Avens

My bouquet is 10" and the bm's are 7" My inspiration picture's was the photo below - but I wanted something more tropical (also I hate roses), so I wanted the plumeria instead of roses, and the pops of orange from the Vanda orchids.

I got my flowers in - yay! I ordered from Bloom Bridals. They are exactly what I wanted. Judy was great and re-arranged things a bunch of times (including one complete redo!). I'm very happy with them.

I ordered my flowers from Bloom Bridal based out of the Toronto area ( I think) My inspiration bouquet was this - but I wanted it to feel more tropical. I worked with Judy to design exactly what I wanted (She made about 3 small changes and one total redo for me). I'm pumped, FedEx says it should arrive anytime!

That is so awesome!! I love them, they look like little violets. Great work

Gorgeous! You look awesome!

I bought it off of Kijiji. It's actually a polyester satin type material I think - from googling washing wedding dress - the silk one looks like its a bit more intense to wash. The hem is sitll pretty dirty on mine, even after I washed it - but I need to hem it, so it'll get cut off anyways. I'm going to see how much it costs to get it hemmed, and if it's more than like $50 I think I'm going to try and do it myself. We just found out the FI is getting laid off on the 22nd (after he was commuting to work in Edmonton for 2 years, and we JUST moved here and bought a house. Seriously?), so until he finds something else, I don't really want to spend a ton of money on things! Below is the silk instructions I found that seemed the most detailed. "Silk wedding dresses are often treated with quite a bit of sizing to give the fabric body. Once you clean the dress by any means, the sizing goes and you may end up with a limper dress than you expected. If you can live with that, you can hand-wash a white pure silk dress in the bathtub in cool water with a mild dye-free liquid soap like Tide Free and very careful hand agitation. Do not use the washing machine or the dryer for any part of this whatsoever - either could ruin the dress. Try to use Tide Free liquid if you can get it. Powdered detergent, dyes, and even perfumes can leave a residue that can make your silk look dirty. So-called "gentle" detergents like Woolite and Zero are actually not as gentle as Tide Free and are usually more expensive per use. If your dress isn't pure white, first test an inconspicuous area to see if the dye runs. The inside of the hem near the side seam is a good place. Get a cup of cool water with a teaspoon or so of detergent, wet a clean rag, and blot the silk. If the dye runs, it can't be washed successfully. Otherwise, add about 1/4 cup of detergent to a full tub of cool water and gently lay the dress in the water, moving around gently to make sure the water gets to every thread. Let it sit in the wash water for a few minutes, then move the dress to the top of the tub and let the water run out. Rinse in cold water three times, filling the tub quite full with every rinse, moving the dress around gently to dislodge any soap, and letting the water run out of the tub; in the final rinse add 1/4 cup white vinegar - this will make the silk shinier, although it will never completely return the shine unwashed silk will have. Don't wring the fabric at any time. Let the water run out for about half an hour after the final rinse, then when as much water has run out as is possible CAREFULLY lift the dress out and place it on two or three large towels - however many you need to put it on - then roll it up carefully. Press gently to get out as much water as possible, then unroll and replace the towels. You'll probably need 15 towels or so (or dry the towels in between). Once the dress is no longer soaking wet but just damp, put down three or however many dry towels you need on a surface that won't be damaged by water, preferably in a warm room with ventilation. Place the dress on the towels. If you have a fan, let it run in the room. Replace the towels every three to six hours, carefully turning the dress over every time you replace them. Don't try to rush the drying by using a heater or a blow dryer. Once the dress is completely dry, it then needs to be pressed. Put your iron on its lowest setting and test the inside of the hem. You may need to go up to 2 or 3, but don't go too high and iron only on the wrong side. Don't add starch since this will only stain the silk."

Hey Ladies, I got my TTD dress in (the one for $100!) Luckily it fits! Just need to get it hemmed. I threw it in the washing machine on handwash, and that took most of the dingy out of it. We only took one picture (when I see it, I want to tell myself to stand up straight, shoulders back! I'll have to remember that for real pictures).

I think the other ladies are along the same lines JayKay. I would let them know the details for the actual wedding, but if you have already planned and paid for any extra activities (Catamaran, special dinner) that might not be able to be changed (or expensive to), I would let them know (or get the FI parent to let them know) that unfortunately it's already been planned. Same goes for OOT bags, if they're done - they're done! I might see if you could get them mugs or something (if you did that), but otherwise I wouldn't worry to much. I have one person that recently told me she's looking to come to, but still hasn't gotten back to me. Hopefully soon! Your post reminded me, so I just texted her. Also HOLY CRAP I LEAVE FOR MEXICO IN A MONTH !!

Here are my flowers from Bloom Bridal! They are great. exactly what I wanted (plus she threw in the free hair flower). It took a little longer than my original ship date, but I changed my main bouquet about 3 times (which Judy was happy to do until I was happy). I also got an assortment of loose flowers for decorations and to make corsages. Very happy!

Such a cute dress! I haven't seen anything like it before.

Hmm that is to bad they won't go on the cup straight - if they are like J and G's below, I think they look great! My writing is a little curved on the cups to, but I don't think people will really notice. I think it is nice to put people's name on them - the laminated tags might be the way to go! The label maker would also work to - I think as long as it looks pretty, and not like office labeling

We are doing it. My FI also hates pictures, but I showed him some and he knows how much I want to do it - so he agreed.

I bought Travel mugs (and bags) off of Oriental Trading. I ended up getting the "Design your own" travel mugs similar to these except mine were 6 for $5.24. Great deal! Getting 36 lanyards, mugs, bags and koozies including shipping and duty to Canada cost me about $120. I bought one of those books of scrapbooking paper pad from Michaels. This one, for 50% off for my personalizing. I cut out the happy inserts and then taped them to a piece of paper and ran them through my printer. It only took me a few hours to do all 32 of them, with some trial and error (and redo on spell mistake >.<). I'm quite happy with the results! This way they are personalized, super cheap if they get lost/left behind, and can still be used again. Another option for Canadian brides!

Congrats, and I echo Brenner! I always love reading your posts. Brenner's to for that matter.

I got my mugs in, and did some customizing! I originally was going to go get all the same paper - but when I was at Michael's I picked up one of those scrapbooking paper books with 120 sheets for half price and used that! I cut out the shape (made a tracer from cardboard) then taped them to the middle of a sheet of paper and put them through the printer Here's the final product of 6 of them.

Love the colour! I don't usually like roses, but I really like the multi coloured ones.

I love the skirt!! Good job!

I found a living social type deal as well, so it was a great deal! Lot of times photographers will have those deals and not advertise that they do boudoir - but if you check their websites, they sometimes do! I lucked out and found one that specialized. I paid $39 I think (and got 20 photos), but normally would have been $150 plus photos. Even that seems pretty inexpensive, I think because they are trying to build their portfolio. I've seen established places charge in the $500 range.

I bought a groupon for Photobook Canada and used that to make my boudoir book. I think it turned out pretty good! You can use a template, or just do whatever you want. Keep an eye out on those deal sites, I always see photobook ones! Picaboo, and a couple other ones are also on there often.

So I got a job today, *yay!* so I decided to pick up a secondhand dress I've been eyeing up - for $160! It's this dress - but the girl had some custom stuff done to it. So now I have a TTD and my mom and grandma will stop complaining The only bad part is, the dress is in Winnipeg - and I'm in Alberta so I'm buying it sight unseen. Hopefully it fits! Although if it doesn't, I'm sure I can sell it for at least that again.

It looks like I'll be able to glue the sides down a tiny bit, and that'll fix it! If you're ever in the Edmonton area, you can come try them! I'm in Leduc.

I just got my shoes in. Nina Hilaria in Apple Slice I love them! I searched for months for green flat sandals.

I did the aloe from avon too.

Depending how fancy you want, and if you have a smaller party- you can get personalized ones from Oriental trading at $20 per dozen. http://www.orientaltrading.com/personalized-red-can-covers-a2-42_2752-12-1.fltr?Ntt=koozie If you want unpersonalized ones - I picked up a couple packages on sale for $0.99 each. I figure I'll throw a sticker or something on them, then they're a blank slate for when people go home. Also if they get left behind, no worries!

At the risk of sounding like a creeper, you have good boobs in this dress, and a teeny waistline. I think its pretty - I know that was something I really looked for because I to am well endowed. Is there anyway you could add a flower or belt to it to jazz it up a bit? I know thats what I am doing - adding a different flower to the dress.