Calling all Grooms!

The men in your life may appreciate Mr. Monkey and his hilarious insight on weddings and marriage.

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How adorable is this?

Let them eat CAKE!

Hmm, wedding cakes. I thought that I didn't care that much - until it came time to order one. I started pricing out cakes in Charleston - did you know a cake can start at $1375, before the design consultation fee, before the delivery fee, before the craziness?!

So here's a peek at what I have found that I like.

I like the simplicity of this one (minus the flowers):

From the Cake Girls

I love the monogram on this one:

Pink Cake Box Blog

I love the ribbons on this one:

Image found on Southern Weddings

I think I like the pop of color on this one:

From the Knot

But I think most of all, I like the structure of this one:

(I can't remember where I found this! Sorry!)

So I think I am off to the craft store to buy some supplies to see if I can do the whole paper-flower thing... if so my flower girls will have some beautiful pomanders to carry thanks to Martha and WeddingBee.

Flowers

I got an estimate early on in this wedding planning that the flowers for just my bouquet (white mini-calla lilies) and my 5 bridesmaid's bouquets (mango mini-calla lilies) would be nearly $1000.00 - aka TOO MUCH. At least on this budget-bride's budget, TOO MUCH.

Some people have suggested that I use silk flowers instead, but they cost as much as real stems and don't look like them.

My solution: Wholesale flowers. I am getting my mini-callas for less than $2 per stem, and calla bouquets are SUPER easy to put together. Just check out these youtube clips for corsages, boutonnieres, and bouquets (1 and 2).

My entire floral bill will be about $150 for My bouquet, 5 bridesmaids bouquets, 5 corsages, and 12 boutonnieres. Chump change compared to the $1000 I was quoted for fewer products!

Bridesmaids and Shoes and MY Dress and MORE!

I know. I know I know I know. It has been FOREVER since I posted anything here - it's been since February! But I am back, I have graduated, I am jobless, and there are 59 days to the wedding so I will be here frequently!

Bridesmaids:
When I was choosing bridesmaids, I automatically had 4 in mind. The 5th girl I was going to ask was going to be out of the country during the wedding, which I learned before I asked her. So I asked another really good friend and she replied that she would love to - but she was moving to ALASKA and wasn't sure she'd make the wedding. Bummer. So I hemmed and hawed (is that a word?) and decided to ask a new friend. She said yes! Good to go with 5 bridesmaids, perfect to even out the 5 groomsmen. Until... 5th bridesmaid all of a sudden has something come up and can no longer make it to the wedding. I am now on 4th string 5th bridesmaid - whoever I ask will know this. Anyway, I regrouped and asked my childhood best friend, less than 3 months before the wedding. Fortunately, she pulled through for me and has been AWESOME! Thanks so much girl!

Dresses they have chosen, in the tentative order they will be standing:

(All dresses are from David's Bridal.)

As far as shoes, I was torn between going with a champagne color that might match the guys' khaki suits (from Belk's) and going with orange shoes that would tie in the other wedding color. Figuring the girls would never go for orange shoes, and knowing my sister was throwing a hissy fit not only about her dress but also about the champagne-colored shoes I had already chosen, I emailed the girls with the following shoes options:

Left: David's Bridal Style Jada
Right: Payless Shoes Style Karaway

Somehow the girls chose the orange shoes, which is fine with me! Now I just have to find myself some hot shoes to wear under my dress.

Speaking of my dress, I ordered it a couple of weeks ago and it should be in on Monday!!! I would post it on here but I don't want any chance that Caleb will see it before the wedding. Which is, coincidentally, in less than 8 weeks!!!

How Fab is Mrs. Newlywed?

She is giving away some adorable Lilly stationary. Check it out!

"Frankly, My Dear, I Don't Give A D***..."

"I'm going back to Charleston, where there is still a little grace and civility left in the world." Rhett Butler, Gone With the Wind

Fact is, we ARE going back to Charleston! For Valentine's Day! We are going to the Harbour Club for our tastings for the reception food and I can't wait to go! My family is also meeting us down there to explore and see where we are getting married, because they've never been there.


Click here to see the NYTimes Travel section's Guide to Charleston.



Click here to see what the Today Show and MSNBC have to say about the Holy City.

Failing all that, go there yourself!

My New Baby! =)

So, Caleb and I were registering at a big-box store which shall remain nameless, and I was considering registering for a printer, since mine is on the fritz and I'm pretty sure it was free, about four years ago. As I was trying to figure out which one would be the best in the trade-off between price and quality, Caleb found this Canon that was on sale for $30 and came with all this extra stuff! IT WORKS LIKE MAGIC! I am so excited. SO excited. I cannot even tell you! So suffice it to say, our DIY invites are going to be GORGEOUS, not just good-looking!!!

Door Monograms

Um, HOW CUTE ARE THESE???

{ From Martha Stewart}

Love it! So easy too - just buy the initials at a crafts store and paint them, attach a ribbon, and voila! Trying to figure out how these could be incorporated for us...

Happy New Year!

Sorry I've been so bad about posting lately... seems like I say that all the time. Oh well, I'm here now!

I having been mulling this over for a few days now, and I'm really excited about the new year! Sad to see '08 go though, it was great!

A {brief} recap of '08:

• WE GOT ENGAGED!
• Meredith began student teaching
• Caleb got his awesome new job
• We started planning a wedding, but more importantly, our life together!!!

A {brief} teaser for '09:

• WE WILL GET MARRIED!!! (in July)
• Meredith will finish her student teaching and graduate in May
• Meredith will have to make a decision about a job (yikes!)
• Caleb will possibly take the LSAT sometime this year

I could not be more excited to be done with school and get married. There is so much that comes with being married that I cannot wait for!!! Getting our own place and not having roommates or their laundry, dishes, trash, etc. Kissing each other goodnight every night and good morning first thing every morning. Getting groceries together instead of splitting it all the time! Its all those little things that I never want to take for granted; I want to always appreciate that I can lay my head down next to his at night.

Also, can I even tell you how excited I am to GRADUATE? I cannot wait for the day when I don't have to worry about writing papers or doing research or or reading textbooks or writing up formal lesson plans.

It's gonna be a great year. Stay tuned.