A 10,000 Dollar Wedding

I wish! This is the beautiful woman that is designing my invitations, rsvp's and thank you cards. Thanks Kimi!
Check out Kimi being featured in this blog, her dresses are inspiring! If only I had a smidgen of artistic talent. Ah.. but I have a good eye. ;)

http://tenthousandonly.blogspot.com/2008/10/411-badassness.html

"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread"- John Muir

I found these invitations at the beginning of my search but of course had to look at thousands literarlly before I went back to the first one I had picked again. Check out the affordable and still beautifully designed  invitations. I love that I'm getting married at an amazing venue and have been able to make that happen by budgeting on other areas.

http://www.printablepress.com/

NEUSCHWANSTEIN CASTLE

We are heading to Austria next week to ski and snowboard and flying into Munich. One of the first things I can't wait to do is tour this castle.

Mad Ludwig's Dream - Neuschwanstein Castle: Entrance tickets to the castle must be purchased at the ticket center in Hohenschwangau before you start the climb to the castle. Cost is 9 Euros for an adult. The mandatory tour takes a little over half hour. There are 165 stairs to climb on the tour, and 181 to descend. A recent traveler reports that there is now a cafe inside. Tours for the disabled in wheelchair and walkers are held on Wednesdays. See the links for more information.


Perched over one of the world's prettiest gorges, Neuschwanstein Castle is everyone's fantasy dream.  I can't wait! Below is a poem I found about the castle.

Neuschwanstein

Across the ocean and above the lands

Sits a legacy for all curious eyes.

An ivory castle on a lonely peak

Where even the clouds bow down

Beneath its soaring majestic spires.

It was the dream of one king not long ago

That flustered the brow of every fair maiden.

To build for beauty, hold art above war.

Dismissing tradition and logic for lies

And following a single dream to lands end.

He sat on the banks of the river Rhine

Imagining one original palace after the next.

Maybe he shopped in the Marienplatz

For velvet loveseats and porcelain swans

To adorn the seed of his hearts content.

But now the king has been gone for years.

And Bavaria has never quite been the same

Since the death of Kind Ludwig the mad.

His castles stand proud and greet the wanderers

And journeyman, and dreamers and historians alike.

Though all are rare in craft and dripping in style

One of his lonely dreams stands above the rest.

Reaching beyond the Alpine rolling skies

Coloring heaven with a touch of human royalty.

A place any Sleeping Beauty would pray to wake.

It is here, I fell in love again, twice in the time of a year.

First with the earth, its inhabitants achievements

And the very nature that hides them in its breast.

The lakes that capture the suns final rays,

The heaving mountains with their fancy caps of snow,

The whispering cow bells carried by the gentle winds

And the serenity of the painted villages sleeping below.

The second time was with a young mate

Who accompanied me to my secret place.

To cavort once the daily bustles had calmed.

He fell for the battlements I had loved before

Understood the treasures I longed to share.

He carried me up the mountain like a princess

To her new palace on the night they were wed.

He kissed me to the whimpering of waterfalls,

Then watched on as the sun sank to bed.

Blessed be whoever may fall upon this place

Tucked into the heart of the Bavarian Alps

For this is the spot where I proudly left my heart,

And left Neuschwanstein for widened eyes to behold.





~Robyn Schwartz~ (10/17/2001)

Father & Daughter wedding dance

I Loved Her First

BUTTERFLY BOUQUET

This is Brilliant!

FABULOUSLY FRUGAL

I just found the wedding veil I had picked out at a Clifton Bridal shop for £80.00 on Ebay for £9.99 GBP! 

The only time I've ever used ebay before was to sell a car and it did take a few days to become a member but now I can make a purchase without trouble anytime. This is a great way to save money on wedding supplies if you are on a budget or if you are just fabulously frugal like me. ;) 

ebay.co.uk

Allan Hannah

I'm not showing the dress until my big day but I had to share the designer. I ordered my gown this week and now it finally seems real. Enjoy his designs.  http://www.alanhannah.co.uk/

Love, The Bride To Be

Ireland Intoxicated Madness

Started the day with a 4am wake up call to catch our flight to Dublin for some St. Paddy's day mayhem. Our first stop was St. Patrick's Festival Parade checked out the 80 metre stiletto heel cancer dash on O'Connell street. Hopefully I can figure out how to upload the video it was pretty amazing. With the Parade theme in 2010 being ‘Extraordinary World’, the much anticipated annual favourite, the festival Parade features newly commissioned, highly original and inventive street theatre troupes, artists, giant puppetry, dancers and marching bands from Ireland and across the globe. I have some beautiful pictures of the event. Time for our first pub of the day the Purty Kitchen for some Guiness steak pie & of course some Guiness and cider for me. :) One thing that was consistent was the service in Dublin everyone is super friendly and helpful in all aspects of tourism. The streets were filled with green. Street meat vendors lined the streets of Temple Bar artist ready to paint your face some for charity and some for there own Paddy's Day Party Fund. We stayed at a 2 bedroom apartment in Dublin best rates and came with kitchen & laundry. http://www.staydublin.com/apartment-christchurch.php
There are a few different serviced apartments you can find on the internet. I like staying at apartments because it feels more like home and you don't always have to eat out, which is nice when you are trying to stay on a budget. Another hotel pub we went to was http://www.centralhoteldublin.com/ The Central Library Bar was unique and a nice place to have a pint after a long day of touring. We ended up eating downstairs at the new Exchequer restaurant. All food was locally sourced and very good. www.theexchequer.ie  You can get a pie & pint for 15 Euro. Ireland is very expensive but you can always find a good deal if you look around. We were lucky enough to see the city pretty much from top to bottom. Went to a few museums, did a city bus tour, Guiness Brewery tour http://www.guinness-storehouse.com/en/Index.aspx & of course checked out Grafton Street for the amazing shopping. Most of the locals like to stay away from Temple Bar but I know they turned up for the parade there were over 650,000 people. We had a really great city break in Dublin and I look forward to going back again. One thing I would do differently is try to get an serviced apartment or hotel on the parade route with a street view.

Cake Cake Cake

Taralee sent me this awesome wedding cake & I love it. :)

Victoria Wedding Anouncement

Steven Ross Gillespie & Christy Dawn Frances Walker

Walker Gillespie Francis/Valerie Walker would like to announce the Engagement of their daughter, Miss Christy Dawn Frances Walker, to Mr. Steven Ross Gillespie, son of Mrs. D. Lynn Gillespie and the late Dr. Ross Gillespie. An August wedding is planned at Orchardleigh House & Estate, Bristol, UK 581669



Published in the Victoria Times-Colonist on 3/21/2010.

The Bread Winner

How romantic!

Cookie Heaven

wedding bells tin  http://www.biscuiteers.com/catalog/product/view/id/31/s/wedding-bells-tin/category/18/

Bridal Footwear

I love the idea of having a pair of wellies for the pictures that will be taken in the country side  Here are some examples I've found.

I also love the idea of having a nice bright colored shoes under my dress.

Vintage Alice In Wonderland

I found this great Anemone bouquet on the Green Wedding Shoes blog spot I was looking for flowers with navy in them. I think these just might work. http://greenweddingshoes.blogspot.com/2010/01/vintage-alice-in-wonderland-wedding.html

Croquet & Badminton On Your Wedding Day

I love the idea that while you are getting pictures done or waiting for the wedding breakfast that your guest can  have some fun on the property. Setting of a Garden Croquet or Badminton Set is another brilliant idea I've found,  I know I'll be having a game of Garden Croquet on my wedding day!

Wedding Love Letter Bouquet

I found this great picture of a love letter bouquet, I think it's very romantic also something you could always keep. You could also make your groom a boutineer like this. He would read the love note just before putting it on.

Can't Believe It's Already March

. I have not been blogging, since we got engaged on December 31 I've been thinking of little but planning our August wedding.  I heard that wedding planning can take up your life, it really does. Planning the perfect wedding for a Libra is really a challenge, I'm so indecisive! After looking at many venues we have chosen Orchardleigh House & Estate http://www.orchardleigh.net/ for our reception venue. The estate also has a beautiful small church surrounded by a lake. The church has no electricity. The ceremony will be by candlelight and for music they have an old pump organ. The church holds 50 seated and 100 standing. We are both very excited to have finally found the perfect venue for us. We know because we decided to get married in the UK that not everyone will be able to join us on our wedding day but I know our friends and family that can't making will be thinking of us. Even though we are planning a wedding and this is taking a lot of our time and money we are still heading off to Dublin for St. Patrick's day and I will definitely post after our trip.


I have to say some of the best advice I got about planning a wedding other than from friends was from  other people's blogs. I am going to share some great finds myself, after all this is part of my England experience. For all you brides who have dreamt of getting married in a castle or a house that looks like a castle it's possible.


Most wedding venues come with there own list of photographer's, cakes, dj's, fireworks and many other things you need to make your day great, so you don't have to worry about finding all of the details on your own.  I'll be posting some great finds I've come across while working on the Walker/Gillespie wedding
This wedding invite tells the story of how Jill & Matt met. I've haven't seen anything like this before and really love it.