Michael's FAIL, sort of

On Monday, I was able to convince Hanam to go with me to Michael's so that we can get started on our wedding signs for our chairs.  I have the wood but need to buy the paint to make it have an antique crackled look.  I was proud of myself because I remembered to print a 50% coupon off the internet.  We drive over and walk in.  

As we're walking in, I instantly get excited! Hanam looked over at me curiously and made a great analogy.  Michael's is to me what Bass Pro Shop is to him! I like crafts, he likes fishing -can't argue there. 

We had to ask for help on which aisle to even find this crackle paint that I needed. Once we are in the right area, I know that I'm doomed.  I thought it would be easy to just grab a jar and go, but not so.  There were all kinds of jars and different colors too.  What kind did I need? Good question.  I didn't know! Oh, well. No crackle DIY project for me. It's a fail. Boo.

Since we had the coupons though, we walked around to see what else we could find. Guess what we found? Potential wedding invitations! They match our colors and we liked the design.  With the 50% coupon, each invite would cost us less than a dollar.  Who can beat that? Hanam kept saying, "If we spend less on invites, we can invite more people." Which is a good point.  Anyway, I'm still not 100% sure. I want to open the box and check the quality of the paper before I make up my mind.

In the end, our Michael's visit wasn't a complete failure!  

Has that ever happened to you where you walk in to a craft store to get one thing but walk out with something else? 

Our Photographer

One of the first things we picked after the venue was our photographer.  I had read that photographers get booked quickly, so I wanted to make sure we shopped around and had a chance to pick from the best.  We looked at several photographers and we really did find one of the best.

I am so excited that we get to work with April Smith as our photographer! She is an amazing artist and really loves her job.  Hanam and I both got to meet with her in her home office.  She did a great job of helping us feel comfortable by asking questions about how we met and how he proposed.  Because she wanted to create a feeling of being comfortable with her, I know that she will also do that on the wedding day.  

Aside from feeling comfortable with her, the reason we hired her was because of her work. She doesn't just take pictures she finds one-of-kind shots to show off the couple.  Sometimes, she does this editing technique that makes a picture look antique, like this picture.

Or she plays up the colors and makes them really vivid, like this pic.

Her blog and website are covered with great pics but this is one of my favorites! It just captures such a sweet moment.

Early in the planning, Hanam and I decided that good, quality pictures were a priority for us.  We wanted to hire someone that would capture us and our wedding with great pictures.  I know that April is going to do just that for us.

All pictures are from April Smith's website or blog.

Inspiration Board: A Romantic Night

I am a sucker for candles at night.  Their glow just seems to add a touch of romance.  That is the basis for the inspiration board I created.  It's not all candles, as you can see, but the lighting in all the photos create a warm romantic feel. (source)

Since we our venue is outdoor, I  will be incorporating candles into our decor.  I also want candles with the centerpieces and maybe throughout the reception area.  There is also a fireplace that will need decorating and I am leaning towards candles.  I think the candles will just create a great mood for the night.  I savvy thing to also remember is that candles can be an inexpensive way to decorate but still make it look elegant.

Colored Shoes on a Bride

I always thought that the day I get married I'd wear a white dress, white veil, white shoes, you know, the basics. Simple, right? Except now the new "in" thing is to wear colored shoes. Shoes are mostly hidden under wedding dresses but every so often they peek through and make for great pictures.  Since I am a shoe lover, you don't have to tell me twice that color is allowed! I love the idea! 

(source)

Those red shoes look so beautiful peeking out just a little from the dress. But me, I'm a purple kinda girl! This next picture makes me smile. Seriously, I literally feel happier every time I see this picture!

(source)

Last month, Miss Cheeseburger from Weddingbee, posted about shoes and guess what color she's looking for?! Yup, purple shoes! Crazy, huh? (source)

I am not a fan of all of these shoes but the colors are amazing.  

Even though I kind of have the idea that I would like colored shoes, I haven't been actively searching for wedding shoes.  My wedding dress doesn't come in until May, so I figured I have a couple of months to try on and pick shoes.  Until...these shoes!!!!

(source)

I was at Nordstrom when I saw them.  I am not kidding when I tell you that I walked right over, picked them up and ohhed and ahhed out loud!  These shoes are major eye-candy and would look great with my dress.  

Although, I don't really have a reason to not buy them, I still haven't.  A small part of me, and I mean small, keeps thinking I should keep to my original vision of a white dress with white shoes.  And a small part of me is worried that I will regret not wearing white shoes? Am I crazy?

What do you girls think? Am I over analyzing? Should I just get the amazing cute purple heals or stick to the original plan of white heals? Oh, and just to add more variety, what about two pairs? White for the ceremony and purple for pics and the reception?

Save our wedding date!

We sent out our save-the-dates!  Woo hoo!!! We got our save-the-dates in the mail back in October and we finally put the final ones in the mail last week!  

After talking for awhile about what we wanted for save-the-dates, we decided it wasn't going to be a DIY project because it would be time consuming.  We had two criteria: something quick and inexpensive.  Truthfully, I didn't do any research.  I relied on the reviews I found on Weddingbee. One of the bees found several websites that can do wedding magnets, postcards, etc. We checked out three website to see what they could offer: Overnight Prints, Vista Prints and Invitesite.  Soon into our research we noticed that postcards where a cute and inexpensive way of letting people know about the wedding. So our first decision was done: our save-the-dates would be postcards!

At one point, we were on Vista Prints scrolling through their premade postcard options when a a really cute came up! Simultaneously we both said, "Oh, what about that one."  We kept scrolling through the page and found several more we liked but we kept saying "But the first one is cuter." We checked out more just to make sure but we kept going back to the one we both liked.  It was very girly and so I checked and double-checked with Hanam that a girly postcard was okay and he was fine with it.  What finally sealed the deal was a 50% off coupon that we found for Vista Prints! Who could beat that? We had found what we wanted: cute and affordable!

So without further ado......

(I took the picture)

Isn't it adorable! I really like the way they came out!   The wording is something that I saw awhile back and have always wanted to use! It just seemed so fitting to use for our save-the-dates! I also the think the picture really captures how we both felt when Hanam proposed! 

I was really impressed with Vista Prints.  The turn around time was less than a week and the quality of the paper is good.  Good service and affordable prices? Our save-the-dates mission was a success!

So fellow brides, what are you planning to do for your save-the-dates? DIY or pre-made?