Deadline for Contest Extended!

Hey Everyone! I've got to head out of town on Sunday for work for a few days! Don't worry, I've got some posts to share! Mere travel will not keep me from the blogosphere. Oh, no it will not.

However, I won't be able to announce the winner of the Moments of Elegance contest for a $50 Gift Certificate. That means, you can still comment, follow and button-post to enter! If you'd like to enter the contest, just go read about it and enter here! You could get some good stuff for $50! I'll be back on Tuesday, hopefully with results posted Wednesday. Have a great weekend!

P.S. The new Poetic ruffle shoes came today. They were so incredibly painful, I could barely walk across the living room. Crippling, at best. Back to Zappos they go. And the quest continues.

*Insert Ear-Piercing Scream Here*

Even though my awesomely awesome photographer Jonathon and he equally awesome wife Sharon are on vacation, they posted a sneak peek of our engagement shoot on their blog. I have, of course, been stalking their blog ever since the shoot. I wanted to crawl out of my skin in anticipation! Click on the pics to make them big.

Jonathon took this one on a lonely road on the way to Leipers Fork. Well, we thought it was lonely. There was quite a bit of traffic for a Sunday afternoon!

I love this photo! I think I was balanced on the side of a hill for this one, but I'm not sure. The Candyman looks so handsome, it kills me.

Sharon, Jonathan, thank you so much for my sneak peek and for the fabulous time during the photo shoot. You two are top notch.

Invitations? Check.

The invitation are finally done! I am a little worried though. I had one left over invitation. I know all the invites got put into the pocket-folds, so I think this was an extra. I did, however, have three extra response cards and two extra response card stamps left over. This leads me to believe that I forgot to put these in the invitations. I am trying not to beat myself up over it. I hope the person/s who don't have a stamp will float me the 44 cents to tell me they are coming. I hope the people who don't have response cards, but do have an envelope, will tell me. Or, I could have done it all perfectly and these are just "extra." Um, yeah.

I'll mail these a few weeks after I get back from Asia, but I really wanted them completed before I head out. So happy they are done!

Here's the front and back. I know there could be some of you gasping in disbelief that I printed my addresses. Look, the reality is that I'm not going to try to hand-calligraphy these. I'm also not going to pay to have it done. The labels came with the invitations and the printing is pretty and cohesive with the font I'm using on all my printed wedding materials.


I also got to printing the stuff for my wedding favors. I mentioned before that I plan to bake my awesome cookies as favors. I'm going to include the recipe/instructions in the box. I printed on cream colored card stock that I bought at Kinko's for $11.99 for 250 sheets. This will be more than enough, but hopefully I'll use the paper for more fun stuff for the wedding. I haven't nailed that fun stuff down yet.....
Here's a copy of my template:


I grabbed the scrolly thing at the top from Fotosearch, created the template in Word and got to printing. The recipe is printed on one side and the instruction on the other, using the same template. I bought a handy-dandy-mini-paper-trimmer-thingy from Joann's at 40% off, for $11.99. I could have saved an extra 10% off this past weekend, but I didn't want to make the extra trip to save a $1.19.

Photo courtesy Joann's.

This took me a while to get the hang of, but once I did, I plowed through the trimming!

For the "Thank You" medallions that will go on the outside of the favor box, I set up another template like so:
I inserted the artwork I created earlier this month. Go here to read all about it! I printed these out on the same cream colored card stock. When I bought the handy-dandy-paper-trimmer-thingy, I also bought a handy-dandy-paper-puncher-thingy. It was also 40% off, so I paid $7.99. Since I am not a member of the scrap booking community, all these handy-dandy-paper-gizmos are very exciting to me.

Photo courtesy Joann's.

Punching in progress!

Since the favors will be something that is assembled the week of The Big Show, I won't have those photos for a while. I haven't decided the final concept of it anyway. I've got left over flowers from my invitations that can be incorporated somehow. Hmmm....gears cranking.

DON'T FORGET! Go here and register for a $50 Gift Certificate from Moments of Elegance!

Obsess much?

OK, so I guess I really just need to own up to the fact that I might have a shoe obsession issue. I don't even want to go back and count how many posts have involved shoes. I'm sorry. Really, I am. But I just really want to have the perfect, fun wedding shoe that won't kill my feet or my knees that I can hopefully wear all night. Or at least most of the night.

I mentioned a few days ago that I bought these at Zappos.

Well, the arrived yesterday. Eh, not so much. I mean, they are cute. They are comfy. I don't think the heel is too high. They are blue. Kind of. They have a really unusual grayish tint to them that really isn't what I'm looking for. I'm looking for cute Tiffany bridal-blue. I was hoping these were, but no. Back to Zappos they will go.

Today I was reading all the latest posts of all the blogs I follow and found a post from Attacked by Tulle about some shoes by Poetic Licence {sic} that she loves in hot pink. I loved them too. I found them on Zappos in champagne and ordered them. They only had one 8-1/2 left so I snagged it. They are a LOT more expensive than I want to spend (about double), but they might just be perfect.
Cute, right?
As a side note - I love Attacked By Tulle's posts. She's succinct, quirky and stylish. Love it. Check it out.

DON'T FORGET! Leave a comment for the Moment of Elegance gift certificate contest! It's worth $50!

"I Wish" Wednesday

I really have no clue what I'm going to look like on my wedding day. I have an idea of my dress, but since it's not in yet and the size I tried on was a 16 (or 14, I can't remember) and I'm a street size 4 or 6, it's hard to envision myself.

I ordered those blue shoes that I blogged about yesterday. Those aren't confirmed yet.

I have the purse that my wonderful friend Trisha from The Hip Zipper got for me.

I absolutely adore all things vintage, but I'm never really sure if I look good in it. Y'know what I mean? Like, I have really hideous knees (it's true) and NEVER wear short skirts. Ever. I prefer long-ish style shorts too. It's just a thing I've got, OK? Had it my whole life and regardless of what other people think of my knees, I will continue to regard them with disdain and disgust for all eternity. I know I don't look good in short stuff. Not sure how I look in vintage.

But I digress. Again. The point is, what the hell do I want to look like on my wedding day? Dress? Check. Veil? Check. But the veil is only for the ceremony and what about afterwards? What then? The Candyman really likes the headband look. I do too. I love the Jennifer Behr headbands.

Source

Similar to lots of pretty things, these are not in The Thirty-Something Bride's budget. The reality is, I never wear headbands. I don't like the regular kind because they always pinch behind my ears and that feeling just sucks. Who wants to deal with that on the day of The Big Show? I have a TON of hair, but it's really fine. Ribbon headbands just slip right off the back of my head. I just don't want to fuss with any part of my fashion on my wedding day. Period.

I don't even know how I'm wearing my hair, but I'm pretty sure it's going to be up. I might cut the flower that's on my dress off and wear it in my hair. The thing is, with all the Etsy flowers and such, flowers in the hair is very "been there, done that." I want something slightly different? Maybe?

That being said, I was browsing Etsy for inspiration and I found my "I wish" item. It's by Romancing The Bling and it's a gorgeous Art Deco hair comb. Lookit!

Source

Really pretty, right? It's $68, which I guess isn't too bad, but it ain't in the budget. Boo. Hiss. However, I think something like this will look great with my cool, Lucite Art Deco-y purse. Thoughts? I might be able to DIY something similar if I can find a cool shoe clip or pin or something and attach it to a metal comb. I can totally do that. In my spare time. That I have so much of.

I hope that I am not starting to have a WPM (Wedding Planning Meltdown). I'm starting to get nervous about having to go overseas for a month. I hope I have enough done now so that when I come back, I'm still on schedule. My Day Of Planner, Tabitha (Life a la Mode) says I'm rockin' it, so I have to trust her that it is. I must remain calm.

Anyone else (other than The Future Mrs. Smith) having any freak outs?

P.S. Don't forget to comment to win a $50 Gift Certificate from Moments of Elegance!

$50 Gift Certificate - My First Giveaway!

I am SO excited for my first giveaway! The folks over at Moments of Elegance would like to offer a $50 gift certificate to one lucky reader! You can use it to purchase wedding favors, bridal shower favors, wedding jewelry - anything they offer on their site, which is pretty big. They have it all categorized really well. I totally appreciate that because I get really annoyed at user un-friendly websites. In fact, I browsed their eco-friendly section and found these cool items:

Seaside seed-packet favors. These come in the two colors shown here with coordinating or contrasting ribbon. You can personalize the window paper!

These are biodegradable poppers! I'd still double-check with your venue to see if you'll be charged a clean-up fee, bio-degradable or not!

Here's what you gotta do to enter!

1. Go to Moments of Elegance and check out their goodies.
   
2. Leave a comment on this post to let me know what you might use the $50 gift certificate for.
   
3. "Follow" my blog and you'll get another entry.
4. If you're already a Follower and want another chance to enter, post my new BUTTON on your blog and I'll enter you again. Make sure you tell me that you've done this either in your comment or with an email.
   
5. New Followers who also want to post my BUTTON will get you double entry! Again, you've got to let me know!
6. Deadline is Friday, May 29th at midnight!
   

The html code for my button is here:

<a href="http://thethirty-somethingbride.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://xs139.xs.to/xs139/09215/clip_2998.jpg" title="Free image hosting powered by xs.to" /></a><br />

Cut and paste into your gadgets (blogspot users) using the javascript/html option. If you need help with the code, please email me and let me know!
thethirtysomethingbride@gmail.com

Good luck to everyone! I am SO EXCITED! I want everyone to enter!

Memorial Madness!

OK, so I have become addicted to Polyvore and ShopStyle. More on that later, but I felt I should share, just in case I need an intervention of some sort.

The Candyman and I had a great long weekend! It started off on Thursday with amazing news for The Candyman! We celebrated with sushi at our local sushi place called Minami. The restaurant is so small and so near our house, it's our favorite last-minute-celebration-go-to-spot!

I came home Friday afternoon to see The Candyman had finished laying the tile in our backyard and it looks good! I knew we'd be planting something this weekend.

Saturday, The Candyman and I went to have brunch and run errands, but the "run errands" part turned into, "let's go vintage shopping and pretend we're running errands."

Sunday we did brunch again, then actually ran some errands. We headed over to my friend Philip's house and helped him enjoy his gorgeous patio and a great dinner.

Monday, we planted. I napped.

In between all that fun, I managed to completely finish my invites, print and cut my recipe cards and thank-you tags I'm planning on using for my favors. I started printing my menus, but haven't gotten far. Um, hello. Did I not just mention Polyvore?

I also bought a pair of potential wedding day shoes. I found them on Zappos via ShopStyle. As an interesting note, I was blabbering to The Candyman about the shoes, where I found them, etc. He mentioned that "zapatilla/zapato" is Spanish for shoe. Is that the source of the name for Zappo's? Me wonders......

Here's the visual update!

I got these at Zappos for under $80! Keep your fingers crossed that they fit and that the heel isn't too high. Great thing about Zappos is that return policy! They were listed as "new" on Thursday (I think) and I got the second to the last pair of blue 8-1/2's!

My favorite!

The Candyman and I headed out to the 12th Avenue South area in Nashville to do our non-errand errands. We ended up at Savant Vintage Couture (I'd link, but she's so retro, she doesn't even have a website!) where I found these lovely, seed pearl purses and the feather and pearl hat. You like? ;) Maybe a little much.....

Newly potted pretties!

The Candyman finished the tile on Friday and we worked on some flowers this weekend. We still need to figure out what to do on the left side. I'm thinking more boxwood bushes like we did by the stairs. See below:
Boxwoods. Clearly, our grass has some patch-issues. We're working on it! Our little postage-stamp backyard will be awesome soon!

Basil, flowers and rosemary.

I hope everyone had a fabulous long Memorial Day weekend! A shout out to my pop, The Colonel. Twenty-five years of service, including a year in Vietnam, Marine Corps Fighter Pilot. Thanks, Dad!

First Giveaway! Come and Get It!

Mmmmm...come and get it!
Photo

Get ready....I'm putting together my first give-away! I think it will be one ANYONE can use, regardless of where you are in the planning process! Stay tuned! I'm putting on the finishing touches!

New Button

I learned how to make my very own button. I'm not sure I like the particular design as I kinda rushed through it. Do you guys like it? Should I rethink it? Would you share it if I made it easy to cut and paste? Does anyone care?

I was just wondering how it was done and did some online research. Actually, it's super easy! I went here and followed the directions. Easy! I did use the xs.to web site to upload the image into html.

Anyway, here it is. It links to my site! Geek fun!

Big Mean Turtle

While this isn't very wedding/bride related, I think it merits a post.

I was driving home from the gym yesterday, chatting on the phone with my friend in California (hands-free device, of course). I generally take this lonely back road because it has beautiful farms, rolling hills and old oak trees that line both sides of the road. There is no shoulder and in some spots, pitches into a ditch.

I came over the top of a hill and saw something in the road. No one was behind me or in front of me so I stopped to check it out. It was a HUGE turtle, the biggest I've ever seen in my life up close. I didn't want to leave him there, nor did I want to leave my car parked just over the crest of a hill. I was asking my friend what I should do - how I should move him and she said to just pick him up. Hell, NO! This turtle's shell was easily over a foot long and he didn't even scoot in his shell when I walked over to him. I nudged his rear end with my foot to try to move him along and the thing snapped at me! I, of course, screamed. I'm sure my friend went partially deaf. I have no idea why this turtle was so mean, or why I was so afraid of the damn thing.

I continued to scoot, scream, jump. Scoot, scream, jump. Scoot, scream, jump - until I had him as close to the edge of the road as I could. I tried to get him off, but he kept holding on with his mean little turtle claws. I told my friend that no one would believe me. Then I remembered I had a camera in my purse, so I took his picture. Behold the ferocious turtle who nearly ate me, even though I was trying to help him.

Paper and Cake

OK, so if I wasn't 94.27% done with my invitations and hadn't already purchased all my printing stuff as well as chosen my wedding colors, I would totally buy this instead.

The company is called Paper & Cake and of course they have a lovely Etsy shop. They have buy-what-you need templates for all kinds of party supplies and invitations. These are the wedding goodies I like:

You can buy each template for $10, with a 10% discount on 5 or more items.
* Invitation
* Response card
* Save the Date card
* Ceremony Program cover
* Map card
* 8.5 x 11 Letterhead
* Menu
* Favor Bag Topper
* Favor Box
* Place Cards
* Circle tags
* Table numbers

They also have fun bachelorette party supplies for $5!

Check out their blog and become a follower. Why? Here's why:

"We do love our followers.... so here is a special offer, just for you.

How does "buy 3 $5 sets, get the fourth free" sound? Just purchase your three sets in our Etsy shop, and write in the message area which set you would like us to throw in for free.

This offer does not ever expire... that is how much we love you!"

Goodie Bag

I've got a lot of random stuff that I've been meaning to share, so I'll do a little catch-all here in order to get it all out!

I saw these in the Two's Company catalog and am smitten. Makes me wish I was having a beach wedding!

This is a board I created from a wedding featured in Veranda magazine (I subscribe). I didn't get it posted very quickly and then it was featured on Style Me Pretty, so there wasn't a real rush. My thoughts? Pretty. Gorgeous. Expensive.

Briar Press has tons of FREE down loadable "ornaments" like monograms, borders, birds and beasts, flowers and lots of others. These are just a few I like.

GORGEOUS etched champagne flutes from Anthropologie. These were only $12 each. I almost got them for our toasting flutes, but stopped myself. I might go back and get them though.

They also had the etched pattern in wine glasses. I love the merchandising here - how they've planted herbs in the glasses. Actually, chives in back and I'm pretty sure that's a strawberry plant on the left. I think this is a grand idea for table arrangements. Lovely.

These are on sale at Pottery Barn. They aren't for sale on their website though, in-store only. Cute for bridesmaids, but contemporary enough for groomsmen. There are lots of men out there who like scented candles!

I love these! It's felted soap from Anthropologie. The wool encases the soap and as you use it, the felt exfoliates your skin and the soap shrinks. When the soap is gone, you cut open the felt shell and replace your soap and re-use! Re-Use. Re-Cycle. Go green, if and where you can. Great BM gifts, at $14.00 each.

Last, but not least - I was perusing local letterpress companies and found this non-local company F2 Design from Lubbock, Texas. They have this awesome letterpress poster of Blues/R&B/Funk master Little Milton. Grits Ain't Grocery is a great song (The Candyman will be flabbergasted that I know it) with oddly romantic lyrics:

If I don't love you baby
Grits ain't grocery,
Eggs ain't poultry,
And Mona Lisa was a man

(Oh yeah! Let's get into it. Listen.)

All around the world, I'd rather be a fly
I'd light on my baby and stay with my woman till I die
With a toothpick in my hand I'd dig a ten foot ditch
And run all through the jungle fighting lions with a switch
Because you know I love you baby
Oh you know I love you baby yeah
Now if I don't love you baby I tell you

Grits ain't grocery,
Eggs ain't poultry,
And Mona Lisa was a man

(Oh baby. Uh! Listen.)

All around the world I've got blisters on my feet
I'm trying to find my baby and bring her home with me
You better run into me baby and be convinced
If you don't run it to me right now woman
You ain't got no sense
Because you know I love you baby
Oh you know I love you baby yeah
Well if I don't love you baby I tell you

Grits ain't grocery,
Eggs ain't poultry,
And Mona Lisa was a man

(C'mon y'all. Hit me. Oh baby. Listen.)

All around the world I never will forget
I lost all my money, my woman, and my pet
But I've got to have you baby and I will settle for nothing less
Give up all my good time baby and stay for happiness
Because you know I love you baby yeah
Oh you know I love you baby yeah
Well if I don't love you baby I tell you

Grits ain't grocery,
Eggs ain't poultry,
And Mona Lisa was a man

The very first dish I ever made The Candyman was yellow grits (none of that white crap) made with whole cream served with this salmon salad I make (grilled salmon, green onions, red bell pepper, lemon juice, olive oil - done). They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Mission accomplished! :)

Red Hot Orangina and Purple Passion Party

I've mentioned before that I'm in the design biz....I need to use the term "designer" sparingly. Basically, I design and develop home decor products. I don't do any sort of technical design. I sketch poorly but can get the gist across. I have great ideas in my head that I translate to true designers overseas who then bring my creations to life both on paper and physically. I'm leaving in a few weeks to go review next seasons designs. I've been sending over all sorts of color boards and trend ideas. I started incorporating lots of wedding photos I've found because there are so many great looks out there that convey a fabulous color story. Here are two that I thought I'd share.

I call this one Red Hot Orangina. Blood red, orange and pink are HOT!

I call this one Purple Passion Party. Purple is huge in Europe right now. I'm showing it mixed with pink (it extends the Red Hot Orangina color story).

The funny thing is that I call story boards by these quirky little names (everyone in my field does this) and no one in China/India/Taiwan/Vietnam knows what the heck we're talking about. They just want Pantone numbers. I'm so much more organic than that. Most times "organic design" is difficult to communicate, but I work with some great artists. It's amazing how much you can say without words, but with a sketch pad and pencil.

P.S. Seems like the photos are showing sort of pixelated. Sorry about that! Not sure why as my original image is pixel-friendly.

"I Wish" Wednesday

Today's obsession is shoes. I need some. I've mentioned before my obsession with shoes, haven't I? At one point in time in my life I had close to 200 pairs of shoes. I've pared down (pun intended) to somewhere around 40 or 50. I love shoes. I love heels. I love funky. Sadly, in 2006 I had knee surgery that removed about 40% of my meniscus and it kills my knee to wear anything over 2.5" for any length of time. It's so sad and perhaps some odd sort of twist in the universe telling me that too many shoes is a bad thing.

At any rate, I often times find myself longingly gazing at a pair and thinking "Hello, lover." Very a la SATC, but it's true.

Photo courtesy of Shop Style

If Wednesday is for wishing, then I wish that these Badgley Mischka shoes were in light blue, with a 2.75"heel and were less than $100. That is my wish.

In the words of my father, "You can wish in one hand and sh*t in the other and see which one fills up first." He was a Marine. 'Nuff said. Not wanting a handful of poo, I need to set some sights on reality.

I found these at Nine West, on sale for $69.99. I'm wondering if I could find some groovy little vintage shoe clips. I have some from my grandmother, but they are silver. I also have some groovy blue rhinestone clip-on earrings from her that might work. Oooooohhh.......the gears are cranking. I love blogging and brainstorming at the same time!

Photo courtesy Nine West

What do you guys think of these?

Lastly, and I know I'm going to regret sharing this because you are all going to run to Zappos and buy them before I can afford them. However, because I love my blogoshpere peeps, I will share. The information is this: the best flat shoe of ALL TIME is called the Mia Hepburn. I bought 2 pair at DSW 2 years ago and fell in love with them. The leather is soft and they are the perfect go-to flat for fancy or casual. I have a pair on right now. When my first 2 pairs started to die, I tried to find them and couldn't. Everyone was sold out. I finally found a pink pair and another black pair at Overstock.com last winter and the second pair of black ones are close to dying. While I was lamenting my shoe options, I ran across a fresh new batch of Hepburns! MIA finally realized their gold mine and has restocked Zappos with lots of new colors. They must have also realized how much people love them because they are no longer $50-$60, but $75! Damn it all to hell. I am in the midst of a wedding budget and I cannot abide the fact that I cannot buy the shoes I want and love. Here they are:

Photo courtesy of Zappos

If you decide to get them, go a half size larger as they run small. Or they used to at least. Who knows with this new batch. I love them.