Etsy Advice Needed & Maybe a Contest
Posted: March 19, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: advice, contest, crafts, design, diy, etsy, handmade, help, shop 1 Comment »
Beatles Guitar Pick Cuff Links
As many of you may know, I recently started an Etsy shop, Haus of Ariella, and I’d like some feedback on it. First of all, I started it with my Etsy username at the time, Ariella42, so it comes up under ariella42.etsy.com instead of hausofariella.etsy.com. I can change the name once, but I’m not sure if I should. Any ideas?
My second issue is the look and feel of the site. I’d love to have better photographs on the site, but I don’t have much to work with in that area. Any advice on taking better photos would be much appreciated though. I also want to have a banner on the top of my site, but I’m at a loss for design. I considered having a contest to design a banner for me with a prize of earrings, cuff links, or a candle, but I’m not sure how much interest that would garner since my blog is just starting. I’m hoping to focus the shop mostly on geeky or music-related items. There’s a vintage ring on there, but that’s the only vintage item I’ll likely put on there. I’d really appreciate any advice or feedback anyone can give me.
We Found an Apartment!
Posted: March 19, 2012 Filed under: Updates | Tags: apartment, diy, food, restaurant, update 2 Comments »
Our new home - well not this building, but one very similar to it
We had been having some difficultly finding an apartment that was cheap enough for us and was still an easy commute to the law school. We also wanted to stay away from any complexes owned by GSC, because they own my current complex and I’m not a fan, but they seem to have a monopoly on affordable housing in Chapel Hill. On Thursday we looked at some apartments at Poplar Place and really liked it. We were having a few issues with cost, but I went back the next day by myself and looked at a different floor plan. I was pretty much sold on it, so John and I went back yesterday and looked at it together. We decided to go for it and put in the application. I should find out today how much our deposit will be. Read the rest of this entry »
DIY Printed Candles Tutorial (With a Tardis!)
Posted: March 17, 2012 Filed under: DIY | Tags: candles, crafting, crafts, decorations, diy, diy candles, doctor who, tardis, tissue paper candles, wedding decorations 11 Comments »
Super-Badass-Friggin'-Awesome Tardis Candle
When I texted a picture of this candle to my fiance he replied, “That is super-badass-friggin’-awesome! Talented and sexy, that’s my baby.” In other words, this is a good way to impress the Whovians in your life. Of course, you can do this with any image, so they’re great for gifts, holiday decorations, and of course wedding decorations.
If you’d really like a Tardis candle but aren’t into the whole crafting thing, I put this one up for sale on my Etsy Shop.
Now on to the tutorial… Read the rest of this entry »
Mini Update – An Unexpected Windfall
Posted: March 16, 2012 Filed under: Updates | Tags: budget, diy, dress. shoes, family, wedding 3 Comments »My grandmother just very generously gave me the money for my dress and shoes! I’m so happy and grateful. While I may not have gotten a $1,200 dress, I did spend 10% of my overall budget on the dress and shoes, so having that extra money is a big help.
In other news, I’ve been experimenting with using tissue paper to decorate candles. I feel another DIY tutorial coming on….
Doctor Who Theme Music Candle
Let’s Talk Wedding Photography
Posted: March 15, 2012 Filed under: Photography | Tags: budget, photographers, photography, wedding, wedding photography, wedding photos 4 Comments »One of the things I really wanted going into the wedding planning process was good photographs. They don’t have to be magazine editorial quality or anything, but I want some really nice photos that we can frame or put on canvas and hang in our living room. Then I started looking at the prices of wedding photographers. The ones that I admired so in their sponsored posts on wedding blogs generally cost more than all the cars I’ve owned put together (granted I’ve owned some crappy cars). Most of the “budget” photography packages with those photographers were a few hundred dollars over my entire budget. Clearly a budget wedding to those people means only spending $10,000-15,000. Then I turned to my trusted friend, Google. I emailed several photographers I liked in the WNC area. All of them started at $700+ for JUST THE CEREMONY. I got similar results with Wedding Wire, though I didn’t go through all of them because they came up with 24 pages of results and virtually none of them listed their prices. I emailed my cousin, Briana, who takes beautiful photographs (she took all of the pictures of the farm on our wedding website). She declined, because she has never shot a wedding before, but she did recommend her friend, Paula Roberts. I am so thankful that she did, because her rates are very reasonable and I really like her work. Her blog is paularobertsphotography.blogspot.com and her website is paularobertsphotography.com. Here are a few things I’ve learned about finding a wedding photographer. Read the rest of this entry »
Super Easy DIY Ribbon Flower Tutorial
Posted: March 14, 2012 Filed under: DIY | Tags: diy, diy flowers, diy ribbon flowers, ribbon flowers 3 Comments »
I’ll let you in on a little secret – I love making things. Michael’s may be one of my favorites places in the world. It’s certainly one of the most dangerous to turn me loose in. I have a set of drawers in my living room that I refer to as my crafting drawers – the top one is full of paint, ribbon, crayons, etc.; the next has so much yarn in it you can hardly close it; and the bottom one is overflowing with jewelry making supplies. My problem is that I sometimes lack follow through on projects. That’s why John’s police public call box scarf will probably still not be finished by this Christmas. So you know what’s awesome about these ribbon flowers? They take next to no time. So even someone as horribly ADHD as me can pop off a few of them and be like, “Hey, I have some lovely, finished flowers…is that a squirrel?”
So without further ado, I present to you…the tutorial. Read the rest of this entry »
Send Save The Dates – Check
Posted: March 14, 2012 Filed under: Updates | Tags: etiquette, invitations, save the dates, traditions, wedding 7 Comments »
Our Doctor Who Save The Dates
I messaged my future-mother-in-law yesterday to make sure we have all of the addresses from my fiance’s side of the family and it looks like we’re good to go! Hopefully everyone has received them by now and there are no more to send (if anyone reading this thinks they should have gotten one and hasn’t yet, please let me know – I’m not the most organized person in the world, so it’s very possible that it was just an oversight). I was pretty happy with the quality of the cards, though they came out a bit darker than the digital proof.
Now on to the invitations! We originally wanted to make versions of the blue layered invitations that the Doctor sent in “The Impossible Astronaut.” Read the rest of this entry »
Bridal Weight Loss Rant
Posted: March 13, 2012 Filed under: Rants | Tags: rant, weight loss, WIC 5 Comments »When I checked my email this morning I had the usual slew of wedding-related emails – the newest sale at David’s Bridal, $250 bridesmaid dresses that are such a good deal, amazing $4800 photography packages that I can totally afford, etc. I also had an email with the subject “You Said Yes to the Dress, Now Say Yes to the Body.” It was from David’s Bridal Fitness Boot Camp. Yes, that’s right – a Bridal Fitness Boot Camp specifically designed for brides so that they can actually fit into the $2000 dress they just bought.
There’s certainly nothing wrong with getting in shape – I’m hoping to start working out again once we get a new apartment. However, I have a problem with the incredible push towards wedding weight loss for brides. Almost every wedding checklist I have seen has something around the 9 month mark that says “Start wedding diet and exercise regime” or something along those lines. If someone wants to lose weight anyway and use their upcoming wedding as a motivator, that’s great! However, those people probably don’t need a reminder in a wedding planning checklist. Making weight loss seem like an integral part of the wedding planning process just serves to make women uncomfortable with their bodies. Read the rest of this entry »
A Venue, A Dress, and Shoes – Oh My!
Posted: March 12, 2012 Filed under: Updates | Tags: dress, shoes, updates, venue, wedding 11 Comments »I used to post on the Offbeat Bride Tribe, but I had some difficulties with them – well, actually they kicked me off for posting an update that said, “RIP Davy Jones.” While I was there, I got a bit addicted to their journal feature, so I thought I’d start a blog about my wedding to fill the void that OBB left. Even if no one reads it, it will at least make me happy.
So, I’ll start off with a little about me. I’m a law student who met the man of my dreams (of course, I had no idea he was the man of my dreams at the time, but that revelation came shortly after we started dating). He proposed to me on January 25, 2012, and we are getting married on September 22, 2012 outside of Hendersonville, NC. It may seem like a short engagement by some standards, but I’m glad it’s the length it is – it should give us plenty of time to get everything together, but it’s not so long that I get impatient. My mom and step-father agreed to give us $2,000 for the wedding, so that’s pretty much our budget. I’m in school and my fiance doesn’t make much, so we’re going to try to have an awesome wedding on a shoestring.
The Venue
One thing that has helped immensely is that my Aunt and Uncle have offered to let us use their farm as our venue for free. It’s truly beautiful there, so we’re really excited about it. Yes, that gorgeous horse farm in the picture is actually where we will be getting married. Plus, it’s free – did I mention that part?
Mountain Ranch aka Our Awesome Venue
My fiance and I went out to the farm last week while I was on spring break (we live four and a half hours away), which was the first time he’d seen it in person. It didn’t disappoint, though we’re going to have issues if it rains. There’s a small covered picnic area, but I don’t think it can hold as many guests as we will have there in the event of inclement weather. We were considering renting a tent just in case, but I was told that that’s incredibly expensive. We’ll see how everything works out. Hopefully, we won’t have to fall back onto any contingency plans.
The Dress
The other piece of the wedding puzzle we have sorted out is the dress. I 
originally fell in love with a Mori Lee mermaid-style dress that cost as much as we’re probably going to spend on catering, so that was out. I found a Chinese knock-off site that would make the dress for me for $259, but I was nervous about going that route. Although the particular site I was going to use, Dressilyme, seemed to have more positive reviews that the others (and they would make the dress in burgundy, which was what I really wanted), it was still going to be a gamble. Spending $259 (plus shipping and customs, which would easily bring it to over $300) on a dress that I couldn’t be sure was going to work or even be wearable when my entire wedding budget was $2,000 seemed like too much. When John and I went to Hendersonville to see the farm and visit my parents, we also went dress shopping. I found one at a consignment shop that I liked, but didn’t love. It was $199, but it would have required a good bit of alteration to fit properly. Then, on the way home, John suggested we stop by the place he was going to get his tux in Hillsborough, because they had prom dresses too. So we went to Formal Wear Outlet and found my dress. It’s silver and white, fun, and only cost $125! I ended up getting a size smaller than the one I’m wearing in the picture and the only alteration it needs is to have the neck strap shortened slightly. I’m pretty stoked to have that one out of the way with none of the worry that ordering from China would have brought.
Last, But Not Least – The Shoes
Jeffrey Campbell Spicy Union Jack Glitter Platform Boots
Yes, those are my wedding shoes. And I think they’re awesomely amazing. Perhaps I should elaborate a bit on our wedding theme. We’re going with a Doctor Who theme with a lot of other fantastic Brit-ness thrown in. My fiance wants to get a Union Jack vest, too. I’m also trying to find a Union Jack bolero to go with the shoes. Not that I’d need the theme to wear these babies – I’d wear them to the grocery store (and actually have). My mother, of course, hates them, but that’s par for the course. At least she’s happy about the dress.
