Why I Can't Stand BHLDN

What did you say? *GASP!* How could you!?

Everyone loves BHLDN! With their lovely vintage style, how could you refuse?!

Well, in my opinion, their prices suck and are horribly high.

Clothes? Fine, let the dresses be overpriced, clothes have always varied greatly in price for no good reason.

But with the new wedding decor line, come on! XP

Paper chargers for $1.70 each?! Really?! You can MAKE these, it doesn't take rocket science to cut out a scalloped circle! (Especially if you own a Cricut...)


Again, paper polka dot garland, 8ft for $18, you could also make this yourself with some metallic paper or foil covered cardboard, and some fishing line.


They even admit this LOVE banner is made of cardboard, not even 2ft in length for $28?! You can make this with cardboard letters, fine glitter, and ribbon. Cardboard is cheap, Dollar Tree sells ribbon, so the most expensive thing here is the glitter. You can buy ultra-fine glitter at Joann Fabrics for $5...


More paper nonsense, Cake-To-Go boxes that they sell unassembled, for $2.50 apiece. Yep, you're paying $2.50 for a piece of paper-covered cardboard with a stupid adhesive strip on it... XP


Paper wrapped votives for $5.67 a piece when you can buy glass votives in bulk and wrap them in patterned paper yourself. Geez...


Selling a FELT leaf garland for $1.16 a foot?! That you can tell is just connected loosely?!


You can buy a 3'x6' piece of felt at Joann Fabrics for $4.99, and cut out the pattern yourself.

The site says it's 3" at its widest, and each piece is either 7.5" or 9" long. So let's say 4" are needed to cut each width of leaf garland on the piece of Joann felt, and you make them all 12" long. You get 54 leaf sections from the piece of felt, and since they're all a foot long you get 54 feet of garland, making each foot cost $0.10 each and a bit of your time!

A $178 9" CAKE TOPPER THAT IS CLEARLY FAKE FLOWERS TIED AROUND A WIRE WREATH WITH A WIRE RIBBON BOW AND SOME WOOD BELLS TIED TO IT!?! PLEASE TELL ME HOW THAT IS $178 TO MAKE?!


See?!?! WAAAYY overpriced! D:<

I could go on and on and ON with this stupid decor line! D:<

So my lovely readers, please, use BHLDN's decor for inspiration only and try to find the products somewhere else. You will find cheaper alternatives, or you can try making most of them yourself.

But save your precious hard-earned money.

*end of rant*

I Am A Wedding Schizophrenic.

Hey guys,

I apologize for the lack of posts lately, but I found myself slightly uninspired (soon to be fixed by the Royal Wedding coming up soon...)

So I decided to organize all that wedding inspiration I have been saving up the past year and place it into neatly organized folders, with the potential to go onto Google Docs so I would have access to my stuff from anywhere!

Once I was done, I wondered where my focus for wedding planning was going, so I opened up each folder and looked at the elements I had...

And I found out something slightly troubling...

I'm a wedding schizophrenic. XD

With each category of wedding planning, the dress, the flowers, the decor, the invitations, I had at least three or more major themes.

Obviously, I'm already confused with the winter vs. summer wedding, and that doesn't help matters.

With winter, I'm showing a more nature-oriented and rustic look:



But the summer one is still having an identity crisis...

I don't know if I want more modern, elegant and sleek look:



Or a detailed, lush, romantic, girly affair:



I seem to approve of both ends of the spectrum! XD

I'm sure this wedding confusion is not going to end for a while, not until I start actually plotting out the nitty gritty details, and a focus starts to appear from my now blurry daydreams...

But until then, I guess being prepared for anything is a good thing, right?!

...right?

XD

How to Get A Phantom Wedding Like David Tutera's My Fair Wedding: Flower Centerpieces

We already discussed one part of the Phantom flowers, now on to the more challenging one...

Step 5: Create the centerpieces and complete the table decor.

Oh boy. This may be even harder than trying to figure out affordable linens.

Because it always seems like David Tutera's specialty is over-the-top centerpieces...to put this bluntly there really is no way to reasonably recreate his centerpieces. But you can do something on a smaller scale.

As mentioned in the linen post, the florist Studio Fiore posted some lovely photos of their grand centerpieces...

Large gold urns:


Tall flower stands and candle holders:


All accented with fallen chandeliers, numerous candles, and red rose petals:


We'll tackle the easier elements first.

1) Lots of candle holders

Now I have been trying to tackle this one in my spare time. Candles are a universal design element so I know I can incorporate them into whatever I plan for my own wedding.

In previous posts I have mentioned the Dollar Tree as a great place to search for affordable candle holders, and I have had luck looking in other dollar stores finding wrought iron candle holders as well! You never know what you may find, and be sure to check every couple months to look for newly stocked items.

One site that is really helpful is Crafta! This site takes the cake when it comes to affordable candle holders. Sure, some can look plain, but they can be spray painted to be any color you like, and can be easily decorated!

I found a tall 11.5in wire pillar candle holder for just $2.09 when you buy 12 or more!

And for your taper candles, a shorter but still fitting 7.5in wire taper candle holder also just $2.09 each when you buy 12 or more!

Coat these with some gold spray paint, $4.99 from Joann Fabrics, and you have wonderfully thrifty gold candle holders!

For even more candlelight ambiance, go to Candles DLight and purchase 72 of these amber colored votives with included ivory candles for just $37.99! There are other deals like this online but this site had the cheapest shipping charges as well.

Let's say you need one 14" candle holder and one taper candle holder per guest table, plus 2 of the 14" and 3 of the taper for the head table. Let's say you need 3 cans of spray paint to cover all of those.

Total cost for candle holders = $117.75

2) Lots of candles

In the show they used battery operated candles for safety, however if your venue allows flames onsite, real candles will be cheaper for you. All candles should be in a enclosed candle holder besides the tapered candles, which I don't recommend lighting at all.

The must-have tapered candles can be purchased at the wonderful Dollar Tree, for $0.50 per 10" candle.
For the small taper candles needed for the chandeliers, (mentioned near the end of this post,) go to DiscountCandle.com and get 20 ivory 4" taper candles for $5.65 each!
For pillar candles, try looking at Candles DLight again, 36 count 2"x4.5" ivory pillar candles for just $32.99 plus ship!

We need 15 pillar candles, 3 boxes of small taper candles, 48 taper candles, and the votive candles have already been purchased with their candle holders. Even though we have more pillar candles than we need, these can be distributed on the tables or around the cake, guest book, escort cards, or whatever they are needed :)

Total cost for candles = $73.94

3) Tons of rose petals

Because of the number of petals we need and due to the expensive costs of other parts of this Phantom wedding, we're going to use fake rose petals. Now, now, it won't be a disaster, and the price difference is worth it, so bear with me!

I don't know how the Dollar Tree can get their petals so cheap, but really their 300 white, red or pink petals for $1 just can't be beat.

But how many do we need?

We want pretty heavy coverage on the tables, and Petal Garden says that one needs 2-4 cups of petals to decorate tables with centerpieces. They discuss earlier in the article how many petals are in a cup, and I got an approximate amount of 22. So 88 petals per table for heavy coverage.

Another site Petal Toss, says that one bag will cover 2-3 tables with heavy coverage. One bag seems to be about 10 cups, which is equal to 220 petals, so each table would then need 110 petals. I like this number better, (rather estimate more than less,) so for 14 tables we need approximately 1540 petals, which turns out to be six 300 count red petal bags.

Total cost for rose petals = $6!!!

4) Large rose topiaries

Okay, this can be done, but it must be planned out efficiently. In order to be realistic, many steps should be done a few days in advance, in order to lesson the amount of work done the day beforehand. Bribing family and friends with food and alcohol is almost a must XD there is a lot of labor involved! Remember if you're DIYing your bouquets also that there will be less time and adding stress, however some steps will help out both projects.

What you will need for 13 tables:
-Many, many buckets, plastic tubs or containers
-Either 500 and 250 roses from Amazonia Flowers for $565 or 375 roses from Amazonia Flowers with 350 carnations from Global Rose for a total of $414
-10 bunches of leather leaf ferns from Sam's Club for $60.74
-13 count 19.5" high wire sphere bases from Crafta.com for $3.49 each
-13 floral foam 8" diameter spheres from Save-On-Crafts, 2 for $9.36
-2 cans of gold spray paint from Joann Fabrics for $4.99 each
-greening pins from Save-On-Crafts, 600 for $7.20
-spray bottle, $1 at the Dollar Tree
-floral clippers

Before you start: Ask yourself one question: Do I have air conditioning? Do I know someone who does and wouldn't mind me leaving hundreds of flowers there for a few days? The longevity of your roses depend on this. Heat can easily cause flowers to wilt, keep this in mind before attempting such a floral-intensive project!

Way in advance:
a) Purchase or borrow many buckets, plastic tubs, or large containers that can easily hold the bunches of roses, ferns, and possibly carnations you will receive for your wedding.

b) Purchase wire forms and floral foam.
c) Schedule delivery of flowers 3 days before wedding.

d) Spray paint your wire forms gold.

3 days beforehand:
a) Fill all your containers with plenty of water.

b) Once your flowers are delivered quickly put them all in the containers.

c) Prep your flowers. Since you don't need their full stem length, start by cutting each stem at an angle to about 5in in length. Look at my DIY tutorial for prepping reference, with the exception of leaving about 2in of greenery at the tops of the flowers.

The evening beforehand:
a) Fill up your bathtub or more containers with water and flower preservatives. (Read the preservative packet/container to see how much should be added!)

b) Place the foam spheres in the water and wait until they sink to the bottom on their own, approximately 30 seconds.

c) Try to push the 8in spheres into the 7.5in wire forms. If they don't fit, trim all sides a little at a time. You want a snug fit, so it won't move around while you are arranging the flowers. Since they are wire forms, they can probably be bent or moved without too much difficulty. (Hopefully! XP)

d) Start placing ferns around the sphere, in order to eventually completely cover the wires and foam, secure stems and leaves with greening pins.

e) Starting at the top of the sphere, start piercing the flowers into the sphere leaving approx 2in of stem sticking out of the foam. Make circles around this center flower as you move down the sphere.

f) Stop about 3/4 down the sphere, look at the floral photos in the beginning of this post for reference. You can do a full sphere, however you may want to secure the upside down flowers with greening pins to ensure they do not fall out.

g) Decorate the stand to your liking. Add ribbons, bead garland, or whatever your heart desires. (Give a break, this is a long research post! I kinda lost steam at deciding how to dress up the wire forms XP)

The morning of: Using a spray bottle, spray in between the flowers and try to re-moisten the foam to make sure the flowers will last until the evening.

Total cost for large rose centerpieces = $603.81 - $754.81 plus lots of labor

5) "Fallen" chandeliers

Obviously, renting a bunch of crystal chandeliers to just sit on your tables is pretty much out of the budget. I figured there had to be another way!

After lots of searching, I finally found a smaller chandelier that we can use for a wholesale price, without the sketchy wholesaler websites! Yea!

Here at the reputable Koehler Home Decor, you can get a Shabby Chic Scroll Chandelier for just $9.96 each!

At 9.25" wide and over 2ft long, they are a great size for the table design!

Total cost for chandeliers = $129.48

Okay, so now you have candle holders and candles, rose ball centerpieces, rose petals and fallen chandeliers. I think that's a very complete and decorated table! And if you also have the themed linens to boot?!

Okay, look past the bad Photoshop-ing...that's one lovely table! :D

So...the cost...

Cost for all centerpiece and table decor = $930.98 - $1081.98

I'll admit, that's a LOT for just some pretty table decor. But at least it won't cost you thousands from a florist.

Realize however, without the rose centerpieces, the total cost drops to $327.17! Remember, flowers are expensive! Just saying :)

On to Step 6: The Cake! :D

How to Get A Phantom Wedding Like David Tutera's My Fair Wedding: Linens

Another installment of the My Fair Wedding - Phantom series, we're now on to...

Step 3: Design the tablescape.

How you decorate your tables can affect the whole look and mood of your venue, so finding the right combination is key!

In order to be as accurate as possible, I re-watched the show :D and looked on the interwebs for photos of the decorated venue. The florist of the Phantom episode, Studio Fiore posted some lovely photos showing off not only their wonderful centerpieces, (floral post to come later,) but the decorated tables as well! Score!

Thanks to All About the Tables, I found a nifty design tool that can help you visualize how your table settings will look in completion at The Cloth Connection.

In a nutshell, this is the look we're aiming for:

The tables were decorated with the following:

1) Red damask tablecloths, with a light gold contrast color

This was the hardest part of this post, no lie. Finding detailed banquet tablecloths on the cheap is no cake walk. XP With all the other elements going on with this tablescape, I realized I would have to either focus on other elements or get creative with my options.

The most budget friendly options are either a simple burgundy satin 108" tablecloth for $9.80 each from Linen Tablecloth, or a simple burgundy polyester 120" tablecloth for $11.15 each from Linen Tablecloth.












Now, don't give up on me yet! There will be lovely details further down the line, just bear with me. If you can stand having a plain tablecloth, then I recommend not a patterned one, but another burgundy overlay, preferably 90" to cover as much of the tablecloth as possible. Then the gold overlay could lie perpendicular to the first overlay, creating a more elaborate look.

The cheapest I could find is an 85" apple red flocking organza overlay for $10.49 each from CV Linens when you buy 12 or more.

I know it's red and not burgundy, but since it is close and since it is organza, it will blend into the burgundy tablecloth and look more like damask rather than looking mis-matched.

2) Gold embroidered overlays

In order to save on the tablecloth and napkins, I kinda splurged a bit on the overlay. My reasoning is if the detail is in the overlay, the elements around it can be more subdued and not look plain. Since tablecloths (usually) cost more than overlays, and napkins are need in massive quantities, I splurge on only the overlays to save on costs in the long run, without sacrificing style! :)

This one I found looks very, very similar to the ones on the show, and is just lovely in my opinion. It's a cream and gold quad organza embroidery 84" overlay for $18 from Prestige Linens.

3) Gold chargers

If you look back at my Christmas Tree Shop charger post, you can see that if you wait patiently, you will find affordable chargers for $1 or even $0.80 each! Just sign up for the Christmas Tree Shop emails and you'll never miss a sales ad!

4) Red and gold scroll-patterned napkins

Paying extra for something as numerous as napkins is just plain not a good idea unless you get a great deal on some fancy fabric and make them on your own. (And when I mean a great deal, I mean $2 per yard or less. Trust me on this one!)

This is why we're going with simple polyester burgundy napkins for $0.50 each from Linen Tablecloth. Especially if you have a more detailed overlay, it's okay to have a plainer napkin!

If you really want a bit more pizazz, these satin burgundy napkins from eFavorMart will work very nicely as well for $0.65 each!

5) Tassel napkin rings

I found some really affordable tassel ties at The Tassel Depot, 100 12" gold tassel ties for just $36! :D *dances*

6) Velvet chair bands/caps with tassels

This was a bit harder to figure out, given the high costs of chair treatments. It will take a bit of DIY, but I believe I have found an affordable solution!

First, purchase the following:
-25 burgundy satin runners, $2.41 each from Linen Tablecloth
-100 yards of 5/8" double faced satin ribbon for $17.50 from The Ribbon Retreat Wholesale
-100 roman gold bookmark tassels for $13 from The Tassel Depot

Now, take the runners and cut them into 4 equal pieces. On the back of each one, use chalk to mark the center of the bottom edge, and then mark 12 inches from the bottom on each side.

Draw 2 lines with a ruler connecting these side marks to the center mark to create a tapered point. Now draw 2 more lines 1/2" from those lines.

Cut on these lines.

Hem the pieces on the top and the new tapered sides. Trim off most of the loop on the tassel and sew the remaining tail to the back of the point.

Cut four 12" pieces of ribbon. Sew the ends of two ribbons to the back of each corner of the fabric, then sew the ends of the other two ribbons on the back of the fabric, just above each point where the fabric tapers off.

Now when you want to put on your chair toppers, you just drape the tapered end over the back of the chair, and tie a pretty bow on each side! Relatively easy chair toppers for just $0.91 per chair!!! :D

So, after all that, what I have created for you is a slight alteration of the original:

But how much does it really cost you?

(For 100 guests, I assume 13 60" 8-person tables plus head table)

Tablecloth costs = $137.20 - $156.10
Overlay costs = $252 ($399 if you use 2 overlays)
Charger costs = $80 - $100
Napkin costs = $50 - $65
Napkin ring costs = $36
Chair cap costs = $91

Grand total for 100 guests = $646.20 - $847.10
Cost per table = $46.16 - $60.50

Nothing to scoff at, but realize you would own all these items, possibly be able to sell some to another bride, and not have to worry about stains or damage. And with the costs of rentals these days, I believe this is actually the cheaper option if you find yourself stuck on such expensive tastes :)

*Whew!* That was nothing short of a doozy! Would you believe I worked so hard on this post that all last night I was dreaming about linens?! No joke. XD It was kinda weird, lol.

On to Step 4: Flowers!

Even More Comfy Cozy Winter Wedding Inspiration!

Considering the amount of snow days being given throughout the US lately, I figured more winter wedding inspiration would be quite fitting!

This post is best enjoyed with a mug of hot chocolate :)

Or better yet, a mug of hot buttered rum! :D


The recipe can be found at Real Simple's blog Simply Stated. Am I a dork for thinking of Harry Potter's butterbeer every time I see hot buttered rum? XD

An easy way to get a winter wonderland feel is to include these cute but inexpensive Icelandic bowls from Country Clean Paper Supplies.


Starting at $1.50 for a regular 16oz bowl, $5.50 for a 3.5qt bowl, and just $12 for a giant 12qt punch bowl, how could you go wrong?!

This pretty snowflake wedding cake is easy to execute given that the royal icing snowflakes can be done in advance! So then you can bake, assemble and frost, (fondant optional), then add the royal icing snowflakes in small groupings around the cake.


It looks like some of the snowflakes were pressed onto the frosting to make an imprint of a snowflake as well as having the royal icing ones attached. However I think doing that technique could easily backfire on a novice cake decorator like I. I would try doing in a pretty blue color though :)

For help on creating the snowflakes, start reading the tutorials at Mahalo and Martha Stewart Weddings. Also check out this forum discussion at Wilton to read more on the difficulties of removing these icing lovelies from wax paper.

o.0

*swoon*
So gorgeous for winter, they're frigging perfect! Found on At Home with Kim Vallee, in reference to Fauchois Fleurs florist. You know it's a good florist when you don't care that their site is in French. XD

A cute and creative way to display sweets for a dessert table would be to include these easy-to-make meringue cookie trees!


This tutorial at Little Dishy gives her version of the meringue tree, including a rum-flavored icing that will make the cookies easily removable for your guests to enjoy!

I'm loving this beautifully ruched, a-line wedding dress, Cleo by Maggie Sottero:


Such clean and modern lines, with a romantic flower sash and corset back...stunning. Usually I don't go for dresses that do not have a lot of beading, but for some reason this seems to have enough character that it doesn't need anything aside from the sash.

Gah, this is the problem though with looking at designer dresses, you're not going to find them used anywhere until they had time to become a little out of style, had the time to be worn for a wedding. So all the latest fashions now won't start popping up until several months pass by.

I tried looking for this model online, and got prices around $900-$950 for sites that did not accept returns XP So I can only assume that this lovely will cost about a grand in a wedding dress boutique. For now.

Maybe I'll be stalking this dress in the used dress classifieds in the fall :) lol, you never know!