# 31 Sum it up Decor

This pretty much sums up the root of my decor- I just need speckles of pink and frills and I'm good to go!

#30 Wedding Hair

2 years ago, I chopped off my hair to donate it to Locks of Love. I was tempted again but knew I was going to get married "soon" so I decided to stop cutting it and grow it out. Now my hair is long and flowy, which I love, but only doing so because i'm getting married this January.

"AHH! I'm SO SICK of my long hair!! Let me just cut it off already!!" -Me
"No! Wait until after the wedding!!"- FH

"WE HAVEN'T EVEN PICKED A DATE YET!!! If we don't pick a date, I'm seriously going to chop it off. Some kid needs this hair." -Me

---- picked the date

"Now I'll keep it."

I want a long, curly, half up/down 'do. GORGEOUS~~!!

You bet once this wedding thing is over, I'm going full Pixie-cut and dyed. I don't dye my hair because then it disqualifies me from donating it.

# 29 Officiant

So neither Thomas or me are particularly religious, yet we're religious about being good, intelligent human beings. Thus, having a religious officiant officiating our ceremony isn't really quite "us," I mean, we're not having our wedding at a church for a reason. So I looked up the marriage requirements and the courthouse pretty much said we can get married in 3 ways: 1) have a minister marry us, 2) have a notary public, or 3) marry at the courthouse for $30. I did a bit of research and almost anybody can become a notary public, he or she just applies for it. This would work out the best because I'd rather have someone who is close to my FH and me rather than some religious stranger which would make me UBER uncomfortable!! So, pretty much, your ma could marry us if she wanted to, or the hobo off the street. Just kidding, I'm excited though.

#28 Pine Cone adoration

Ooh, girl, I gotta love me some pine CONES. I just have so many scattered across the yard that I KNOW I want to use them for something but not sure what without it seeming "homey" and very "DIY." I wouldn't use PCs in my bouquet but they're cute to look at anyway!

#27 M+C's invite

I can't believe I designed and drew this from scratch on the computer in less than an hour- Anyway, I think it's because all I had for lunch and dinner thus far is chocolate cake, fruit ice cream bars, a crossiant, and a lot of tea.... total sugar crazy wedding rush!!

Plus I had a lot of fun going crazy w/Reachanna, Jenn, and Brandy doing random wedding stuff for Marshall and Carry. He better like this or we'll beat him. arg.

********crap crap crap, I realized I got the date wrong. Technically, the 24th is the day of the reception. I just won't tell him. tee hee

#26 Cute Maps

saw this on a weddingbee user's blog- so cute! I think I'll end up doing my map on Adobe Illustrator- it might match more than watercolor/Sharpie.

#25 Sleepy Panda

dang it i got to face paint in 10 hours. wake up in 6 hours. drive for 1.5 hours. face paint. drive back to pcola. work a late night shift. mannn am I tirrrrrrred. What I DO for a few extra bucks and a wedding. phew.

made a little paper crepe flower tonight. waiting on FH to come back from fishing so i can cook me up a fish. Spent 10% of Tracy's budget. Jenn has 15%. We're left with $75! guest book, developing pictures, more decorating stuff, and flowers pretty much. I think i want to make the cake for Marshall as a present- I think that'd be more appropriate- otherwise, T would rather have the $ spent on a nice fancy cake as opposed to a homemade concoction. want it 2 tiered. maybe 3. who knows, who cares. all i want to do is decorate the cake w/fondant and colros!!!!!!

OK sleepytime!

#24 Booked My *Second Vendor!

I went to Ace Rents today in a flurry of shopping love and booked the rental company w/a deposit! Felt accomplished. Chairs and tables. woo. It's technically my 2nd vendor. 1st was the photog. Annnnnd... that's pretty much it?

M+C

Apparently Tracy wants me to shop for wedding decor and supplies for Marshall & Carry's makeshift "reception" dinner. Well, it's more of a dinner thrown in their honor but Jenn & I will make it as formulaic as possible in terms of the American reception dinner. Cake cutting, bouquet toss and all. All for $100 budget! How awesome is that! That gives me a mini practice of what to "buy" and I can finally splurge on those cheap Dollar Tree crafts! Tokyo won't really need centerpieces because their hibachi table pretty much takes up the entire site. But whatev. There'll be a guest signing book but Jenn & I were thinking about making it a scrap/guest book(like I wanted with mine) except w/pics! I have less than a week to take the pics, develop them, and put them in the book. This is as close to a wedding M+C will have in America and I want them to get a real kick out of it. Woo woo! Bouquet time maam!!!!!

#23 Shopping, shopping, DONE!

Ok, so I was pretty upset when my mom told me I *had* to get a red dress for the tea ceremony part of the wedding(i'm chinese!). After all, I've been looking for my *dream* wedding dress for a year now and gosh darn it, I want to wear it the whole time, both ceremony & reception. However, I told myself that if I HAD to wear one, it would be a cute, strapless red bubble dress or something poofy to that extent.



I walk into Cache- nothing. I walk into Express- I tell her I need a red dress. The associate was really helpful and took out exactly what I pictured, my exact size, the exact material and sheen, and told me it was on SALE! WTF! I love Express clothes but can't seem to afford them. It was bambambam all at once- I had to buy it. I can't find a picture of it online but it's the same general idea with the pic shown! MUCH better than that traditional thing.

Oh, I also placed my order for a bridal gown last night! Excited to see it once it's shipped in a month or so. You must be thinking it's crazy to buy a dress you've never tried on online but hey, Robe De Mariage, I trust thee.

#22 This looks like a job for me

...so everybody, just follow me, cuz we need a little con-tro-ver-sy

Yes, Eminem is playing in the background. Hard to believe but he was my music idol for a while. Totally the opposite of the light, happy, pretty pink songs I hear today aka ADELE! I love her.

Music- FH doesn't care for rap b/c he doesn't want this wedding to be reminiscent of high school tacky prom. HA! Little does he know, I'm probably going to get Irel or Bren to devise up a list of *edited* down versions of my favorite jams to boogie down to. Missy Eliot anyone? LUDA?!

The rest of the time, Pandora.com can be played for all I care- I like everything they recommend to me anyway.

How would I incorporate Chinese-inspired music to rap? I guess I can't- it would be easier to integrate w/Adele-like music. Hmm......

I also don't know how to incorporate my heritage at the wedding. We were going to do all Asian food before it got turned down by my aunt. Boo. I am NOT wearing and buying a new 'red dress.' But really, the idea is starting to grow on me a bit more, only because it doesn't have to be Chinese Chinese but red/pink anywho. And who knows, I could finally change into a shorter, white puffy strapless dress for the reception! Other than that, I can't think of anything at the moment and my folks don't seem to know.

# 21 More fabric flowers!

The dusty pink is to die for- so Marie Antoinette(which, by the way, was one dream theme I wanted to have but decided that 1. it would be too opulent 2. too difficult and expensive in the time frame to complete and 3. just way too lavish is how I would want it). THese fabric cotton jersey flowers are adorable.

Below is this sweet rustic centerpiece! I totally forgot I will be in the woods!! It'll match the cake stands that I want to make! I won't use this idea really but incorprate the wood circle as the base for the centerpiece. woot woot.

# 20 Aisle Runner

Cute idea. Would our outdoor decor match? To be honest I don't even WANT an aisle runner. Maybe have pinecones all along the aisle. Cute and woodsy. w/e

#19 Catering

So I've just checked with a catering company.We've decided to self cater. Yes, I can not even believe we're going to try this task but for us, the hardest part is setting up the food. My parents have beautiful, high-end buffet pans, FH's dad has silver platters, and I'm good at decorating.

I've compiled a list of links that helps people like me do their own self-catering:
Growlies
Ellen's Kitchen
Cajun Families

My stomach is growling as I am thinking about Zea's delicious cort grits. oh gawd.

#18 Rentals

FH got onto me for not planning and researching better- we have less than 6 months before the wedding and I haven't gotton the foundation down yet! Boo boo boo!

So today I looked up and calculated the rentals- Ace Rents:$1063- to rent about 14 tables, 120 chairs, forks, spoons, knives, dinner plates, and dinner bowls. (about $500 just on stupid chairs!!!)

Kent's Special Events:$1180

To Buy: 120 folding chairs for $10/pc on Craigslist- maybe talk down to $9/pc, thus = 1080.00. We get to own it and possibly sell it after the wedding for about the same price, or the way we see it, sell it for $6/pc and still save 33% off of renting it. It sounds like too much hassle- seriously considering just renting the bobo folding chairs.Holy Shitake Mushrooms.

So, I'm thinking canning the stupid chairs and seriously taking up the chair stump idea by FH. I mean, we only have 100 acres of forest at our disposal. It's cuter and more nostalgic. Wouldn't you remember a wedding that made you sit on stumps?

# 17 Centerpiece Trial 1

Wowsers! At my parent's house, I got a little crazy- I just HAD to see a very rough layout of what I wanted. I couldn't find a stick out in the dark(weird, I know) but anyway, I love the whole hemp and leaf idea.

Boutennierre trial

#16 Purchases!!

Hooray Hooray- as I was dropped off at Hobby Lobby for 2+ hours, Tommy B was doing business as usual. All I bought was one spool of "satin" pink ribbon and some overpriced Trolli gummi worms. Bored, I walked over to Wal-Mart and shockingly enough, bought a white Martha Stewart eyelet album as our wedding guestbook! How sweet is that- it's all white so I can watercolor on the pages, formal enough b/c it's Martha, and it was on sale. Score.

I bought 2 more spools of ribbon- 1 white to trim the edges of my veil, 1 green b/c it was pretty. Got a Fiskars paper cutter for 12.50 as opposed to $33 (i've always wanted one- but now that I think about it, I don't really have room and will probably end up doing my paper crafts at the school using their printers and fancy cutter).

Bronze spray paint to do a trial on my branches. Sitting at my parents' house and for some reason, a wave of creativity surges over me- I think it's b/c that was where I was raised and stemmed my creative nature.

# 15 What I CAN DIY now

This is what I am ABLE to start on:

TABLE SETTINGS

- plates made out of bamboo or wood

- buy cotton linen napkins and wrap silverware or fold Tokyo style

- personally, i freaking LOVe the little fabric ribbon around the silverware!

CENTERPIECES

- spray paint branches with bronze paint

- go to Laura's house and scrounge around for cute planting pots

- uproot one tree/bush and prune it

- hang x-mas lights/fabric flowers/origami cranes

- possibly use pickle jars, wrap them in old fabric samples from CCI, wrap ribbon/raffeta around the top of the jar to hide the ridges,

GUESTBOOK

- love the idea of a blank sketchbook but it seems a bit too homey and DIY.

- Absolutely love the idea of a photo guest book! However, it's been done w/Billy & Ali so alas, no can do.

- digital camera snapshots? + guest book messages? eh? eh?

- darn, now I have to think about having someone man the "booth" or guest signing area. Maybe Katie or someone cool!

- sort of like the photobooth idea sans photobooth. I really want semi-candid/myspace looking photos of people taking their own picture, printing it(maybe borrow Laura's instant baby printer!), and writing a msg next to their pic. If not print it right then and there, I can print it later and insert it into the book.

CHEESECAKE TRIALS

- buy/borrow springform pans

- investigate edible white pearl spray paint

CAKE STANDS

- buy epoxy or use wood glue

- cut branches for stands

- collect tree rings for platter

BOUQUET

- fabric flower & silk leaves

- pin

- buy pink or green satin ribbon

BOUTENNIERRE

- test 1 2 3

DECORATIONS

- make trial paper lanterns

- make fireflies

- look at battery-operated candles for light source

IKEA!!!!!

#14 Sketches

I'm a visual artist so before I commit to some things I like to plan them out via good ol' fashioned paper and pencil. Sometimes watercolor too!

#13 *sigh* List to Do

Right now I don't really know what's going to happen- I went crazy over wedding blogging but no actual planning. To be honest, since I haven't really planned an actual event with other people's money(i.e. school) by myself, I'm feeling a little confused. To conquer and delegate- I'm not even too sure if people want to help and I have a lot of helping to do!

1. interview officiant
2. wedding license
3. caterer
4. purchase wedding dress (get pp acct and measurements)