Mrs. Balloons, Aspen, COAge and Occupation: 24, Mass Communications graduate, Web Design student, & winery workerFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, EngineerEngagement Date: July 10, 2009Wedding Date: August 2011Venue: The Sundeck at The Little NellAbout Me: I'm a small-town Midwest girl planning an intimate mountaintop destination wedding complete with a huge DIY at-home reception. As an honors graduate fallen victim to the worst job market in history in my area, we're doing everything we can to still have the wedding of our dreams on a tighter budget. I currently enjoy working at a winery, but I'm lonnng overdue for a day job! I am: a big-time daydreamer, one of the pickiest eaters you'll ever meet, and a lover of pretty paper and awesome fonts. I'm a girly girl who loves to get dolled up, but also a country girl who loves to get muddy and go 4-wheeler riding. I also enjoy singing in the car, boating, going to concerts, the History Channel, carnival food, and going to watch St. Louis Cardinals baseball with my handsome engineer.
Do you remember the processional music that was played for the last few weddings that you attended? I do not. The last few weddings that I attended, I was walking down the aisle as a bridesmaid and I still do not remember what was playing. Nonetheless, music is important to us, and our journey to find a ceremony musician was not an easy one. We knew that we wanted someone to perform live, so I began the search for talented musicians in the Aspen area. My search turned up some great musicians, none of whom were in our budget. After rigorous hours of searching, Mr. Balloons and I decided it might be easier to first figure out what kind of musician we even wanted. I’ve always thought that pianos were nice at weddings, but hauling one to the top of a mountain might be a bit of a challenge, subsequently resulting in plenty more $$$ if anyone were even up to the challenge.
Mrs. Balloons, Aspen, COAge and Occupation: 24, Mass Communications graduate, Web Design student, & winery workerFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, EngineerEngagement Date: July 10, 2009Wedding Date: August 2011Venue: The Sundeck at The Little NellAbout Me: I'm a small-town Midwest girl planning an intimate mountaintop destination wedding complete with a huge DIY at-home reception. As an honors graduate fallen victim to the worst job market in history in my area, we're doing everything we can to still have the wedding of our dreams on a tighter budget. I currently enjoy working at a winery, but I'm lonnng overdue for a day job! I am: a big-time daydreamer, one of the pickiest eaters you'll ever meet, and a lover of pretty paper and awesome fonts. I'm a girly girl who loves to get dolled up, but also a country girl who loves to get muddy and go 4-wheeler riding. I also enjoy singing in the car, boating, going to concerts, the History Channel, carnival food, and going to watch St. Louis Cardinals baseball with my handsome engineer.
…we all scream for ice cream. Duh! Oh, and ice cream cake, too, because that’s what we’ve chosen to have for our wedding cake! It was one of the first and easiest wedding decisions that Mr. B and I made. Of course there are a lot of logistics to solve when it comes to trying to serve ice cream cake, but we didn’t care. We just knew that it’s something we wanted and we’d figure it out one way or another. OK, so let’s talk about said logistics:
Problem 1 - The design options are limited, and I won’t have the option of scouring pretty inspirational pictures to come up with my dream tiered cake like this one:
The first cake inspiration pic that I saved when I first got engaged (Image via Martha Stewart Weddings)
Mrs. Balloons, Aspen, COAge and Occupation: 24, Mass Communications graduate, Web Design student, & winery workerFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, EngineerEngagement Date: July 10, 2009Wedding Date: August 2011Venue: The Sundeck at The Little NellAbout Me: I'm a small-town Midwest girl planning an intimate mountaintop destination wedding complete with a huge DIY at-home reception. As an honors graduate fallen victim to the worst job market in history in my area, we're doing everything we can to still have the wedding of our dreams on a tighter budget. I currently enjoy working at a winery, but I'm lonnng overdue for a day job! I am: a big-time daydreamer, one of the pickiest eaters you'll ever meet, and a lover of pretty paper and awesome fonts. I'm a girly girl who loves to get dolled up, but also a country girl who loves to get muddy and go 4-wheeler riding. I also enjoy singing in the car, boating, going to concerts, the History Channel, carnival food, and going to watch St. Louis Cardinals baseball with my handsome engineer.
Mrs. Balloons, Aspen, COAge and Occupation: 24, Mass Communications graduate, Web Design student, & winery workerFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, EngineerEngagement Date: July 10, 2009Wedding Date: August 2011Venue: The Sundeck at The Little NellAbout Me: I'm a small-town Midwest girl planning an intimate mountaintop destination wedding complete with a huge DIY at-home reception. As an honors graduate fallen victim to the worst job market in history in my area, we're doing everything we can to still have the wedding of our dreams on a tighter budget. I currently enjoy working at a winery, but I'm lonnng overdue for a day job! I am: a big-time daydreamer, one of the pickiest eaters you'll ever meet, and a lover of pretty paper and awesome fonts. I'm a girly girl who loves to get dolled up, but also a country girl who loves to get muddy and go 4-wheeler riding. I also enjoy singing in the car, boating, going to concerts, the History Channel, carnival food, and going to watch St. Louis Cardinals baseball with my handsome engineer.
a.) to further enhance our laid-back, rustic vibe, and
b.) to ease some of the expense of renting so many chairs.
We will be renting some tables and chairs, but I thought some wooden benches would be cute to have around the fire (AKA the s’mores station!) and scattered about for some extra seating.
First, my dad took a chainsaw to some tree stumps that were left over around the house that we burned down. He measured the length from the floor to the seat of his kitchen-table chairs and used that as a guideline for the height of the stumps.
Mrs. Balloons, Aspen, COAge and Occupation: 24, Mass Communications graduate, Web Design student, & winery workerFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, EngineerEngagement Date: July 10, 2009Wedding Date: August 2011Venue: The Sundeck at The Little NellAbout Me: I'm a small-town Midwest girl planning an intimate mountaintop destination wedding complete with a huge DIY at-home reception. As an honors graduate fallen victim to the worst job market in history in my area, we're doing everything we can to still have the wedding of our dreams on a tighter budget. I currently enjoy working at a winery, but I'm lonnng overdue for a day job! I am: a big-time daydreamer, one of the pickiest eaters you'll ever meet, and a lover of pretty paper and awesome fonts. I'm a girly girl who loves to get dolled up, but also a country girl who loves to get muddy and go 4-wheeler riding. I also enjoy singing in the car, boating, going to concerts, the History Channel, carnival food, and going to watch St. Louis Cardinals baseball with my handsome engineer.
As if I don’t already have enough DIY projects on my hands, I have now become a tad bit obsessed with bunting. At first I didn’t really get the appeal. I thought it was cute, but I didn’t understand why it was popping up all over the blogosphere. Well, thank you, dear blogs…because now I’m in love. There is just something about bunting that can be so fun and whimsical. Let’s ponder some ideas, shall we? Here’s what I’m thinking…
How adorable would this be for a photo-booth background?!
Mrs. Balloons, Aspen, COAge and Occupation: 24, Mass Communications graduate, Web Design student, & winery workerFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, EngineerEngagement Date: July 10, 2009Wedding Date: August 2011Venue: The Sundeck at The Little NellAbout Me: I'm a small-town Midwest girl planning an intimate mountaintop destination wedding complete with a huge DIY at-home reception. As an honors graduate fallen victim to the worst job market in history in my area, we're doing everything we can to still have the wedding of our dreams on a tighter budget. I currently enjoy working at a winery, but I'm lonnng overdue for a day job! I am: a big-time daydreamer, one of the pickiest eaters you'll ever meet, and a lover of pretty paper and awesome fonts. I'm a girly girl who loves to get dolled up, but also a country girl who loves to get muddy and go 4-wheeler riding. I also enjoy singing in the car, boating, going to concerts, the History Channel, carnival food, and going to watch St. Louis Cardinals baseball with my handsome engineer.
Yep, the old farm house I’ve been speaking of is officially gone. Over the weekend the local fire department came out fully armed with a crew of newbies ready to be trained in the area of fire control.
Here is the house beforehand:
Yep, that’s where I got my boards for our rustic wedding signs!
Mrs. Balloons, Aspen, COAge and Occupation: 24, Mass Communications graduate, Web Design student, & winery workerFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, EngineerEngagement Date: July 10, 2009Wedding Date: August 2011Venue: The Sundeck at The Little NellAbout Me: I'm a small-town Midwest girl planning an intimate mountaintop destination wedding complete with a huge DIY at-home reception. As an honors graduate fallen victim to the worst job market in history in my area, we're doing everything we can to still have the wedding of our dreams on a tighter budget. I currently enjoy working at a winery, but I'm lonnng overdue for a day job! I am: a big-time daydreamer, one of the pickiest eaters you'll ever meet, and a lover of pretty paper and awesome fonts. I'm a girly girl who loves to get dolled up, but also a country girl who loves to get muddy and go 4-wheeler riding. I also enjoy singing in the car, boating, going to concerts, the History Channel, carnival food, and going to watch St. Louis Cardinals baseball with my handsome engineer.
Ladies, I cannot for the life of me find wedding shoes! I did not think that it was going to be this hard! Nothing is jumping out at me. I had my mind made up from the beginning that I didn’t want traditional bridal-y shoes…I want something fun that I’ll wear again.
Mrs. Balloons, Aspen, COAge and Occupation: 24, Mass Communications graduate, Web Design student, & winery workerFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, EngineerEngagement Date: July 10, 2009Wedding Date: August 2011Venue: The Sundeck at The Little NellAbout Me: I'm a small-town Midwest girl planning an intimate mountaintop destination wedding complete with a huge DIY at-home reception. As an honors graduate fallen victim to the worst job market in history in my area, we're doing everything we can to still have the wedding of our dreams on a tighter budget. I currently enjoy working at a winery, but I'm lonnng overdue for a day job! I am: a big-time daydreamer, one of the pickiest eaters you'll ever meet, and a lover of pretty paper and awesome fonts. I'm a girly girl who loves to get dolled up, but also a country girl who loves to get muddy and go 4-wheeler riding. I also enjoy singing in the car, boating, going to concerts, the History Channel, carnival food, and going to watch St. Louis Cardinals baseball with my handsome engineer.
OK, maybe I’ m being a slight bit dramatic…but after about a month of working on all of the pieces that will go into the invites, I’m feeling a bit on the edge. I keep repeating to myself: This is going to save us money. This is going to pay off. Everything will be all right.
Mrs. Balloons, Aspen, COAge and Occupation: 24, Mass Communications graduate, Web Design student, & winery workerFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, EngineerEngagement Date: July 10, 2009Wedding Date: August 2011Venue: The Sundeck at The Little NellAbout Me: I'm a small-town Midwest girl planning an intimate mountaintop destination wedding complete with a huge DIY at-home reception. As an honors graduate fallen victim to the worst job market in history in my area, we're doing everything we can to still have the wedding of our dreams on a tighter budget. I currently enjoy working at a winery, but I'm lonnng overdue for a day job! I am: a big-time daydreamer, one of the pickiest eaters you'll ever meet, and a lover of pretty paper and awesome fonts. I'm a girly girl who loves to get dolled up, but also a country girl who loves to get muddy and go 4-wheeler riding. I also enjoy singing in the car, boating, going to concerts, the History Channel, carnival food, and going to watch St. Louis Cardinals baseball with my handsome engineer.
I told you how the term “rustic” is sort of the backbone behind our reception planning. Rustic means different things to different people. For us, I mentioned we want it to invoke vibes like earthy, vintage, woodsy, woodland, forest, shabby-chic. I realize that a lot of people think of a “rustic” theme as being “so last year.” I agree that it was definitely one of the most featured themes scattered across the blogosphere over the past year, but for me personally it never got old. It might be because I actually have never been to, seen pictures, or heard of a wedding featuring such ideas in the area I’m from.
I LOVED Miss Magic’s post on how even though some of these ideas seem so old and unoriginal to us bridal-blogging freaks, a lot of other people have never heard of them or seen them executed before. To be honest, I’m not worried if anyone thinks it’s an overdone concept because it encompasses who we are as a couple the best, and there will be plenty of personal and unique touches to make it our own. OK, done ranting on theme…on to our DIY rustic wedding signs!
Mrs. Balloons, Aspen, COAge and Occupation: 24, Mass Communications graduate, Web Design student, & winery workerFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, EngineerEngagement Date: July 10, 2009Wedding Date: August 2011Venue: The Sundeck at The Little NellAbout Me: I'm a small-town Midwest girl planning an intimate mountaintop destination wedding complete with a huge DIY at-home reception. As an honors graduate fallen victim to the worst job market in history in my area, we're doing everything we can to still have the wedding of our dreams on a tighter budget. I currently enjoy working at a winery, but I'm lonnng overdue for a day job! I am: a big-time daydreamer, one of the pickiest eaters you'll ever meet, and a lover of pretty paper and awesome fonts. I'm a girly girl who loves to get dolled up, but also a country girl who loves to get muddy and go 4-wheeler riding. I also enjoy singing in the car, boating, going to concerts, the History Channel, carnival food, and going to watch St. Louis Cardinals baseball with my handsome engineer.
…especially now that we have a super-awesome videographer…eh, hmm, I mean cinematographer. We kinda sorta may have about tripled what we had budgeted for this super-awesome cinematographer, but I cannot even begin to explain how excited I am about having him at our wedding! This is another area that initially Mr. B and I were in major disagreement on. He didn’t think we really even needed a videographer to begin with, so you can imagine his shock and resistance when I told him the one that I was in love with was triple what we had budgeted. It took some convincing, let me tell you…but he slowly started to come around when I showed him how awesome it would be to have a video like the one below to show our friends and family at our at-home reception:
Mrs. Balloons, Aspen, COAge and Occupation: 24, Mass Communications graduate, Web Design student, & winery workerFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, EngineerEngagement Date: July 10, 2009Wedding Date: August 2011Venue: The Sundeck at The Little NellAbout Me: I'm a small-town Midwest girl planning an intimate mountaintop destination wedding complete with a huge DIY at-home reception. As an honors graduate fallen victim to the worst job market in history in my area, we're doing everything we can to still have the wedding of our dreams on a tighter budget. I currently enjoy working at a winery, but I'm lonnng overdue for a day job! I am: a big-time daydreamer, one of the pickiest eaters you'll ever meet, and a lover of pretty paper and awesome fonts. I'm a girly girl who loves to get dolled up, but also a country girl who loves to get muddy and go 4-wheeler riding. I also enjoy singing in the car, boating, going to concerts, the History Channel, carnival food, and going to watch St. Louis Cardinals baseball with my handsome engineer.
I have a feeling that’s what people are going to say to me when they find out that I’m DIY-ing all of my own flowers. That’s right—all of them. I’ll tell you why.
I am a genius who decided that it would be a great idea to get married in one of the most expensive cities in America. Awesome. NOT. I thought that I would at least be able to get my bridal and bridesmaids’ bouquets from a florist there…I mean, how much could it really break the budget? *gasp* I almost fainted when I started receiving price quotes. I’m sorry, I just cannot justify paying almost $300 for a freaking bouquet of flowers that I’m going to use for a few hours. I know what you might be thinking: “But they’re going to look so pretty in the pictures…” OK, but so would a bunch of wildflowers picked from alongside of the road. Now calm down, I’m not going to pick wildflowers from alongside of the road to use for my bouquet. I’m crazy, but not that crazy.
Mrs. Balloons, Aspen, COAge and Occupation: 24, Mass Communications graduate, Web Design student, & winery workerFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, EngineerEngagement Date: July 10, 2009Wedding Date: August 2011Venue: The Sundeck at The Little NellAbout Me: I'm a small-town Midwest girl planning an intimate mountaintop destination wedding complete with a huge DIY at-home reception. As an honors graduate fallen victim to the worst job market in history in my area, we're doing everything we can to still have the wedding of our dreams on a tighter budget. I currently enjoy working at a winery, but I'm lonnng overdue for a day job! I am: a big-time daydreamer, one of the pickiest eaters you'll ever meet, and a lover of pretty paper and awesome fonts. I'm a girly girl who loves to get dolled up, but also a country girl who loves to get muddy and go 4-wheeler riding. I also enjoy singing in the car, boating, going to concerts, the History Channel, carnival food, and going to watch St. Louis Cardinals baseball with my handsome engineer.
I was literally jumping up and down when I opened the box. I don’t have a picture capturing that exact moment, but it went a little something like this:
Mrs. Balloons, Aspen, COAge and Occupation: 24, Mass Communications graduate, Web Design student, & winery workerFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, EngineerEngagement Date: July 10, 2009Wedding Date: August 2011Venue: The Sundeck at The Little NellAbout Me: I'm a small-town Midwest girl planning an intimate mountaintop destination wedding complete with a huge DIY at-home reception. As an honors graduate fallen victim to the worst job market in history in my area, we're doing everything we can to still have the wedding of our dreams on a tighter budget. I currently enjoy working at a winery, but I'm lonnng overdue for a day job! I am: a big-time daydreamer, one of the pickiest eaters you'll ever meet, and a lover of pretty paper and awesome fonts. I'm a girly girl who loves to get dolled up, but also a country girl who loves to get muddy and go 4-wheeler riding. I also enjoy singing in the car, boating, going to concerts, the History Channel, carnival food, and going to watch St. Louis Cardinals baseball with my handsome engineer.
Mrs. Balloons, Aspen, COAge and Occupation: 24, Mass Communications graduate, Web Design student, & winery workerFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, EngineerEngagement Date: July 10, 2009Wedding Date: August 2011Venue: The Sundeck at The Little NellAbout Me: I'm a small-town Midwest girl planning an intimate mountaintop destination wedding complete with a huge DIY at-home reception. As an honors graduate fallen victim to the worst job market in history in my area, we're doing everything we can to still have the wedding of our dreams on a tighter budget. I currently enjoy working at a winery, but I'm lonnng overdue for a day job! I am: a big-time daydreamer, one of the pickiest eaters you'll ever meet, and a lover of pretty paper and awesome fonts. I'm a girly girl who loves to get dolled up, but also a country girl who loves to get muddy and go 4-wheeler riding. I also enjoy singing in the car, boating, going to concerts, the History Channel, carnival food, and going to watch St. Louis Cardinals baseball with my handsome engineer.
Those were the instructions that I gave my bridesmaids when out shopping for their dresses. I wanted them to pick what they wanted; as long as it was pink, long, and flowy I’d be happy.
I wish I had pictures of them trying on the different styles. Maybe I was too distracted by the herd of people in the shop that day! Apparently half of St. Louis thought it would be a good idea to go look for bridesmaids’ dresses that day. Actually it really was a beautiful, sunny day…but I digress…moving along…
Despite a crowded shop…easiest. shopping. trip. ever. The girls looked great in everything they tried on. They know how indecisive I am, so they all gathered in the dressing room and came up with the gown that looked the best on everyone and emerged with a decision. Oh, how I love them! It would have taken me hours to try to decide. They must really love me, too, because they ended up spending way more than I wanted them to! The lovely Bari Jay dress cost $220! I tried to tell them that they did NOT have to spend that much; some of the cheaper dresses were pretty, too, but they insisted. So that was that. If only all the wedding decisions could go that smoothly and simply…
Mrs. Balloons, Aspen, COAge and Occupation: 24, Mass Communications graduate, Web Design student, & winery workerFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, EngineerEngagement Date: July 10, 2009Wedding Date: August 2011Venue: The Sundeck at The Little NellAbout Me: I'm a small-town Midwest girl planning an intimate mountaintop destination wedding complete with a huge DIY at-home reception. As an honors graduate fallen victim to the worst job market in history in my area, we're doing everything we can to still have the wedding of our dreams on a tighter budget. I currently enjoy working at a winery, but I'm lonnng overdue for a day job! I am: a big-time daydreamer, one of the pickiest eaters you'll ever meet, and a lover of pretty paper and awesome fonts. I'm a girly girl who loves to get dolled up, but also a country girl who loves to get muddy and go 4-wheeler riding. I also enjoy singing in the car, boating, going to concerts, the History Channel, carnival food, and going to watch St. Louis Cardinals baseball with my handsome engineer.
Now that you’ve seen my dress rejects, I’d like to introduce you to the one that made it through to the end…The WINNER. I tried on so many dresses that I just liked, I was starting to wonder whether I was going to get that feeling that you’re supposed to get when you try on the dress that is THE ONE. Oh, yes. It did end up happening when I tried on this beauty…
