Love in Ink

You may or may not have noticed from various pictures of Mr. E through my time blogging on the Bee that he has some tattoos on his arm.

Engagement photo taken by the fabulous Lynn Michelle

When we first started dating, he was finishing up his 3rd masterpiece.  He has always wanted to get more tattoos, but in the past 4 years his extra money was going to rent, bills, school, date nights, his car and the wedding.  Since our guest count came in lower then we were budgeting for and have saved more than we need for the wedding he decided it was time to get more ink.

I've never seen someone get tattooed before, so I thought it would be fun to go with him.  I asked what he was planning on getting and he said a grim reaper.  This goes with the theme of tattoos that he already has (zombie, dragon, skull) so I didn't second guess it.

As we walk into Innovative Ink and started talking with Paul I almost cried happy tears.  Turns out Mr. E has been working on a tattoo that would represent our love!  We always talked about how he would never get any names tattooed, but I never thought that he was planning on getting something that represents both of us.

After outlining the tat

The tattoo is a heart shape with a hint of a ying yang, the circles replaced by a casino chip on one side (for my love of Vegas, and our very first big trip together) and a movie reel on the other side (we are pretty big movie lovers).  The heart is filled with the Philly Love sign to represent my state of birth, and the UNT logo to represent Texas, and Mr. E's college.  There wasn't enough space, but the original heart also included the A&M logo for my college, and the Texas lone star for Mr. E.  It really touches my heart that Mr. E would get something so meaningful to both of us tattooed on his body!

Do you or your FI have any ink? Do you have any tattoos that are meaningful to yourself and someone else?

Gifting The Guys

I don't want you to think I'm a slacking since we're only talking about gifts for the guys today.  Gifts for my girls have already been purchased but I know that they read this so I won't be posting pics until after they get them.  Love you ladies, but I think you would be too tempted to look!  For BM Cali and BM Aggie - no telling your husbands what their gift is ;)

Mr. E loves the chucks that we ordered for our engagement pictures so he designed some for his groomsmen to change into for the reception.  They are black with a couple of blue touches.  We had a very interesting time coming up with nicknames for each of the guys.

This pair is for Elephant Bro - "Black 24" is his favorite number on the roulette table

The stack of shoes (please excuse the messy table)

It's hard to tell, but the eye holes for the laces are blue

I've got the gifts for the bridesmaids, readers and house party so the only people left to shop for are the ushers.  For me, it always seems easier to shop for girls than for guys.

What type of gifts did your groom select for the guys standing up for him?

Detail Shots

I love, love, love wedding detail shots!

There are so many pieces to the wedding day puzzle and I love seeing those captured along with the emotions and people who are there to celebrate with the bride and groom.

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We won't have a full picture wish list to give, because I have complete trust in our amazing photographer, but there are a couple of shots that we have mentioned that we would love to get.  Most of those shots are of the DIY projects we have been working on (like our passport programs, postcard guestbook, and boarding pass escort cards).  A handful of particular shots with our friends and family (I can't wait to have a picture of Mama E putting on my veil just like her mom did on my parents' wedding day 33 years ago), and a couple of popular shots seen on wedding blogs.

I'm a sucker for one detail shot in particular: the shoe shot!

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Love it!!! Mr. E was all on board with wearing a pair of blue and green socks (love him!) and even helped me  find the perfect pair online.

They came in the mail the same day as our RSVP from Disneyland. (Thanks Miss Lioness for the VIP addresses!)  Can't wait to see these socks next to my blue shoes!

Are there any particular detail shots that you are hoping to capture on your wedding day?

Guys Seem To Have It So Easy

It's a nice feeling knowing that our guys will be wearing more than just ties!

Mr. E rounded up Brother E and myself this past Saturday and headed over to Men's Warehouse to pick out tuxes for the wedding.  Since his groomsmen are scattered across Texas and Louisiana, Mr. E decided to go the easiest route for everyone.  Our trip to Men Warehouse was quick and painless (guys have it so easy!) and we were lucky enough to get Mr. E, my brother and my dad (who met us at the store) measured and in the system. 3 down and 4 guys to go!

Mr E selected the black Kenneth Cole tux with 2 buttons, white shirts and the vest patterns.  We held up the ties to get a visual.  Mr E will rock the white vest with blue & green striped tie.

While the groomsmen and dads will wear black vests with their respective ties.

Brother E looking a little tired

The boys also tried on Kenneth Cole jackets to get an idea of how the tux will fit.

I can't wait to see how the guys will look on the wedding day.  Thankfully (to ease my nerves) the tuxes will come in early the week of the wedding so they can try everything on together and make any necessary adjustments prior to the big day.

Will your guys be renting tuxes or purchasing suits for your big day?

Hive Help for Mr. E

Hey Hive!  I need some help for Mr. E.  Back in the day, I mentioned the ties we selected for the Dads, Groomsmen and Ushers, but we had yet to pick one for the groom. 

We did end up finding another slate tie for the best man, but still kept the navy one.  We thought this could be a possibility for Mr. E.

The only reason why I'm not gung ho on this look was because I didn't feel like Mr. E would stand out enough. 

During another shopping trip I found a blue and green tie (very similar to my original inspiration picture) and picked it up.  60% off? Yes please!

Mr. E is happy with either tie, but do you think maybe I should keep looking?

Which do you like best?

Option A (similar ties)

Option B (stand out blue/green)

Option C (keep looking)

If you have seen another tie (possibly online) that you think would look killer with the ties for the groomsmen, let me know!

Tie it up

I thought that picking out ties for the guys would be easier than the dresses for the bridesmaids, but that wasn't the case.

When I first started thinking of ties I was in love with the striped blue and green look seen here.

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But then I looked at the colors of BM dresses and thought maybe the navy would be too much. The dresses are more of a royal color.

Well, Mr. E and I headed to Kohl's one weekend and knocked out all of the ties (groomsmen, dads and ushers) in one sale run! 

The Dads will be wearing the blue ties on the left.  I don't know if you can see, but the dots are alternating lighter blue and light green.

The Ushers will be in the light green with blue dot ties in the middle.

And last but certainly not least we have the groomsmen in the blue sort of pin-tuck ties on the right.  Do you notice a difference?  Yeah the one on the left is a darker shade of blue then the other three.  Well as fate would have it, we could only find 3 in the slate color we wanted and with 4 groomsmen that wouldn't quite cut it.  We found the Navy blue and decided to just go with it and give it to Mr. E's brother, the best man to stand out.  We'll just say that was the plan all along ;)

What are your guys wearing for the wedding?  Did you have more trouble picking out what they will wear then you originally thought?

A little love for the guys

As most brides can tell you, when it comes to thinking of wedding attire most of the time is spent on what the bride and bridesmaids will wear. As you know (if you've been following along) I have found and ordered my amazing dress, and the bridesmaids have decided on their dresses. Next up? The guys.

After seeing this inspiration board from Snippet and Ink I was hooked on that blue and green stripped tie for the groomsmen.

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At first I thought it would be a pretty simple thing to find, blue and green are very common colors and lots of ties are stripped... well I was wrong. Really?? Yes, I was wrong. It took me a while to find these darker shades of blue and green in a thicker stripe. I even checked a couple of stores in person with no luck. After hours and hours of searching the web... (OK more like one hour, but it felt like hours and hours) I came across this on Ties.com (yeah, probably a site I should have checked first but didn't come up at the top on a google search of "blue and green stripped tie") and quickly bookmarked it for future reference.

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I also checked out Tiebar since it was referenced by a couple of bees like Miss French Fries and found these

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I can't decide which one I like more so I'll have to leave it up to Mr. E. Once we pick the one, we'll be buying 5, one for each of the groomsmen and one for Mr. E to wear at a later date. I think he should stand out a little on the wedding day so we're still trying to decide what tie he should wear, but I know he'll get use out of it after the wedding.

While shopping I did find these ties for the ushers...

And this tie for the ushers. I'm still waiting on buying these ties until they go on sale (you know it seems like Kohl's is always having a sale)

Did you gift your groomsmen with ties?