California to Texas Roadtrip

Our roadtrip from California to Texas a few weeks ago was very interesting to say the least! We were originally going to fly, but because we were going to be away from home for two weeks for our wedding and honeymoon, (which were both amazing, by the way!) we had to take the Bentley pups and loads of wedding decorations. We regretfully started our 24 hour drive off at 8pm just after mister got home from work and we got the car all packed up. Why did we leave when the sun was going down instead of getting a good nights rest and setting off in the morning? Well, my stubborn self was dead set on leaving ASAP because I had the strongest craving for taco bueno's party burritos and you can only get them in Texas. Yeah, that's it...food. Driving with no sleep was absolutely miserable! We switched off on driving 4 hour shifts while the other slept. I was woken up at 3am in Arizona by G yelling that he was getting pulled over, which resulted in a warning for going 73 in a 65, but a ticket for driving with a suspended license. (Those darn dui's will haunt you forever, folks.) After we settled down from that set back, our adrenalines kicked back in at the Texas border. When pulling through that pesky little "border patrol" station, our car was quickly surrounded by law enforcement and a k9 was circling us. We were asking to pull aside and step out of the car with our dogs on leashes, and were escorted a few feet away. As we watched a HUGE dog jump into our car, stepping all over our delicate wedding decorations, fancy fur coats and crunchy snacks, we were being questioned for gun and drug possession. Just as I was getting too worked up for my own good, they told us the dog found nothing and we were free to go. (But not before Tx Bentley marked his territory on some of their things!) We finally reached my parent's house a little over 24 hours later with a big bag of party burritos in tow and immediately went to sleep! 

Drey $ Nicole

Surprise Bachelorette Party

My bestfriend/Maid of Honor, Siera put together a very sneaky surprise bachelorette party for me! What I thought was going to be a small "girls night out" turned out to be a very festive decorated house, complete with gag gifts, yummy finger foods and pre-clubbing drinks. We played a couple bachelorette games, one of which I had to judge the best toilet paper wedding dress- that was fun! Then we cabbed it to the bar and danced the night away in celebration of my last days of being single. Oh, and I felt like Madonna all night in my handmade- by Siera- veil headpiece and white lace fingerless gloves. I couldn't have asked for a better night and I'm so thankful to my long time bestie for throwing it all together!

7 days 'til wedding time!

Drey $ Nicole

This & That: Wedding Edition

1. We found these white feathers at a local craft store and dipped each one in gold for a little flare.

2. I will be wearing this amazing chevron necklace by Nikki Lorraine with my dress on the special day! Check out her online shop here to see more.

3. We painted these his & her wooden cutouts to match the rest of our wedding decor, and then sprayed a little gold glitter over the top of them for a sparkle when the lights hit them.

4. I made TONS of these paper flowers to cover some not-so-wedding-appropriate murals on our venues walls. 

5. I'm wearing this delicate little handmade feather by pomp & plumage in my hair on our day. Check out their etsy shop for more of their pretty handmade goods.

Stay posted for more wedding news! We're only 8 days away and counting!

Drey $ Nicole

And they're off!

We bought this electric typewriter at the first shop we went to, but it didn't end up working when we got it home. We returned it and found an older one in the dreamiest mint, for a better price too!

I used an online diy generator to make, print and handcut each invitation. Printed on white stock paper.

We had a tough time finding envelopes big enough to fit our 'playbill' sized invites, so we decided to opt out on them! Instead, we simply folded them in half and held the ends together with gold seal sticker we found at a local craft store. We used a thrifted 1950's typewriter to address each name on the outside of the invitations, and added stamps that we thought tied in best with what we were going for. Once each invite reaches it's destination, it'll have a worn vintage look that'll give the guests a glimpse of what's to come at the wedding!

I had to refer to our practice sheet several times at the start of the typewriter adventures. That sweet little sentence in the middle of the page was the only thing keeping me from throwing this bulky thing out of our two story window. We had trouble replacing the ribbon and getting everything to move smoothly, and I couldn't make one single mistake (which I kept doing) because you can't simply 'erase' on a typewriter! Giancarlo gets the award for being better at this one, I'll admit it.

Note* The addresses were blurred for discretion- I wasn't THAT bad at the typewriter!

So it's official, they're off! We've dropped them in the bin and sent them out into the world with our love! The wedding milestones like this are the ones that make me all anxious and excited that it's getting so close! Keep your eyes peeled to your mailboxes this week, family & friends!

Drey $ Nicole

Wedding Planning: The Fabrics

One of the very first things I did when I started my wedding planning was purchase a huge hunk of fabrics in our color combo. Fabric can be used in so many different ways, and can really add a special touch to any d.i.y. party- weddings, baby showers, birthdays, you name it. Not to mention, all of the projects are super simple and fairly quick to whip up! Yards of fabric can get a bit pricey real quick, and since we're trying to do a low cost, small shop/etsy only wedding, I just couldn't go buy without doing my research first. Luckily, I found a small independantly owned art store here in Long Beach, that has miscellaneous recycled items to craft with, for so cheap! Cents even! I got all the fabric I needed for the whole wedding, yards and yards and yards, for just fifteen bucks! It can be easy to just give up and buy the expensive stuff to get it over with, but doing your research really pays off. Literally! Plus after all, you're most likely just going to be cutting it up anyway. Here are some of the various ways I used my massive stack of fabric to decorate our vintage d.i.y. wedding. 

Use it for streamers. Simply the easiest and most effective way to decorate using fabric, is to cut it in thick strips for streamers. They add such festivity to a space, with very little effort. It can be used as an easy photobooth backdrop, or to hide unsightly wall space. Our wedding venue has huge, not so wedding appropriate murals on the walls, so we will be using lots and lots of ripped fabric to cover those, while adding color to the space. I've so enjoyed the many nights of ripping fabric with my hubby to be, with the windows open and record player on, daydreaming and talking with one another about our wedding. 

Use it for the head of table. When you have quite a lot of ripped fabric left over, don't just throw it out, get creative and put it all to use! We're both lovers of whimsy and nature, so we wanted to incorperate a little bit of that into our big day. Mister found the perfect branch while working in the yard, and we braided some of our strands onto it to add some texture.  The branch shows through just enough to add a rustic touch, without being too much for a semi-formal event. We figured it would be a perfect pop of color to give our head table some personality and life!

Use it as flower girl petals. For all those small leftover scraps, make some feux petals! Save some money at the florist and use what you've got. We have a mix of petals, bowties, and square shapped fabric. The bowties just sort of happened, being the middle part of two petal cut outs. The squares are what were left over when their just wasn't enough fabric at the end of a strip to cut another petal. The shapes and colors don't have to be identical. Just make sure you're in the same color family and you're good to go! It's those little handmade imperfections that make things so much more special.

Got any good ways to use fabric in decorating? Share in the comments below! 

See all of our decorations come together right here after our big day, November 24th!

Drey $ Nicole

Friday Finds

1 & 2. You can never have too much floral or too many plastic vintage plates. Throw them together and watch me have an excitement panic attack. 

3. I've always known that I have a love for anything ivory and/or gold, but lately it's been catching my eye everywhere and I'm even more obsessed with it than ever before. It's even inspired a recent decor change in our home!

4. Ah this beauty. I was on the hunt for a typewriter so I could finish one last step on our wedding invitations before sending them out. I really didn't care what the condition or color, I just needed to squeeze a little use out of it one time. I really got the cherry on top when I stumbled upon this powder blue beauty at the first place I looked! Now I have a pretty display when I'm all done with it!

Drey $ Nicole

A little package Arrives

Yesterday I returned from the beach to find this little surprise waiting on my doorstep! I was especially excited because I knew it was the package containing one of my little bridesmaids dresses! Now, I can't show you the dress until the wedding come November, but it's pastel pink and I'm completely smitten! (It might be hard not to wear it out on the town before the wedding!) Mister tucked it away somewhere deep in the closet just in case! The other thing stuffed inside this adorably wrapped package, I can show you however. I wasn't anticipating this item like I was the dress, but turns out it kind of stole the spotlight! (It might just be because I'm not allowed to wear the dress.) Really though, I'm unexpectedly so in love with this little number, It was a real cherry on top! Can't thank  you enough, Vintage&Gee! 

Check out Vintage&Gee's blog HERE.

Drey $ Nicole