Bridal Shower Invites

Just recently, I received an invitation to my Bridal Shower in the mail.  It's really an exciting thing when you realize, "It's finally my turn!"  My sister picked out these adorable invitations from http://www.weddingpaperdivas.com/.  She said one of the reasons she chose this particular invitation was because of the two doves on top of the cake.

When we got engaged, I found a picture of two very intricate doves used as a cake topper in The Knot magazine.  I did everything I could to find them by contacting the people at The Knot, searching the internet, looking through various stores but to no avail.  I showed the doves to my sister and she ended up finding a similar pair at TJMaxx.  I gave them to my cake lady at our last visit so I don't have them to show on here but they are just perfect.

Here is a pictures of the original doves:

We hope to have them sitting atop the cake in a ring of hydrangeas.

Thanks Rachel, for helping a vision become reality!

Toasting Flutes

As soon as the time came, I showed Brian these beautiful Park Avenue toasting flutes and serving set from Things Remembered:

They engrave each piece with your names, wedding date or a logo of your choice.  They e-mail you the logo so you can use it on anything else.

We received them a few days ago and they look fantastic.  Can't wait to toast with them each year on our anniversary!

Jewelry

As far as jewelry is concerned, I don't want anything to large.  I have had these on my favorites list on etsy forever:

When my mom was in town, we went shopping and found some earrings by Eliot Danori that were almost identical!

I won't be wearing a necklace but I am still debating about bracelets.  Should I wear something similar to my earrings?  Should i wear pearl?  Another idea that would tie in with the bridesmaid dresses would be to wear a sapphire & diamond bracelet:

 This one would incorporate both pearl and sapphire.

These two are a bit more dressy.

Example of a pearl bracelet I like:

Also a fan of this cluster look....possibly for bridesmaids?

A girl can never have to many shoes..

Being the exact same height as Brian and taller with heels, I am going to have to wear flats under my wedding gown (which is just fine by me).  In my opinion, flats can still be cute!  Here are some styles I'm considering:

 These are pretty but very pricey for the length of time I'll be wearing them.

These are super affordable, super comfortable, and I could dress them up with a broach.

These are very feminine and simple. 
(Shown on the girl's feet below):

So many choices!

Walking through Kohl's one day with our 30% coupon, I came across these adorable Vera Wang flip-flops on sale.  I thought they would be perfect to wear at the reception!

Navy or white?  What do you think?

To hairpiece or not to hairpiece?

Lately I've been thinking more and more about finding a nice piece for my hair-whether it be a flower or a rhinestone piece.  I like the look of the flowers but I don't want something too overwhelming. 

Here are some pieces I found on etsy that I really like:

 I don't know if I could pull off the birdcage look?  Although it does go along with our vintage theme...

 LOVE this-the hairstyle and all.

 I like these combs but I have rhinestones on another part of my dress (don't want to give too much away in case Brian reads)....

 These are small and simple, kind of what I am looking for.  They are featured in the girl's hair in the picture below:

 Not so sure about feathers?  Featured in the girl's hair to the right:

I like this one but it is a bit large.

This one incorporates lavendar:

The key to your seat...

I came across this project idea on etsy (of course).  Attach names & table numbers to a single antique key.  Glue the lock to each table number.

The anqtique locks and keys would go perfect with our theme and the locks would even go great with our already made vintage table numbers.

I found a set of 144 keys on this website:

http://www.kennedyhardware.com/bulk-skeleton-keys.html

They keys end up costing around 75 cents each.  Michael's craft store has great sets of antique locks.  What do you think, is the project worth the time and money?

Bubbles & Napkins

Like most churches, St. Pat's won't allow the throwing of rice or any other objects at the bride and groom during the send-off.  So, during the week my mom and sister visited, I put them to work.  I found these cute 'Love' bubbles online for a really good deal (even cheaper than Wal-Mart prices!).  For my sister Rachel's wedding, she also bought bubbles and we tied on purple and green ribbon to match her wedding colors.  Moving forward with the idea we bought navy and lavendar ribbon and the four of us (including Brian) tied ribbon on 192 tubes of bubbles. 

I will also pick out matching ribbon to tie onto the basket that the bubbles will go in.  Hopefully our 'Bubble Girls' (cousins Cassidy & Josie Bero, Sarah Jeffries) will enjoy passing them out!

 

Napkins

With my Southern roots and Brian being Irish, we decided to personalize our napkins accordingly.  Brian picked out a Celtic design on a navy napkin:

It's kind of hard to tell but the design and writing are actually done in lavendar colored foil!

I picked out a fleur de lis on a lavendar napkin:

Also hard to tell in this picture but the fleur and writing are done in navy.

 Make sure you stop by the bar and get/use one at the reception!

Out with the old, in with the new....

So as all of you married women know, registering can be a lot of fun.  Especially when your cabinets consist of a mixture of his and hers college dishes, hand-me-downs, and random glasses from your favorite bars.  We have been waiting for this day so that we can pitch all of our old mismatching things and replace them with brand new nice 'adult' dishes!

I am only speaking for myself when I say that I was most excited to register for our dishes.  Years ago, when moving into my 'real world' first apartment, I fell in love with these dishes from Pottery Barn:

 

This is called the 'Emma Dinnerware' set.  As we all know, Pottery Barn is not the most affordable place in the world for a new college graduate.  I pretty much gave up the thought of owning them.

Well, last summer, when my brother and now sister-in-law and bridesmaid got married, they had registered at Crate and Barrel.  The 'Staccato' dishes they registered for reminded me a lot of the 'Emma' dishes. 

Although we were not engaged yet, I kept these dishes in mind.  I asked my brother and sister-in-law their opinion about the dishes and they both agreed they are very durable and that they are definitely happy with them.

A few months later, we got engaged, decided to register at Crate and Barrel and the thought of the dishes resurfaced.  I am now happy to say they are my favorite thing on our registry :)  Now if you ask Brian on the other hand.....

Invitations

After months of deliberating, Brian and I could not decide between these two invitations:

 Beautiful and elegant navy blue damask pattern

-OR-

This one matches our save the dates (if we chose this one it would have a navy background with the rest lavendar).  It is a layered invitation.

Which one do you think we chose?  What is your vote?  You'll have to wait until you get it in the mail :)