Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Wedding Q+A With Meredith




Today I have Meredith from Belle in Boots stopping by for my wedding series!  I wanted to schedule her post on a Wednesday since she is the host of Wedding Wednesday as well!
NC Belle In Boots 
I have always adored her blog, she is so sweet and her wedding was gorgeous! 
I bet it's so fun to relive that special day by blogging about it. I can't wait to do that!

When did you get married?
October 5, 2013

How did you meet? 
We met in February 2007, during my sophomore year of college, he was casually dating and I was coming off a bad break up.  We were introduced though my roommate Haley.

Engagement Story:
We were engaged, October 12, 2012 at Chimney Rock Park.  I'd taken the day off from work and we were going to visit the park on our way to Asheville for a wedding.  Since we were taking the dog and planned to hike, I dressed in my finest nike shorts and a t-shirt and a pair of old tennis shoes. Brandon kept asking if that's what I was going to wear and I kept telling him yes, why wouldn't I.  We arrived and hiked to the top, after looking around and taking a few photos he asked if we should take one of us.  Sure I replied and attempted to do the long arm selfies.  He suggested we ask one of the other people around us to take a photo so I found a teenage girl and asked her.  I turned around and walked back to Brandon and as I got ready to pose for the photo, he looked at me and asked if "I'd like to wear this (the ring) in the photo" 
What was the one thing you were most passionate about?
My dress, I wanted something unique that didn't cost a fortune.  It was the only thing I really shopped around for, we visited 6 or 7 dress shops before I finally settled on a dress and then it took me an additional trip back to order it.  I still love my dress and veil and would love to put it on again!!! 


How many bridesmaids did you have? How did you go about choosing them?
4, I wanted a small bridal party and Brandon and I both agreed on 4 people each that were important to us.  I chose my cousin Heather, my college sorority little sister and friend Lacey, my sorority pledge sister Chantal, and my lifelong friend Julie.  Each one of these girls played an important part in my life over the years and I was honored to have them say Yes!

Spill some deets that went on. We wanna hear drama:
Our wedding was at the church I grew up at, that my entire family still attends.  We also held the reception there for travel purposes and cost savings.  Because of this we'd told all our friends it would obviously be an alcohol free wedding. I expected the groomsmen to consume a little in the parking lot, that I could handle.  During the reception I walked outside (where we had people seated, eating) to find the groommen and other guys walking across the yard carrying RED SOLO CUPS. It was so obvious what they were doing. I stormed over to find them handing Brandon a cup, I could have died right there.  I got so mad!

What was your color scheme, and what made you choose it?
Navy blue and green. Even though we were having a fall wedding, those colors were far from my mind.  I wanted something that wouldn't be to dated in 20 years and those colors seem timeless to me.
What was your favorite thing about your wedding day?
My wedding day went so smooth. The weather was 85 and sunny, perfect.  The service was short and sweet, no tears.  Our food was amazing and people are still taking about the hash-brown casserole. As Brandon and I walked out of the Church following the ceremony, I turned to him and said "well, that was easy, why did we wait so long"  

What was the most stressful thing about your wedding day?
Not having someone 'take care of me'.  I know that sounds bridezilla-ish, but I didn't hire a wedding planner.  Everyone did the roles they were assigned to that day but I had to ask someone to bustle my dress and it wasn't done right. I had to find my cake lady and tell her I was ready to cut the cake.  Little things like that, that I'm sure no one else even noticed but caused me a lot of stress.  I felt like I was running my wedding and being the Bride which I shouldn't have had to be both.

If you could do it all over again, what would you do differently?
Hire a wedding day only planner or better instruct people of my plans and schedule for the day.  I would also have made a photo request list for my photographer.   

What's your best piece of advice for future brides out there?
Make your wedding yours, don't feel pressured to do what someone else did.  Set your budget and work within it, the day of our wedding everything was paid for, newlywed life can be stressful and you don't need to start out with money arguments.  Also for us, the decision to eat our meal away from our guests was great, we got to enjoy our meal and a few minutes alone before going out to see everyone.
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Thanks so much Meredith for being a part of my series! Your wedding was beautiful! What a special day!
I love all of the little details that went along with planning the wedding! So unique and special!
Love the details in the lace of your wedding dress! Fabulous!

Also if you haven't already signed up to be a part of the Wedding Bloggers Connect you can do so now!
P.S. you don't have to be married yet to be a part! I'm welcoming all things wedding related!


Showered With Design - Wedding Bloggers

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Wedding Q+A with Ericka

Today I have Ericka from This Crazy Thing Called Life stopping by for a little Q+A.
I completely adore the bridesmaid dresses! That color is fabulous!

(Link up your bridal talk Tuesday below)





When did you get married? :  June 29, 2013

What was the one thing you were most passionate about? I was probably the most passionate about our photographer.  I wanted great pictures, without paying through the roof (and I was more than happy with the way our photos turned out).  My husband was the most passionate about the cake.  Not what it looked like, but what it tasted like.  I let him decide our cake flavor...you have to the groom decide something, right?

How long did it take you to find your wedding dress? :
 I actually found my dress on the first day, in the first store that we went to.  I think I tried about 5-6 dresses, and it was the last one I tried on.  It wasn't what I thought I wanted, but my sister made me try the mermaid style and I LOVED it!  It wasn't like I knew as soon as I tried it on, but when I didn't want to take it off to try on any other dresses, I knew it was the one!

What was your color scheme, and what made you choose it?  Our main color was a dark purple (bridesmaid dresses), and we accented with lighter shades of purple.  Purple has always been my favorite color, and I've known since I was younger that I wanted it to be my wedding colors.  Thankfully my husband didn't have a preference on our colors.

Did you do any DIY projects/etc?  We DIYed a lot of our wedding.  We had a large wedding (we had just over 300 people attend the reception), so we tried to save money where we could.  I printed our invitations myself, made our pew decorations, ring bearer signs, card box, and favors.  I used craigslist to purchase almost all of the vases and candle holders that we used (and then I sold them all on craigslist after the wedding).

What was the most stressful thing about your wedding day?  I honestly, wasn't really stressed on my wedding day.  I allowed for plenty of time for all of our appointments, getting ready, pictures, everything.  We actually had extra time where we were just sitting there waiting for 3:30 so the ceremony could start.  I'm glad we had all that time and didn't have to rush for anything.

If you could do it all over again, what would you do differently?  If I had to do it all over again, I think I would start my DIY projects sooner.  Everything was done on time, but I think if I would started on them sooner, I could have done more.  But overall, everything was great and there really isn't much I would change.  At the end of the day I was married to my best friend, and that's all I could ask for.

What's your best piece of advice for future brides out there?  Not everything is going to go as planned.  Try to just roll with it and don't get too stressed.  Allow plenty of time on the wedding day for everything--hair, makeup, getting dressed, pictures, etc. so that you don't have to worry about being rushed.  ENJOY YOUR DAY!
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Thanks so much Ericka! You made such a beautiful bride! I absolutely LOVE weddings and stories I can relate to!  I too found my wedding dress at the first place I looked!  I also am most passionate about our wedding photography.  I have always been a photo nerd, literally taking pictures of anything and everything.
Holy moly 300 people?!? That is a very big wedding! How neat!  
Don't forget to check out Ericka's cute little blog !

This Crazy Thing Called Life



and I also wanted to announce that I have started a Wedding Bloggers Connect.  If you haven't already signed up to have your blog that features wedding topics, you can do so here.  It's a great way to meet other fellow wedding bloggers and get your blog known!  
Add your button to your blog and let's make this WBC known worldwide!


Showered With Design








Monday, February 24, 2014

Weekend Recap

Showered With Design

Time for that weekend recap! Linking up with the lovely Bella from Dateless in Dallas today! I hate when weekends feel like they go by so fast!  I still believe we should get one more day off! Just one! and work 4 days out of the week. Who's with me!? 

Well Thursday night my fiance told me he'd take me out to dinner Friday.  So I'm thinking something casual, laid back.  He sends me a text Friday during work and tells me reservations are at 8:15.  So I'm thinking.. reservations?!  We never make reservations.. ever.. we just go with the flow.  So since he said reservations, I really started to think, "Man, what could it be? Where could he be taking me?"



Ruth's Chris!!!!?? OHHH.. EEMMM... GEEEE .. I just died.  This is a no-brainer!  That is my all-time favorite restaurant. Of course I chose Ruth's Chris.. Duh.
So of course I had to have a fabulous, classy outfit.  We haven't gone out to "nice" dinner in a while. Like since my Birthday while.. back in November.  He was so sweet for doing this out of the blue.  I love "just because" gifts.  And this Ruth's Chris dinner was the perfect gift.


The deets above: Juicy Couture bracelet, Michael Kors Watch, and Gold Chain-link bracelet.

Dinner was amazing, beautiful, and romantic. Thanks fiance! xoxo

So Saturday, we had our second cake tasting appointment.  This appointment was at 10 am!  10 am for cake??  Yep. Talk about a stomach ache and a sugar rush to start your day.
Our experience was so much better than our first.  The service, the cake, everything about this place was perfection, except the whole 10 am part.

& We officially have our Wedding Cake Maker! Whoop whoop! 

We spent the rest of our Saturday getting things done.  First, we went to a nursery to pick out flowers to put around the pool for my upcoming Bridal Shower.

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Aren't they pretty?! I love the purple!!

Then we went shopping for my gfs baby shower for Sunday.   My fiance and I went to look for Tuxedos for our wedding, and thankfully we found some that are just perfect!
I snuck a photo of the fiance getting measured.  haha Shhh don't tell him.

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That evening, I went to the store, and made us a delicious dinner, and we took it easy Saturday Night by watching Bad Grandpa from Redbox.

Sunday was my friends baby shower.  She is so cute pregnant, some people are all belly! I can only hope I'll be that way! I only have a few photos, so I'll upload more later!
It was a fun shower, and I won a game!! $15 Starbucks Gift Card-  Perfect for me!

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And then, later that day, I get this text:


Thursday, February 20, 2014

Wedding Q & A with Megan

Today I have Megan from M for Love stopping by with her Q&A.  Her wedding photos are gorgeous and the day looks so beautiful and filled with love!  I loved reading about how you two met, very similar to my fiance and I.  Mostly the part about becoming friends first and then falling in love with your best friend. So sweet and beautiful!



http://www.showeredwithdesign.blogspot.com/search/label/bride


Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Wedding Q & A With Sara

Today I have Sara from Life as a Hughes stopping by for her Wedding Q&A!  She is a recent Bride and just got married this last September!  Her wedding turned out so beautiful and I love the bouquet colors that really made a bold statement!  Take it away Sara!

 


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Thanks so much Sara for being a part of my series!  I love the green you chose!  Very unique and a gorgeous color!  Also obsessed with tour Bridesmaids' dresses! 
I kind of want onefor myself! Adore that lace!  
Your pictures are so adorable and something to cherish for a lifetime!
Check out Sara's adorable blog here:

Life as a Hughes
 Check out my blog every Tuesday and Thursday for my Wedding Q&A series!



 

Monday, February 17, 2014

Weekend Recap: Still Happenin'

Hey guys! I wanted to get a post out there! But I will add to it this evening as it is still in progress.
I am in the process of moving today, so check back later to see what I did this weekend!.

Hosting with the lovely Bella from Dateless in Dallas!

Friday: Valentine's Day!  My boss gave each of the girls in the office a rose with chocolates! How sweet is that!  If you follow me via instagram you would have noticed that MY amazing fiance surprised me at work with a bouquet of gorgeous coral/orangey-red roses and a large card!  He really is a sweetheart and made me feel super special.

That night, my girlfriend and I made dinner for our boys.  This was our second year spending Valentines together couple-style!  We made Rib-eye steaks, Lobster, Shrimp, Garlic Pasta, Asparagus with Hollandaise, Twice Baked Potatoes, Salad and Garlic Cheese bread.   Our eyes were definitely larger than our stomachs when we planned this!  We lit some candles and dimmed the lights.  It was very sweet.   
The boys sat out by the bonfire, and we only lasted a short while before us girls got tired.  We are so lame.  We ended up falling asleep on the couch watching TV.  The guys proceeded to stay up past 3am. haha! At least they had each other!

Saturday: I spent the majority of the day cleaning and getting ready for our move.  I had a dress appointment at 2pm to get my wedding dress bustles put in and make sure it fits perfectly!  
Later that night my girlfriend, her hubby, and my man went out for a nice dinner.  Originally we planned for sushi (read about my fiances experience here) but it was so packed and no reservations were to be made, so we opted for another choice - Gyu Kaku. It's one of those Korean BBQ restaurants and you get to cook yourself right at your table! It's always fun to go and I enjoy eating of course!!  

Sunday: I spent the day packing and moving items to storage and got ready for the movers that were coming Monday.  I was so exhausted and needed a day to get everything done.
Not very exciting as you can tell!

Monday: The movers arrived early, and started arranging items in the truck.  I felt so much better and less stressed without the couches and tables inside, it helped me realize it won't be as hectic as our last move.  We moved everything to our storage unit, and ended up needing a larger one after it was all moved in.  Luckily the larger one was right across from it. Talk about perfect. So the movers moved everything right across from our unit into the larger one.  Crazy how our entire condo fit in there!

Also.. you don't realize how much you really have until you move.  Holy cow.
And I realize my fiance has more shoes than I do.. Check this out:

Seriously????!  Is having that many shoes necessary? 
I think it's time for him to admit he has a major shoe addiction.

Welllllppp, hope you enjoyed my weekend! I wanna hear about yours!




http://www.datelessndallas.com/