Tuesday, June 30, 2009

4th of July festivities

I wanted to share my most favorite place in the entire world, and where I will be spending my 30th Birthday! This place is so special to me, my families cottage in Michigan.
The cottage has been in our family for 120 years- yes 1-2-0! I literally spent my first few days on earth at this place, that is why I feel like I have such a connection with it. I have spent EVERY birthday since I was born at the cottage (with the exception of the last two due to family circumstances)
I am so excited to head here for a nice week of rest, relaxation, and family!

Also, my wonderful bridesmaids are throwing us an engagement party on Friday- which just so happens to be my 30th Birthday- should be a pretty amazing time! I cannot wait.

Here are some pics of the magical cottage- enjoy your 4th of July activities!

































Monday, June 29, 2009

Take my picture

I am super psyched about our wedding photographer. I have heard so many great things about here- check her out yourself on her blog Hazelnut Photography I love her style, and think that she will be perfect!
Photography is THE most important part of the wedding to me. Booking Jordana was one of the first things I did. I saw her blog while stalking another wedding blog, and knew I had to have her for our wedding! And even though we have a teensy tiny budget, Jordana fit into this perfect!
So check out her site, and let the magic unfold! Hazelnut Photography

Friday, June 26, 2009

Some things I am loving

Here are some things I am loving this week!








Love this idea- Having different soda bottles lined up at the reception- a Soda bar! And this would give a shout-out to my hometown fav- Faygo!


















Source- can't remember I think wedding bee

Love this different fruit infused drinks. This would be great as a wedding reception drink. Now I just have to find the glass jars- any ideas?



















OMG LOVE this! Love the vintage look, and the flowers all grouped together by color- this is awesome! and very diy-able!



















Source- can't remember!

OMG I love this- vintage postcards lined up- so great! I think I will do this but with pictures- love it!

source- wedding bee
Love the wood signs with paint- great idea
Have a happy pre- 4th of July weekend!

Budget Talk

The words wedding budget ring in my head almost daily. While trying to put together a wedding, the budget plays a key role in this process. Although our budget is small compared to other weddings, especially in our area, for us I think it is going to work out just right. Although it is easy to get caught up in wedding media mania, I am trying not to get obsessed about having all of the perfect details for our day. Instead I will keep planning, keep diy-ing, and make our day something that reflects what we both want, instead of what the world tells us to want :)

I read this post on a practical wedding today- it was from a reader. For me this post spoke directly to me- and I had to share it.

Love & Choice & Power
Long time reader Erica sent me an email with these words:
A Practical Wedding has helped me to keep my sister sane as she is planning her wedding. I feel like every wedding conversation I have with her starts with her seriously stressing over something silly like whether it's okay for her fiance to have a different number of groomsmen than she has bridesmaids, and ends with me telling her that there are no rules she needs to follow in planning her wedding. She can do whatever she wants.

This past weekend, my boyfriend and I got engaged. Then the barrage of questions started and the input on how we should do things began. Instead of stressing me out, they just rolled right off of my back. I know the questions and demands will only get worse, and not everyone will be happy with the non-traditional choices we make for our wedding, but now that I know there is a whole army of people out there who agree with me, and support our right to do things our way, it's not so hard to take other people's unhappiness with our decisions.

Which brings motivated me to get down on paper something I've been wanting to say about wedding planning for a long time.First of all, lets not kid ourselves, for most of us wedding planning can be tough. There are days when nothing seems right, when everyone has an opinion, when life events make this party you are planning seem so small, when you can't figure out how to afford things, when vendors are flat out horrible to you. There will be those days. And those days are normal.But for me, in the end, wedding planning has turned out to be all about making choices. It's about claiming the life that you want in the middle of a world that is telling you about the life that you should have.

Let me say this loud and clear: No one can tell you how to live, and you pick the life you want. A marriage is, in many ways, the one of the few times in our lives when we make a big conscious decision about who we are, and what we want, and who we love. And, as much as people view love as magic, love and choice all mixed up together are a powerful powerful brew, and people are scared by it.So they'll tell you that you need to wear a big poufy dress, or have a steak dinner, or throw a garter, and and and and and. But you don't. And you shouldn't trust people who say you need X to have a wedding, just like you shouldn't trust people who say you can't have X to have a wedding.

You shouldn't trust people who tell you how much or how little you need to spend, or what you need to wear, or the vows you need to make.If I've learned one thing planning this wedding, its this: The times that you say 'NO, that is not who we are, that is not what we want' will be vastly overpowered by the times you say 'YES YES YES, this is who we are, this is what we want, this is how we live'.Be true to yourself, fearlessly claim the life you want. That's it. That's all. That's the solution to this puzzle.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

wedding location-unleashed!

Well when FI and I first got engaged, we knew that we did not want a cookie cutter type wedding for lots of reasons, including the most important-we did not want to break the bank on our big day~

So we started searching, and searching until we ran across this little hidden gem right in one of our favorite beach towns- The cottage in San Clemente. It is perfect for the following reasons
  • Close to our house
  • In our price range
  • We can bring in our own vendors which saves a ton of $$ right away!
  • Right on the beach

Also the location is absolutely perfect- right on the beach! I am so excited to make his baby our own!

Here is some eye candy for our fab wedding location!






























Wednesday, June 3, 2009


















I apoligize for my lack of posting! Alot has been going on in this DIY girls life!

-Wedding Date Change (its a good thing) Since we are getting married by the beach, the thought of June weather (in So. Cal known as June gloom) was making me have nightmares. So we pushed the date back to the end of July 2010.

- A minor surgery- I am doing a-ok!

-And my parent's have been living with us, and now moving back home (sad face)


So with that being said, I did have time to go flip flop shopping for old navy's $1 flip flop sale a few weekends ago! I recruited all of our visitors which included my soon to be mother in law, and we loaded up on flip flops that are close to our wedding colors. It was fun! We literally ran into old navy at 8 am, and got a ton- around 35 pairs of so! I can't wait to use this idea that I found on wedding bee for the wedding.





But I am back! I promise.