wedding guestbook epiphany.

i had a wedding guestbook epiphany monday night.

i have been thinking off and on about what i wanted my guestbook to be.  i knew i didn't want the standard small one because its important to me for our guests to be able to write a little more than "best wishes."

and while i love the look some of my friends have with a framed wedding photo with all the signatures around it, i still wanted to have that freedom to write a little more.

some advice, some well wishes, some funny story.  some something.

so i gravitated toward the idea of a photo guestbook.  it seemed this would have more space for messages and stores, and it would incorporate the idea of photos of us as well as of our lovely guests.

well, here's what i found others are doing...

polaroids - fun, yes.  crafty, absolutely.  but they fade, sad.

photo booth - fantastic, but with a $1400 price tag, we had to pass.

pre-made books with photos of us - i like us, but i also wanted photos of our guests:  friends, family, and all the fun people there to celebrate with us.

and then my "ah-ha" moment happened.  my cousin amelia is a wonderful photographer!  she's 17 and if you saw what she can do with a camera, you'd know she's well beyond her young age.

so here's the plan:

we're going to create a little photo area.  a pretty background (the venue has plenty to offer) so we almost have a little photo studio.  then couples/groups/individuals will pose during the cocktail hour to get their photo taken by the lovely and talented amelia jane.

there will be props... i want people to get into this!  a chalkboard to write messages to us in the photo, a big fun empty photo frame to "frame yourself", some oversized flowers, a parasol or 2, and some other things you may suggest... so suggest away!!!

then you go to the book, and you'll see a message similar to this one:

“Your Photo Coming Soon!” Welcome to our Photo Guestbok! We’ll be placing your photo here after the wedding, so please sign next to it! We would love if you would sign more than just your name! Tell us a story, give us some advice, draw us a picture… anything! We want our guestbook to be fun to look at, so please, show us your personality!” Then I have an arrow pointing to the blank space, saying, “Please sign over here!”

so we have a photo, we have a message, we have a wedding keepsake.  we have everything i wanted all in one.  such excitement!

check out these photos to see some of my inspiration!  all photos courtesy the blog of a mountain bride.

a puppy of course! :)

love the gilded frame!

maybe ours won't be quite this crazy. ;)

so pretty.

{i apologize for the awkward formatting.  can't figure it out for the life of me.}

other jewelry?

i found a new bridal jewelry designer: tejani.

they specialize in crystal jewelry for brides and bridesmaids, and it's absolutely beautiful!

this doesn't follow my idea that the something blue could be in the earrings, but they are beautiful, and much more budget friendly.

silver double teardrop.

silver double hoops.

silver teardrops.

antique silver double teardrop.

what do we think???

votives.

its amazing that i'm so excited about this, but i think i found the perfect votive holders for our wedding.

i saw a picture of some green glittery ones that were used in a modern bride wedding, but i wanted tiffany blue. and i couldn't find them to save my life.

so i went on a quest to make them. a little diy project for me and my lovely mother.

i couldn't find glitter that was the right color, so my idea of painting them with glue then rolling in a huge tray of glitter was out.. (try ordering glitter online when looking for an incredibly unique color like tiffany blue... not as easy as i'd hoped.)

then we thought: paint!
1. acrylic paint - perfect color. painted it on, looked great. put in a tealight - streaky, streaky. not at all what we'd hoped for.
2. glitter paint - the color was close. but... also streaky and completely transparent.
3. glass paint - close in color, transparent and streaky.
4. use acrylic paint then roll in small glass beads - this looked entirely ridiculous. it was my idea (not my mom's), so i can say that.

so i was back to the drawing board. sad and lost in the world of diy projects.

i have a lovely co-worker, dana, who finds my stories of the wedding and my diy crafts (which are often good and often complete failures) to be quite entertaining. so i told her my story. and she had one of the most brilliant ideas...

i work for a home decor and gift retailer. and we have vendors. lots of them. and they make pretty things like votive holders.

so i contacted one and asked for tiffany blue mercury glass votive holders. "do you have them, please?"

and i got this in the mail about a week later. a sample of the most perfect product available for me to purchase.

see how close the color is to the tiffany & co. swatch i carry in my purse. ;)

super fab, right? such a small (but at the same time huge) thing made me fall more in love with my job.

pretty flowers.

when i was in san francisco, i definitely had wedding on the brain. i shopped for wedding shoes (to no avail) but i did find a little inspiration in the flower street vendors.

i have an intense love for ranunculas.

they are so beautiful and delicate and intricate - so many petals tucked in so tightly to make such an incredibly lovely little flower.

so i talked the street vendor into giving them to me for half-price since i was only there for 3 days. so $5 later, i had something beautiful to brighten up my hotel room. you'll see in the picture a little bit of the ice bucket i used as a make-shift vase... nothing like improvisation!

update.

so i realized last night that its 4 1/2 months till our wedding. that's not much. i immediately began making lists in my head of all the things that still need to be done.

its a long list.

starting with: my invitations. i need to work on those asap.

then here are a few more:

we need to find an officiant.
we need to pick out mr. smith's mother-son dance song.
we need to find a musician for the ceremony - we have singers, no musician.
15000 craft projects.
we need to pick out our wedding bands. (very important.)
we need to find a new cake baker because ours had to cancel. (its true.)
we still haven't picked out tuxes for mr. smith and the groomsmen. that one is entirely on him though.
we need to do a venue walk-through with the caterer.
the list goes on. and on. and on.

twitter.

i caved. i have twitter.

follow me!

mrssmith909

addition.

i would like to add this to my last post.

while i do love this city, i have never seen so many people digging in trash cans in all my life.

it's truly mind-boggling.

conference.

i haven't meant to neglect my blog. but my internet hasn't been working properly. and now it's fixed by i have no time.

i'm actually at the conference right now and got pulled out of a keynote roundtable to fix my computer. so instead of interrupting and going back in, i'm spending a few minutes to update my blog.

the conference has been great so far. alot of fabulous information, and i'm feeling so lucky to have been able to participate. i really feel like what i've learned will contribute to my company and its success. so yay for that!

beyond the work aspect though, i've really enjoyed this city. i love how eclectic it is. no 2 people are alike. and i say that sincerely - i'm from the south, but i've been to a few places in my life and feel like i have as good of a worldview as i could get given age and experience. i love new york, but there is a very "typical new yorker." just as there are "typicals" for most major us cities. but i don't feel like there is as much of a stereotypical san franciscan. everyone is unique and i love it.
and so many people are green - love that as well. hopefully someday i can live up to that green standard - right now i simply can't afford it financially. but someday it will be a little more mainstream and more affordable. or at least maybe someday i'll make more money.

funny that i'm rambling about green - today is earth day. quite a bit deal around here - i've heard about it on every corner and on the news and in many other channels today.

so now i need to get some work done before i go back into sessions.

i'll sign off with "happy earth day!"

i'm in san francisco!

i'm here. i made it. my flight landed at 10am and i've had the last 5 hours to myself to explore the city. there wasn't a whole lot of exploration though - about a 2 mile circle around union square. but i have had fun.

i went to lunch at a place called the sushi boat - it was kind of hidden but my hotel recommended it. they have a conveyer belt of sorts that goes around a circle and you just pick the sushi plates that look good to you. very fun.

as for shopping... i bought a couple of things at h&m (nashville is missing out), but other than that i've been very frugal.

especially since i went to tiffany & co. :) (brandi, aren't you proud i didn't take out a second mortgage for those earrings!!)

here are the first of my pictures to share.

my room at the villa florence hotel.

part of the bathroom.

one of the reasons i love this town... even the chips in the mini bar are organic.

and the tea and juice. :)

tell me this isn't cute... a hair dryer bag. :)

one of the pictures on my hotel wall. reminds me of my emma.

there is an umbrella in the closet in my room. the tag on it is so funny i had to share. it says:

you are most welcome to use this umbrella during your stay. if you would like to purchase one, please contact the front desk. thank you.

the view from my window. this is powell street.

i saw this when i was out exploring today. men playing chess on the street. there were like 15 tables and they paid to get in the game. it thought it was cute.

so now that i've cooled off (there is a heat wave in san francisco - it's 80 degrees out!) - i'm going to resume my exploring, starting with checking out a place that has been deemed the best frozen yogurt in downtown san francisco. i'll let you know what i think of the chill cafe.

san francisco.

i'm leaving for san francisco tomorrow.

my flight is at 6am.  deadly for someone as morning-incompatible as me.

but it's going to be a good trip.  it's a conference for work and i plan to learn alot.  and see the city i love more than any other.

i'll miss my fiance and my pups and my kitty though.

i'll try to add pictures and update when possible... don't know how well that will work out though.

see the beautiful san fran skyline.

bridesmaids shoes.

i have been on a search for bridesmaid shoes.  i have had some trouble making a decision on them for some reason.  my sister had a very specific opinion about what we should (and shouldn't) wear, being the fashionista that she is, and it was hard to find something that would work given that i was not going to ask my girls to spend alot on their shoes.

so i looked online.  at bridal shops.  at department stores.  at off broadway.  and then i found them...  at tj maxx!

beautiful nine west bronze strappy shoes that will match perfectly.  for $29.99!!!!

they had 10 pairs, so i bought them all.  i think i have the right sizes for each girl, but just in case, i have an extra size 7 and an extra 8 1/2.  :)

and they were all just dumped in a tj maxx bag until yesterday when i tied and tagged them.  take a look at my attempt to organize the shoes.

i can't wait to see how pretty my lovely bridesmaids look in the dresses and shoes!!

great quote.

my boss sent our team a quote this mroning that was absolutely fantastic and inspiring. so i wanted to inspire you.

History has demonstrated that the most notable winners usually encountered heartbreaking obstacles before they triumphed. They won because they refused to become discouraged by their defeats.
Bertie C. Forbes

good things are coming.

i have some super fun news.

mr. smith and i went to see our parents in paducah this weekend, and i always find our trips to be fun. we are in the car together for 2 hours straight with nothing to distract us but road rage and sickly puppies. (a completely separate story that i may share someday...)

so during our return trip, mr. smith asked me if i would be ok with him posting on the blog, since we are "the 2 smiths" and all.

and of course i'm ok with it!! i think it's super fun. he always has these clever little thoughts and funny stories - and i think for the most part i'm the only one who gets to hear the majority of them. but that is the case no longer!

we'll be trading off on posts. or both posting on the same day. or maybe we'll both skip a day. but however it goes, start watching for the sign off at the end of the posts, because from here on, it could be either mr. smith or the future mrs. smith who will be delivering updates on our lives.

dress pick-up day!!

i picked up my dress today!! it still has to go in for alterations, but that won't be much. just some work on the neckline and the hem. because mostly my dress fits like a glove... :)

so in case you were wondering what it looks like, here's a picture of something similar so mr. smith won't see me in the real thing.

j/k. running joke with mr. smith is that my dress has sleeves. and we've also said there are shades of purple and green in the dress. we've got to keep him guessing!

i know, though, that when he sees it on that special day, i'm sure he'll be pleasantly surprised.

wedding jewelry.

i've been thinking long and hard about the jewelry for my wedding, and i am pretty settled on trying to find something that suits the dress completely. i can't give away too much detail because my sweetie reads this, but if you've seen the dress, you know the "embellishments" that i would like to work with.

i also like the idea of doing my "something blue" in my jewelry.

so i just took a moment during my lunch to look at wedding jewelry, and i found a few things i think are lovely. and here's what i found. these more than likely won't be the final product... a girl's got a budget. but they are pretty!!

Vera Wang Aqua Bow Earrings

From Avelle.

{Super cool place - they allow you to rent couture jewelry for a tiny fraction of the retail price.}

Love these Sapphire and Diamond 14K White Gold Earrings

From ice.com.

And these Blue Sapphire and Diamond 14K White Gold Earrings

Also from ice.com.

And of course: Tiffany Legacy Collection Sapphire Earrings

From Tiffany & Co.

which are your favorite?

vacuum.

i realized last night that my vacuum is never going to function properly. and if you know me at all, you know how incredibly depressing this is to me.

i have 2 dogs, a cat, and too much carpet.

so after vacuuming as much of my house as humanly possible with a dirt devil kurv hand vacuum, i realized what would save the day: the machine my dreams are made of... a dyson dc17 absolute animal.
some happy day she will live in my home and clean my floors. until that day, please laugh at the thought of me vacuuming my entire house with a dirt devil kurv. it should give you a pretty good chuckle.

contest via the budget savvy bride!

the budget savvy bride just happens to be a blog i follow daily. her posts have great information - but i think the best part is how animated she is and the excitement she has for everything she posts. so when asked to most information about her contest, i am super excited to do so. so please click this link for more information and to enter... but for a preview, read below!!

______
Guess what ladies?!?! This week I am hosting a contest for Kodak… and the lucky winner will receive this beauty-

the Kodak M1063!

See that little text in the lower left- 10 mega-pixels, people! That’s more than my digital SLR has!

The perfect way to thank your bridesmaid or groomsman for participating in your special day is with a Kodak M1063. With the M1063 your bridesmaid or groomsman can create a wedding party photo album and document the entire experience. There’s no better way to cherish your most important relationships with friends and family than to capture your precious moments before, during and after the wedding!

Contest details: This contest will be open from April 6 – April 13th, with the winner being announced on Tuesday, April 14th! Good luck!

happy day.

today is the end of an era. but it's a happy end and a fabulous new beginning.

today is my last dating anniversary with mr. smith. 6 years of love and happy times - but our next anniversary won't be for a year and 5 months because... we'll be married!

so here's to the happiness mr. smith and i have experienced over the last 6 years! much more to come!

monogram madness, part 5.

the final monogram post.  bittersweet.

i found this super cool diy project on tip junkie's blog, but she found it on initalee's blog.

it's a cute little topiary.  the monogram is understated, but it's a monogram item nonetheless.

super cute.

they may be seen at the wedding.  not sure yet.  keep an eye out though.  :)

if you want to know how to make one for yourself, click here!

monogram madness, part 4.

i love the new wall decal trend.  i don't have a single one.  but i will get one soon.  i'm just picky so i haven't been able to settle on one yet.

but i've always been a fan of this one i found on etsy.  if only i could remember which vendor on etsy had it for sale...

this couple used it for the dance floor, and i love that idea.  but my venue doesn't have a traditional wooden dance floor, so we'll have to figure out another something for the dance floor.

i might just get this one for my wall at home.  obviously without the date.

we'll see.  super cute, though, right?

are you ready? monogram madness, part 3.

i hope you didn't think i'd fail you in my love of monograms just yet.

we're going to use a personalized monogram for our invitations and carry it out through all our wedding "paper", i.e. invitations, programs, welcome basket enclosures, escort cards, place cards, table numbers, and anything else we print.

my lovely co-worker, christie, is a graphic artist and is going to be so kind as to help me design all these paper goods.

however, i'm using this website as the inspiration for our monogram creation.

www.idooriginals.com

the girl (i think?) running this website has a whole host of monogram samples from which to choose.  it's just a plug and play of your letters, names, dates, or whatnot and a selection of colors to make it your own.  $10 for 3, $15 for 5.  great price, great ideas, super fun.

they also do custom monograms.  knowing how picky i am, this may be the direction i have to go.  this option is $30 for 3, so still a great price!  i can tell her all about my style, my color scheme, and what i'm looking for - then she makes my dreams come true.

she also does aisle runners, table runners, banners, parasols, candles, and embroidery.

and if you take a look at the blog, you can see that they designed the new logos for my wedding planner, latrice of bridal opulence.  

i'll be sure to show you when i get a finished product!!