Flowers

Jenny & I (and I my mom- I think!) are going to look at flowers on Saturday. We have a 2:00 appointment set up at Beautiful Blooms (blog) in Philly. Their work looks amazing. They recently did a Bridal Event at the Please Touch Museum and here is one of their beautiful displays:
I'm excited!

DIY Update

As I worked on the invites this weekend, I also decided to take on one of my more "fun" do-it-yourself projects. I wish I could remember where, but a while back I saw this idea to make bride & groom signs. The signs can be used to hang on your doors while you get ready the day of the wedding, you can hang them on your chairs at the reception, and if nothing else, they're a good photography keepsake. Here's the finished product:



Here are the pictures of the votives I've been working on. I printed the damask on vellum (instead of regular paper) because it had a nicer glow to it when the candle was lit.

Also, I heard from the lady at the bridal shop and the orders were placed on Thursday morning!

Giveaway at My Purple Wedding

Planning my Purple Wedding is giving away 100 4x6 custom designed cards that can be used for printing recipes, invites, etc. Check out the giveaway here!

Giveaways

As you guys know, I have been entering some giveaways lately. I might be mentioning some of them in my blog posts because that is often one of the requirements for entering the contests. Just wanted to explain!

Lucky Me

I've never really had much luck when it comes to winning contests, but I decided to enter a few since there seem to be so many for brides-to-be. I've won 2 so far! (I've entered about 5) Most of the giveaways are for little things, but every once in a while there is a giveaway for a honeymoon or something big like that. Looks like I'm going to keep entering! Click the blog links to see the winnings with my name posted on their blog : )

• Brenda's wedding blog (click here for the winner announcement post): 52 credits to Invys.com (credits to download artwork/printable invitations for thank you notes, invitations, save the dates, etc.) (contest description post)
  
• Bella Lucia Photography blog (click here for the winner announcement post): a book called "How to be a Beautiful Bride" (contest description post)
  

Food I Like

I know you guys were asking about some of my favorite foods that are within my dietary restrictions. Since I know I won't be able to think of everything at once, I decided to do a blog post rather than an email- that way I could keep updating it as I thought of things to add. I'm assuming you're asking for grocery store items, so I will list lots of my favs from Trader Joe's in mind (although some of these things you could obviously get anywhere). I also don't know exactly what kinds of food you're curious about (snacks, apps, desserts, meals, etc.), so I'll try my best to add a little of everything. I'm just going to pretend I'm making a shopping list.... Feel free to make comments or email me if you have more specific requests!

• roasted red pepper hummus
• 3-layer hummus (layers are: roasted red pepper, original, cilantro)
• everything bagel chips
• pita bite crackers
• organic baby spinach salad
  
• organic blueberries
• organic strawberries
• organic baby carrots
• organic apples with organic creamy, unsalted peanut butter
  
• organic corn chips
• Trader Joe's, Whole Foods or any FRESH salsa without additives or preservatives
• T Joe's all-natural vanilla cake mix (if you were looking for a dessert item)
• chicken shu mai (T Joe's all natural asian apps in the frozen food section)
• all natural egg rolls (I'm pretty sure Trader Joe's has these too)
• organic white wine (I generally don't drink, but could make an exception for the shower if there is going to be alcohol- if not, that's completely fine too :)
  

Just to sum up the restrictions/foods that I avoid again (along with a few strong opinions I threw in), here they are:

• organic when possible
• when organic is not possible (b/c there are many times it's not), all-natural is the best alternative - just make sure that it is really all-natural (meaning nothing artificial is included and there are no preservatives used)
  
• no dairy products (almond milk is my milk alternative)
• for chicken or beef (which probably will not apply for the food you guys are getting, but just in case...) I will only eat chicken or beef that is all-natural, free-range, vegetarian fed, never treated with antibiotics or hormones - if it doesn't say this on the package, that means that you're eating medicated meat that's been caged in a dark, unsanitary living area on top of other animals that are sick and sometimes dead... yup, pretty gross... I highly recommend watching the documentary Food Inc. if you'd like to see what I'm talking about. Oooh, I just learned that I can post the trailer for the movie. Watch below.
• NO artificial sweeteners (this includes sweet n lo, nutra sweet, splenda, anything with aspartame, etc.). Aspartame causes cancer, this is a fact. Another documentary, Sweet Misery, A Poisoned World (while very informative, it is rather boring...) that I will post clip of below.
  
• avoid gluten when possible (this can increase my symptoms, but it won't hurt me if I have it here and there)
• no alcohol (I haven't drank since New Year's and don't plan to drink again until the bachelorette, so I don't think a glass of wine would kill me)

*Will update more things as I think of them!

Food Inc Clip:

Sweet Misery, A Poisoned World Clip:

Bridesmaid Dresses - Final Decision

I made the final decision that the bridesmaid dresses will be the Priscilla of Boston, style 1608, in the color azalea (the color shown in this picture is not azalea).

Hopefully the orders will all be sent out this week- we should expect them to arrive in about 4.5 months.