Koru Kate Finds: Book of Love

Welcome to the first Koru Kate Finds of 2012!  If you're new here (hello & welcome!), Koru Kate Finds is my weekly series of wedding finds, from DIY projects to decor to jewelry, to inspire you & your wedding.  Let's start the fun, shall we?

Today's Koru Kate Finds is the DIY Book of Love:

Let's face it, everyone has computer drives full of lovely photos that we never print.  Ladies, it's time to make something of those memories.  The sentimental fool that I am, this personalized & easy DIY project is right up my alley.  All you need are fun photos, sweet memories & few basic supplies to make a Book of Love to cherish forever. 

A Book of Love is billed for Valentine's Day, although it's fitting for any special occasion.  Make one with photos from your engagement session, your bridal shower, your bachelorette party, your rehearsal dinner, your wedding, your honeymoon or your newlywed years. You get the idea, right?  

A Book of Love is a perfect gift &/or a lovely keepsake.    

For complete instructions & plenty of other DIY goodness, please visit The Wedding Chicks HERE.  Enjoy!

Koru Kate Finds: 6th Edition

I was on a Shopping Mission yesterday to find a new, fun outfit for RZ's birthday.  Sadly, I was unsuccessful & recycled an outfit for the happy occasion.  On the bright side, I found pretty, well-priced dresses for my dear readers in Wedding mode.  These sweet dresses are perfect for Bridesmaids for Wedding, Guests for Wedding or Bride for Rehearsal Dinner.   

First, I offer you the soft berry Faux Wrap Sleeveless Dress for only $60:

Next, I give you the warm iron Carla Flutter Sleeve Sheath Dress for only $65:

Last, I present my personal favorite, the fresh olive Ruffle Front Sleeveless Dress for only $65:

Images via Ann Taylor Loft

Add a cool statement necklace, fun little belt &/or fabulous shoes & you're good to go!

As much as I enjoyed my experience at Bella Bridesmaid & I loved my Bridesmaid dress, I wish I had gone the off-the-rack ready route for my Bridesmaids.  The process of finding, ordering & altering those traditional Bridesmaid dresses was my least favorite experience of my wedding planning.  Hindsight! 

If you're willing to hunt & compromise on color, you can find a perfect dress for a good deal!

Calling Jersey Girls!

The honor of your presence is requested at the "Jersey Shore" house!

Oh yes, my dears, it's true: the "Jersey Shore" beach pad is available for weddings!

Or engagement parties, bridal showers, rehearsal dinner or any other event you'd like to host at the summer home of Snooki & the Situation. The Seaside Heights home is being touted as perfect for the non-traditional Bride & Groom. All with killer tans & Jersey accents must apply. Dream come true or nightmare?

I have to admit I have never watched "Jersey Shore" but I knew I had to pass along this gem when a fellow Jersey Girl sent this info my way. I don't live under a rock & I know the show is hugely popular. Perhaps some have been anxiously awaiting a "Jersey Shore" theme wedding. Any takers? Let me know, I'd love to help with the wedding planning!!

Last Night as a Bride-to-be

Bride & Groom Thank You Speech
The windows behind us overlook downtown NYC & Statue of Liberty

Me & My Bridesmaids
These ladies rock!

Bride & Groom with my Uncles
They walked me down the aisle :-)

True story: we were one hour late to our rehearsal dinner. Only us! Minus that little detail, my last evening as a Bride-to-be was perfect.

RZ & I were greeted by the applause of our family & friends who had gathered to celebrate with us. Maybe they were simply glad we showed up but I prefer to think they were cheering for us, for our love, for our future. I could feel the love in the room & I will remember it forever.

The evening was fun & casual, just as we'd hoped. Everything was simple with hotel-supplied cocktail tables, black linens, votive candles & house music. The buffet & open seating allowed our guests to eat, mix & mingle as they pleased. Conversations & laughter floated in the air. I ate my fair share of funnel cake, I chatted with our guests & I posed for plenty of photos. Looking back now, I'm very grateful for this extra time to spend with our guests because the wedding went so quickly!

This was our golden opportunity to thank our bridal party, families & friends for their presence, support & love during our engagement, at our wedding & always. I'm not a good public speaker & RZ doesn't love it either. We kept the speech short & sweet, then handed out our thank you gifts. I'm not sure we could ever thank everyone enough but we tried.

The next thing I knew, it was time to say good-night after a wonderful rehearsal diner. RZ would be spending the night in the cushy hotel suite while I would be returning to the comforts of our home. Lots of couples talk about sad tears & heartfelt talks as they separate for the night. Not us! RZ was excited to watch tv & relax in the suite & I had a few things on my to-do list to tackle. But there was no mistaking our happiness: the next time we saw each other, I would be walking down the aisle!

Planning Nightmare

My exact sentiment about planning our rehearsal dinner
Print available on Etsy in breedingfancy's shop

Okay, I wanted to share the story of our rehearsal dinner with you today but I can hardly talk about the dinner without mentioning the planning of the dinner . . .

The planning of our rehearsal dinner was one of our biggest challenges. It took us five months, not to mention plenty of blood, sweat & tears. The premise seemed so simple: a casual dinner to celebrate with our bridal party, families & out-of-town guests. Sounds easy, right? Nope, not in Hoboken. I started out focusing on our favorite restaurants, then tried anything & everything. Most restaurants are too small for private parties & the few that can accommodate large parties charge a fortune. Frustrating.

After getting nowhere fast, we decided to host our rehearsal dinner at the Hyatt on the Hudson to keep things easy for ourselves & our guests. The Hyatt offered us the Harborside Room, a good-sized room with pretty views of the Statue of Liberty. We were on the right track! But it wasn't as easy as we hoped. We didn't like any of the plated or buffet dinner options because they were too formal, very similar to our wedding menu. We wanted the rehearsal dinner & wedding to be vastly different especially now that the venue was essentially the same. I began to wonder if McDonald's would mind a party of 50.

The Hyatt sent me their complete corporate & private catering menu in what I can only guess was sheer desperation. I stumbled upon a "themed snack break" of soft pretzels, french fries & funnel cake. My stomach growled at the mere thought of my favorite foods. We were on to something! With the easy additions of salads, 3 choices of pizza & 3 choices of sliders, we were set. We sent out easy, cute invitations from Pingg & called it a day. At last, we had managed to create the fun, casual rehearsal dinner of our dreams!

Check in tomorrow for the scoop on my last dinner as a Soon-to-Be Mrs.!

DIY Project #2: Ceremony Poms

The final look of our ceremony poms

White poms with ivory ribbon for our winter white wedding
& swirls, my favorite!, on the ribbon!!!!

My longest-running DIY project was the fabric poms for our ceremony. After making the sample in September, I ran into two problems. One, the sample had taken forever. It was an easy fix: I used 4-inch styrofoam balls instead of 6-inch styrofoam balls. Two, I had no fabric. It wasn't an easy fix. A failed attempt for a NYC fabric hunt. An overload of Internet sources for fabric. Lots & lots of procrastination. About two weeks before the wedding, I finally purchased small balls, swirl ribbon & white organza from an excellent source, Save on Crafts.

My supplies arrived six days before the wedding. I was really determined to finish this DIY project but I had many tasks & little time. In between gift bag assembly, dress appointments, airport pick-ups, table assignments & more, I found scraps of time here & there to cut circles & glue petals to create poms. I cherished those moments because I could free my mind of the wedding to-do list & just relax. However, those freeing moments were few & far between!

At our ceremony rehearsal, I handed over four poms to our wedding planner to place on the church pews the next day. My goal was eight poms. After our rehearsal dinner, my cousin/bridesmaid kindly helped me finish another pom & started the sixth pom when she burned her hand with the hot glue gun. I officially called off the project.

So I had four pretty poms at our wedding ceremony, four shy of my goal. Two poms decorated the first two pews by the altar & the other two poms hung near the last two pews by the church entrance. & you know what? It was just fine, nobody missed those four poms- including me!!

10 Days & Counting!!!!

Available on Etsy in braggingbags' shop

Somehow, we are here: 10 days away from our wedding!

Part of me is stunned. How can our wedding possibly be 1o days away? Another part of me is stressed. Is there possibly enough time to get everything done in 10 days? The rest of me is over the moon. I'm marrying RZ in 10 days!

My head is dancing & swimming "Wedding" on a continuous loop. Marriage license. Rehearsal dinner. Bridal party gifts. Hotel gift bags. DIY poms. Table assignments. Escort cards. Honeymoon packing. Etc. Etc.

All in all, I'm overwhelmed & amazed. There is much to be done, yet this is a very special time to be cherished. These are the final days of our engagement, my final days as a Bride-to-be. I don't want to waste it worrying & stressing. I want to take my time & enjoy every last moment. These are the days to remember!

Trick or TREATS

Am I the last one in the world to find out about Cake Pops from Bakerella? I stumbled upon these delicious cuties a week ago. Now I'm obsessed. By obsessed, I mean visions of making Cake Pops as favors for our rehearsal dinner dancing through my head. This is coming from the girl who only has a kitchen because the condo came with one.

Adorable. That's all I can say. Since I have the upcoming, fun holiday of Halloween on my mind, check out the Cake Pops all spooky & sweet for Halloween:

Image from Bakerella

Image from Bakerella

Image from Bakerella

Image from Bakerella

I told you they were adorable!! If I had to pick a favorite, I'd go with the sassy black cats. Cute, cute.

The real question is if I'm brave enough to give Wedding Cake Pops a shot!

Overwhelmed Bride

A pretty bouquet to cheer me up today!
White Tulip & Chamomile Bouquet
Bouquet from Real Simple

I have quite a few wedding invitations to photograph & feature on the blog but I forgot my camera again. I'd say it's one of those days except it may be more appropriate to say it's one of those weeks. I'm feeling a bit like I'm stuck in second gear in life, not to mention in wedding planning.

What's happening with our wedding planning these days? Lots & nothing at the same time.

RZ & I didn't have time to review our wedding invitation options the other day. He did give his stamp of approval to one invitation. However, he didn't even look at the other invitation. Until we have time to compare & contrast, I'm holding off on choosing & ordering wedding invitations.

Because we want to include the Rehearsal Dinner & Celebration Brunch information with the wedding invitation, I reached out to the Hyatt Regency Jersey City to find out when & where we could hold both affairs at the hotel. At first, I was told they had plenty of room for us. It took me about five days to get back to them &, in the meantime, a sales conference booked the entire hotel. Major bummer! I'm back at square one, reaching out to local restaurants to see about their options & pricing.

Also on the to-do list is reserving wedding day transportation for us, our bridal party & our wedding guests. This happens to be of my least favorite tasks when I'm helping wedding planning clients. Naturally, it's no more appealing when it's our wedding. So I've been putting it off.

And so it goes . . .