Bridal Bouqet DIY

So, this has definitely been a LONG TIME COMING.

I googled DIY tutorials on this subject until near-exhaustion looking for something I could manage.

Unfortunately I don't color in the lines, and I don't follow instruction.

So, here are my materials.

I hope this helps.

Floral Tape
Floral Wire
Wire Cutters
Needle-Nose Pliers (First time through I spelled that noose; Freudian slip?)
Silk Flowers
Hot Glue Gun
Hot Glue Sticks (seems obvious, but who knows)
Styrofoam Ball (Around 6 inches depending on how big you wanna go)
30-60 Brooches/Earrings/Pendants
Wooden Dowel Between 6-8" in length, 1-1 1/2" in circumference
Stem Holder (Optional)
Fabric or Ribbon

The crossed-through ingredients represent the countless times I tried to make 'stems' out of wire append from the bottoms of the brooches. I really think you have be a combination go Magneto and Wonderwoman. It weren't gonna happen.

So after I ripped the branches apart a third time I said, "Screw it, I'm getting out the Hot Glue gun."

Somewhere my Gay Fairy-Godmother Breathed a sigh of relief and existentialism (While criticizing my leggings).

So then it became simple as I saw through the red-glaze of my zombie-brooch-hot glue stare.

1. Cut the foam ball in half. (I used a kitchen knife, nearly killing myself.) This is not mandatory, but it made it easier to glue on to something that had a flat bottom. You can cut a little less than half off depending on the shape you want.

(if you choose not to cut the foam, a coffee cup is a good base)

2. Arrange the brooches on the table in a circular order. Pick a centerpiece to go off of.

3. Start in the middle of the ball, and begin hot gluing brooches to the foam ball. Try to keep your gaps minimal. Hold the brooches in place while they dry.

4. Now my suggestion here would be to leave it alone for a while and make the HANDLE!

   I attached an 8" dowel rod (that I painted white, but that's not necessary) to a bouquet holder with some blue painter's tape. I then hot glue the inside with about an inch-worth go glue around the handle INSIDE the funnel.

I then flipped it upside down and let everything dry for several days. 

5. I hemmed some white satin and began pinning it to the top of the bouquet holder from the outside. I secured this mostly with pins and a  modest amount of hot glue.

6. I then push the pins into the exposed foam on the bottom of the foam-bouquet.

(this took a while, but ended up very sturdy)

voila!

Emily Post wouldn't approve of me suggesting how much I spent, but let's just say this endeavor cost 1/3-1/2 what a custom order would have. HOWEVER. It is VERY time-consuming. Give yourself at least a month to do this, so you can change it, drop it...etc. Use as many tutorials as possible because not every technique is going to work for you.

Good Luck!

Peek 2!

Finally ready to assemble the bouquet!

Well the six month countdown passed with little fanfare, and time for full-on PANIC

Just kidding. My bridesmaids are really stepping up and wrenching some of the control from my vice-like grip.

It's helpful, but frightening.

So here are some bouquet teaser photos...

Halfway point

It's getting down to the wire; and consequently, I've begun to ramp up my planning and DIY. (DIM?) There haven't been too many snaffi (plural of snafu) with the exception of a couple of lost save-the-dates and whatnot. I desperately want to have the Delorean's, 80's show band, play at the reception- so we are hopefully working that out. 

Summertime has been relatively productive for me. I get a little wedding done every day. I hope that in October I am not feeling the pressure. I love everything about the future, marriage and the unknown. Speaking of unknown, Mike gets his shore slate (possible jobs) this week, and I still have no been renewed for the fall in VBCPS. Hopefully something favorable will happen. Inevitably, something will happen. 

On a more positive note, I tried on lots of wedding-y shoes yesterday:

These made my feet resemble armored cars.

Beautiful armored cars.

 My feet were too fat for these.

Even a 9.5. ugh.

Luckily I have plenty of time for the shoe-thang. Now to figure out how to print my invites!

Why are you Googling veils instead of putting in grades?

Recently people have begun asking me how I plan to do my hair, if I am going to wear a veil...etc.. I honestly hadn't given the veil thing much thought because I have been so concerned about the reception (catering).
Since I didn't even really know what the symbolism of the veil is, I did what anyone does when they don't know something: I looked on Wikipedia...

The following contains exerpts from the Wikipedia Pages on Veils, Wedding section:

An occasion on which a Western woman is likely to wear a veil is on her white wedding day. Brides once used to wear their hair flowing down their back at their wedding to symbolise their virginity. . .Often in modern weddings, the ceremony of removing a face veil after the wedding to present the groom with a virgin bride is skipped, . . .the bride either wears no face veil, or it is lifted before the ceremony begins, but this is not always the case. . . It is not altogether clear that the wedding veil is a non-religious use of this item, since weddings have almost always had religious underpinnings, especially in the West. Veils, however, had been used in the West for weddings long before this. Roman brides, for instance, wore an intensely flame-colored and fulsome veil, called the flammeum, apparently intended to protect the bride from evil spirits on her wedding day. . .

 The tradition of a veiled bride's face continues even today wherein, a virgin bride, especially in Christian or Jewish culture, enters the marriage ritual with a veiled face and head, and remains fully veiled, both head and face, until the ceremony concludes.

The lifting of the veil was often a part of ancient wedding ritual, symbolising the groom taking possession of the wife, either as lover or as property, or the revelation of the bride by her parents to the groom for his approval.

 

In Judaism, the tradition of wearing a veil dates back to biblical times. According to the Torah in Genesis 24:65, Isaac is brought Rebekah to marry by his father Abraham's servant. It is important to note that Rebekah did not veil herself when traveling with her lady attendants and Abraham's servant and his men to meet Isaac, but she only did so when Isaac was approaching. Just before the wedding ceremony the badeken or bedeken is held. The groom places the veil over the bride's face, and either he or the officiating Rabbi gives her a blessing. The veil stays on her face until just before the end of the wedding ceremony - when they are legally married according to Jewish law - then the groom helps lift the veil from off her face.

The most often cited interpretation for the badeken is that, according to Genesis 29, when Jacob went to marry Rachel, his father in law Laban tricked him into marrying Leah, Rachel's older and homlier sister. Many say that the veiling ceremony takes place to make sure that the groom is marrying the right bride! Some say that as the groom places the veil over his bride, he makes an implicit promise to clothe and protect her. Finally, by covering her face, the groom recognizes that he his marrying the bride for her inner beauty; while looks will fade with time, his love will be everlasting. In some ultra-orthodox traditions the bride wears an opaque veil as she is escorted down the aisle to meet her groom. This shows her complete willingness to enter into the marriage and her absolute trust that she is marrying the right man. In Judaism, a wedding is not considered valid unless the bride willingly consents to it.

At any rate... all of a sudden I am taking this decision more seriously. I am looking into the Shorter length bubble style ala:

That way Mike can be sure he's marying me, and not my homely older sister...



Worst Cake Tasting Ever...

Satuday March 3:

Awkwardness of British proportion ensued on this bleak and dreary Satuday morning. We arrived at a certain Laskin Road Bakery (that shall remain nameless) prepared to be wowed by cake ideas and pizazz.

I should have known better because the day started out by my mother taking picture of me and Mike, which were not very good, promtping Mike to say, loudly, "I look like a [slur for special needs people]." This maybe wouldn't be so bad, if the Bakery weren't partially staffed...by special needs adults.

Moving on, however, we tried to shake off the imminent awkardness, but couldn't because we were forced to wait a good 15 minutes past our scheduled conference with the cake lady.

When she finally graced us with her (smile-less) presence we were abruptly forced into a small room with Dummy cakes. The room itself was a dull shade of off white, and it smelled of water damage and stale frosting. On the table were two notebooks full of Google-produced wedding cake images and some scrap paper to take notes on.

We were left in that room for a good 5 minutes to peruse the completely unhelpful suggestion books, and we began to wonder if this endeavor was doomed from the start. The woman did return with cake of the vanilla, chocolate, almond and lemon varieties, and then left the room again...

Nothing was terribly impressive, and we were about to leave when the woman asked if we wanted any other flavors... Being that we would prefer a red velvet caked I requested that, and she returned with a fresh one. It was awesome, the first good thing to come out of this whole encounter...

but then came the money talks.
Between up charging for red velvet, upcharging for cream cheese, upcharging for decorations and a $200 Sunday Delivery Fee, we were looking at a $900 cake, from a terribly unprofessional wedding tasting.

We left that day with our dignity, a sugar buzz, and a resolution to try more tasting.

Intro to Judaism (not really)

Enter. Sit down. Spill everything you know about Hebrew Prayers GO.

...umm...

When the FutureHusb and I walked into our "Intro to Judaism Class" title "Introduction to the Reform Jewish Prayer Service: Part 1" we thought it would be, at the very least, introductory...

maybenotsomuch

Our very adorable, very nerdy teacher CLEARLY just took some big seminar on the in's and out's of Hebrew esoterics and went. to. town.

I wasn't even safe in the company of my fellow students. They were spittin' Hebrew rhymes like Matisyahu. (That simile was probably in poor taste) Mike's inappropriate way of saying it will not be posted here, but suffice to say these ladies were not novices.

I felt slammed straight back to my first day in AP Human Geography (9th grade). Mr. Terlizzi started asking "basic" questions about Middle Eastern GDP, and I looked like I had never seen a map before.

At least my dress was cute.

I diligently took notes, and tried to avoid eye-contact with Mark Zuckerberg as he discussed the difference between prayer, standing and standing prayer.

WHO THROWS A GERUND. HONESTLY MAN?

Listening to this character was akin to listening to a Graduate assistant teach any kind of basic class.

                      " Forget what the real professor has been teaching, I have discovered the REAL SECRETS AND I SHALL SHOW YOU THE LIGHT."

ETC...

So Mike and I decided that it might be best to just go to services for a while. This way, the next time someone asks me "what's something that you notice that happens in all or most Jewish prayer services?";

I will actually have something to write down.

I did learn one thing however.

.tfel  ot thgir werbeH daer uoY

Shalom!

Wedding Venue...Moooore or less selected

I love google images. You can be as specific as you want, and you usually get exactly what you needed, but didn't know it existed yet. For example today, I was making an "American Flag" video and googled "American Flag Crying Eagle".

See Below:

It's absolutely majestic!



So with that in mind, I decided to post a few pictures of the venue towards which the F.H. and I are leaning.

It's a historic Jewish Temple located in the heart of Ghent called: Ohef Sholom. Yes with two "o's".

Our journey to Ohef first began with my googling of conversion classes in the area.

I came upon a couple of Temples, only to be dismayed by the outdated graphics or funky layouts of their pages. Then came the Ohef Sholom site, and I though, "Haven't we Met?"

In fact this very same temple was the site of one notorious "Casino Night" that I played with the Rhythm Kings. It's not really notorious; I just thought that sounded nice and dramatic...

Anywho, I emailed the woman to ask her some intro questions, and she invited us to come to the soonest class we could make. (That will be this coming Sunday).

But I couldn't wait...

The day after New Year's (Also known as January 2) we set off on a journey to Ghent. I got us lost, of course, because I can't navigate Norfolk any better than I could navigate my new school on the first day. But we finally found it thanks to the Mapplication on my phone.

It. Is. Gorgeous.

And that's just from the outside.

We walked around thinking "there's no way we're going to get in here" when low and behold a jolly-looking man comes out of the double glass doors. He definitely had a monosyllabic name that, of course, I can't remember now, but he took us on a tour of the whole building.

And that is when we fell in love.

So I googled some pics to highlight the pros of this awesome building.

1. Adorably historical:



There is no shortage of awesome Judaica hanging from these walls. 

2. The actual worship hall/sanctuary is massive, amazing and charming while awe-striking.

The colours are all white and green, which i think will compliment our Black and White well...



3. Space is not an issue

Even though this is from a Bat Mitzvah, you can tell that the Social hall can become quite an event space. With the stage and 250+ capacity, it is absolutely perfect.

And if that weren't enough:

Need I say more?

Just spent waaay too much of my planning time doing MAKEOVERS

My sister and I are in (one of many) silent wars right now. She thinks I need to wear my hair down; whereas, I am not committed to one hairstyle or the other. Given the uniqre nature of the gown, I will want to emphasize facial features while simulatenous flattering the dress. So my hair is going to have to multitask.

(Ya hear that hair! Apache Jump on it!)

So I have found some celebrity hairstyles that I like/don't hate...

becomes

(minus the highlights)



Ignoring my Frankentstein-esque approach to Photoshop... Which one is good. Or are there other options?

Centerpiece trial run

I made this using a found wine bottle, hot glue, black acrylic paint, pictures and black ribbon.

Black and White Centerpieces/Decorations without Looking Macabre..

How do I accomplish this?











Everything I have seen looks like a tacky deathbox from Jack Skellington's Wedding.

 

My Big Fat Hallo-Wedding ?

I've ruled out the Christmas Balls, so now on to bigger and better things. Just Not Table Coffins. 

OOH BRAINSTRORM. 

It's coming to me now. ok I used to make these photo-bottles using pictures, wine bottles and modgepodge.

Will get back to this later.

Sephiroth Accepted!!!!!

I've never been so happy!