Flower Girls & Their Dresses

To ask my Flower Girls I made them a card, and a doll cut out, custom to look like them, complete with smiles and googly eyes! And I also gave them peacock fascinators! We are going to play with them, and see what way works on them best! I just thought they were too cute!

Flower Girls Card

Flower Girl Hair  Clip (Me)

About my Flower Girls! We decided to choose two young ladies, one from each side of the family, we have so many adorable and wonderful cousins to have chosen from and it was so hard, but I know the girls we chose are going to be so delighted!

Grace Lucille Hall :

My cousin Mike, eldest of my Aunt Pam’s three children, has the cutest daughter in the world! She is currently in 2^nd grade, she’s definitely shy but once you crack her, she’s just one ball of fun! We wanted nothing more than to have her be apart of our big day.

Regan Isabella Long:

Christian’s Uncle Tory, lives in Mesa, Arizona, so rarely do we get the pleasure of visiting and spending time with he and his beautiful daughter Regan, but when we do, its always memorable! Regan is in the 1^st grade and not only is she adorable, but she is such a character. She truly is a princess on Earth! We couldn’t be more excited to have her not only come out from Arizona for our big day, but to have her in our wedding!
 

I know these two girls are going to bring so much joy , love and beauty to our wedding, and we thank you both so much for accepting our request to be apart of our wedding party!

The Flower Girl Dress

So I know I am early but I jump started on my Flower Girl dresses.  What can I say, I got excited!

My previous L.A. trip (September12th) is when I discovered these beauties! 

$30 for the cutest dresses and *BEST OF ALL* in my colors!

So I knew it had to be meant to be, right??

September 19th, Mom, Aunt Jill (Mom’s Little Sister), Janice ( Maid.O.H) AKA: “Ju” , Grace (Flower Girl) and I all jumped in the car and headed to L.A. Fashion District on Sunday morning! We all met at my house about 10am, then picked up Aunt Jill on the way to the freeway, we eventually got on the freeway about  11am. 

Typical L.A. traffic, ugh!

We all survived Mom’s driving; she even managed to go down a one-way street with cars heading full speed toward us! Yes my mom is no Angelina Jolie but she thankfully got us off the street and safely parked atop a roof.  We ended getting great parking (Santee and 12^th) and the stairs took us right down into the alley! SWEET! The crowd was NOTHING, compared to what its usually like. We did some Santee Alley browsing and then walked up to Pico and Maple.

The first place we stopped at was this huge two story building with dresses galore and I believe (Olympic and Maple) they had the dress in the window that I liked, just not the color, but they had a nice dressing room area, so we thought it would be best to even try on for sizing.

The dress was adorable! 

Here is Grace modeling it in Fuschia for us! Isn’t she just a doll!

This particular shop wanted $50, I knew a few doors down I could save at least $20 more! So we passed, especially since they didn’t even have the dress in the right color we wanted!

Next shop, same dress, $40…PASS!

Hi-Kids Collection! WINNER! Even though last week she said $30, she wouldn’t go past $35, she said it had been a slow day or something, which I did notice. So we got two dresses, guess’timated the size and the lady ensured that we would be able to exchange as long as we had the receipt! *PHEW*

I know I’m jumping the gun, I mean my wedding is more than a YEAR away, but I have learned that when you go out to L.A., it might be there then, and then gone tomorrow, so I knew I had to jump on it. And the price was right and I wouldn’t kill myself losing $35!

As for the color I chose, it was tough! They don’t allow you to take pics, but I snuck some! It was between the Purple and the Teal! Grace loved the "Blue" (lol) and she loved the dress, which made me happy! Spaghetti Straps, Square cute neckline, large band waist, with removable bow (which will stay), removable brooch (will be removed, cheesy), matching shawl and a bubble hem!

And being that both my flower girls are currently both in 1^st and 2^nd grade, I loved that I could possibly get away with a brighter and more fun color, so I chose the TEAL!

I really love these dresses, they really mean the world, and are going to tie so well into the wedding! And of course, going to look AMAZING on the flower girls! I already cant wait!

E-Picnic Favors ::FAIL::

If you didnt know, we will be having our Engagement Family Picnic November 6, 2010. 

 It will actually kick off our 1 YEAR COUNTDOWN until the big day!!

I had the CUTEST idea for inexpensive but cute favors. 

I found these huge packs of tealights for dirt cheap, like $3 for 25 and they come in these cool colors that I still think would be considered fall'ish!

I went to the DollarTree to do my usual "lunch browsing" and found these cute small tins 3pk for $1. 

So I grabbed a few packs of tins and went on my way.

I waited until just recently to start my favor experiment...

It was a MESS! 

Super Glue everywhere, Tins were so cheap they would bend/dent from just the pressure of holding it! 

They were just UGLY! 

I even made these cute small labels with our "logo" from our E-Picnic invitation.

Such a bummer, so now I am looking for new ideas since I have all these tealights!

Here they are! 

So I asked some friends and actually got  IDEA #2 from my friend CeCe!

She suggested getting those small metal pails they sell for favors at Micahels or JoAnns and then putting the sand or whatever filler in then put the candle, decorate with ribbon and Wa-La!

I thought how adorable would that be, and how perfect that would go along with that simplistic picnic idea!!

So heres to IDEA #2 taking into effect!

Accomplished!

What to do? What to do? 

It feels so weird to have everything done, and early!

So I have almost all of the engagement party invites out! We only have about 3 or 4 that need to go out but we are just waiting on addresses. 

I feel so accomplished, like I am on this! I’m usually such a procrastinator, but hopefully planning my wedding throughout the next year, will teach me how to be a little more diligent! 

LA Day was a success, which makes me ecstatic, and even more so after telling my MaidO.H. about the flower girl dresses we found and what a great deal it was! After discussing it with her and my mom, we decided to give it a shot! What’s there to lose, right? So our plan is to get their dresses at least one whole size bigger than what they current wear. Using my cousin Grace, who will be one of my two Flower Girl s as our model!  Depending on the fit and sizing, we’ll see what we do! Best case scenario, they are a little big on them the month or so before our wedding and we can have them altered to their size. Worst case scenario, they don’t fit and we just have to buy new ones!  Is it worth the deal? HECK YES!

So what’s next? Now its time to save my dollars and cents for this engagement party! 

This is my chance to go DIY crazy, and that is the most exciting part! 

We aren’t doing the typical engagement party.  We are going to host a family picnic! Complete with blankets, butt cushions, lemonade , yummy finger foods  and games to help us get to know one another better!

I am so excited, yet so nervous! So much to do, and what seems like a lot of time, but really its NOT!

Im so anxious for the weeks to come! 

This week we are planning on giving our Bridal Party Gifts out and doing our “askings”! So far so good!

Everyone is so happy for us, which only makes us that much more excited to get married!

PLANNING PLANNING PLANNING!

Now Im currently brainstorming, what do you think of when you think of a picnic in the park??

= ))