Summer12's Planning thread **PHOTOS**

[summer12]

 Hello Friends!  So in order to "pay it forward" I decided to do a planning thread.  I would not have been able to be where I am today without you all- esp you ladies at the Moon Palace 2012 forum.  Thank you all so much!  I hope you enjoy and feel free to ask questions!

 

The Guy- My lovely groom-to-be grew up in northeastern Oklahoma, graduated from Oklahoma State University, and then moved to East Texas.  I grew up in Southwestern Minnesota, graduated from a private college in Duluth, MN, and then moved to East Texas a couple years behind him. 

 

Last Easter we went to Playa Del Carmen, MX on a vacation together and that was when we first explored the idea of doing a DW.  It seemed like the perfect solution since our loved ones are scattered throughout the continent.  

That vacation was at "The Royal" in Playa.  We would have loved to get married there, but it is adults only and I have a 12 year old sister.  I chose Moon Palace because it seemed like it had good wedding options, it was reasonably priced while still having everything we wanted, and it wasn’t adults only.  It wasn’t until after choosing Moon that I ran into BDW website and my entire idea of a DW changed.

 

 

 

 

The Engagement- FI and I went to visit my family in MN last summer.  Little to my knowledge (although, of course, we women do have intuition...) FI had brought the ring he purchased beforehand and asked my dad’s permission to give it to me.  My father and my FI are both wonderful, but they are both men of little words.  Here is the way FI explained it to me...

FI (pulls out ring)- “Do you like it?â€

Dad- “Yeah, wowâ€

FI- “Do you think I could give it to Natalie?â€

Dad- “Sureâ€... “Let me go find her motherâ€

Bahaha.  Oh they crack me up.  So obviously he was very nervous and acting weird the plane ride home.  When we got home I was starting some laundry and it was late.  FI said “I think Charlie wants to tell you something.†(Charlie is our little yorkie).  I looked down and Charlie had the ring around her neck.  He explained that since he asked my dad he just couldn’t wait any longer.  Needless to say we were both very sleepy at work the next day!!

 

The Rings- This is not the original ring he gave me, but we both love it!  (Some of my fellow MP Brides know the story, I’ll save the rest of you the details).  1 ct center princess cut with 1 ct of smaller stones on both the engagement and wedding bands.  Love love! 

 

 

 

 

He got a gray tungsten band which is very simple and classly.  I’ll save room for other pics- you can see it on my review after the wedding I love that it only cost $200 and was exactly what he wanted.

 

The Dress- My mom, his mom, my sister, and his sister-in-law and I all went shopping last October and after a number of dresses fell in love with this Maggie Sottero- “Adeline†at Lulu’s bridal boutique in Dallas.  We added a belt- not present in photo.  And obviously I will not be wearing a strapped bra

 

s

 

 

[summer12]

 

His Suit- Another Studio suit success!  We love it- the color is Tropical Light Beige Linen and being a bit of a prima donna he loved being able to pick out all the details- how many buttons, ect.  The groomsmen will be wearing the same pants and just a white shirt.  We got them all dark brown flip flops as wedding favors.  Sorry this is the only picture I have...

 

Bridesmaids dresses- I chose to let them all pick out a dress from alfred sung’s collection as long as it was tea length, made from the same material, and the kelley green in color.  

 

Website- mattlovesnat.weddingwindow.com A HUGE shout out to the lovely Miss Coco (or maybe when you read this Mrs.!) who I got a lot of the info on the website from.  Feel free to copy my info and pay it forward!!http://mattlovesnat.weddingwindow.com

 

STD’s- we sent out this STD/newsletter combo last September after taking early engagement pictures so everyone would have plenty of time to save $$ and plan.

 

 

[shanloveslexi]

I love your newsletter! Would you be willing to send me the template through a pm? It is so awesome!!

[summer12]

 

Flower girl-- I let her mom pick out whatever and we will put a sash on it that is the same color as the BM dresses.  The ring bearer will be wearing simply khaki pants and a white shirt.

Jewelry- I loved the idea of barefoot jewelry the first time I saw them!  I made them myself. If you need help figuring out how to make them just ask!  These are for the bridesmaids...

These are mine..

.

And these are the moms'...

 

Bridesmaids and my bracelet (which I also made myself)

 

My earrings and hairpiece I bought from {Red-I}.  The earrings I actually found at a bridal store for $100, took a pic, and Chelsea made me these which are close to the same thing for only $20!  Together, the two pieces cost $100.  Because my dress has so much going on on top I decided to skip the necklace and just do a bigger hair piece. (I hope you don't mind that I used your pictures Chelsea) I HIGHLY recommend chelsea and {Red-I}, not only because of her beautiful jewelry but also because she is so easy to work with and very professional!

 

 

[summer12]

Please Stay tuned, I will continue at a later date.  Our wedding date is June 10th!  

[shan0487]

amazing job so far Summer!!! I'm so excited for your big day!!!

[dominiqueamber]

Look great so far..I love that you did all that jewelry by yourself..was it your first time making jewelry?

[ShellyCarter]

Everything looks great!! 

 

 

p.s How did you make your barefoot jew?

 

[summer12]

I am trying to download it but it won't let me... I'll keep trying
 

Originally Posted by shanloveslexi 

I love your newsletter! Would you be willing to send me the template through a pm? It is so awesome!!

 

[summer12]

Ladies- I have experience making jewelry but these were very easy pieces!  Especially the barefoot jewelry- I bought stretchy string from a craft store and just beaded them almost like a necklace.  Start with the beads that go around your toe and then add the ones on the top of your foot- (those will be through both ends of your string) and then separate the two ends again for around your ankle and tie in the back!  I got most of the beads and the string at hobby lobby when they were 40% off so it was very inexpensive.

 

For the bracelets I used jewelry wire and a clasp as shown below.  At first I tried the stretchy string but it was too hard to tie.  This worked better and I liked that the final product was more chunky-looking.

 
This was my favorite part of planning so far! 

Originally Posted by dominiqueamber 

Look great so far..I love that you did all that jewelry by yourself..was it your first time making jewelry?

 

 

Originally Posted by ShellyCarter 

Everything looks great!! 

 

 

p.s How did you make your barefoot jew?