And then here are some more

I just went through all of the posts I had done within the past year or so, and realized they're all wedding planning,

and I realized I never posted any pictures of the actual wedding.

So here they are:

Custom Ring Dish

Look at this absurdly adorable Custom Ring Dish on Etsy. I don't foresee a need for a custom ring dish for the wedding, nor do I see room in the budget for something so adorably frivolous. That won't stop me from drooling over it for a day or so.

Maybe there's some way we can diy a similar thing... as a favor? For the shower? It doesn't look like it would be too terribly difficult if we adapted the design to be simpler.

Antique Pink and Sage

I made these two color palettes off of the two dresses one of my wonderful bridesmaids liked. They're both from The Dessy Group again, but this time in Sage.

The first palette was made second, and is a lot simpler. The bottom one is really just a collection of ideas and images that vaguely fit into the color scheme and that I like. The top one is quite a bit more selective.

Ideas? Opinions?

Soft Pink and Celadon

After yesterday's post inspired by 100 Layer Cake, I decided to pursue a similar color palette a little more. Everyone knows I love ranunculus, especially when they're soft pink with hints of green in the center. I also like the color of these Dessy bridesmaid dresses, shown in the color Celadon, which is, apparently, a name for a type of ceramic. Go figure.

Pink and Green

For the wedding's color palette, I've been wavering between Pink/Green and Blue/Green. As much as I love blue, I'm leaning strongly towards pink/green.

However, I hate hot pink. And I'm not sure if I want a vibrant pink. I would prefer a softer, paler pink if possible. I've even been thinking of a peach or coral instead of/or with a pink.

I've been on the fence about it, but after seeing yesterday's 100 Layer Cake post, I'm thinking that might be the way I'll try to go.

Guest Blogger, Snippet and Ink writes

I love playing with colors, seeing if I can make predictable color palettes new, or pairing colors that might not seem obvious together. Pink and green is still a favorite for weddings, and I imagine it always will be, but it can come across as saccharine and unsophisticated. Black tones down the sweetness, and makes it all look chic.

Palette: melon-mint green, pale grapefruit pink, black avocado.

Here are a few more color palettes that incorporate peaches and corals that I like.

A gorgeous collection of coral Etsy products.

A really cute celery and peach palette.

A nice peach, orange and aqua one. I don't love the orange, but the peach is really cute.

I also really like this spring-themed collection - the flowers are my favorite part.

All of these palettes are from The Perfect Palette, a delightful blog that has very pretty, creative wedding palettes.

Save-the-Dates

I realized today, after looking at a few save-the-date promps, that I can't send them out until I have addresses, and I roughly finalized guest list, to boot.

Frick.

So I've spent the better part of the morning: A. brainstorming/editing save-the-dates, and B. Frantically trying to finalize the guest list, which is, apparently, no where near finalized.

I've done a lot of organizing though, and hopefully once I talk with the in-laws and my parents, I'll be able to actually finish this so we can get these save-the-dates out!

Hairstyle

Now that I have my dress, I've been thinking about the rest of my appearance. I know that I would like to wear my mom's pearl necklace. I'd like to whiten my teeth. I'm trying to get in better shape (omg when did I get flab under my arms?! That's so not okay!). Of course I'll get a manicure, and I might even try to grow my nails out a little so I don't look like a child.

And my hair. I've been trying to grow my hair out for a long time. Right now, my hair is longer than it has been in years, and by years, I mean since I was about 14. I've also been dying it with henna lately, instead of chemical dyes, because I would love if I could have my hair be the perfect shade of red with something natural, because that's just how I roll.

I've been thinking, and right now my ideal wedding hairstyle would consist of some sort of loose side bun with a flower in it.

My preliminary search for matching hairstyles has pulled up nothing that matches my ideas. However, I'm sure I've seen it done somewhere before, so... I'll just have to keep looking.

These are the closest ones that match the picture in my head:

I think I'd prefer a flower to a clip, but this one is very pretty, and I'm about 99% positive I want a real flower as opposed to a silk one with a feather around it, but this one is also pretty, so there you go. Both are from Theknot.com, go figure.

The Dress!

This is it! For more pictures, check out my Flickr (Blogger is being frustrating and refusing to let me upload pictures).

Update

So as of today there are 400 days until our wedding. On one hand that seems like a lot, but on the other hand I know that it will go by quickly. I'm not worried at all though. Since Zach and I have had a long engagement, we've had a lot of time to work out details and what it is we want to have. We've booked the place. I've tried on dresses and gotten a good idea (or at least a much better idea) of what I look good in and what I would like to wear. I've looked at and discussed flowers a lot with my mother, and I'm sure that when we sit down to work everything out, the final results will be gorgeous. I'm sure we'll find beautiful dresses to compliment each of my wonderful bridesmaids. One of our friends is currently working on our save-the-dates, which we hope to be sending out soon. Overall, I think we've got a handle on this.

In the meantime both Zach and I are trying to get healthier and to save money. We hope to be able to put a down payment on a house next year. We went rollerblading yesterday with Sean and Shannon, and I had such a great time! I've never felt comfortable skating before, but yesterday we took it very simply and skated around an empty rink for a while. It was perfect. And the weather was beautiful.

Zach is taking his last locksmithing class tonight, and this will make him a certified locksmith. Pretty fancy, huh? I'm in the middle of my second semester at Hunter, and will be taking courses over the summer. I'm still planning on graduating May 2011, and I might have to do some finagling, but I'm going to do it. Then I can get a job teaching, hopefully in Queens or Long Island so I don't have to commute far. I'm going to be taking my last two teacher-certification tests in April and June, so I'll be certified to teach very, very soon.

I'm very excited about the future now. It scares me a little bit, but I'm excited.

401

401 days until our wedding.

Holy crap.

That is all.

Dress 4

When I put this dress on, I loved it. However, the more I look at pictures of it, the less I like it. What's that about? From David's Bridal.

Dress 3

I've tried this dress on twice. From my first trip to David's Bridal, it was the only one that I loved, and when I came back I still loved it. However my future MIL and SIL both hated it. le sigh. I still love it, and the more I look at pictures of it, the more I think I love it. I enjoy the way it fits me, I love the way it flows and has layers (which I previously thought I would hate!) and I love the little detailwork on the hip.

Dress 2

I love this dress. Several people have pointed out that it looks very similar to my prom dress, only longer and white. I still love it. From David's Bridal's Oleg Cassini Collection.

Dress 1

This is Zach's favorite dress. I love the way I look in it and I like the detail and the ruffle at the back; however, I don't like that it's made of a heavy-ish satin. For a daytime, Spring wedding, I'd like to have a dress that's more of a lace or chiffon fabric. The dress is in the Galina Signature from David's Bridal.

More Pictures

I haven't been able to get over the wedding that I posted about yesterday. I showed the pictures to my mother and sister, and even my sister liked them! She's my harshest critic, so that's extra impressive. My mother like the flowers, and was pleasantly surprised by the creative and cute use of mason jars and tea cups as vases.

Today, through the use of my keen detective skills, as well as a link through 100 Layer Cake, I was able to find a photo album of the wedding on Martha Stewart Weddings. Squee! I've pulled a few of my favorite pictures from the album, but really, as I went over yesterday, I love everything about this wedding, so it was difficult.

Have you gone to look at the photos yet? GO! Just seriously, look at this last picture and tell me it isn't perfect!?

Gorgeous Centerpieces

I read 100 Layer Cake daily and absolutely worship everything that they post about.

My absolute favorite thing that they do is the Real Wedding series of posts. There have been 70 so far. And I'm pretty sure that each and every one of them has inspired me in some way. I've spoken about my love of 100 Layer Cake's Real Weddings before, but their most recent wedding absolutely blew me away. I love the bride's gown; the bridesmaid's dresses, while not my style, are really pretty; the setting is stunning; the reception-tent is everything I used to dream about.

But the flowers. The flowers are what captured me and floored me and prompted me to get up off my ass and actually post something serious for the first time in waaayyy too long.

What I love the most about these flowers, besides everything, is the color. And the way they appear relaxed and wild, while still looking neat and put together. I love the rannunculus. I love the poppies. I love the little grape hyacinths. I love that the flowers are in tea cups. And mason jars. I LOVE THEM.

429 Days!

I just checked on TheKnot and it informed me that Zach and I have 429 days until we get married!

Eek!!


Have you seen our The Knot personalized wedding page yet? Go check it out!

http://www.theknot.com/ourwedding/RoseBuscemi&ZachConnelly


I PROMISE that someday soon I'll actually start adding real content to it, but until then, all of my wedding info is on here. :)

Briermere Pies

I had a stroke of what I hope turns out to be genius today.

Briermere pies at my wedding.

I've been looking at a lot of amazing and wonderfully inspirational websites, and I've found that the weddings I love the most are the ones that have adorable and personal details like the entire bridal party wearing Converses or having photo walls of other family member's wedding days.

And one of my favorite things in the world is pies from Briermere farms.

So, I've decided, there will be fresh Briermere pies at my wedding.

My top choices are Peach Cream, Blueberry Cream, Apple, Raspberry Cream, Strawberry Rhubarb, and possibly a Lemon Meringue.

Of course, my pie options will be dictated by what they're serving in late April, but since they have a wide Winter menu, I have faith that we'll be able to get lots of delicious pies in April.

Farm picture from the wonderful WallyG's photostream, while the drool-inducing menu was first on Saxon Henry, a fun looking blog. The stunning picture of the raspberry cream pie is from Long Island Foodie, a blog I'm almost angry at myself for not having discovered sooner.

Real Wedding

Take a look at 100 Layer Cake's most recent post. I'm in love with everything about it. The bride wears a stunning blue dress, because white gowns aren't traditional in her family, and the couple wrote their own ceremony that was intensely personal.

Personal ceremonies and vows has recently become something that I've been thinking about a lot. Since Zach and I basically want to write our own ceremony which leaves out religion and focuses on the love that we share, I'm particularly touched by this detail from their wedding.

"Their ceremony was super personal and focused on well written words and a reworking of tradition.

Listen to this one: 'We put a bottle of wine, two glasses, and a set of love letters (written in secret and unshared) into a wooden crate and then sealed it with nails (each nail was hammered by a family member to show their commitment to supporting our marriage and then finally by us). The crate is meant as an act of reassurance, a romantic gesture–if ever our relationship is in peril, we are to open the crate, drink the wine, and read the letters before we make any decisions about our future.'

Um, shouldn’t we ALL do that for our weddings?? At the very least you end up with a lovely aged bottle of wine."