Vendor Fun!

I have had a couple of really productive weeks with the wedding planning. It all started when I decided that I needed to step the pedal to the metal on getting my DIY centerpieces figured out - and now I'm in full wedding planning mode again!

I have purchased a few things off of Craigslist including a couple of 12" gold shattered glass hurricane vases that will be perfect for the seating card table; I have procured the rest of the fall themed wreaths that I needed, and picked out the gold linens and chair covers that are so dreamy I want to curl up in them and take a nap! I have also ordered round one of my save-the-date cards, started designing our table numbers, began registering at Bed Bath and Beyond and William Sonoma; sent invitations to Poland for my cousin's so they can apply for a visa to come for the wedding, and finally, I have chosen my bridesmaid dresses. Whew! That is a lot of stuff - but lots of progress means an easier ride! right?

First things first - I have discovered (through my company) Affordable Elegance Chair Covers & Linens in Troy. This is truly one of the best linen places that I have encountered thus far. They are very reasonably priced, they do all of the set up for your wedding, they don't try and over sell you AND they are some of the nicest ladies I have ever met!

They let me borrow some samples that I liked, and I set them up on my mom's kitchen table - shut all of the blinds and lit the candles and wow.....what a rewarding feeling to have your vision come to life! It was everything I imagined and i'm still not sure how it all came together so easily!

Another Vendor that I am very impressed with, as far as customer service goes, is Vistaprint - I ordered our Save the Date magnets from them, but was a little apprehensive because I have never used their print service before. Knowing that I wouldn't know the level of quality that they would provide - I only ordered 25 magnets; and thank goodness I only ordered 25. I received them within a week (which was great) but the final product was about five shades darker than the proof that I approved online.

You couldn't see me or Jason's face in one of the photo's because it was SO dark, and the back ground was a deep chocolate color instead of a beige color that I thought it would be. So, I emailed their customer service, told them my issue and asked if they could please refund or credit my account so I could try again on a different template. Low and behold, I received an email THIS morning (not even 24 hours after receiving the magnets) letting me know that they would be crediting my credit card for the amount of the magnets (less shipping). I was VERY impressed by this! And yes, I will be buying another sample batch of magnets from VistaPrint.com.

This is Version 1 - hopefully the final will be coming soon!

Bride.2.be...that's ME!

I have recently discovered a fantastic blog by a girl who had a Detroit Wedding last fall. I am absolutely in LOVE with this blog - it is appropriately called My Detroit Wedding. Bridgette is the author; I emailed her to tell her how much I have been enjoying her blog, and it turns out, she is from Sterling Heights and graduated from Sterling a year after me! Small world huh!? No wonder I can relate to her blog so well. And, thanks to her blog, I have discovered a name for my wedding theme...

Fall Vintage Chic. Love it!

Bridgette and I have had some of the same experiences already, and I feel like her blog will be a fantastic guide as I go forward with our wedding plans; which I have re-entered "full swing" as of last weekend.

I contacted two people on Craigslist to take a look at some fall wedding items that they had for sale. I went up to Macomb Township on Saturday morning and met with a very nice lady who was selling hand crafted fall wedding decorations (left over from her son's wedding). Most of her sale items fit my wedding theme, but she wanted SO much money for the items. It was all really nice, but I just couldn't bring myself to spend $125 for plastic pew bows and $150 for 75 votives with leaves carefully glued to the bottom.

I didn't buy anything from this nice lady, but instead, left with a dose of motivation to get moving on wedding plans once again. I left her house and headed down M59 - making a few stops along the way...Walmart for candles, Marshalls for stuff I didn't need & The Flower Factory. Ahhhh, the Flower Factory. That is where I struck gold. I found 15 fall wreaths for $8 a piece, and a sample candle lantern for $10. These are the key elements to the centerpiece that I had in my mind.

I went home, pulled out some of the votives that I had stashed away, and created my vision. I threw down a bed sheet (in place of the real linens) and set up my sample centerpiece on my kitchen table... and... VOILA! My DIY centerpiece has been created! Mission accomplished.

Much to my dismay, I was home alone when I created my vision - so, I called my MOH Cecilia and tried describing what I had created, and she just said, "pack it up, bring it over and then we will have some wine and watch a movie!" She's so awesome. She was also kind enough to take this photo for me, since Jason has our camera in L.A. with him!