Wedding Resources: Etsy and Heartsy

While we're waiting to set a date and venue, I thought it would be fun to feature some of my favorite sites for wedding resources and inspiration.

Have you discovered the magic of Etsy yet?  The creativity on this "place to buy and sell all things homemade, vintage, and supplies" is incredible!  It's a great place to get unique, personal (and often personalized) gifts.  I recently bought a few gifts and I've been so happy with their quality and the sellers' professionalism.

You can find anything under the sun on Etsy, particularly related to weddings.  I've already "hearted" so many stores for when it's time for all the fun details.  From wedding dress labels, to wedding invitations, to a North Carolina cutting board, Etsy's got it all.

Not only do they have everything under the sun for sale, the inspiration on the site is endless.  We're hoping to do a lot of paper items and decorations ourselves, so it's the perfect place to gather ideas or pieces of projects.

Stack of felt...

 .... meet cute old man photobooth prop!

My love-affair grew even deeper last week when a friend told me about Heartsy, a Groupon-like site for Etsy.  I'm feeling extremely indebted, and my wallet is hoping this site will keep it from feeling the same way.

Today, I picked up a discounted credit for Parcel and Paper, and I can't wait to pick out some of their cute paper goods for wedding crafts. Maybe some post-ceremony treat bags tied up with string?

So, visit Etsy soon and be prepared to fall down the crafty rabbit hole!

Marital Lesson #1

In true Oprah-style, what I know for sure is... if John goes to the Asian Market, this will soon be coming out of our oven.

Hello, Mr. Grouper Flounder {whoops- thanks for the correction, fiance}!

 

He ain't pretty, but it sure was good!

Side note... On the day of this feast, I came in from work pretty "hangry" and, as a result, didn't fully appreciate the gesture and effort John made.  However, adding these two little pictures has made me unbelievably excited about the years of culinary adventures to come!

Easter Egg Garland

I started building my holiday decorations collection about three years ago, and I haven't gotten much further in the calendar than Christmas.  Extensive collection, I know.  However, after seeing this DIY Easter Egg Garland, Easter might be my next holiday target.

Image via Modern Parents, Messy Kids

How cute and easy is that garland made of freebie paint chips?

I recently become familiar with the paint chips, while choosing wedding colors. Sophisticated method, I know. Sorry about the poor quality picture, but here are the pretty things.  Keep a lookout for more posts related to these colors as we make some wedding decisions. 
 

If they don't kick me out of the Home Depot for obsessive hoarding of paint chips, I might have to attempt this garland this weekend.  If it turns out halfway cute, I'll post an update of the finished product.  Does anyone know the ethics associated with paint chips? 

Masquerade!

Be honest, did you start singing this song after reading the title? 

Well, except for some masks, dresses, and tuxedos, these stories aren't really the same.  Catch up on last week's tuxedo cliff hanger here.

The law school's formal Barrister's Ball was the same day as our mason jar adventure and we had made plans to go to dinner with some friends beforehand.  We tiredly finished cleaning the masons jars at 3:45,with dinner reservations at 6:00.  As we plopped down, John looked at me and said, "we just took all my suits to the dry cleaners!  I have nothing to wear tonight!"  While the first part of that statement was actually a good thing (I had been "politely nudging" him to do this for a while), the second part was a little alarming.

Since we had just gotten engaged a week before, I was learning that they should change the schoolyard ditty to "First comes love, then comes engagement, then comes loads of wedding magazines."  On Friday night, I showed John an ad for Formalware Outlet and their $99 tuxedo special, which even intrigued his frugal self.

So, ad in hand and with the clock ticking, we jumped in the car, made the 20 minute drive to Hillsborough and... 45 minutes later we walked out with John's brand new Tommy Hilfiger tuxedo, shirt, vest, bowtie, cuff links, and button covers!  For $85!  Oh yes, they were running the "student prom special."  Thank you, OneCard!  After all this, we were only 20 minutes later for dinner.

Isn't he handsome?
 

Well, I guess a tuxedo can only dress a guy up so much...

Masquerade!