More invites/save the dates!

This is a beautiful, peacock-themed wedding invitation that's vintage-styled and eco-friendly from HouseofHazelnut.  The price says $8, so I assume that means per invitation?  Pretty pricey, but absolutely gorgeous.

The next one is pretty cute:

It's kind of hard to see, so follow this post for a better view and a backstory.

More cake toppers! And other fabulous accessories!

Oh my GOD, I am loving the cake toppers on Etsy.

This one above is from Garden4Arts.  They make these cake toppers in several animal varieties with different accessories, similarly styled to the one above.  Priced at about $60 each + S/H.

Here's a similar set from kikuike.  These are just as adorable, maybe a little more elegant, and the sticker price on this one is $100 + S/H, which looks like the least expensive set Kikuike has on her Etsy site.

From StyleMePretty, these photo accessories caught my eye from a Nashville backyard wedding.  It's a more DIY-version of the popular photo booths you see now in weddings; I like that quite a lot.  I tried to find similar accessories on Etsy, but so far all I can find are these, which are fun but not as cool-looking as their polished counterparts above.

Last but not least, I love this idea of puzzle-style escort cards from 100 Layer Cake. 

See the original post for a better view.  Basically, guests pick up their escort cards and find the corresponding phrase at their seat.

All super-fun ideas! :)

Wayfarers Chapel

I'm one of those Catholic brides who long for the look and feel of an outdoor wedding but are confined to the rules of the Church, which basically say that in order for the Church to recognize your marriage, you'd need to be married in a church.  So I've been looking for a way to reconcile my desire for an outdoor wedding and my parents' desire (and probably his parents', too) that our marriage be recognized by the Church.  One way is Wayfarer's Chapel in Palos Verdes, designed by Lloyd Wright, Frank Lloyd Wright's son.

The boyfriend and I went to visit the chapel ourselves earlier this week.  I think he knows I'm secretly scouting for wedding locations, but we went under the guise of "sightseeing."  And what a sight to behold!

Pros:

• It is breathtakingly stunning.  The soft way the light enters the chapel, the views of the ocean from the cliff side, the modern fountain and small garden surrounding the place... I imagine it'd be a wedding photographer's dream.  It's so beautiful that we'd save money on decorations because the setting is already gorgeous.
• It is tiny.  The website says that the chapel will accommodate up to 100 guests.  This is a huge plus for me; I would want something as personal as my wedding ceremony to be shared only by our closest friends and family, and having a chapel that small makes it easy to limit the guests our parents would want us to invite.  Most people would enjoy the reception more anyway.
• It is in the LA area.  I originally thought that my wedding would be in the Bay Area, but having the ceremony where I grew up (LA area, not Palos Verdes!) would mean a lot to me.  

Cons:

• They are not too keen on letting you choose your music or your officiant.  The music is less of a big deal (though I'd rather not come in with the traditional wedding march), but I worry that the chapel will restrict the participation of a Catholic priest there in order to make it a formal Catholic mass/wedding.  That was kind of the whole point, after all.
• It is in the LA area.  While I'm happy to have the ceremony in LA, I'm not so thrilled about moving the reception away from the Bay Area where I imagine the majority of our reception guests will be.  And splitting the two means doubling the costs of makeup, hair, and probably other vendors I haven't thought of yet.  My friend suggested that I just do the reception in LA, too, but... I don't know, we'll see. (Edit 7/31/10: K suggested that I save money on hair or makeup by hiring her so that my costs there don't double.  Huzzah!  But I don't think that'd be for both hair and makeup.)
• Not a huge con, but the sticker price is $2500 to book Wayfarer's Chapel.  This is not a price that I mind for such a beautiful location and setting, but when you compare this to the cost of getting married in other churches (maybe a few hundred dollars or donation-based), it's a hefty premium.

I have that feeling I got from when I saw the Mark Schneider Kismet ring.  Now that I've seen something that's pulled so much on my heartstrings, it's going to be really hard to let go.

Upcoming Posts!

So excited to be posting again, but have to leave for work soon, so this entry is just kind of a bookmark until I get home. 

Content to look forward to:

• A potential wedding ceremony venue? with pros and cons.
• Some new adorable cake toppers
• An invitation design or two
• Hair styles
• Dress styles I'm considering

DID I FIND THE RING?

Dammit, I fell into a designer ring line and came across this:

It's "Cascade" from Marc Schneider Design. And now that I've seen this ring, nearly all other engagement rings have been ruined.

Though admittingly, I would not be disappointed with his "Kismet" ring either, shown below.

I love that they have such a sleek, contemporary design!

Also, since I've been so concerned about cost, my bestie was telling me about man-made diamonds, also known as synthetic or "cultured" diamonds.  The benefits of cultured diamonds sound amazing!  They're typically about a third of the cost of regular diamonds, have virtually the same physical properties (and are still diamonds... not fake, just created in a lab!), can have color added to them like rare colored diamonds, and don't have the bad press of being "blood diamonds."  I still love the idea of a gemstone engagement ring, but I'm not sure if that's what I'd want for this design.  MAYBE a colored cultured diamond, but it'd have to be in very subtle tones.

Admittingly, I'm not as enthusiastic about the matching bands for these rings.  I guess I'd like a pretty traditional/plain wedding band for everyday wear.  And no Mark Schneider trademark secret heart either.

But I love them!  I think I'd need to try them on to decide!  (Or just let the mister decide and surprise me... that would make me love the ring more, I think, if he had a hand in chosing it, too... as long as I really love all the ring choices equally!)

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For mens' rings, Marc Schneider has a smaller collection.  I prefer the really simple designs for men's rings, but somehow (and maybe it's just the way they photograph, I don't know), I really like the men's rings on this page, especially "Edge."

Engagement Rings

My bestie asked me about the sort of engagement ring I'd like.  I'd love a pretty ring but know that the traditional diamond sort isn't for me.  Neither is something on the other end, like a Claddagh ring.  So, of course, that leaves the gemstone route.  And I think that's just right for me.

I'm mostly a fan of the blues.

I think of these, the first and the third settings are more my style.  But have I found the right ring like the bestie did?  No, I don't think so.  Maybe it's just one of those things where you need to just try it on--to experience--before you know it's the right one.

Also, depending on the stone, it can be a lot more affordable than a diamond ring.  All the pretty and little to none of the guilt. :)

Adorable Cake (AND CUPCAKE) Toppers!

Lollipop Workshop has the most adorable cake toppers!



Along with these expensive-but-worth-every-penny cake topper, I also love these more-affordable cupcake decals from HelloFrosting:



Saw both of these from InspiredBride.net. :)