[hand made] invitations

Thanks to some helpful bridesmaids & friends, we finished the invitations! These are an original creation by yours truely :) I am so excited with the final product!

Reception Cards:

Invitation card:

Invitation all put together:

My caterer doesn't require RSVP cards, which saved huge! Also, one of the previously mentioned friends works at the post office and will be hand cancelling all of the envelopes, ensuring they all get processed. She could also weighed them to make sure they didn't require extra postage [bonus]!

SUCCESS!!

On a related wedding note, my shower was a huge success & I received lots of nice things! I really am blessed!

This weekend is the Bachelorette Party, and I am SOOOOO EXCITEDDDD!

On another note...only one week left of wedding planning fun, and it's back to SC to start coaching & teaching. I am sorta rady [did I really just say that?!]

.:Ash:.

the [wedding dress] fix

All is well in wedding dress land. Thank GOD for my FMIL and the neighbor that sews, Bette. They are the bomb, and took care of the length issue, and bustled it all up.
Check that off of the list! No worries on that when I come home wedding week :)

Next up: Invitations

Until then,
.:Ash:.

[minor] crisis

Yesterday, I decided to try my dress on with the right bra, and my shoes. Guess what?!?! TOO SHORT! AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! I about freaked, and tried my hardest to get over it, and say that it didn't matter. Well, I can't do it. The length HAS TO BE PERFECT on my wedding day, is that too much to ask? Bridezilla-ish? YIKES!

Today's mission: investigate options to lengthen my dress. THANK GOD it has a bubble hem at the bottom, so hopefully fabric can be added that no one will ever see....... ugh, the stress is mounding!

What if I had never tried it on, and came back from SC the week of the wedding only to find that my dress was not the perfect length............. thank goodness I figured it out now!

AND >> I had my first wedding NIGHTMARE. Whew, things have to turn out better than my dream's disaster, so at least that's good. I'll take no more nightmares, thanks.

Well, enough of that. I'm off to shower and get to checking out my options for taking care of my dress. Wish me luck :)

.:Ash:.

groomsmen [gifts & bags]

And today's post is dedicated to our wonderful groomsmen. After much brainstorming, I decided to get creative. First of all, with the bags. You've all probably seen a traditional size gift bag in the store, that looks similar to this:

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My FH is a true hunter & outdoorsman. He (and most of his groomsmen) would love for me to allow him to have camouflage vests...I'm not marrying a redneck! I let him love his hunting, and I love the meat, but we really don't need camouflage vests! So my creativity ran wild, and I came up with the idea to make gift bags for them with camouflage vests on. They turned out SO CUTE, and I eliminated the yearning for camo! Here they are:

and a close up of the cute little buttons I put on:

And inside the bag are the goodies. One thing about my FH that was shocking at first: he LOVES cowboy boots. When I first met him and noticed them, I immediately responded "WHAT ARE YOU WEARING ON YOUR FEET?????" Well, as we all know, some things are just not that important and I have gotten over his cowboy boot obsession. He wears them, and actually like that it makes him a couple of inches taller :)

First up: The glass. I found these adorable beer glasses that each guy will get. They will be accompanied by a smaller version shot glass in a boot shape. They will also be getting a cigar and little mini liquor bottle of the FH's favorite, Jim Beam. We are SOO SOO excited about these glasses, you should have seen my FH's face when he opened the box and saw the real thing!

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These hot little babies are off to the engraver to get the boys' names put on them today :)

Mark another thing off the list!

Until next time,

.:Ash:.

flowers [i've been a bad, bad blogger]

As I am not a huge flower person, there will not be tons of flowers in my wedding. Flowers are pretty...in the flower bed or garden. The minute they are removed from their homes, they just wilt....I'd just rather admire them in front of my house or in a hanging basket. That being said, this is nearly the extent of flowers in my wedding:

bridesmaids: they will be carrying a single artificial orange calla lily with some pine greenry, phesant feathers, and pine cones. They will look excellent next to their mocha tissue taffeta tea length dresses! You say, "why artificial?" I say because they last! PLUSS they are MUCH more budget friendly. I'm all about the budget. With all of the guests we are having share our day, we decided that money could be saved in flowers.


groomsmen/ushers/dads: meet the boutinerre. One artificial mini orange calla lily adorned with a little greenry and mini pine cone :)

As of now, I don't have any pictures of corsages, my bouquet or a good one of the groom's boutinerre. Those may appear in the future, but for now I've got many many many projects to finish before I head back to SC! I'm tryin to keep up, I've completed about 2186 more DIY projects and this weekend is the big one: invitations. I'll be sure to take pictures so that you can see my little creations!

Unitl next time,

.:Ashley:.

decorations [part two - ceremony]

Here are some more of my decorations, again, I am having a rustic, fall wedding. Things are NOT traditional, bear with me as I show these things...it will all come together! In the last post, the color of some of the bows was distorted and sort of looked red [and they're not]. Remember, these are pictures that my FMIL and I took with our unprofessional digital cameras. Enjoy!

Here is my unity candle:


There are two of these, and they are rather large [which this picture does not really show]. These will be going on the doors of the church when guests come in from the outside:

There are also two of these which will be on the altar on two foot wreath stands:

I am so excited to be sharing these pictures with all of you. Please remember, they do the decorations no justice, when you see it all in person it will be beautiful [to me at least :)] Enjoy and hopefully this finds you thinking.... rustic wedding!!

Enjoy & keep checking back!

Up Next: flowers [the few that we are having]

Hope you had a blessed 4th!

.:Ashley:.

[we now interrupt this broadcast] my veil.

meet my veil.

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I will obviously be wearing this through the ceremony and for pictures, taking it off at some point during the reception to be replaced by the hair flower that I made :) Final pictures of that are to come...

tweet.tweet.

.:Ash:.