When one door closes...

Jorge Manuel just announced the winner of the 'Once Upon a Star' and unfortunately it is not us.  Congratulations to Jeanine Lalonde and her fiance Marc!  We wish you all the best in your wedding planning adventure.

While we are disappointed not to have won, we do have other exciting news to share.  James and I are also contestants in a contest to win awesome cake toppers!!! Check out our story over at Bunny with a Toolbelt!

Image Credits: Bunny with a Toolbelt

Aren't they adorable?!? Other couples will be featured on the site over the next month (you can still enter).  Then from May 2nd to the 7th, there will be voting for the best story.  Mark you calendars now! We'll also remind you when that time comes!  Wish us luck!

Will you be my bridesmaid?

I wanted to do something special for the girls that I was going to invite to be in my bridal party.  As I was cruising through all my wedding blogs and perusing Etsy sites, I saw some really cool ideas for bridesmaid invitations.  I ultimately decided to go the DIY-route and decided that it would only be proper to ask my bridesmaid to join in on this journey with a ring.  After all, this whole "wedding" thing started with a ring!  I then had to decide what kind of ring.  I was looking through ring options online when I saw a locket ring.  It stuck out to me because one of my bridesmaids, Tara, has a very important locket and she gave each of us (i.e. her bridal party) a beautiful locket as a bridesmaid's gift.  So, I decided to figure out how to make a locket ring.  Here is a sneak peak at the end result:

Materials:

Adjustable Silver Tone Ring Blank

Silver Plated Photo Locket Charm

Jewelry/metal glue

Photo

Instructions:

1) Bend the pendant section back and forth so that it comes off the charm.  Make sure that there are no sharp edges.

2) Spread a small amount of glue on the ring blank and place it in the center of the bottom of the locket charm.  Make sure that the hinge lines up with the ring itself.

3) Rest the glued sections so that the locket is on the table and the ring balances on top and let the glue dry.  Most jewelry glues recommend 48 hours before wearing the material.

4) Take the picture you want included in the ring (in my case, I provided my bridesmaids with a photo of her and myself as well as a photo of her and her significant other) and reduce it down so that it is .75 inches wide (or slightly smaller if you plan on laminating the photo)

5) Print the photo and cut it into a circle with a .75 inch diameter (or slightly smaller if you are laminating).

Optional: I took my photos to Staples to have them laminated so that if the girls forgot and washed their hands with the ring on, the photo would not be destroyed.

Note: Jewelry glue can be used to secure the photo inside the locket.  I chose not to do this as I gave each girl two photos that could be used in the locket.

I put the ring in a handmade origami box made with wedding-themed scrapbooking paper (purchased from Jo-Ann Fabrics).  I gave this to my girls along with a "Will you be my bridesmaid?" card as well as a Bridesmaid Information card (the names, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses of the other bridesmaids and my mom).  Since this was right around Valentine's Day and I had to fill the whole box for mail delivery, I also included some conversation heart candies.

For more ideas on bridesmaid invitations see...
Blogs
Emmaline Bride Spools
Belly Feathers Lemon Love
Once Wed Chain


Etsy Vendors (just a few of the many options)
AnistaDesign
Flapperdoodle
yourhappilyeverafter
OccasionsCreations
tinkermel3

Exciting News!

I had hoped to be writing posts more often but grad school life is busy (even over our spring "break)!  James and I had planned on going to Flagstaff this week to check out our final venues (which I haven't posted on yet...stay tuned).  We ended up rescheduling though because James's band, Japhys Descent, is playing in Flagstaff the next weekend.  So, we are trying to combine that trip with venue visits.  I will post pictures and information when we return.

In other updates though, I wanted to let you in on some exciting news.  First of all, I won a fabulous wedding cake banner from the awesome Ready Go Paper Studio, courtesy of Glamour and Grace blog!!!!

Image Credits: Ready Go Paper Studio

This was a wonderful win and was a great way to start this week!  It only got better though because I also found out that I am one of five semi-finalists in Jorge Manuel's Once Upon a Star Contest!!!!  If I win, I will get an absolutely amazing, beautiful Jorge Manuel dress!!!!!!!!!!!!!  The dress is a strapless ball gown made with taffeta floral detail fabric and silk satin hand-made encrusted bias flowers with hand-embroidered seed bead crystals and a crystal center at bodice with a silk-satin bias sash at waist.  I could totally rock out this dress!!!!

Image Credits: Jorge Manuel Blog

To say I am excited about the Jorge Manuel dress is an understatement!!  Wish me luck!  The winner will be announced on March 30th.  Until then, they will be posting information about the semi-finalists so tune in!

More giveaways

I have entered some more giveaways that I wanted to share with you...

The Alternative Wife is giving away a beautiful kimono robe from Plum Pretty Sugar

Weddzilla is giving away a copy of the book Bridesmaid on a Budget and disposable cameras.

Weddingbee is giving away a beautiful dress and necklace from Shabby Apple.

Project Wedding is hosting a competition with Weddington Way to win 5 free bridesmaid dresses.

Glamour and Grace is giving away a free awesome cake topper from Ready Go!

And there is also a chance for free wedding photography from Simply Sublime!

If you know of other contests, please share in the comments!