Final Fling Before the Ring: Bachelorette Party Packs

I knew my girls had been planning something fabulous for my bachelorette party (even though I had NO IDEA we were actually doing), so I wanted to get them a little something to kick the weekend off right and thank them for doing all that planning for little 'ol me :).

Enter the Bachelorette Party Pack:

I should’ve taken a picture of the contents before we devoured them, but I didn’t….so, sorry!

The ‘packs’ contained :
(1) Glow in the dark bracelet.
(2) Ring Pops.
(1) Candy Necklace.
(1) Package of Breath Mints.
(1) tube of Lip Smackers (assorted delicious flavors like Blue Raspberry and Nerds….mmmm)

These were all wrapped up in the purple plastic polka-dotted chinese take-out box (purchased from Michaels).

I wanted to fit the water in there as well, but it top didn’t allow for the box to close. So, next to it I had a half-pint water bottle with some Advil sewn between pieces of vellum labeled ‘Take 2, and call me in the AM’.

Will you pull together any gifts for the ladies hosting your parties?

Attn: Marc & Lilly P.

Dear Marc & Lilly,

Please stop making cute white dresses and putting them on sale. In case you are not aware I have already bought seven, yes 7, dresses for the rehearsal dinner and/or wedding day morning. You are making my wallet very upset.

xoxo,
Miss Gloss

P.S. For those of you who haven’t yet purchased a weeks worth of clothing for one day, please buy one of the cute dresses below and send me pictures so I can live vicariously through you :).

Marc Jacobs @ Saks

Lilly P. @ SaksLilly P. @ Saks

Does every dress/outfit you see turn into something you can wear for a wedding event?

Vendor Stalking...

Our photographer isn’t the best at updating her blog – but when she does, I absolutely fall in love all over again. Check out some shots from her latest wedding -

I also stalk our DOC’s blog to see what clever ideas they come up with. Most of which I convince myself I *need* to have :). I also browse around to see what other fabulous weddings they have done recently and get more and more excited to have them around for my big day-

Oh, laser-etched escort acrylic escort cards, how can I have you in my life?

Do you stalk any of your vendors blogs?

*Images: 1, 2, 3 by Erica Lyn Photography
*Images: 4,5 by Pink Orchid Weddings

Upcoming Bachelorette Weekend!

The ever fabulous Glossy Gals have put together a little shin-dig in honor of little 'ol me *blush*. They have done an amazing job keeping secrets about what is happening, which makes me very excited mixed in with just a smidge of nervousness :). I'm sure whatever they have planned is going to be excessively fabulous but I still get a little nervous when I think of the possibility of potential male genitalia everywhere.
I got a little preview of this weekends festivities yesterday when this arrived:

And I can only hope to look that cute all passed out with my bottle :)

Little do they know, I have a little surprise for them (which I will be sure to share with you all on Monday!).

Did your girls go above and beyond to celebrate your big day?

E-Pics FINALLY!!

Some of you super observant readers noticed my new Bio picture and guessed that we FINALLY had our engagement pictures taken and you were right! I’m under strict orders from the mister that these pictures not get plastered around the internet…..but I couldn’t hold out from you guys. So I figured I could post just a few of my favorites, and deal with any consequences later :).

Originally we had not intended to get e-shots taken. We didn’t think we would use them for anything and that it would be a waste of money, oh and Mr. Gloss HATES having his picture taken. One day I was mindlessly wandering through the WB Classifieds and came across a post for free engagement session in Boston with Nicole Chan. At this point I was regretting not getting any pictures taken previously because I wanted to use them for our guestbook, and I also thought it would be good practice to be in front of a camera and additionally, I wanted test out how my ‘wedding-day make-up’ actually photographed. So I dragged Mr. Gloss down to the Boston aquarium on 4th of July weekend thinking that everyone would have left the city for the holiday since we typically do. I convinced him it would be empty and no one would see him getting his picture taken. Boy was I wrong. The city was packed since it was one of the first nice (ie not raining) days of the whole summer!

So Nicole and her assistant showed up and we tried to erase the scowl off Mr. Gloss’ face. It took a little while, but eventually he warmed up :). She was a pleasure to work with – neither of us are very comfortable in front of the camera, but by the end we felt much more open and were really enjoying it (well probably me more than the mister). Some of my favorite shots are definitely the out-takes with the genuine smiles, rather than posed, which completely confirms my decision to go with a ‘documentary style’ photographer for our wedding pictures.

So without further ado a few pictures from the lovely Nicole Chan*:
*all images are captured and processed by Nicole, but I did a little additional post-processing so don’t hold it against her!

Did you have engagement pictures taken? What were your reasons?

Vendor Response Grace Period

I have one vendor who has been a little unresponsive as of late (I’m not going to name names here, but let’s just say they are pretty crucial to the wedding day :) ). I try to keep reminding myself that not everyone has my wedding on the brain 24/7 and for every 4,000 times it crosses my mind they have only probably thought about it once (if that). Each day seems so much longer when you are awaiting a response, where a normal person might check their email 3-6 times a day, I probably hit refresh every 4-6 minutes (even through my browser updates automatically and I also get my email on my phone). So in my mind it seems like they have taken forever to respond (even though in most cases its often no more than a few days).

In this case it has been almost two weeks. I think I have been very patient but I’m starting to freak out. Why aren’t they responding? Are they not coming anymore? What do I do if that happens?

Am I freaking out prematurely? How long is your ‘vendor response grace period’?

Old, New, Borrowed & Blue

I have something old- vintage broach turned hair clip.

I have something new- (well many somethings actually :), take your pick)

I'm lacking something borrowed,

And maybe something blue- (I have a pair of blue VS 'bridal' undies that I will probably wear)

Obviously I googled 'something borrowed' to figure out what I should be looking for and got this:

"Something borrowed" should be an item from a happily married woman. The borrowing will give the new bride good luck, (which is why the "loaner" needs to be a happily married woman). "Something borrowed" also reminds the new bride to look to her friends and family when she needs help.

What have you/will you borrow? Did it mean something special to you?

Can't Lose this List...

I love making lists. I make lists of lists.
I am also, unfortunately, very likely to lose said lists.

With the wedding only one month away (eep!) these lists are becoming more and more precious. Lists of things left to do, things to remember to bring, people I need to call, etc. So I’ve made my lists digital –

Enter the brilliance of Google. They already have reader (best thing ever!), and the ability to share documents and calendars (so helpful!) and now they have TASKS. I’ve basically gone and entered everything left on my Knot checklists, checklists from my DOC’s and other random things I think of during the day. The benefit of having them synched with my google account is that they are right there, staring me in the face all day looming over my head saying ‘complete me’ :).

You can check them off when they are completed (such a good feeling!), set deadlines, add notes and make multiple lists.

Are you a list keeper? How do you keep track of upcoming wedding tasks?

Hair Trial - Round One...

I made another trip up north this past weekend for my bridal shower (post forthcoming – waiting for pics!) and jam packed the weekend with various other vendor appointments including a meeting with our caterer (we have a menu!) and my hair trial.
The salon was booked later in the afternoon, so I snatched up their 9AM appointment in hopes I would be done and back for my bridal shower brunch at 10:30. The timing worked perfectly and I think the hair worked out pretty good as well :).

We also tested it out with my veil and earrings.

I think we are going to go a little wider with the smooth piece on the right (it looks a little off here because she was done and I was playing with it more as an afterthought).

The good news – it survived all day without a serious amount of hairspray. By the end of the night (around 11ish) it was still mostly intact. And I definitely didn’t baby it – I was on the lake, in the boat, took a nap, drove around in my mom’s wrangler for a while and it still took like 20 minutes to get all the bobbi pins out!

What do you think? Was your first hair trial a success?

the Duties of a Bridesmaid...

I know we’ve all heard (or experienced) stories about Brides demanding ridiculous things from their bridal entourage (aka bridetourage). I love my girls and want them to look and feel as amazing as I do when the big day rolls around. For dresses I chose about six or seven dresses from J.Crew and told them they could chose whatever style they liked. Of course they all ended up choosing the same dress :) (but I didn’t push it, I swear!). So when it came time for shoes I left it up to them. I said I would like them to be yellow, to add a little POP to their ensembles.

Setting: MOH and I are having an internet shoe searching date. I suggest about 4 normal pairs and throw in the pair below (sent to me a few days prior by Glossy Gal K).

MOH proceeds to fall out of her chair laughing and comments that she thinks her grandmother has them. She then decides to sent an email to the rest of the bridetourage with a link saying the following.

“Ok Ladies... I finally did it and took the plunge. I ordered my final choice for shoes this evening... Thanks to Glossy Gal K for discovering them!!! They're running short on sizes so order fast if you want to get a pair like this too!!!”

Glossy Gal K immediately responds : “Don't you LOVEEEE them? I'm so excited that they're perfect for the wedding, walking on water, and possibly running a marathon.”

---------the next morning------

Enter email from Glossy Gal A: “I had already bought my shoes, and to be honest, I don’t like these at all. But if you really like them, and that’s what everyone else is getting, then I will buy them.”

Um, what?! You would pay $100 for lace-up, yellow, cork, platform, sneaker shoes and wear them for me? Awwwwww
Obviously these are NOT the shoes the girls are wearing, but how dedicated/awesome is my bridetourage?

Have you ever had to wear something ridiculous for a wedding?

Confessions of a Plan-A-Holic...

Hi my name is Miss Gloss and I am a plan-a-holic.

I have to think through every detail, understand every ounce of how my vision will come together before I can fully commit to a plan.

One of the benefits of having a tent wedding is that I get a blank slate. I don't have to buy into any one else's idea of decor, I can do whatever I want- make my own space. (Believe me a tented wedding was no accident!)

I recently came up with a few diagrams to help explain my concept for our 'space' and so our vendors would know where they are expected to set up.

Diagram 1 : the TableScape (click on any image to make larger)

Diagram 2: the Floor Plan

Diagram 3: the Ceiling Plan
Did you/Will you create detailed diagrams of your plans to ensure your day comes out exactly as you envisioned it?

the Big 'B'...

Yesterday, Mary Jane talked about the the Big 'D'- well I'm going to talk about my personal evil - the big 'B'...budget.

Do I have one? Yes
Do I follow it? Not really
Will I put myself in debt? Nope
Does that make it okay to spend, spend, spend? Jurys still out on that one-

When Mr. Gloss and I first started discussing the wedding we said, it would be crazy to spend more than 12K on a wedding. After we did a little more research we moved the bar to 15K. Needless to say our wedding would not be extravagant, we are low key people and all we wanted to do was get married and throw a great party, we should be able to do that for 15K right? We were so naïve, enter me and add wedding blogs, all that inspiration bombarding me daily and me saying, ‘True, we don’t need that, but wouldn’t it be great!?’

Now, I know we could’ve gotten married on $12K, when you think about it we could really get married for just the cost of a marriage license, but that wasn’t the wedding I wanted-

So, this whole time, I’ve been trying to balance my vision with my budget….my ‘vision’ has a tendency to win. I’ve stopped adding things up – I’m scared of our total and we are still a month out. All our vendors fit within our budget (except that DOC I added). But it is all the little things I'm too terrified to add up that scare me. And rings and honeymoon most definitely do not count.
My financial goal in life has always been to have enough money that I don't have to worry about it. I am a worrier, living paycheck to paycheck would be a huge stress for me (not that it is not stressful for everyone, but we are talking about something that I would worry so much about it would make me physically ill). So we live well with-in (probably below) our means and in doing so I have extra money to buy whatever I want whenever I want. (Note: we are talking clothes and home decor here, not like cars and diamond jewelry). So knowing I have the funds to make my wedding happen the way I want it, without any financial strain makes do just that! It basically works like this: I find something I ‘need’ to have, I find the best deal I can, and go from there. We aren’t talking all out luxury here, but these aren’t necessities either.

How closely do you follow your budget? Would you spend more if you could?

A Deserving Dress Hanger....part Two!

I already made one ‘hanger cover’ for my dress, but in the meantime I had come across this board post by MrsPaetz, and got motivated to make cute initialed hangers for all the ladies (aka. the Glossy Gals). I figured making them for the boys would be a waste of time, because lets face it, I’m going to be happy if they remember to bring their pants.

So, when I went to pick up my dress (she is now back in my possession!) and realized I was already more than halfway to Ikea I figured I’d just pop over and grab some white hangers. If you have ever been to Ikea you know how long it can take to make it through that store – even if you have just one item you are planning on getting :). Minutes after my decision was made, as if on cue, I get a text–

7:20 PM – Mr. Gloss: Where are you?
7:21 PM – Going to Ikea, be home never.
7:23 PM – Mr. Gloss : NOOOOOOOOO

I can spend HOURS (days if they would let me) in that place and spend way too much $$, all too common knowledge for Mr. Gloss.
So, I snatched up some napkins/candles/votives/ and a variety of other things I in no way needed, and oh yeah, the hangers I went to buy :).

I printed out some snazzy initials to transfer onto the hangers and then used a super old school method to transfer the letters onto the hangers.


1. Shade the back of the paper with a pencil.
2. Tape letter onto hanger and trace outline of letter.
3. Remove paper and start coloring in your letter. (I used a fine-tip black sharpie).
4. Et Voila!!

What great tutorials/ideas have you found on the boards?

Tin Cans Redone...

I've been seriously neglecting my google reader lately, and while going through a little clean-up last night I came across this image on 100 Layer Cake.


Cute - Check!
DIYable - Check!
Wallet Friendly - Check!

But I already have a concept for table numbers so I was thinking what else could I do with these?

'W E L C O M E'
'L O V E'

They would look so cute on our entry table, or possibly at the rehearsal dinner?
What would you spell?

Signature Drink #1 - Check!!

While browsing around Williams Sonoma this past weekend I happened upon our first signature drink....the Cranberry Daiquiri. The description reads "the classic daiquiri gets a citrus twist in the cranberry-orange pairing".....um, what? the cranberry/orange combo is my faaaavorite. Since we hadn't really thought about what we wanted to serve and this sounded delicious we quickly scooped up 15 bottles. My MOH (being the awesome gal she is) was fully prepared to carry these bottles throughout the rest of the mall - hows that for dedication? (Don't worry, I asked to pick them up out back ;), they were super heavy!) So now, we have one drink checked off our list - I'm working on the second one and thinking something lemon-y and blueberry-y.

I also need to come up with some way to serve them. The really large (3 gallon) infusion jars with spigots are more $$ than we would like to spend (ie I don't really need two $120 jars sitting in the basement after the wedding).
So Hive, I turn to you for your help - Are you having signature drinks? If so, how are you serving them?