Clay Flowers in Progress!

When I first stumbled upon Diane's work I was amazed. I thought it would be cool and funky to have clay flowers, plus it was one less thing I would have to worry about. Having the flowers created and delivered before the wedding left out any surprises you may get from a florist on your wedding day. So, it seemed unusual, safe, affordable and a little off beat. It wasn't until Diane sent me photos of the flower mock-ups a few months ago that I really became excited. Blown away doesn't even begin to describe how I feel about her work every time.

Well, with most of her summer weddings out of the way Diane has begun work on the flowers for our wedding. She has been working all day everyday since Saturday and sending me photos to document her progress. Here is what she has accomplished so far:
First she made the tuberoses. Each of the 40 flowers has 21 little petals. The detail is truly amazing.

Next she began work on 60 pearl-centered stephanotis flowers, a creamy white peony with golden center cake topper, peonies, champagne peach roses and white/green ranunculus. For the photos she decided to put them into a bouquet similar to what the final result will be.

The cake topper was a little bit of a late addition. After we picked out our wedding cake, I kept picturing a big white peony on top. So, I e-mailed Diane and she added it to my order. Left on her to do list for my bouquet is the copper colored roses, then she can start the flowers for the 5 bridesmaid bouquets and 9 corsages/boutonnieres. Whew...

Now that Mr. Pineapple and I are already married, I can safely say this is the part of the wedding I am most excited about!

What part of your wedding are you looking forward to the most (other than marrying your significant other, of course)?

Showered with Love: Cake Contest

See that sign in the background? It says "Best Wishes Ryan & Emily" Bridesmaid Katie made that sign by cutting the letters out of pink paper. The amazing part if she didn't even draw them on the paper first, she just started cutting, even the ampersand. Very impressive. (For those font nerds out there Sister Pineapple and I called the letters Comic Serif :) )

A couple days before the shower, Mom Pineapple and I baked mini wedding cakes for a cake decorating contest. The morning of the shower my bridesmaids and I mixed up different colors of frosting and filled decorating bags. Then each guest got a mini cake and we passed around the frosting.I'm pretty sure this messy contest was a hit. We had prizes for the prettiest, most creative, most unusual and most colorful cakes.
My Aunt Laurie won for most colorful cake. We wanted her to be able to win a prize no matter what her cake looked like, so Sister Pineapple and I made up the most colorful category after seeing her finished cake. She loves sprinkles, a girl after my own heart.
Nana Pineapple won for most unusual because her cake was decorated with two hearts, but it was upside down. When I picked it to win the prize I assumed that the creator did it on purpose, turns out, not so much. Sorry Nana! :)

Bridesmaid Kim won most creative for her alien cake. She has been drawing this peanut-like alien for almost the entire time I have known her. It makes several appearances in year books as we grew up. Nice work Kimmy.

Next up we have the prettiest cake belonging to my friend Lisa. Lisa just got married herself so she said she had spent a lot of time recently looking at cake designs.

And for the curious here is a shot of my freckles and my cake, it's plaid.

What is your favorite bridal shower game?

All Dolled Up

Requisite before shot, I think I like this look even better.

When it came to having my hair and make-up done for the wedding I had a plan, a good one, but no back-up. So, when it came to the hair trial I was really hoping things would go well.

Our wedding is going to take place in downtown Pittsburgh. The club that is hosting our festivities, and where we will be getting ready the morning of, is on the 4th-7th floors of the building. Coincidentally, there is a hair salon on the second floor. The salon is part of a regional chain called Philip Pelusi. I have been going to two different branches since moving to Pittsburgh and have always been very happy with the results. The price is right too, about $35 for your average haircut and style.

I had my trial scheduled for the morning of my bridal shower so that I had a reason to look fancy pants. It also worked out well because I could confirm with my friends whether or not it was the right look for me. Mom Pineapple came along with me and also had her hair cut. She is almost as bad as I am when it comes to going to the salon, for her it had been a year since her last cut and for me 18 months.

Here are two of my inspiration images:
She first dyed my hair back to what is probably my natural color, a deep brown. Then she cut off about 4 inches, my hair was in bad shape. Then she straighten and curled it, putting it halfway up like in the second photo. It just didn't feel like me. I look a lot younger than I am to begin with (in fact, the stylist thought I was the 17 year old little sister of the bride from another bridal party who was in there at the same time we were) and it made me look even younger. I felt like a middle school homecoming queen or something, not a bride.

So, I asked her to take it down. Sorry the photo is fuzzy, my mom's camera seemed to be on the fritz.
Soft and simple, done and done.For make-up I didn't bring any of my inspiration photos with me, I just used some of the key phrases you all taught me. :) I pretty much just told her that I was thinking I would like warm colors and nothing too over the top. She said, oh good, me too!

So here is the final result:
Self-portrait in a mirror, perfect for my new myspace photo.

What do you think? Did you have your hair trial on the morning of a special occasion?

October 18th: The Sweetest Day

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When Mr. Pineapple and I first started talking about possible wedding dates our first thought was sometime in October. We were looking at venues more than a year in advance were surprised by how limited the available dates were, especially here in somewhat sleepy western, PA. Our goal date was October 25th, simply because it was a nice simple number. When we decided we to get married at The Rivers Club, October 25th was booked by a bar mitzvah so October 18th became our new future wedding anniversary.

I immediately added "Wedding!!!" to my calendar and discovered that October 18th was noted as "Sweetest Day." I thought "Well, that's cute, but what the heck is Sweetest Day?" So, I turned to the knower of all things, the internet.

So, what is Sweetest Day? Celebrated on the third Saturday of every October, it is pretty much Valentine's Day to celebrate people you just kind of like a lot in addition to those you love. It is described by Retail Confectioners International as an "occasion which offers all of us an opportunity to remember not only the sick, aged and orphaned, but also friends, relatives and associates whose helpfulness and kindness we have enjoyed."

You know how a lot of people say Valentine's Day was just invented by greeting card and candy makers to drum up business? There are two stories that describe the origin of Sweetest Day. One story is that it originated as an act of philanthropy by a candy company employee named Herbert Birch Kingston who wanted to give gifts to the forgotten such as orphans and shut-ins. The other story is that it really was invented by candy makers.

The first mention of The Sweetest Day can be found in the October 8th, 1921 edition of the Cleveland newspaper, The Plain Dealer. The paper says that the holiday was planned by a committee of 12 candy makers. The Sweetest Day in the Year Committee distributed over 20,000 boxes of candy to "newsboys, orphans, old folks, and the poor."

The Sweetest Day never really caught on like the candy makers had hoped. It is still celebrated by a few cities in the U.S. such as Cleveland, Buffalo, and Detroit. Pittsburgh is nestled amongst these cities, so I was surprised that I had never heard of the holiday before.

Sources:
Wikipedia
The Romantic

Are you sharing your wedding day with another holiday?

A Wedding in a Week: Getting Ready

After this post, it is time to say goodbye to our wedding in a week and get back to planning our October wedding. I just wanted to share with you some final photos and tidbits, beginning with a little better shot of my dress:
The reason for the wrap was two fold. Since I didn't have time for any alterations the fit was not quite right. The top of the dress was a bit too loose. No one else probably would have noticed, but it made me more comfortable to wear the shall. I am going to take it to a seamstress to add straps before it makes another appearance for the rehearsal and dinner. The second reason was the coming of fall. It was a bit chilly out and I felt silly bearing so much skin.

When my parents were married my paternal grandmother made a hanky for my mom to carry with her down the aisle. She tucked it into her waistband and I pinned it under the lace of my gown.
My grandmother passed away when I was 8 years old, so it was really special to have something that she made with me.

Getting ready was not the normal big to-do for this wedding. Mr. Pineapple left about 20 minutes ahead of me so I could slip on my dress without him seeing and add a little lip gloss. As you can see, I decided to wear my glasses fearing I would start to cry and loose my contacts.

Did you carry anything special with you down the aisle?

A Wedding in a Week: Rehearsal Dinner and Cake

Believe it or not we had a rehearsal dinner for our quicky wedding. Well, at least that is what we are calling it. Friday night my parents, Mr. Pineapple, myself, and Oliver & Rooney the dogs roasted hot dogs and marshmallows down at the pond where we live.
Our house is the white one you can see off in the distance. We live on a 100 acre farm, which is very relaxing during crazy times like these.
Rooney spent the RD eating sticks and choking on acorns.
As you can see it was COLD. Here I am rocking about 5 layers including a massive CMU sweatshirt. I am one beautiful bride.

Here is Mr. Pineapple making our gourmet hot dogs.

Earlier in the day Mom Pineapple and I baked the wedding cake. When I was a very little girl, I used to watch my mom's cake decorating videos over and over. I was most amazed by the frosting roses, that were made so effortlessly. My dad also tells stories of his mom's amazing wedding cakes. So, when I had to opportunity to test my own skills, I jumped at the chance. I was really hoping I would be the next Bob Ross of cake decorating. Turns out, not so much. I think I need more practice, our cake looks like it has spikey hair. :)
Luckily it tasted better than it looked!

Did you ever try your hand at cake decorating? Any tips for me? (Like avoiding all those peaks on top of my dollops.)

A Wedding in a Week: Bouquets

Since our wedding was planned in such a whirlwind, I didn't have time to show you all of the finishing touches. For my bouquet Mr. Pineapple and I went to the local grocery store and picked up some flowers. I picked a big bunch of funky purple and green flowers.
I just started with one flower/stem at a time and clustered them together, trimming the stems as I went. When I got about half way through the flower bunch I wrapped the stems tightly together with floral wire. Once finished with the bunch I wrapped it once again with floral wire at the top and at the base of the stems.
Here is Dad Pineapple doing a lovely job modeling the bouquet. (Fun fact about Dad Pineapple he owns over 50 plaid shirts, the vast majority of his wardrobe.)

Next I wrapped the stems with champagne satin ribbon. Originally I thought I may need to use hot glue periodically to hold the ribbon in place, but it turned out I didn't need to. I wrapped from the top of the stems to the bottom and then back up again. It's not a perfect job, but it was good practice for when I wrap my clay flowers.

Then I used pearl-headed pins to secure the ribbon. The pins were in the jewelry making section at Michael's, it took me a while to find them. I just kind of eye-balled a straight line, again not perfect.

Here is the finished handle:I just kept the bouquet in a glass with about an inch of water until the ceremony.

For my our flower girl (Mother in Law Pineapple) and matron of honor (Mom Pineapple) we purchased half dozens of roses. Our flowers girl's were pink, her favorite color and the MOH's were yellow, the color of the flowers at her own wedding.

While we are on the subject of flowers. Here is a shot of my hair flower for those of you wondering what it looked like in action:
Did you DIY your bouquet or handle?

You do? Sweet me too!

We are married! Mr. Pineapple and I had a funky sweet ceremony this Saturday and now it is official. We are a family!

Here are a couple shots taken quickly outside the Magistrate's office in Clymer, PA. (Pardon our funny faces, it is hard to smile and squint at the same time.)

Mom and Dad Pineapple

In Law Pineapples

It was definitely a ceremony to remember. When we arrived at the magistrate's office the judge was in a polo and sneakers. Here is where I got scared: he had a huge chunk of chewing tobacco stuck in his bottom lip. Little pieces were creeping onto his teeth and all I could think was "oh dear, what are we doing here..."

Then he said to Mr. Pineapple, holding the ceremony Mr. P had written a couple days earlier, "Um, do you mind if we just use mine? It's shorter." The ceremony Mr. P had written included some very sweet parts that described the importance of our early wedding. So he said to the judge, "Well, I would really like to use ours." The judge: "I mean it's just going to take a while." Then Mr. P said "Do you have an extra minute?" and the judge agreed.

At this point I was a bit annoyed, but tried not to let it bother me too much. Mr. P and I had a few minutes together while the judge put on his robe and our parents got seated in the chambers. We decided to walk up to the judge together holding hands, rather than have any sort of aisle.

Once the judge began I could only think about Mr. Pineapple. We held hands the entire time squeezing each other and smiling whenever the judge would stumble over Mr. Pineapple's words. The vows were all together funny, touching and amazing.

Mr. Pineapple and I have been living together for most of our relationship, yet the last couple of days I have felt closer to him than ever. I can't wait to do it all over again in less than 4 weeks! This time no chewing tobaccy will be involved. :)

A Wedding in a Week: The Last Day

When you first decide to get married everyone tells you "the wedding will be here in no time!" Boy oh boy were they right! It feels like it has only been a week! Wait a minute... it has. :)

So today is my last day as a single girl. We still have a few things left on our to do list before tomorrow. For one, Mom Pineapple and I are going to bake a wedding cake. It won't be anything fancy, but it will be white. Mr. Pineapple and I are also going to pick up some flowers from the local market. Then I will attempt a DIY handle wrapped bouquet. Finally, we have to plan the reception. And by reception I mean decide where we want to go to dinner after the ceremony.

How do I feel?
Physically, I am as sick as a dog. I'm pretty sure a few days ago I swallowed a golf ball and it lodged itself in my throat then spontaneously combusted. I also forget what it is like to breathe out of both sides of my nose at the same time. This is what my body does when I get stressed. I attempted to graduate from college with 103.8 degree fever and failed. (Still got my degree though, no worries.)

Emotionally, it is just starting to hit me that tomorrow I will be married. It was hard for this wedding to seem "real" after planning our October wedding to such detail for the last year. Plus according to Facebook our wedding is still 29 days away, so how could it be tomorrow?

Yesterday Mr. Pineapple wrote the most amazing ceremony I could ever imagine. Once I reached the line "Ryan, you may kiss your bride," it hit me like a ton of bricks. Mr. Pineapple will be my husband tomorrow. And I am the luckiest girl in the world.

A Wedding in a Week: Hair Flower

Earlier this week I posted about my new 'second first wedding' dress. I wasn't sure if I should wait to wear my veil for the October wedding or if I should wear it to both. A few readers suggested I wear a hair flower. What a great idea! Why didn't I think of that?

I would have loved to order one from Etsy, there are so many cute options, but time is against me. So, I decided to try and make one myself. I headed to Michael's not really knowing what I was doing and armed with a short shopping list:
Silk Flower
Feathers
Barrettes
Here is a close-up of the peony I picked out:
I then took apart the peony (like Miss Shortcake taught me) and this is what I was left with:
I chose some of the smaller petals and glued them together. Then I added a couple feathers and a pearl I had left over from another project. Finally, I hot glued the flower to a barrette. Here is the final product:
I took me all of five minutes and I am pleasantly surprised with the results.
Here is the cost breakdown:
Peony: $2 (50% off)
Barrettes: $1.50 (50% off)
Feathers: $1.50
Total: $5

What do you think? Have you ever tried your hand at making a hair flower?

Invites for Another Bride

A few weeks ago someone stumbled upon my Winter Berries invite that I had originally imagined for our wedding. I jumped at the opportunity! She asked me if I could alter the colors a bit for her wedding this December. So, without further ado here are the results:


It has been so much fun working with Ginna on her invites since I finished our many moons ago. Plus I have really gotten a lot of mileage out of my Xyron sticker maker thinger!

Have you found yourself loving helping other brides to be with their planning?

A Wedding in a Week: The Dress

For our second first wedding I wanted to get a different dress for a couple of reasons. First, I wanted "the dress," that has been the dress all along, to still be a surprise for Mr. Pineapple in October. Secondly, my original dress was just too fancy for our new location of either a court house, back yard or hospital chapel (still to be determined).

Sister Pineapple was flying in town the day before my bridal shower so it was the perfect time to go dress shopping. We went into the same David's Bridal that has been the highs and lows of my relationship with my gown since the beginning. I explained to the sales associate that I needed an inexpensive gown that I could take home that morning. She was so very accommodating and lead my sister, mother and I to the $99 gown rack.

Okay Mr. Pineapple you know the deal, no more reading beyond this point.

And there is was. A tea-length all over lace gown in my size for $99. It was short, sweet and simple. In a word perfect.
It is a style from 2005 ( Galina T8627) so finding pictures was not easy. It looks a little different on me than the model above. It is a bit shorter and more a-line since my hips don't lie. We were in the store all of 20 minutes. Done and done. The best part about this dress is it is casual enough to wear for the rehearsal and dinner.

My veil would also look great with this dress. What do you think, should I hold off on wearing the veil until October or wear it for both weddings?

A Wedding in a Week: The License

The morning after we decided to get married early, Mr. Pineapple and I headed to the Indiana, Pennsylvania courthouse. Armed with my camera and identification we were greeted by Jimmy Stewart and probably the only metal detector within 60 miles. (Jimmy Stewart is Indiana's claim to fame along with being the Christmas Tree Capitol of the World - possibly a self-proclamation.)

I have to admit, I always get slightly nervous when it comes to quizzes and they had a lot of questions for us. Luckily the hardest one was when they asked for Mr. P's occupation. So I said, "Well, on Weddingbee we call you Student Affairs Administration" and he said "Oh! That works." (The second hardest was spelling my parents' hometown of Loxahatchee correctly.)

Apparently we got enough of the questions right because they gave us this:
Can't you hear the angels singing? Look at that gold graphic. Fancy pants.

Inside the envelope was our Marriage Certificate. They gave it to us right away, but we were not allowed to us it for 72 hours. So, it is sitting next to my computer singing "I've got a golden ticket! I've got a golden chance to make my day!"

I don't know why people say weddings are expensive. Really all you need is a willing partner and this magical paper. The partner is free and the paper was only $30.

What was it like getting your marriage license?