Sleep Tight

The Ellis Hotel, Downtown, Atlanta GA
After reviewing a number of hotels, we decided on having our guests stay at the Ellis Hotel in downtown Atlanta, GA. The hotel is close enough to the ceremony and reception site and importantly, it's in the middle of everything. So for guests who are not going to be staying too long in Atlanta, it provides them the opportunity to make the best of their stay. And for those who will leisurely visit for our wedding, they will have ample time to see all that Atlanta has to offer.

According to the hotel's website, www.ellishotel.com. "The Ellis Hotel is your legendary link between Atlanta's storied past and its stylish present. Stay here for luxury accommodations, personalised service, and unmatched access to downtown attractions and corporations." And it's about 6 minutes away from our ceremony and reception site; which is important for anyone who knows about Atlanta traffic. Attractions around the hotel include the world's largest aquarium, the famous Georgia Aquarium, High Museum, Coca-Cola Museum, CNN Center and Georgia State Capital.

We decided to have a second hotel for close family and guests that wish to be a little bit closer to my mother's home which will be like the "Operations Centre." I can see it now, the hustle and the bustle, people coming in and out; if I'm not excited by now, I'm at least nervous thinking about all of our guests and their accommodations.

Though the second hotel isn't as glamourous as the downtown Atlanta hotel, it's comfortable and very affordable.

Swirls, Squiggles and Curls

I have an ever growing obsession with paper, pretty paper too. It started years ago during a trip to a bookstore. Whenever I go to places like Papyrus, I can barely contain myself. I want to grab everything and stuff it in my hand bag. Yes, I admit, I have a serious obsession with pretty paper. And getting married, sure isn't helping my problem. I had a comfortable box of pretty cards, paper and other nic nacs, now, I had to purchase another box to hold my new stuff.

Along with this obsession, it's quite simple to also be increasingly attracted to the art of writing, not the creative aspect but placing the words on your pretty paper. Even the embellishments of paper becomes attractive, the printing processes. My favourite - if I could ever afford it would be letter press.

For the invitations I wanted to try to learn an additional skill to compliment my obsession – calligraphy. I found a calligraphy set for only $35. I looked at it as an investment. There is life after the wedding and I do plan to continue with all the “finer” things you learn when planning a wedding.


Here's the kit I bought.

Unfortunately though, after a few minutes my hand began to hurt so much from just holding the pen firmly, I had to take a break. I made a second attempt but later just decided to take my time and write “nicely”. I was absolutely against printing labels for the names of the invitees so I buckled down and got to writing. It really didn’t take that long and on occasions; I was able to insert some of the fancy swirls, squiggles and curls I learned during my miniature calligraphy course.

The new Martha...

While visiting my mother in Georgia, I had the chance to work on the great invitations. I loved envelopments and wanted to have the elegance and modernity of the style of invitations. I got a number of quotes ranging from $850 to $1200. Me being me, I found it hard to pay that much for invitations. And yes I know how important the invitations are, but I wanted to spend that kind of money elsewhere.

I’m enjoying that I am learning to do a lot more things than and gaining a lot more knowledge in planning my wedding. Plus; I consider myself a Martha Stewart in training so I perked up at the thought of the challenge. So guess what I did. I went online, googled like CRAZY, and finally found a few really good envelopments websites, selling blank envelopments. Good sites are www.mygatsby.com, and www.renaissancewritings.com, as well as a host of others. I settled on the style of invitation I wanted and went about finding ways to reduce my costs.

After finding great paper, a sharp paper cutter, glue and a few embellishments my family and I buckled down and began working away at the invitations. On my trusty Mac, I designed the invitations and inserts and used a simple home printer and painstakingly printed the invitations page by page. Thankfully, they came out great! Importantly, it’s exactly what I wanted. Thought I had some wastage, my invitations actually came out to $3 per invitation versus, get this, $9 per invite. If that’s not a good deal, I’m lost!

Here’s how it all turned out.

Table Top

Forgive me, I know it has been a while but things have been hectic. Planning a wedding is no joke! I am learning a lot about myself, my tolerance and people. I am looking forward to the day when I will be laughing about all of this.

Let’s back up a little, to me and my fashion sense. The last time I posted I reported that my younger sister told me that I fell way off the fashion wagon and I attributed all of that to the cold weather. Well, let me just say that I never left the wagon, however, I might just be riding at the back of the wagon right now. It wasn’t easy getting into the swing of things. Give me a few more weeks and I’ll be riding up front again.

My Girl’s Night Out was great. Thanks to friends Rhianna and Jenifer, Sexy K, Jase and the “girls.” The night started out with tapas at my friend Jenifer’s home with great wine and a "variety" of songs on my ipod. We then left to go to a few clubs. We partied, partied and partied even more. I am not sure what happened but the night ended with a friend dancing on the table, singing in the MC’s mic and me shaking it like I really have some rhythm. Hanging out with Jase and his never ending beverages can make you do some strange things.

It was a great night to be had. I loved it. Thanks guys!!!

Back on the Wagon - with Audrey’s summer style!

Much to my agosh; I was told by my younger sister a few months ago that I fell off the fashionably stylish wagon and had hit my head on every branch on the way down! Yep those were her words. This however, was in early March of this year. I will be the first to admit that perhaps I am not the most fashionable person in the winter months. I basically do whatever I can to keep warm and comfortable. This is another reason why I love living in the Caribbean with its tranquil cool sea breeze and usually sunny skies. Though I miss to accessible fashion and trends, just visiting the great north is fine with me.

This weekend I will be visiting the ATL then moving on up to DC for a Girl’s Night Out kind of shower with a few friends. Preparing for the wedding is indeed lots of fun learning about bridal fashion. And as the warm summer weather is creeping in, the real fashionista in me has resurrected. Much to my sister’s surprise when she sees me in a few hours, I will be riding high on the fashion wagon and doing it even better, with style akin to one of my favourite fashionistas - Audrey Hepburn.

Since the majority of my family resides in the US, travelling has become a way of life. And to be frankly honest I love it. I’ve learned how to save in order to make those trips possible, and quite honestly, I love being in airports - most any airport. I think I just love the idea of people moving from here and there so easily - It’s like an engine - moving across hemispheres.

For me to get decent airline prices it’s a lot of travelling. It no longer makes financial sense to fly out of my home city airport. So I board a ferry and travel to a neighbouring city where the difference in airfare is often upwards of $300! That type of travelling makes me appreciate my Caribbean islands even more. They are still so beautiful. During our day to day hustles we often forget that we literally can see our turquoise blue waters at any angel on the island. If I step outside my office building, right across the road their is a unbelievably blue channel connecting our groups of islands. When you are in the sky the view is even more magnificent.

Look forward to lots of updates from me over this weekend. While I am in ATL, I’ll be tying up more loose ends, negotiating my way through additional vendors and in DC I will have my first fitting. YES!!!!! I am so excited!

I’ll keep you posted on my fashion resurrection and this week’s good times!

The DIY Mission

I always knew I had an inner DIY Queen somewhere hidden in me, but after my daily visits to different blogs, I'm getting a little bolder.  And now...I think I am ready for my own DIY mission.

So maybe I am not 007 or Ethan Hunt but I'm ready to be armed with a glue gun in one hand, scissors in the next, paper cutter on deck and an army of crafty ideas ready to charge.  Amidst doubts, I'm on a mission to reduce my costs, learn new things and have a wedding with my special touches in as many areas as I can.

Just thinking about it - gets me energised.  So far I managed to shave $550 off my original quotes for invitations.  Including purchasing stock, envelopes and printing, my invites are coming in just over $2 per person.  Compared to quotations of $5 -10 per person, I think that sounds like a deal.  I plan to have a good time tackling these projects.

The Next Mission

To add special and practical touches to our wedding, I came up with the idea of making our own ring pillow.  Our colours are Tiffany Blue and Brown with Champaign and Ivory accents.  This weekend I will be on the hunt for Tiffany silk fabric for the pillow and an ivory satin ribbon.  The satin ribbon will come in handy for all the other projects I have brewing in my mind for our big day.  To top off the pillow - I plan to add a white Magnolia or Dahlia on top.  Growing up in the Caribbean, those years of forced sewing classes are finally going to come in handy.  

The beginning of my blog fest....

Ok - so I intentionally stayed away from the whole idea of blogging.  I'll admit I was very sceptical.  Why would people want to share intimate details of their existence with total strangers in far off lands?  I mean anyone can see this information; right?  

Right.

As I am planning my upcoming nuptials that will take place later this summer, I finally got down to the planning and realised the wealth of information that is out there on the world wide web.  The stuff you can find is absolutely amazing!  I started reading all these blogs from other brides to be, contributing to various boards, sharing my ideas and even getting great ideas from strangers I will never meet.  It has only been a week, and I am 10 times more excited now with less that 3 months to go to my big day.  Though I have been engaged for over a year, this past week has allowed me to really share in the splendour of wedding planning and sharing with people who know exactly how I feel.

So yes ladies and gentlemen, I am officially a BRIDEZILLA!!!