rethinking the invitations: extra accents

I'm still thinking about paper - but honesty, when am I not thinking about paper - and I realized that there are some extra special little touches within invitation suites that I love.

Case in point: damask lined envelopes. There's something so luxurious about that aspect of it. I know most guests wouldn't care but I would. It would make me do the happy dance.

{...top/via Decadent Designs, Etsy - bottom/via The Knot}

Case in point 2: vellum envelopes. As in, to hold the suite together. How cute is that? A place for everything and everything in its place. This makes the organizer in me very happy.

{...via Mrs. Gloss, Weddingbee}

Case in point 3: Damask band. Again, it's just that organization aspect and that luxury feel, all tied together (ha!). There's nothing like receiving a packet in the mail and getting to untie ribbon and string. It's fun.

{...via Blue Tulip Design, Etsy}

I'm having way too much fun with this, I know.

Part II: DIY Damask love
Part I: accordion love

survey time:

/borrowed from Lucky in Love/

A survey that make me smile.

1. What are your middle names? Kelry for me and Jamie for him.

2. How long have you been together? Just passed the eight year mark on September 22. Long time.

3. How long did you know each other before you started dating? Years. I dated his cousin. He dated my bff. It was all good.

4. Who asked who out? I kinda held his hand and claimed his as my boyfriend. He didn't say anything so I took that as agreement. Months later, in December, he officially asked me out but we all agree my way was better.

5. How old are each of you? I'm 25 and he's 31. I tease him. It makes me smile.

6. Did you go to the same school? For a while we went to the same high school, but now, I go to Grad School and he welds.

7. Are you from the same home town? Same reserve, different parts.

8. Who is the smartest? I'm book smart, he's common-sense smart. I'll do things like put my finger in just cooked with oil to see if it's "hot" and then read a book a day. He'll do things like read a page a day, toss it away, then go fox the car. We both have our skills.

9. Who majored in what? I'm an English/Creative Writing/Native Studies major and he's a welder.

10. Who is the most sensitive? Around that time of the month, I'm an emotional mess (No, for reals). But I think he's sensitive - I always make sure I don't say things out of anger around him because I don't want to hurt his feelings.

11. Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple? We have traveled from Charleston, SC to Vancouver, BC. Coast to coast babee!

12. Who has the worst temper? Ha. Me!

13. How many children do you want? I think we'll start with one (I'm the one actually having the kid here!) and we'll keep going if that doesn't freak me out. We both agree that more than one would be best. We both have four in our families so maybe that's what we're after.

14. Who does the cooking? Me, for the most part.

15. Who is more social? Me. I'm a little social butterfly, especially when I'm drinking beer. It's fabulous. He's way, way more shy and you have to seek him out.

16. Who is the neat freak? Me. It hits me at random times - usually Friday's or early AM's - and I just HAVE to clean.

17. Who is the most stubborn? I'm more vocal about it - "NO!" - and he's more silent about it - just won't do it - so we're both pretty stubborn.

18. Who wakes up earlier? Him. He actually works. I only write.

19. Where was your first date? Um. His grad?

20. Who has the bigger family? Me. There's a lot of us.

21. Do you get flowers often? No. Once in a while, he'll come home with a dozen roses but then I get suspicious - "What did you do?" - and he's usually done something, lmao.

22. How do you spend the holidays? I spend it with my family and he usually goes home for a couple days then comes and spend it with my family. That's the way I roll.

23. Who is more jealous? Me, if he's chatting girls I don't know. Him, if I'm chatting with ex-boyfriends. Ha.

24. How long did it take to get serious? It gets serious the day after you hold hands in the North. For real.

25. Who eats more? Him. Honestly.

26. What do you do for a living? I'm a student/working for the school and he's a welder.

27. Who does the laundry? I do, but he helps. Every couple weeks we haul laundry to the local laundromat (it's cheaper and faster than doing it in our laundry complex) and make a date of it. Starbucks, talking and laundry. It's nice.

28. Who's better with the computer? Me. He keeps crashing MY computers.

29. Who drives when you are together? It's usually Allen but after this last incident, it may be me now.

30. What is your song? We don't really have a "us" song but the first song we danced to was "Angel" - by Shaggy. It was his grad song, lmao.

rethinking the invitations: DIY damask love

I'm still thinking about invites. I still like the accordion style. But I also wanted to see some real life bride DIY damask invitations to inspire myself. I still haven't found the exact ones I remember seeing, but these ones give me hope...

{...via old, new, borrowed, bleu...}

{..via the recently married Wicked Bride}
{...via the amazing Mrs. Pomegranate}

I'm still in the mulling stage. I like the idea of an booklet/accordion style invite. It just makes sense. I'm a writer/reader. And Allen's a golfer. But I have no clue how to fit that into a damask wedding. Hmmm.

Anyways, onwards and forward. I'm just in that confused/overwhelmed/underwhelmed stage right now, overcome with images, and you get to suffer with me. Yay for company.

First Part here: rethinking the invitations: accordion love

random music love:

I heard this song tonight, while watching "I Hate You, Beth Cooper" - funny show - and wrote down the chorus to remember it. I like it. It makes me smile.

And I love to smile.

buying online: damask flower-girl dresses

I now have three flower-girls and three bridal babies. That's a lot of kiddies, but we love them.

Originally, I was going to have the parents buy the dresses from an online shop, but searching around, I found that this store had some really bad reviews online. Like, amazingly bad. So I had to keep looking until I found another store that would work.

For the bridal babies, Jody can buy Hannah's dress (on the left) locally though Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo, in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The dress number is SK 2920 in white/black. It costs $78.99.

From the website Cutieclothes.com: "a light and playful spring dress, ready made for that wedding, graduation, formal occasion or tea party! Spaghetti strap dress comes with accented bodice and tea length skirt."

Then we still have two other toddlers that will need dresses. I found Pink Marie Dresses and they seemed like a safe option and they had two out of the three dresses I was after. Teorie will still have the lovely Taffeta Floral Accented Flower Girl Dress and this site even shows the back and some of the details. It costs $58.95 (USD) and goes from a size 2 to 12. Loves it.

Elexa will have the Taffeta Two-Toned Flowergirl Dress and again, I get some of the details. The flower is detachable but I think I like the black and white look all the bridal babies have. This dress costs $58.95 (USD) and comes in sizes 2 to 12. Loves it yet again.

So yay for having the bridal babies accounted for.

The flower-girl dresses were a bit easier.

Cheyenne is having her dress made based upon a sketch/image we altered.
Kate has already bought the base dress and we're just going to add to it. A red flower, a black sash and a black layer underneath - to act as both a petticoat and to add another layer to the dress.

But we lucked out again. Quinn is going to get this dress. It's from Pink Marie Dresses as well.
It's the Alluring Ruffled Poly-Chiffon Flower Girl Dress, sizes 4 to 14, and it costs $52.95 (USD). I like all the floaty layers. How cute is she gonna be?

So a huge sigh of relief. All girls dresses accounted for, and from places I could trust. We only have to order three dresses, one is already bought, one is being made, and one is local. I feel so much better. These kids are going to be adorable.

Images 2, 3 and 6 from Pink Marie Dresses
© www.pinkmarie.com

brother-speak

My brother and I were talking on the phone recently and we had an argument the way only close siblings can - loudly, truthfully and with verbal attacks cutting to the quick.

Don't get me wrong - I love my brother. He is hilarious. Funny, charming, completely suave with the ladies. But I also despise his character at times. This was one of those times.

Anyways, we're arguing about something random and it somehow comes up to Allen's and my relationship and he blurts out "You're such a bitch to him!" And he leaves it there, just hanging between us.

We start really arguing then - I'm demeaning his faux-relationship with his girlfriend and yelling louder than him (cuz obviously, who yells loudest wins) and he's yelling out words like "controlling" and "angry Indian woman!" I was outraged, and honestly, a teensy bit hurt.

I can understand completely where he is coming from. Allen and I don't have that typical Northern relationship of Strong-But-Cheating/Traditional-Masculine and Weak-and-Bitter/Subservient-Woman role thing that most of my brothers are in. My brothers walk allll over their woman and their woman put up with it.

They don't understand that I'm a typical strong woman and I expect certain things in my relationship. Silly things like being treated with respect and honour, like being in a relationship where I don't have to make myself "smaller" in order to make him feel "bigger," things like being able to look at myself and my partner and seeing that we are in this one hundred percent, despite our many faults. Little things like that.

They should try it sometime. Being strong, being honest, being faithful.

And I told him this, loudly. Very, very loudly.

We laughed it off but it hasn't gone away. I know my brothers don't really respect my relationship with Allen.

Wait, that's not the right sentiment I'm trying to get across.

They love Allen for me, as my partner. They know he is the perfect guy for me. They get along with him. He is their friend.

Their problem isn't with him so much as it is my treatment of him. So it's not about respecting the relationship so much as not appreciating the way I treat him.

I guess in some ways, I should listen and hear what they are trying to tell me. It's not as if I haven't heard it before.

What is my asshole brother trying to say with his limited vocabulary and non-intelligent words?

To be nicer to Allen. To breathe. To take it easy. To laugh more. To yell less. To love. To appreciate. To enjoy this time. To remember what this is about. To be nicer to Allen.

All things I could do. All things I will try.

I just have a much nicer way of saying it.

Asshole brother.

Why I {heart} Winners

As always, I go around and look for my black picture frames at Winners. I still need eight more but I have faith that I'll get them. But as Christmas season starts to wind up and Halloween winds down, I'm finding tons of black, red, white and damask finds.

Case in point:

Red and black damask wine cases. Cute, efficient, good gift idea for readers or ushers...

These frames come in black and white and have a nice thick, clunky frame. I could see them being used in the bathroom, bu the guest book, or around the venue. And these are cute enough I would use them in the home afterward, or gift them to my eighteen year old diva cousin.

(same as above)

I would use something like this at the dessert table. To name the desserts, maybe to give a picture of who made them (my aunts are making dainties) or something like that. Cute.

I love me some pillar candle holders. These are $12.99/$14.99. I would stick some white flat-top pillar candles, light them, and call it a day.

If you had the money to dress up the venue with a custom lounge area, this would make the cut. Cute, large, good photo prop. Loves.