This is it! The moment we’ve all been waiting for! The grand reveal of our Save the Dates!

Before I show you, Hunter and I want to say thank you to all you amazing readers who showered us with your goodness regarding the STD drama we’ve been going through. Your support, thoughts, prayers, juju, and well-wishes have meant the world to us… and we can’t help but believe that all that positive energy helped in the rescue of our Save the Dates from the fedex graveyard. Thank you, thank you, thank you. You guys are the best!

Without further ado…. It is with great pleasure that I share with you our official Save the Date Magic Wallets, as lovingly designed and executed by the inimitable geniuses here at Elizabeth Anne Designs.

The front:

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Last week, we bustled around to get our STD envelopes ready in anticipation of their shipment from E and A, who’ve been lovingly crafting them for about a month now. The actual STD’s were to arrive on Monday, according to fedex…. but we wanted to be ready for them, so we could just stuff, and send!

Behold, our Save The Date envelope - complete with the badass wraparound label that E and A created for us, and the gloriously adorable “love: all heart” stamps.

What do you think?

Isn’t the label divine?!? Way to go Ami & Bekah!

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I just love the way Mehndi looks on a bride. Its such a lovely, delicate and sometimes surprising detail with big impact.

(image source)
How frickin’ sweet are those shoes?

Mehndi is an intricate henna application typically done to the hands and/or feet of brides of mid-east/eastern descent, but is gaining popularity among other cultures for its beauty, and is even making appearances in fashion these days.

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I’m in shell shock from the price quotes I’ve gotten from hair and makeup people. Seriously? Up to $175 for hair alone?  The same for makeup?  Kill. me. now.

I recently had a consultation with less insanely priced, (but still more than I budget for) hair/makeup artist. I was referred to him through my benevolent bride friend, after I saw how incredibly glowing and lovely she looked in her photos. He seems great - I really like his energy.  However, I’m just not sure I can rationalize the cost…. but I can’t do it on my own, either.

I’m not much of a make-up person. On a daily basis I wear sunscreen and lip gloss. Sometimes I wear mascara and blush gel too… but that’s about as far as it goes. Oftentimes, when I get makeup professionally done, it feels cakey and matte. It might look great on film, but in person, its 3 layers deep. I don’t want that for my wedding. I want to have a radiant, dewy look that looks great both on film and in person. More like I just had an invigorating romp - all flushed and natural. Is it possible?

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Finding dress shoes is always a difficult task for me. I think my feet are pretty, but they’re quite narrow and flat - so I often slide right through sandals. I also have the longer second toe, known as Morton’s Toe (which is rumored to denote wisdom - yeah, dawg) but makes it quite difficult to find shoes that fit comfortably.

So, I knew that while my mom was in town, we had to finally find the perfect shoes. Perfect in style, heel height, color, and most of all - affordability! After so many shoes have broken my heart with their pricetag (hello, Prada) or stiletto heel (4″, seriously?)… I was starting to lose hope for redemption.

We checked out Nordstrom first - and found a pretty pair in pink…. on sale for $40. Not bad.

See? My middle toe almost hangs off the base! But this is a pretty good fit, for me.

But neither of us were too keen on the silver rhinestones, and the heel was at least an inch too high. But the price was so good, my mom suggested we could try to get a cobbler to shorten the heels. In the end, we just weren’t 100% sold on them… so we bid adieu and moved on.

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Back when I visited Claire Pettibone’s boutique, I was introduced to the wonderfully organic, handcrafted, custom headpieces made by the wondrous Tracy of TS Tiara. The moment I was crowned with one of Tracy’s unique and inspired twig headbands…. I knew I had to look no further. They were so bohemian, so rockstar… just hippie enough, but with a touch of the funk…. absolutely perfect.

Even better in person!

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6 months into our relationship, Hunter and I spent a month backpacking Europe together. It was one of the best times of our lives. It was also an amazing opportunity to get to know each other in a new way. Being together 24/7 for 31 days, navigating foreign countries in foreign languages, in the biggest heatwave of the decade was a true test of our strength. I really believe that traveling together should be a pre-requisite of marriage. There would probably be a lot less divorce that way.

(Collobriers, France 2003)

As evidenced by our taste, we’re big fans of the cultural and artistic influences of Asia, but neither of us have been there and we’re desperate to remedy that situation. The honeymoon seems like a perfect excuse. But affording a trip like that on top of a wedding is…. laughable in our circumstances.

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I always knew I wanted personalized bags (cuz that’s how I roll), and definitely wanted reusable ones to suit our Eco-Green endeavors… but being broke-ass doesn’t really suit either of those desires. So, when my sister and bro-in-law came through town on their way to Bali, and mentioned they could get bags made for a fraction of American prices, we were all about it. I sent the file to their contact in Bali, and the bags were ready within a week! My sis was generous enough to carry all 50 home with her, to save us shipping costs. We couldn’t believe how beautifully they turned out! They were even better than we dreamt they’d be.

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You know how sometimes, you just have to try something unreasonable on, so you can see how bad/ill-fitting it looks and “Rule it Out”?

{Image Source: Brides.com}

I used to think I wanted a Claire Pettibone dress. The Juliet, to be exact. I couldn’t afford it, but it didn’t stop me from wanting it. I dragged my mom while she was in town for Christmas, to try it on, hoping I’d hate it in person. But it was just lovely. And to wear one of her dresses is like bathing in silk…. comfortable, sensual, and rich-feeling. Too rich, for my wee bank account. I looked and looked for an alternate, but to no avail. I was nervous.

Cut to: May ‘08
Our great friend Billy (aka our officiant, more on that another time) teaches yoga. He came over one night and gave me a business card for a local, eco-conscious dress designer who took his class that evening, thinking I might be able to use it. I was all, “pssshhh - we’ll see if I like her stuff better than the Juliet - yeah, right!”

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Are you sitting down? I hope so, cuz I just discovered the funnest, easiest color board toy online! I’ve been trying to find good color samples and inspiration for the longest time….

Enter Montage-a-Google, a web app which generates montages based around keywords, from the full library of google images. So, I just popped in the colors we’re working with, and voila! Its so easy a monkey could do it, and look at the inspiring outcomes!

Here’s our colors: fuchsia, peacock blue, sunset orange, purple, and gold as an accent.



Delish, no? (click to enlarge)
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