Don't worry, I'm back!

I didn't forget about you. I've just been super busy. You know getting married, honeymooning, starting a new career and the like.

But I'm back. And let me update you on what you've missed.

The wedding was crazy, chaotic and wonderful. Everything didn't go as planned, but does it ever? Looking back on everything, it is a reminder that beauty if often found in the little imperfections. It was amazing to get to spend so much time with all of our favorite friends and family.

I kicked off the weekend by hosting a bridesmaids luncheon on my patio Friday afternoon. Yes, you heard correctly, on my patio. I learned quickly how blessed I am to be surrounded by such phenomenal friends and women as I began to have a melt down first thing that morning. My fake nail followed suit with the trend that my real nails set that week and broke. I had to go get it repaired. When I returned, I noticed that all of the hydrangeas we had arranged the night before had died. And my fruit salad looked a bit suspect. David's cousin, Ray, had misplaced his car key and seemed to be convinced that it was in our garbage can so he repeatedly pulled everything (and we had treated all the early arrivals/helpers to wings the night before) out of the garbage and set it on my clean kitchen floor. Lucky for me, Alise, Tammy and my Momma jumped into gear. The girls really helped a ton getting everything ready for a party for them. Momma ended up missing the luncheon because she was tracking down more hydrangea (who also died!) But hey, in hindsight I learned two things

1. It doesn't matter how may times you have arranged hydrangeas, the day before your wedding you do not need to be worrying about dead flowers. Leave it to the professionals.

2. If you cannot control it, you might want to laugh at it.

{My AMAZING Bridesmaids}

Wedding Wednesday

So tomorrow morning some of my fave ladies and I are heading down to Charleston for my bachelorette party. I can hardly wait! M and B, two of my close friends have put so much time and energy into planning a great getaway and I can't thank them enough. I picked up these adorable presents for them!

A lot of the ladies will be arriving tonight so we will be heading out to 519, a favorite college bar here in Greenville to celebrate St. Patricks Day. Thursday morning we will be heading to Folly Beach to get our party on. I don't know a lot of the details. I know that we are staying in a house on the main drag and that the lovely ladies have made us "Beach Bar" night tees and that we will be heading into downtown Charleston for a limo night, but other than those tid bits, I have no idea what to expect. My only request was "NO STRIPPERS" which I believe that I have repeated enough times to have come true! I hope that I can find a rehearsal dinner dress on the trip as well, keep your fingers crossed for me! I can't hardly wait to spend this time with the girls and don't worry, I will be sharing pictures upon my return!

Just Dreamy

{photo from Snippet and Ink}

Lovely List

It's never too late for a bit more inspiration...

{love the baby's breath, picture from Snippet and Ink}

{What a fabulous dress, picture from Wedding Bee}

{Gorgeous bedroom, from This is Glamorous}

{I was thrilled to see pink and gold in the latest Martha}

Wedding Wednesday

So I have been debating whether or not to share certain information on my blog because really, a girl has to have some secrets. I know that I have shared the ease with which I found my wedding dress. It was the second one that I tried on, it was the first one that fit. I am not going to show you "THE DRESS" but here are some other shots from that day.

Please enjoy the {somewhat doodoo} facial expressions. I must have been an easy sell because I sure can't hide my feelings well. If you watch my face, it's easy to see which one was the runner up!

{thought bubble: Get this off of me!}

{No Really, You think that I am joking?}

{That's a lot of dress}

{I kinda like it!}

Wedding Wednesday

My first shower! Last week I shared the adorable invitations fashioned by Jen and Barb and today I just want to give you a quick glimpse into my adorable Monograms and Mimosa's Shower.

The Spread

Delicious Monogramed Cookies...presh!
Bride and Groom Champagne

More Cookies

Hanging with my Momma and my tiara

The Bar, naturally.

The Jennifers and Sarahs
Me and Sweet Alise!

Some of the Bridesmaids!

Tammy and I!

Thanks Ladies for all of your hard work! I had a blast!

So it's been a while,

but don't worry, I didn't forget about you. Life has been hectic this past month. I lost my job in January and went to real estate school. The course that I took to begin my latest journey was interesting and intense to say the very least! I thoroughly enjoyed using my brain again and am so excited to take the state exam. That application is in the mail and I am still studying, but this week I ought to have more free time than I have had since January. Some people immediately feel bad for you when things like this happen, but alas, no need. I feel more like myself than I have in months. I feel empowered and incredibly blessed to be able to pursue a dream of mine!

I also have managed to get plenty done for the upcoming wedding but I will save that for tomorrow's return of Wedding Wednesday!!!!

On another note, remember this little idea?

Well, someone was paying attention, because look what I am getting!

I am so excited! I can't wait to see my girls this weekend!

Mutual Admiration...Wedding Wednesday

I looked at the Knot today and low and behold, my wedding is only 87 days away. To some people that won't sound remotely monumental but to me it's insane. I know that I have said it before, but when I signed up for the Knot it was 700 and something odd days until my planning would be done. I want to use today to thank all of the incredible friends and family members for all of their support. I feel blessed on a daily basis to have you all in my life and don't know what I would do without your continuous encouragement.

There is so much to look forward to in the next year, I can hardly stand it! I'm taking control of my life professionally and with each step I take in that direction, I am reminded of how fortunate I am in other aspects of my life. I feel like I have my own cheerleading squad encouraging me on my way. Invitations for my first shower will be in the mail soon and planning for the most AMAZING bachelorette party is in full swing and I am just bubbling with anticipation to spend this time with people who mean so much to me! I just want to remind you how much I love and appreciate you all. I'm just so darn excited and so lucky to have you all by my side!

love, S

INSPIRATION...WW

Wedding Wednesday in all it's glory!

Wedding Wednesday...the return

My bad, Wedding Wednesday has been MIA the past couple of weeks. It has been incredibly hectic and quite frankly, the wedding has been the last thing on my mind. Fortunately, I have my mother and K (my FMIL) to keep me in line. Today is all about invitations since I am doing a final tweak of the guest list to confirm all formal, proper names and preparing the envelopes to head to the calligrapher. SOO EXCITED! I stumbled across these images on Design Sponge. Although they aren't my calligraphers' work and aren't even similar to what we discussed, they are still very lovely. Don't you love the funky stamps? I sure do!

{images from Design Sponge}

I also ordered labels for the OOT boxes which I had expected to arrive already but to no avail, have not seen yet. If they aren't here tomorrow I will have to call the company and get all BRIDEZILLA on them. Or not. I will probably just politely request to know where they are or how they were shipped so that I can track them because man, I'd really hate to put anyone out.

PS: I hope that you noted the sarcasm on the latter because Bridezilla is what I'd really like to do but polite is just more my pace the majority of the time.

Wedding Wednesday, Getting Busy!

So sorry to have neglected the blog. Between the holidays and my work schedule life has been super hectic! D and I are really hammering out the finishing touches for the wedding including but not limited to

• putting together "Out of Town" packages,
• finalizing the guest list (I think that I am missing 3 desired addresses)
• preparing the envelopes for the calligrapher (I am so EXCITED to see her work! She isn't supposed to be super traditional and I think that they should turn out super well!)
• ordering gifts for our AWESOME participants (I am so EXCITED to see the final products!)
• trying to find a gobo insert (what is a gobo? you ask. it's a light that you can personalize and finding the insert isn't as easy as it sounds.)
• trying to find (economical) sparklers. yet another case of putting the word wedding in the marketing and experiencing serious inflation.
• pulling together the rehearsal dinner, which is shaping up to be a lot of fun!
• learning about the process of putting together a Presbyterian wedding (um. hello. I am a Catholic. I do not know how your services work.)
• and a lot of other stuff that I am forgetting. Thank GOD for lists!

I know that this isn't really pretty, but no worries, as things get closer I will post some pictures of our actual stuff!

Wedding Wednesday, the Quotes

I have been thinking a lot lately about the details. There are so many that it's hard to avoid them! In thinking about the actual ceremony and readings and vows I have come across so many interesting and creative ideas. Some of which, I hope that we will be able to incorporate. Ofcourse, that said, when you marry in a house of God, you do loose a bit of freedom of expression with regards to not only words but to music. I would love to write our own vows, an idea that D isn't particularly keen on. I know that not many males are all that interested in standing in front of 300 of their family members and closest friends and getting all mushy gushy so I plan to let that slide.

Here is a small compilation of quotes, vows and ideas that will hopefully make their way into our wedding.

"The best love is the kind that awakens the soul and makes us reach for more, that plants a fire in our hearts and brings peace to our minds. And that's what you've given me. That's what I'd hoped to give you forever."
-Noah Calhoun, The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks

"Together with you, I want to live a life full of the kind of love and the kind of laughter that makes strangers stop and stare. I will take care of you and give you piece of mind and piece of heart."
-Miss Apple Cider of Weddingbee (as featured on SWMag)
What an amazing vow to make to someone!

"From this day on, I choose you to be my {husband/wife}...
To live you and laugh with you
to stand by your side and sleep in your arms.
To be the joy to your heart and the food to your soul.
To bring out the best in you always.
And for you, to be the most that I can."
-No idea where I found this, it's been in my planning book for over a year and is a very close second pick. Maybe I can combine them?

I also love the idea of the hand ceremony where as you hold your soon to be spouses hands, and the officiant describes how you hands will change over the years that you are commiting to be together. It is told how they will change mirroring the journey your relationship is about to embarq upon.

And as far as poems, I could go on forever. A few favorites come immeadiately to mind,"To Love is Not to Possess" by James Kavanaugh, "To Say Before Going to Sleep" by Rainer Maria Rilke, "Love" by Roy Croft. But anyways. I also think that it would be really special to allow each of our readers to select their own readings to share with us. I think that would really personalize the ceremony and bring in different perspectives.

The final thought for this Wedding Wednesday is the box tradition. The only thing that super conservative and traditional, D and I agree on. Before the wedding, we will both sit down and write letters to one another about what and why we love one another and are choosing to be married. We will seal them in envelopes and nail them into a crate with a bottle (or two) of wine and two glasses. We agree that if our marriage ever faces adversity, before we make any decisions, we will read the letters and drink the wine together and try to remember why we are there. Hopefully, we will never need the box, but it's never too early for a plan.

Winter Wedding Inspiration

What a lovely take on a holiday wedding! See it doesn't have to be all Christmas Trees and red and green. These silver, gold and blue hues are beautiful!

{image from Style Me Pretty}

Wedding Wednesday

It's official! I have flower girls and junior bridesmaids! I am so excited that my Aunt Steph's four girls will be rounding out our wedding party. Hurray for Abby, Emma, Anna and Catherine! Ofcourse, this news sent me on a hunt for flower girl and junior bridemaids looks that were both age appropriate and unique but not completely ridiculously priced (after all, they'll out grow it).

The flower girl look proved to be significantly easier than the junior bridesmaid look. I think that junior bridesmaids are at a tough age to dress, not quite child, not quite adult and in the world of weddings this makes things a bit complicated. There are plenty of sweet dresses for flower girls that would make any 13 year old girl feel like a baby. I think that we are leaning towards putting Abby (our oldest junior bridesmaid) in one of the bridesmaids dresses. As is the norm for me, I started looking at traditional flower girl dresses but then decided to think a bit outside of the box. If seems if you slap the word flower girl on it, the price sky rockets (just as with anything else wedding related). Check out some of the great dresses that I found. Somewhat ordered by traditional quality and price. Some of the looks are great but who in their right mind is going to spend $300 on a dress for a 7 year old. I mean really?

{image from CrewCuts}

{image from CrewCuts}

{image from CrewCuts}

{image from David's Bridal}

{image from David's Bridal}

{image from David's Bridal}

{image from CrewCuts}

{image from CrewCuts}

Finally for my personal favorite.

Not too overpriced at $68. Made of silk and cotton. A little unexpected.
Most Importantly, AB FAB! I wish it came in adult sizes. Let me know what you think!

{image from CrewCuts}

That needed an easy button!

Also, Pray that my portrait is delivered today so that I can still cash in on the 60% off Custom Framing Coupon that expires tomorrow!

Loves, S