Wedding Planning Wednesday - Crepe paper rosette tutorial!

I'm so excited to finally share this DIY pomander tutorial with you all! I just love how it came out and I'm happy to show you all how I did it! I really, really wanted to do something fun and different for our flower girl because I'm not crazy about the whole basket thing. I was toying with the idea of a paper cone or a handmade pomander of some kind when I stumbled upon this tutorial on Pinterest for crepe paper rosettes. She used them to make a centerpiece (which is a lovely idea, by the way) but I decided to turn it into a handmade flower girl pomander! (The original idea came from Danielle Flanders and you can see a helpful video tutorial here.) These are pretty easy to make once you get the hang of it and you can use them to make a pomander like me, centerpieces, or even hang them from the ceiling at your next get-together! I am already planning to make more for a bridal shower and I think they'd be lovely in different pastel colors for spring!

Materials needed:

1 4-inch Styrofoam ball

2 80 foot rolls of crepe paper in your choice of color

Piece of wide, satin ribbon for the handle

Low temp hot glue gun + several sticks of glue

Glue stick

2 pushpins (optional)

The first thing you want to do is cut both rolls of crepe paper into strips at your desired length. You can play around with different lengths to see what you like best, but the longer the strip is the bigger the rosette will be. For the size rosettes shown, I did 24 inch strips. Once they are all cut, take the first one and crumple it up into a ball and then carefully un-crumple it. This gives it that 'shabby-chic' look. Then, fold the crumpled strip in half, length-wise. This is another thing you can play around with to see what you like better. You can leave them as-is, fold 1/3 of the way down, or fold them in half like I did. The wider the strip, the taller the rosette. I wanted these to lay pretty flat on the Styrofoam balls, but if you want more dimension you can leave the strips wider. 

When they are folded in half, start rolling them until you get a nice center piece. Once you have the center, keep rolling (not very tightly) and then start twisting the tissue paper every now and then to get the look of petals. If you are confused by this part (like I was) go watch the video tutorial to get a better look at how she twists them. The more twists you have the more textured the rose so just play with it until it looks right to you!

Keep rolling and twisting around using the whole strip until you end up with good sized rosette. Then, using the glue stick, dab some glue on the end and gently press together.

Repeat until you have used all of your strips and you should have a great big pile of rosettes. It will look like way too many, but trust me, it isn't!

Now it's time to glue! Cut a piece of wide satin ribbon to your desired length. This will act as the handle of your pomander (if making centerpieces, you can skip this step!). Then, using the hot glue gun, glue down each side of the ribbon to the Styrofoam ball. Be careful not to burn yourself pressing down! If you have 2 pushpins, pin the ribbon down over the glue for extra security. Once the flowers are on you won't be able to see the pins. 

Now start attaching the rosettes! This is where you use A LOT of glue... put a big glob on the ball, stick the rosette on, and press down gently to secure. Be careful not to put the tip of the glue gun directly onto the Styrofoam for long because it will melt! Continue gluing the rosettes until the whole thing is covered. Start with any larger or wider flowers and save the smaller ones to fill in at the end.  

When you're done, you should end up with something like this! Be sure to let it dry for a few hours before letting anyone play with it because it is delicate! There are so many different ways to decorate with these and customize them with any color... I am obsessed! Rosette balls for everyone! You can also use the rosettes to decorate other things like picture frames or scrapbook pages. The possibilities are endless!

My sister just finished making the flower girl dress so I got to see our adorable little flowers girl all dressed up holding this sweet pomander! I. Almost. Died. She looked like such a little fairy princess and everything is exactly what I pictured in my head! My sister is talented, people! I'm signing her up for the next season of Project Runway! 

I hope you all enjoy your Wednesday! Less than 2 months left until the big day and it's so surreal! Ahhh! XOXO

Wedding Planning Wednesday - Invitations

Hello everyone! I'm so excited I finally get to show you our wedding invitations! I have inexplicably had the worst luck with these invites which explains why it took so long to post about them! First the color was showing up wrong when I tried to get them printed, then the post office lost them, and then they were re-sent with some outdated information on them (which I didn't realized until AFTER I cut and assembled most of them of course!) and they had to be re-printed and cut and assembled! Needless to say, I am THRILLED to be able to check these off our list!

We asked Diana, one of my favorite designers on the planet, to design the invitations for us. I have used her services in the past for my Etsy shop, gifts, and personal prints for my home and I absolutely love working with her. She's such a doll, SO FAST, and of course oh so talented. And you cannot beat her prices! SO reasonable! I can't recommend her enough. You can find her Etsy shop Livy Love Designs here.

I showed Diana a photo of an invite we liked and she made some changes and created a custom design for us! We are so happy with how they turned out; they were exactly what we were looking for! Because we are getting married at a nature center we decided to keep the oak tree theme going and I am obsessed with our initials carved into the tree! So cute! Our venue involves a bit of walking in a forest (long dirt path!) so I also wanted to include an extra insert to let the guests know not to wear a ball gown and stilettos! We tied these 3 together with some pink and white bakers twine and stuck them inside a kraft envelope. They are perfect and perfectly us and I couldn't be happier! (Also, I realized when I uploaded these that I totally used the wrong lens so I apologize for the blurriness of the photos. I know my photographer will get an amazing photo of them on the day of though!)

So happy that these are done and we'll be sending them off in the mail soon! I'm also really excited to share another fun DIY project AND tutorial next week... it's something I've never done before and I'm so thrilled with how it turned out! Happy Wednesday everyone! XOXO 

Wedding Planning Wednesday - DIY mason jar centerpieces

 This last weekend Mando and I met up with our wedding coordinator at the LA flower market to pick out flowers for our centerpieces. I knew I wanted baby's breath and peonies but I was still looking for a 3rd option. I kind of have a love affair with florals after working in a flower shop so I was happy to browse around all morning. Peonies sadly were not in season yet, but I found some gorgeous spider mums to play around with in the meantime! I also found the perfect 3rd type of flower which are those white pom pom flowers you see in the ivory centerpiece. I'm all about texture so my main goal was to try and get the perfect balance and I really lucked out finding those at the last minute! I'm super excited to do my own flowers for the wedding. It's been a long time since I've worked with flowers at all, but it isn't something you really forget! I spent the rest of the weekend experimenting with different boutineer styles and bouquet wraps which was really fun! The floral arrangements aren't the only DIY project I have going on either.... I'm also making my own centerpieces. I knew I wanted to incorporate my love of mason jars (which goes perfectly with the rustic theme) so I came up with 3 different designs for each table.

1. Burlap & lace mason jars: Burlap and lace has been a continuing theme throughout the wedding so I knew I had to use them for the centerpieces! This is just a quart size mason jar with a wide strip of burlap around it and hot glued in the back. I then wrapped it with a piece of wide ivory lace ribbon and hot glued that as well. Super easy once you have all the strips cut out! The good news is that the strips don't have to be perfectly straight or even because the frayed edges just add to the rustic charm!

Ivory painted centerpieces: I wanted one centerpiece that was different than the others so I chose to do these ivory painted cans to mix it up. This is beyond simple and super inexpensive to make! I just started collecting large cans after we used them at home and then peeled the labels off. You may have to scrub them afterwards to get any glue redisdue off as well. Then, once they were completely dry, I spray painted them in this ivory color. They aren't super fancy, but that's okay... the more rustic looking the better!

Twine wrapped mason jars: Last but not least are these pint sized mason jars! I bought some thick twine at a craft store and wrapped them around the middle adding a dab of hot glue here and there to hold it together. Again, easy and inexpensive to make!

I really love how all of these turned out. They are exactly the look I was going for and I think they'll look amazing on the tables! You can't beat pretty centerpieces on a budget! Now I just have to finish the rest of them, haha!

Next week I'll (hopefully) talk about our invitations and even share a sneek peak! Almost time to mail them out, can you believe it?! Ahh! XOXO

Wedding Planning Wednesday - Favors, check!

I told you guys a looooong time ago that I was planning on doing vintage skeleton keys as wedding favors and since then I've been on the prowl! It has not easy finding 100+ vintage keys all around the same size! I've been to different vintage flea markets probably 5 or 6 times in the past fews months trying to find the perfect keys. I knew I could slowly collect some here and there until it added up to the amount I needed, but I also knew that it would be a lot cheaper if I was able to buy them in a large lot. Some of these people wanted $8 per key! I finally found this rad guy at the Pasadena Rose Bowl Flea Market who promised he could get over 100 keys for me and he actually came through! So, this last weekend Mando and I drove out there and I got to hand pick 100 of his best keys for just over $2 a piece! I was beyond stoked, people! These keys are just beautiful, in great condition, and exactly what I was looking for. I will be sad to give them away! He also gave us this awesome vintage Corona cigar box to put them in which was like FATE because Corona is my future last name! I'm so happy I got to check 'favors' off of our to-do list! Also, I had WAY too much photographing these keys! So pretty!

We also purchased all of the alcohol for the wedding over the weekend! I literally bought every single bottle of Barefoot wine and champagne at Bevmo... even their extra stock in the back. I currently have over 50 bottles of my favorite wine chilling in the house. Do you know how hard it will be to not touch it for the next 3 months?! OMG. This weekend we are off to the LA flower market to price out some flowers... another thing to check off the list! It's gotten to the point that we are buying stuff or meeting someone every single day. The list never ends! I just can't wait to see everything come together and to marry my best friend! So close! XOXO

Wedding Planning Wednesday - Dessert Menu

photo credit

I know I have posted about our wedding cake design in the past, but it has changed since then. You will find this happening a lot in wedding planning, especially when it comes to me! New ideas come up all the time and I'm switching things up! When we found out that our wedding planner has a friend who is trying to start his own baking business (He was featured on the Food Network show Cupcake Wars! How fun is that?) we knew we wanted to meet with him to see what flavor combinations and ideas he had. As soon as we met him and his business partner (our wedding planner's brother) we instantly loved them and I knew they would have a fresh perspective for my non-traditional ideas. His presentation was beautiful and we loved all 3 cupcakes he brought for us to taste!

Mando and I weren't sure if an entire dessert table would be in our budget but after talking to Isaac we determined that we could make it work! Instead of doing a gigantic wedding cake, we will be doing a smaller cake for Mando and I to cut into and then individual cupcakes of the same flavor for the guests. This was an easy way to bring the cost down and make more room for the dessert table budget.

I knew I wanted to do a theme for the dessert table, because honey, I'm all about the themes! I almost NEED one when it comes to planning! We thought about our absolute favorite desserts and I came up with the idea of rustic, country fair themed desserts. So, here's what's on the menu... most are being made by Isaac but some things we will be bringing ourselves!

• S'mores cake and cupcakes - these cupcakes are freaking amazing! I totally copied my wedding planner on the flavor, because she had it for her wedding and I fell in love with the idea. It's very different and I think the guests are going to love it.
• Mini cherry and apple pies - I knew if I was going to do a dessert table there would be pie. Because, obviously. Pie is amazing and everything is better in mini form, am I right?!
• Donut holes - A big ol' platter of them. Yum. Enough said.
• Gourmet mini caramel apples - Caramel apples always remind me of my mom because it's one of her favorite desserts. These are kind of dedicated to her and a silly thank you for all the help she's given us while planning the wedding. I think they are going to be so pretty once decorated, I can't wait to see what he comes up with!
• Cotton candy - you can't have a country fair dessert table without cotton candy! I think this will be something all of the kids at the wedding will specially enjoy. And trust me, there will be A LOT of kids there!
• Kettle corn - Mando and I are obsessed with kettle corn and we always get a huge bag when we go to the fair so this was a must on our table! We have a local popcorn shop that we love so we'll be picking it up from there and packaging it into individual bags for the guests!

I'm ridiculously excited about this menu. Like, I can't stop thinking about it. Wedding dress be damned, I will be stuffing my face with a little bit of everything! As for the design, I rented a covered wagon from a local prop house and we'll be using that (without the cover) as the dessert table. Fun stuff! Right now is crunch time, so we are busy working out all the tiny details that go along with planning a wedding. Less than 3 months to go! XOXO

Wedding Planning Wednesday - Help me choose!

Right now, I'm working on all of the decor details for the ceremony site and it's proving to be challenging. With all of the beautiful (and huge!) trees surrounding the place you are limited to how you can decorate. You definitely don't want to over-do it and take the away from all of the natural beauty but you don't want it looking too plain either! So I'm just trying to find that perfect balance between decorated and overdone!

One of the things I just can't decide about is the backdrop. The bottom right picture below is our actual ceremony location and as you can see there is a wooden structure, almost like an arch. This is the focal point of the stage and I really want to draw the eye to that area. The problem is, there are so many possible ways to decorate I just cannot choose which one I like the best! This is where you come in... I would love, love, LOVE if you all gave YOUR opinions and helped me choose which one you like the best!

(1, 2, 3, 4)

1. Pom pom string garland. This would be similar to the one in the picture, but the pom poms would be in all ivory and they would hang in vertical strips from the structure (like the raw cotton balls hanging down in #4). I like that this would look really delicate and whimsical, but I'm not sure if it is ENOUGH, know what I mean?

2. Strands of ribbon. I love this picture, and it reminds me SO much of our location. I think the ribbons look really effortless and beautiful. The only thing I'm worried about is the cost of so much ribbon and finding some that are long enough! I would love to mix it up with different kinds of lace, though! 

3. Fabric pom poms. My sister made tissue paper pom poms for Cayden's birthday last year and I loved them, but the fabric just takes it to a whole new level. I love the texture they provide and you can mix it up with all different kinds of fabric. I would hang these vertically as well, at all different levels. I would probably do various kinds of burlap, cotton, and lace fabrics.  

4. Fabric swag. This is what most people do who get married here. They just drape one long piece of fabric over the structure. I like how this looks, but I'm worried it's too simple and I have no idea how much it would cost for that long of a piece of fabric.

Clearly, I need help! Which option is your favorite? Any new ideas or suggestions I haven't thought of? I'm honestly stuck here and need your help deciding! Any and all responses are appreciated! XOXO

Wedding Planning Wednesday - New DIY project!

With only a little over 3 months left until the big day, I've been up to my elbows in DIY wedding projects! Right now I'm working on the tables and the centerpieces and I thought I'd share the yarn wrapped table numbers I just made! This was such an easy way to make cute table numbers on a budget and although they are time consuming and a little imperfect, I love the rustic, handmade feel they have. I won't bore you all with a tutorial, because 1) I think it's pretty self explanatory and 2) there's probably about 100 of them already out there if you need them, but I will tell you that I bought the numbers, letters, and yarn at JoAnns and one jumbo roll of ivory yarn got me through all 13 table numbers!

Inspired by this photo on Pinterest, I also wanted to make yarn wrapped signs for our table, the dessert table, guestbook table, and the bar. I really wanted one letter to pop so I used a shimmery, champagne colored yarn to contrast with the ivory letters and I love how it turned out. I also used the champagne to make the '1' for our table stand out!

Next time I'll show you guys how I'm sprucing up those mason jars to use as vases for our flowers! Everything is slowly but surely coming together! Yay! Happy Wednesday everyone! XOXO

Wedding Planning Wednesday - Wedding Registry!

Last weekend Mando and I went to go register for the wedding! Because we are planning to buy a house with my mom in the near future, I knew we didn't need much. She literally has every single gadget and appliance known to mankind. I'm talking ice cream maker, waffle maker, espresso machine, blender, food processor, bread maker. You name it, she has it (in stainless steel Kitchen-Aid no less!) and lucky me, I get to inherit it! We decided to register for just fun, wish-list items so we headed to Macy's Home to look around.

As soon as I saw the Martha Stewart baking collection, the idea of us 'not needing much' went right out the window. There were so many pretty cake platters and beverage dispensers and ruffled pillows and perfect white plates! At one point, Mando was just shaking his head and laughing at me as I was scanning everything in sight including the Kate Spade bow glasses and matching cake cutter set. It was fun until I went home and looked at everything I scanned. Yeah, might need to edit my list. It's a little ridic! But that's the fun of registering, right? To pick out all the things you could not or would not ever buy for yourself! It was a fun little wedding tradition that I'm glad we got to partake in. So many things about this wedding and engagement have been non-traditional sometimes it's nice to do those little things that everyone talks about doing. I don't think either of us really care what gifts we get, but we got to enjoy that experience together!

Tomorrow it will be 4 months until the big day! Craziness! We are over our heads with meetings and emails and planning and buying but I have some fun DIY wedding projects to share with you soon! Happy Wednesday everyone! XOXO

Celebrating handmade, day 2!

In case you missed yesterday's post, I'm doing 3 days of celebrating handmade and featuring some of the Etsy shops we've been buying from for our wedding! This is day 2. Make sure to check back tomorrow for the third, and final post! You won't want to miss it!

It took me a long time to figure out what I wanted to give as gifts for our ring bearers. Since we have 5 (Yes, FIVE! We have a lot of little boys in my family and I didn't want to exclude anyone!) I knew I had to find something that would work for several age groups and also be budget friendly. I wanted to give them something useful too, so I started thinking about what they were going to wear on our wedding day and bowties came to mind. I couldn't get Mando to wear one, so why not my ring bearers? I thought they would be a fun and unique gift and the parents could re-use them after the wedding as well! Once I had the outfit planned out I started my search for the perfect bowties. My sister found Dana Eckert on Etsy for me and I contacted her to see if she was up for the project. Not only was she excited to work with me, but she was very knowledgeable and quick to respond (if you've ever planned a wedding, you know how important that is!).

The ages of our ring bearers will be 15 months, 22 months, 2.5 years, and two 9 year olds. Those are huge age differences so I was excited to learn that Dana's bowties range from sizes 6 months - 9 years. I sent her a photo of the color I was looking for and she found a fabric that matches perfectly and shipped out the bowties in no time! I was so excited when I got them because not only are they adorable, but super well made! I'm pretty sure they'll last a long time even with toddlers wearing them! Here's a picture of how they turned out... I'm obsessed and can't wait to see all my favorite boys rocking these on our wedding day!

Here's a little bit of background info about Dana and how she got started on Etsy:

Growing up in a family with my mother as an artist, it seemed only natural that creativity would be an essential on the daily activity list in our house! I started sewing at a super young age of 9 years old, and have always kept it up. Sewing was a way that I could create and make items that are “just me” and pattern making is a craft that I learned to do through the years. My grandmother and mother were super experienced sewers and taught me the skills needed to make anything as professional and beautiful as your imagine would let you!

How did start up my Etsy Shop? After years of making handcrafted gifts for friends and family, a woman in the grocery store suggested that I start selling my dresses….so I did! It has given me the freedom to work from home, and jump on any new inspiration that may appear!

I reside in a small little town in Ontario, and am so pleased to able to do what I honestly enjoy doing! Having so many wonder and loyal customers has enabled me to continue doing what I love- and be inspired by all requests and feedback that everyone brings to me! I am for sure a lucky girl!

Don't you just love the personal stories behind each Etsy shop? It makes me even more happy to support these small businesses! Now one of you lucky readers will have the opportunity to win one of these adorable Dana Eckert polka dot bowties! The winner can chose whichever of the colors they like below and the size they need! These would be perfect one-of-a-kind gifts or keep them and use them to dress up your little one on Valentines Day! To enter, just make sure you are a follower of my blog via Google Friend Connect and leave a comment telling me which color is your favorite!

Follow Dana Eckert Designs on Twitter @DanaEckertDesigns or on like her on Facebook here. The giveaway is open to everyone worldwide and will be open until Friday, January 13th. Good luck everyone! I know you will fall in love with these sweet handmade bowties like I did! XOXO

Wedding Planning Wednesday - Celebrating handmade, day 1!

Happy 2012 everyone! I hope you all had an amazing holiday season with your loved ones! We had a great time being home and spending time with each other... that's what it's all about, right? Now that it's a brand new year though, I'm ready to dive back into wedding planning, blogging, and making new fun items for Mama Matryoshka! This first post of 2012 is one that is super special and important to me and I hope you all enjoy what I have in store!

One of the things I've been really passionate about during the entire wedding planning process is supporting local, handmade, and small businesses. My wedding planner is just starting up her own business and same goes for the company doing my cake and dessert table. I'm more than happy to hire them and help grow their businesses and I think it's so important for others to do the same. We have also been buying items from local shops and flea markets and using antiques instead of buying brand new. Also, the majority of the decor is either handmade by me and my sister or bought handmade from Etsy. Not only are you supporting a small business, but every item is unique and one-of-a-kind! This is so important to me and I know our wedding will reflect that. To demonstrate my love for handmade, I wanted to do a fun 3-day series celebrating handmade! I'll start by featuring a beautiful Etsy shop and doing a giveaway!

I was so excited to come across the Etsy shop Krumpets Designs on my search for our bridesmaids and flower girls gifts. I really wanted to give them something beautiful that they can wear and that goes with our vintage/burlap and lace theme. After telling her a little bit about our wedding, she custom designed 3 necklaces for my bridesmaids, and 2 matching headbands for the flower girls. Her vintage inspired pieces are so gorgeous and well made. She makes amazing garter sets, bridal hair pieces, and even ring bearer pillows! I just love her aesthetic... here are a few of my favorite pieces and a little bit of background info:

1, 2, 3, 4

Krumpets is a way for me to express myself and to bring the excitement and fun to others lives. My absolute favorite thing is to see others faces light up when they open their product, or see something I have made for the first time. I started out as a young married college student into photography. From there, all the creativity and craziness started. It was amazing to see how a photo can change from adding accessories, and putting a little bit more time into it! Every time I look at a photo, it represents a moment in time that I wont forget. That is what I want to bring to others. Amazing products that make their precious moments last a life time.

I have been married for 15 years! I have 5 beautiful kids who inspire me to be creative. I spend every free moment making things for my kids and others that I love. Every day is a new day to create and experiment. I love to be able to take something "usual"...and make it extraordinary!

 Here are the beautiful necklaces she made for my bridesmaids, headbands for my flower girls, and the garter set for me! I love them so much I'm ordering a matching hair piece to wear on the big day! The quality is unbelievable and they look even better in person! I'm SO excited to give these to my bridal party!

Now for the fun part... the giveaway! The winner will receive this beautiful magenta lace garter. It would be perfect for the spring bride or anyone who wants to fancy up a little bit for their husband!

The giveaway is open to US residents only and will end next Friday, January 13th. To enter, just make sure you are a follower of my blog via Google Friend Connect and leave a comment telling me your favorite item from Krumpets Designs! And be sure to leave your email address as well so I can contact you if you win! You can find her Etsy shop here and Like her on Facebook here.

Good luck everyone! And make sure to check back in tomorrow for day 2... I have another Etsy giveaway for you coming up! XOXO

Wedding Planning Wednesday - Vintage Love

If there's one re-occuring theme in our wedding, it's the use of vintage. I've always been interested in the items of previous decades and the idea that every antique has a story. I've been vintage shopping for years and I knew when I started planning the wedding that I wanted to incorporate some vintage pieces throughout the day. In the past few weeks I've really started my search and I want to share some of my recent finds with you all!

My amazing wedding coordinator Emily told me about a vintage sale hosted by a local blogger. I was lucky enough to score this adorable vintage wire basket for dirt cheap! I'm thinking of filling it with some pretty flowers and displaying it on the guest book table. Thoughts?

Last weekend we went to the Rose Bowl flea market in Pasadena. I've been to a few local flea markets, but nothing like this one.. it's huge! If you're in the area and love antiques you have to check it out. I scored this amazing vintage tin for $8 and I'm kind of obsessed with it. I did some googling and I believe it was a box used for dressings (aka bandages) during WWII. I think I'm going to leave this one open and stuff it with flowers as well. You can never have too many flowers!

I've been on the hunt for a vintage suitcase for AGES. I saw this idea on Pinterest and I really want to replicate it. This suitcase actually wasn't for sale (it was being used as a display piece), but it was the size and color I was looking for so I asked the vendor and she sold it to me for $15! The inside needs some love and work, but I'm still pretty stoked about it. Can't wait to dress it up!

Another way we're going to incorporate vintage into the wedding is renting some pieces from Found Rentals in Fullerton. This company is like the hidden gem for wedding planning. I heard about them on a wedding blog and then Emily arranged a meeting for us. I got to check out their warehouse and browse through her AMAZING collection of vintage furniture and other accessories and let me tell you, it was heaven! They have so many great pieces and I can't wait to display a few of these beauties on our big day!

I still have a lot of shopping to do and I have a list of local shops and markets I want to hit up in the next few months. I can't believe there are only 5 months left until the big day! It's starting to feel so close! Happy Wednesday everyone! XOXO

Wedding Planning Wednesday - Flower Girl Inspiration

(1, 2, 3)

As I mentioned before, I have all of the bridal party's looks chosen except the flower girls. I have seen some dresses here and there that I like, but none that I absolutely love. I am very lucky to have a talented sister who not only made her own wedding dress, but made the flower girl dresses for my other sister's wedding a few years back so I was thrilled when she offered to either "dress up" a plain dress or create a new one entirely from scratch for the wedding. I'm leaving it completely up to her and what she thinks would be better, and now my job is coming up with some inspiration photos of the styles I love!

As you can tell from the photos above, I really like the whimsical type dresses and I think it's perfect for our wedding in the woods. I love the tulle tu-tu style skirt and I just think it would be so fun for a little girl to wear! The colors you see above are the colors that our dresses will be in, which is an ivory/champagne combination. The dress in the middle is definitely different from the others, but I had to include it because I just love the ruffles! Which dress is your favorite?

I am so thankful to have such helpful family and friends who are willing to help make my vision come to life! Thanks sister, I love you!! XOXO

Wedding Planning Wednesday - My Favorite Pins!

We're back for another edition of my favorite wedding pins! I actually had an entirely different post planned for today, but I didn't quite finish it on time so I'm saving it for next week! Instead, I'm going to show my favorite Pinterest finds of the week!

 You know by now that I've been planning on doing my own florals for the wedding, but when I saw this fabric flower bouquet on Etsy my jaw dropped. She mixes all different fabrics and textures based on your wedding colors and adds in these amazing vintage brooches. Isn't is just stunning? I may or may not be re-thinking my bouquet right now. I mean, how could I not??

I've been looking for cost and eco-friendly ways to display my floral centerpieces on our tables, and I L-O-V-E the idea of painting coffee cans. I am obsessed with the copper metallic colors, they look so pretty in the sunlight. Perfect for an outdoor wedding in the woods!

I still don't know if a dessert table will be in our budget (crossing my fingers!!!) but if so, I have my heart set on mini pies. How sweet is this little display? I just love pie, it may be my favorite dessert ever!

We've been going back and forth on how we want to display our seating chart, and after Mando rejected about 10 of my ideas we decided on a chalkboard sign. I think this one is really cute and would definitely go with our vintage/rustic theme.

Right now, I have all of the bridal party's outfits chosen except the flower girls. I fell in love with a dress that was WAY too pricey, so my very talented sister may be making them instead. (By the way, we really need to get started on all these sewing projects, Jess!). I love this fluffy champagne dress and it's definitely one of my inspiration photos!

Another sewing project in the works are my table runners that my sister is also making for me. (I know, I owe her big time!)  I'm doing an ivory table cloth and the table runners will be a strip of burlap and a strip of ivory lace like the one above. I also love her flower arrangements, how cute are those vintage glasses?!

I hope everyone has an amazing Thanksgiving tomorrow! We are actually having 2 Thanksgivings, one with Mando's family tomorrow, and my family on Saturday. Double the pie, sweet! I'll be back Friday with some awesome Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals for Mama Matryoshka! You don't want to miss it! XOXO

Wedding Planning Wednesday - Found the Dress!

Last week and the week before were all about the dress! Truth be told, I've been putting off dress shopping for quite some time. I don't know why I wasn't more excited about it... I think I'm just trying to deal with the fact that since having Cayden, I just don't have the body that I thought I should have on my wedding day. I was definitely feeling insecure and scared that the dresses wouldn't look right on my body. I'm so glad I had my mom, sister, and best friend there with me to support me. I knew they'd be honest with me and I respect their opinions so much! Just having them there calmed down some of my anxiety and made the whole process so much fun!

I had an idea in mind of the type of dress I wanted. I knew that I wanted a simple dress in ivory and as much lace as possible. I'm not into puffy or blingy or even super fancy... I just want to be comfortable and elegant! As for the silhouette, I went in knowing that an A-line would probably look best on my body type, but to be honest, most of the dresses I liked had a more fitted/mermaid style.

The first shop I tried was Alfred Angelo. The customer service at that shop was amazing. Everyone was really sweet and I adored my bridal consultant. She gave me a lot of options to try and made me feel really comfortable. I really wish I found my dress there, but unfortunately they only had a few lace options and I didn't LOVE any of them. I was however surprised to learn that the fit and flare style dress did look good on me, and it accentuated my curves. I wasn't a huge fan of the A-line shape and I thought it made me look wider than I am. I also ended up purchasing my veil there! I originally wasn't sure if I would even wear a veil... I just didn't think they were my style. You can imagine my surprise when I tried on a cathedral veil and fell in love with it. It's huge and long but oh so pretty! I just know Mando, being so traditional, will love it. They had an ivory one on sale and I couldn't resist the price, so I bought the veil without having a dress! Crazy, I know.

Next week we went to try on dresses at David's Bridal. Now, let me just say that I HATE David's Bridal. I've been there a million times with my sisters and friends to try on dresses and I just think they have the worst customer service ever. I really didn't want to buy my dress there, but I decided to give it a try. When we got there, nobody greeted us or said anything for at least 30 minutes and when they assigned me some 20 year old girl to help us I knew it was going to be less than pleasant. We ended up just ignoring the employees as much as possible and made the best of the situation. The first dress I tried on was a lace A-line with a ton of fancy beading on it that we had seen in the front of the store and liked. My mom and sister both fell in love. I did like it, but I thought it was too much for my outdoor wedding in the woods. I tried on a few more options with no luck, and then I tried on THE DRESS. I immediately liked this dress because of how light and comfortable it was. All of the other dresses thus far had been so heavy and tight and uncomfortable, but I could actually move and sit down in this one. I loved the all over lace, sweetheart neckline and ivory color... it was exactly what I had in mind. She called the silhouette sheath, but to me it looked like a fit and flare gown. It hugged my curves in all the right places and when I looked in the mirror I just thought "THIS is what I should look like on my wedding day". I knew I wouldn't cry or get emotional, but I did get the overwhelming feeling that this was the one. When I showed my mom, sister, and maid of honor I was so happy they they loved it as much as I did. And what made me even happier? The price! It was even on sale. I snatched that pretty thing up right away and now... I have a dress people! I love it!

After my dress was chosen, it was time to choose my bridesmaids dresses. I really wanted them to like it and want to wear it so I let them choose a few different options. Since this is an outdoor Spring wedding I just knew I wanted it to be a short dress and more casual. When they tried on the cotton strapless dress I fell in love. It was short and cute and it had pockets! I was thrilled that they both loved it as well. We decided to go with a champagne color which looks horrible in the picture below, but I swear its not so awkward and shiny in real life.

I debated on whether or not I wanted to show you guys the dress beforehand. I do want some elements of the wedding to be a surprise. In the end I decided to show the dress from the website and keep the pictures of me wearing it private. You guys can see what it looks like, but you won't see me in it until the big day! These photos from the David's Bridal shop are pretty bad, but you get the general idea!

My dress. Mine is ivory of course, and looks a lot different on me. It gives me an hourglass shape and really shows off my curves which I love. You can't really see the lace details in this photo, but it's gorgeous! I love the long train too... even if it will get absolutely filthy at the wedding!

The bridesmaids dresses. I have no idea why this dress looks so weird online but it is not shiny like this in person and the color is a lot more neutral and subtle. This dress is so adorable and flattering on all body types. I want one too!

Next on the list is getting Mando's suit figured out. He is going to get fitted tonight and has an appointment with all his groomsmen on Dec. 3rd! I can't wait to see my man all dressed up and fancy! Have a great week everyone! XOXO

Wedding Planning Wednesday - Mini-Moon

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As the wedding gets closer, Mando and I have started talking about a honeymoon. Now obviously, the fact that we have a small child complicates things, and we went back and forth on whether or not we'd even bother taking one. In the end we decided we needed to do something, even if it is just small and local. The idea of taking a "mini-moon" was born!

I'm going to be honest, the idea of leaving Cayden really freaks me out. I've never been away from him longer than a few hours, much less an entire night or a few days. I just feel like he's still too young to understand why his mama is gone and I don't want him for even a fraction of a second to feel scared or abandoned. I know it might sound ridiculous to some, but this is how I think. I know that by the time the wedding rolls around I will have spent a night away from him (bachlorette party, night of the wedding, etc.) but I'll still be able to put him to sleep and see him the next morning so he won't really have any idea that I'm gone. Leaving on a mini-moon is going to be a HUGE deal for all of us, and I don't know how it's going to go.

With that being said, we haven't quite decided on whether we'll be bringing him with us or not. Obviously it would be ideal to go somewhere just the two of us... I feel like we both NEED that time and we haven't done anything like that in so long. As of right now the idea is to leave him home with my mom, but we'll see how I'm doing emotionally when the time comes.

Right now, we're just brainstorming on where we'd like to go. We are trying to find somewhere local enough to drive yet far away enough to feel like a vacation and we'll probably go away for 3 or 4 days. Since our wedding is on a Saturday, and Sunday is Mother's Day, we won't be leaving until Monday. San Francisco is out because we were just there, and we've been to San Diego way too many times. Some ideas we've come up with are Santa Barbara, Lake Tahoe, and Vegas. If any locals have any other suggestions, I'd love to hear them! I just want something quiet, romantic, but still fun for a young couple who never gets out! ;)

Tonight I'm going wedding dress shopping again, and hopefully it'll be the last time! If I'm lucky enough to find the dress I'll tell you all about it next week! Happy Wednesday everyone! XOXO                      

Our engagement photos

My disc of images finally arrived! Yay! I've been so excited to share these pictures with you all ever since I saw the sneak peak on Facebook. I definitely do not consider myself photogenic and HATE being photographed, so the fact that I loved every single picture Tammie took is pretty major! As you know, we wanted to have a picnic theme and I am so happy with how it came out. I think they look beautiful and timeless and I will cherish them for years to come!

Tammie was so awesome to work with, made us feel comfortable, and kept us cracking up! We loved her right away and I can't wait to see what she does with our wedding photos! If you are in Southern California and are interested in booking with her you can find her at any one of the links below. Mention my blog and you can get 20% off your session! (Also, she's always posting specials on her Facebook page so make sure to Like her there!)

Website

Facebook

What most of you don't know, is that I embarked on the great quilt hunt of 2011 when preparing for these pictures. I've been wanting a pretty patchwork quilt for AGES and I finally had a real reason to buy one! I found The Rag Patch on Etsy and fell in love with her colorful, handmade quilts! I immediately offered to feature her shop on my blog and she sent me the beautiful quilt you see in our photos. Not only was I impressed with her sweet disposition and good communication, but the quilt arrived lightning fast! Look how adorable her packaging is, too!

The quilt itself was beautiful, and the quality was amazing. You can really tell how much time and energy went into it! I have already received so many compliments and it has become a permanent fixture on my couch. If you are looking for a beautiful quilt to brighten up your home, I cannot recommend The Rag Patch enough! Find her at any of the links below and remember, repeat customers get 10% off using code 'REPEAT1'!

The Rag Patch etsy shop

The Rag Patch facebook page

I hope you've enjoyed these pictures as much as I have! This weekend I'm trying on wedding dresses for the first time and to say I'm terrified is an understatement! I'll let you all know how it goes next week! Have a great weekend everyone! XOXO