DominiqueAmber's Wedding Planning Blog

[dominiqueamber]

 

- January 2, 2012 - 

I’m so excited to start this wedding planning blog. Those close to me know I’ve been planning this wedding since Raoul started calling me regularly. I’ve been driving everyone around me crazy with my plans and buying stuff for the wedding. I had to endure them telling me to hold on to make sure we are really getting married. Well now it’s official!

I guess I should start with a formal introduction (because I hope to have more readers than just my mother) I’m Amber Dominique, a dreamer who strives to gain as many talents as she possibly can. I love eating “good†food, caring for children, being a part of my American Sign Language congregation, old movies & fashions, country music and most of all the love of my life – Raoul.

 

 (Us on Jaws Beach – right after he proposed)

 Raoul is just like me in all the ways it counts and opposite in all the ways that make us work as a team. If you would’ve asked me everyday up until I fell for him I never would have said I’d end up marrying a man from a different country. But that’s what’s happening! 

I’m marrying a man who’s admired and respected by me as well as his family and friends. I love that he doesn’t mind being my best friend and lets me talk all night, he’s always determined to improve on himself and our relationship, he has high standards and a great big heart that loves me! 

 (Us in a Cave in Nassau – April 2011)

We met in The Bahamas October 2009 when I was there on a cruise with family and friends. He might call it something else but the way he described it to me, he fell in love at first sight. After his relentless and charming efforts we started dating shortly after in December. Two years, thousands of phone minutes, six plane rides, and tons of hugs, kisses and tears later I made a decision.

 (We didn’t actually fly direct but you get the idea)

We are supposed to get married – seriously. Because we’re not exactly a car ride away, Raoul FINALLY asked me to marry him over the phone and I had to wait a long, long, long (well it felt that long) time till we could be together again and he could put a ring on it! 

(Showing off my prized possesion) All photos unless sourced are personal

 I always wanted to get married on a beach and once I started dreaming about marrying Ra all I could think was how amazing would it be to get married where the beaches are among some of the most beautiful in the world! So despite everyone trying to convince me a wedding in the states would be easier/cheaper/more convenient we are getting married in The Beautiful Bahamas! Together we are planning a very elegant, slightly vintage, all DIY, as green as possible destination wedding on the beach in Nassau and a reception in the woods in Virginia Beach with a little bit of money and a whole lotta love!

 

 

 

[dominiqueamber]

Our History: Boy Meets Girl 

January 4, 2010

 

I love when Raoul tells the story of how we met. It involves him praying for a wife to come into his life, nearly falling in love at first sight and calling his friend all day to figure out how to spend time getting to know me. But to get him to tell this story is not easy. I on the other hand love telling stories. And so here is my version of how Raoul and I met:

 

In October 2009 I went on a cruise with my Mom, Grandma and Aunt Roz and a group of friends. Mamma Law had contacted Raoul whom she had known from a previous trip to host the tour. We were docked in Nassau for two days. I was sick and didn’t go the first night to the meeting and Aunt Roz stayed back with me. When Mommy and Grandma came back they kept telling me about this great guy they found for me that I have to meet. Of course I wasn’t interest in someone from another country so I wasn’t concerned. The next day we set out on the tour and Mommy was talking about this guy who was going to be her “Winston.†I was distracted trying to get mommy’s slip to stay up on me (it wasn’t until we got in the sun I realized my dress was see-through.) Mommy introduced me to Raoul and I quickly went back to focusing on my slip before I even held eye contact. People started getting into the four vans they had for us. I would have been in Raoul’s van but no one wanted to separate their family so  Mommy volunteered us, and Grandma & Aunt Roz went with Raoul and Mommy & I jumped in another van. All day I barely noticed Raoul, mainly because I didn’t know what he looked like. Until reminded me later, I didn’t remember he came to find out inside Atlantis when we were seperated from the group. I do remember me sitting on the ground talking to him outside Atlantis about the weather in Virginia and the colors of our dirty water as we waited for all the vans to arrive so we can leave.

Me sitting on the ground talking to Raoul outside Atlantis

I remember asking him when we were going to eat at the Queen’s Staircase. (He had no idea then how serious I was about my food) He told us it was ok to eat the hot dogs from a street vendor which made me soooooo sick. He talked to me again when I was feeding and playing with a stray dog, known in The Bahamas as a “potcake†and he warned me not to pet him. I didn’t want to listen to Raoul, but I listened when my mother told me I couldn’t go back in the country if I touched him.

As the tour ended, Raoul promised my mom to take her to get a Guinness beer (which isn’t the same as what we have in the states.)A few friends jumped in Raoul’s van and off we went to go get something to eat and go to the beach. Raoul said he would take us to his cousin’s restaurant at the Fish Fry. While walking there I complained he said “it’s right here†and it was actually a long way to walk. I was starving!

 It’s didn’t take long for us to feel at home there. We tried local food (like cracked conch and fried snapper) and drinks (like Sky Juice, Kalik and Guinness.) That day I fell in love with their amazing food. We also had dancing lessons from the waitress. I got a strange feeling like Raoul was watching me trying to learn to dance but I didn’t pay it any mind. I was calling Raoul my step dad all afternoon because of the whole â€How Stella got her Groove back†thing. We had a great time at that place!

Raoul is second from the left and I'm in the middle

When we were heading to the car to go to the beach, I realized they threw about my Kalik beer bottle (which I wanted to save for sand). Raoul offered to get me another and walked me to another restaurant on the strip. We argued because he wanted to buy it and of course I wasn’t having it. I remember he made a comment about my eyes and I gave in. I waited outside talking to his buddy Rasta who was making conch salad for two ladies. I noticed the ladies were going crazy over this “pistol†and Rasta gave it to them and they swallowed it right up. Rasta offered me one but I declined. (I’m not in the habit of putting just anything in my mouth)  Raoul came out from buying the beer and let Rasta drink it so I could have the bottle. While they were swallowing up “pistols†I asked Raoul what it was, he told me to try one, I hesitated but he told me not to worry it was safe. I figured “When in Rome†and sucked it down for the full Bahamas experience. It was salty and almost slimy. We headed back to everyone waiting at the car and I asked “Raoul, what was that I just put in my mouth?†He replied “A reproductive organ.†You can imagine the look on my face! I was UP-SET! I told him I thought I could trust him and I couldn’t believe he let me put that in my mouth! 

Rasta making the Conch Salad

I told everyone what had just happened as soon as we reached the car and they all wanted to go investigate. So back we went so a few of them could see what I was talking about and try one. I told Raoul I would always remember him for that experience. (I attribute Rasta, Conch salad and Kalik beer to how Raoul and I got together)

My friend Quianna looking at the pistol before trying it but Mommy wouldn’t eat it

He dropped us off at the beach and we all gave him our emails and I thought I’d never see or hear from him again. A few weeks later my mom called excited that Raoul had emailed her. I asked her to forward it to me and I noticed he sent it to everyone. I checked my junk folder and there my copy was. There was also another email. He sent me an email asking if I was married because of my hyphenated last name. He explained there had been times he let opportunities go by because he didn’t speak up and he regretted that. He asked if he could email and I said it would be ok.

After a few nice emails he asked if he could call me. I had no idea how hard he worked and how much money he spent to get me on the phone for short conversations. Once he was able to get a magic jack, and call unlimited I was hearing that enticing accent more often than I ever expected. Raoul says it was the fact he was from the Bahamas and I think it was his voice and his intelligence but he won me over and soon my mother was telling everyone I stole her man. I couldn’t tell you when we officially started dating but I could tell you when through texts and emails we said sweet things to one another.

Screen Shot from My Phone

By the end of December I had pretty much figured out that I would fall in love with and marry this man. And the journey began.

Did you know you were going to marry your SO before you started officially started dating? Do you believe in love at first sight?

 

 

 

[dominiqueamber]

 

Our Journey: Long Distance Love

January 6, 2012

 

Before I was branded Raoul and I dated for two years. For some this is a long time and for others this is short. It took some time for us to get to know one another, work out the kinks and get things right but we finally did. During our first year of dating Raoul came to visit me in Virginia three times.

 

 

Then in the second year I went to visit him in The Bahamas three times. 

 

 There was no big reason. My family made it clear he needed to visit me first and with work schedules and finding chaperones it who could be available, it just worked out that way. Oh yes, chaperones. That may be an ancient word to some but Ra and I take very seriously our belief that God intended for sex to be shared between a husband and a wife only. The only way for us to ensure that is to be chaperoned so were not alone giving ourselves the opportunity to fool around. We’ve both had our share of life experiences and in that we’ve come to feel that life is truly more successful when you do things God’s way. It makes us both so happy to be able to say that we waited and have kept a clean courtship and know that our marriage can be blessed for that. I’m not saying that anyone else will have a doomed marriage if  they didn’t wait but I feel faith is something that should make you feel good about what you’re doing and not make others feel bad about what they’re doing. I have to say though that it would have been a whole lot more difficult for us to abstain if we were not living in two different countries. A whole lot.

 

If you asked Raoul would probably say I put him through hell. Good advice I’ve gotten says to ensure a successful marriage find a person that fits all your SPIES needs. That’s spiritually, physically, intellectually, emotionally, and sexually. This is not easy to do in any relationship and is nearly impossible when you live in different countries.  I had limited time to observe him in his surroundings, to talk to his family and friends and get a sense of who he really is. Being in a LDR means we don’t have tons of memories hanging out, we don’t have ton’s of pictures together and we haven’t had ton’s of dates. However, it does mean that we have had ton’s of good conversations and are getting very good at communicating. When you have time to talk about everything you can really get to know a person. I can pretty much tell what Ra is feeling or how many beers he’s had just by hearing his voice. My mother is sure I’ll develop brain cancer from constantly having the phone to my face.

When I tell people we are in a LDR they always ask me “How do you do it?†and “Why would you want to do that!?†I can’t really come up wait a good explanation for that. The dating process for us is very difficult. Long distance relationships are not easy, no matter how much technology you have. We rely heavily on the Magic Jack which allows us to talk unlimited from home and manage to webcam a few times. In between we use the cell phone which is very expensive.

One of the rare occasions he allows me to see him on the webcam

 I believe part of what makes us remain close is that we fall asleep on the phone together almost every night since we’ve started dating. Being apart is not something we want to do but when you fall in love with someone you do what you have to. There is a literal pain in my heart when I miss him or have to leave him at the airport. But we know it will all be over soon and this pain is temporary. I know that when we actually live together we’re going to be getting to know each other all over again and that’s actually both exciting and scary.

I don’t think anyone in a good marriage had a smooth journey to get there. I believe that’s just a part of life. Have you ever been in a LDR? How long did you date before you were engaged?

All Photos Personal

 

 

 

[dominiqueamber]

Our Journey: Ring Shopping

January 10, 2012

 

This post could also be called: He likes it, now we have to pick a ring to put on it

 

We had been talking about engagment and marriage for a very long time. There was no way I would endure the Long Distance Relationship if I did not forsee marriage in our future. He had proposed over the phone long before we found out when I had off work and booked my ticket. Many girls from a LDR can understand that the intention stated is all that is needed to make it real.  I had known in my heart we were getting married from some time and had been “not so secretly†working on wedding plans.

 

Everyone hopes to have an amazing proposal story. I had read through hundreds of stories and dreamed about different ways Raoul could propose. I had even emailed him a few I really liked. When we talked about it I tried to take the pressure off, telling him I didn’t need all that jazz. I honestly didn’t want him to spend way too much money on a ring or proposal, but I wanted a sweet story to share with my future children. So my son would know how to treat a woman, my daughter would know how she should be treated, and they would know the love their father had for their mother.  

 

I also wanted a special story for those who would feel he may not be “good enough†since I was not getting $3,000 ring. I wanted to prove that showing love is more important than buying love. Just as important as the proposal is “the ring.†Raoul talked to a few of his friends and decided that the money would be better spent on starting off the marriage comfortably and not a piece of jewelry that could always be upgraded. I agreed but mostly because I’m “cheap†and I know I lose everything so wearing anything on my hand that cost more than $50 scared the kitty litter out of me. Selecting the engagment ring was a big battle. I’m going to apologize now for the long post, it was a crazy long process. Raoul had purchased a wedding set minus the center stone. I accidentally saw it on his phone one day and I let it slip that I hated it and didn’t trust his taste. He wanted to see a picture of what I had in mind.  This was my first request.

 

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I know it’s so gorg. I was particular too. I wanted pave set stones not channel set and I wanted a rectangular cushion. A young girl at work had the exact one and my eyes were green. Raoul eventually learned to liked it but he fought for princess cut because that’s what looked like the ring he wanted his wife to wear.  He had a hard time finding the cushion cut online and in the stores and wanted me to be okay with princess or round. I wasn’t. There was nothing wrong with it, it just wasn’t what I wanted. Those cuts were so popular and I didn’t want my ring to look like everyone else.  He managed to convince me the halo was a very popular style and it’s true I didn’t want that. (Go ahead and google: cushion cut halo ring) I also was also starting to get over the white gold look and then came my next obsession.

 

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I fell in love with the colors and with pink being my favorite color it was perfect. I never wanted to wear a diamond because of the conflict diamond thing. I felt even if I had a conflict free diamond I was still supporting the diamond craze. After doing research I wanted eithermorganite/pink emerald or a colored sapphire. Raoul and I both worried I would change my mind after some years. But I loved it because it looked different than most rings and it wasn’t a diamond.

 

 Then I purchased this “dummy ring†for $40 on Ebay. I wore it to get used to wearing a ring, to ward off unwanted advances and make sure this was the style I really wanted. I liked it but at 3 carats it was way too much bling for me.  Everyone thought it was real, it even fooled the women in the jewelry store. 

 

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We both searched and searched for rings online for months. We went back and forth about how the guy should choose and I should be surprised and happy with what he gives me. That was his opinion, I’m a very different kind of girl. If I have to wear it for the rest of my life then I want to make sure I liked it. I know I change my mind often but I want what I want. I hate to say it but, I changed my mind again. I stumbled across the stacked ring look and that was it.

 

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I love it because I could change it up. I could incorporate color and not worry about getting tired of it or it clashing. I also didn’t have to worry about the gap between the e-ring and the band. By the time Raoul saw the pictures he was so over rings he said I “had sucked all of the joy out of itâ€. Trying to salvage what was left of his feelings and make sure I was still getting a proposal I tried to work on a compromise. We decided to switch things around. So he would purchase a wedding band to propose with and get my dream etsy ring later (since it took a few months to be made and he had to save up) He told me to find a ring online and I searched and searched. I preferred etsy because it was unique and handmade, which meant it took longer. Raoul preferred overstock.com which I found to have either cheap or expensive and not much in between. I also search jewelry tv’s website and really liked their selections. But when they failed I turned to Google images.  The only ring I liked was more than I wanted to spend on the whole wedding and nothing compared to it.

 

 

 

I just told him to pick whatever and I would be happy. Raoul went ring shopping for a few days and came back fustrated he couldn’t find anything I would like. The women at the store told him if I was being this picky maybe he should reconsider marrying me. He finally gave in (meaning he procrastinated) and said when I get there we will go ring shopping together. We were both burned out but all we could do was wait until I booked a ticket to go visit him.

 

I learned not to stress out your man too much and that I can be a bit of a diva when I want to get my way. I didn’t exactly get my “dream ring†but I got something so much better, stay tuned to see. Did you have any input in selecting your ring?

 

 

 

[dominiqueamber]

Our Journey: The Proposal

January 12, 2012

 

Raoul officially proposed during my visit to The Bahamas in December 2011. He had proposed over the phone long before we found out when I had time off work and booked my ticket. I flew in Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday was my first full day there. Raoul wanted to take me to look at possible wedding locations. As we were driving I asked Raoul “Since there’s no ring, are we officially engaged?†He said “Yes†so I moved forward. After a bit of pouting Raoul took me ring shopping the next afternoon. We went to four stores, as I was determined to find the best price. He endured (with the help of his iPhone and watch shopping) while I tried on various combinations trying to achieve the “stacked look†I had in my mind.

 

 

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I decided I wanted one in rose gold, one in yellow gold, one in white gold and one with champange diamonds. After store number three we had to sit on the bench outside and have a real talk about the budget he had in mind and me going over it and for a second I thought there would be no ring that day. This was one of those moments where I felt I’m marrying the right man, because we left that bench holding hands with no hard feelings. I love that we can tackle a problem and move on.
 
The fourth store we went to turned out to be the gold mine! I found the “perfect ring†and it was within our budget and I couldn’t have been more excited. It made a big difference that Raoul actually liked the ring as well. He was a little upset I changed my mind and wanted stacked bands and didn’t want a ring with a big center stone because of people opinions. There were some comments but he realized it was better to make me happy than everyone else and he fell in love with that little ring too. I felt he loved me enough to make me happy. I convinced him we could start a tradition and I can get a band for every special occasion and wear different combinations of bands over the years.  As we walked back to the car Raoul stopped to get me ice cream without me having to ask. He figured out from the last trip that stopping for ice cream is a big deal to me and it was the perfect ending to our afternoon. We went back to the house and showed Raoul’s mother the ring. She loved it as well. Then Raoul took the box and put it away.

I’m not sure if it came before the ring shopping or after but Raoul did make a phone call to my mother to ask for my hand in marriage. The next few days of the trip we visited with friends and family and did more wedding location hunting. We had a couple of amazing dates. Nope, I didn’t skip anything – I didn’t get the ring yet! Thursday passed, Friday passed and Saturday was almost over so you can imagine I was growing impatient and frustrated. I had been introduced as the fiancé a few times but I was still wearing my dummy ring! I convinced Raoul to drive me out to Clifton Heritage Park because he was sure it would be the perfect wedding location and I wanted to check out the logistics. We went to Jaws Beach which Raoul knew I would love to go shell picking. I had my eye on sponges this trip so we collected sponges, shells, and bits of coral as well walked along the beach. We talked about everything, including my spirit being crushed I didn’t have the ring yet and our feelings about the trip so far.

This is Jaws Beach but from April when I visited (Personal Photo)

We sat down to rest for a bit and Raoul began to tell me how he felt overwhelmed and thanked me for my patience with him. He explained he had intended to propose at the restaurant the night before when we went out with the couples, he thought out on the water in front of everyone would be perfect. I disagreed but kept quiet (for once). He then said “I know I should do this on one knee but on two feet and two butt cheeks, Amber Dominique Roberts-Butler, will you be my wife?†I was speechless for the first time in my life and could only move my lips to form yes.

I got my ring! YAY! (Personal Photo)

The moment was overwhelming. Even though I expected it every moment, I was still caught off guard that it was actually happening. We were making history! I had only one little tear well up in my eye. I was more than happy, more than content and more than in love. We sat for a few moments longer, talking and hugging. I told him I was so glad he did it in my favorite place (the beach) and with just us for such a personal moment. I also told him I was pissed he messed up my pictures because he waited until I used up all my cute outfits and when my hair was no longer freshly done! I wasthinking of all the beautiful photographs I’ve seen on wedding blogs. We might have sealed it with a kissed. After we left went to see Raoul’s mom and show her the ring on my finger. We then went back to his house and Raoul took a nap while I used the internet phone to call my family to share the good news. Everyone asked did I feel different and I really didn’t because in my head we were “engaged†for a while. Once that pretty little ring went on my finger I did feel better than I had before – I felt it was more real. I felt he had finally peed on me and marked his territory!

Personal Photos

 

I felt my proposal was perfect even though it wasn’t what I expected. Were you surprised when you got engaged? Do you think it means a woman is high maintenance if she want’s to have a part in selecting her ring?

[dominiqueamber]

Git er Done

January 14, 2012

 

Git er done! Add that to the list of things I never thought I’d hear my mother say. I can’t remember if she was talking about school work or house chores the first time she told me this.

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  I came to Nassau in December with full intentions to Git er Done- getting this wedding planned that is.  I had my wedding notebook and nice pens ready, my power point files of inspiration pictures ready and I had done all the research I could on the internet to get ready! I was hoping to have all the major planning for the wedding done before I left, but it didn’t exactly go as planned. Who am I kidding, what in my life goes as planned!? We did accomplish to drive around and look at some beautiful venues and discuss some details with a few friendors. But I left at the end of that wonderful week with nothing checked off my to do list, no date, no venue, no vendors. I was quite stressed about this because in the back of my head I kept hearing “Git er Done†and we were a long ways off.

Remember I told you I had started planning long before we were official? Well I had been doing research and frequenting wedding blogs for some time. I was planning for a May 2012 wedding because of the cruise ship schedule, I thought it would be convenient for everyone to get on the cruise ship in Norfolk and come to Bahamas for the wedding plus get a vacation and I knew I would have off work for one week in May.  Since a four month engagement would not leave me much time to get things done so I wanted to start early and be ready. Raoul and I had a serious conversation, meaning he told me stop planning for everyone else, and I realized it wasn’t going to give us enough time so save for a wedding we wanted to (mostly) pay for ourselves or give our guests enough time to save for the trip. Raoul was comfortable with July. My employers were great and said whatever date I pick is fine for them, but being a Nanny is was important to me to choose a date convenient for the family. A family that was growing, when I learned there was a baby on the way at the end of July I really wanted to plan accordingly. I talked with some family about what would be a good time for them and they needed more time to save and taking a week off work was not feasible. Then I asked my “Popsâ€, a man whom I love and want to marry us. He has to be one of the busiest men in America and he said August would be the most appropriate. I felt it was way too far away to get to be with my honey but it worked out well with my work schedule and did give me time to work on my extensive list of DIY projects. I picked the last Saturday in August and it was a conflict for my Pop’s. I was so frustrated after going back and forth for almost three weeks so I just said “Okay the weekend before and I’m done†(I have a tendency to make decisions like this, it’s how I bought my new car) I didn’t look at the calendar till I was about to pitch the date to Raoul that evening and I realized that’s my late grandmothers (whom I was very close to) birthday August 18^th.  It was always easy to remember 8.18.28 and how easy would that be for me to remember my wedding date. I crossed my eyes that Raoul would be ok with date, and he was!

Personal Image

So the first accomplishment on our wedding planning was checked off the list, we had a date. Which meant I could really take off on planning and “Git er Done!†How long did it take you to finalize a date? Did you have to consider the schedules or family and friends? 

 

 

 

[dominiqueamber]

My Big Fat Green Wedding

January 16, 2012

 

I love green! I love chartreuse, kelly green, mint, and olive. I love seeing spinach and broccoli on my plate. I love pearly green punch buggies. I love my green contacts. I also love green weddings. I’ve wanted one every since I found out they exist. So I’ve been having images of green wedding in my head as I dream about the possibilities.

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Well that’s pretty but it’s not exactly the green wedding I had in mind. More like this:

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Can you tell the difference? I didn’t want the color green, I wanted eco-friendly green. I know little ‘ole me cannot make all the difference in the world, but I try in as many ways as I can to help keep the earth thriving. I figure if one person gets inspired and tries then I made a difference, and maybe they’ll inspire someone and so on. So a green wedding is a great way for me to make a small difference and since being green is contagious I can hopefully infect (er, inspire) a large group of people. Another advantage of being green is I can incorporate my love of nature. There are two places I love the most, the beach and the woods and having a celebration there would make me nothing but happy. I’m so excited about using wood and other elements from nature. I did plenty, plenty research on green weddings so I could learn all the ways I could possibly be green and choose what could fit us. On Weddingbee, Mrs.Cherry Pie gave me a great start and Mrs. Pino Noir helped me appreciate my (half) destination wedding could still be green. So here’s how I plan to be green:

LOCATION

1. For the Bahamas wedding we plan to have the ceremony and reception at one place. Either at a restaurant, private beach or the national park.
2. We plan to have the Virginia (AHR) Reception at a park.

WEDDING ATTIRE

1. Instead of buying a new dress I plan to revamp my mother’s first wedding dress and one of her prom dresses to create my own memorable dress.
2. The requirements for the other members of the family/bridal party attire are that it must be either reused or purchased new with the intent of re-wearing. Hopefully no one will spend more than $150 on their attire.

PAPER PRODUCTS

1. We plan to buy recycled paper as much as possible. Response options can be either postcards (with no envelope) or responding online.
2. We hope to create a detailed website to avoid having to use extra paper to give guests details not everyone will need.

FOOD AND TABLEWARE

1. Buying used with the hope of reusing or reselling will be my first choice if renting is not the cheaper option.
2. We plan to not have styrofoam, plastic or paper products if at all possible to reduce what’s thrown in the trash. For the Bahamas reception we will purchase bamboo/leaf plates, wood utensils and use cloth napkins. For the Virginia reception I will try to collect patterned china from family members, thrift stores and craigslist. I hope to use real glasses or cups of recycled materials for both events.
3. I would love to find different patterned cloth napkins to later turn into a quilt.
4. I hope to collect wine bottles, glass jars and tin cans to use for decor and food storage.
5. As much as possible the menus will consist of local foods.

FLOWERS

1. Flowers will be used as little as possible and if used will be local grown or potted plants.
2. Décor, bouquets and boutonnieres will consist of sola wood flowers, seashells, feathers and fabric.
3. No birdseed or alternatives will be thrown

GIFTS AND FAVORS

1. Since it’s a destination wedding and were looking for guests presence and not presents we plan to not register for tons of things I mostly have since I’m established in my home.
2. Gifts for wedding party members will be gifts they will get use out of.
3. Favors will be edible or reusable so guests will get the most benefit out of them
4. Because it’s a half destination wedding, guests flying will contribute to global warming via the carbon dioxide. It would be great to give each guest an 11-watt compact fluorescent bulb to replace a 50-watt incandescent bulb with their wedding favor will save 685 pounds of carbon dioxide. (Tip found in: Sierra Club Magazine‘s interview with an environmental studies and biology professor from Oberlin, Ohio)

PROGRAMS AND MENUS

1. Individual menus will not be necessary. We will display options for guest on one sign, maybe a chalkboard.
2. Programs will be made with recyclable material and hopefully be a keepsake to save them trash.

Towards the end of planning I hope to have accomplished all these goals! Are you planning to be green in your wedding planning or daily life?

[dominiqueamber]

 

Pretty Ways to Say "Oh, You Better Be There!"

January 20, 2012

When I envision my wedding day I see all the people I love and care about smiling at me, hugging me and having a good time at a beautiful party.  I honestly feel bad that having the wedding in The Bahamas means I won’t have everyone there. I don’t want anyone missing from the group but I know with a destination wedding, in this economy, that’s not possible.  The upside is I don’t have to worry about having a super large wedding, which I’ll explain later. But to make sure as many as possible can be in attendance, I wanted to send out a Save the Date (STD) to make sure friends and family had plenty of time to save money and make the travel arrangements like get a passport.

I had drooled over Save the Dates for a long time. Because I love gifts my favories were the one’s that featured a keepsake. Here are some of the lovelies that caught my eye:

My first love …

  

Image 1 via weddingbee’s Mrs.Duckling/Image 2 via weddingbee diy

That love came and went quickly because I knew it would take FOREVER to make. Then I fell for a unique twist on magnets.

Image 1 via weddingbee diy/ Image 2 via dot girl blog

I like the idea of fridge reminders but I’ve never liked the idea of my face on your fridge. But if I did magnets I’d want a seashell one too and that was going to be expensive to mail. The school supply obsessed kid in me went crazy over these.

Image 1 via junebug weddings / Image 2 via weddingbee diy /Image 3 via glamour weddings/Image 4 via boho-weddings

In the course of my research I found the little golf pencils were cheaper but they would be very difficult to mail. Then I discovered there is a whole world of travel them goodies for destination weddings. This was so cute and I knew I could make this pretty cheap.

Image via Invitations by Dawn

I bought a pack of 12 drink umbrellas from the dollar tree to try it out. I couldn’t find the tiny hold punch in the craft stores. I put this idea on the shelf because I found something I liked even better.

Image 1 via best destination wedding / Image 2 via best destination wedding/ Image 3 via etsy / Image 4 via best destination wedding

Luggage Tags were a great way to say “Let’s Travel!†and they wern’t too expensive. But I felt I wanted to give them the travel details, especially since everyone wasn’t internet savy.

Image 1 via best destination wedding /Image 2 via serendipity designs/Image 3 via best destination wedding/ Image 4 via invitation crush

I was too in love with the luggage inspired mailer boxes. How special would it be to receive this in the mail when you were only expecting plain white envelopes of bills?!

Image 1 via best destination wedding / Image 2 via best destination wedding /Image 3 via best destination wedding /Image 4 via best destination wedding

The downside was they used them for message in the bottles. I didn’t want message in the bottle save the dates  but I wanted these boxes! I tried to think what could I put in there. And because I wanted to be original, How could I change these boxes to be my own? Because I’m an “I want it all†kind of girl, the ones that combined a few of the ideas I liked appealed most to me. Message in the Bottles, Passports and Luggage Tags, Oh My! But again what to use instead of a message in the bottle?

Image via bestdestinationwedding (I had a hard time finding a source for the ones I saved originally so this is newer but same idea and I love it better)

I researched the least expensive way to put them together for a week. Just when I thought I had made up my mind I stumbled across this beauty.

 Image via masonjarbride

 It’s so pretty right. The best part is it’s green and cheap. It’s made with repurposed cardboard boxes, labels, lace trim and ribbon. I knew this would work well in my shrinking budget and I loved the contrast of the torn cardboard and pretty lace.  I liked all these STD’s because they were different than just a picture of the couple of someone’s fridge. Not that there’s anything wrong with them, I just feel weird about my face on your fridge until you get sick of it. Plus I have a strong desire to be creative, unique and different than the rest. Being the indecisive person I am I had such a very hard time choosing one. So it was time to start designing. YAY! Which do you like best? 

 

[dominiqueamber]

The Colors Duke, The Colors!

January 23, 2012

 

I’m a child of the 90′s so I can’t talk about colors without hearing this comercial in my head.

Being a designer colors are one of my favorite parts of creating a mood. It’s not all what looks pretty, there is a large amount of psychology involved. Did you know that more people argue in a yellow room than any other color? Did you know blue is an appetite suppressant, making it a great color for dinner plates when you’re on a diet, but stimulates you to drink making it a great color for a bar? Did you know most fast food places use red and yellow because the two colors stimulate your appetite and the high energy makes you impulsive and order more? Did you know that they painted walls every color in prison and the only color that kept the men calm was pink? I could go on for days. That’s why I love color, it has such a powerful affect on people and they don’t even realize.  

I didn’t take the correct designer approach when I started choosing colors for my wedding. I had fallen in love with a bright shade called coral. I thought it was tropical, fun and gave me a enough of my favorite color pink without actually being pink. I was also crazy about the color of the water in the Bahamas. It was an aqua that made me feel all kinds of good things inside.  I thought how cute, a shade of pink for my favorite color and a shade of blue for Ra’s. I also loved that together the two colors were high energy and creating a fun, energetic, party atmosphere.

Source

 I searched and searched and coral, though growing in popularity, was not easy to shop for. I searched for parasols, fans, napkins and didn’t find much.  I found lots of brides on wedding blogs saying this was their color but did not see many pictures. (p.s. there are a ton of pictures if you search now, not so much the case this time last year) I searched for attire.

 Upper Left/ Upper Right/ Lower Left/ Lower Right

Then I searched for “affordable†attire. There were many clothing items in coral, but not many were appropriate for the wedding. I added to my wardrobe as I couldn’t get enough of this color. Then I took my search to etsy.

 Save the Date/Bouquet/ Charm Necklace/ Invite/ Earrings/Tissue Poms/Feather Clip/Bib Necklace

 I might maybe have contacted this etsy seller to create a paper bouquet in my colors, ordered samples and then changed my mind but she had already created the bouquet so she listed it. But I said might. Anywho, I began to notice that I was right click and saving (before the days of pinterest) quite a bit of photos with softer and more neutral, more monochromatic color schemes. More like the style my house had been turning into. I decided that the wedding should be mainly neutral with pops of coral and aqua or salmon and mint.

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As I was about to paint my bedroom ceiling coral pink (You heard right, I’m the girl that has bubblegum pink walls in her kitchen) I found this picture while searching for ideas to redecorate my bedroom.  It changed my world. One day I will try my idea of painting all the ceilings in my house a different color and leaving the walls white but for now my bedroom had to look like this. I ran it past Raoul and he shot me down, saying his boys would not let him hear the end of it.

Isn’t she lovely?/ Source

I couldn’t get this image out of my head and I found myself saving more and more images with similar colors. Then I found this amazing collection of images from Martha Stewart and saved them even though I felt I’d never really get to use them.

What a beautiful combination of peach and pink! Source

When I visited Raoul in December I had a current copy of Martha Stewart Weddings 2011 Travel Issue (I kinda wanna grow up to be like her). I couldn’t get my eyes off the pages of one wedding in particluar …

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and just for kicks I asked Raoul since he knew pink was my favorite color, could we have a pink wedding. To my surprise he said yes! “Just don’t make it too girly†he added. The designer in me went back to this the bedroom image as a mood board. It provided a more relaxed, elegant mood, the direction I was starting to in. I loved that there was no real silver or gold tone. It was a mixture of interesting metallic colors. I remembered a copper leather jacket a friend had recently given me. I loved that color so much, especially with my skin and hair color. And then our color scheme was born. Off white, sand, peach, blush pink, copper, gold and champagne. Oh, and a bit of navy blue as per Raoul’s request to add his favorite color. I’ve gone back and forth about how to throw mint in there but we’ll see. And one last pretty picture.

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 When I looked back and the journey I traveled selecting my color scheme I realized my mother did the same thing. Only she changed her mind between two schemes everyday for almost a month and she drove me crazy. Hey it’s a very important decision to make!  Have you ever called a woman a bridezilla and later realized you did the same thing? Did you change your color scheme a few times?

[dominiqueamber]

Wedding Planned, Insert Groom Here

January 24, 2012

 

 Remember I told you I had started not so secretly planning the wedding before we were officially engaged? The slightly type-A and slightly OCD crazed person in me wanted to get a head start so I can avoid stress and anxiety later. Plus I wanted to take advantage of good deals. I didn’t intend to just “Insert groom here.†I did a lot of research on The Bahamas and Raoul’s likes and dislikes to make it an event both of us would be happy with. I had asked Raoul tons of questions and he had input on our future wedding but he had no idea I had been collecting a secret Monica closet full of stuff for the wedding.

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That’s right I started my ribbon wands and my OOT Bags before I had a ring and I’m not ashamed of it. I couldn’t wait to start DIY-ing and I carefully choose projects that were neutral enough that I could resell them if I needed to and not have to worry about our names or a wrong date being on them. Well my mother called me in the room one morning (after I had slept over) to hurry and watch this on the news: Single Bridezillas

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They discussed Marie Claire article about woman planning the wedding before they have the groom, which you can read here. It was comforting to learn I’m not the only one. Not that I want to be in the club with Kim Kardashian, sorry Kim. But not every woman does it to have a fairy tale, some are thinking of saving time and money. I believe my hard worked paid off. I have some amazing finds at a great price which I can’t wait to share with you and I was able to work out some kinks. Brides have a tendency to change their minds tons of time and drive those around them crazy. I was able to do a lot of research (which really means unproductively spends months and months saving pictures off wedding blogs and Google images) I found lots of great ideas I can DIY, finally figured out my color scheme, narrowed down venus and menus, became addicted to favors, bookmarked plently of sites trying to find the lowest prices and more. Winning!

Did you secretly pre-plan? It’s ok you can tell the truth, I won’t judge you.