Oh my MAC

I haven't really talked about anything Makeup related until now. I absolutely love makeup, and anything to do with it. I have even done a few weddings (and am looking to do more, if someone wants an artist) So I have decided to do my own makeup.

Now of course with my love of makeup, I think it's crazy hard to find inspiration photos as an African American Bride. It's hard to look at pictures of some celebrities and bride magazines when we aren't considered a part of the majority that get's married (odd isn't it!) So we normally turn to our African American Celebrities and Music stars for our cues on inspiration (hopefully that will change, but this seems to be the norm even on some of my favorite blogs)

Everyday for the new week, I will create one of the 6 looks and will have you tell me or vote on which one you like the best. I am going for naturally glam :-)

African American Bride Makeup Inspiration by msdmitchell08 on Polyvore.com

My Goodies!

That's right my goodies! That's what's underneath my dress, emm hmm, well not exactly. I am talking about my garter. I have been on the hunt for something sexy and cute something my other would love. I have looked at your basic garters, simple and gets the job done to your more detailed sports themed, wedding themed, cartoon themed, you name it I have seen it. Well my other although he loves his sports team, I don't think a Redskin garter would interest him.

I turned to my very good and close friend, ETSY! You know the site I looked and looked and with great luck and beauty might I add, I came across Birds of Paradise who makes these gorgeous garters, I mean to die for!!. I didn't see my colors, but I contacted her about doing a custom one and with her great prices, I couldn't beat it. She has finished my to die for garter and I cant wait to get it in the mail, but here is a sneak peak. Be sure to check out her shop for great prices and great items!

Sweet Sweet Carnations

Now I must say I am a rose girl all the way, hey there is even one named after me (emm hmm, Princess Diana, I think it's called) However, I have been trying to think of an in-expensive flower that has a similar effect to the rose but something of course that is budget friendly. Lately, I have been coming across these gorgeous bouquets that just so happen to be Carnations. Well I am excited to say I have officially picked my flowers.

I of course will be DIY my bridesmaid bouts and my bout, however my bout will be roses! To leave you with some ideas, here is what I have come up with.

Flower Inspiration by msdmitchell08 on Polyvore.com

OMG Shoes!

I am sure by now everyone and there mom has seen this fab video on Youtube. I am totally in love with shoes, and have pairs that I am in love with that I haven't even wore. That's right! With that said , of course my wedding shoes would be a huge deal. I looked and looked for weeks, which turned into months and now at the brink of deadlines and all things crazy I had to decide on a pair ASAP.

I took to Weddingbee for help and still had no luck. I was woed by colored shoes, super expensive chic shoes in multiple styles and colors. I took to many blogs, and I mean many and most of the suggestions were for kitten heels. The only shoe I dread is a kitten heel. I am 5'8 so they look weird on me. The man is also 6'5 feet so a heel has to be worn.


Also being on the whole budget friendly kick, I had to look for an inexpensive pair, low and behold ebay! I finally came across Stuart Weitzman Shoes which are to die for but pricey, I found one of my favorite pairs the Karnac Peep Toe and finally found a seller at a good price and wouldn't you know it..... I WON THE BID! Yep, sure did. So cast your eyes on these beauties, however I do believe I will add a jewel at the top to jazz them up a bit but I loooove them!

Rocking and rolling like no body's business

That's right with X and counting amount of days I am rocking and rolling like no other. Which means getting done as many DIY projects as necessary, we are on a tight budget, so I need to crank out the easy things and make them happen.

To start off I have been struggling with the table scape (table design) in other words what in the hell am I putting on the tables. After checking out another blogging bride on weddingbee, she had these cute, easy and in-expensive table numbers. I easily did this DIY project with simple black frames, brown and blue wrapping paper and simple printed card stock numbers. I cut the numbers out and glued them (lightly to the wrapping paper and wrapped the wrapping paper around the cardboard insert in the frame and vola! Easy peasy table numbers!

On to the next project: GOCOO, yea, exactly with only one screen and 2 sets of light bulbs, let's make it work folks.OK so not realizing I also needed an Ink divider? WTH is a ink divider. The ink divider helps you do multiple colors at once so you don't have to use multiple screens like a lot of folks use. SO I started with just one color but because my design is so specific I tried to do two colors and section them off by how much ink I used. My results, they look grreat!

Here is a few pics of me in action.

The Invites!

ok so right now I have a rack of things to get done,more then I am ready to admit. But first is these silly little things called invites. Being the cheap umm chic bride that I am, I have been deciding just how to get these done. I hired a wonderful artist from Etsy who is amazing. She designed a wonderful invite that has our colors and some of our themes incorporated. So I am excited to get these babies on the road, because this is looong over due.

So tonight's the night for the gocco, although these invites are in three different colors I am going to attempt either to use an ink block technique to save on screens or possibly printing at Kinkos for a fraction of cost and possibly to keep my sanity.

Also and to give you a portion of why I am a little crazy here is my to do list:

Programs
Mail Rehearsal Dinner Invites
Make up trial
Tissue Paper Pomanders
Sparkler Container
Bridesmaid emergency kits
Bridal Party gifts
Bathroom Baskets
Finish painting aisle runner
Chair Signs (Bride and Groom)
Thank You Signs
Place Cards

Now that's only a partial look at the rest of my projects!!

The weight game or gain in this case!

So I have been dreading this topic for a minute, well to be honest a little longer then a minute! At this current moment, I will say I am sure my dress does not fit. Wait let me repeat it so you can see the magnitude of this situation: THE DRESS DOES NOT FIT!

With that said it is the time to make it happen, crunch time, or to get off my lazy ass as my lovely other would say! So off the ass I am, I even challenged the man to him getting fit within the short time frame that we have which is 46 days! I need to lose at least one dress size.

So here is the game plan:

Good breakfast in the am( why, this is usually something I skip just about every morning of my life)
Cook Dinner( now we have been pretty good about this, we cook dinner just about every night)
Lunch: This is where the problem is, my office is motivated by food (yes ladies and you know its the damn truth) so I have to find healthy filling lunch options that won't have me starving like a lunatic!

Snacks, hmm, I looove my chocolate, so I need to find other sweet things to calm that sweet tooth craze I have.

Last but not least, is getting off my lazy ass. I used to be a dancer and since I stopped dancing it has all gone down hill. So I am looking for something to get my self excited about moving around! So now I am on the hunt for a fun activity.

Alright well wish me luck and cross your fingers and toes, I got a dress to get into!

E-Pics

I am sooo sorry folks. I have been super busy at work and almost swamped with wedding projects as we hit T-minus 40 some days and counting!! My oh my the places we shall go!

Here is a quick recap on our E-pics. We finally have them!!! Yea. Now what!!? Well, we plan on creating a photo guest book if the budget allows it, I also have used them on our wedding site, so our guests get a few photos of us pre-wedding when they RSVP.

But here are a couple of my favorites. These beauties were taken by Ms. Fola Adewole!