CANDY!!

There were alot of awesome aspects to our wedding...

But one of my favorites was the Candy Table.

My MIL totally went over the top picking a bunch of awesomely matching candies...

and of course, I snatched a few from etsy!

Check it out!

This photo is from my photographers blog about out wedding.

Please check it out and drool over the photos, but PLEASE dont steal them :)

Send them an email and ask their permission...

Maybe they will let you use it in your listing in exchange for the link back, i dunno.

Now - in the top left corner we have the damask mintbooks.

I had them custom made by ExQuisiteInVitation...

She made half red & black... half white & black...

and they were SO awesomely displayed....

I just loved it and could have been ANY happier...

Everything else you see there was DIY'd by my MIL...

except for the super rad skull suckers in the bottom right corner.

I got those custom made by my friend over at Vintage Confections.

These were a HUGE hit. Not only were they awesome...

but they kept my youngest son quiet the whole wedding... haha

He was covered in a red sticky sugary goo all night, but he was happy...

She hand made the little tags on the suckers with a 2 layer tag.

And used a day of the dead style skull...

as well as listed our name and wedding date.

SO COOL!

So what do you guys think?

Once again, etsy pulls through :)

Lastly - my bridesmaid Mandy gave me an awesome gift!

Its funny because I saw on etsy that she bought them...

and I went to the sellers store to try to get one for myself!

Turned out... she bought them for me :)

Its a crocheted skeleton bride and groom couple...

Titled Till Death Do we Part

Made my the awesome seller @ Twisted Pink.

Thanks as always for reading :)

Leave me some comment lovin!

The custom gift bags I put together for my ladies :)

I have been SO SO excited to post this blog...
but obviously, I had to wait until AFTER i gave it to the girls..
otherwise that's not much of a surprise is it....
But now its all over and i can share it with you all...
I tried SO hard to make sure it was all handmade.
and i did a darn good job...
and it all looks so great together!!

The only thing I bought were the makeup brushes...
everything else was handmade by my Etsy buddies.
Lets start at the top left and work clockwise...
First... we have the cute little damask Thank You cards and little notepads.
(close up photo towards bottom of post)
They were so super cute...
I attached one to each bag and it really started off the damask theme.
They were made by a friend over at T and Little S Designs.
The prices were absolutely unbeatable...
I got 5 of the little matchbook notepads for just $3!!
My favorite thing I bought i dont have a photo of :(
But they were black and white damask clothespins... totally awesome.
I bought them for the wedding, but loved them too much so I kept them for my office, haha.

Up next in order we have the super rad pouches by Mean Look.
If you check out her shop, you will see she pretty much specializes in pouches.
She has the perfect pouch for everyone...
Now, seeing as shes a buddy of mine from DIYScene, she hooked me up.
I sent her the EXACT fabric that matched the wedding decor...
and she made me 5 of the cute little pouches where the makeup kits now live :)
(Yes, five... i wanted one too :)

Now, were roundin the corner to the KeyFobs...

Awesome right?
The same matching fabric as the pouches... with a little red to POP!
They were made by... hmmm I think her name might be Melanie...
@ BagsByMelanie on etsy of course...
They were perfect!!
I added them to the zipper of the bags and we all used them to carry as clutches!
Then after the wedding, I put mine on my keychain...
and it holds keys, like a good little keyfob should :)

If you peek in the bottom left corner of that photo...
you see a bit of the Pièce de résistance where this entire giddie bag was inspired...
The Makeup by Glittersniffer....

I am a HUGE Glittersniffer fan... HUGE...
so when I started figuring out what kind of makeup i would wear, it was a no brainer...
and of course, what better gift to share with my girls?
It turned out awesome...
We did a Rice Primer... And my version of the Ultimate Smokey Eye kit...
We also added the color redruM, a beautiful sparkley red for highlight.
Oh, and not to forget... a special color she made just for me :)
Its black shadow with red sparkles... beautiful... and she named it Amber...
I urge everyone to check it out!


And, last but not least...
I ordered a whole bunch of her Rub On Perfumes...
in Birthday Cake, Cupcake... and #1 of all, Stripclub.
Stripclub was the best, I gotta say.... and TOTALLY wedding appropriate... haha

Last but not least, (after the brushes) was a cute little pocket mirror by FlirtButtons.

Black and white damask, big shock right? haha
With a perfectly clear and shiny mirror on back, for powdering our noses, tee hee hee.
All wrapped up in a cute little organza bag to keep it clean and free of scratches.

Now really, how lucky are my girls?
I was so proud of my little gift bags...
no Monogramed flasks or jewelry boxes here...
totally handmade... lots of thought... and can be used over and over and over again.
Oh, and we bought their dresses as part of their gift too...
I wanted everything to be as easy on them as possible.

Even the guys got cool gifts!
Not only did we NOT make them wear tux's
But they got their new pair of Chucks they wore in the wedding...
as well as their custom ties from RokGear, remember?

So what do you think?
Id love to hear everyones input!!

Where do I start?

We had the most amazing wedding ever...
It was beautiful...
classy... punky... rock n roll...
damask as far as the eye could see...
fresh potted peace lillies....
I made the girls and myself bouquets...
I used red roses and black feathers...
and then shreads of damask fabric to tie them together...
White linens on the chairs with black satin sashes...
a HUGE candy table...
and the list goes on and on...
For now I want to share with you some sneak peek photos that we got yesterday...
Our photographers, Ashley & Eric of AE Photography were absolutely amazing...
They are a husband and wife team from Chicago area...
young a hip, fun, silly and worth every penny.
If you need a photographer for ANYTHING you gotta check them out...
just in the 6 photos we have seen, we know that they rest will be amazing.

Cute little whispered secret...
and a cute little giggle...
he probably said something naughty... haha
And lets not forget the super rad and amazing Tie :)
Mady by the one and only RokGear
Take a peek below to see all the guys wearing theirs as well...
Hopefully we will get a clearer photo of them all in their ties.


I love my necklace in this photo...
it matched SO perfectly...
I mentioned this before but I got it on etsy.
from Pinking Edge Designs...
It was exactly what I was looking for and looks PERFECT with my dress...

The "converse" shot...
had to showcase those...
i loved mine SO SO much :)

a sneaky little kiss before the ceremony...

I THINK i have to say this last one is my favorite...
Were so silly... arm wrestling in our wedding gear...
Totally "us" though...

So thats it for now...
as we start getting the rest of the wedding photos Ill be posting more details...
Lots of detail shots requiring lots of etsy shout outs!
Stay tuned!!

It coming along!

RSVP's are starting to come in!

If you havn't gotten a chance to fill out your form...

we would really appreciate you do that somewhat soon. 

Heres a shortcut to the link where you can do so :)

We at at a whopping 69 guests so far.

All the girls' bridesmaids dresses came in!!

They're really awesome... theyre black wrap dresses.

you can wear them 15 different ways...

(if we can figure them all out, hahaha)

like this but in black... 

we had a small gathering of friends, margaritas and daiquiri's...

and tried to wrap them all the different ways...

we got a few... but might they might be the perfect excuse to do it again :)

They are SO cool that I even bought one for myself, 

and wore it when we got our engagement photos taken... 

Speaking of which... 

Yesterday we got out engagement photos taken...

by the fabulous Gary of Image Group...

Wait till you see them, I know there will be some winners...

We had a really cool idea with a trashy elevator and dress clothes :)

AHHH!! so excited... will post a sneak peek soon. 

We are having a heck of a time tracking down little boys dress pants...

any ideas anyone?

They are wearing black pants...

white short sleeve button front shirts...

and Dawn is making them little damask vests.

Itll be super duper cute...

I have almost everything now for the girls' gifts...

But, I can't tell you what everything is, 

cuz I know theyre reading this right now...

Mandy... JodY (<-- see that? Its a Y)

quit peeking :)

And Jody, get back to work... haha

Austin made us a cool arch to get married under...

he is such a sweet boy...

We started planning out the ceremony...

as well as music to walk down the isle to... 

I wanna give you a sneak peek...

but maybe we should keep it s surprise :)

Thanks everyone for all your help making everything come together.

Between wedding planning and the 10 crib sets I have to make...

its a little stressful over here...

but everyone chipping in is a huge help... 

Perfectly Punk Rock..

Got my dress in the mail today... 

it is THE biggest piece of junk Ive ever seen...

okay, maybe not the biggest... but its horrible... 

After tons of offers from friends and family to make my dream dress...

I had found a shop on ebay that made custom dresses...

they had 99.7 % positive feedback..

not bad right?

Wrong. 

I was so dumb... 

of course, were trying to save every penny we can to make a nice wedding happen...

this was SO not the place to try to be cheap... 

Not even cheap, it was still about $300... 

I could have went to David's Bridal... hit up their sale and gotten an amazing...

tradition... white wedding dress....

but no - thats not me... 

I could try to blow it off... say hey, what the hell... its punk rock right?

jacked up stitches... crappy tulle... crooked, janky and costume like... haha

perfectly puck rock...

But no chance in hell... its that bad guys...

so now I have to beg and plead with the store...

with paypal... and ebay...

try to get my money back... 

while I should be getting to be the beautiful bride...

drooling over my awesome wedding dress...

GOOOO!!!!

Can anything just go right?

Anyways... rant over...

on a plus note...

were still working on plans...

I noticed Halloween is on a Saturday this year... 

though it would be cool to get married that night... 

Itd kinda tie in our skeletons theme... 

Till death do us part, etc. etc. etc...

Still do the black red and damask... just on a cooler date! haha

Zaq brought up vegas alot... save money and what not...

but I wanted to have a nice wedding... not a quickie... haha

so i started thinking of a compromise...

Vegas - Hard Rock Hotel... 

They have 4 different wedding packages... 

and one... the Rockstar, is black red and white with damask!!

How perfect would that be... yeah, i know... perfect.

The perfect meet in the middle... 

mommy gets her cool fancy wedding...

daddy gets to be rock n roll and save some dough, haha

So, keep checking back for plans...

ill let everyone know whats going on soon!

SUGAR SUGAR SUGAR BUZZZZZZZZZ...

yum... sugar!

CAKE CAKE I LOVE CAKE!!

Now... the task of finding the perfect cake...

perfect baker... perfect flavor... and all that jazz....

My inspiration:

see anything out there on the WWW I missed?

Yes yes... the dreaded black and red wedding cake...
Bakery's hate and so do faces when it gets all smeared in there... BUT...
you gotta admit... it looks DAMN cool... :)

So... as I said in the last post...
we have LOTS of good stuff in the works..
lots of ideas...
and a few things set in stone...

Some awesome gift sets for my girls (which i can't talk about till AFTER the wedding, duh, haha)
Some Super rad mint books for the reception...
That Ill get a photo of soon...

AND the ties are done!! THEYRE AMAZING!!
I love the red... but man, the white is sharp!!!
Zaq hasn't decided if he wants red like to guys or white to stand out...
so Im gunna buy him both :)
Cuz Im a nice fiance :)




The clan over @ RokGear have TOTALLY hooked us up...
WE are SO lucky to have found them for the wedding.
Its the details like this that really make this wedding all about us...
Thanks again guys...
Check them out here.
www.RokGear.etsy.com


We also have photos of Gianna's exact dress... YAY!
Its sooo amazing and adorable...
I can't wait to see her wearing it!





I also ordered some labels for the invitations...
Garrett has ALMOST finished our design so we can get ordering all or that stuff...

And did I mention... WE WENT TO THE W ON THURSDAY!
Its so fantastic... I can't wait to see everything put together.
The have a stage set up in there AND an awesome black and white background on the wall...
Of all these classic 50's icons... and the Foshay tower in the back... super cool... love it.
They have all black linens... and tons of candles for me to use... which saves a bunch of money..
so thats cool. So I think I might just make some table runners for the tables instead... Or maybe some lace... or maybe to some of each? Mix it up on the different tables?

Hmm what else... Jody's dress came in... so thats super cool...
So did Aymees... and she looks SMOKIN! haha
Dawn wants to peek around though, and see if we find anything else we like better....
where they all match... so we will see... maybe those will be rehearsal dresses, haha...
But yeah, i think we have seen 4 on Deb's site that are cute and mix n match... so we will see :)
Wish us luck on our hunt!

So has anyone else seen anything that we MUST HAVE for the wedding!?

Dried flowers...

So, in my attempt to be both punk rock & a hippie...
wait... haha thats just crazy talk...
How about... in my attempt to be punk rock and environmentally friendly...
I have come up with a few more ideas...
One of my number 1 buyers in the baby shop, Tory...
introduced me to a shop on etsy, Layla.
www.Layla.etsy.com
she has tons & tons of dried herbs, flowers, and more...
Also, eco-friendly confetti... its safe, and clean-up free!
Just melts away after the rain...


Now, this got me thinking...
I have about 3 dozen roses that zaq has given me, and I have dried...
How cool would it be to crunch them all up and use them as potpourri in bathrooms...
maybe even as decor on the tables like confetti?
Buy some of her mint and lavendar to mix in with it... yum.
AND its extra special because theyre flowers from my future hubby :)

Another thought... before I crush them up of course...
is to use them in the actual arrangements...
However the thought of dried flowers and lots of candles could be scary, haha
I started searching etsy to see if this was even a realistic idea... and it turns out, it is!
This shop, Twigs & Honey (www.myrakim.etsy.com) has some amazing stufffs!
Flowers, head Pieces.. veils.. And she does just a BEAUTIFUL job.
Anyways... I really like the look of these...

And with all my years of floral design it would be super
easy for me to throw in my own style and make it my own...

Theyre made of dried flowers, feathers, lace etc...
All similar ideas I had, just different color scheme really.

I instantly have this vision... little boutonniere for the guys and babies...
Bowls of dried red poutporri on the tables... lace tied around the vases...
clusters of dried roses stuck into the vases... ahhhh!!!
The possibilities are endless!
And just imagine all the wonderful smells!

Eco-friendly... cheap... what more oculd I ask for!?
I already have the perfect feathers to add the punky spunk i need...
Yeah... not gunna lie im pretty psyched about this idea!!!

Oh the suspense!!

You guys hanging on there?
Cuz let me tell ya...
we got ALLLL sorts of Jaw dropping stuff in the works...

and of course... all handmade. 

With your help, were gunna make it happen...

were gunna support handmade, support, diy...

and in turn... support our plummeting economy by supporting jobs in the US!!!!!!

My Bridesmaid Mandy has been an AWSOME help already and offered to screen ALL of our invites... *handmade* We are ALSO working to make them ECO-FRIENDLY! The Paper Source here in MPLS offers a new line of Recycled red paper... PERFECT!

We got ORGANIC candles in the works... swirled with black and red from my girl Nina over at DreamyPleasures.  (www.dreamypleasures.etsy.com)

I got my buddy Glamasaurus on etsy (www.glamasaurus.etsy.com)
coming up with ideas for a super rad necklace for me, and possibly the girls...
*handmade*

I found an awesome seller on etsy ExQuisiteInVitation...
shes making us 100+ Damask mint books... for our candy stash... *handmade*

We have an idea for super huge wineglasses to hold the candy stash for the loose candy :)
Which I will of course decorte... *diy*

Chocolate Skeleton lollipops from JustBakin on etsy *handmade*

PLUS, My engagement ring came from Shade Jewelry on etsy... and so will our bands!

did I mention our graphic is being designed by our tattoo artist, Garrett!?
Two kissing skele.... nah, nevermind youll just have to wait and see!

Ya know, on that note... im just gunna stop there...
all this stuff is in the works and no photos yet... but i promise... soon enough!
Just hang in there!!

GREAT NEWS!

So, I found someone to make my dress...
YAYYY!!!
Happiest future bride in the world... i cant wait to see it!!
ITs gunna be SO amazing...

Speaking of dresses...
theres TONS of good dress new flowing around here....

I fell in love with a dress from "Sweet Plume" on etsy.
www.SweetPlume.etsy.com
Sticking with my handmade, DIY trend... :)
Spreading the etsy love...
The dress was ALMOST perfect... except...
it had leopard spots... oh, and was $90.
Boy did I luck out...
I sent her an email saying, hey if you ever have a sale let me know...
I need a custom dress with black and white damask.
The next morning I had a message back...
she was working on a sample EXACTLY like that...
and said that if my flower girl was the model's size..
I could buy the sample for $54...
it was perfection... they both wear a 4/5..
I was meant to get this dress :)



Now remember... It will have Black and white damask to tie in with the rest of the wedding.
Im SOOOOO happy... my little Doodle Bug is gunna look SO cute in this dress :)

AND - Ive been on the hunt for bridesmaids dresses...
I found a super sexy pencil dress for Aymee.
IT really fitted, strapless, has pintucking and a sexy lace panel down the center.
Oh, and did I mention it wass brand new, with the tags... for $8??? YEah... crazy.
I think I want all of the girl to be in all black, with SOME sort of lace...
and then they can doll the dress up however they want, with whatever jewelry they want.
Throw in their own personality... ya know?

SO yeah... all about DIY... loving etsy wedding ideas right now...
and all about EBay... because I just cant make a sexy dress like aymee's for $8...
And this wedding is all about Champagne taste on a beer budget...
Ill make it happen :)