Gifting the Bridesmaids: DIY Monogram Glassware

When I was thinking about gifts for my bridesmaids, I knew I wanted them to be something that would come in handy on the wedding day, something they could enjoy in the future, or possibly both!

One of the first things that came to mind was glassware. I don't know about y'all but I definitely plan on sipping on a celebratory glass of champagne or mimosa with my ladies while we get beautiful pre-ceremony. Enter personalized champagne flutes.

Materials used: Champagne flutes, glass paint, paint brushes, spouncers, rubbing alcohol, glass paint pen

 

I started by cleaning the glass with rubbing alcohol and taping the letter I printed to the inside of the glass.

Initially I tried painting with a very fine paint brush, but I found that it was super difficult to have perfectly smooth lines. Being the perfectionist I am, the squiggles weren't cutting it. (Mess ups are easily fixed with the rubbing alcohol and a paper towel!)

This is when I switched over to the paint pen marker. Let me just say, BEST.INVENTION.EVER. It was so easy to use and the lines came out clean. Here's a close up to prove it!

Tada! No squiggles

After completing all the initials, I let them dry for 30 minutes. Then I used the spouncer to add polka dots to the glasses in various colors. I also painted the bottoms of the glasses in yellow to match the ladies' dresses.

Once I was satisfied with the them, I let them air dry for 48 hours before baking them in the oven. (Put glassware in cool oven. Preheat to 350 degrees and let them bake for 30 minutes. Then turn the oven off and let the glass cool. [I opened the oven so it could vent and speed up the cooling process.])

And because we can't make mimosas without a pitcher or chill the champagne without an ice bucket, I found another way to incorporate our monogram! 

Hope you're not sick of it yet because this is not the last you've seen of our monogram!

 

The entire glassware collection

 

I'm really excited to use these during our get-ready girl time. Hopefully the ladies will love them as much as I do.
Are you DIYing personalized gifts for the bridesmaids?

All photos personal

The Mr. Finally Has His Suit

I already shared with you the look Mr. Hawk and I were going for with the groomsmen and the adorable bow ties I ordered, but I am happy to report that now we finally have a suit!

Coming to a decision was a bit of a process. I knew that I wanted gray rather than black, and I was pretty determined to have a suit with a slimmer fit. A matching vest was also pretty non-negotiable.

When we initially started shopping around January, we found most of the suits available were a very dark charcoal gray. I was feeling a little lukewarm about such dark suits considering our wedding is in May and our ladies will be sporting bright, springy yellow dresses. When we visited Men's Warehouse I saw a couple lighter options that solidified my desire for lighter suits, but none of them were available with a matching vest.

Luckily our consultant at Men's Warehouse was willing to work with us to find other suits within the company. He made some calls and had several options shipped directly to our store. We waited several weeks for the delivery and even got antsy to the point of considering gray tuxedos, but in the end the wait was worth the perfect suit. One of the options hit all the marks: color, fit, and vested style.

The complete look. (Mr. H requests you forgive his hat hair.)

Because it took a while to come in, we're now in a bit of a rush to place all the groomsmen orders. Hopefully the process will go smoothly. I'm thinking positively since our experience with Men's Warehouse has been nothing but positive so far.

Anyone else going the gray suit route? Did y'all have trouble finding the right shade?

Hawk Wedding Invitation Sneak Peak

With invitations in the mail (yipee!), I am finally ready to share a couple sneak peak photos of our invitation suite. Sending them out was definitely a warm and fuzzy moment. Even just holding them in my hand made this impending wedding feel all more real.


The first batch to be mailed. WOOHOO!

I ordered my invitations from etsy and had a fantastic experience (more to come with our final reveal), but my obsession with all things monogram led me to add a little something extra to the pocketfold.

Why hello, pre-ceremony monogram!

And even more exciting? We received our first response card in the mail yesterday afternoon. We officially have two guests coming to the wedding! ;)

Anyone else in the process of sending out invitations? Was it a bit of a wake up call for you like it was for me?

All photos personal

Rehearsal Dinner Decision

Before even beginning planning the specifics, I was pretty darn excited about the rehearsal dinner. I mean for one, I love food and obviously there would be dinner. Secondly I was stoked to be able to enjoy one of the yummy Williamsburg restaurants that I don't get to frequent now that I'm no longer in my college years.

There are so many great options in Williamsburg that it could be overwhelming, so I decided to limit myself to options within walking distance of the chapel and our hotel. Also I was hoping for something on the fancier side for a more formal sit down dinner.

One of my top contenders was Fat Canary. Cozy and intimate, it would be the ideal location for a formal rehearsal dinner. And did I mention that the food is crazy-good? Yum. I also considered  Blue Talon Bistro. Blue Talon is another intimate restaurant with an upscale feel. Located just steps away from campus, they serve what they call "serious comfort food." I just call it seriously delicious!


Image via Blue Talon Bistro

 I thought I had it pretty much narrowed until I started requested price quotes and inquiring about setting a menu. I cannot express how shocked I was by the minimums. We're talking about thousands of dollars, y'all... thousands of dollars that we don't have to spend. I quickly decided to scrap "fancy schmancy" as one of my requirements and do a little rethinking.

I had previously considered having a little Friday night get together to welcome our out-of-town guests at one of my all-time favorite hangouts, Green Leafe.

Image via Williamsburg Chamber of Commerce

It may not look like much from the outside, but the Leafe serves my favorite pub-style food in the 'burg, and has the most extensive beer menu in the area.

Image via Green Leafe Cafe

I began to think it was time to give the Leafe a little more credit. I contacted the catering department and found that they could accomodate us on our date AND would be within our budget. YAY! Once it was set, I couldn't believe that I ever had thought about holding the dinner anywhere else. It will be perfectly casual and laid-back. There will be no fussyness, just "Good Beer. Good Food. Good People. Bad Parking." (If you get this reference, then I owe you a pitcher. ;))

Did you have a rehearsal dinner? How difficult was it to find a restaurant that met all your requirements?



Music to My Ears

I'll admit that ceremony music was one of my back-burner tasks. It was something that I knew I needed, but it was a decision I wasn't in a rush to make. I think a lot of it stemmed from the fact that I was at a loss of what to do.

Wren Chapel has a beautiful eighteenth century organ on the balcony, and I loved the idea of utilizing the historical instrument, but I kept having doubts about the sound. The chapel is quite small, covered in dark wood panels. Somehow the thought of filling the space with organ music made me think of heavyness opposed to a light, jubilant sound I envisioned for my wedding day. (Does that sound silly?)


Wren Chapel Organ, Personal Photo

I approached my DJ for some recommendations, and she had me listen to samples of an organist, guitarist, and string trio. I immediately ruled out the guitarist because it didn't feel like Mr. Hawk and I. The organ actually suprised me with being less dark as I imagined, but I wasn't 100% convinced; however, once I heard the strings I was in love. The sound was light, sweet, and elegant just as I had imagined.
Unfortunately paying for a group of musicians is pretty costly, and I wasn't sure a trio or quartet was really in the budget. Since I did wait on my decision, I had already seen money fly out the door towards other major expenses, and I really couldn't justify going over budget in another area. Additionally I was a bit concerned about space. The chapel's max is 120 guests, and I was beginning to wonder where all these extra bodies would fit in such a tight space. So what's a hawk to do?

With a little more research, I found a violinist who performs solo. Given that the ceremony space is so small I think that he will  be the perfect fit. I will get the type of music I prefer without sacrificing precious space. Another benefit is the afforability factor. The cost aligns with our budget and our guests will be able to enjoy both pre and post-ceremony music. Horray!

Was ceremony music a priority for you? Did you hire a preformer of any kind? How did you decide?

More on Monograms

Where we last left off, I was overwhelmed with the options I had developed for our monograms. Y'all were incredibly helpful offering feedback, and I loved reading all the different opinions. From the voting, it seemed that the most favored monogram was the block letter option:

I have to admit it was also my favorite, but something still just didn't feel right. I wasn't enthused. I've always been a sucker for a classic script monogram and a couple of you ladies picked up on my hesitation with using block letters. Miss_Manda hit the nail on the head when she suggested that maybe I hadn't found the right script. (Thanks for pushing me to keep looking!) And harperlynn even PM'd me with an example of another font she had seen. (The Hive seriously rocks!) So I continued my search and eventually found the font I'd been dreaming about...VINE MONOGRAM! So for pre-ceremony items, I will be a good little hawk and follow etiquette rules by using this monogram, which does not feature Mr. H's last name:

 

And for post-ceremony, at the reception we will be using our combined monogram:

I still have a smidge more tweaking to do with exact spacing and size before I'm ready to start printing these, but I am so thrilled that I was able to find exactly what I had envisioned.

I cannot thank the Hive enough for help on this one! Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Wedding Blinders

At this point in my planning, I have a really good sense of the look, theme, and feel of the wedding. All of the vendors have been booked, and I find myself fully focusing on the minor details and attempting to tackle my project list, a list that I am desperately trying to shorten and not expand. With Pinterest, Lover.ly, and the plethora of pretty inspiration blogs out there, I've found myself putting on my wedding blinders out of self preservation.


I can't see you, Pinterest! Image via Implode-O-Meter

Honestly, I used to love my time spent on those sites, aimlessly pinning and hearting any inspiration or DIY that I thought I could work into my wedding. Now I am fiercely blocking myself from visiting them and searching for anything that might add more tasks to my to-do list. Looking back to where I was even 30-60 days ago, I feel like I am in a completely different place.

Anyone else out there struggling to wear blinders from new inspiration? What are your "do not visit" sites?

Lovely Locks: Hair Accessories

I may not have mentioned it previously, but for the ceremony I will be rocking a veil. But for the reception, I wanted to wear something fun in my hair like a jeweled clip, flower, or headband. I spent quite a bit of time on etsy favoriting way too many items, until I narrowed it down to these:

Facinator with lace and pearls by svitlanasbridalveils

So gorgeous and timeless, this fascinator was an immediate front-runner, but I worried it wouldn't fit with my hair style. Where would I pin it?



Pearl bridal comb by Amoretto

I was also a huge fan of the jeweled and pearl bridal comb for its sparkle and elegance, but I found myself leaning more towards other options.

Flower hair piece by LeFlowers

I love, love, LOVE hair flowers, but I wasn't 100% sold. I found a lot of them were too big for my taste and the look I was imagining. I suppose I could have DIY'd a la Miss Coyote to make one the perfect size, but my project list was already too long for my liking.

Then I came across these clay hair flowers:

Gardenia hair flower by dkdesignshawaii

Cue the Heavens parting. These gardenia clips are so sweet and delicate, exactly what I envisioned. Once I saw a photo with a bride wearing a pair of the flowers tucked into her half-up style, I was completely sold.

Gardenia hair flower by dkdesignshawaii

I quickly ordered a pair and am anxiously awaiting their arrival. Yipee! One more minor detail crossed of the list.

Will you be wearing any hair accessories on the big day? Did your hair style impact what accessories you chose?

Lovely Locks: Hair Inspiration

Remember when I told y'all about my hair obsession? Well, I'm still growing it out. (No fun changes for this lady.) And I am still equally obsessed with the idea of the PWC. (Can't wait. Can't wait. Can't wait...) See? I've already gone and lost my focus... Back to the topic at hand.

Today I'm going in for my last major haircut before the big day, and in preparation, I started consolidating all of the hair inspiration pictures I've been collecting over the past couple months.  I was pleasantly surprised when I noticed almost all of them looked exactly the same. It's kind of exciting to have a definitive feeling of what I want for once! Relaxed waves with part of my hair pulled up and a little volume is the look I will be going for.


Image via Style Me Pretty, Photo by Stephanie Reeder Photography



Image via Wedding Channel, Photo by Jeremy Hess Photographers

When thinking about my wedding day hari, there was one thing that kept drawing me to these styles: I want to look like myself. This roughly translates to: I will wear my hair down. I'm not knocking anyone who decides to go with elaborate up-dos. I think they're gorgeous and elegant, and this may be one of the only ocassions I'd be able to rock a killer up-do; however, I rarely wear my hair up unless I'm running late to work and don't have time for a full blow-dry. Wearing my hair down feels like me. Possibly just as important, wearing my hair down is the reason I've been stuck in a hair rut for the past twelve months, and dang it I am going to show off all that hair.

What did you look for when chosing your wedding day hair style? Anyone else wearing their hair down?

Monogram Migrane

Lately I have found myself completely and utterly all-consumed with our monograms. Sticking with our southern roots, we want to incorporate them into the day in several ways. But before I can get into that, I have to actually make a decision. I spent quite a bit of time obsessing with fonts and flourishes. I ended up developing pages full of options, but I've narrowed it down to the following:

I am completely torn. I really want to favor the script monograms, but I find myself gravitating towards the block font. Ideally I'd like the monogram to be featured on the pocketfold on our invitations, the globo and perhaps even make an appearance in other ways.

What do y'all think? Which monogram do you like best? Is anyone else monogram obsessed like me?