Save the Dates are DONE!

So excited during the process that I *GASP* forgot to take progress photos of the save the dates!

Well, they are done.  As soon as I receive the stamps that I ordered from USPS.com I'll be able to mail them out.  Once I'm sure everyone has received them, I'll post them here.  I'm so happy with how they turned out!

Lots more has been happening, I'll post an update on those things soon!

xoxo

Dress Shopping

After a failed attempt at practice dress Mom determined that I would be better off buying a dress.  There aren't many options in Eugene, actually, only two that I know of, and I visited one of them yesterday.

David's Bridal.

I went in wanting to see six dresses, and leaving with three possibilities (already narrowed to two), but none that were that special dress.

The ladies kept asking me, "What would you change on the dress to make it better?" and while I knew the answer, I could not tell them... I would change me.

I made those dresses look terrible.

Here's what they looked like online, and on me:

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I have a comeback appointment scheduled for 6/27, however I do not believe that I'll be choosing my dress that day.  

We have a VENUE!!!!!

Please save the date, for the wedding of Alejandra and Jessy, June 14, 2014 at Deep Woods Events in Elmira, Oregon!

That's right folks, we have reserved a venue!!!

We saw a total of three locations, had six scheduled, when we knew we found the right place.  It was venue #3, and venue #last.

Everyone was telling me when I found the right place I would know, and they were right.  From the moment we first walked into the hall I knew it was where I wanted my reception to take place.  When we saw the rest of the location I knew that I could envision my day there.  It was an amazing feeling.

We wasted no time and the next day we called to schedule an appointment to sign a contract and lock in our date.

Here's some photos that I took today of our ceremony/reception venue!

The ceremony would take place under the pergola, with guests seated in the lawn.

Entrance to the bridal room.

Back patio where a cocktail hour could take place.

Entrance to the reception venue.

What to you think?  Do you love it as much as I do?

Pintrest/Etsy - Bridal Party Gifts

What are you giving to your bridal party?  Are you doing individual gifts, or the same thing for everyone?  I've been thinking thinking about a mix of the two - personalized gifts.  Here's some of my (current) top picks:

Bridal party tumblers - so you don't have to worry about spilling your drink on your clothes when getting ready.  Won't work too well for champagne/wine, but will be great for everything else.

LylaBugDesigns - Etsy Shop

There's lots of colors and dress styles to choose from:

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Another idea was to see if I could request this seller to create some custom pouches.  I'm toying with the idea of colors/patterns customized for each girls personality, or getting them all the same with the wedding colors:

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What are you giving your bridal party?

Pintrest - Flowers

In additional to my cake inspiration, I've also been busy looking at flower inspirations on Pintrest.

I love the look of big bunches of baby's breath, but not enough to do them for the bouquets.  I found this idea and thought it would be wonderful for an outdoor ceremony, on either side of the aisle, and then could be moved inside the re-purposed.  Not sure where yet, maybe multiple locations?

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This is more up my alley when thinking about a bouquet:

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I love hydrangeas   There's something serenely beautiful about those flowers.  I love how one bloom has what seems like hundreds of smaller flowers.  When I own a home I want to have tons of these, in different colors if the soil permits, growing in my yard.

Here's some other hydrangea inspirations that I'm drawing my ideas from:

Original Site however the photo has now been taken down...

glad I pinned it when I had the chance!

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I've also been looking at where to get my flowers from.  Should I hire a florist?  100% DIY? Should I buy online, already assembled?  Buy online loose blooms?  There's so many options.

What are you thinking for your wedding flowers, or did you already make a decision?

First Site Visit: Venue - Dancing Deer Mountain

We visited out first venue today, Dancing Deer Mountain.  The photos on their website do not do it justice, it's beautiful, even in early spring before the flowers have bloomed.

I really liked that they only host one event per week, and that they are set in the mountains.  I also liked that they have items on hand that we can use for centerpieces and a parking attendant, both at no extra charge.  They also have a nice collection of antique/vintage plates and silverware they we can rent for $1 per set.  We would be able to use the venue on Thursday/Friday to set up, create the centerpieces, rehearse, whatever we need, and we can go back on Sunday to pick up any items.

The cons were that we need to be done by sunset, so there would be no dancing into the night, and the caterer would need to haul away their own garbage, they would not take care of it for us.  Also, it's quite a bit out of the way from town, so that would be a concern for those who are coming from out of town.

It was a beautiful location and I could see myself getting married there.  Let's see if that changed after we see some more venues.

Some photos we took today:

The guests would be seated on either side of the walkway, facing us.  This would be our view from the ceremony circle.

This is the view of the lodge from the ceremony circle.

View of the property from the ceremony circle.

View of the gazebo, from the ceremony circle.

Pintrest - The Cake

I've been on somewhat of a pinning spree lately, I kinda feel bad for all my friends since in order to see anyone else's pin's they have to go through all my wedding ones.  I've found some pretty cool ideas...

My cake inspiration was is one of my favorite finds from Pintrest, and oddly enough seems like it could be our cake, due to the Bride & Groom initials in this photo... Anyone else think it's meant to be?

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For a more non-traditional cake topper, I was thinking something like this, but with the heart over Eugene instead of Portland:

Originally from Etsy, listing/shop can no longer be found.

And slightly more traditional, these two:

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However I'm thinking more a combination between a traditional cake top tier, and a cupcake tower like this:

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With these cupcakes (in red and light blue instead of purple and blue):

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And the last piece of flair for the 'cake' - these ladybugs on just a few of the cupcake blooms, maybe hidden somehow so that they look like they naturally landed there:

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This is just the start... Pintrest has opened my mind to so many options.  Now to budget and implement!

Have you found any great inspiration on Pintrest?  Do you have a Pintrest wedding board(s)?