...

2010-06-16T13:53:00.000-07:00

It's just shy of a year since I posted here last. In the meantime I actually, finally got engaged, so I guess this blog actually makes more sense now, so I shall make an effort to update it and start planning!

I suppose I should post a picture of the ring...I guess that's what people do...

More Shoesies! ^__^

2009-06-27T09:15:00.000-07:00

Ok, I'm pretty much sold on the shorter length dress, which means I have to have the CUTEST shoes of all time. I think I'll be going with the lemon theme, so it would be really sweet to have some kickass yellow sandals. I'm 5'1" and my bf is 6'3" so I should probably go with heels but the idea of a cute pair of flats is kind of tempting! (Click on the pics for retail sources - yes the Manolos are wayyyy out of my budget, but pretty inspiration!!)

Do me a Favor?

2009-06-25T13:04:00.000-07:00

I have a feeling that finding the right wedding favors will be be an arduous process.

I saw these adorable 'Love Bird' salt and pepper shakers.. however they're $3.50 each, a really good price for porcelain, but with a ballpark figure of 90 guests that works out at $315 for favours, too much in my opinion...arghh they're so tasteful, I know people don't want some kitsch little thing with my name written on it hanging around their house forever so I love the idea of people having something practical and well designed.

Mayybeeee there's some way to fit them into the budget, I'll add them to my spreadsheet ;)

Fans could also be a nice idea, since Key West will be hot and balmy, these fans are $2.33 each, working out at $209.70 for 90 guests.

I then started looking for those Southern paddle-style fans, and found these cute ones for only 95c each! They also come in colours for $1 each (colours available are turquoise, coral, green, red, yellow, hot pink and brick. I personally prefer the natural colour - grand total of $85.50 for 90 guests!

As usual click on the pictures to be taken to the site offering the items.

Google Docs

2009-06-24T13:32:00.000-07:00

I'm a big advocate of Google Docs, and, well, pretty much all things Google - I've decided to set up some spreadsheets to make my planning a little easier. The layout is simple, I can access them easily from my email and it's free!

First thing is a budget spreadsheet with a total sum formula so I can easily see what's pushing things over-budget and I can easily break things down into subcategories from there.

Second thing is a guest broken down into family, friends, etc., with a count formula so every time i add a name I can see the updated total guest count.

I assume most people are pretty computer literate but if anyone wants some help setting up spreadsheets like this, just let me know and I'll be happy to do so!

On the Hunt

2009-06-24T12:11:00.000-07:00

On a disappointing and unfruitful hunt for cheap and tasteful paper plates I came across these cute bride and groom tissue packets. They're $1.59 per pack though, not sure how much people spend on favors but I want to spend as little as possible on something that will probably be discarded the next day.

Looking at some 'bride and groom' designs on different sites made me realise that interracial designs seem to be few and far between and those that are available tend to be more expensive than the white bride and groom sets, I know that comes down to production quantities but it still sucks. I did however come across interchangeable individual cake toppers at Things Festive . It's a nice idea but they work out at $36 for the two which is a little more than I want to spend (plus they're kind of uggo) but they may be of interest to someone else so I'm posting them up.

Hair today...gone tomorrow!

2009-06-23T12:46:00.000-07:00

No matter how many tiny insignificant details that I can dream up surrounding my imaginary wedding, I just can't get my head around what hairstyle I would like to wear (no pun intended). We ladies understand the importance of a good hairstyle, it's the ultimate accessory and takes any outfit to perfection. We also fear the calamity of a bad hair day - most wedding horror stories that I've heard revolve around the bride's hairstyle going horribly wrong the morning of the wedding...an unthinkable disaster :/

I did see a cute chignon on Rosario Dawson while watching Seven Pounds the other night which got me to thinking about this subject. Should be disaster proof no?

Wedding Shoes

2009-06-22T18:56:00.000-07:00

It's been a little while since I made a post, I had to go out of town due to family circumstances but I wanted to make a quick post about wedding shoes.

I am an avid salsa dancer and one of my greatest role models as a dancer is Burju Hurturk, the leader of Hacha y Machete dance company, she is a visionary choreographer, a soulful social dancer and to top it all off she now makes her own line of shoes; including wedding shoes. Some styles are particularly original and beautiful and I thought you guys might be interested in taking a look.

Something Blue by Burju Shoes

Sunday Dress by Burju Shoes

The Bride by Burju Shoes

Lights, camera, action

2009-06-13T00:18:00.000-07:00

I like the idea of having a photoshoot with the bf prior to the wedding, something to add to the wedding album that shows us in a more casual state. Key West certainly isn't short of beautiful backdrops and although I am sure there will be some pictures of us walking on a beach, I would also like to have some more personal unique pictures in the set. When taking pictures myself I am always drawn to slightly rundown urban landscapes and there are some nice areas within Key West to get those shots.

Another idea I had is to take some pictures at the Tropic Cinema, the bf is crazy about movies from all eras and genres so it would be great to get some pictures taken outside this great art-deco style theatre.

Photograph by Conlawprof

Bah - Key West just has so many great little houses and streets to take pictures on, I cant wait!

Photograph by LinksmanJD

Great Lengths

2009-06-12T22:39:00.000-07:00

OK, so we all know how the "traditional" wedding dress should look; white, floor length, maybe even with a train - but I'm having cold feet, or at least I want to..! While perusing 'A $10,000 Wedding' I saw a link to a vintage dress site, Vintageous, where one of the dresses immediately caught my eye, but it doesn't reach the floor...scandalous!!

I think it's technically a cocktail dress, being shorter than the tea length dress which is occasionally seen, nevertheless I am completely enamored! I think it would look extremely cute, it would provide air conditioning in Key West's sweltering heat and it would allow me the freedom to dance without fear of becoming ensnared in my gown.

Thoughts?

Stuff on Tables

2009-06-12T12:39:00.000-07:00

I'm making a million blog posts because I have so many ideas images and links saved on my computer. I'm trying to get rid of them all.

Ok so stuff on tables, table decor, or what have you...I'm not a big fan of flowers really so I've been trying to think of other things to put on tables. I think the theme that I want to go for is lemons/lemonade (I know random, but I like lemon yellow, lemon scent and lemon flavour so it's a go!) Good thing about lemons is that if I can find some nice way of presenting them, they will be cheap(ish). I don't want to go overboard though.

I really like this idea of odd jars and bottles with lemonade and lemons (I could just go with water and lemons though) I dont know where I got this image from, can't find it now, if it's yours just let me know and I'll credit you or remove it.

I saw this lime image on A $10,000 Wedding, and it got me excited -it's easily modified to include lemons, and I could stick other stuff in there, tiny candles, place cards on sticks, whatever really.

I also love the idea of macarons, they look so pretty and taste so good! You could pile them high on a plate or cake holder in the centre of a table as snacks/decoration, <3 multifunction

Things We Like

2009-06-12T11:43:00.000-07:00

It's very important for us to have a wedding that reflects both of our interests and likes, so I'm making a list here of things we like.

Music

I've danced salsa for 8 years now and it's a major part of my life, so there will have to be some salsa music to dance to at the reception. I also need to have a dress and shoes that I can dance in - more on those later!

We both like reggae, (Dennis Brown, Beres Hammond, Gregory Isaacs, Garnet Silk etc.)Neo Soul and Hip-Hop so we will be playing those for sure. I'm leaning towards the idea of having a pre-loaded playlist because it will be expensive and difficult to find a DJ that can cater to our slightly off-the-beaten-track tastes. We can work on the playlist together and it will be fun (I hope)

Food

We have similar taste in food, I want a casual eating affair because more formal restaurant style food usually sucks en masse and it's super expensive. I like the idea of our friends and family having a nice relaxed meal, maybe even a buffet, just a fun gathering without all the frill and pomp.

Our ideas for food thus far have been BBQ (ribs, chicken, vegetables for the veggies, nice side salads, fresh bread rolls) OR Caribbean food (jerk chicken, rice and peas, curry goat {?} etc) I think the Caribbean food would be the best idea as it reflects the bf's background, ties in with having the wedding on an island and would be fun for my family visiting from back home (they're not picky)

Dessert!

The bf bakes (how hot is that? I know!) and we are both very passionate about desserts, we've talked through some different wedding cake ideas which I'll go into detail about later but I think we'll end up with several small cakes rather than one giant one and I'm sure the bf will have a hand in at least one.

Loving Day

2009-06-12T11:22:00.001-07:00

Today, June 12th, is Loving Day, commemorating the 43rd anniversary of Loving-V-Georgia in which interracial couples won the right to marry legally. As one half of a pretty awesome interracial couple it's kind of scary to think that if had been born earlier we couldn't have been together.

Thank goodness for progress eh?

Location, location, location.

2009-06-12T01:20:00.000-07:00

About 2 years ago, my boyfriend and I took our first vacation together; a 2 day mini-vacation to Key West. We drove down from Miami, and were on a pretty tight budget (are you sensing a theme here?) so we just walked around and generally hung out enjoying each others company. We had a great time and although Key West was a little too touristy and hackneyed for my liking it holds a special place in both our hearts because we really had a great time together.

Anyways, we were taking a walk when we stumbled upon this great church, we were both immediately drawn to it and took some pictures. When we discussed the idea of getting married recently I mentioned the little church and the bf immediately agreed that it was somewhere special and we decided on it as an imaginary venue for our wedding.

I'm going to be a horrible person and not share the specific location for now because it would really suck if I wasn't able to get a booking for my wedding cos you guys snapped up all the spots!

The whole colonial style of old town Key West has given me so much inspiration already so I'll be sure to share some of it in future posts. But yeah, historic buildings, great weather, tepid turquoise water what's not to love about Key West as a wedding location? Aside from the fact that about 18 million other people are getting married there... lol

The only difficulty is that I am from Europe, as are all my family, and it's going to be a bitch getting everyone over to Key West for a wedding, a lot of people might not be able to afford to come, or might just not want to come, but hey, I guess that will help with budgeting!

Welcome, welcome

2009-06-12T01:11:00.000-07:00

A little background?

Like many other insane wedding bloggers I am not actually engaged yet. I have a long term boyfriend and a wedding is an eventuality; right now however, we are both brokeasses, so there is no money for engagement or a rehearsal dinner or indeed a wedding itself.

I LOVE planning and researching and I have a lot of ideas, so many ideas in fact that I think my boyfriend is already over our wedding before he even proposes - as a solution I propose to blog my neurotic little behind off on here, I will link him and he can check it out if and when he pleases.

Hopefully I'll get some readers that I can exchange inspirations with and hopefully they can deal with run on sentences because I type like I talk.