a pretty ball of flowers.

I've always loved the look of a flower girl carrying a pomander. They are just too cute (both the flowers and the little girls of course!)

(source)

Oddly enough, the pomander was the first elements I knew for sure would be making an appearance on our big day. As usual, I took the opportunity as an excuse for another DIY project. Here's what I came up with:

I'll admit, I was a bad blogger and didn't take pictures of the process. But this is an easy one, so no pictures are required!

Materials:

Silk flowers

Styrofoam ball

Hot glue gun & glue sticks

Ribbon (I used a little less than 2 yards)

Something to poke holes with--a pencil works well

Instructions:

1. Take your flowers off of the main stem. There should be a small stem left on the flower so you can attach it to the styrofoam ball. If you're using small flowers such as hydrangeas like I did, you don't have to separate them into individual flowers, just separate them into smaller groups.

2. Use your pencil to poke a hole in the styrofoam ball (go into the ball about an inch or so to make sure the stem will fit.)

3. Fill the hole with some hot glue.

4. Place the stem of the flower into the hole and let it dry.

5. Repeat these steps until your styrofoam ball is completely covered in flowers, only leaving a small bare spot at the top to attach your ribbon.

6. Cut a slit in the bare spot of the ball to attach the ribbon. Make sure the slit is as wide as your ribbon width so it fits properly.

7. Fold your ribbon in half. Measure the desired length of your wrist strap from the folded end (mine is about 6"). Mark this spot.

8. Fill the slit with hot glue.

9. Place the marked portion of your ribbon into the slit on the ball. Do not put the folded end or the two open ends into the slit, only your wrist strap marks. You are basically just glueing in a little fold at that mark to hold the ribbon in place.

10. For good measure, stick a few straight pins in on an angle to make sure the ribbon doesn't fall out if the pomander is whipped around (it is for a little girl to carry after all, this will probably happen).

11. After the glue is dry, take your two open ribbon ends and tie a bow with the folded wrist strap coming out of the top of the bow.

12. Trim the ends of the ribbon as desired.

13. Find a cute flower girl to carry your pomander!

Did anyone else use a pomander for their flower girl?

a pretty little dress.

Ladies and gents, we have a flowergirl dress.  I had previously posted about some of the options, but never gave you the final selection!  I'm sure you've been waiting in suspense.  Or not.

Either way, when I first laid eyes on this adorable dress from TheBoutiqueBaby on Etsy, I knew it was the one.  

Since the seller only had pink and cream available, I asked if she could make the same dress in ivory to match the color of my wedding dress.  She said yes, and a couple weeks later I had a pretty little dress for our flowergirl!

While I was home a few weeks ago for my bridal shower, I had Ali try it on to make sure it fit.  She was being a little shy, so this is the only picture I have of her, and it is blurry! 

You'll just have to trust me when I say it is beautiful on her!  I love that the bubble hem matches the hem of the bridesmaids dresses, and the little fabric flowers are just too cute!  I also love that it is a little away from the norm, being short and all.  I can't wait to see her walk down the aisle in this dress!

Did you opt for an untraditional flowergirl dress?

flowergirl attire.

I've been looking for some cute flowergirl dresses for little Ali, and came up with a few cute ones.

The first two are from Fox 'n Lily, and at $220 and $230, they are out of our price range.

I found this dress on ebay seller goodgirldress. It is similar to the style of my dress and only about $45.

Then I found this dress from etsy seller TheBoutiqueBaby.

It is so adorable! One more reason why I love etsy. And it's still reasonable at $54. I think I'm going to ask her if she'll make it in ivory.

too cute.

Seriously, how cute are these shirts for a little flower girl or ring bearer?

Shirts from MyPersonalizedTshirt on Etsy.

i heart the little ones.

At Thanksgiving, Adam and I decided it was time to ask the little ones if they would be in our wedding. Adam has 4 nephews and a niece. One of his nephews, Hunter, is 9 and therefore a little too old to be in the wedding. Brandon is way too young, he's maybe 6 months at the most. But the other two nephews, Derek and Parker, are 3, which is just about the right age to play a part in our wedding. And his niece Aliyah, at 5, is the perfect age to be our flowergirl!

We decided we wanted to get them an inexpensive gift when we asked them. I bought a really soft bear for each of the boys, and we asked them to be our ring "bear"ers. Since Ali is very much into princesses at the moment, we bought her a tiara and jewelry set and asked if she would be our princess.

They were all excited to open up their gifts, and while I don't think the boys fully understand what we're asking of them, Ali definitely knows what's going on. Our conversation went something like this:

me: "Ali, will you be our flowergirl and walk down the aisle in front of me at our wedding?"

ali: *nods her head* "Does that mean I get to wear a Cinderella dress?"

They are all too cute. And they are going to look adorable walking down the aisle!

Note: That isn't dirt on Ali's cheek. She went to see Santa at the mall and got her face painted and then fell asleep and smeared it, but did not want to wipe it off. She's even cute with a black blob on her cheek!

All photos are my own.