DIY Calligraphy

So in an attempt to DIY as much as possible (white wanting everything to look as professional as possible), I've decided to do my own calligraphy. DIY'ing was important to me, because I want as many of our own touches as possible. I want to be able to walk away knowing that my blood, sweat, and tears were in as many of the details of the wedding as possible. And I really like the idea of addressing each one of my guests personally (ok, if I had a bigger guest list maybe I wouldn't feel that way, haha!). 

I decided to start with a simple calligraphy kit that I got from Michael's so I could learn all the letters, and work on some different scripts. I may or may not end up using a dip pen (the one I have has a cartridge), just because I don't know how much extra work I'll want to put into the calligraphy once it's time to actually do it :) So for now I'm just practicing.

Here are some of my practice sheets:



And just for fun (these are not anyone's names, their names I jokingly call my fiance):

I found my DRESS

After going to the bridal show in Raleigh this past weekend, my mom and I decided to make an appointment at A Bridal World (we were thinking just to get some ideas of fits that looked good on me), and at Victorian Rose (we talked to one of the ladies in their booth, and she couldn't have been more helpful or more nice!), both in Raleigh.

I tried on about 5 or 6 dresses at a Bridal World, and their dresses are very reasonably priced, and they had plenty of larger sizes to try on (we aren't all a size 4 or 6 - which is the size of sample wedding dresses. The one dress the consultant recommended, I never would have tried on, but it look really amazing on my body (which is hard - I have wide hips for my body and I'm short - only 5 feet tall, so finding a dress that compliments either feature is hard). I had them hold it while I thought about it (they sell off the rack), and decided to go ahead and go to my appointment the next day at Victorian Rose. The dress looked really good on me, but it didn't have any of the design elements I had envisioned.

They were so incredibly sweet and helpful at Victorian Rose even though pretty much all the dresses were size 10 (aka size 6). I ended up finding my dress there. There was never any pressure; they asked me what I was thinking for bridesmaids, I told them I wasn't sure yet, and there was again, no pressure to start searching there.

So my contract is signed, and my deposit is down. I can't believe I found my dress yesterday! Now, on to the shoes...

I know it sounds weird, but...

This is often my part of my answer when asked about my wedding colors. I always knew I wanted to have a beautiful wedding...but NEVER thought about wedding colors. I love the whimsical, Alice in Wonderland vibe, and anything vintage and shabby chic. However, my sweet finance is more of the modern type. So I had to really rack my brain to come up with something that would suit the both of us (contrary to the brides they like to show on TV, I had no desire to be that woman screaming or whining phrase like, "But its all about ME" or "It's MY day!")

I was looking on Martha Stewart's website one day, and saw something so unique that it was screaming "Us". Red and blue. Not clownish red, but deep, rich, crimson red. Not bright blue, but delicate, ice blue. And we'll kinda tie it all together with a chocolate brown. I plan to use some earthy, organic decor (along with some crystals for good measure - I'm crazy about sparkle!).

I saw this picture from a wedding on the Knot. Their colors are a bit brighter than ours (hey, they got married in Vegas!) but I plan on using this for inspiration:


(Photo credit: Brian Phillips Photography)

We would use lighter blue hydrangeas, and maybe mix some carnations (I know they're known as cheap fillers, but I love their delicate, fluttery petals) with a deeper red flower (maybe dahlias). Our tables will be round, so I would probably do a cluster of pillars with the bunches of flowers around. I don't want all the centerpieces to be the same. 

What do you think of our color combination? Are they chic, or 4th of July?

Where we are so far...

Here it goes....my first bridal blog post! Let me just catch you up to speed on what we have planned so far:

Venue: Rumbling Bald Resort, Lake Lure
Reception and Catering: Rumbling Bald
Photographer: Elizabeth Scott Photography (this was my most important thing along with my dress, and I couldn't be more excited about Leslie and Matt being the ones to capture our wedding)
Officiant: My Uncle will be marrying us :)
Colors/Decor: Chocolate, Deep Red and Ice Blue, and I'm thinking we'll use a lot of natural elements (trees, branches, and maybe even birds)

We've yet to look into flowers, stationary, cake, etc. I'm a crafty, DIY kinda girl, and I want to see how much of it I can manage myself (while still looking professional of course!). I also don't have my dress, and I'm anxious to really get somewhere in the dress hunt. 

I'll be updating with pictures of ideas, brainstorming, pitfalls, etc. But for now I will leave you with a small idea of some decor that I'm in love with.

The first image is what I call The Candle Tree.


Since our wedding is going to be on the lake I'm not sure if I will be able to use tapers, but I know that I want two of these on either side of Rob and myself. If candles wont work I plan on adding groups of flowers where the candle holder pieces are. I also think I'm going to hang strands of crystals from some of the branches.

And this is my idea for the aisle/walkway. 


I would do flowers just on either side, not all the way across, and I may just have pillar candles instead of water with floating candles. What do you think?