I've made a huge mistake.

I am walking around with my head hanging low right now.

Let me explain.

I have been unsure about how much I loved my engagement ring.
I made it on a whim one day when I was feeling a tad on the low and hormonal side.
I will admit it, I really wanted a bloody ring and I was determined to make it myself that day.

And it was really nice.
But not quite right.

Some days I would look at it and think that it was right. That it was THE ring.
But it just wasn't.

So yesterday I was all "I'm going to melt it down with some other gold that I have and make myself a heavier band. Simple, hammered band ring."
Easy peasy right?

No.

What I forgot to take into account was that metal, when it's in it molten form, wants to stay close to itself. Like a ball.
So, instead of melting into the lovely rectangular moat that I had carved out of my charcoal block (into the perfect shape for hammering into a simple ring) that I thought would be so easy, the gold all bunched up together into a round ball.
That I then hammered the crap out of for what felt like HOURS into this strange almost rectangular worm.



SO I could hammer the crap out of it some more if I wanted. It's ALMOST halfway to the length that I need it to be to make it into a ring my size.
...
OR I could suck it up. And wait until we can afford to get some 18k and make my engagement ring and my wedding band out of the same materials.
LIKE I HAD ORIGINALLY PLANNED.

So at the moment I am wearing a temporary silver band, sweet, simple and straightforward.
because I don't want to NOT wear a ring right now. Irrational? Perhaps.

Now that we are engaged, and I have worn a ring for a while, it feels a little weird to not wear one.
So there it is.

They're AMAZING

Oh my god I LOST MY MIND when I opened the shoebox that was waiting for me when I got home on Sunday.

They fit PERFECTLY.

And they are so BEAUTIFUL.

They are the nicest shoes I've EVER had.

amazing

Lela Rose Dress
So simple, so lovely!

dresses, dresses, dresses

I thought that I had sorted out the dress situation already.
But the more I think about it, the less sure I am.

And I will admit to thinking about it pretty often. Not in a terrifying she's-going-to-be-one-of-THOSE-brides kind of way, but in a how-fancy-do-I-really-want-to be kind of way.
I really want to be able to wear my dress again. If that means dying it after the wedding, or changing the length or something, whatever.
I don't want to have a beautiful dress that I only look at.
I want to be able to wear it on a date night, or on our anniversary or something.
And I was SO SURE about the design I had.
Like, locked up and shoes bought and everything.

Oh that's right. I haven't told you.

I GOT THE SHOES!!!!

(that is too many exclamation points, I am aware of this problem I have. In person, those exclamation points are audible)

I haven't seen them or tried them on yet. They are in Vancouver while I am still in Victoria for another week.
But that doesn't change the fact that I now have...
1. an engagement ring
2. wedding shoes
3. an amazing and supportive fiance
4. a venue
5. amazing friends who are THROWING their time and helpfulness at me.

So, I don't want to freak you out or anything.
But it looks like this might really be happening.

Anyway, back to dresses.
I poke around on the internet.
I read lots of blogs.
This dress popped up on The Pink of Perfection.
And it's amazing.

It is sort of similar to the drawing that I did. But this one is long.
I am still leaning towards short.
Like knee length.

But I am feeling that sexy neckline.

Now I just need to up the ante in the bazoom department and we're rolling!
that's right. I said BAZOOM.

Oh shoes

I am trying to not get too excited about this.
Seriously, I am holding it together.

But I am ONE STEP away from having THESE SHOES for my wedding.


I just have to wait while the website confirms that they have them in my size.
If they have them, the planets will have lined up in perfect harmony and the Universe CLEARLY wants me to have them, because I was randomly poking around on Gravity Pope's website (check it out here) and they were still there, so I took a quick look.

They had one size left.

MY SIZE.

And they are on SUPER sale.

So.

I will let you all know as soon as I do. Because I know that you won't be able to sleep at night until you do.

Okay, losing my mind with the cuteness

Seriously???

What is the DEAL with the CUTENESS??
I found this on Bread and Honey, a food blog I recently discovered.
That is awesome by the way.

Now the question is this.
Do I want to make 75 of those totally adorable cupcakes? AND am I interested in have 75 tiny terra cotta pots after the wedding?

Fine, so that was TWO questions.

natural beauty

The more I think about it, the more relaxed I want to be about this whole thing.
I sat still the other day with my calendar, and we are officially only 8 months away.
I am not panicking right now, but I did have a MOMENT.
I have not reserved a tent yet, or tables. Or even spoken to any officiants.
But that's okay. I have a list of local officiants that my Mom emailed me. I will contact them this week and try to maybe set up a meeting or two while we are on the island for Christmas. And I'll chat with Geoff about tents this weekend.
So I am not sweating at the moment.
And I am still spending alot, probably too much, time thinking about hair and dresses.

It's not everyday that I get to be the bell o the ball as it were, so I am sort of overthinking it.
Maybe.

Or maybe I'm just a REGULAR bride to be.
I definitely haven't screamed at anyone, and I am not in the least bit interested in a signature cocktail that requires hours spent with a bartender yelling at them about shades if pink shots.
(I actually saw a brideZILLA do that on TV once. Very stupid)

I am however spending some time online looking at wedding blogs and popping images I love onto my desktop and perusing them later.
Like these!
Oh I love these.
And I think I found them all on designsponge.

flowers and seating

I'm going with random wildflowers for the shindig.
In jam jars.

I will consider tying a ribbon around the jar.
I have a photo in my Seating & Decoration folder, but I haven't scanned it in yet.
Very cute.

Similar to these...



And I came across this picture on one of the new wedding blogs I've discovered.
(check out the links to the right)

What do you think about picnic blankets instead of (or AS WELL as) tables?

I think it's adorable.
I was also thinking that we could arrange some cute lounge furniture around the yard for conversations. You know, so people can LOUNGE. In the SUN.

Oh god these SHOES!

I L O V E T H E M ! ! !

hair

This is the picture that I keep coming back to.

(eh, that's much smaller than on my computer)

I love the soft swoopyness of it!
yeah that might not be a word, buy you totally know what I am talking about.
I had someone tell me that feathers in my hair was a bad idea, but I still really like it.

I also came across this painting last night and I am LOVING the headdress.
I need to sort out the logistics of it!

so amazing

I also quite like this style...

Seems so practical to keep my hair out of my face all day.
Which I like.

Ideas glommed from wedding blogs

I have been perusing many a wedding blog these days, I have never had a reason to before now, and they are FULL of good ideas.
Like these for example.
1. Hanging a sheet for a photo area.
Brilliant.


2. Jars full of cookies ready to eat.


3. Cupcakes on tiers, or MERENGUES!

natural makeup

I am keeping my palette pretty neutral for this shindig, and in general (who am I kidding?)
I am currently on the hunt for organic, natural looking makeup. Just a little bit of glow, you know?
Like these:




I've got my heart set on lip STAIN that has no parabens. This is harder than you might think! Tarte has some but ordering from the US adds something ridiculous so I'd end up forking over $30 for lip stuff.
Which is unacceptable really.
And Von Nature is the same.
I can't bring myself to spend $30 on a tiny tin of lip colour.
Oh sigh!

The search continues!

I've actually ordered a rosey coloured stain from an Etsy seller last week, just waiting for it to arrive now! Then it must be tested. WILL IT LAST ALL DAY??

lighting

I love these lights!
Perhaps for the tent for dancing under the "stars"?

I love the idea of yellow shoes!

So cute!

They probably won't be my actual shoes for the wedding though, I am leaning towards an open toe.

But seriously cute!

These models make me laugh!

They don't look like they are happy brides at all!

MENACING BRIDES.

I don't know about you, but I wouldn't be super keen to have those frowns walking down the aisle at ME.

Invites are started!

We have chosen the font for the invites and Geoff has okay'd the text so I am going to start working on some illustrations for it and go from there.
But they are CUTE!

Oh lord so CUTE.

This is becoming more real everyday!

!!!!

Here we go!

I decided that having one place to let everyone know about updates and details about the wedding would be a good idea.
So we're going to blog it!

Stay tuned for all that jazz in the coming months.

I don't expect to update this blog as regularly as Janamade, but I will leave all the wedding stuff for this one.

I am looking forward to sharing this with you!