Flower fears

One of my biggest fears about getting married on the beach in Costa Rica was the flower situation. Now, I am not a BIG flower person. By that I mean, I never dreamed of a wedding with thousands and thousands of flowers. In fact I hate floral archways and one of the first things I decided was that I WOULD NOT get married under one. So my fear was that I would end up with very limited floral choices. Generally tropical bouquets tend to look like this:


Unfortunately I have no interest in having a tropical wedding. I just want to a gorgeous, romantic wedding in a tropical location. It kind of broke my heart when I learned that peonies were not an option but since peonies are a kind of pricy flower I quickly got over that.... Then I became obsessed with orchids! I've always loved orchids.

Just recently my fab wedding planner informed me that three new flowers entered the market in Costa Rica: dahlias, dusty millers, and succulents...and I am SOOO excited. I am definitely keeping my eyes open now that I have so many new options.

Dahlias

{Lane Dittoe}
{Source Unknown}

Dusty Miller


Succulents


I am totally excited about these new options... but I have to admit, I don't know anything about flowers. I have a sense of what I like but definitely don't know the names of most flowers that are common in wedding bouquets. What are your favorite wedding flowers? and how do your flowers fit into the overall feel of your wedding??

My love story...

If you are a fan of love stories or a hopeless romantic (like me), you'll love "So...how did you meet?". As an extra bonus, my very own story has been featured on the blog this month!

Susan is a great hopeless romantic who is hoping to put together a book of great modern day love stories so you should def consider contributing your own love story to her collection.

Email Susan at susan.amestoy@gmail.com to share your story.

I'm engaged...again!

I've been a little MIA this week but I just wanted to announce that I got my engagement ring back today!! After 3 long weeks, I have my engagement ring back and my wedding band.

I also got a new camera which is currently charging so once that's done, I'll take more (aka better) pictures.

Happy Friday and Happy Halloween.

Workout Plan Update

Tomorrow is the last day of my 30 day Bikram Yoga pass. I got a groupon in June for a 30 day pass at Bikram Yoga Harlem and after months of procrastinating finally got myself up there!

Today was my 15th class and I have to admit I can't believe its all going to be over! Unfortunately I won't be able to stay at Bikram Yoga Harlem because the studio is WAY too expensive for me but I still have 7 months until the wedding so I am not sure what I am going to do!!

That being said, I wonder why I didn't budget my own health into my wedding budget? I budgeted skin care, jewelry, and even new undergarments but I didn't even think to budget a gym membership or even a yoga DVD!!

This last weekend, I finally sat down and decided on a firm budget. Until now we have been working with very vague estimates because I had a really hard time understanding how much things should cost and how much I was willing to spend. Now that we've secured a few of the more important (expensive) items (location, dress, suit, wedding planner and photographer)it was much easier to get an idea of how much money we had left to play with and how we wanted to distribute that money.

I also created this matrix to help me think about all the various wedding related items/details:


The idea is that things which are the most important to us as a couple and those that will last the longest deserve the most attention (aka largest portion of the budget). On the other hand, those things that we don't care about and that won't really have a lasting impact we should consider spending little to no money on. So all the items that fall in the upper right quadrant are those things that we are willing to really splurge on, and those in the upper left and lower right are the items that we want but shouldn't blow the bank to get, and last but not least are the items in the lower left. These items are items that we really shouldn't bend over backwards to get and perhaps could even live without!

So my preliminary matrix would look something like this:



Now there are two catches to this matrix:
1. I really have to be honest with myself about how important each detail is to us as a couple.
2. It doesn't actually help us figure out how much we should spend on each item, it just helps us think about what percentage of the total budget we are willing to spend on each item.

So I guess the question still stands: Where would health/exercise fall?
Somewhere in the lower right quadrant?? Perhaps even the upper right??

Orchid Obsession

{SMP}
How gorgeous is this picture! The first time I saw this wedding, it totally took my breath away. I adore Bali but I love the simplicity of this wedding.






This wedding really fed my orchid addiction. I love the sophistication, uniqueness and elegance of a white orchid.

This Costa Rica wedding was shot by the one and only Jose Villa and was featured on Wedding Chicks... how much do you love the orchid in her hair. Gorgeousness!





{WC}

Jetsetter Deal Alert!

Looks like I am not the only one with warmer weather on my mind. Today on 100 Layer Cake they have a opportunity to get a free $50 credit for signing up for Jetsetter! So if you haven't signed up yet, here's a great reason to do so!



Best part: You have until November 22 to sign up and the credit lasts a whole year!

Click here for more information and to sign up!

How did I not know about this!?!?!

So today I discovered Wedzu via Jenn McMann at Destination Inspiration!! It's basically etsy but JUST for weddings! For all you brides-to-be who've know about this and haven't shared...shame on you! For all you brides-to-be who haven't been lucky enough to stumble across this site... enjoy!

1. Liza Printable - $35
2. Just Married Bag Tag - $20
3. Standard Calligraphy - $0.50
4. Ivory, champagne and gold bridal fascinator - $62

{ NYC Skyline Ring - $150 }
{ Bride & Groom Chair Signs -$31.55 }
{ Fingerprint Plectrum Sterling Silver-$89 }

I was a little worried that like everything else in the world these items would all be more expensive because they are being marketed to brides. From what I can tell, it doesn't seem like the prices are that different from etsy but there aren't nearly as many vendors so there aren't nearly as many options... but its nice to not have to filter through all the other distracting items!

Dreaming of Warmer Weather

I don't know where you are but here in NYC it is a chilly 51 degrees. It's really just too cold for comfort and when it gets chilly my favorite thing is to look at vacation destinations. Two years ago I bought last minute tickets to Miami, and last year it was Costa Rica, but now that I am married I can do it under the guise of honeymoon research. That being said, how much do you love Jetsetter and SniqueAway! There's so much deliciousness I don't quite know where to start!

{Banyan Tree Bangkok - Deluxe Suites starting at $90/night}
This a gorgeous restaurant with what they claim to be the highest rooftop restaurant in the world. D surprised with dinner and drinks at this lovely restaurant on our last night in Bangkok. It was incredible and so bitter sweet. Even though Bangkok isn't the traditional honeymoon destination its a great gateway to many of the most beautiful beaches in southeast Asia. That being said this next offer took my breath away.




This lovely location is the Banyan Tree in Koh Samui. I have a soft spot in my heart for Koh Samui. D and I spent a little over a month there. He was getting is ESL teaching certificate and I was just doing a lot of laying around on the beach, and getting massages. I really really do love it there... even though its super overdeveloped and a little touristy in many places. However if you are lucky enough to stay in a place like this, I can't image there is a more beautiful place in the world to be...

{Shamwari Game Reserve in South Africa}
Jetsetter seems to have a lot of deals in South Africa and they all look A-MAZING! Ever since the World Cup I've been toying with changing our honeymoon destination from Bali to South Africa.

{Wild Dunes – Isle of Palms, SC}
Since all the other locations I loved have been a little exotic I thought I'd throw in a little love at a domestic location! I haven't spent that much time on the east coast but the more time I spend stalking SW Mag beach weddings the more I realize I must be missing out!

I could really go on forever about the amazing deals on both these websites but I'll show SOME self-restraint and stop here!

They've both had a number of great deals in Costa Rica. I'm keeping my figures cross that they have a deal closer to our wedding so that we can book a few nights after the wedding for our mini-moon. D and I vacation A LOT but I am so excited for the first vacation we will take as husband and wife :D I really really want to book a honeymoon suite just because we can! On the other hand, I am so obsessed with this Tree House Villa in Costa Rica. It's a little more than we'd like to spend but there tends to be a lot of deals on hotels if you buy last minute especially because our wedding is at the beginning of the rainy season and before the summer season starts!

If you aren't already a member click here for an invite to Jetsetter and here for an invite to Snique Away!

Let's talk cinematographers

When I got engaged I knew right away that I had to have the best photographer my money could buy. To be honest, I had never thought about getting a cinematographer. The reality is that I hadn't seen that many wedding videos. When I thought about it I just figured that my wedding video was just going to be the video that my husband would accidentally tape over in 10 years, leading to a huge fight that would quite conveniently be resolved in 22 minutes... Yes, I watched a LOT of sitcoms and yes I recognize that we do not have (and will never again have) a VCR.

Moving on... I don't really have a TV so I miss out on a lot but eventually I did stumble across the Subaru Outback honeymoon commercial:


It was really game over. I've been stalking wedding videos for about a week now...

Here are two videos that really touched my heart, gave me chills, an just flat out brought tears to my eyes.

April + Adam's Xcaret Wedding Highlights Film from Joe Simon Films on Vimeo.

Literally everyone one of the videos on this website really takes my breath away. I love the combination of music and actual words from the ceremony.

When I spoke to my photographer to see if she had worked with any fabulous cinematographers she told me that she hadn't made any real connections in Costa Rica but that she loved SharkPig. I mean who wouldn't love a company called SharkPig!!

Then I saw this video on Once Wed and knew I had to post it! Doesn't this video remind you of the Wonder Years or that video of Vada's mom in My Girl.

James & Tiffany Super 8 from Shark Pig on Vimeo.

Turns out, I love the feel of Super 8 Film. It also turns out that it's super expensive... sigh. Champagne taste on a tap water budget :(

I couldn't figure out how to post the rest of the videos so here are a list of other cinematographers that I love:

* Paper Tape Films
* Hello Super 8
* Lola Video

So here's the question: Obviously a GREAT cinematographer is SOOO worth it, but if you can't afford a really great (Super 8 Film, in my case) cinematographer should you just put the money towards something else? Maybe more hours with your photographer? Or is any video better than no video???

I love sample sales!

I've been having a fabulous day! I had a meeting at 2pm and was really worried I was going to miss the UPS guy who was suppose to come between 2-5pm. As I was walking out the door, there he was, the UPS guy with my second Haute Look dress... (Please ignore the super super annoying fact that he was going to drop off the package at 145pm). Then when I came home from the meeting... my Bella Figura samples had arrived... YAY!





I still can't believe that I got all this stuff for only $6.59! Turns out I love letterpress even more than I thought. If I feel half as pleased with D the day after the wedding, I'll know I made the right decision ;)

Also I'll make sure to get D to help me take a picture of the dress when he gets home.

Getting married in 7 months!

I can't believe that I am getting married in 7 months!! 7 months from today, I will finally be a Mrs!! Woo-hoooooooo. Also, I am officially past the half way point of my engagement. The last 7 months flew by, I can only image how quickly the next seven months will fly buy.

In order to help me deal with all the upcoming stress, I started a Bridesmaid Newsletter. Since none of my 'maids live in NYC, and I really want them to feel involved, I thought this would be a great outlet for me! As a control freak, I also need to learn to delegate and I know I'll need their help (and support) over the next few months!

{Wedding Planning Templates}

I really love all my bridesmaids and I'm so super excited about partying in Costa Rica together next year...um I mean getting married :D

Best of Ruffled DIY Contest

I've been keeping a close eye of Ruffled's DIY contest entries few weeks and to be honest, I haven't been that impressed. A number of the projects are just not that original and the rest of them aren't that creative. Unfortunately this is probably more a reflection of the time I've spent on wedding blogs and doing DIY research, than the quality of the submissions. Here are a few that I thought were actually useful/creative DIY projects.

1. Doily Paper Laterns

{DIY Instructions}
I actually saw these lanterns on Etsy at June Petals a few months ago. I even bookmarked the store! I am super excited about this DIY project because I already own way too many doilies!

2. Hot Chocolate & Marshmallow Favors

{DIY Instructions}
I am not having a winter wedding but I think this idea is really adorable. I think these would so adorable for a destination wedding at a ski lodge.

3. Thank You Garden Seed Package

{DIY Instructions}
Once again, I don't think these would be appropriate for my wedding but would be so adorable at a garden wedding. I generally like DIY projects that include printable templates.

Do You See What I See..

{Source}

White Dress No. 1

My first Haute Look dress came in the mail on Thursday!!



It is so pretty and even has pockets. I LOVE LOVE LOVE dresses with pockets plus there is a lot of padding in the top so it's not see through at all. BUT it does make my boobs do a weird squishy thing. I haven't decided if I am going to keep it yet... I'm leaning towards keeping it but we'll see..

I think I've become over-saturated by wedding ideas, and decisions. Every decision feels both meaningful and meaningless but most importantly nothing feels authentic this week. On that note I think it's time I take a small wedding planning break :)

Bridesmaid Dress update!

As I promised I would post an update on my bridesmaids' dresses! Here it is:



Yes I did unpack and put on one of the bridesmaids dresses and I love love love it. It's so soft and comfortable. I kind of wish I ordered on for myself.

Letterpress Sales!

I just ordered a bunch of sample letterpress invitations from Bella Figura!! While I love the look and feel of letterpress I have been having second thoughts about spending the money on letterpress. Lucky for me, Bella Figura is having a wonderful $1 sale in all their samples right now!

So there are some of the samples I ordered:






I am so excited. Unfortunately it does mean I will have to deal with UPS again :(

I also wanted to mention that Parklife Press is having 10% off all orders opened before November 30.