Sensational Centerpieces

One of the DIY projects I am most looking forward to is our centerpieces! We are going for a reception room that is romantic beach elegance. The room will be all white with hints of gold. Candles will give a soft glow. To illuminate the room, the centerpieces will be candles.

I have found so many inspiring photos on the web. I originally wanted one large hurricane vase, filled with a little sand, an off white candle, and a starfish. Something similar to the picture below. Image from: Shore Chic

Then I saw the image below and thought I must add lots of votives around the main hurricane centerpiece.
Image from: Jennifer Dery

Then I saw this image and thought, I must add a few white shells at the base, with the sand. it seems like my centerpieces are ever evolving.

Image from: Brides.com
Lastly, I saw Mrs. Lemon's amazing centerpieces, and it got me thinking, should I do clusters of candles? Then my mom told me to quit while I'm ahead. I really love my simple candle arrangements, although Miss Lemon's are amazing. I think I'll stick with my original idea...well and the additions! I already have the hurricanes on order, so it looks like I'm committed to the idea!

Image from: Mrs. Lemon of Weddingbee

Are your centerpieces florals, candles or something completely unique? How did you decide what to do? Where do you get your inspiration?

2 More Days

2 More Days for the Sale!

I'm planning on using this for table number, Save the date and card making supplies.

What will you use it for?

Music Mondays: The Dollar Dance

I have never heard of or seen the Dollar Dance until my cousin's wedding in summer 2008. I have to say, it was so much fun! Since their wedding and my engagement I have heard different versions of the dollar dance. I think it varies by culture and/or region.

My cousin's DJ had each guest give a dollar or whatever they had to the couple to help them celebrate their first night on their honeymoon, hoping to get enough for a few cocktails and dinner. I think they got enough for a couple nights on the town! People had so much fun and were really generous.

Each guest held up their bill/s while one chosen guest from each table danced around to get the money. The DJ had a few other things going on in-between, but eventually the dancing guest from each table and the person to their left had to participate in the Soul Train. They had to dance down the soul train, until they reached the DJ to give the money for the bride and groom.

Above, Future BIL Newport and Mr. Newport were the lucky chosen ones from our table!
Here is their version of the soul train!
We had plenty of laughs at that wedding. The money dance just added to the fun.

Some people think it is tacky to ask for money at your wedding, but honestly, it's a dollar. It's fun and it helps the couple enjoy a night out on their honeymoon. I think it also depends on your crowd for whether or not you include this. Some people are for it and some are against.

Have you ever been to a wedding with a dollar dance? What do you think?

Willl you.......swing me around?

When Mr. Newport proposed, pretty soon after he just picked me up and started swinging me around on third beach (The Beach in Middletown , RI, where we had our proposal picnic). He's done it many times before then and many times after, but now every time he does it, it brings me back to those exciting few moments shortly after he proposed. The excitement. the Happiness. Pure Joy. Inexplicable. Undeniable. Most Amazing Moment of My Life. (So far).

When we were deciding on the where and when for our e-shoot, I knew for sure, we had to include third beach as a location and I wanted to re-create that moment.

Well, we did and it brought me back all over again.

Is there anything that reminds you of the moment your fiance proposed? Does it still bring back all the feelings you had when he asked you to be "THE ONE"?

*Photo credit: David Bibeault

Great Minds Think Alike

I previously posted about Rascall Flat's "My wish" as a Father Daughter dance.... little did I know, it was a front runner for FMIL Newport as well.

I called her on Mother's Day to wish her a happy day, when she told me she got Rascall Flat's tickets and was considering it as a mother-son song. I guess great minds think a like! Luckily I have many options I'm considering. I think I'll end up giving my dad a CD with songs I like and let him choose.

How did you decide on your father/daughter dance song choice?

Bachelorette Question?

I have a friend, who happens to be one of my bridesmaids, and she sent me a text this past weekend asking who pays for the bachelorette party (not related to my wedding, she has another wedding this summer). Although I have never been in a wedding, and I'm not sure where I got this from, but I always though the bridesmaids pay for themselves and split the cost of the bride, then other guests attending pay for themselves.

My BM responded that she thought that it was tacky to ask guests to pay for themselves and she thought bridesmaids should pay for everyone. Her reasoning was, a bridesmaid wouldn't ask a guest to pay their way for a shower, so why is this different?

As someone who has never been to a bachelorette party, I'm a bit stumped. I've always assumed each girl paid their own way, except of course the bride. I feel like I must have read this somewhere.

What do you think, is it the bridesmaid's responsibility to pay for everyone in attendance? What have your experiences been?

Beach Bums

"No matter where you travel, you will never be able to shake the sand out of your flip flops, nor the ocean from your soul...." -anonymous

Mr. Newport wanted to get some shots on the beach. Not just any beach, but the beach where he proposed. It is beautiful, romantic and secluded which helped since we didn't have to work around people on the beach. It was practically empty.

This wasn't by coincidence. We actually planned our shoot around Newport's busy schedule.I went online and looked up all upcoming events on the Go Newport* calendar, I then checked Salve's graduation date, Salve's summer session start date, and then we had a one week time frame to get the photos in!

We chose May for the lack of students and the lack of tourists, which left us with excatly one week to get the photos without the hassle.

The beach was pretty secluded, no tourists yet!

All photos credited to: David Bibeault

Did you plan the timing of your engagement shoot around other events?

*Go Newport is a website that gives tourist information related to Newport, RI. The calendar gives information on everything from events like the Boat Show, Restaurant Week, to plays in the area. It is a great resource, if you plan to visit