Decorations

A close friend of bryan and I's texted me today to say she picked up a clear vase. I had told her I wanted clear vases to put water and pears in, like this:

While I am sure the general design might change, I would like to put them in water and float candles on top. I think it would be very ecletic to have vases of different sizes and shapes as centerpieces on the table. In addition pears tie our color scheme together as well. I know much of our decorating will come from borrowing things from other people. My friend who just got married has told me that I can borrow some of the things she used for her wedding, I imagine that we will really save money on decor through repurposing things that our friends and family have.

If we are able to have our reception at the place I want to, it is very industrial inside, so to soften the look I want to string pink christmas lights from the ceiling. Having the pink above and green and the table will tie things together!

Now if only I could find prices on whole sale pears!

Rings

I have always said I didn't care about what kind of ring I was given, or if I even was given one. Now that the proposal event is coming up I am not sure if that is how I still feel. That is not to say that I am expecting a ring, especially not a fancy one, but it would be nice to have something pretty and shiny to show off at work and to my acquaintances.

I have looked at several. Even ones that could perhaps serve as a place holder so to speak until the actual ring is purchased, seem to be so expensive and the cost could go toward the cost of the ring I want. The thing is I don't really want to go about announcing it until I have something to serve as a symbol of the future, on the other hand I am horrible about keeping things to myself. I am thinking that if I could find a nice white gold band with a cubic zirconium that could be the best compromise.

Black diamonds are also a unique alternative. I feel like the cost, and style is something we can both agree on. While we were looking at rings I told the jeweler that I am not a jewelry snob.
this is true, but I would like something that is not only affordable but also noticeable.
I have been locking on overstock, and have found rings I like with positive reviews, but then in the back of my mind I am worried about quality.
In my socially conscious mind I want to check out antique stores, flea markets, pawnshops and craigslist. This would not only avail me to less expensive rings, but I would also know that I am not directly support blood diamond industry.

Wedding

Since our announcing the engagement publicly is still a few months away, their needs to be money for the engagement ring and a couple other things taken care of before we feel comfortable announcing it to the public. The wedding is even further, we are hoping for sometime around may 31st. Since we are wanting to have a beautiful wedding at low budget it can't be to early to start thinking of unique ways to do the traditional. I can tell by the number of, budget bride, blogs out there that money is tight and while wedding costs are going up there is still a strong market place that wants to have an affordable day that they or their parents won't be paying back for years after the wedding.

I know that our color scheme will be pink and green, I have always wanted to use pink and green, now it is to figure out what shade! It is hard to get a feel for how the colors will come out when just looking at them online, but here are some pallets I found:

This one I found from weddingsnystate.com










This next one I saw at stylisheventsblog










I actually saw the invites in the top left hand corner on a budget invite site. I also plan on using pears within the theme of the wedding reception because I think they, or hope they will be cheaper than flowers.

So far we believe we have a free venue, we just have to purchase food from them. I haven't spoken with them recently, it might end up being cheaper for us to bring in our own food and pay them for usage than to have the venue cater . I also am not sure about the ceremony site. I wanted to have it at a church that has been converted to a historical landmark, but I can not justify spending $400-$600 for a 45 minute event. Having it at the venue is not an option either, nor is doing it outside because I get heat rash in the summer months. Given my area, it is important for us to decide where we want to have the wedding and put deposits down sooner rather than later.

Wedding

After much debate editing and generally being annoyed at the blogging world I have settled on blog spot. I had started a tumblr account and I dearly love the idea that it automatically adds tags and it is so easy to post things I love through a simply click of my tool bar. I just don't feel that it is as user friendly as I had hoped, and I could not get the disqus comments to work the way I wanted them. This is supposed to be a fun adventure, and I may revisit tumblr or incorporating this and tumblr, but for now I will use the two separately and perhaps cross post often. In case you were wondering the link for that is mlbk.tumblr.com . I will be posting fun unique and interesting things I find on there.

It seems like I have talked about everything except for what led me to this blog creating! Here goes (cross posted from my tumblr)

After being together for almost 3 years, the boyfriend and I have finally decided to get married, we love each other, support each other and enjoy spending time together. Getting married just seems to make sense. We met about 2.5 years ago through friends and he invited me to a party he was throwing his then 6 year old daughter. It took me several wrong turns and many frustrated phone calls later but I finally made it.

We saw each other several times after that but it wasn’t until a friends birthday party in either August or September that we really spent time together. A few weeks after that we went to a party together and then started officially dating the weekend on Halloween 2007.

The past 3 years have been full of ups and downs yet we always ended up back together. So we are looking forward to planning our wedding and getting married next year on memorial day weekend.

I have recently started a master’s program and he is attempting to enroll in a local university to pursue a nursing degree. This wedding will have to be a very budgeted wedding but we think that we can everything we want for under $5000.

Some of the things I may post to this site are because I think they are cute, charming, over the top or perfect. I am planning for a classic late afternoon wedding followed by a contemporary reception.

I created this account as a way to bookmark our thoughts and ideas and allow family, friends, and other readers to share their comments and suggestions!

I am sure their will be days when I post several new ideas, pictures and songs that inspire me, and then days where I don't post anything. Alright lets get started!