Drop Us a Line

I've always loved getting snail mail. There's just something fun about getting mail that isn't a bill or junk mail, which is all we seem to get these days.

As wedding planning has progressed, our mail box has seemed to be full of fun mail- wedding purchases, wedding gifts, shower gifts, congratulations cards, response cards.... I love coming home to check the mail every day. But realistically I know this will all stop post wedding. But, I think I've found a way to keep the fun mail coming.

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I've been obsessed with the idea of post cards instead of a guestbook for some time now. I've seen quite a few brides do this everywhere from Style Me Pretty to other blogger bees in the Hive.

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When I first saw this idea I thought it was fun, but it wasn't until I saw images from my favorite wedding ever that I knew we had to do it at our wedding. The Bride asked her mother to send the postcards throughout her and her husband's first year of marriage. That is what sold me. I have a whole other year of looking forward to snail mail! I didn't think I'd get this excited about a guestbook, but I really hope everyone fills out a card.

Are you excited for your guestbook? What makes you excited about it?

Newport Attire

I've been looking for the perfect outfits for our week in Newport. Then last night I stumbled upon the Lily Pultizer Endless Summer Sale. When I think Newport attire, I typically think preppy or nautical. You can't really get more preppy than Lily Pulitzer. So I went on a little shopping spree. I originally wanted this Betsey dress for one of our bridal showers, but wouldn't pay the original $328.00, but once it hit the sale rack I had to have it. I think it will be perfect for our morning after brunch. Since it will be cool in Newport in October, I'll just need to pair it with a cute sweater.
And I got another dress that will need to be paired with a cute sweater. Mr. Newport loves me in pink, but I'm usually not a fan. But I love this dress and think it will be perfect for the bridesmaid luncheon.There was a special if you spent over a certain amount on your purchase, you got a free pair of sandals. I was sold! I chose the gold, since they'll go with both of the dresses above. Lastly, I got something a little more practical for Newport's October weather, one of Lily's Murfee scarfs. It will be perfect for walks along the water during our mini-moon.

Unfortunately, I think the sale ended last night, I would have shared early, if only I knew.

Did you go on any shopping sprees for "wedding" related attire?

I Flip for Flip Flops

I live in flip flops. I bring my own pair of flip flops to most weddings and leave them in the car, just in case. Heels+Dancing=pain. I'm no fun when I'm in pain. So I love going to weddings with flip flop baskets, it means more dancing and fun. The first time I saw this was at a family friend's wedding and I thought it was the best idea ever! She actually did cute slip ons instead of flip flops, but it was amazing. The idea has stuck with me ever since. I've seen it at a few more weddings since then, and I'm hoping it will turn into a wedding classic. So of course, it is a must have for our wedding. I waited for Old Navy's annual flip flop extravaganza. Annually, they have a flip flop sale, where their classic flip flops are a $1 a pair! I needed lots of navy and white, I sat down one night and tried to figure out how many to get in each size. Mr. Starfish asked what I was doing and wanted to know why the guys don't get any flip flops? Ha. I went back to my count and prepared for the next morning.

I ended up getting about 26 pairs. Not enough for all the women, but I've noticed it's usually only the younger guests who take advantage of this anyways. So I hope the number is good. We tried to consider feet sizes of guests. A little hard to estimate!

Starfish Mom and I spent a couple hours on Sunday morning watching My Fair Wedding and Amazing Cakes while labeling all the flip flops. It was an easy project, which involved printing the numbers, punching out the numbers, punching the backing, punching a hole for ribbon, and then tying the ribbon. Super easy! I hope guests will use them and spend more time on the dance floor!
Are you providing flip flops or flats for your guests? How many did you purchase and how did you determine what sizes to get?

Step by Step

I've read a few posts and comments on the boards from bees a bit apprehensive about tackling diy invites. I thought a step by step breakdown could be helpful. It won't be the same for everyone, but here was my experience:

1. Get ideas on what goes into making your own invitations. I of course looked to the Bees on this one. Mrs. Cupcake had a great post with 12 steps to creating diy wedding invitations. I've been in love with her invitation suite and found her tips super helpful.
2. Look for inspiration. I wasn't exactly sure what tye of invitation we'd like, so I started looking for inspiration on the web. I was looking for navy, nauitcal, simple, but a little embellished. I looked on photographer blogs, weddingbee, weddingbeePRO, and did some google searches. I fell in love with the invitation suite below by Etsy seller BrassPaperClip, but knew I'd need to do a simpler design.
3. Decide on a design. After gathering inspiration, it was time to narrow down our design. We wanted our invitations to be a preview of our wedding, so we included our wedding colors and gave them a casual, but classic feel.
4. Purchase and gather materials. For us, this included main envelopes, invitation cards, invitation backing cards, reception cards, rsvp cards, rsvp envelopes, calligraphy address stamp,white ink, embossing powder, embossing heat tool, white gel pens, and navy and white baker's twine. This included a few trips to Paper-Source, Michaels, and online shopping.
5. Choose a program to design the invite. I've worked with Adobe InDesign, Adobe PageMaker and Microsoft Word. I debated getting the free trial at home at one of the first two, but felt most comfortable with Microsoft Word. It's simple, and that's what we were looking for.
6. Pick wording- another element that requires research. This includes wording for the invitation, reception card ad rsvp card. I found great inspiration using the invitations tag. I was having a hard time especially with the rsvp wording, but found great inspiration from Mrs. Tiramisu's post. Her wording was so perfect for a semi destination wedding!
7. Get the ok from parents on wording- you don't want to offend anyone. If your parents are paying, the invitation wording will be different than if you are paying or the groom's family is paying, or if everyone is contributing.
8. Get to work- after all the research and choosing a program, get in there and get it done!
9. Proof read and get a few people to look it over for spelling and other things that could be cleaned up. I hadn't spaced out two lines on the response card well enough, and unfortunately, I didn't notice it until half way through the printing.
10. Print out invites. If your home computer printer is capable of this, you can print from home, but not all printers can handle smaller paper sizes. Look into the specs of your printer before doing so- as you may have a printer casualty like me, if the printer can't handle it. If your printer isn't capable, look into pricing of online print companies or local printers in your area.
11. Add embellishments- Emboss details, add backing, or other embellishments. We embossed starfish on the main invites and added twine after step 12.12. Assemble invites- this is one step that you can recruit friend to help with!
13. Find a calligrapher- make sure to book early. If you plan to do diy calligraphy, test out different pens in advance. Find one you like, and then sample different writing stlyes on the envelopes you plan to use to get a real feel for how it will look.
14. If you go diy with the calligraphy, or if you want to save a bit while still hiring a calligrapher, stamp personalized address stamps on the response envelopes and stamp your return address on the main invitation envelopes.

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15. Deliver envelopes to calligrapher and pick up upon completion. Make sure you schedule it with enough time for assembly after the calligrapher is done, before you are set to mail them out. 16. Weigh a completely assembled and sealed wedding invitation. I've heard people test this at multiple post offices. I just weighed two at the same post office, and sent two test invites to family memebers to make sure they arrived safely.
17. Purchase postage. Once you know how much is needed, purchase stamps for both the outer envelope and the response card envelopes. I love zazzle custom stamps, but I was too cheap and found lighthouse stamps via http://www.usps.com/. They still fit our theme. I think the post office has gotten better about including fun designs. I am in love with the current LOVE stamp.
18. Add stamps to the outer envelopes and response card evelopes.

19. Close up envelopes- Seal envelopes with envelope sealer.
20. Drop your invites in the mail and be really excited that you have this checked of the to do list.21. Wait for responses to come rolling in!

While it seemd like a simple process, a lot really does go into it!

Would you consider making your own invitations?

Matching Maids

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I love fun getting ready photos, especially ones where the bride and bridesmaids coordinate.

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The Hive's Katiebirdbee

Our group is known to make matching shirts for lots of different events. We've done it for:

Sister Newport's bachelorette

my bachelorette Running of the Brides a food festival in Boston

A couple months into our engagement I bought some coordinating outfits for the morning of. We're all getting ready together in Newport Mom's suite, so it will be a fun touch and it'll look really cute in photos. I found an idea a little different than our standard t-shirts, but you'll just have to wait until after the wedding to see!

Are you wearing coordinating outfits with your bridesmaids on the morning of your wedding?

Last fling Before the Ring, part 2

After a night walking all over the city, the Newport Girls planned a relaxing day. We slept in and didn't have anything scheduled until 2:00, which I learned would be an afternoon tea at the Ritz Carlton.
I love tea! But, I loved this tea even more because it wasn't your traditional afternoon tea, instead it was a special tea, which had cupcakes instead of the traditional fair. Each of us had a cupcake flight with five different flavors including:

• Lemon Tree Cake - Lemon cake and lavendar vanilla cream
• Basque in the Sun- Basque cake with cream and cherries
• Devil Made Me Do It- Devils Food cake and icing
• Remember Me?- Pineapple upside down cake
• Peaches and Cream- Almond cake, lemon time peaches, marscapone

They also had an amazing selection of teas with so many fun flavors like Pear Caramel, Masala Chocolate Truffle, Vanilla Bean, Verbena Mint Chrysanthemum and so many more. I was boring and got my usual organic breakfast. If I'm being really crazy, sometimes I'll go for Earl Gray.Newport Mom was babysitting for the weekend, but we wanted to include her in the fun, so we stopped by to see her and Little Newport on the common.

Little Starfish is walking and ready for her big role as show stealer in the wedding. I think she's the most adorable thing in the world.
After tea and some time on the common, it was time to head back to the room and nap. Friday was supposed to be low key, but after staying at the RattleSnake until close the night before, we knew we needed to get some more rest before night 2. So after a quick nap, it was time to get ready.

The Newport Girls had pizza delivered from the UpperCrust, a favorite local pizza chain in the Boston area. I was so excited for a slice of Buffalo chicken and one of Bacon before heading out. After food and prepping, the Newport Girls hung out for a bit in our hotel room at the Copley Westin. Then it was time to start our night.Stop 1: Top of the Hub- a super nice restraunt in Boston.
I had never been and was so excited. The Top of the Hub has amazing views of the Boston sky line. I should have taken a pciture, but was having too much fun to think about it!
We had cocktails and calamari. Then it was off to Dance! I hoped dancing would be involved and the Newport Girls didn't disappoint. They took me to the Estate, which is where they also hosted our engagement party last year.There was lots of dancing! My feet hurt for the next two days from the mix of dancing and heels, but it was completely worth it! At the end of the night, we tried to hail a cab, but a party bus offered to take us home for $5 each. It was another surprise ending to the night, but so fun!

The weekend was so incredible and has me so excited for the wedding weekend. I appreciate every detail that went into this weekend. They included so many of my favorite things....friends, family (a few cousins met us out on night 2!), chocolate, pedi cabs, nautical details, matching shirts, scrapbooking, dancing, a piano bar, cupcakes, diy projects, tea and more! I've never felt so spoiled in my life. The Starfish Girls planned an amazing weekend. Their coming up early for the wedding, so I'm looking forward to our next weekend of fun together!

Did you girls plan a whole weekend of fun? Did they incorporate any of your favorite things at your bachelorette?

Veil Love

I was so indecisive about my dress in the beginning, but once I put on a veil, I felt like a Bride. I felt classic and romantic and knew I needed to wear one on the wedding day. I tried on a few kinds, but nothing felt as special as the cathedral length styles.

I don't think any other veil compares when it comes to a Rhode Island coastal wedding. I love photos of veils blowing in the ocean breeze. It looks so magical and romantic.

The cathedral length is perfect with the dress and perfect with the location.

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I originally wanted embellishments on the veil, a bit of lace at the bottom, but there is something just breathtaking about a simple white tulle veil.

Are you wearing a veil? What style was perfect for you?

Mr. Traditional

I know I'm a traditional Girl (as much as you can be while being a liberal), but I never really knew how traditional Mr. newport was until we started planning our wedding. We've been dating for almost 7 years and he's always been a go with the flow kind of guy, but when it's come to our wedding, he's way more involved than I was expecting. I was thinking he'd say, "whatever you want" to pretty much everything, but I've been suprised to see that he has definite ideas about certain things.

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For one, he does not want to see my dress before the wedding. We have it hanging in our house, mainly because I know he cares more about him not seeing it than I do. This also goes with the first look. It's something I'd consider if we didn't have a catholic gap between our ceremony and reception, he on the other hand would not have considered it at all. He wants to see me for the first time as I walk down the aisle. So we will be sleeping in different hotel rooms the night before, so he doesn't catch a glimpse of me on the wedding day until I walk down the aisle. He also really wants "people" cake toppers, because "you have to have them" (I'm not so sure about this).

Earlier this week I asked him about ceremony music, and he looked at me confused, like why do we need to discuss this? The Bride walks down to "Here comes the Bride"? I had to explain there are many more options, but I always envisioned walking to this, so the choice was pretty easy. We're still working on the rest of the ceremony.

After two years of planning, I've definitely come to see a different side of Mr. Newport. His usual "whatever makes you happy" attitude was replaced with, "but these are traditions" attitude. Not really what I was expecting. I just always assumed he followed traditions because I did, so it was fun to learn they are important to him, too. Although, if one of us is really opposed to a tradition like the garter toss, we say "whatever makes you happy", and skip the traditions that don't make sense for us.

Did you see another side of your fiance during the planning process?

Last fling Before the Ring

Last Friday, I spent the night with the Newport Girls on a treasure hunt! The Newport Girls planned an amazing weekend and it kicked off with a very appropriate nautical theme. They thought of a million fun details for everything from the room decorations to our outfits to every event througout our two day weekend. I was greeted with the shirt above, some accessories and a book which included clues that brought me all over downtown Boston in search of some bachelorette fun. Bridesmaid E hand painted glasses for each girl, which included images of anchors, sail boats, sand dollars and the date of the bachelorette weekend.
Bridesmaid E got super crafty again and made me a "Bride to Be" t-shirt and each of the bridesmaids t-shirts titled "Miss Newport's Anchors". She printed off the images on transfer sheets and put them on the shirts. I've never been on any type of scavenger hunt, so I had so much fun following clues all night. If you've been following along, you may know I really don't like surprises, but my bridesmaids proved me wrong because I had so much fun and didn't know anything until right before it was supposed to happen.

Clue one is pretty easy to figure out.

It was successful.

The clues brought me all over the city. Here is clue #2: We ended up at Sweet Bakery! A few of us tried their delicious cupcakes. Bridesmaid L1 and me went for the carrot cake, the cream cheese frosting is awesome! And since most of the girls worked that day and wanted to stay up for the night, they made a red bull stop, too.

I could not figure out clue #3, but it ended up being a chocolate shop on Newbury Street with exotic chocolates. Unfortunately they had literally shut their doors as we walked up, and I dont think they wanted to make an exception for a bachelorette party.

Clue 4 was super cute, as it reminded me of the amusement park Mr. Newport and I worked at during our summers in college. We ended up heading to Boston Common for a ride on the carousel.

After the carousel ride, I had to find a man in uniform to take a photo with. It wasn't too hard, since there was an office and park ranger about two feet away.

After the quick photo op, it was on to clue 6. A Boston staple, or tourist attraction, Cheers! My friends and I loved this place in highschool and went for everyone's celebrations, so it was fun to have it included as a stop on our hunt. We ended up getting lots of fried food, which was amazing, but not so amazing for the wedding diet. Actually nothing about this weekend was diet friendly, but so worth it!

Another clue led us to pedi cabs, which I love! Our drivers borrowed a couple of our stunna shades and drove from Cheers to fanueil in them. Pretty impressive as I couldn't walk two feet with them on. My absolute favorite bar in Boston, Jake Ivories which was a dueling piano bar closed last year. But, the Newport Girls found Jacob Wirths which has a piano sing along on Friday nights. We had so much fun singing along to Journey's Don't stop Believin and other songs. My favorite was getting the pianist to play "Goin to the Chapel". We belted that one!Jacob's was intended to be the last stop, but after so much fun we weren't ready to sleep. The night progressively got more fun as we went. We stopped at one more bar on the way back to our hotel and danced until closing. And this was just night one!Did you have multiple stops during your bachelorette?