acireta

welcome back and congratulations! I'm not surprised everyone loved them, you did an amazing job!

thanks for the kind words, ladies! it was a bit pricy and time-intensive, but worth it in the end. awesome! do it! let me know if you have questions as you go through, but really its all just trial and error. good luck!

Love your stuff so far! All of your diy posts have been inspirational so far. Question- was your first date at bertucci's? My bridesmaid has worked there at white flint forever! Just wonderin' :-)

wow, they look great! I will definitely give them a call! Thanks much for the recommendation!!

thanks for the suggestion, Alicia, I'll check them out!

Kristen, those are GORGEOUS!!

Steph, your bags are awesome! After seeing all of your DIY posts over the past few months, I knew your stuff would come together well, but WOW! Nice work. You are an inspiration! I hope we don't have many guests so I can afford to do the speakers. Can I please come to your wedding and get one of these bags!? LOL

Thanks! I do feel a bit overwhelmed lol if I were shopping in Chicago, I'd know exactly where to go, where to avoid, etc. But its been so long since I lived in Maryland, I'm clueless! Time to make some calls! At least I have some time before I head out there. If any DC/MD girls know any places I should avoid, please let me know! Much appreciated!

So I grew up in Maryland, but have lived in Chicago for almost 10 years. My two bridesmaids are still in Maryland, and they want me to come visit them to go dress shopping - it's easier for my mom and I to get there than it is for them to come here. But I have no idea of dress shops out there! Does anyone from Maryland or DC have suggestions? We'll be staying in the Rockville area, but we'll be willing to travel as far as Annapolis or Baltimore. Also, I know of a plus-size bridal shop in the Chicago burbs, is there anything like that in MD/DC? Thanks for any suggestions! I'm so clueless about where to start looking or making appointments!

Personally, I would want to be consistent - both in ivory or both in white. Depending on the shades, it could possibly make your dress look yellow compared to his white shirt. Just my opinion, but I always say "go with your gut" on decisions like this!! It will be a beautiful day regardless of the shade - but hopefully you'll have some shade so you wont be too hot (haha sorry I'm a bit punny today LOL) BTW, that dress is STUNNING!

Same to you, Brenners!! Well put!

Ick you are nasty. We have the same invite list for the wedding and for the AHR, specifying no gifts on invitations and our website. Trolls fit better on theknot. Go over there.

I think I like the second one slightly better, but I found that a circle monogram worked better for most of our purposes, so I guess it really depends on what works best with your invites and programs, etc.! Good luck with the choice, I love your colors!!

You can download tapatalk. I know bdw is compatible with that app, and it works on many other forums also!

they're beautiful and a great price too! they look very professional. nice work!!

Thanks, girls! My bridesmaids like them and are happy so I'm happy :-) I might end up swapping the ribbon color depending on their dresses, we'll see!

Are you serious?!? Thank you so much! She will be so incredibly happy I can't even tell you! PMing you now!

Thank you so much, ladies!! I can't wait to use it! Everytime I open the closet that it's stashed in, I smile a little

i have an unhealthy obsession with metallic paper - i love these! nice job!

they are beautiful! you did a really great job!!

I only have two bridesmaids, and I decided to make their bouquets since I wanted something that coordinated with my brooch bouquet. Supplies to make 2 bridesmaids bouquets: (3) 10†real touch cymbidium orchid bouquets (http://www.afloral.com/10-Cymbidium-Orchid-Bouquet-in-Green-Burgundy) 14 real touch calla lilies (from Hobby Lobby) 2 bunches plastic grass stuff (not sure of the name, I’m sorry! From Hobby Lobby) Glass beads on stems (http://www.afloral.com/10mm-Faceted-Bouquet-Beads-in-Silver-12-Pieces) 18†20-gauge green wire Floral tape Scissors Needle-nosed pliers Wire cutters Glue gun Ribbon for handles Pins Rhinestone initials, $1 each in the Oopsie section (www.bouquetjewels.com) Each bridesmaid’s bouquet got 7 callas and 13-14 orchids, a rhinestone initial and 7 of these grass/bead swoopy things. 1. For each of the grass-bead swoops, I took two pieces of grass and one glass bead on 12†wire, and taped them with floral tape, onto a folded piece of 20-gauge wire. (This one doesn’t have the glass bead in it) 2. Tape three orchids together to make the center of the bouquet, and tape the callas around them. Tape the remaining orchids around the outside, alternating with the grass/bead swoops. 3. Trim the stems a few inches below the tape, and seal with hot glue. 4. Place the rhinestone initial in the center of the bouquet. 5. Wrap the stems in ribbon and secure with pins.

10. Trim the wires so that only the rose and hydrangea stems are visible below the floral tape. Trim the stems to a few inches below the tape, and seal the ends with hot glue. 11. Wrap the stems with ribbon and secure with pins. I attached a memorial charm for my dad who passed away a few years ago. He will be with me when I walk down the aisle. From Etsy seller YourCharmedWedding. Finished product: Some of my favorite brooches: the first “brooch†I got – was actually a big stretchy rose ring Lent from Mom And finally... Go White Sox! Since I’m so early (doing things that can be done without a guest count), I put all the bouquets in small vases, into plastic bags to protect them from dust and the cats, on a top shelf in my closet. This was a big project, and this thing is HEAVY lol but it was a really good time, and I’m really glad I did it because I’ll have the bouquet of my dreams to go with the man of my dreams on my wedding day J Hope you enjoyed my write-up. Please let me know if you have any questions!

Supplies: 30-40 brooches 12 real touch roses (leaves and thorns removed) 2 bunches of silk hydrangea (I got the cheap stuff since it’s just filler) – remove and set aside the large leaves 18†20-gauge green and silver wire Floral tape Scissors Needle-nosed pliers Wire cutters Glue gun Ribbon for handle Pins Patience! Some of my supplies (don’t mind the callas, they’re for my bridesmaids’ bouquets) 1. Fold two pieces of wire in half. Loop wire through each brooch. I used two pieces of wire on each brooch, twisting each piece by itself and then twisting together. 2. I’m glad I got silver AND green wires because I often had to put the wire through the front of the brooch, and the silver wire blended much better. 3. Each brooch on its stem should not wobble or droop when you’re done. It really helped to use the pliers to do the twisting and to make it nice and snug, because I killed my fingers on the first few before I switched to pliers. 4. Don’t twist the wire too tight, or you’ll bend or break the pin in half (especially if it’s cheap like some of mine were). Thankfully, I was able to wire this one back together. The fix looks messy from close-up, but you can’t really see the wiring in the bouquet. 5. Cover the “stems†with floral tape. 6. Start assembling your bouquet! Start with a large rose and a few big brooches in the center and work your way out, rotating as you go. Tape every few pieces to make it easy on yourself. This will also make the bouquet more stable at the end, with a smoother handle. 7. Bend the roses and brooches around until you’re satisfied with their placement. This is the point where I tore it apart and redid it a few times until I was happy with it. I also put it in a closet for a few days, and I liked it a lot better after the break! 8. After all of your brooches and roses are taped together, tape a bunch of hydrangea on each side of the bouquet to cover the wires. 9. Tape the four large hydrangea leaves at the base of the bouquet to finish it off. Continued...

I fell in love with brooch bouquets while perusing the internet, but I quickly found out that buying one would be completely out of our budget. So I decided to DIY! This was quite the project, and DIYing ended up saving me several hundred dollars, but it was still pretty pricey. I mentioned the idea to my mom, and she LOVED it! She immediately bought me a few pins and lent me one of her favorite brooches. I had a few in my jewelry box, and most of the rest I purchased online. The best sources were www.fabulousbrooch.com and Etsy seller paviapavia. It was best to look for wholesale and brooch lots. I kept myself to $3-4 per brooch, including shipping, and ended up with a very nice selection. I splurged on a White Sox pin at a game, but it was the only one that was more than $4. I ended up averaging about $3.40 per brooch. I’m glad I didn’t use many brooches that had sentimental value because it was really easy to break the pin backing off of the brooches. I was extra careful with the one borrowed brooch, and it was fine. Box o’ Bling (excuse the drab colors, pic taken with camera phone) Brooches all laid out I bought all of the supplies (other than the brooches) from Michaels and Hobby Lobby. I even got the real touch roses from Hobby Lobby. They were 50% off one weekend, and I decided to just go for it! I later found out that they would have been way more expensive online, so I was happy. I did a ton of research when starting this project. These are some of the links that really helped me out, along with a ton of googling: http://www.fancypantsweddings.com/how-to-design-a-brooch-bouquet/ http://boards.weddingbee.com/topic/help-how-do-i-make-a-vintage-brooch-bouquet Here is my main inspiration picture (from Fancy Pants Weddings): So now the how-to...

aww! Love the one year mark! I put "one year <3" on facebook that day and all my friends "liked" it LOL i'm glad they knew what it was!