Things That I Love--Wedding Edition

Well, I was hoping to have more time for this, unfortunately, the day is slipping through my fingers "Like sand through the hourglass"!  We're leaving for a work luncheon in about 40 minutes, then taking a trip to the aquarium.  I'm hoping to catch the 3:30 train home, run by Target for some last minute shopping and then throw in a load of laundry, then it's off to my hair appointment at 7, home by 10 and packing until oh dark thirty in the morning.

Tomorrow we're dropping the dogs off at the vet in the morning and then heading to the airport and taking off some time around noon.  I'm hoping against hope that I'll have my laptop back and in working order today so I should be able to blog from the airport and keep up with my NaBloPoMo obligations!  So, today won't be much, but it's just a few of the vendors and tools that I've used in the wedding planning process and would highly recommend to anyone else out there who may be planning a wedding.  I may do a part 2 next Friday, it just depends on how much I can get to today and whether or not I can think of anything else I'd like to share.

To Have And To Hold Inc.

I had a lot of trouble finding a ring bearer pillow that wasn't hideous, covered in mounds of tool, or stark white (we wanted ivory).  I found Carol through the message boards on The Knot, and was incredibly impressed with how easy she was to work with.  I sent her an email letting her know my color scheme and she sent about 15 different swatches of fabric in the mail for me to choose from, as well as beading options.  I chose the basic design from a picture on her website, emailed her with my color choices, and just a few weeks later the gorgeous pillow arrived on my doorstep.  For all of the customization and time she spends working with you, the price is extremely reasonable also.  I think my pillow came to $48, which is certainly comparable to prices of the mass produced monstrosities you can find off the shelf.

The Brides Essential Wedding Planner
Amy Nebens

I love, love, love my wedding planner.  I love it.  I will admit that it's rather large, so it's not the easiest thing to haul around, however, it is ring bound, so you can remove pages, add pages, move sections around--really customize it to your own needs.  It also makes it easy to take checklists and the lists of questions for vendors with your for your meetings without lugging around the whole binder.  There are plenty of pockets for contracts, flyers, saved emails, etc, and there's a whole page of business card slots.  The checklists are extremely thorough, and the questions for vendors really cover the spectrum of topics that you need to cover.

Flowers Into Paintings

Okay, well, technically this is not a vendor that I have used yet--however, I've seen some of the finished products and they are STUNNING.  Essentially, you send or drop off your wedding bouquet up to 3 days after the wedding, she dries and presses you flowers, and then turns your bouquet into a gorgeous painting.  You can request a specific color scheme or just leave the entire piece completely up to her.  I love that this is a way to keep a memento of your wedding day without keeping a dusty, dried out bouquet shoved in the back of your closet.  It's something that you can display in your home, use as a conversation piece, and some day pass on as a family heirloom.  Oh my God, I kind of want to cry right now just thinking about it.  What can I say, I'm a little emotional lately.
 

Comments

[Girl, Dislocated]

I didn't get a chance to comment on your last post, but I'll say it here: You're totally entitled to talk about your wedding! And the fact that the day is very far off for me isn't stopping me from reading or from taking notes!

[Stephanie]

I am in total agreement with you on the ring bearer pillow. My mom actually made mine. Super simple. She stuffed a little pillow and then we used an old old hankie of my great grandmother's and another one of my grandfather's to cover it with. Then she just used a piece of ribon and very lightly stitched it to the pillow. The hankies were their fancy ones that were for special occasions and it was just a sweet touch to know that they belonged to someone important in my life.

Ahhhhh. Weddings, what fun!

[Jass]

Hey you are not throwing the bouquet?

Sorry, I haven't been to many weddings, can't you tell? ;-)

[Caro]

Some of those ring bearer pillows are gorgeous! Hopefully she's still in business when I get married...whenever on earth that will be!

And that Flowers into Paintings site is amazing. I took a look around and her work is stunning! I think that's such a good idea!

TGIF! Happy packing and safe travels!

[sophie]

I wish I had known about the Flowers to Paintings before my wedding. I ditched my bouquet (no clutter rules in full force) but the flowers were my favorite thing about the wedding. Mayhaps I can get some more and send them to her. Hmmmmmmm.

[RisibleGirl]

Honey, I wish I would have thought about this long before, but I could have made your ring bearer pillow (free, even!) I've made them for several friends and really enjoy doing it.

Shoot. Darn. Shoot.