Girl gets brooches

Boy proposes to Girl.
Girl says yes.
Boy goes to war.
Girl plans a wedding.
Girl asks for help.
Girl gets brooches.

I have been absolutely blown away by the response I have gotten when it comes to my brooch bouquet. I sort of expected my family to send me brooches, and maybe some friends... but blog readers? And people I've never met? BLOWN. AWAY.

A few days ago I received a package that totally shocked me. And made me cry. Good tears, and sad tears. I blogged a year and a half ago about the passing of my childhood friend, Ethan. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, you can go back and read that blog here. When I opened the package, I pulled out a letter from a girl that I have never met. But Ethan was our mutual friend. This is what the letter said,

Dear Diandra,
As I mentioned in my email to you, I was introduced to your blog through Ethan Townsend. While he is no longer with us, I know if he was around, he would want to contribute in some way to your wedding. Therefore, I wanted to take it upon myself to partake in this project on his behalf.
I met Ethan through one of my best friends. Ethan and my friend Andy met at Stanford University their freshman year and quickly became best friends. They went on to room together for multiple years and travel around the US and internationally. I told Andy about your blog and I wanted to share a quick snippet of our conversation. Andy thought it was amazing that Ethan was able to bring people together in life and in death. But most of all, I want to stress to you how lucky you are that you are able to marry your best friend. When I told Andy about the bouquet, he said that one of the hardest things he has had to come to terms with, beyond not being able to pick up his phone and just chat with Ethan about whatever random thing had happened that day, was the fact that his best friend, the person whom he imagined would stand by him on his wedding day, as his man of honor, would no longer be able to be there to stand by him on one of the most important days of his life.
I hope that you like both of these flowers and that they can each be a good addition to your bouquet. I cant wait to see how the whole DIY project comes together. I only wish you the best in life for you and your future husband.
Sincerely,
Sara

I have enjoyed getting brooches from everyone. But this particular package was so near and dear to my heart. This is exactly the reason I wanted to put together this bouquet. To have a little piece of the people I love with me on my wedding day. Including the ones that cannot be there in person.

I am so grateful to Sara and Andy for sharing such a special gift with me on behalf of Ethan.

Girl hires photographer

Girl goes through break up.
Girl gets a camera.
Girl starts shooting.
Boy meets Girl.
Boy and Girl become friends.
Boy encourages Girl.
Girl becomes photographer.
Boy proposes to Girl.
Girl says yes.
Boy goes to war.
Girl takes pictures.
Girl plans hires photographer.

Ohhhhh the Photographer.
Photography is my passion.
It is my job, but it is also one of my favorite things in life.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE photos.
I would probably decorate my entire house with only photos if I thought I could get away with it.
J on the other hand has never been one for photos. He doesn't even like to smile. I think it comes from his bad boy days. It's that whole tough guy thing.

But what I am finding, is that he knows how happy pictures make me, so he is learning to love them. Or tolerate them at least. When we took our engagement pictures, he was seriously amazing (which by the way, I just realized I never posted the other half of our pictures! I will do that soon!) He smiled and laughed and had a blast. He also promised me that he would smile during our wedding pictures, because ya know, otherwise it looks like my husband hates me. ;)

So the search for a photographer began. It got even tricker when we moved the wedding up 8 months and all the way over to Vegas. Not to mention the fact that I have so many AMAZING photographer friends. I wanted to hire them all. No joke. Like as in, yeah I have 50 guests at my wedding, but I'm rocking the 30 photographers who are here! Needless to say, I had to make a decision.

Being a photographer myself, I knew what I wanted in a photographer. I have read about 10 million articles on how to choose a wedding photographer and all that... and while they make some good points, I think everyone has their own criteria. Here was mine:

1. They had to be within my price range.
This is huge. Now I will be the first to say that you get what you pay for. And really, wedding photography is expensive. That's just the way it is. As it should be. Wedding photography is a LOT of work. I understand that because I do it! It isn't just showing up and shooting, its all the preparation, all the editing, culling, album design and communication. Not to mention all of the time and training and equipment purchasing it took to even get to that point. With digital photography and the internet, anyone can buy a camera, create a website and call themselves professionals. But the truth is, some are just better. For me personally, Photography was one of the 2 most important things to me. The other being my dress. Everything else was bendable. But we also had a budget. The fact is that we had 8 months less to save, and more expenses because we were doing a destination wedding. So I sent emails to my top choices to see if I could even afford them. Make lots of room in your budget for your photography... it's the only thing you have left after the wedding is over. But at the same time, understand that you have a budget... and keep that in mind when talking to photographers.

2. There had to be a first and second shooter.
I knew that I wanted two photographers. Not just one. I shoot weddings with a second shooter because I know the value of it. I also shoot as a second shooter. It's huge to have two views on the day. Two photogs are for sure better than one!

3. I had to love them and click with them on a personal level.
I read somewhere that you should want to invite your wedding photographer over for dinner. I have to say I totally agree! You spend more time with them than anyone else on your wedding day... and there is a lot of interaction leading up to it as well! If you don't click and get along, your photos will show it. It is important to make connections and build a friendship with your photographer!

4. They had to be able to make J comfortable.
As I mentioned, J is not a big picture taker. And if he feels uncomfortable or weird, then he will not do well in front of the camera. This is what I do, and I have had the privilege of being in FRONT of the camera on more than one occasion with several of my favorite photographers. I know that I want pictures badly enough that I will loosen up and enjoy the day. I will be comfortable much easier than J will be. It was crucial in choosing a photographer that it be someone that J would be comfortable with... someone that wouldn't make him feel akward.

5. They had to be fun and fresh and funky.
When I started looking at venues and vendors in Vegas, I was COMPLETELY unimpressed with photography. Especially when it came to photographers that were included in the packages. All of the photos looked like they came right out of my parents wedding album... but covered in CHEESE! They were stuffy and overly posed and not natural. There were no moments... just planned shots. I knew then and there that we would be bringing someone with us. I didn't want stuffy, typical wedding pictures. I wanted little pieces of art. I wanted little moments of time. Memories.

6. They had to be willing to break a few rules.
I am going to be writing more about this in a later post, but I knew going into this wedding exactly the kind of photos that I wanted. I knew where I wanted to shoot and the feel of the photos I wanted. I knew that to acheive that, I would need a photographer that was willing to break out of the mold a bit.

After lots of thinking and talking to a couple of photographers that I truly admire and respect, we chose a photographer. Well, two actually. They are photographers that I have shot along side of, and that have taken pictures of me before as well! They are not only amazing at what they do, but they have become my friends! I know that they will break rules, create art and make both of us incredibly comfortable.

Our wedding photographers are Chris and Erinn Austin of White Haute Photography.



Here is one from the shoot they did for me:


They are amazing and I know that we are going to have incredible photos of our day! We've spent a lot of time talking and planning, and I will be writing up a whole different blog about planning out our photos! But in the mean time, here is why we chose them. Check out their amazing work!

Girl gets brooches

Boy proposes to Girl.
Girl says yes.
Boy goes to war.
Girl plans a wedding.
Girl asks for help.
Girl gets brooches.

When it comes to this brooch bouquet, some things have gone exactly according to plan, and some things have been a complete surprise.
One of the best surprises is the fact that I have received pins from people that I have never met!!! Two of those people are Susie and Francine. Both are J's relatives, but I've never met either of them! Susie and I are friends on facebook and her husband is deployed with the Army as well, so we have lots in common. When I got her package in the mail, I was overjoyed! Then I saw that her dad's wife, Francine had also sent a couple of pins! They are so great and will make fantastic additions to the bouquet!

From Susie:






From Francine:




Another pin I received from someone I've never met is a facebook friend and blog reader/photographer. Faith Cherrise. She sent the pin with some amazing pictures her kids drew for J! I am completely blown away by her kindness! And I love the pin (I know J will love the pictures too!):



Another photog friend contributed to my bouquet as well! I showed up to shoot a wedding on New Years day, and my second shooter for the day, Lisa, came bearing a beautiful pin. She was a teacher and said she used to wear it to school. She wore it so much that the pin eventually broke off of the back! But I love it and it made a perfect flower for my bouquet!



Yesterday I was thrilled to open up a letter in the mail and find this beautiful, unique pin:



It was sent from J's cousin, Mallory. She and I have also become friends over the last few months (thanks again Facebook!) and she has been planning a wedding as well. We've bonded over chatting about weddings, marriage, family, and silly stories. It's been great getting to know another family member! :)

I know I typically only blog about one or two pins in a blog, but I have soooo many coming in and so many more things to blog! I want to make sure I get to everything! I only have 56 more days until the wedding! I can't believe how quickly it's come (although sometimes it still feels decades away!)

Girl gets brooches

Boy proposes to Girl.
Girl says yes.
Boy goes to war.
Girl plans a wedding.
Girl asks for help.
Girl gets brooches.

My dad has one sister. And my mom has one brother. We don't have a huge family, but I am fortunate to have a pretty close relationship with the family members we do have! At Christmas, my aunt Brenda pulled me aside and gave me this gorgeous pin:


She told me that as a kid, she remembered her mom (my grandma) wearing this pin on a long purple coat she had. She said my grandma didn't wear many, but she did wear this one. Aunt Brenda thought it would be a great addition, and I agree! It is so different than anything I've seen before!

In planning out this bouquet, I kind of left it's fate in the hands of my family and friends. By asking them to choose pins and not giving any guidelines (color, metals, flower or not flowe), I kind of let everyone else decide how my bouquet would look. It's turned out to be great fun! But I did order two special pins myself. I knew I wanted something specific and this is what I found:



I have a very special plan for our initials... I hope it works out how I envision it :)

When we got back from visiting family at Christmas, I had a really neat pin waiting for me in the mail. This pin was from our friend Heather. I met Heather a couple of years ago at a birthday party for one of J's nephews. She has been friends with J and his brothers since they were young. And she and her husband and son live right down the street from his family. I have gotten to know her and grown to love her and her family, and I was so excited to see this gorgeous pin in the mail from her:



I especially love that even though she lives right down the street, she sent it in the mail :) So cute! I can't wait to see how the butterfly looks mixed in with the flowers! It is perfect!

The bouquet is growing, and I've made a lot of progress. I've managed to make each of the pins into a flower with a stem... so this week I should be finishing up the bouquet. I still have tons of pins to blog... I'll keep going with that :)

Girl gets brooches

Boy proposes to Girl.
Girl says yes.
Boy goes to war.
Girl plans a wedding.
Girl asks for help.
Girl gets brooches.

I don't even know how to begin this story.
Once upon a time, there was a woman.
She was my grandma's grandma.
My great great grandmother.
Her name was Rhoda Isabel.
She had a pin. It was made probably at least 150 years ago.
The stone that is centered in the middle of the pin was hand cut. It's a real gem of some kind... and it wasn't cut by a machine. Someone held that little gem in their hands and cut it and faceted it by hand. 150 years ago.
My grandma has had it for about 50 years.
And now it will be a part of my bouquet.

I think this is such a special piece for my bouquet. I plan to put it right in the middle. It will be my "something old".



Wow. Such special stories that are coming with these pins!
I am hoping to collect quite a few more by the beginning of February! There will be lots more brooch blogs coming!!!

Girl gets brooches

Boy proposes to Girl.
Girl says yes.
Boy goes to war.
Girl plans a wedding.
Girl asks for help.
Girl gets brooches.

Christmas morning is always fun and exciting.
Sometimes things under the tree are more of a surprise than other times.
This year I had lots of surprises under the tree, but one of the biggest surprises came from my Uncle Don and Aunt Carol and my cousin Evan.

When I opened the brooch, I was blown away. I wasn't expecting it and it was beautiful!

I don't think there is much of a story behind it, but it was really special to me to have a pin from them. Uncle Don has been around since I was born. He is my mom's brother. As a kid, my mom used to say how much I was like him. I think that always made me like him even more. And Carol came into the picture when I was pretty young. I loved her from the beginning! When I was in Junior High, they got married, and I got to be one of 2 people in their wedding. It was so special for me.

Evan is 7 years old and he is so smart. Since I was 18 years old when he was born, I've been able to watch him grow up and it has been really fun! Even though I don't get to see him often and he grows so quickly, its been a really neat thing. Evan is my only cousin on this side.

Here is a picture of the pin:



Its so fun seeing all of the different pins everyone has been picking out. When I look at this one, that little lady bug reminds me of Evan :) I love that it will be in my bouquet on my wedding day!

I have collected quite a few! Next month I'll be putting them all together. I can't wait to see how it comes out!

Girl gets brooches

Boy proposes to Girl.
Girl says yes.
Boy goes to war.
Girl plans a wedding.
Girl asks for help.
Girl gets brooches.

I remember as a little girl, my mom and my grandma wearing jean jackets covered in rhinestone brooches. They would collect them and pin them all over the jackets. As a kid, I didn't really understand it. I thought they were pretty and sparkly, but I didn't understand entirely why they would collect them with such diligence. But collect they did.

When we arrived in Oregon for Christmas, my grandma told me that I could pick from her pins for my bouquet. And out came this drawer:



I was overwhelmed... and didn't even know where to start. But immediately, this pin jumped out at me.



But then so did a few others...







After I'd pulled these out of the drawer, she found a couple others she thought I might like:





Needless to say, I was THRILLED to add several new pins to my growing collection! I know I say this at the end of every brooch post, but I am really enjoying getting each piece. It is fun to think about the different people who care about me and my day!

Girl gets wedding bands

Boy proposes to Girl.
Girl says yes.
Boy gives girl beautiful ring.
Boy goes to war.
Girl plans a wedding.
Girl orders wedding bands.

I absolutely LOVE my engagement ring. I think it is the most beautiful ring I have ever seen.

It took me a while to start looking at wedding bands. In fact, I didn't until we decided to move the wedding up. Then it kind of hit me one day that I really needed to get on that and buy our bands. So I started looking. I went to several jewelry stores and tried on all kinds of different things. I really thought I knew what I wanted, but as I began to look, I found that was not the case at all. I ended up ordering the ring from the jeweler that was made to go with my engagement ring.



It arrived in a beautiful little box (with a green holiday bow)...



And it even had Godiva chocolates with it! Now that is class!







LOVE IT.



J and I have gone back and forth about what he wanted. He knew he wanted something plain...no stones, no design. But at first, he said he wanted yellow gold. Then not much later, he said that maybe he'd like white gold. The thing is... he isn't here! So he hadn't had a chance to try on rings and really decide what he wanted. So I found a ring that is made out of tungsten. Which is basically steel. I figured it was different looking and would be tough.



When he is home and wearing his ring everyday, I figure we can go pick out the ring he loves... but I wanted him to have a ring for the wedding. And who knows, maybe he will end up loving it! :)

Girl gets brooches

Boy proposes to Girl.
Girl says yes.
Boy goes to war.
Girl plans a wedding.
Girl asks for help.
Girl gets brooches.

I think it started before I was born.
Christmas Eve.
My mom's family would gather together and open presents that my great grandmother had gotten all of us. We would eat and talk and catch up on the last year. Because most of us hadn't seen each other since last Christmas Eve. This tradition has continued on my entire life. All 25 years. Until this year.
I missed seeing my family this year... but I was beyond excited when I arrived at my grandma's house and she presented me with 2 pins for my bouquet... one from my Great-Aunt Eileen, and one from my second cousin, Nancy. Both are beautiful!!!

This one is from Aunt Eileen... because of my love for Disney as a kid:


And this one is from Nancy. She said she has had it for over 20 years! I love the color of it! And it catches the light!


Just like I say in every brooch blog... it is SO MUCH FUN to get these pins from everyone! It's fun to hear the stories and see why each pin was chosen!

If you want to send me a pin, I am still collecting them. I am about half way there and I'm getting so excited to see it all come together! I am hoping to collect them all in the next month or so... by the beginning of February... so I have enough time to put them all together before the wedding. Let me know if you need my address!

Girl chooses venue

Boy proposes to Girl.
Girl says yes.
Boy goes to war.
Girl plans a wedding.
Girl goes to Vegas.
Girl chooses venue.

When we decided to move the wedding to Vegas, my mom and I instantly both began to scour locations online. There are so many wedding venues in Las Vegas. So. Many. But what we started to notice is that most of them were indoors, draped in satin and had an Elvis option. None of those were things we wanted.

I was starting to think we might just go find a place in the desert, and bring our own chairs. Then I received a text message from my friend Sarah. She'd heard we were going to Vegas and wanted to tell me about a place that some friends of their family own. I looked it up online and it looked promising.

We set out to Las Vegas for Thanksgiving, and we had a plan. And a list. We had several venues we were planning to check out. I began calling around as soon as we got settled into the hotel and found that most of them were not open on Thanksgiving day, which is when we had kind of planned to check them out. The only one that I actually got a hold of a person was the venue that my friend Sarah had sent me. We arranged a time to meet him the day after Thanksgiving.

The plan was for us to get up in the morning and head to some of the other venues without appointments, then head to our appointment at 3pm. But as mom and I got in the car, we decided that we didn't really want to look at the other venues. So we headed to the outlet mall instead. It was Black Friday after all.

A little before 3 pm, we headed to the venue. The Ritz of Las Vegas. It was the most promising of the Venues we'd looked at online.

We met with the guy in charge, and after about an hour of viewing the venue and hearing about all of the details and just chatting, I knew it was perfect. It was a little bit more than we'd planned to spend for a venue, but it meant we could have a reception, which we weren't really planning on before.

So after only one short search, we booked a venue. This is where we will be getting married:

Girl gets brooches

Boy proposes to Girl.
Girl says yes.
Boy goes to war.
Girl plans a wedding.
Girl asks for help.
Girl gets brooches.

I have been a youth pastor for almost 8 years. That's actually kind of how I met J, since he is a full time youth pastor when he isn't away in the Army. It's a little known fact on my blog... because for the most part I keep my photography blog about photography and my wedding blog about my wedding. But I have been working with these teenagers since a lot of them first entered middle school... and I've already graduated through a few groups. I adore these teenagers, and they become a big part of my life.

There's a very special girl in my youth group and her name is Shirley. She started coming a number of years ago and I have enjoyed every minute with her. She is not only a beautiful girl inside and out, but she is amazingly creative. She is into fashion design and photography. And she is really great at both! It has been fun to watch her grow up and develop into a young woman. I am blessed to know her.

A couple of weeks ago she brought me an adorable box that she had covered with pictures of me and J (who as I mentioned before is also her youth pastor). Inside were two beautiful pins for my bouquet. She said there was no special story behind them but she wanted to contribute to my bouquet. And I am so glad she did :)

I love getting all of these amazing brooches!
I am about half way there with about 30 brooches. I need about 30 more. So if you have one you'd like to send me (it can be old or new, with meaning or no meaning), I would love to get it! I am trying to collect them all by the beginning of February so I have enough time to put together the bouquet!

Girl chooses colors

Boy proposes to Girl.
Girl says yes.
Boy goes to war.
Girl plans a wedding.
Girl gets confused.
Boy tries to help.
Girl is still confused.
Boy changes plans.
Girl makes decisions.
Girl chooses colors.

One of the first decisions I was finally able to make when it came to the wedding was the color scheme. When we were originally planning on a big fancy November wedding, I had several different color schemes in mind. I couldn't seem to pick one. Part of my problem is that I like so many different things. I really have a hard time narrowing it down.

I love weddings that have a ton of bright color... or one bright color that really pops. But I also love weddings that are full of neutrals. And don't even get me started on metallics.

There are so many choices when it comes to color that I really didn't know how I would make a decision. To be honest, I'm still not sure exactly HOW the decision came about. I think it started with one photo and ended up evolving and growing and taking on a life of it's own.




This picture is from our engagement session with Jordana of Hazelnut photography. It just so happens that in most of our photos from that session, the feel is really purple and gray. And a color scheme was born.

I am not entirely sure when this decision was made... but I found that as I started to put things together... the decorations and the centerpieces... I was seeing a pattern of Purple and Gray. And Silver.

Since J is gone, I've been filling his room with all of the wedding stuff. I told him the other day that it looks like a Purple and Gray elf threw up all over his room. With sparkles.

I am so excited to see how it all comes together!

Girl makes bouquets

Boy proposes to Girl.
Girl says yes.
Boy goes to war.
Girl plans a wedding
Girl saves money.
Girl gets crafty.
Girl makes bouquets.

I knew early on that I didn't want to use live flowers in our wedding. I wanted something different and unique. I knew that I wanted to do a lot of things myself and be crafty. I like to be crafty :) I also knew pretty early on that my bouquet would be made from brooches. I did not think that the girls bouquets would also... that would just be too much. But I wanted something that would go together.

When I was googling things and looking around online, I came across this picture:



I decided I liked this idea, so I set out to try to recreate it. After several failed attempts at making something I really loved, I had success. And so I want to share a little DIY paper bridesmaid bouquet. As with all of the DIY projects I post, I'd love to see pictures if you do something similar! Or if you put a different twist on it! I love to see creativity!




Here are step by step instructions to make one. If you need to make more than one, just make sure you get enough supplies and repeat the instructions!

Things you will need:
-Styrofoam ball (I used 5")
-2 foot by 2 foot piece of fabric (keep in mind color will show through a little)
-wooden dowel (mine was about 6 inches long)
-rubber band
-inch wide ribbon (about a foot and a half should be enough)
-Dress maker pins (or something similar. Could use pearl headed pins instead)
-flower hole punch
-super glue
-4 to 6 sheets of scrapbook paper in coordinating colors (It will depend on how close together you want the flowers and if you want a single layer or a double layer. I put mine pretty close together and doubled each flower)

Step 1:
Place Styrofoam ball in the middle of fabric square


Step 2:
Fold fabric square in half diagonally over Styrofoam ball.


Step 3:
Pin fabric around ball leaving about a one inch space free.


Step 4.
Place wooden dowel into ball. (the trick here is to poke a hole about an inch deep into the foam with the dowel. Then take the dowel out and put super glue in the hole. Place the dowel back in and hold it to let glue dry.


Step 5:
Finish pinning fabric tight around Styrofoam ball


Step 6:
Rubber band the bottom of the fabric right under where the dowel ends.


Step 7:
Tuck loose ends of fabric up and wrap ribbon around and around, covering the dowel and fabric. Make sure to keep the ribbon tight. This is what the girls will hold, so it is important that it is good and tight. Put a couple of dots of super glue at the end of the ribbon to keep it from coming unwound.


Step 8:
Use flower hole punch to punch different colors of scrapbook paper


Step 9:
Pin flowers to ball with dressmaker pins. Turn up edges slightly to create texture and dimension. You can double up your flowers (either 2 of the same color or 2 different colors) to give it more dimension and color and texture. Pictured, I doubled up the flowers using 2 different colors.


Step 10:
continue pinning flowers until the surface of the ball is covered. Make sure to pin down any fabric that may not be flat as you go. Use the flowers to disguise any problem places in the fabric.

Step 11 (optional):
Super glue rhinestones down the handle of the bouquet to acheive a little extra sparkle... And make it look like it has been pinned.

And that's it! It's pretty simple, but a bit time consuming. Each of my bridesmaids will be carrying one of these... and I think it will end up looking pretty cool!