Category Archives: Our Wedding

Hair and Makeup: Check + The Etiquette

catherine mead jose villa workshop
Add a check mark to another box — I’ve booked my hair and makeup for the big day!

To be honest, this was another one of those things I went back and forth on.  Should I do my own?  Should I have a professional come to me?  What kind of etiquette applies to bridal party hair and makeup?

I was pretty lost on every one of these questions.  All I knew was that on my day, I want to look like me… and I’ve seen too many brides who just… don’t.  So quality became a big concern if I went professional… and I considered doing my own more than once (which I’ve seen lots of brides do successfully — it’s is so easy with all of the amazing tips out there).

In the process, I learned that the etiquette for this particular question is all over the place.

Read More »

2 Comments | Posted on: January 30, 2012 | Category: Gatherings, Our Wedding

Honeymoons

We still have lots of time to decide, but right now we’re flip-flopping between Hawaii and Bali.

Each has it’s own advantages and disadvantages.  Hawaii is sentimental, Bali is new.  Hawaii is cheaper to get to, Bali might be cheaper once we’re there.  Hawaii is closer, Bali is farther away…

Honestly, we will feel unbelievably lucky to go to either, but it’s so hard to choose.

Tell me, how did you choose your honeymoon destination?  Did you check something off of your bucket list in the process, or did you choose a place that already meant the world to you both?  Did you fly far away, or pack up the car and drive?

I would love to hear your stories.

Photo: Pinterest

1 Comment | Posted on: January 18, 2012 | Category: Our Wedding

Happy Friday!

Hello, weekend.  I need you.

This week has been massively crazy.  With a big conference coming to term (at work – I’m planning) and our long runs ramping up to 16 miles, I am both mentally and physically exhausted.  This weekend I may just curl up under some super warm covers, book in hand, and actively do nothing… would that be wrong?

Meanwhile, we did manage to take two very important steps in the world of wedding planning this week.

1) We officially ordered our Save the Dates!

… and I really cannot even tell you how excited I am.  I can’t wait to see and share our gorgeous Save the Date cards, designed by my super talented friend Matt Novak (here too) and printed by Dingbat Press.

All letterpress makes me weak in the knees… but this, of course, is extra special.

2) We found our day of coordinator!

After speaking with Cori Lassahn at Avanté Events, I have all the confidence in the world that our day will go off without a hitch… and then some!  Mark and I went back and forth on the coordinator question, but finally decided that the peace of mind was more than worth the cost.

I can’t imagine trying to run everything myself on our day, and even though she’ll tell me I’m silly, I wouldn’t want to put the responsibility on my mom.  I want her to enjoy this as much as we do… not feel the way I will at my conference next week.  This is way too happy an event to waste it with stress.

Or… additional stress.  I suppose when you do the rest of the planning you’ve already forfeited that luxury.

Here are a few things I’m loving this week…

Hot pink and red <3

Actually, I’m kind of just digging hot pink this week.

Fresh pasta.

… and other things that are decidedly not on the diet.

Giant heart balloons!

Studs.

Valentines adorable-ness.

… and a little more.

These notebooks that I’m pretty sure I need.

Photo: Once Wed

1 Comment | Posted on: January 13, 2012 | Category: Link Love, Our Wedding

A Not So Quiet Sunday

Ornamelle

Do you ever just have a pit in your stomach that won’t leave?  Or your throat, maybe…

Things have been busy around here.  Super busy.  So busy that it just doesn’t seem to stop… except now it’s the weekend and I’ve done almost nothing for two days, and I’ve still got the pit.

The list is so long.

We’ve ticked off a load, but it seems that for every item scratched off, another five pile up…

And the thing is that when planning a wedding, especially when taking on the majority of the financial burden, you start out with so many unknowns… and the price seems to rise with each revelation.

I’m starting to worry about just how far the cost might go.

I can see the utility of a wedding planner, here.  Not because of the organizing and design, necessarily… that part is fun.  More because a wedding planner is able to remain removed from the emotion of the day.  To look at a budget and stick to it no matter what…

This is not my strongest suit.

I can see all of the options… the ways to cut corners… but somewhere in the back of my head is a little voice that says, “This is going to be the most important day of your life… you’ll regret it if you really cut corners.”  Of course, I’ll regret a big load of debt too… right?

Read More »

4 Comments | Posted on: October 23, 2011 | Category: Our Wedding, Ramblings

“Vendor Obsession” or “Desperately Seeking a Band”

Photo via Etsy

When it comes to this little thing called wedding planning, occasionally obsession will hit… at least, that’s the way it is for me.  I’ll go along, perfectly happy, ignoring the fact that I still need to find a multitude of vendors and then, snap… obsessed…

And when I say obsessed, I don’t mean an obsession with one specific thing… like one invitation suite or one bouquet… although that definitely happens too, especially with tools like Pinterest (and OMG lover.ly – which I finally received my invitation to this week!) … when I say obsession I mean something a little more like WHY IS THIS WEDDING NOT 100 PERCENT PLANNED NOW printers, bands, caterers need to find decisions make?!

… and yes, I do realize I am still over a year from the actual day.

BUT here’s the thing, we’re getting close to that one year mark and it’s starting to get real… the whole planning thing was all pretty blogs and pin boards up until this point.

I could kind of sit back and not stress on the wayward aspects of my planning process… but not now.  One year is the imaginary line in the sand that I drew for myself months ago… the moment when it all gets serious… and…

Okay, I just checked the calendar and the one year mark is still about a month away.  I don’t know how to justify it, the obsession thing just happens.

So, right now here’s what we have…

Read More »

0 Comments | Posted on: October 12, 2011 | Category: Our Wedding, Ramblings

A Little Inspiration: The Welcome BBQ (Neon Yellow and Neutral)

Bouquet by Hannah Koo Designs via Grey Likes Weddings / Farm via Grey Likes Weddings / Couple via Grey Likes Weddings / Sign by Couture Events / Table via Grey Likes Weddings / Limoncello via Matt Bites / Burlap Heart Photo via Grey Likes Weddings

Okay, so I already shared our brunch inspiration (or, well, my mom’s brunch inspiration) … now it’s time for our welcome dinner… or what you might normally call the rehearsal dinner.  The difference for us is that normally, you might only invite 30 out of 100 or more guests to your rehearsal dinner.  Since we only plan to have 50 total, and everyone is coming from out of town, we’re inviting them all.

Like everyone else, I’m a little obsessed with this neon and neutral thing… and apparently it passes the man test, since I’ve been informed by Mark that the rehearsal dinner is supposed to be the groom’s (really? I’ve mentioned I’m a little bit of a control freak, right?).

Even though it will be fall, I’m hoping we can keep the bright colors appropriate by really playing up the neutral… maybe with something like this…

I love the use of wheat anywhere and everywhere… it’s so simple and natural… and so perfect for fall!

2 Comments | Posted on: October 5, 2011 | Category: Gatherings, Inspiration Boards, Our Wedding

A Little Inspiration: Sunday Brunch

Strawberries / Couple / Bunting / Decanters / Apple Bombs / Jars

My mom is planning our Sunday brunch and I’ve already been warned that I have very little say in how it comes out… which I am largely okay with.  My mom throws a great party.

I say “largely” only because deep down, no… probably right out there on the surface, I am a massive control freak.

So, being the big freak that I am… I took a few of the ideas that my mom has shared and compiled them for her… pops of red, green, and yellow… gingham… a country feel (without being too overly country… right mom?) and I have to say, I really like how it turned out!  I think I’m on board… even if I can’t control where I go.

3 Comments | Posted on: September 26, 2011 | Category: Gatherings, Inspiration Boards, Our Wedding

Guest Post and Proposal Pics on Kaptur

After spending the majority of my morning begging the computer gods to let me into Target’s website so I could buy this (#2), I had happy surprise… well, two if you count the fact that patience is, apparently, a virtue, and I eventually got in.

The real news is that I received a super sweet email letting me know that a recent guest post I wrote for Kaptur’s blog is live.  The post is all about Mark’s amazing proposal, and I used Kaptur’s awesome service to create my own little slideshow of the event!  I even included a little background music.

Kaptur is a really great way to gather everyone’s pictures, videos, and updates from your wedding into one central location — you can even upload directly from Facebook!  It’s easy (and really fun) to make slideshows and share them with anyone and everyone you know.

Thanks to Kaptur for including my story on the blog!  I hope you’ll all check it out, and take a look around their site while you’re there.

0 Comments | Posted on: September 13, 2011 | Category: Our Wedding

Baby’s Breath

Baby’s Breath Poms / Chair Decor / Bouquet / Bouquet and Books / Burlap Cone

With a little help from my flower-savvy aunt, I think we’ve decided to DIY our flowers… so I’m on a mission to gather as much information and as many ideas as I can, and one thing I’m really loving is baby’s breath.

DIYing our flowers makes a lot of sense.  Mark and I spend a lot of time outdoors and I tend to be a little crunchy as it is, so it really wouldn’t be right for us to have anything that looks too manufactured… we want a natural look, and I think that’s something we can get on our own.

Of course, there are a million amazing florists who could also get that look for us.  What we’re really talking about here is money, and in my opinion, flowers are a great place to find savings.  If you’re like us and want a really natural look, not only can you probably get that look on your own, your flowers will be that much more personal because you did them yourself.  DIY projects can be really rewarding that way.

(… and speaking of money, baby’s breath is super cheap.)

Ultimately, I’d like to add some color in as well.  Mark would like to incorporate snapdragons and I love sweet peas.  I would also like for our flowers to be as local and in season as possible (and I have no idea if that applies to either snapdragons or sweet peas… or baby’s breath ack!).

Lots to learn!  But I really do like those big masses of baby’s breath.

0 Comments | Posted on: September 12, 2011 | Category: DIY, Gatherings, Inspiration Boards, Our Wedding

Coming Up With Colors

Oh, Pinterest, let me count the ways… I know that nearly everyone is obsessed with you at this point and I’m no exception.  I keep coming up with new and exciting ways to use my boards, and I couldn’t be happier about the latest.

The thing is, I’m kind of an analytical person.

I don’t like to admit this, but much to my dismay, pretty much anyone who knows me will list it as one of my top three traits.  Ultimately, it’s a good thing… I’m organized, clean, I make lists… I’m a pretty good nuke wonk.  I really don’t mind.

… but when it comes to things like planning out colors, sometimes I have a hard time envisioning it all in my head… the calculations and logical estimations take over and I’m left with a whole lot of doubt.

Inspiration boards are amazing for this (one reason I love making them so much!) but for some reason, in this case, I just didn’t feel like one inspiration board was enough… or two or three… my vision just wasn’t coming through the way I wanted.

Enter Pinterest.

I just love that I’m able to pin anything I come across that fits within my (kind of odd) color scheme.  You don’t see the combination of coral, jade, aqua, and yellow a lot… so it really helps to be able to mash a bunch of pictures together and see what comes out.

It also helps to have the ability to keep adding.  One thing that this board has really helped me to do is refine the shade of my colors.  Early in my board I pinned a lot of lemony yellows, but I’m moving now to more of a mustard… hoping to tailor the colors a little more to fall.  Since my board can constantly change and evolve, I’m able to see how well that works!

0 Comments | Posted on: September 6, 2011 | Category: Gatherings, Inspiration Boards, Our Wedding

  • logo

  • about



    Life, love, and the little things… one thread at a time.

  • explore



    About
    Food & Recipes
    Our Travels
    Everyday Adventures
    Small Gatherings
    Small Business Diaries
    Our Wedding
    Sponsor

  • sponsors

  • dough uprising

  • field + foundry

  • subscribe

  • search

  • FN Design

    I’m so honored that you might want to use a little
    piece of my work, but please do remember to link back.
    Unless otherwise noted, all content and images are my own.

    Full Disclosure: A Thousand Threads is part of several affiliate advertising programs. This means that if you click and/or make a purchase through certain links on this site, I may make a small commission. I also occasionally work with affiliate links on my Pinterest page. The content of my posts or pins, however, are all things I genuinely like. I will only work with affiliates that fit my aesthetic and brand.

    All content is © 2011-2017 A Thousand Threads. All rights reserved.