Nature + Dollar Tree to the Rescue!

I'm so proud of this discovery, I feel like crowing. No joke. Chuck and I have decided that we are going to utilize the courtyard at the high school (a.k.a reception venue) not only as a decorative statement but also for seating. The school has about twenty wrought iron patio sets outside, similar to these, minus the umbrella:

While it will hardly be "summer cookout" weather, some people like myself who actually like the crisp weather will prefer to be outside when the inside starts getting full and stuffy. My first thought was to use the same centerpieces as the indoor tables, but then I started wanting something a little different, more woodsy since it will be outdoors. I didn't want to spend a lot more money since the main attraction will be inside, but I still want it to look nice. Here's what I came up with:

Outdoor centerpiece budget-

Vase- $1 at Dollar Tree

Flameless tealight - $.50 at Dollar Tree, two-packs, have a natural candle flicker, and last over 24 hours! You can't really see it in this picture, but it's buried under the filling and gives the whole ensemble a beautiful glow.

Natural vase filler - $1 per pack, about $.25 worth for one centerpiece

Pinecones - Free, collected by friends

Cost per table - Approx. $1.75

Total outdoor centerpiece cost - $35.00

BTW, pictured above are some of my larger pinecones. A friend of mine is collecting some smaller ones from a pine tree she has in her yard. I think they will look better.

A find like this has provided a "thrifty bride" euphoria that one cannot understand until they are there. My quest to have an awesome $2000 wedding is going off without a hitch. Yay for low-key weddings!

Tier-ific Tastes!! Part 2

Well, this past hiatus has been with good reason. The madness that comes with doing over 100 invitations and bookmark favors myself has come at a cost - MY SANITY!!! Lol, it's been so much fun though. They are looking fabulous. Can't wait to get them done and mailed out.

So now the next task that desperately needs to be marked off my list is this darn cake. 300 guests + $2.50 per slice = shattering my budget. That doesn't even touch the groom's cake, either. I could do it, but it would cut so much out of what I wanted to spend on decorations, which is what I consider the most important part of the reception. However, the food is important too, so the wheels in my head have been turning. And yes, I started to slip on the banana peel of hiring a newbie, but was quickly reminded that this could happen...

or even this...

Dang, the filling on this one^ looked amazingly tasty. What a shame. :-(

So much for that idea. Miss Manners says don't dare not have enough cake for everyone just because you don't want to fork over the cash. Make sure each guest gets a slice and that none are better than others. Well, first of all, I know for a fact that some of my diabetic/dieting/no-sweet-tooth guests will not have any interest in desserts. In addition, what about those that don't like the flavor I choose? Why go into debt over uneaten cake? Just so Chuck and I can take it home and shove it into our freezer just to have a slice on our one-year anniversary? Uh, cute idea, but we aren't that kind of couple. So here is what we've decided...

                                                A DESSERT BUFFET!

Cake, cookies, and candy, oh my! How do we go about this and not spend as much as an actual wedding cake would cost? Some of my wonderful friends have offered to help out with little things (cookies, candies, banana pudding, etc.) For the cake and everything else...COSTCO all the way!!! They have amazing deserts, especially cake. We have decided to buy different flavors of cake, have them iced (which I believe they do for free), and put them on staggering cake dishes that have been generously offered to us. The cakes are cheap but taste incredible. The whole ensemble can probably be done for less than $200! So don't worry, unless you are health-conscious or extremely picky, there will be a cake flavor or dessert for you. :-) I don't want to give too much away, but here are some Costco contenders you might expect:

                                       Rocky Mountain Salted Caramels

Rocky Mountain Candy Mix

                              

                      

                          And my favorite - whoopie pies! $23 for a 24 count box

                               

I don't want to say too much, because I want everyone to be surprised! Just a little something to whet your appetite - literally!!

Tier-rific Tastes!!

Well, my attempt to be a loyal, everyday blogger is not off to an illustrious start. I promise I'll get better, people. Bear with me, please!

The latest of the Harrington/Okwah wedding stress...er...."fun" is cake stuff. We know what we want, but the trouble is finding a way to do enough cake to feed all approx. 300 guests without breaking our budget. Advice and wedding etiquette columns keep telling me it is inappropriate to cut corners on the cake and not have enough to feed each guest. However, I know some people hate cake, and I'm hoping they will head for the cookies and chocolate covered strawberries. Either way, I'm doing my best to give a slice of cake to as many guests as possible. A few extra sheet cakes may be necessary, so if you don't make it to the cake line fast enough, you might have to settle for one of those. Whatever you get, this will probably be the main event....

No roses though. To go along with the winter theme, you will see these...

                               

Aren't they cute?! I found them on a floral website. For $29.98, you get 100 of these little frosted pinecone picks. They're meant for floral arrangements, but I think they will look GREAT in the cake. The website is http://floralsupply.com/, and they offer a lot of discount decorative supplies. If there's something you don't want to go outside and pick them off the ground and make them look nice yourself (which I am too busy to do at this point), you will probably find them at this store. Also, lots of discount vases, fillers, and other floral supplies.

I have to say, though, I'm probably just as excited - if not more - about Chuck's cake. It's gonna be neat-looking and tasty. Kinda wish I could switch with him. :-) Behold....a futbol fantasy!!

Chuck's love of soccer had to to incorporated into the wedding.  I can hardly wait to taste it! Haven't decided if there will be any text, or if we will just leave it the way it is. I'll have to see if his mom has any pictures of him playing soccer as a kid. Might be fun to add a photo or two. Oh, and don't expect the ball to be that sleek, fondant extravaganza. I think this will be sufficient...

I kind of like the texture of the buttercream ^ better anyway. You can get pans to make the ball for a few bucks at party stores, along with tons over other shapes. If you're not too far from the Mesquite area, check out the Sale Place in Balch Springs off of Elam Rd. They have a whole rack of just pans, all different shapes and characters, even guidance on how to do the frosting. We're getting a lot of wedding essentials there. http://www.thesaleplace.com/

If I wasn't so terrified I would jack the whole thing up, I would make it myself. Seems pretty easy for someone who knows what they are doing though. Hoping our lady won't charge us too much. We've been trying to set up a consultation & tasting, but this month is so crazy, it's been put on the back burner till things calm down.
That's all for now! More soon!

A Gown for a Princess...Becoming a Queen!

Just wanted to show you guys my wedding dress. Check it out! Hope I can find an extra-long extention cord!

Just kidding. Gotta keep it fun. ;-)

So I haven't technically started this process yet. Hopefully that will happen within the next week or two. I can already tell that it's going to be a much more intense decision than I originally thought. I was a typical youngster - had my gown in mind, and nothing was going to change it. It looked something like this -

I'm still partial to the white, ballgown or wide A-line dress with fancy embroidery, no gathering, white only. I hope I'll end up with something similar. However, if there's one thing I've learned by entering adulthood and dealing with fluctuating weight, it's that looking at something that looks good on the rack is by no means guaranteed to look good on my bod when I get it fastened up and look in the mirror. I miss the days where I could slip a dress on over my head, tie it in the back, and automatically have an awesome figure. My golden years are gone. Therefore, while I still have my opinions and preferences, I'm willing to be flexible and adapt to whatever looks good on me in the shop.

I'm doing things a little different than most brides.  I never had any interest in keeping something I will never wear -and possibly never be able to fit into- again. We are also staying on a low, strict budget for this blessed day, and I couldn't see spending a quarter of my allowance on the gown. Don't get me wrong, though, the dress is an intrical part of the festivities. Is there not a medium? Yes there is! If all goes as planned, I will be renting my gown from a rental shop in Southeast Dallas. Here's a link if anyone's interested. http://bridalgownrentalandsales.com/For $75, you get to choose from an array of designer gowns ranging from $700 to $1000 in retail price. They clean and prepare it for you, and you get to keep it for up to 6 months until the wedding! Pretty sweet deal, if you ask me. Of course, I'm preparing myself for this place to either be a dive or have no interesting selections, in which case I will check out Anonymously Yours in North Dallas, where I've been told you can find some steals. I'll keep you posted on how it's going, but nobody sees the winner until the big day. :-)

Here's the style I'm keeping my eyes peeled for:

I may be asking too much for a family-owned bridal shop outside of Oak Cliff, but it's not over till it's over. My favorite part is the bit of bunch at the top and the waist. I'm becoming more open to gather if it isn't too much. I like the natural look. For me personally, this is too much:

 

Doesn't look bad, I just prefer a little less. Here's another one I like, eventhough it isn't satin. That's always been something I said I wouldn't compromise on, but who knows?

One exception that will never be made is on the white. I don't plan on having ANY ivory in this wedding...at all. I just think white looks more wintry and elegent. Although, I suppose if you wanted to drag an older gown out of mothballs worn by a friend or family member years ago, it has the same yellowy "glow". That used to be a big no-no, but perhaps that's where ivory came from so that nobody would know the difference. Something to research, like I need anything else to do on this machine. That's all for now. G'night!

'Tis a Weddin'!

I decided to begin my many wedding rants with reference to one of my favorite movies/musicals - Brigadoon! Partially because I love it so much, and also to show you a bit of what my wedding would look like if I could get all of my wedding party and guests to comply.

For those of you who don't know, Brigadoon is, as it's authors describe, "a whimsical, musical, fantasy". "Brigadoon" is actually a Scottish village that appears out of Highland mists every hundred years, only to disappear after one day in order to preserve it's peace and special beauty. American hunters Jeff and Tommy, who are hunting in Scottland, stumble upon Brigadoon and it's strange but loveable villagers. Tommy (the very handsome-at-the-time Gene Kelly) falls in love with a beautiful young woman named Fiona (the beautiful Cyd Charisse), but  is torn between staying or going back to his hectic life in New York, as Jeff would urge him. (Must give partial props to IMDb. I did not compose all of that.)

My favorite scene is the wedding of a young couple from Brigadoon, Jean and Charlie, who wed outdoors amidst the "heather on the hill" and all of the villagers, who shower them with love and affection on their special day. The ceremony is no longer then 5 minutes, followed by traditional Scottish dancing, music, and festivities.

This would never happen to me, mostly because I would never be able to get Chuck in a kilt, and also because I don't think swords would be allowed in the Kingdom Hall. Mostly though, it's because I can't expect all of my reception party to randomly break into Scottish dancing....and singing....all together. Again, I echo my dear mother's lamentations - "Why can't MY life be a musical?!" Ah, well...Que sera, sera. I'm sure I will be very bit as much in love with my American-with-a-touch-of-Nigerian wedding. :-) Maybe I'll get Chuck to do the Cupid Shuffle with the rest of the group. Then everybody would be doing the same thing at the same time....to music!! My own little musical!

To quote Mr. Lundie, "Anythin' is possible when ye love someone. Even miracles!" Seeing Chuck dance would be a miracle.

Here goes nothing!!

First off, let me start off by saying that I fear those of you who are expecting me to be an expert at this may be disappointed. While I'm hoping this comes more naturally in time, it might take me a while to get the hang of something I had no interest in until about a month ago. It seems kind of like playing double dutch - the hardest part is getting started and figuring out how to do it. It's odd that I feel that way since I have always loved writing. I suppose blogging comes with a little extra pressure. Any assurances from this point forward that this pressure is unnecessary would be greatly appreciated. :-P Just know that while I may not be the best blogger on the net, I will do my best to be loyal. Peace out!