I've been hooked on the idea of non-matching bridesmaids dresses since the day I got engaged. I absolutely love being different, and for my vintage/rustic/whimsical themed wedding, I thought it would fit the theme splendidly...
My Inspiration:



Problem: I didn't foresee some complications: not everyone loving their dresses.
Now, allow me to say I have the most amazing girls in my party, I love them dearly and I know if it came right down to it, they would wear whatever I wanted them to...but really, would I want to do that to them?! Another goal of mine was to get a dress they might consider wearing again.. because my wedding isn't very formal (but not super casual, like obviously there will be no one in jeans!), I figured not buying traditional BM dresses would be great, and a budget-alternative (two of my BM's are still in college).
My main inspiration has been www.modcloth.com I simply adore their collection of dresses! Vintage, but elegance and classiness all in one. Oh, and fashion-conscious!
My main issue has been my colors: my dress isn't traditional white so not all colors really "go" with it. My wedding colors are beige/cream and dusty pale pink.



And I haven't had much luck finding dresses like this.
This was my original ensemble:

First and third dress from Modcloth, second dress from Charlotte Russe and last dress from J.Crew, with prices ranging from $25-$100, the average price came to $62 for each BM. I thought that was great... but not all my bridesmaids were so keen on their dresses. Soo.. I began the search again.

And kinda gave up after awhile...
so now I'm considering having them all wear the same dress:



From modcloth.
Still don't love it as much as the idea of wearing different dresses, but the girls are at least appeased somewhat...

any other ideas are appreciated! just trying to keep it less than $100!!

Oh, so I realized two posts into my fantabulous blog, and I haven't introduced myself!
Here is my fiance, Daniel, and me:



We got engaged in September of 2009, and planning a May wedding! It's been such a fun process thus far, though it's proved very stressful and I've been tempted to simply elope several times (crazy thing is, my parents are okay with it!!), but it means the world to me to have our family and close friends with us on such a dear and special occasion.

So, about me. I am on and off as far as college goes, whatever I can afford for now. I've completely three semester, and have two more until I graduate with my associates (one semester was part time).
I moved to NY to be a full-time live-in nanny and that's where I met my sweetie!
My sweetie has a bachelors of applied math and statistics (ech!), and is working towards his masters in Math Education. He's almost done! He also just passed his certification test, so now he's applying for his teachers license, yay!!

What I wrote on my wedding website: (They Story of how we met!)

Daniel and Carissa met January 19, 2009. It was a cold winter night, at Applebees in Commack, NY.
Carissa had recently moved to New York to be a live-in nanny, and after visiting a local church was invited to the outreach volleyball group, and then invited afterwards to go to applebees with the volleyball group. Daniel met up with his friends that night after he finished work, and he says it was love at first sight.
Carissa, on the other hand, hardly gave him a second glance.
The next two months consisted of Daniel very subtly pursuing Carissa through facebook messages, texts and talking with her at volleyball and bible study. They also had a couple "movie nights" at her place.
Carissa had a few suspicions of Daniel liking her when they went to go see the band Mae in concert at the Crazy Donkey on February 15.
On March 9, Carissa had a bad day; a friend of hers was scheduled to fly in the next day and spend the week with her, and backed out last minuted. Daniel took off of work that night, went to her house with two half gallons of her favorite ice cream, and a chick flick (Maid of Honor!) to cheer her up. It was the day Carissa realized she returned his feelings.
They had their first date the next day in New York City, which consisted of walking through Manhattan, going to the Met Museum, dinner at Serendipity 3 and The Little Mermaid on Broadway Show.
March 13, 2009 - Daniel asked Carissa to be his girlfriend.


Now time for the proposal!!

After six months of dating, Carissa thought it would be special to get some pictures taken together. She and Daniel had a very good friend who is a student photographer, and asked if she'd be willing to do a photo shoot for them on their six month anniversary.
After finding that their place of choice was closed, they wound up at Oheka Castle in Huntington, New York. The photo shoot was fun for all three of them, and Carissa went about it unknowingly, thinking these pictures were merely something fun as a milestone in their relationship.
About an hour and a half into the shoot, Daniel told Carissa to look at Brittany for a picture, and he got down on one knee, pulled out a ring, and asked Carissa to marry him. Carissa nearly cried with exhilaration and was completely surprised!
It couldn't have been more special, not only for Carissa to be so genuinely surprised, but also that such a special moment was capture in photographs.





So that is our story :)

So I am huge into DIY! I love making things, I have such a sense of pride after I do so :) I have honestly considered making things for etsy or consignment stores (we have one in my hometown that sells shabby-chic stuff!)...but never had the guts or time to do so.
Anyway, so obviously for my wedding I want to have a lot of little things that reflect who Daniel and me are, I want our wedding to be us.
Here are some of my favorite DIY projects I've found:
(mostly from www.oncewed.com, www.stylemepretty.com or www.weddingbee.com)














I keep a list in a word document of all the links into these DIY's. I'm still in the process of sorting through and deciding which ones I want to use or not... though I must admit, I love the pinwheels for the chair backs, could that be cuter?! or cheaper! I mean construction paper and buttons - how fun is that!

I also love the handkerchief wrapped mason/ball jars. It's fun, vintage and simply adorable. I am thinking of going thrift store shopping soon to find some handkerchiefs to use...they also usually sell a lot of pieces of lace, I plan on using large bolts of lace for tablecloths (I am obsessed with lace!), as handkerchiefs and cutting it up for ribbons.

I plan to incorporate it someone into our invitations..hmm!!