Cute pictures

These are some early pictures before the wedding and then during that I just love.

This was at the dress salon, he was having a ton of fun playing with the sunglasses and the mirror.
While everyone was getting ready and dressed he told me that I had to take a picture of his drinks.

And well I just love the picture of her about to throw her shoes away.

Pillows

One thing that my MIL has been working on for the wedding are the ring bearer pillows. She likes to sew and I thought that it would be a really great craft project for her.

I didn't want those really fancy and frilly white ones, and since everything else in blue and green why not keep the trend going. I had no idea it could be so complicated..

Early in the year she bought some green and blue fabric and was all set to make the pillows. Then at some point someone tried to convince her that the pillow just HAD to be white (we have our suspicions who it is).

Well, when she showed me what she had made and mostly my face as I looked at the pillows with all the frilly white embrodery stuff (she'd just boughten a pillow and attached ribbons) she agreed with me that it wasn't really right.

So she went back to the original plan and came up with these really soft and cute pillows (our one ringbearer at first wasn't so thrilled with them but as he got used to it he was really excited and pulled the fake rings off twice).

The official flower girl/ring bearer set

This is gonna be my first in a threeish day series on gifts for other people. First off I thought I'd start with the fun ones, the kids. (If any of the kids in my wedding are looking right now you better turn away. Or at least not be able to read yet).

I am not real big into the various gifts and keepsakes that wedding sites will advertise as the best things to get your flower girl or ring bearer (who wants a book on how to be a flower girl?). Instead I'd rather get them all toys. Who doesn't love toys? And it'll give them something to play with the day of as well.

The tall flower girl I'll show off tomorrow (as she can read and I want to give even more warnings and rent cerberus for the day to keep her away). For the short flower girl we looked high and low to get some ideas.Then we saw this play phone set. If she's anything like her mother she'll be addicted to the phone. And as sad as it is Disney by far had the best option. All the princess have a few different sayings (though all done by the same voice actor so it's kinda weird), and you can call them from the phone as well as leave a recorded message.

I just picture her the day of the wedding running around with a little phone in her hand (hopefully she won't smack her brother with it).To help her feel more like a little princess (or at least enjoy the dress up aspect) I got her a little hair comb. She doesn't have a really poufy dress but this will give her a little sparkle so she'll get to play dress up.

In the end her gift cost about $25. So for the price of a frame and a t-shirt she can wear once, I got her a toy she can play with til it gets broken or thrown into a puddle and some jewelry.

The boys were much easier (if you can't tell, I love looking at toys, they are so much fun to play with and figure out the good and the boring ones). They are about the same age range (one is gonna be 4 the other 3) and they both love trains. (For christmas I got my MOH's boy a thomas train set that had to be assembled and he watched it for hours as it went around and around, even jumping up and getting super excited when it dumped some coal).The first thing I found was a really cool engine (either Thomas or Percy) that has a switch on the back if you flip it to one side when you push the train it makes train noises and if you go faster the noises speed up, the other side plays the Thomas theme song (sure to drive mom nuts).

For an addition we also found some Thomas bubbles. Both of these kids love blowing bubbles (to the point where I was once covered in soap helping one of them) and the engine is actually shaped like a train whistle. Plus if we suddenly decide we want some bubbles, we'll have two toddlers that can help.

These two cool present cost about $18 total for each kid (actually got them on a 50% off toy sale) and as we realized later are actually our wedding colors. So even buying them at full price it's a bit less than an official ring bearer duffle bag, wallet, and frame set.

I just don't see the point of gifts that they can realistically use one day. Instead we went and got them some toys they can play with for a few years (assuming not put in the wood chipper of course) or at least it'll keep them distracted the day of. And the adults can play with them a bit too.

No mini-me's here

It never entered my mind that my flower girl (the short one aka the 5 year old not the 21 year old) would wear one of those poufy white dresses that cost as much as a grown up dress. She's a lot like her mother anyway, and there's a good chance that if she didn't like the dress she'd rip it off and run around naked.

Instead we went wandering around Target one day looking for a bridesmaid dress (more about that whole idea later) and came across a perfect dress. It's quite simple with pretty blue polka dots and a really pretty sheen that makes it look a like fancier than it is. Plus it only cost $17 instead of $100.

While I don't know if you'd ever really want to say register at Target, they do have some really nice and cheap options for a flower girls dress. One pink, two pink, yellow fish, green fish.

If you have your heart set on white for your little girl(s) there are some better options than an overpriced bridal salon. Communion dresses are a good way to go, especially if you have an older girl. But if it just must be a flower girls dress, there are a few cheap websites out there to help you out.

On the ring bearers side of things we also got some adorable options from department and retail stores. One is from a Shopko, which I am sure most of you have never heard of and sadly I don't have a picture or link to. Just picture a really cute little buisnessman suit with a blue shirt. The other ring bearer will be sporting a really cute green shirt, vest and pants combo. (He also just had to show me his outfit when I last visited). Easter is a great time to find really cheap and simple outfits for girls and boys.

As my MOH is finding out for her sister's wedding (the green ringbearer for me) if you are just going to have your bearers of rings not in a tux do not demand that she find a certain color of button up shirt. It is about impossible to find a red button up shirt for a 4 year old.

And for accessories, I'm still thinking I should give all the kids some rub on tattoos so they'll look super hot the day of the wedding.