cheerio

Another weekend passed leaving another shower in the past. This one came with a unique theme. The bride’s favorite place is London, England so we brought Union Jack back. Picture lots of red, blue and a telephone booth.

Fortunately we skipped the British favorite entrée of fish and chips and just stuck to American cuisine. We didn’t have a fryer to make that happen and well fried fish just didn’t sound appealing to serve to 50 ladies anyway. Too bad London isn’t close to the Mediterranean or we could’ve snuck in some hummus…

We did manage to get some sugary, sweetness in the form of a telephone booth cake. It was tasty. I wish I still had some but I always wish for more dessert.  I love the phrase on the cake (not just because it has my last name) because it is more personal than generic Showers of Happiness or Best Wishes.

And a double decker bus cookie favor. Yum! I just love giving edible favors to guests.

I was introduced to some new concepts at shower throwing. Did I mention this was my 10th bridal shower to assist in throwing? I guess you can teach an old bridesmaid new tricks.

I had never heard of the Purse Game before in the category of, what else, bridal shower games. In case you haven’t either…you just make a list of items that can be found in a woman's handbag including bizarre items like a shoe, a rock, or anything weird you can think of. Give a point value to the items you list. The guest with the most points wins.  Just leave a list for the guests to keep track of on their own while you're playing hostess and waiting for the guest of honor to arrive.

Or don’t.

I personally hate shower games. I know. I’m a party pooper. Although finding out how consistently the bride and groom answer questions about their first date, favorite foods, future plans, etc. can be funny. I’m sure you’ve all played that one before. So basically, I like games where I can laugh at the bride (in this case, my future SIL) without having to actively participate or clean out my purse.

Here's the invitation I designed.  Relatively simple but of course I had to get some Olde English font in there.  It's a classic.

I came across this bit of fabulosity on Miss Mustard Seed's blog.  She's a repurposing genius with a paint gun (and sorta local!).  Look at the Union Jack dresser she created!  Too bad I didn't spot this gem sooner.  It would've made the perfect prop/gift for the London shower.

No more shower planning in my near future. This weekend I am kicking off 2011 wedding season on the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. I will let you know how the country cover band brings down the house. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go get a spray tan.

-The perennial bridesmaid

overload

It is hard to believe it is already Thursday and a new weekend is staring me in the face. I am still recovering from last weekend’s bender.

Not that kind of bender unfortunately.

It was a full-on jam-packed weekend starting with a rager of a baby shower. Balloons hanging from the rafters. Diaper cakes. Banners. Cookies. Games. Music. Like I said, a real rager!

Although baby showers are not in my wedding jurisdiction, I am really spending a lot of time at them. I think I am almost ready to take on the DIY diaper cake. From what I am told, you just need a ton of diapers and rubber bands. Roll ‘em up, group ‘em together and hide all of your mechanics with some ribbon. I think I can handle it.

I aspire to make one this stunning...

The shower was a display shower as all the trendy ones are these days. It makes sense for baby showers, right? Either the boxes are so big that wrapping them is a total waste of paper or the little outfits and things are so cute that you just want them out on display for everyone to peruse. Plus, everybody wants to be green. This particular display shower looked like Christmas for the kid’s first 3 years. They cleaned up!

The theme was “Celebrate the Peanut”. The whole peanut thing is picking up in the baby shower world. It ran full swing in every detail. I provided the centerpieces which were a traditional vase arrangement of cut flowers in the shower’s color scheme. But look closer. I told you peanuts were everywhere so I subtly incorporated actual shelled peanuts into the arrangements. Hopefully people noticed them and you can find them in this picture. I ate some too while arranging.  Maybe next time I will make arrangements full of chocolate...

Having not seen most of my relatives since Christmas, we kept the momentum going. I spent the majority of the weekend with various family members. We covered everything from who’s walking to who walked out and absurd Facebook statuses - one of our favorite topics. Come on, you know you do it too. I suppose I’m good until spring.

Or at least until the next shower anyway.

The weekend also included one of my Nearly-Famous DIY wedding invitation parties. Yes, I just dubbed it that. Does it have a nice ring to it?

One of my 2011 brides got her bridesmaids together so we could hand make the soon-to-be-released invitations. Sorry, no teasers here. I can tell that all 120 are finished, return-addressed and even have coordinating thank you’s. We only ran into one minor (nearly major) hiccup. All was solved and completed by sundown just in time for the super bowl. Let’s just say “the eagle has landed” and leave it at that.

Oh!  And I just might have found the local and inexpensive tailor that I have been searching for thanks to a referral from one mf my SILs.  Stay tuned!

Did Christina Aguilera really mess up the national anthem? I was too busy eating and rounding out the gossip. I found out on Monday who won.

-The perennial bridesmaid

drumroll please

Today is the day I make the big announcement!

Ok so it is actually not that big but at any rate I’d like to share it with you!

I will be spreading my bloggy cheer beyond the 4 cyber walls of 10,000 weddings. That’s right. You’re looking at (sort of) the new (only) Philadelphia DIY Weddings Examiner.

What does that mean?

I haven’t exactly figured it out but I plan to soon. In the meantime, you can read my first DIY article by clicking here.

I’d like to thank God and the academy for making this possible. I’d also like to thank J&J for giving me the inspiration for the content of my first article. The original lovebirds.

You will still find me, the perennial bridesmaid, blogging my unforgiving opinions about real weddings and parties here at 10,000 weddings. You will also find a more polished version (read: third person) at examiner.com with specific Wedding DIY project how-to’s. I will let you know whenever there is new content over there. If you decide to poke around for yourself, go to examiner.com, select Philadelphia, select Family & Home, select Weddings for all Philly wedding content and look for me. Soon I may even have a pic up there.  Of course it could only be a bridesmaid pic in full stage make up.  That would only be right.

That’s all for now. Back to packing for Vegas.

-The perennial bridesmaid

vegas, STDs and babies

I took a bit of a sabbatical from all of the blogging to realize I missed ranting and raving about weddings and how I typically spend my weekends – at showers playing bridal bingo. Therefore, I am back and kicking off my return with a bang! 2011’s first bachelorette party is about to begin. Vegas. This weekend.

Can’t Wait!  (insert Bart Scott/Jets voice - google it if you don't know)

But as they say…what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas so you probably won’t hear much else about that trip.

I will have a big blog announcement coming soon though. Stay tuned my loyal readers…er, mom. Anyone else out there?

In the meantime, I have updated the wedding countdowns and, well, they never seem to end. We’re counting far into 2012 already. You should see my fridge. The save the dates continue to arrive. 

It seems that the 4x6 postcard style save the date has made a major comeback for 2011. Magnet save the dates are apparently so 2000 and late. I’ve got none.

Oh baby!

Baby? Yes they’re due to arrive daily in 2011.  It's evident that everyone is living happily ever after out there.  I’m attending so many showers; I’ve got to start wearing rain gear. Sorry. That was lame. Anyway, more stories to come on that front.  (Get it? Front?  I can't stop myself.)

And for the first time in my history as a bridesmaid, I am going to attempt to wear a bridesmaid dress again!  The challenge is to wear the dress long in March and then cut it and wear it short in May.  Can I pull it off?  I know the suspense is killing you but you'll have to wait and see!

For now, let’s hope my flight to luxurious 60 degree weather is not delayed due to more frigid snow.

-The perennial bridesmaid

going global

Man, I love weddings but they are seriously popping up left and right. In the last 2 weeks, 2 great friends got engaged! Yay!

The first proposal was on the back of a boat at sunset. How romantic! Having known both the guy and girl separately for years and now watching them unite forever is truly awesome!

The second proposal occurred 2 nights ago. He popped the question at the exact location of where they first met. All of their friends were in on the surprise so they were there to take pictures. Mexico 2011 here we come!

Love is in the air this weekend. On the same day, in 2 different time zones I have a couples shower and a wedding. Obviously, I can’t be in 2 places so I am attending the wedding and, yes, giving a speech! Although, I am a bridesmaid in the wedding that the shower is being held for, I will just have to be there in spirit. Bummer.

Finally, dresses. I need to pick up a bridesmaid dress this afternoon and place an order for another one for a March wedding. The collection is growing. So far, I haven’t worn the same color twice in a wedding!

Looks like I am facing 2011 head on! It is shaping up to be the biggest wedding year yet with 7-8 on the horizon so far. I'm updating the countdowns on the right as quickly as possible! There seem to be more destinations playing into these wedding themes too. That should make for some interesting posts.

Stay tuned.

-The perennial bridesmaid

lovebirds

I sure am behind schedule this week as round 2 of wedding season picks up in full swing. Today a bachelorette party. Next week a wedding. Yesterday bridesmaid dress shopping. Here we go again! Stay tuned for details.

The surface of my refrigerator is beginning to fill up with more wedding & shower invitations, save the dates, thank yous and other cute announcements for this season’s events. Today I wanted to feature a DIY save the date.

It is a 5x7 brushed gold one sided card. The personalization is 2-fold. First, actual engagement photos of the couple are centered up top.  Real pictures! From my understanding, different photos were used on each card. The photographs were taken by Lorraine Daley and her sidekick Greg. The engaged couple chose Ridley Creek State Park in Delaware County, PA. They were lucky enough to get a rare low humidity, cool summer day which as we know ladies, leads to a good hair day!

The couple is working the lovebird theme with the birdcage stamp. In addition, they had a custom stamp made with their deets by Love To Create Stamps. Good choice. I can imagine the endless possibilities on future DIY projects for that stamp.

For a girl’s first wedding DIY project, she did a-okay! I like the lack of mass-produced feel this save the date evokes. Judge for yourself…

-The perennial bridesmaid

whirlwind wedding weekend

And no one even got married.

It all started Friday afternoon with my first trip ever to David’s Bridal. How did I avoid this bridal warehouse all of this time? There’s an overwhelming amount of racks and rows of satin, lace, taffeta, silk, chiffon, etc, etc. And women in black suits with clipboards. And dyeable shoes. I thought they left with the 90s?

Needless to say, I learned a few new things.

I went in to try on 8 pre-determined knee-length options of apple red bridesmaid dresses for a 10.10.10 wedding. I’ve narrowed my choices down to 2 in just 45 minutes and a total of 4 DB sales associates with clipboards that I got passed between. I threw out all of my strapless options simply because I have a closet full of those already and want to own something different.

To be continued…as I weigh between scoop neck and v-neck.

Day 2 was spent on a bridal dress shopping marathon around the greater city of Philadelphia with our 3.12.11 bride. The verdict is still out on this one but the very first dress of the day set the bar pretty high. Not much could compare. I learned about fit-and-flair gowns and the difference between mermaids and trumpets…yes I am still talking dresses here. I also learned why bridal shops serve you wine while watching your friends try on gowns; since I nearly bought a $400 designer cocktail dress just-because. I’m sure I have a wedding that I could wear it to, right?

Later that evening I was at a birthday party (just happened to be for a newlywed) where I was surrounded by more brides and grooms-to-be. 4 sets to be exact. Naturally weddings and bachelorette parties were a topic of the night. It’s an epidemic!

Finally, Sunday arrived. I was honored to be asked to be a bridesmaid for the 10th time.

-The perennial bridesmaid

round robin

Things have been quiet on the wedding front lately…as I’m sure you can tell. This lull in wedding festivities has given me the opportunity to pursue another hobby and passion…antiquing!

For the last five days or so, I have taken some time to hit the streets and “treasure hunt” as I like to call it. I’ve turned up some good finds and wouldn’t you know that it’s brought me full circle and back to weddings!

How, you ask?

You didn’t? Well, let me tell you about my wedding related finds anyway.

#1 a very fabulous 1980s Nicole Miller LBD. This is one fabulous little black dress that I will be wearing to a wedding soon. It is a stunning off the shoulder dress…everything that was good about 80s fashion in a non-overwhelming sense. Pictures soon.

#2 & #3 are vintage birdcages. Yes, for birds (not veils). These ‘tiques are going to be incorporated into future table centerpieces by featuring a floral arrangement, plant or votives in the cage…the options are pretty much endless for the bride and groom to customize these. How retro and sweet! Two down. Only about 18 more “treasures” to hunt.

Vintage Birdcage from Sassydoggs on Etsy

 
 
-The perennial bridesmaid

countdown

If you’ve been keeping up with the countdowns on the right of this page, you’ve probably noticed that the list has grown. In the last week alone, I’ve added 3 new couples & dates including my little brother’s 2011 wedding which is 488 days away. On the list they go!

Now seems as good a time as any to mention that there are ONLY 50 days to the first wedding on the countdown list…my other brother’s big day!

Just this week I received another playful save the date. It is a caricature of the couple and their 2 beagles! The design really captures the four of them so well and actually looks just like them! It is too fun not to share with you all. Below is a picture of the magnet on my fridge. Just 233 days left for them.

-The perennial bridesmaid