The bridesmaid dress saga - finally over!

So last week I finally got to pick up the bridesmaid dresses for the wedding. It only took 4 months for them to come in! I mean give me a break we ordered them mid-November. They were only supposed to take 12 weeks to come in to the bridal shop, Pepe's*, from the designer, Leonardo's* - which would have put us at about mid February for the dresses to arrive. But no - here we are mid-March and the dresses still weren't in. Finally my good friend and bridesmaid Joanne, called the bridal shop and gave them the business about the dresses. This after I had called them several times inquiring about the status of the dresses - and every time they told me "They're in transit." Give me a break, eventually I got to the point where I had had enough, so it's probably a good thing Joanne called because the previous time I had called I probably was a bit less than nice with the girl who answered the phone. Anyway, the bridal shop ended up having to call the Designer who said the dresses were "in transit" (surprise, surprise) from the warehouse in China and would arrive at the designer and then be shipped to the bridal shop. So this time I think they actually were telling us the truth and one short week later the dresses arrived at the shop.

I have to say it was worth the wait though - the dresses are so cute/fabulous/beautiful. And needless to say Elisia, Emily, and Joanne will all look gorgeous in them!

Now it's on to cakeboard painting and decorating, making bridal party gifts, itinerary planning, editing vows, and so much more!

*Names have been changed to protect the guilty - although if you really want to know...

Pierre's bridal shop in Lansing :-\ and DaVinci's designer :-\

Alison's Bridal Shower

Good Morning! My name is Joanne -- I'm a good friend of Alison's and a bridesmaid in her wedding. Alison has graciously allowed me to guest-blog here this morning, and provide you all with a wrap-up of her bridal shower this past weekend. I'm thrilled about all of this -- thrilled to be in the wedding, thrilled to be guest posting, and thrilled to have Alison guest-blog on my craft blog once the wedding is over and she is no longer tied up with all things wedding-related.

We had Alison's shower yesterday in Adrian, Michigan. We were lucky to have probably the nicest day weather-wise that we've had in Michigan so far this year! The weather certainly matched the spring theme of the shower!

Tables were adorned with these cute little vases filled with pink tulips, green daisies, and white carnations, held in place by key limes and lime slices. Such a cute idea!


As favors, guests received a packet of seeds, and a small box containing hand-made chocolates.

We had a HUGE spread of food ranging from Mexican fare to chicken salad croissants and homemade cupcakes and treats for dessert. Yum!





We played a few games, and guests won some great prizes -- all courtesy of one of the other bridesmaids, Emily, who planned games and sent prizes all the way from her home in California. A favorite game was a memory game -- even the kids participated and did well!




After the food and games we sat down and enjoyed watching Alison open her gifts! She had lots of assistance from the little ones in the crowd, and ended up with some wonderful things! She certainly must have had a full car on her way home!







I'll leave you with some photos of Alison and her guests -- including one of her and I (at the very end.) We love you Alison, and had so much fun planning and throwing a shower for you! We wish nothing but happiness for you and Noah as you begin your new life together.

Thanks for letting me guest-post, Alison, and to you all for catching up on the countdown to Alison's wedding. Now we're on the the Bachelorette Party in a couple of weeks... perhaps I'll get to guest-post after that event, too?! : ) Stay tuned!

Pew Decorations

So the biggest dilemma thus far in the wedding planning has been how to decorate the pews in the church. I've seen several things that I liked but for some reason this wreath stuck with me. It just looks so pretty and sweet. However after talking to a florist she mentioned that these wreaths are very labor intensive and therefore somewhat pricey (and cost-prohibitive for me) so we needed to come up with an alternative.

Noah then had the idea to use foam wreaths and wrap them with ribbon. I loved the idea, but in actuality we decided that maybe they weren't "the" thing that we needed/wanted. The first ones we made were too big and turned out somewhat like lifesavers....we kept them though to see if we can use them any where else.

So then we thought that maybe all we need was some smaller wreaths and some different ribbon, but I'm still not sure I like the way they look hanging from the pews.

So now I'm thinking that maybe we'll just do tulle bows on the pews (I got some lime green tulle also - and it's sparkly!) And maybe I'll try this wreath idea (obviously not in black though) to hang on the doors of the church...maybe.

So....what do you think? I welcome the feedback as I'm somewhat at a loss.

Something old....

During the initial planning stages I was perusing the knot and stumbled upon a picture of some floral centerpieces and the vessels had been collected by the bride and her mother at various antique stores. There in lies my inspiration. So last summer while shopping at the longest yard sale on US-12 near Coldwater/Hillsdale I found some lime green depression glass sherbet cups that I though would look lovely on the reception tables. Along the way I found other pieces made of milk glass that I also thought would look lovely.

Here are most of the pieces I have collected so far. I finally finished purchasing all the pieces I need this past weekend while antique-ing with Joanne in South Haven and then on the way home, Noah and I stopped at one last antique store outside Lansing.

The smaller ones will have a single fuchsia-colored flower floating in water and the larger vases will have a full bouquet.

Luckily I was able to find a florist who is willing to work with me on this somewhat complicated floral scheme, and I know it will be fabulous in the end!