#401: tie this.

via vintage glam.

my dad has tons of these hemp rope things in his garage, thick and thin. he uses the rope to holster bikes and his canoe to the garage ceiling. great DIY invitation idea, me thinks.

yes, he has a canoe.

#400: the little mermaid.

so my identity is kind of anonymous. i mean, i've been bloggerating for 1.5 years and i've only told two people about it --- my sister and the fiance. if my friends know about TTO at all, it's because they stalk weddingbee and style-me-pretty religiously. and if they've somehow clicked onto this site and read about the proposal and all the other little tidbits that are my life, i'm sure they've pieced it together by now (hi friends!).

in the opening scene of 'the little mermaid', triton's daughters are performing a little doo-ditty to introduce their sister ariel. and they go through all of their own names to get to hers. and one of those names happens to be mine. (hint # gajillion)

though i'm not a mermaid in real life, i do love the water. and the sun. so it only makes sense for me to be drawn to venues as close to the pacific as possible. and this especially makes sense now that i'm fully on board the 'daytime wedding' train (or is it...wagon...?).

of course, i'm not the only one who loves the water. we all know that a wedding with any type of ocean view is a popular choice amongst brides, and is especially so in so-cal. which means it is, for the most part, also pry-say.

but i happened to stumble across a couple of venues that juuuust might work. that is, unless they nickel and dime me from the initial pricing lists that were posted on their sites. you know and i know all too well about all that 'if it's too good to be true...' business. well, so maybe it is. but i emailed them anyways. juuuust in case it really is good and really is true.

site #1:


site #2:


keeping the hope alive, friends. we'll see.

#399: prioritization in action. kind of.

after post #393, i got to thinking about the whole 'evening' requirement.

our main priority is to showcase our lifelong promise to each other and to also share that love with family. that's it. in fact, 80% of our guests are going to be family. aunts, uncles, grandparents, parents, sibs, nieces, nephews, cousins. and 2nd cousins. and it made me wonder: why am i so hell bent on having a crazy blow-out nighttime party? i mean...if we want our wedding to be very simply, basically, and fundamentally about our love and our love for both of our families who've made us who we are today...why am i putting the heavy on the party-til-the-a.m. element.

yeah. it might have something to do with the fact that someone loves to party something tranny fierce. (guilty.)

and i got to thinking. that hey, a party...is a party. doesn't matter what time of day, as long as the right people are there with you.

getting to the point: i've kind of been focusing on the wrong aspect of our wedding (and consequently, trying to cater to a crowd other than most of our guestlist!) so...whilst this whole time i've been stubbornly against a daytime wedding (not in general but for us), i'm no longer. and fiance agrees.

i know. i'm thick. it takes a while for me to get it. meh. but at least i did.

#398: one flower.

martha stewart via bridalwave.

#397: it's a centerpiece weekend.

who cares about flowers when you could have tiered chandeliers on your table.

step one: print this picture.

step two: find all listings for fairs, flea markets, antique sales in l.a.

step three: recruit peeps (1 per wknd) to go shopping with me.

step four: buy a bacon-wrapped hot dog or a taco truck burrito and lemonade as thanks.

step five: run 3 miles the next day to work off the calories.

#396: clearly marked.

i'm having a *small* wedding so i don't think i'll be using these as table markers. but if i were having a lot of people milling around, i'd definitely consider using these big numbers.

a project that involves spraypainting? mos def.

via once wed.

#395: what i am doing without.

or i should say...what i plan to do without.

1) rsvp cards. i mean. everyone has access to a computer somehow somewhere, right?
2) bouquet toss / garter toss. has anyone enjoyed this at all? like, ever?
3) engagement photo shoot.
4) cake cutting. what's. the. point. ok, actually, i might reneg on this one. because i really like cake. so if we're going to have cake, we might as well cut it.
5) program / menu cards. our ceremony and reception will hopefully be held in the same venue. and hopefully the ceremony will be short and sweet. which means the program really won't have much on it. which means we don't...need to have one...?

and just to balance it out, here are the must-haves.

1) father - daughter dance. i loves my dad.
2) writing our own vows.
3) music. makes the people. come together.

i think this may end up shocking some people. WHAT? no engagement photos?? WHAT? no bouquet toss?? WHAT? no menus??

but...what's more shocking than having a $10,000 wedding budget. nothing, really.

so maybe i should lead with that.

"i have a $10,000 wedding budget. oh, and i'm not planning to use rsvp cards."

"WHAT? $10,000???"