Wedding Programs

I finally finished my wedding ceremony programs over the weekend! I was SO happy to have them done - I had no idea how long it would take to tie 130 bows onto the programs. The programs were definitely a labor of love. I had Pink Design Events design the format. Next, I was lucky enough to have a vendor I used to work with at my job offer to print, score, and drill holes in them for free! Then, I had to find about 80 yards of ivory ribbon, which was no easy task (I found a spool of 20 yards at 4 different stores). Finally, my Mom and I spent all day Friday tying on the bows. I loved the way they turned out! I wanted something very classic, simple, and elegant. Unfortunately, I can't show you the cover because it has our personal information!


We found the cute basket at Target and I just added some grosgrain ribbon and a sign. What do you think?

Wedding Craziness!

I feel like I've been running around like a chicken with my head cut off this week. I'm getting married 2 weeks from Saturday! I can't believe it's almost here, finally! I've been getting several last minute errands done this week:

• Hair trial last night
• Ordering the last of the candy for the candy buffet
• Buying supplies for the Ladies Bathroom Basket
• Getting my wedding band sized this morning
• Working out like crazy
• Finishing up our programs
• Wrapping gifts
  
• Hair highlights/trim this afternoon

I'm going out of town this weekend for a wedding in Hilton Head! I'm so excited for a little break and to see all of our college friends. And of course, I love a good wedding :)

Tonight, I'm going with a couple of friends to see the movie, He's Just Not That Into You, at the dollar theater. I never saw it when it came out, so I'm pretty excited! Let me know what you thought about it!

Stock the Bar Shower!

We had such a great time yesterday in Chattanooga. My whole family came up (minus my little brother) and we ate lunch at a delicious Mexican restaurant, Taco Mamacita. I really should not be allowed to eat Mexican food till after the wedding - I have a problem! After lunch, everyone came over to see our house, then we all checked into the hotel. We stayed at the Chattanoogan, which was such a cool hotel.

Michael's parents had us over to their house before the shower. His mom had gone all out with appetizers and champagne for everyone - it was so pretty!

The Stock the Bar shower was AMAZING. The hosts were one of Michael's groomsman's parents and they seriously went all out. To begin, the hosts have the most amazing house that sits on the mountain overlooking Chattanooga. The shower was catered with the most amazing food. They had a bartender and passed appetizers too! My favorite appetizers had to be the passed sushi rolls though :) Michael and I received some amazing gifts...I think we are set on alcohol for a long, considering I don't even really drink liquor! We did receive some really cool glassware and wine though, which are right up my ally. Here are some pictures from the party:

The view was incredible!

Michelle and I:

Michelle, me, and my Mom

Will (one of Michael's groomsmen) and me:

The amazing spread of food!

I thought this gift was so cool! It was a really neat drink bin filled with different types of beer. Michael loved it!


We had such an amazing time! It was generous of them to throw us such an amazing shower.

I probably will not be blogging until Friday...I'm heading to Jekyll Island tomorrow morning with my parents till Friday! Have a great week!

My Bachelorette Weekend!

My bachelorette weekend was absolutely AMAZING! We went to Savannah for the weekend. My friends were such perfect party planners! Every little detail was perfect. My maid of honor, Alyssa, did such a wonderful job with everything! The town home we stayed was so adorable - it was right in the historic district, so we could walk everywhere. Let me just start at the beginning...(warning: super long post ahead)!

We both had Friday off, so we left home around noon and picked up my friend, Alison, from the airport (she flew in from D.C.!). The three of us then trekked down to Savannah and everyone else was waiting on us when we got there. We hung out for a while, catching up...I haven't seen some of these girls in quite a while. We all went out for a late dinner on River Street and drank some vino. It was so good just to see everyone!

Here is the town home where we stayed:

I loved this house right across the street for ours. The ivy growing on it was beautiful!

Michelle and I before dinner Friday

My BFF from Furman, Kaci!

Myself, Alyssa, Candace, and Alison (I look about 8 months pregnant in this picture...)

We went to bed fairly early since we all wanted to feel great for a Saturday of sightseeing! Saturday, we went to lunch at this great place called B. Matthews. It was absolutely delicious! I had this amazing fried green tomato sandwich...I love southern cuisine :)

Myself, Alison, and Kaci at lunch

Alyssa and I downtown

After lunch and a tasty frozen strawberry daiquiri, we all took a carriage tour through Historic Savannah! This may have been one of my favorite parts of the weekend. I'm such a history buff and the weather could not have been more beautiful!

Kaci and I on the carriage tour:

After the carriage tour, Alyssa and Michelle snuck off back to our house to set up for my lingerie shower! It was AMAZING! They had the cutest decorations. Alyssa made me the CUTEST Bachelorette sash and veil...she sewed the whole thing herself! There seriously was so much detail that went into this shower. There were yummy cookies, cupcakes, and other desserts. They had champagne cocktails (my favorite)! It was so beautiful and so me!

They even had adorable goody bags for everyone!
Here is the adorable spread of food and drinks:

My beautifully wrapped lingerie gifts!
After playing a few fun games, we all showered and got ready for dinner and a night out on the town! We went to dinner at this awesome Jazz Tapas restaurant. The food was amazing.

Myself and Michelle on our way out (she was a trooper for a pregnant lady)!

Kaci and I:

I love this picture of Alyssa!

Myself, Alyssa, and Lindsey at dinner:

We had such an amazing time Saturday night! I loved hanging out with all my wonderful friends and I definitely missed the girls that couldn't be there. It was seriously better than anything I could have imagined! I love you all - thank you so much for everything!

Bachelorette Weekend!

It's finally here! I can't wait to see all my friends, especially some that I don't see very often. We're all meeting in Savannah this afternoon for the weekend. My lovely maid of honor, Alyssa, has planned the entire thing...I'm sure it's going to be amazing! I think there are 8 girls all together, so it should be a good time. Here is a picture of Alyssa and me from our trip to Italy together a year ago:

I'll be back Sunday with a full recap and lots of pictures...have a great weekend!

Shower Recap!

I had the most wonderful shower this morning! My mom's friends threw me an amazing brunch shower - complete with lots of mimosas! They really went all out. The food was amazing, the flowers were beautiful, and they used all their crystal and silver to serve everything! It was so wonderful. I also got so many wonderful gifts - I feel so spoiled! Here are some pictures of the shower (warning: there are a lot...)

Mom and me before the shower:

Hostess Gifts:

All the delicious food:

Beautiful flowers (one of my Mom's friends MADE this arrangement):

Mimosas (essential):

My aunt, Dianne, and me

Opening gifts:

My grandmother, Mimi, and me:

My sister-in-law, Michelle, and me:

The shower was so perfect - thank you again to all the lovely ladies who went to all the effort for me. It was amazing!

Wedding Invitation Update!

My lovely friend, Mrs. Southern Belle, was nice enough to blur out my personal info on my invitations...here are some pictures!


They are definitely on the plain side, but I'm hoping they're on the classic/elegant side as well! I promise to post about something non-wedding related soon, but it's totally consumed my life now (less than 2 months)!

Invitations!

My wedding invitations finally went out today! We had a difficult time figuring out the exact postage and finding a place that would hand-cancel them, but we did. I'm really glad they are out - it makes it seem so much more real! We invited just over 200 guests - lots of stamps!

I really wanted to share all my photos of my invitations and the beautiful calligraphy, but my paranoia won out...I am not savvy enough to blur out my personal information and I definitely do not want it all over the internet! Here's a dorky picture of me after I finished stamping ALL the invitations.


Editor's Note: My wonderful friend Mrs. Southern Belle is blurring out my personal info so that I can share my actual invitations on here! I'll have them up tomorrow!

I cannot WAIT to start checking the mailbox in a few days for the first of our response cards!

Rehearsal Dinner Invitations

While I was visiting Mitchael's parents over the weekend, his mother showed me the rehearsal dinner invitations she just had printed! They won't be going out for a few more weeks, but I absolutely love them. They coordinate so well with everything for the wedding. I can't wait for the rehearsal dinner. His mother has been working so hard to make every little detail perfect. Of course, none of this info is ours, but it gives you an idea!

I've been busily working away this afternoon finishing up the invitation details, since they will be mailed tomorrow. Also, I've been working on our wedding programs, which has turned into a much larger project than I anticipated. I can't believe we're getting married two months from tomorrow!

Bridesmaid Shoes

I've been looking around for a while for some pretty gold sandals for my bridesmaids to wear for the wedding - I finally found some! They were so cheap too...$23 for each pair! I personally love the look of coordinating shoes, so I was glad I was able to find some that I could buy for my wonderful bridesmaids. They're Kenneth Cole Reaction. Here is a picture:

They all arrived last week and I love them in person! I just love the little bow on the front. They totally look like a Kate Spade style, I think. They should go really well with my bright pink bridesmaids dresses. Tell me what you think!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Save the Dates!

Since I'm sending out my actual wedding invitations on Monday, I thought I'd share my Save the Dates with you. I sent these out in late October, I think. I wanted something really fun - nothing too formal since my wedding is outside.

I had Nicole at Pink Design Events design them and I had them printed locally. She was wonderful to work with and she's done many more coordinating details for me, such as stickers, koozie designs, and now we're working on my programs! I absolutely love what she designed.

(Names have been changed to protect the innocent)

I'll share my wedding invitations with you next week!

DIY Card Box

Here is one of my DIY projects I made for our wedding. It was super simple and I think it turned out pretty cute! I actually still need to cut a slit in the top of the box, but other than that, it's finished! I just found some cute scrapbook paper, grosgrain ribbon, and made the little sign, and that was about it. This card box cost about $4.00 total...pretty good, I think!

Sorry for the bad lighting, but you get the idea!

I got the idea from Preppy Bride - I love all her DIY wedding projects. What do you think?

Productive Sunday

I've had a great Sunday! Although I do hate losing an hour in the day, I love how it gets dark so much later. It makes it feel like Spring already, especially with the 75 degree and sunny weather we've had all weekend!

I spent all day with Michael yesterday. Nothing too exciting - we did go out to a celebratory dinner last night for his new job and our new house! It was a wonderful, relaxing Saturday.

Today, I've been on a productive kick! I worked out early, then my Mom and I went to Michael's to look for some craft supplies for wedding projects. I'll share them once they're finished. Another HUGE check off my to-do list was stuffing all of our wedding invitations! That may not sound like a lot, but when you have about 6 pieces that go into each invitation, it's quite an accomplishment! Also, my sister-in-law's mother, Sue, did all our calligraphy for our invitations. She is so talented; they look absolutely beautiful! I can't wait to send them out and start mailbox stalking :)

I've spent the rest of the afternoon watching Anne of Green Gables, with my Mom, and working on our wedding book (basically a scrapbook/journal of our whole wedding journey). Does anyone else LOVE Anne of Green Gables? I've loved it since I was a little girl, but I finally got the DVD box set (all 3 movies) for Christmas this year. It's a wonderful gift! I love the books and the movies...they're such classics!

Have a great week!

Cake Tasting

Tuesday, I had my wedding cake consultation. It was so fun designing our wedding cake and Michael's groom's cake! There were so many cakes flavors/fillings to choose from, I had to narrow it down Tuesday and my mom picked up my sample cakes yesterday. Last night we had a little cake tasting party! There was so much cake - a few friends came over and we barely made a dent in them. I had no idea we'd get so much to sample! Here are a few pictures:

I had 4 cakes to try. From left to right, pound cake with cream cheese frosting; double chocolate fudge; vanilla cake with butter cream frosting; and strawberry cake.

One more of them all lined up. It was basically 4 entire cakes!

We had some champagne to go with our cake :)
Max was trying to get in on the action, of course!
I'm definitely going with the pound cake/cream cheese frosting combination for my cake! It was AMAZING. I've always been a plain cake girl. In fact, the cake lady had to convince me to try the strawberry cake (even though I knew I'd get something plain)! Michael's cake will be the double chocolate fudge. I will be having leftovers all weekend!

Cute invitations!

I've had so many adorable invitations lately, I just wanted to share some of them with you. I absolutely adore stationery, especially invitations. In fact, I sort of consider myself an invitation snob :)

How cute is this one? It's for the Bridal Brunch Shower my Mom's friends are hosting for me in a few weeks.


Here is my Bachelorette Weekend invitation! I can't wait - it's only four weeks away. Alyssa did an awesome job picking out an adorable invitation for the occasion!

My wedding invitations are finished being addressed. I'm planning on sending them out in 2 weeks. They are very traditional, but very beautiful. I'll share a picture of them when we send them out!

Day off tomorrow!

I have the day off from work tomorrow, so that I can get some wedding related stuff done. I'm so excited...nothing is better than a random day off work! :) Here is what's on the schedule:

• Sleep in (one of my favorite past-times)
  
• Work out
  
• Take my car to get washed (it's been MONTHS, people!)
  
• Go out to lunch with my Mom at my favorite restaurant, Le Cafe Crepe
• Wedding cake tasting/consultation!!
• Look at possible program design options for the wedding ceremony
• Stop by Michael's (the store, not my fiance) to pick up some crafting supplies

I'm so excited to have a day to get some things accomplished! Have I mentioned I love lists?

P.S.: I completely cleaned out the rest of my room (including closet) yesterday. I'm talking cleaned and completely organized my closet, desk, bedside table, and dressers. It feels so good to have everything all organized when I open my closet!

My adorable garter!

I posted about a week or so ago about Julianne Smith, who designs the most adorable garters. They are just so cute and preppy! Well, she made me a custom garter and I thought I would share a picture of it with you :)

Julianne knew my wedding colors were pink and green; she also knew I loved her polka dot designs. Here is what she created for me:


Julianne was so sweet and fast! My garter is being shipped tomorrow...I can't wait to receive it! I highly recommend her. What do y'all think?!