Nine Bridesmaid Dresses Ordered...Check!

These aren't my bridesmaids' dresses. :)

I am super-excited that I have all my best girlfriends in my wedding. These girls have been with me through various stages of my life--high school, college, work life, and beyond. While I trust each of them completely, I was still a little nervous that the bridesmaid dress-ordering process would be...chaotic...to say the least.

Well, it wasn't!

Here's what we did in five easy steps:

1. I chose the colors (petal pink for the seven bridesmaids; sangria for the two matrons of honor), the designer (Bill Levkoff), and the styles (seven different ones, from strapless to v-neck, and a bunch of other styles in between).

2. The ladies chose the style that they felt the most comfortable in. Then they let me know which style they wanted to go with.

3. I gave the final list to the dress shop. The dress shop was actually the same place my dress was purchased at. (PS: Having all the dresses be purchased from the same place allowed the ladies to get 10 percent off their dress prices.)

4. I gave the ladies a deadline to purchase their dresses and the phone number to the dress shop. This deadline was a few months out in advance so that they could prepare for the purchase, as needed. The dress shop was aware of when the ladies would be all calling and ordering their dresses.

5. The bridesmaids called and ordered their dresses at their convenience on the deadline day. There were no issues. Everyone knew what to do. And now the nine dresses have officially been ordered!

Once the dresses come in, I'll receive a postcard from the dress shop. From there, I'll go pick up the dresses and distribute them to my bridal party, or the faraway ones can even have their dresses shipped directly to them.

Simple. Efficient. Done. What's next...? :)

Our DIY Photo Booth Plan

A creative-looking frame-y DIY photo booth.

Photo booths at weddings are incredibly popular, and I completely understand why: They're so much fun! But my fiancé and I are on a budget, and we can't exactly shell out $1,000 (or more!) to have a fancy one at our reception for a few hours. Instead, we're planning on having a photo booth, DIY-style...

A good photo booth requires three simple things:

1. A camera
2. A backdrop
3. Props

I'm planning on using my old-ish digital camera, borrowing my friend's Fuji Instax instant camera and loading up on film, and encouraging our guests to use their smartphones to take pictures. That way, if one camera stops working, there will be plenty of backups. I'll also create an online photo album for all the photos taken with my digital camera, and let people know what the link to the site/page is in our thank you notes later on.

A backdrop can be as simple as a sheet on a clothesline.

As far as a backdrop goes, I considered paying $118 for a backdrop I found on Etsy. I also thought about creating a fabric banner to hang on a wall. Ultimately, however, I found a wooden room divider on good ol' Craig's List for just $35. My plan is to paint it white and then add large petal pink and sangria swirls all over it to match our wedding colors.

Then there's the best part: the props. First, I knew we'd need something to store them all in. When I had been looking on Craig's List for an old antique trunk to store wedding memories in down the road, I found a trunk I really liked. When I went to pick it up, the seller kindly threw in a second old truck for free. (Free? Yes, please!) I decided that the second trunk would be perfect for photo booth props.

When I told my mom what I was working on, she said she had a bunch of old-fashioned hats that I could use. She also gave me a large photo frame. Gathering other silly props will be a piece of (wedding) cake. One thing's for sure: Funny mustaches, glasses, and wigs are a must!

I'll take pictures of everything once it gets going, but I'm really excited about this project. The best part is that it will all be for a fraction of the price of a real photo booth--and just as entertaining, if not more!

All you need is a frame and your friends!

To DIY or Not to DIY: Boutonnieres

Pretty pink boutonnieres that are all a little different...love.

Boutonnieres are kind of a big deal, and my fiancé likes to think that he's kind of a big deal, too. (I agree with him there, but I guess I'm also kind of biased!)

We started looking at different kinds of boutonnieres online, and it's crazy to see how many different ones are out there. Sure, you can go with the typical flower bloom, but we were interested in coming up with something a little more creative.

It seems like grooms and groomsmen can wear anything they want on their jackets--and I mean anything. Here are just a few interesting boutonnieres I came across:

• Peacock feather
• Photo charm
• Other random bird feathers
• Starfish
• Pinwheel
• Book page flowers
• Matchbox cars and fishing lures...together

Yep, the sky's definitely the limit (and another boutonniere option) when it comes to expressing yourself in the boutonniere department.

Hops and backings from Black Creek Hops. Yes!

But my fiancé got really excited when we stumbled upon hops-and-burlap boutonnieres that were the perfect blend of cute and manly. The thing is, they were $15 each. While that seems like a decent price compared to some outlandish boutonnieres, we had to take into account my fiancé (obviously), nine groomsmen, a mini groomsman, and all the dads and grandpas.

So when I saw that we could buy hops in bulk for much cheaper from a shop called Black Creek Hops, I (literally) squealed with excitement! What we're planning on doing is ordering a bunch of hops that are already attached to backings (yay!) and then adding the burlap, twine, and ribbon ourselves.

I don't think it will be too difficult to do (knock on wood), and I'm eager to see how they turn out! I have a crafty stepmom and a few crafty bridesmaids on my team, so I have a feeling they'll turn out just as great as store-bought versions...and for a fraction of the cost of "real" ones.

Felt boutonnieres, Muncle Fred Art.

I mentioned that we have a mini groomsman in our wedding party. By mini, I mean he's going to be four years old when our wedding rolls around. Part of me thinks it would be wrong to have him wear something beer-related on his little vest, so I think we're going to get him a boutonniere that matches the bridesmaids bouquets--one made of felt from Muncle Fred Art.

Eek! I am getting so excited as all of this comes together. More to come...

A Heart-felt Opinion on...Bridal Party Bouquets

Gorgeous peonies from marthastewart.com.

I have four words:

Wedding flowers are expensive.

Of course, they're beautiful, (usually) smell great, and can make a wedding ceremony--and especially the reception area--look extra gorgeous, but shelling out thousands of dollars on flowers that will last less than a week seems beyond silly and frivolous to me.

At the same time, however, I don't want to not go without flowers on my wedding day. One of the things I pay attention to at my friends' weddings is what the bride's bouquet looks like, what the bridesmaids bouquets look like, and what kind of flowers are used (if any) for the centerpieces.

According to an interesting website, www.costofwedding.com, the bridal bouquet alone averages $121-$165. (The average wedding itself costs $25,631.) If you want to get a bridal bouquet from a "well experienced professional" and/or "unique or custom products and services," that cost quickly shoots up like a weed to $198-$264+. What? That's insane!

The website goes on to say that the average cost of bridesmaid bouquets is between $121-$201. I don't know if that means per bridesmaid or for the whole bridal party, but we have nine bridesmaids in our wedding (see post below).

A sample bouquet from Muncle Fred Art.

I couldn't bring myself to contributing such a large chunk of our wedding budget to something that was going to die in a few days. While I was all about going the wholesale flower route to save money, I was a little nervous about doing that for the bridal party bouquets. Messy can look beautiful, sure, but I mostly didn't want to be trying to create ten bouquets two days before the wedding.

When I stumbled upon a shop on Etsy called Muncle Fred Art, I immediately fell in love with all the different felt flowers they had to offer. Even better, I could pick and choose the blooms I wanted; it was kind of like going to a real florist. All the bouquet samples were stunning, whimsical, and a little on the rustic-y side, which would be perfect for our simple outdoor rose garden ceremony. Plus, they were reasonably priced and could last well after my fiancé and I said our "I do's." I was sold!

First, I sent the shop an email, asking for a quote. Not only did one of the shop owners respond incredibly fast, she also allowed me to set up a payment plan to make paying for ten bouquets easy and completely doable. Additionally, she put together a mock-up bouquet and sent me pictures so I'd know exactly what I was getting. Next, I picked out the colors I wanted (out of dozens!). I then told the seller that I was nervous to receive the flowers so early in advance (we have three dogs...), so she said I could have them sent to me whenever I wanted. I decided to have them sent a month before the big day.

Oh, I also was told that I'd get a free toss bouquet for being the shop's 100th customer. Whoo hoo!

I have one payment left, and I can't wait for when all ten bouquets arrive in mid-April. I think my bridesmaids will love having flowers they can keep, and I love the fact that these flowers are a little different than what most people go for...or expect. No, they won't smell as lovely as real flowers, but we'll all be busy laughing, dancing, eating, and taking pictures to even notice that little oversight. I think I'm okay with that.

Is There Such a Thing as Too Many Bridesmaids?

9 bridesmaids + 9 groomsmen = 1 fun wedding!

When my fiancé and I first got engaged in March of this year, three things immediately came to mind:

1. Finally! Finally! Finally!
2. This ring is absolutely beautiful!
3. I can't wait to celebrate with all of our family and friends!

Admittedly, I had been planning our wedding in my head for over a year, and I already knew who I wanted to ask to be my lefthand ladies, so to speak. But I had never really thought about how many girls that was until I wrote it down on paper.

...I was at nine. Yikes.

Would we look ridiculous? Would my fiancé need to have nine groomsmen to make it even? Would buying wedding party gifts require us to take out a second mortgage on the house? Needless to say, I started to second-guess my decision.

Still, as I looked at my list, I couldn't imagine any of those girls not being by my side on one of the biggest days of my life. Furthermore, it was going to be our wedding day, which meant one thing: We get to make the rules. Okay, so nine, it is! I thought with a grin. With that, I started thinking about how I could creatively ask my nine best girlfriends to share our wedding day with us.

I went online and started browsing ideas on Etsy--of course!--and eventually found some pretty peony necklaces that kind of had an antique-y vibe, which I wanted to go for. Guess what? The shop owner gave me a discount for ordering so many. Yay! (See? There are perks to having a large bridal party!) Then I found a website that offered free "Will you be my bridesmaid?" cards, printed them out, found an appropriate friendship quote I really liked--"If friends were flowers, I'd pick you!"--and then wrote personalized messages on the back of each card, telling each girl why she meant the world to me. I was beyond thrilled when all my girls happily agreed to take part in our wedding day.

Now that we're in the full swing of wedding planning--eight months to go!--I sometimes think about how large our wedding party is going to be. (PS: My fiancé decided to go with nine groomsmen as well.) It makes me get excited. We have our best friends (and brothers) who will be right there with us--literally--as we take this next step of our lives together. Honestly, I couldn't imagine it any other way.