Nerdy and Crafty

I haven't been here for a while, and it seemed as though I might have forgotten about this blog. Well, I have been feeling guilty that I have't had time to blog. I really enjoy it, and it is always fun when I get new readers, or someone says that they really enjoy it, but my life has been so busy lately that I haven't really had time for anything wedding related. Wedding Meetings have officially gone in the toilet (hopefully to be started up again after the busy season), and I haven't gotten any further in my venue search. (Ideas anyone?) But today I came across something that I just had to share.

I found the perfect way to explain Josh and I. I was on Pintrest (yeah, so what?) and found this.

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I don't know if I could have described us any better myself. So I had to come back and share it. Keep checking back for these random updates, and hopefully, come January, I will be back to blogging regularly. Thanks so much for still checking!

Searching for a Alternate Location

[This is the third time that I am trying to write this post, but I always end up ranting, so hopefully I get it right this time.]

As much as I would LOVE and it is so important to me to have my wedding in a familial backyard, I am not sure that it will work 100%. First of all, there is no rain plan. If it is sprinkling, it wouldn't be a big deal, but if it is raining raining, it would be a very big deal. Second of all, if it is at my mother's house, we would for sure need a shuttle, which is not in our budget, but my mom insists that there will be about 30 cars for 100 people, which I just don't agree with. Third of all, my step father thinks that our septic system wouldn't be able to handle the toilet flushing, so we would need a portable bathroom, which is not in our budget at all. There is very little wiggle room with everything that everyone thinks that we are going to need. It gets overwhelming.

Josh is also very sick of not knowing where the wedding will be. I am too. I have set a goal to know where our wedding will be by the time that I come back to Seattle on December 28th. That means that I will have to look at and decide on a place in two weeks. Josh won't be able to do the initial search with me (he will only be in town for 3 days), so that sucks. I wish he could be with me, but we knew that this would be a problem when we decided to have the wedding in Connecticut.

With that said, I have been scouring the internet for a venue in southern CT where you can have the wedding and ceremony outside, but can also move it inside if need be. There needs to be trees and things like that. It needs to have the "feel" of a backyard wedding. Apparently, these don't exist in southern CT. Apparently, I grew up in the section of CT where there are only wedding factories or wannabe wedding factories. Just when I started to write this I came across the same website for the third time. I am looking at all the same material over and over again!

There was one place that I found, but it is just over our budget, which isn't really great, but it's doable. It's in Norwalk, which isn't too far away and they have lodging there, since it is an inn. It's called The Silvermine Tavern Bed and Breakfast. I am not sure if they do an outside reception and ceremony, I didn't really look at the website too closely, but it looks really cute.

How cute would these chairs be for pictures?

Ah fall. I would love a fall wedding.

I am so sorry that this sounds like a rant (and in a way it is), but I just need some help. I am wondering if anyone has any ideas about where we might be able to have an outdoor wedding at a reasonable price around Orange, CT. I have thought about a state park, but do they usually provide electricity? And will it still feel like my wedding rather than a cool (and expensive) get together?

Wedding Meeting: Week 3

Last week's wedding meeting really didn't happen, if I am being completely honest. I didn't stick to the rules of not talking about wedding stuff, but Josh didn't complain, so I figured that I would take advantage of it while I could. He said that I must not have been doing it in an annoying way because he didn't realize. Apparently it is possible for me to not be annoying while talking about wedding things. Go figure.

So we didn't have a meeting because I had mostly shared all of my ideas already and because we were adjusting to my new weekend schedule. So this week Josh wanted to talk on Saturday morning instead of Sunday, which was fine with me. We didn't have much to discuss but I did share some ideas for what our ceremony would include.

First of all, I discovered that Josh thought that not as many people would be going to the ceremony as the reception  which was news to me. I figured that people would be going to both. I have no idea though, I haven't been to many weddings.

Second I shared an idea that I had instead of lighting a unity candle, having a sand ceremony or anything like that. Those things were nice, but they weren't really us. And I just couldn't see us doing anything like that, but I did want something, other than the announcement of husband and wife, to symbolize that we were becoming one. So I saw the idea of tying a fisherman's knot. I think that it symbolizes marriage VERY well. The knot is so strong that the rope will break before the knot comes undone and the knot only becomes stronger when you put pressure on the rope. Also, we would be tying a knot (get it?!) and would be tying it with teamwork, which is what it takes to build a marriage. Luckily this idea was liked by the man. (Also, yes, I saw this idea on Pintrest, so shoot me. Everyone knows that they get all their ideas off Pintrest. At least I admit it. :) )

The third thing we discussed was a ring warming ceremony. I saw this idea on Weddingbee and liked it. Josh didn't like it as much. Basically, the couple passes the rings around the guests and asks them to send good thoughts and wishes through the rings. I thought it was a good way to make the guests feel involved in the ceremony, rather than just observers. It's something to think about.

Do you have any ideas of how to involve the guests in the ceremony? Also, how many people typically attend the ceremony as opposed to the reception?

Pretty Paper: Rifle Paper Co.

Ok, I am back. This week has been crazy and I am a little overwhelmed. I went from hardly working at all (because subbing was SUPER slow) to working a whole ton. I landed a job at Michaels, and subbing picked up, so I am now super duper busy and it has taken some adjusting. Not too much has been going on with wedding planning, since I haven't really had the time or energy to talk about wedding stuff, but it really isn't a pressing matter yet.

So today's pretty paper is a company that I enjoy. They have some really cool vintage looking stuff. While vintage stuff isn't really my cup of tea, some of these pretty little cards pull me in. It's called Rifle Paper Co. Take a look at some of my favorites.

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Hope you enjoyed my selections and thanks for visiting again! Have a great Monday.

Lack of Posting

I am so sorry for my lack of posting this week. In the past week, Josh's and my life has become super duper busy. On Friday, Josh found out that he got a huge promotion (yay!) and I found out that I got a second job (yay!). I started my new job on Saturday and worked all weekend, which is usually the time that I prepare my new blog posts. For some reason, it seems like everything is happening at once and I haven't had much time for anything but work, sleep, eat and clean the house (which never actually seems to get clean, funnily enough).

Anyways, I am not going to be posting anything else this week. I am so sorry, but I will be back next week with some new posts. Hope you all will remember me for next week! Thanks everyone for checking and please come back soon!

Blue Suede Shoes

Ok, so maybe not suede, but hey, I'm flexible! I have recently decided that I would like to have blue shoes underneath my dress. Josh's favorite color is blue, and I would like to include little pops of blue in our wedding, though I am not sure where that will come in with all the yellow I am planning. Maybe some pops in my bouquet, but that's a separate post.

So I decided that I would look up some blue flats on Zappos and I found some that I like, but they are SUPER expensive! First of all, I don't buy shoes online.... ever. I have extremely sensitive feet and I need to try on shoes before I purchase them to make sure that I can walk in them, but I was just looking to see what was out there. This is what I found.

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So I like the look of these and it is definitely a prerequisite for the big flower/pompom to be on the end. I could do a shoe clip, but I am afraid that if I was to order it separately the colors wouldn't match. The ones on the left are more shoe like, which is good, but they still don't look that comfortable. The ones on the right are more slipper like, and I wouldn't be able to do that all day. No support. I definitely like the bright blue. No dark blue for me.

I also really like the flats. Josh is tall, but so am I. I would rather have him towering over me than the other way around. I do NOT want to be 6'3" on my wedding day. Also, the heels might sink into the ground seeing as it will be outside. Also, if I wear heels for eight hours, I might not be able to walk for a week. Like I said sensitive feet.

Anywho, does anyone know anywhere that I can find blue flats for less than $50 online? I don't care about designers AT ALL. I just need some ideas. What do you think of my blue flats? Thanks everyone!

Wedding Meeting: Week 2

I decided that I would write about the general feel of our wedding meetings weekly (if I remember) because I would like a record of how they started, and if we get off course, then I have a record of what made it work and what didn't. 

This past week wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great. Josh forgot all about it, and so I had to remind him. The thing about this is that it's fine, but I want him to remember and want to talk about this stuff. I am sure that he will the closer it gets. In past posts I have talked about how it is so far away so it is hard to think that things that we talk about are not just speculation about our wedding one day. There is a day. It's set. It will be our anniversary for the rest of our lives (which is a weird realization in itself). So I understand where he is coming from, but, but I still want him to want to talk about it.

So this week I had made a breakdown of our budget and I shared it with Josh. I am not gonna lie, it's tight. And no, not cool tight. Tight tight. We CAN DO IT though. I have faith, and that was my question of the day for Josh. If I need reassurance about something I will ask him the same question over and over again to hear him say the answer. (Annoying? Immature? Oh well, it helps me.) 

So I ended up leaving the meeting generally feeling down. Hopefully next week will be better. Hope you all have a wonderful Tuesday!

Pretty Paper: Halloween!!

*If you haven't checked it out yet, please scroll down after finishing this post and take a look at my post from yesterday. Thanks!*

Happy Monday all! Happy Halloween! Since today is Halloween, I thought that I would leave you with Halloween-inspired Pretty Paper today (it's kinda fun to get away from wedding for a while). So today I bring you a Halloween party through paper!

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Such cute coasters and perfect for a Halloween bash!

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Halloween is here and I hope you have a wonderful day and evening. I for one hope that I am not subbing today, because that would be one hell of a day! Hope you are doing something fun. What are your plans for the holiday?

Handmade Ribbon Wreaths

Hello all. Here is what I have to say today.

It's that time of year again! Celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas, or even just the changing of the seasons with one of my beautiful handmade ribbon wreaths!

Each wreath is uniquely made up of hundreds of individual ribbons made of different material and color appropriate to the design. They are held together via pins and hot glue to make them sturdy, and they are perfect for indoor or outdoor decorations.

I can customize each one to make it fit whatever color or style you're going for, and I'd be happy to accommodate any special request that will make your wreath extra special! You are only held back by your imagination! If you know the general idea of what you want, but aren't sure how to make it extra special, I can offer a free email consultation.

Some customize-able options are your school or favorite team's colors, seasons, Christmas, Thanksgiving,  or you can add on embellishments (bells, ribbons, flowers, etc). The wreaths can hang inside your living room, outside your door, above a fireplace, or they can sit on your coffee or dinner table as a centerpiece. I can also make kissing balls or trees as well covered in simply ribbons or you can request anything flower-covered.

They make fantastic gifts as well (each member of my family received one last year and loved them!) for that special sports fan, craft lover, or your own home.

I offer affordable delivery, shipping, and gift wrapping options as well.

Please feel free to contact me for any info! I can provide quotes, answer questions, or email you pictures. :)

10" Christmas or Thanksgiving wreaths start at $30.00. But other sizes (smaller or larger), and embellishments are available. Paypal or cash are accepted.


You can tweet, email (ashley [dot] debisschop [at] gmail.com), message, or comment to get in touch with me if you are interested in gifting or purchasing one of my wreaths, kissing balls, or trees (or any shape that you can imagine). 


Also, please tell your friends and share! Thanks so much for all of your support and putting up with the slight interruption. We will now return to your regularly scheduled programming.

Happy Holidays! 

Happy Weekend... Almost!

Happy Almost Weekend, everyone! Hope you have a good Friday and Saturday and Sunday. Here are some of my plans for the weekend.

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That's spending some time with the man (not pumpkin picking, we did that two weekends ago), hot chocolate, and pumpkin chocolate chip bread. What are your plans for the weekend? Hope they are fun!

Overwhelmed!

As I write this post, I am somewhat panicking, so I am sorry if this becomes one big rant session. Here's the truth: I am terrified and overwhelmed. I am sure people are thinking right now, how can you be overwhelmed? You haven't done anything yet! Well, I find this to be the most overwhelming part. My plan is to take it one step at a time and try not to be stressed, but the hardest part for me isn't the projects and the planning, it's figuring out where to start.

I have no clue where to start. I don't know how to start finding vendors. I don't know everything that I am going to need. I don't know how to budget because I don't know what I will need. I am talking about little things, but the little things matter in my opinion. I don't know how I am supposed to find vendors in my budget. Google tends to yield zero results, I don't know anyone who has gotten married recently, and I don't really know what is available in Connecticut anymore. I have no problem calling tons of places, but I don't know how to find the names of those vendors. I am terrified I won't be able to find people that do a good job while still working within my budget. I know they are out there! How can I find them?

One of the biggest problems is that Connecticut is not a cheap place. It is expensive!! If I get someone not located in CT then it will be the same price because of travel costs. Ugh. If anyone has any advice, I NEED it. Badly. Really bady. Where do you find budget friendly vendors? Any Google technique tips?

Science Wedding Ideas!

This idea for a wedding was so amazing, come up with by on No Impact Bride. It was science themed and she did a fantastic job of putting together the theme throughout the wedding. I am a sucker for detail shots, so I will share a few with you here. This first one is my favorite!!

I love the glass balls hanging with flowers in them. It creates such a atmosphere.

Don't you just love it? No, only me? Well, in case you couldn't already tell from this blog, I am a super nerd and get excited about nerdy things. (See Pretty Paper this week, scroll down to the last picture.) This is such a good idea of you or your fiance are into science or do something related to science as a living. Ah, so cool! Go and check out the full inspirational post by No Impact Bride!!

Wedding Meeting: Week One

Wedding planning can consume me. Like, I sometimes think that there is something wrong with me because I can simply not think of anything else. This usually happens when I find an idea that is particularly inspiring or I am looking into vendors and like what I find. Unfortunately, usually my outlet is talking Josh's ear off about it. Now, he is a man that doesn't mind being involved in wedding planning, but he doesn't want to hear about it 24/7. It finally escalated to a disagreement that turned into a shouting match.

This is Josh when he comes home and I talk about weddings non-stop.

We decided that the best way to avoid this would be a "wedding meeting." We decided that one day a week for about an hour we would talk about wedding stuff. Today on the agenda was budget and date. We haven't officially set a date for the wedding yet. Whenever I would talk to vendors about pricing and services, I would either say summer of 2013 or just summer. I felt kinda embarrassed asking questions when it was so far in advanced. Today we finally picked a date, but haven't told many people to confirm it yet, so I am not going to post it here yet. But we are very excited. It is nice to finally know the date that we are going to get married. The feeling was similar to being engaged again, it was nice.

Second was budget. We had disagreed on the way to do a budget in the past. Today, I think that we finally found a way to do it in a way that we can both work with it. I am happy to say it was a successful first "wedding meeting."

I also don't think that I have posted what my budget is officially yet. I have thought about this a lot because I am not sure if I want everyone who reads this blog to know what I will be spending on my wedding, but then again, a big purpose of my blog is trying to do a budget wedding that is just as beautiful as ones that have generous budgets. So anyway, I decided to post it. My unofficial budget is $10,000. Not teeny, but not huge. I now pledge that I will have as gorgeous of a wedding as all of those that get published on other wedding blogs. So there!

Pretty Paper: Tags!

I owe all of my regular readers (assuming they still remember me) a big apology. I told you I was going to take a day off. I ended up taking a week off. It was fun, but I am sorry for not posting!! I have something for you today and an awesome wedding I found later on in the week! (Something to look forward to, I promise this time.)

Today on Pretty Paper we are going to talk about tags because I LOVE tags. They are awesome. I love to collect them, make them, look them up on Etsy, buy them, etc. Anything you could do with tags, I like to do it. Here are some that I found on Etsy that I really liked.

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These are adorable because they are in kraft paper, which I obviously love, but the bunting is so pretty!! Also I love that the string is twine. So beautiful.

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Both the one above and the one below would be good for a baby girl shower or a bachelorette party. I love the glitter, but I imagine it would go everywhere!

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The phone tag and hot air balloon tag have a vintage feel that isn't too over the top for me. Often I am not a big fan of REALLY vintage stuff, but these are modern enough for me to still enjoy them as a vintage tag. Very nice.

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And just because the sight of freshly sharpened pencils makes me happy, here you go.

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Hope you enjoyed Pretty Paper today! Happy Monday!

My Birthday

Today is my birthday so I am going to take a day off. Hope you all have a fabulous day!

Yum!

Pretty Paper: Knot and Bow

I decided to do something new today. I think that I am going to launch a series called Pretty Paper. Every Monday, I will post something about paper, whether it is a store that I love, invitations, menus, paper that I love, etc. Either way, it will be something that I love.

Today I am featuring a store on Etsy called Knot and Bow. And let me tell you, I am in L-O-V-E. As I look through the store, I rack my brain as to why I would need something that is sold here. I. Must. Have. Something. Let me show you what I am talking about.

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This is kraft tissue paper. It's recycled and amazing.

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When I first saw these library cards my thought was "I can use these in my classroom!!" Too bad I don't have one. Aren't they spectacular?

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These could be perfect for anything! And in so many colors!

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This is ribbon! How creative is that? How do you even make that?

I am just so in awe and I love the things that are in this store. There are no words to describe how spectacular these things are. Check it out sometime!

Wedding Favors

Originally, I was really dreading the idea of favors. It seemed like they were so expensive and something that your guests would just throw away or not use. I thought about doing the tired candy bar, or a donation, but I don't like either of those ideas.

I did some research and thinking and now this is one of the details that I have become obsessed with. I now have way too many choices for my own good. For someone who is already naturally indecisive, this is a nightmare. At least I have time to make up my mind. Here are some things that I am thinking.

I made a post about these last month, but I like them a lot. They are low cost and eco-friendly and easily transportable!

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I could put them in one of these cute bags with a stamp on it to make it pretty.

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Next up is he caramel apples. These serve as both a place card and a favor. I could put a label on the sticks so that it tells people their table as well as giving them something yummy. The only problem with something like this is that my wedding will not be during apple season, so it would be more expensive to buy them.

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Next is these awesome pencils that I found on Etsy. Josh thinks that they are cheesy, but I love them. He said that maybe if we could change them to things that related to us. I was also thinking that we could change the 'me and you' to 'Josh and Ashley.' But of course, these are things that I would need to email the seller about and not sure if she would even do it. But here they are.

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Next is mixed CDs. I thought that Josh and I didn't really have any songs that we would be able to add to it, but then I started thinking of songs from movies that we both enjoy or just songs that were playing during important moments in life, even if they aren't really 'our' songs. I also love these CD covers, so maybe I am just looking for an excuse to make these. Who knows.

I got this from Pintrest, but the user did not have a source.
Here is the link to the Pintrest picture, but I don't have an actual source.
Sorry.

This looks awesome too, but I am not sure how much work I want to put into something like this. I would rather put the work into another favor that I have just mentioned. But here they are.

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Or I could make the always comforting cookies and put them in a paper lunch bag.

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All of these are very cute and I like all of them and all are fairly inexpensive. Ahh, so many choices! What do you think? Tell me your thoughts.

Wedding Dress Woes: Part II

The last dress shop that we visited was a bridal shop called Pearls & Lace. We got the name from a waitress at a restaurant that we went to for lunch. It was a beautiful little place. I loved the feel and setting of it. They don't take appointments, so we went right when it opened and were there for two hours, with the shop to ourselves. It really made me feel like I would be getting married someday because my mom was there helping me into the dresses, rather than a consultant, just like it would be the day of. I liked that better, I think. But the store owner was very attentive and came over to lace up my dresses when I needed it and offer advice. Here are some pictures from that day.

At this point you are probably wondering why I named this post "wedding dress woes." 

As I was trying on dresses, I came across one that was GORGEOUS. It is not pictured here because it might be my dress. I can't give you any details about it because certain people read this blog. I didn't go shopping to find my dress really, just to find what looks good. This dress is something that I would never have picked for myself, but I tried it because we were just looking for the shape. 

Now you are probably thinking (assuming you know that I am poor), well, that's great! Just go back when you have saved up the money and purchase it. Congrats!

I would love to do that, and it would be the ideal situation, but this dress is discontinued. So the longer I wait the harder it will be to find. The dress has very unique aspects to it that I would probably not be able to find in another dress, so I couldn't really find one that was similar. So now I am left to think, is it really my dress? Is it possible to buy this dress this early and not be disappointed later on? Or will I realize that I only like it because it is something completely different from what my mind goes to when I think "wedding dress"? My wedding is so far away that it is quite possible that I could see another dress online or in a magazine and be convinced that I made the wrong choice. That would put us in a very difficult situation. I would be committing 100% to this dress, but am I really ready for that? 

Does anyone have any suggestions or advice? I really need some help with this!

[all photos are personal, courtesy of my mom]

Wedding Dress Woes: Part I

While my mom was here last week, we went dress shopping. It was pretty exciting, but didn't start out that way. Our first stop was David's Bridal. They were nice, but I was not impressed with their dresses. The fabric was not good and the prices were very inflated. However they did have some pretty designs. Here are some of my favorites.

Please don't look at my face and weird expressions. These pictures are to showcase the dress, not my weird-ness.

That trip left me feeling really down. I thought that I would never be able to afford a dress. At those prices and quality, that would be true. Luckily, I realized on our next trip that the prices were way inflated for the quality of the dresses.

Later in the week we went to a place called Blue Sky Bridal, which is a consignment shop for wedding dresses here in Seattle. They had a lovely store and a wonderful employee that helped me. If you are in the area, I strongly suggest that you visit this shop. Here are some dresses from the shop. Please excuse my chopped off head, bra straps (I was not prepared), and gloves (these are not part of the ensemble, they want you to wear them while you handle the dresses).

Hope you like the pictures. We visited one other dress shop, but I will post that one tomorrow, so check back tomorrow! Happy hump day!

[all photos are personal, courtesy of my mom]