Wedding Task Tackling!

What an insanely busy week it has been! The first of the month at work is always hectic, since I am in charge of our monthly newsletter. We also rolled out our grant application for next year, and some changes to our company, so I've been glued to my work desk when I'm not working my second job! Speaking of second job, it is Breast Cancer Awareness Month! At New York & Company (the second job) they are selling these $19.95 watches for $6.95 with any purchase, and $2 from each goes towards breast cancer research! What a stylish way to support a cause that will touch us all.

My aunt N (my dad's sister) is currently undergoing treatment for breast cancer, and I watched my close friend M endure her mom's bouts with breast cancer- twice. It's a horrible disease and I hope everyone will do their part this month- large or small- to take steps against breast cancer! There are so many wonderful pink items to buy nowadays!

Ok, back to weddings :) I have been getting endless texts, emails, and facebook posts about people receiving our Save the Date's! Which sent me into a tailspin... um, did we forget to book a second, cheaper hotel? Yes we did. So on Wednesday I did some frantic searching, made a few calls, and found the perfect place- the Courtyard Marriott Indianapolis Carmel. It's closer to our venue- pretty much halfway between the ceremony and reception location. The hotel is right near 465, the highway that circles Indianapolis, which will be convenient for our guests as well. They can easily take a taxi downtown or to the bars in Broad Ripple- my favorite area of Indy :)

I banged out the contract and details with them and had it up on our wedding website in less than 24 hours. I hope our guests enjoy having more than one option! This one is almost $60 cheaper per night!

I also bit the bullet and bought some of my wedding jewelry. I'm not going cheap here- it was really important to me to have beautiful jewelry that I could wear for years and pass down to my children or grandchildren. I purchased from the most insanely awesome shop, luxedeluxe on etsy. I wanted statement jewelry (very me) but without overdoing it. I bought this necklace- the Snow Drop Necklace- to complement my strapless dress:

I then bought myself some very statement earrings. The Victoria earrings' matching necklace was too much for me to wear both, but these earrings were just so perfect to match the slight beading on my dress.

Those two items ran me a pretty penny. When I have more money to burn, I plan to purchase this gorgeous bracelet to match- the Victoria Bracelet.

The luxedeluxe shop has a ton of great non-wedding items too, and soooo many that I wanted to buy for my bridesmaids! If I had a money tree in my backyard, they would all be getting these:

Olivia by luxedeluxe, $39

Another item I am working on getting is the bag for my bridesmaids. I found this gorgeous green damask bag for only $10! I thought we were set. However...

...when I contacted the seller, siikhiao, she let me know that she only had one! SOB! She was super nice and even went to look for more fabric for me, but alas, it was not meant to be. Still, please check out her shop if you are looking for some amazing bags!

This is when I discovered Alchemy. Oh etsy, how you change my life. I decided to give it a try- having never used Alchemy before, it was quite easy! For those of you who don't know what it is, Alchemy is something etsy offers to get you exactly what you want. You put out a proposal- in my case, 6 bags, $10 or under, in my colors. Then, etsy sellers can bid on your project. To start an Alchemy request, just click on the "custom" button on the etsy toolbar.

I did this less than 24 hours ago and already have 14 proposals! I have no idea how I'm going to choose. The majority did stick with the $10 per bag I requested, and they all have individual touches to make the bags perfect for my theme and ideas.

What items would you have custom made via Alchemy? Where will you be buying your wedding jewelry? What is your favorite thing about etsy?