See Ted and Shay's Engagement Session
Ted and Shay's Wedding Website
Cake: Cake Eater Bakery
Dress: Shaylyn Bernhardt
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See Ted and Shay's Engagement Session
Ted and Shay's Wedding Website
Cake: Cake Eater Bakery
Dress: Shaylyn Bernhardt
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Whew! Details to come, just let me catch my breath-
xoshayox
]]>It's my fault, I'm too stressed out. My plate is overflowing with so many choices that I'm going to need to make a decision about in the next year, that I just can't handle planning what has become two separate events for the wedding. AND more than that, we just can't afford it.
We have some pretty big plans for the next couple of years; moving half-way across the country, new jobs/education are on the horizon, we're getting older...we just can not justify taking out more loans and putting ourselves into more debt to make the reception happen.
Unfortunately this decision has been made AFTER the invitations were sent out, so now it's time to grovel and beg for understanding from the people we can no longer accommodate.
I feel like a dick, but it had to be done. I guess this is my less-than-formal apology, but it will have to do.
The wedding is still on; the ceremony is still taking place we just can't have 350 people there.
New plans are in the works and new invites will arrive in email inboxes shortly. Onwards and upwards, right? I'm retreating to my parents' house in North Dakota for a long weekend and will emerge a shiny happy person.
Peace out-
shay, the defeated bride
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From shopping for food and growing food
To entertaining with binge/purge-worthy feasts
To by-any-means-necessary tactics of getting food
Special occasions are always a treat no matter which one of us takes on the cooking tasks.
For our three year anniversary, and the last of our dating anniversaries (which is a good thing cause we made the date up since neither of us could remember the actual date of our first date...July 1 sounded good enough), I came home from work to the most amazing smells of potent garlic, pungent cheeses, and creamy butter sauces. Voila!
Home-made hummus, my favorite triple creme cheese, seared scallops, blue cheese-bacon risotto, and plenty of Founder's Cerise, Sauvignon Blanc and Prosecco to wash it all down.
Oh yeah, and he gave Penny a bath so she didn't smell too bad either!
Back off girlies, I've got this one locked down.
Sincerely,
The luckiest gal in the world
]]>Due to our financial situation, I long ago gave up on doing what other people expect from a wedding, so we're going digital! Email invitations felt tacky to me at first, but after looking at a couple of different sites that offered such services, I met my new friend, Pingg!
It's probably similar to all of those other sites, but Pingg's site design is so clean and crisp, it made me feel less cheap about the whole idea.
You can design your own invite, or use one of their templates. We ended up using the same graphic of our mugs that I stamped onto the coaster save the dates.
Pingg lets you email, text or snail mail the invites, which I thought was pretty cool. And they track all of your RSVP info and send follow-up emails to folks who don't respond. Oh yeah, and it's FREE!
My favorite thing about their invites, is when you receive the email and click on the link, it takes you to a site with an envelope on the screen. When you click on the envelope, the invitation slides up! Fun!
In an effort not to confuse people, we're only sending these out to the masses that are invited to the reception, not the small group invited to the ceremony and reception, to whom we already mailed invites. I'm totally over thinking this, and I'm super worried that people who received our snail-mail invites are going to be confused about not getting the Pingg invite...Should I just send the Pingg invite to everyone, or leave it as is? Am I starting to lose my mind? Maybe a little....
xoshayox
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Images clockwise via 100 Layer Cake, Once Wed, The Wedding Chicks, a desert fete
Images clockwise via Martha Stewart Weddings, Oh Happy Day, Design Sponge, Inspired by This
Images clockwise via Style Me Pretty, The Wedding Chicks, Ruffled, Oh Happy Day, {ritzy bee blog}
Images clockwise via Lola's Room, Ruffled, Style Me Pretty, Green Wedding Shoes
Images clockwise via Junebug Weddings, snippet & ink, Style Me Pretty, The Sweetest Occasion, Lucky and Lovely
Images clockwise via Veiled Vows, The Sweetest Occasion, 100 Layer Cake, Tanja Lippert, 100 Layer Cake
xoshayox
30 yards of guinea feathers!!! I was so stoked I actually got motivated to hammer out more of the dress.
When I started this project back during Memorial Day weekend, I had a pattern, lining material and twice as much fabric than I would actually need. The pattern didn't translate into what I envisioned the dress to look like, so I scrapped it and went at the lining with nothing more than some newsprint and my dress form.
After multiple "prototypes" of skirts and bodices, I finally came up with one that would work, so I went at it with the satin.
Middle section is basically done. I added an interfacing to the back of the fabric to give it more stability, but now I wish I could start it over... It just didn't sit right with the seams, but I don't have enough fabric to start it over and there's NO WAY I'm going to find the bolt of fabric I got this from at the warehouse.
So I made the shell of the top without using the interface, to hopefully avoid the problems I had with the skirt. I finished the lining, but I'm not sure the two fabric will lay together properly.... Luckily I've befriended an AWESOME gal at Hancock Fabrics named Dorothy, who told me to call or stop by anytime with questions. I think I'll be dialing her up very soon. The BIG problem is folks, I'm a serious novice when it comes to sewing. I was too busy taking all of the science and math classes my high school had to offer to even bother with home-ec. I've taken one sewing class in my entire life, and my ex-boyfriend had to show me how to thread my first machine. I've read tons of sewing books though. But, when you sew as seldom as I do, that wealth of information isn't at the forefront of your mind. I should have done a more thorough refresher course before tackling this beast.
But I sunk my teeth into the bottom skirt anyway. After 4 attempts, I finally got it right! Then I started to pin my pile of feather trim on to make sure I had enough, and found out the trim is sealed with glue!!! I'm going to have to hand sew 30 freaking yards of feathers onto the bottom skirt! OY! Good thing I still have 3 months left.
xoshayox
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My birthday cake from Ted, 2008.
Sheela, Jimena, Emily
Ted and I stopped in today to narrow down our flavor options and lock in the order.
We knew, without a doubt, what our cake toppers will dance upon, the ELVIS!!!! A scrumptuous banana cake with peanut butter marshmallow frosting and bacon! Ahhh, let the angles sing an hallelujah folks! This is what Shay-dreams are made of!
The Elvis!
We're not doing cupcakes though. After helping out with a few deliveries at the bakery, I've witnessed Jimena's incredible frosting skills and I really want cakes, lots and lots of cakes! Well, maybe only six.
I drooled over their menu list trying to narrow down the options, but couldn't get my choices smaller than 12! We're having them make six 8" cakes so we sat down with Jimena and hashed it out.
The Elvis, the Surly Coffee Bender Chocolate, Strawberry Lemonade, Vanilla Bomb, Pumpkin Butterscotch, and the Peanut Butter and Jelly!
I can hardly wait to sink my face into each and every one!
xoshayox
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What looked like a molted shell of me has now been sitting in my closet for a solid two months. I've gone to the hardware store multiple times trying to come up with some sort of frame to drape the form around before filling it with foam. No luck and worse, no motivation. First DIY of the wedding failed.
A few weeks ago I saw an ad from a fabric store that announced 50% off dressforms. I've read countless reviews about how shitty they are, and how they fall apart, snag, collapse, etc, but it's getting down to crunch time and my custom dress form will be a great halloween prop someday, but it will never become what it was conceived to be, so I gave in.
I bought a Dritz My Double model, and couldn't be more smitten! I took my measurments, adjusted the dials and doo-hickies, and voila, my shape on a stick!
Even if it cracks as soon as the dress is done, it's been worth the $117 it cost on sale. On with the dress!
xoshayox
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I'm not a very experienced seamstress. I was too busy taking all the math, science and writing classes my high school had to offer to consider home ec. In fact, an ex-boyfriend had to teach me how to thread my first sewing machine when I was in college. But I did make a winter coat using a Built By Wendy pattern a few years ago, so I figured as long as I could find a pattern, the rest was just following instructions.
I scoured the fabric stores and found a Badgely Mischka pattern similar to what I sketched (on sale for $2 from $30!)
A few dress colors popped into my head but I was hesitant to make a decision. I'm still not sure what color my hair will be in October, and as I learned from my recent adventures as a blonde, hair color can mess with your skin undertones and completely knock certain colors out of your wardrobe.
My lovely Mom and I hit up fabric stores one weekend while she and my dear old dad were visiting (he slept in the truck while we shopped). S.R. Harris, our first and final stop, is a remarkable place for fabric lovers! I felt like a kid in a candy shop the second we walked in, but I was on a mission. We found our way to the satin section and the work out began. Bolt after bolt of blush, tiffany blue, lavender, dove grey, mint green were pulled from the shelves and lined up. It came down to the pinks. Only problem with S.R. Harris is the lighting is pretty terrible, it is a warehouse after all! I went back and forth between several different blush pinks, some were too peach, some too pale, etc. In the end I decided on a lovely shade and five yards cost a whopping $17!
They also had feather trim for $5 a yard, compared to $20 a yard online! But they only had about five yards in stock so the feather search continues. I suppose it wouldn't be a terrible thing if a few hundred dollars is spent on feathers, considering what brides tend to pay for dresses and my grand total thus far is under $20.
This past weekend I scooped up a soft gray lining fabric on clearance for $1.40 per yard. Now the scary part begins, CONSTRUCTION!
xoshayox
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