these final weekends are full of wedding tasks.  out of all of them, however, i am so excited to share this one.

to get to the ceremony entrance from the parking lot of our venue, there's a little bit of a path to walk down. without proper signage, guests may not know which way to go. so, with a little inspiration from my wedding planner's blog, i decided to make some "wedding this way signs" and some "bride" & "groom" signs for our chairs.

i'm not sure this is the best way to go about this, but i'll give you my step-by-steps for this project.

materials:

• plywood - you pick the size. we got it cut at lowe's.
  
• legal size copy paper
  
• white tissue paper
  
• a pencil
  
• a sharpie
  
• ivory paint - we used valspar eggshell in queen anne's lace.
  
• acrylic paint - any color you choose. i chose bermuda blue at joann - spot on for tiffany blue.
  
• an attachment device {i say it this way, because we're using ribbon to hang the bride/groom signs from our chairs, and we have wooden stakes to put the signs in the ground. you may choose something completely different.}

1. i picked out a font i like {freebooter script. love it.} and printed out the words on legal paper. its bigger, longer, better for this project.

2. i then traced the letters from the printed paper onto tissue paper with a pencil. be sure you tape the tissue paper to the printed paper so it doesn't shift in the middle.

3. remove the copy paper, and tape the tissue paper to the board with the penciled word where you want it to go on the board. trace over the penciled outline with a sharpie.

4. i should have gotten a picture here of what it looked like after the sharpie was traced onto the boards, but i didn't think about that at the time... basically its just a faint black outline. kind of dotted. but here is the tissue paper looks like after having been sharpie-d. i used the same outline for 3 boards - so you can re-use without tracing multiple times.

{see my pup delilah playing ball? she loves projects.}

5. eat a personal pan pizza from pizza hut. it will make you happy. at least it did for me. :)

6. use a small paintbrush, and just paint inside the lines. get a small one, but make it decently firm. {i was pretty much using a watercolor brush like the ones you get in the kits when you're a kid. don't know why i couldn't find a better one around the house.}

7. the last steps are to paint on the arrow. which i'm not doing till i visit the venue again and figure out placement. don't want the arrows pointing the wrong direction.

i'll show off the finished product though for sure.

what diy projects are you doing for your wedding?

If you've seen any pictures of my throughout my blogger bride posts, you might have noticed my so-fair-you-can-see-straight-through-skin.  It's true.  I won't deny it.  And I'm not ashamed. 

Snow White had skin as white as snow.  And she was the fairest of them all.

But since I am wearing a white dress on this special day coming up, and I'll be in about 10,000 photos, I wanted to see if I could do a little something.  You know, so you can't really see through my skin.  Now, it may be good for some, but tanning beds are not for me.  I'm too fair... and I get too bored... and hot.  It just doesn't work.

And I've tried a few self-tanners I wasn't fond of.

Then someone (my sister, actually) recommended this.

$38 at Sephora

This stuff is just amazing.  The applicator mitt that comes in the box prevents the dreaded orange hands, and it helps spread the tanner smoothly.  They have a spray as well, but I know better than to think I could apply that well.

So for all my fair-skinned Blogger Bride friends, this is my beauty recommendation to you.

Have you found any beauty products you're excited to use for your big day?  (and beyond!)

here we are: the big reveal of my breakfast at tiffany's shower that i previewed here and here and here.

i won't do much talking except to say this.

i had some serious fun with this shower!

now enjoy the photos.

the guestbook table.

the cake table. isn't that cake lovely?

the food display. audrey was there in spirit.

let's zoom in on those strawberries, please.

the table centerpieces. super cute, no?
those runners were hand-sewn by my super-dee-duper FSIL.

bling on the outside of the glove, madame.

posing with my mommy dearest.

and with my lovely hostesses.

she's about to cut that cake.

and then she will eat it. yum.

the bride and 2 darling bridesmaids.

i like my towels.

i love my shamwow!

it's all over. and she's a happy bride.

i love a blue box.  you know, that special blue box with the white bow?  actually, i'm completely obsessed with tiffany & co., holly golightly, and breakfast at tiffany's.

my FSIL was definitely not amiss in her knowledge of this. so when she volunteered to host my shower in our hometown, she planned a breakfast at tiffany's theme. fabulous, no? i'm in love.

so when i received this invitation, i shrieked with excitement. {ask mr. smith. he'll tell you its true.}  and now that it's coming up in 3 days, i'm even more excited.

she and her mom MADE THESE. talk about diy fabulosity. those are real rhinestones on the chandeliers. omg. i can't say anything to express how truly amazed i am.

{that blurry-ness - that's all on me. i'm not skilled yet in the iphoto retouch arena.}

and if you saw the "feel free to wear your utterly fabulous 'holly golightly' attire" line, you better believe i'm ready.  i've got a dress, a hat, the jewelry, and the gloves.  all from this particular scene.

i think the most shocking thing about this whole wedding planning experience is how unbelievably nice everyone has been to us.  from my sister's help with the proposal to my bridesmaids helping with our diy invitations, they've been phenomenal.

has anyone planned or done anything for you that has just blown you away?

i recently found something lovely on etsy.

i have been watching my wedding timeline checklist and realized it's time to accessory shop.  i chronicled my my shoe search on my blog, and because i'm a bit of a minimalist, there aren't a whole lot of things i need.  so my other accessories are really just jewelry and a clutch.

which i so happily found.

just lovely.

its made of all vintage fabrics - so eco-friendly!  love that.

the inside is lined with blue fabric.  of course i love.

and the entire outside is lace.  or at least lace-like.  regardless, it looks lovely.

if that's not enough, it's called bridal betty eco clutch.  uber cute.

{another cool thing i just realized:  the seller is in sydney, so that "free shipping worldwide" option is looking better and better!}

i guess the question now is, what will i put in this?  lip gloss, yes... but what else will i need when i have an awesome planner, 8 super-fab maids, and the love of my life?  tell me please.  

i haven't told you my wedding colors yet!  (or have i? not sure.)

well:  tiffany blue was the start.  i love it.  nothing makes my heart so happy as the sight of a lovely little tiffany & co. box tied up with that perfect white bow.

then comes espresso.  i wanted a deep, dark, rich brown to offset the bright-ness of the beautiful blue.

so not long after the question was popped and the ring is on the finger, along comes a hand-me-down martha stewart weddings magazine featuring last year's today show wedding theme:  breakfast at tiffany's.

i have scoured the pages over and over and over... but recently i found another blog that had posted the pictures in 3 lovely collages.  take a look!

source:  the wedding decorator

what famous wedding inspire you?

in may mr. smith and i were lucky enough to have a friend willing to host a shower for us. excuse me, for him.

yes, a shower for my FH. it was surprise for him (the only way i knew we could get him to a wedding shower). several of his friends were able to come in from out of town to surprise him. we had a UK blue theme, a football field cake, a mr. smith trivia game, a cornhole tournament, a rousing round of rock band, and gifts consisting of a flip camera, tools, a lawn mower, and more.

it was so fun and so great for him because so often the groom is completely overlooked. the bride is only 1/2 the marriage after all.

take a look at the pictures and see all the fun we had.

where am i?

the future mr. and mrs. smith

now we can chop some limbs.

cornhole anyone?

we are rock band-its. :)

what about you ladies - are you going to have a shower for your man?

i love nashville, but after reading a post at one of the blogs i read, i began to long for a near-atlanta wedding. this venue is absolutely stunning. i'm not entirely sure i could fall any more in love with a place.

want more lovely and inspiring pictures? see the villa serena website. but be careful: you just might fall out of your chair.

{after writing this, i noticed a post a few down from a fellow blogger bride in atlanta - i hope this provides you with some inspiration!}

aerial view. holy heavens - this is beautiful.

what bride wouldn't love this staircase?

the front at night. stunning.

photo sources: 1, 2, 3

I love the new wall decal trend.  I don't have a single one.  but I will get one soon.  I'm just picky so i haven't been able to settle on one yet.

i found this really cool idea for a bridesmaid gift at a store here in nashville.  it's in the green hills area, and i think it's called habit.  can't remember though.  and i'm so excited to share it with you!!  my bridesmaids read my blog so i can't spill the gift beans, but you can keep a secret, right? :)

i took a picture at the store because there was only one and hoped to find it online.  and i did.  at least i found the company, dogeared, but not the necklace.  boo - must be discontinued!

they have some other bridesmaid things, but nothing with a message like this one - which is my favorite part!  so i think i'm going to do something similar to this for my maids.  it can't be that hard to diy this, right?  or at least get a necklace from somewhere else and put it on a similar card.

what do you think?  what did you get your bridesmaids?