Giveaway: {Williams-Sonoma} even more...

{A Los Angeles Love}
Prize: $150
Date Posted: August 31
Deadline: September 8

My First Etsy Treasury Square!

{Etsy} I love etsy because it full of beautiful handmade items. I love etsy because it inspires me to be creative. I love etsy...

Etsy: Homemade Titanium Rings...

I recently read another bride's blog where she discussed her purchase of a titanium ring for her future hubby. (I can't seem to find the blog but I swear it exists!!) It caught my attention because titanium is a durable, budget-friendly option and due to Dave's lifestyle he really needs something that will last and that could perhaps be easily replaced.

So what are the Pros and Cons of titanium?

Pros:
*Titanium is very light and extremely durable, making it an ideal candidate for wearable jewelry.
*Another pro is the durability; it is virtually indestructible through normal wear. Unlike gold alloys that wear down over years of normal use, titanium will hold strong showing very little wear over the years.

Cons:
*Since titanium is so durable, it is very difficult if not impossible to re-size. This is bad for someone whose weight fluctuates
*Titanium can be cut off in an emergency, but it may take a little longer than a gold or platinum ring.

Here are some great (more traditional) titanium rings I found on etsy:
{Titanium's Knights - $40}
{Minter and Richter Designs - $90}

{Renaissance Jewelry - $29.99}

Here are some less traditional titanium rings that I thought were kind of cool:


{Jewelry by Johan's - $167}
{Jewelry by Johan's - $167}
{Minter and Richter Designs - $175}

Titanium... wedding band do or wedding band don't???

Giveaway: {Williams-Sonoma} x4 EDITED

****EDITED****

It wouldn't be a bridal giveaway if Style Me Pretty wasn't involved...

{Style Me Pretty} Prize: $250
Date Posted: August 31
Deadline: September 3

I have never taken any sort of business/marketing class but isn't it a bad plan to have FOUR FIVE ELEVEN giveaways running at the same time!?!?

{Snippet & Ink} Prize: $150
Date Posted: August 26
Deadline: September 1

{The Merriment Blog} Prize: $150
Date Posted: August 31
Deadline: September 7

{Hostess with the Mostest} Prize: $250
Date Posted: August 26
Deadline: September 1

{Bride Pop} Prize: TWO $150
Date Posted: August 31
Deadline: September 6

{The Bride's Cafe} Prize: $200
Date Posted: August 28
Deadline: September 2

{Thrifty and Thriving} Prize: $25
Date Posted: August 31
Deadline: September 6

{Elizabeth Ann Design} Prize: $200
Date Posted: August 25
Deadline: August 31

At this point I feel like I HAVE to win at least ONE, right????

Giveaway: {Williams-Sonoma} x3

I previously blogged about my wedding registry and I hadn't planned on registering at Williams-Sonoma but then this happened...

{Wedding Chicks}
{Green Wedding Shoes}
{100 Layer Cake}

Williams-Sonoma, you win. Grumble. Grumble. Grumble.

But I do really really love your message-in-a-cookie cutter!

Personalize it : Travel Stamps

I got this brilliant idea to make personalized travel stamps and my fabulous event planner, Laura, convinced me it was a good/do-able idea. I would use it like a monogram to accent various items at our wedding.

Here are the stamps I made on Paint....



But I am not sure how you get them onto the rubber stamp. hmmm.

Doily... Do!

I love Doilies! Obviously because they are the nexus between my love for all things girly and all things grandma-y. Since I recently went a little doily crazy at Michaels, I have spent a lot of timing trying to figure out what to do with the 200 doilies I bought (in four different sizes). However, I am happy to see that many many people share my love for these dainty little darlings.

So here are some of my very favorite doily creations which I think are totally DIY-able!

{etsy}

{etsy}

{etsy}

{Flickr} This.is.so.adorable. How sweet is this envelope? I am sure it would get ruined in the mail but it is SO SO SO pretty. sigh.

{Dujour} I am not sure this is something I could actually use for my wedding but I think it's pretty so I thought I'd share ...

{Ashley Ann}. This would look amazing at an outdoor wedding. I think its a really sweet idea. In fact, here is a wedding that used this idea beautifully!!

{Martha Sterwart} This is an adorable idea! (oh Martha...) It makes a perfect charger/place mat and if you have clear glass plates, it also doubles as a great place card.

{Intimate Weddings Blog} These would look amazing on vintage glass cake stands.

{Maya Made} How amazing would these be for confetti as you walk down the isle!?!? More importanly how amazing would these look filled with blush pink rose petals sitting on beautiful cushions before the wedding. hehehe.

{Ashley Ann} I don't think I would make the tote bag BUT I like the idea of using the doilies as a stencil this could be cute for the outside of an envelope or something!

{Apartment Therapy} These pom poms are adorable. They would be great as a backdrop for the dessert table. In red/pink they kind of have a spanish feel. I wonder if they would look more beachy/vintage there were white...hmmm.

{Martha Stewart} Last but certainly NOT least is this adorable doily chandelier!! This might be a wedding must. I LOVE LOVE LOVE chandeliers, and doilies plus my wedding will be during the day so I won't need actually light to come out of my chandelier, but I am sure I could figure something out if I really wanted light.

I obviously can't use ALL these ideas, after all I only have 200 doilies :D I guess I'll talk to my wedding planner and my event planner to see what they think! ( I know, I have a lot of planners for someone who loves DIY projects)

StDs Lace Obsession

About a month ago I set an arbitrary deadline of August 30 for my StDs. Now that its only about four days away I realize that (1.) I am not going to be done by Aug. 30 (2.) I am SOOOO indecisive.

First of all, I should mention that I will be spending the next four days in New Orleans. It is the 5 year anniversary of Katrina and it's Dave's first visit so I have a lot on my mind.

Second, I started a new job! I am a part-time nanny/babysitter/mother's helper for a family with four AMAZING kids. Anyone who knows me knows that I love to hoard jobs! Anyone who doesn't is probably wondering why I would put more on my already overflowing plate... Well, I really love being around kids. Plus it's the only thing that takes my mind off school, and the wedding! In other words my life has kind of taken a nanny diaries sort of turn but I really needed the distraction!

BUT back to the StD fiasco...

I am so torn between all the possible ways to use lace. After hours and hours of scouring the internet, these are my favorite designs.

{Etsy}
{Etsy}
{Etsy}
{Etsy}
{Wedding Paper Divas}
{Elizabeth Anne Design}
{Zenadia}
{Wedding Paper Divas}
{Hello Lucky}
{Invitation Box}
{einvite}

I am super torn between a printed lace design and using real lace to accent the save-the-dates. Thoughts??

Wedding Website

My lovely event planner and I decided that in order to get the Save the Dates out in the next month I would have to share most of the information at a later time on a wedding website. Although I have tried various times to start a site, I found the how experience extremely frustrating but necessity is the mother of invention (or at least, in this case, creation).

So here are the Free Wedding Website providers I checked out:

{The Knot}

{My Wedding}

{eWedding}

{Wedding JoJo}

{Wedding Wire}

{Wedding Window}

{Wedding Channel}

{Nearlyweds}

Because I have a lot of information to share I need a website that has a degree of flexibility when it comes to format and pages. Unfortunately its almost impossible to figure out what each website offers without actually signing up so I actually signed-up and MADE 6 different wedding websites.

Ultimately I went with eWedding because 1)all the services I want are totally free, 2)I thought it had the best backgrounds and 3)it has lost of different page formats.

Now I have to make decisions about my wedding so I can add it to my (I mean, our) wedding website!