Fashion!

This is one of the three final hairstyles I have decided on. I love wearing my hair down but I also want to incorporate my veil in a creative way. I like this look because I can take my veil off for the reception and add a flower or cute headband.

This is the second hairstyle I absolutely adore! I wouldnt use the bow, instead I would probably put a flower for the reception and put the veil under the bump during the ceremony.

This is the third hairstyle, I like the braid and the bump together. Again, this would work great with both my flower and my veil. Now I just have to decide on which one is right for me. I am planning a trial-run with my hairstylist to try out these three hairstyles and different ways to wear my makeup.

Speaking of makeup, I never really wear heavy makeup so for my wedding day I refuse to go overboard and try out a new look. I am in love with the eye makeup in this picture because it really shows off her eyes but is not over the top. I also like the fact that it is simple and has a pink lip instead of a dark red. I will either do this look or go with a more purple eye color. I might even go for a smoky eye for my reception!

I have blogged before about my bridesmaids' outfits but now I can actually show them. Bare with my because our color scheme is orange and blue. The majority of the blue is a light blue but for the girls' shoes and the groomsmen's jackets we have chosen a darker blue. Note that this is not a gator fan wedding!!!

Here is the shoe, David's Bridal discontinued this shoe right before we went in so all 8 of my bridesmaids had to call and find these shoes from stores across the state and some bordering states! We fell in love with these shoes and the girls decided that they had to have them! Sadly, I was the only one who didn't get a pair.

This is the dress with the shoes. The dress hits right above the knee and neckline is right at the neck. We decided on this dress because it is flattering on all my girls. My bridesmaids range from a 34aa to a 36H so we had to find something that worked for everyone or at least let the girls choose a style in the same color. It was just pure luck that we found this style because it truly works on all body types.


The bouquets my girls are carrying will incorporate some of the blue so that the shoes do not look so out of place. At first I had a hard time accepting this outfit because the orange is just so bright but after all the girls put them on and stood next to me in my wedding dress it just clicked. I am finding that things may seem different but work magically together!!


The last post was about centerpieces and decor, here is another picture of the centerpiece for my cocktail tables. I didn't include a full length picture... so here it is!!

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I'm Back!!!

 It has been forever since I have blogged because I have been so busy but now that I have a break I have been planning like there is no tomorrow! Here are a few things that I have added!

 This is what the guys will be wearing. Danny has decided on seersucker pants, a navy jacket and an orange seersucker bowtie. It actually looks great together! We found a great website that sells seersucker bowties for half the price we have found them other places. Here is the website for the bowties: http://thecordialchurchman.bigcartel.com /product/orange-seersucker

On top of working on the guys' outfit I have been doing a lot of DIY projects for the centerpieces and ceremony decor. Here are some pictures of what I have done so far.



This is just a simple decoration. This is a picture I found online and I have made a few similar. I bought the vases and stones from the Dollar store, the floating candles and silk flowers at Michael's. Together I probably spent $7 to make these three pieces. Isn't is cute!





To the left is another decoration I created while I was playing around with some things I found at the dollar store. The glasses were a Christmas gift but I went and bought some more from Bed Bath and Beyond in different sizes. I found the rest at the Dollar store; Ladies the Dollar Tree is truly an amazing place to find treasures! I think I might place small decorative clear diamonds around the base.





This piece was made with a medium size square vase, decorative rocks, an orange silk flower, and decorative willow branches. I will be putting these on our tall cocktail tables. I attached pearls throughout the willow branches and I will spread pearls around the table.

As you can probably already tell, I am in love with the idea of using the vases filled with rocks. I like the look and the price. I have also been working on some ideas for the ceremony. I found the idea of making tulle and tissue pomanders. It took about on hour to create each tissue pomander but as I learned better ways of putting it together me and my bridesmaids were able to finish them faster. They are super easy and fun to make!!! I cannot wait to start working on the tulle pomanders but from the websites I have found they look like they are going to be a little harder.



This is the tulle pomander that I have found, I haven't actually made this one yet but I cannot wait!



This is one of the tissue paper pomanders that me and my MOH made. I am going to make enough to place on the end of each pew in the church. I am thinking about adding about four orange tissue flowers in the ball to bring in some color.

All you need to make this tissue pomander is the following:
about 80 sheets of tissue paper cut into 5in x 7in rectangles
florist wire (found at dollar store)
wire cutter (also found at dollar store)
3' Styrofoam ball
scissors

To make each flower take about 5 sheets of tissue paper and fan fold. Once tissue is folding wrap wire around the center and twist wire, leaving about an inch of wire sticking out so you can insert it into the Styrofoam ball. One side at a time pull up one layer of the tissue paper and fluff, do this until both sides have been completely pulled up. At this point it should look like a flower. Insert the tissue flower in the ball. Continue to do this until the entire ball is covered with flowers or to your liking. Happy DIYing!!!

You can also find this How-to at  projectwedding.com.





Wedding Cake Time!

Ive been trying to get some ideas together for our wedding cake. I have looked online and in some bakeries, I just want to fall in love! Here are some ideas I have looked at.

I love the edible floral arrangement, I think this cake is amazing. Now I just have to find someone that will make it for me and not cost an arm and a leg.

This one is pretty similar to the one before.

whew!

Wow what a weekend! This weekend I set up a tasting with my caterer, had all my bridesmaids try on and choose dresses, and watched another bride (one whom I am a bridesmaid in her wedding) try on dresses! I am getting so excited about my wedding even thought its a little less then 8 months away! I just cant wait. I swear, October is the month for weddings, I have seen so many wedding announcements and facebook pictures! I just love it.

So here are the dresses:

http://www.davidsbridal.com/Product_Short-Cotton-Dress-with-Y-Neck-and-Skirt-Pleating-83690

I chose the Tangerine color because my wedding colors are blue and orange. I also picked out some amazing shoes that are the blue floral print from Davids Bridal. They had been discontinued so we had our consultant call all the stores within four hours of us and we finally found all the shoes for my bridesmaids!

The shoes look like this:

There is no link for them because they have been discontinued, I am pretty sure my girls bought the last pairs in all of TN! I love them so much and I know they seem weird with the orange but they are my colors and they work well with the flowers and the groomsmen's attire.

251 days until I say I do! It seems like forever, but I have put together so much and have already got so many things prepared I feel like its just around the corner! I love planning this wedding, I love planning to marry Mr. Danny Downs!!

Finalizing some things

So I still havent sent out the Save-the-Dates but I am in the process of getting all the things worked out with the caterer and we have met with the florist!!! Just a little update, there will be pictures soon of some of the flowers

more ideas!!!

Okay, so I am starting to think about hair ideas. I dont usually wear my hair up so Im not sure if I want to do something different on such a big day. I am going to put some pictures up. let me know what you think.

I am using a veil similar to this one and I have a cute hair clip I want to use as well. I like the idea of half-up half-down. I will be doing a practice run with my hair stylist a month or two in advance

My save the dates!!

I finally got done creating our save the dates! This picture is from our engagement picture session and I absolutely loved it! I had to have the calender, I saw this idea on so many different websites. So what I am going to do now is put this save the date as many times as I can on a powerpoint slide and print it out on printable magnetic paper. This way when I cut them out they will be little magnets for my guests to put on their fridges!!! I think I did a pretty good job and because I am not buying them from an online store I think I am saving a little bit of cash!

Yay Bridal Fair!!!

I went to the bridal fair today in town and it was the most exciting experience I have had since I started this journey. We found our florist, caterer, and a harpist!! Yes that is right a Harpist!!! I am so excited because she is amazing! www.harpstrings.org is her website and you can listen to some of her wedding music!

The florist we are using is great! She is the sweetest woman and she really won us over because of her bubbly personality and willingness to work with us and our budget. Her website is http://www.petals1eleven.com/ her display at the show was remarkable and she even rents out some of her bigger pieces which would save a ton! She is really great and I cannot wait to get together with her and start looking at flower arrangements! I really think that if you are in the tri-city area you should check her out.

I also booked a little spa day for the bridal party. It is a lot like a tupperware party but with all this wonderful spa related things. They will do a mini spa day with the girls. It is going to be great

The caterer is going to be aramark from ETSU, they do a very elegant lay out and they are very well priced. I did love another caterer at the show but we will not be able to use them. Their website is www.patstreats.com and their dips are amazing!

We were able to do so much today and I am so excited! It really feels like I'm getting married now. You can also check out our wedding website at http://www.theknot.com/ourwedding/LaurenFlanary&DannyDownshttp://www.theknot.com/ourwedding/LaurenFlanary&DannyDowns

Thanks for checking out my post today!

Decor

Here is the orange again! (All of my pictures if not taken by myself were found on google) The runner in this picture is personalized but I think buying one at walmart then placing fake rose petals down either side of the runner! The church we are using has this weird light green carpet so we will be using a runner.

 You can buy fake rose petals on ebay for next to nothing, the reason for using fake petals is to protect the carpet in the church and to save some money. Ebay is an amazing place to find cheap treasures

I like the barrier made between the quests and the aisle.

This isnt a barrier but an amazing decoration. I love he hanging idea and this way it would be easier for guests to be seated. I think that the over the arm rest hook would work best for my church and I found those both on ebay and at Walmart. These two places have realy become my "treasure boxes"! I really dont think my wedding will happen if it wasnt for walmart and ebay.

Bridesmaid Dresses, flowers, and candy bars

I know this is my second post today but I have so many ideas I want to get other people opinions on. I took this picture off a friend's facebook. I loved her bridesmaid dresses so much! I had already looked at these dresses but I adore the maid of honor dress. I also have a junior maid of honor (my younger sister) so I thought it would be cute to have her have the sash just like this picture.

I love the cala lilly bouqet!

I think I would like the white ones for me and then have the bridesmaids carry orange ones. I am trying to figure out if I should carry real of fake flowers. Fake flowers would be cut the cost by a lot and I would be able to keep these flowers for years after!

I have started buying large glass containers. I found smaller ones at the dollar store and Wal Mart but the most creative ones I have found have been at hobby lobby and Michaels. My mom has been buying bulk candy because Halloween is the perfect time to find orange candy and we will just put the bags in the freezer until we can put the candy bar together.

Colors

I am having a hard time figuring out exactly what colors I want to use! I have a few ideas, I found these online so I did not take this pictures myself. I like this because it has both the orange and the blue but I think I want a lighter blue. I think my cake will be all white with some orange accents but I really liked this color combination.

These are more like the colors I am wanting to use because I think they will look great at the venue we are using. I need some help! I am pretty set on the orange but the shade of blue is really killing me.

Getting Started!

We have been engaged a little over three months and I still have a while until the wedding but time seems to be flying! I am soooo excited!

The groom and groomsmen will be wearing navy blue jackets with searsucker pants. I know it seems crazy but when the men tried the outfit on it looked great! The ladies are are going to try on dresses at David's Bridal in Oct. and I am still looking at their dresses.

http://www.davidsbridal.com/Product_Cotton-Sateen-Strapless-Dress-withRuching-and-Pockets-83312_Bridal-Party-Bridesmaids-All-Bridesmaid-Dresses

I am looking at the orange color because I colors are orange and blue!

Im in need of ideas for cheap reception ideas!