You Fill My Head With Colours Of Wonder & Delight

I'm so happy to start this section of the blog now! Thanks to Rethinking for making this first one so much fun ...

Hi there,

I'm getting married next year and I'm really excited because I'm starting to look for a dress. YAY! The only issue is that I have this tattoo on the back of my shoulder and I'm not sure if I want to show it off or keep it hidden away. I really had my heart set on a strapless dress. What should I do? Help!

Signed,

Rethinking My Ink

Waterloo, ON

Dear Rethinking,

YAY indeed! Shopping for the dress is one of the most exciting times during wedding planning but it can be daunting. And I’m talking for those of us who didn’t have to take tattoos into consideration!

If I were in your shoes, the first thing would be to decide on comfort level as far as the artwork being seen. If it’s something that has meaning to you and you love it, embrace it. Make it an extension of your look of the day. Some brides have not only shown off their tattoo but they play on it. Do you have a cherry blossom across your shoulder? Maybe you can have cherry blossoms on your invites, ring pillow and bridesmaids’ dresses.


Of course you can go the route of covering it up … if the tat is something you no longer want, are willing to pay a lot of money to get rid of, go through some painful processes AND have lots of time before the wedding. Sounds like you’re attached to it though. You can certainly try covering it up with makeup (Dermablend seems to be the brand of choice). Be forewarned that even the best makeup artist likely won’t be able to guarantee the results. A better (and more creative) option would be to go hunting for a shawl or shrug that would cover it up nicely during the ceremony and then let it show during the reception.


Personally? I’d flaunt it. It’s your wedding, it’s your tattoo and YOU want a strapless dress. What better day to show the world the real you? ☺

Relish the attention!

Susan

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You Were Meant For Me And I Was Meant For You

Friday Footwear time ...

Last night I walked into an Aldo store (shopping for my husband instead of me for a change). While we were paying I was looking at the rack of jewellery and all the goodies on sale. One thing I found was a great costume brooch kind of like this one ...


For a whopping $9.98, this brooch was on sale ... and it was two for one.

*insert spinning wheels here*




If you have a pair of shoes (preferably fabric and ones you don't mind experimenting with), why not pick up two of these brooches and turn plain into PIZAZZ?!
Simply take one brooch per shoe and either *carefully* pin it to the front or take the stem off and use some durable glue ... or you could even sew them if you're so inclined. Try it out and customize your own pair!!!

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Alright, red stay far far away from white please

Jess- Hey Erin- I was putting together our winter window display the other day with our wonderful shop assistant, jess jr, and it got me thinking about colour combinations. What’s your least favourite colour combination when working with flowers for events? The window was black white and red, pretty much my personal very worst colour combo nightmare, but we saved it at the last minute by adding shots of a deep rich purple and some hot pink- and all of a sudden all was ok with the world again!




Erin – I am not overly fond of red and white together. It seems to Christmassy or “I am Canadian” unless that is the look you are going for. I am usually happy when we are using colour to begin with period. It makes everything a little more interesting. One colour I find tricky is blue or purple. There are not a lot of flowers out there that come in these colours and often times a grower will substitute something blue when we asked for something purple or vice versa and we all know there is a big difference between the two when it comes to co-coordinating with bridesmaids gowns. On top of that these colours are hard to see from a distance. This means that if someone is sitting at the back of the church an arrangement of dark blue flowers will not show up as well.



Jess-Hmm, I see what you mean- but blues and purples together is one of my favourite combos, but yes, they can be very tricky to actually make work on the day. Darn Mother Nature (and growers!) and her unpredictability! Interestingly I have discovered this past summer that I really really really don’t like all white as a colour scheme- I know- rather awkward considering its popularity as a bridal flower, but luckily I am a professional and can manage to get through a wedding in all whites without letting on how I really feel! I find it hard to convey much with all white; arrangements just tend to look all the same to me when they are all white. Maybe colour preferences change as we age Erin- do you remember someone telling us something to that effect years ago when we first opened about learning to love pink?

Erin – yes of course. A neighbour of our’s at the store told us that when we hit 20 we would really start to love pink. Little did she know we were already 26. It was quite funny

Jess-Yes, but she was right- I do love pink more now I am older, just look at what you can do with it!

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Only Time Enough For Love

Instead of making my Etsy post a theme of products this week, I want to feature a seller ... .: Muscari by Easter Yu :.

From the 'About' section on the .: website :., here's a quick description ...

Muscari was started in early 2008 by Easter Yu. It specializes in bold and one-of-a-kind wedding and fashion accessories crafted with feathers, silks, dried botanicals, beads, and other found objects.

Ideas come from a love of nature and an obsession with color, pattern and texture. Easter loves to use ordi-
nary materials in not-so-ordinary ways. All work is handcrafted in beautiful Peapack, New Jersey.

Muscari caters to both retail and wholesale. Please contact Muscari for more information.
info@muscaridesign.com

I <3 all things Muscari!

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You are where now?

As I was saying last week, our circle of people that we want at our wedding comes out to a smallish 45. Quite a manageable number we though and we expect that the vast majority of those on our guest list would want to actually show up on our Day. So we started working with Susan to find a venue for our wedding that would nicely accommodate 40 people or so.

Seems easy? Not so much.

Apparently, the wedding industry does not see 40-45 people as a “valid” number for a wedding. We’ve looked at restaurants, hotels, golf clubs, wedding factory places, and in all cases, we’ve pretty much struck out. We’re too big for the smaller venues like B&Bs and most country inns, and we’re too small for hotels, country clubs and yes even the wedding factories. Our wedding group apparently exists in a black hole between “small” (which is translated to be under 30 people) and “medium” which is 50-65 people.

Granted, if we’re willing to pay $200+ per person, we can find a few beautiful spots, but even then they would take us grudgingly due to our “small” size.

Who knew?

Now what was also throwing it off was the time of year. You have probably heard the same thing we did about the traditional wedding season being May to September, perhaps creeping into October. So we figured that our 2nd time revised date in November would make it easy. Again, not so much. Because we couldn’t have an outdoor ceremony at that time of year, it made it quite problematic to find a venue that would host both ceremony and reception. Churches are out for us and that doesn’t leave much else in terms of ceremony locales.

So here we are, not much closer to a wedding venue than we were when we first started looking in July.

There is a light at the end of this tunnel of darkness though. We found out a month ago that most of MM’s friends would be deploying while he is away or just after he gets back. Because it is very important to both of us to have them there, we’ve chosen to delay. Again.

New date? May 15, 2010.

So now we can go back and relook at places that would be mainly outdoors. At least for the ceremony.

Stay tuned! :-)

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And All You'd Ever Hear Me Say

Borrowed this post straight over from Melissa at .: Melissa's Smitten Blog :. Congratulations to all of the winners!!!

DK Design Giveaway Winners

Many, many congratulations to our three winners!

First Prize: Jessica O. from Stillwater, OK

Passionate about Peonies - $100 value

(Jessica O. and her fiance)

Second Prize: Heidi S. from Williamsburg, KY

Gardenias in Something Blue - $75 value

Third Prize: Julia R. from Brookline, MA

Gardenia Hair Flower - $20 value

First of all, thanks to the brides-to-be who entered. Clearly DK Designs are the next big wedding trend in flowers, as we've had hundreds of entries from all over the US and Canada- and nearly all of you had some kind word about Diane's Flowers.

I know many of you absolutely had your hearts set on winning (and some of you literally entered every single day) so as a condolence prize Melissa's Smitten will be mailing you each a free greeting card to thank you for taking the time to enter, and for being such a committed reader.

Stay in the know with Diane's DK Designs Blog and for the perfect gift remember DK Designs - she hand makes each petal of her amazing floral designs. (I can attest to their amazingness- she sent me an arrangement the other day, and I adore it. It's the most perfect flower arrangement I've ever had! And it's very light and more durable than I had supposed. The colors are super bright and cheery too!!) Thanks again and again to Diane for offering such amazing prizes!

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These Boots Are Made For Walking

Friday Footwear.

Hmmm ... maybe that will catch on!


Today I wanted to share some inspiration pics on how to keep your feet dressed to look their finest. Personally, I LOVE looking at brides who stray from the norm. Changing up colour, style and even boots! Of course some will opt for lovely whites (nothing wrong with that!) and even ballet flats for comfort. No matter what you do, there's no reason why what you wear on your feet shouldn't be an extension of your outfit and your personality. Play with ideas and have fun with it!!!

Some of these pictures are from my own fabulous brides and a couple others are ones I just fell in love with!

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I Look At This Big Beautiful World

I don't have a theme for my Etsy post this week ... I've just found a bunch of lovely things I would like to share with you :)

Lovebirds. How quaint :) They can be used as a cake topper or just for décor ... or even a gift! Contact .: RedLightStudio :. for more information.


Continuing with the birds, here is a wonderful statue by .: Middleburg :. The banner can say anything you like!

Okay ... I'm on a bit of a bird kick ... let's keep it going.

This boutonniere caught my attention with the colours and use of feathers. Send a note to .: myrakim :. to see about a custom order for yourself!

More blue feathers! This fascinator by .: Sweetsnlo :. is in high demand. Be sure to check out all of her designs.

Looking for a special gift for your bridal party? How about something uniquely them? These necklaces by .: dlkdesigns :. are sure to bring a smile.

More fun with words! Have fun on your own fridge with these magnets by .: Wheezies :.

How about this trendy guest book by .: enjibeck :.? There are so many designs and colours to choose from in the shop. Be sure to check them out.

I've been meaning to post about these great books by .: PittBerry :. for some time now. After you get your photos back, what better way to display them and forward on to loved ones?

This is another one I've been meaning to get up here! If you're looking for ties with pizazz, contact .: toybreaker :. These will take 'traditional' to 'WOW' right away!

And my favourite of the week ...

Stunning. That's about the only word needed for this necklace by .: christinebossler :. Drool!

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Your Love Is Better Than Ice Cream

and cake.

But I have to say, these cakes are divine. The other day I was hoping for a scratch and sniff monitor ... right now I'm wishing there was a way for me to just take a little bite! ;)





All photos courtesy Creative Weddings Magazine.

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