Love Bling

If you didn't already know, I am a major BLING girl aka Girl that can be distracted when glitter, diamonds, sparkly things are involved.  So naturally, I wanted to utilize my love for BLING in our wedding. (Sorry babe!)
Of course it all started with the engagement ring. 

Then it slowly made it's way into Saying Yes to the dress and although I will not show my dress until after the wedding, you can bet your bottom dollar it has bling on it *wink!  After we found my dress, we had to find shoes.  I went for the Benjamin Adams full rhinestoned heels.  What can I say, it's like my glass slipper!

I  , I mean we received these gorgeous Swarovski champagne flutes as one of our bridal shower gifts from my amazing parents.  I cannot wait to use them, but I am also scared to break them!
My mom and I found my bridal jewelry at Macy's, a gorgeous bracelet and set of earings.  All bling of course!

I made my cakestand, and bling wrapped the entire thing.
Our tablecloths have some sparkle in them too! 
Of course we picked out my band, and that is blinging! 

Then, my mom an I found the perfect bling hair piece, and although I don't have a good picture of it yet, this will have to do.  You get the idea right?

And there you have it, my blinging wedding in a nutshell! and it's approaching fast!

Memorial Weekend Recap

Hey everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Weekend! I am co-hosting with the wonderful Bella from Dateless in Dallas today for our weekly Weekend Recap linkup!
 Be as creative as you wish, we would love you to spread the word 
about our linkup to your followers!

I am still currently out of town, so I will update my weekend when I arrive home!

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ModCloth Dress

Many of you asked where I got my dress for my bridal shower and I was so bummed when they sold out of them so quickly. But you are in luck, the dress is now back in stock! I ordered my dress from Modcloth, which is a super cute online fashion website and everything is very reasonably priced.  I love shopping Modcloth online because it's convenient and they have so many unique items that I could have never found in stores.

I had always wanted to purchase something from Modcloth, but never had a good reason until my bridal shower.  I originally was looking for a white, lacey dress.  Then, I came across this Lovely as a Lychee dress from Modcloth and immediately fell in love.  I wasn't sure whether or not to try it out, because I am really hesitant with online shopping.  Some things look better in pictures than they do when you try it on.  I am so glad I decided to take a leap and buy the dress, because I checked back a week later, and all sizes were sold out!

When I received the dress, I immediately tried it on (who wouldn't?)  I fell in love instantly and was so excited to wear it at my bridal shower! It fit so perfectly!  I knew I wanted to buy a mint/tiffany blue necklace to go with it, and of course I found a rad deal on jane.com. (Who I am also affiliated with) If you do end up purchasing from jane or groopdealz, they do sell out fast! So check back often for new items as they add new ones every day!

Also, if you use my links, I am an affiliate of all three online shops and get a percentage from them! 
If you do, message me and I will send you something via mail as a thank you :)
(And if you are an affiliate anywhere let me know, I purchase things online all the time and would love to help a sista out!)
 

 

I am not being compensated for this post.  All honest opinions are my own.  

I am an affiliate for Modcloth, and if you purchase any items by clicking my links, 

I do get compensated a percentage of the sale.

Guest Post: Wedding Q+A

I have Hope from Hope in a Blog featured today, 

she is getting married at the end of this month! 

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When are you getting married? 

We are getting married on May 31st! So soon and I cannot wait!!!! 

How did you meet?  

We met at Wake Forest University and started dating my sophomore year and his senior year. College sweethearts!  

What is your Engagement Story?  

We got engaged on April 27th, 2013 in Watch Hill, Rhode Island... we were walking on the windy beach in the middle of the afternoon and had brought towels and blankets so we could enjoy the somewhat deserted beach and the sounds of the ocean. I was in my workout pants, Spyros' wind breaker, and TOMS...clearly not anticipating a proposal. After some enormously sweet words, a little trickery, and a bottle of champs, Spyros got down on one knee and asked me to marry him! It was perfect. 

How many bridesmaids did you choose? How did you go about choosing them? 

I have 10! Yes...TEN! I chose them because they each hold a special place in my heart and in my life. My sister is my MOH and Spyros' two sisters are bridesmaids = my family, my 4 best friends from home (Charlotte, NC), and my 3 dearest friends from Wake Forest University. Couldn't imagine this day without them by my side. 

What is your color scheme, and what made you choose it? 

My color scheme is blush, soft pink, champagne tones, ivory, and grays 
Choosing this was easy. I have always loved these neutral/pink tones + peonies are a 1oo% must at my wedding :) 

What are you looking forward to the most? 

I am most looking forward to the church doors opening and walking down the aisle to Spyros. I don't know how I am going to keep my composure because my heart literally flies into my throat when I think about it!

What is the most stressful thing about planning your wedding?

 So far, I am doing my best to not let anything stress me out... I hired an amazing planner to help make my wedding day as stress free as possible for me and it is the best investment I have made. 

What's your best piece of advice for future brides out there? 

Remember, your wedding day is about YOU and HIM and your commitment to each other under God. The rest is fluff. And although it is important (trust me, I love fluff) the true meaning of marriage should be the most exciting part. There are days, I have to remind myself of this too!

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Thanks so much Hope! I wish you a lifetime of happiness and I can't wait to see your wedding photos!  It sure is coming quick!
If you missed my wedding trial makeup tips, you can catch up here.

Wedding Trial Makeup Tips

To have the best makeup trial experience you really need to be honest with the makeup artist.  She may try to give you tips (and some may be helpful) however, you know what looks best on you and your skin tone.  Be very honest with her, even if she doesn't like it.  After all, you are paying her/him!

 Try to find out if you have peach or pink undertones.  This will help determine what blush colors will look the best.

For me, I found out I have pink undertones, after trying a peach blush for my first horrible trial.  So I now ask for pink ones.  

Also, because I have lighter color eyebrows, I knew I wanted to darken them slightly, without having them overpower my face. (because that would look unnatural)  My first trial, she drew those babies on so dark, I looked like a tranny.  Not kidding.

Photos from my first trial:

 Am I right, or am I right?  Holy hell, my eyes are way dark, and not in a good way.  You are welcome to read all about that awful experience here.  Let's just say, THANK GOD I had a trial first, because this place had good reviews.

Also, make sure you want eyelashes or not, and which kind?  They have long ones and short ones, do what's best for your eyes.  For me, super long ones would look strange, because I have lighter eyes and lashes naturally.

Trial #2:

 So much better! This was done for my second engagement shoot.  I felt more like myself, I felt comfortable, and I felt pretty.  

Trial # 3: 

  You can't tell by the photos, but my eyebrows were a little darker and I couldn't get used to it.  That was my fault for not giving her a heads up about how I don't like them dark.  But we ended up choosing the girl who did my second trial for makeup for my wedding (also she's my gf and it was just much more convenient as I am the only one getting my makeup done!) 

Now for more tips...

Make sure you ask what type of makeup they use. (Airbrush -dinair or temptu, Makeup Forever, MAC, etc) Your skin could be sensitive to certain brands.  That's why a trial is good, but make sure it's far enough before the wedding so you don't have rashes or breakout.

This is your time to let her know what you like, what you don't like so you can get that out of the way before your big day.  You don't want to be playing around with new ideas the morning of your wedding.  That could turn into a disaster.

If you are going to be using a different makeup that you've never used before you may want to buy some and start wearing it around to feel if it's comfortable, how it lasts, and if your skin has any strange affects. 

Moral of the story? DO do a makeup trial (yes i said do-do!) .  BEST decision I ever made.  You want to feel like YOU on your wedding day.  Just a prettier done-up you. (Without being too overdone- ya dig?)

Look Up

Just the other week, my fiance and I both had a full day to ourselves.  Away from work, meetings, and any plans.  We had all the chances in the world to go with the flow, which for us and our busy lives is very difficult.  We ended up getting alot done that day, but I did notice throughout the day we both kept checking our facebooks, instagrams, and text messages when we should have put our phones down for the whole day and enjoyed each others company without any interruptions.  I think in todays world, we are so used to having our phones attached at our hips.  I have a story for you.

On my bachelorette party, my girlfriends and I took a cruise.  If you don't already know, phones charge you up the ying-yang if you have your phone on during the cruise, so I let the girls know and they all turned their phones off.  One of my girlfriends had tears in her eyes when she turned her phone off.  She was so attached and so used to using it at all times.  Eventually, they got over the fact that they had to be without outside communication for 3 days.  And at the end of the cruise they couldn't wait to turn their phones back on to see all the messages they had received.  This just goes to show that "social" media is really making us anti-social.   

Check out this video, it couldn't explain it any better.

Also, if you are in the mood to read my 25 in 25 from November, I won't stop ya!

Weekend Recap

 I hope you all had a fabulous weekend!

I am linking up and co-hosting with the fabulous Bella @ Dateless in Dallas!

The weather all last week was absolutely ridiculously hot-- like miserable hot.
It didn't even feel like California anymore.  When the sun finally went down on Thursday evening it felt so nice outside.  I ended up sitting on my patio and enjoying it!

On my drive home from work Friday evening, my car said it was 104 degrees after 4 pm, and then jumped to 106 within minutes!  It was literally insane.

My girlfriend and I went to sushi on Wednesday night, and thankfully the sun went down by the time I got there because I was melting.

Friday Night- The fiance and I went out to have some appetizers and watch the Ducks/Kings game with some good friends of ours. After the game we went home and snuggled with our fur babies and watched his favorite show- Criminal Minds.  We literally have nights that we watch at least 5 episodes in a row.  It's so addicting!

Saturday- Was the day I got to pick up my dress from getting fitted! I was so excited to try it on again and really feel like everything is coming together perfectly.  My mom had to video tape how she did the bustle and how she tied the back of my dress.  Thank goodness she took a video because that ish would confuse the crap outta me! (Aint nobody got time for dat!)

After we picked my dress up we went to lunch of course! (That is our favorite thing to plan!) 
We went to CPK because it was right inside the mall and we were planning on shopping to look for a rehearsal dinner dress for myself, and to start browsing for some flower girl and ring bearer gifts.

 Sunday was absolutely perfect weather.  We met with our officiant in the morning to discuss final details, and I came home to relax by the pool for a few hours. As you can see pictured, my cute pup with his "Hidden Mickey" ears on his back.  My dad and I went to a home expo showroom to look over some granite and to see what they had to offer.

 I received my Carabox from my sweet partner Ashley!
I love all my goodies!
The theme was Hometown, so she added items that represent her hometown of Connecticut!
From BBQ chips, to pomegranite chocolates to some washi tape, wine, chapstick, and she included some chevron (because thats my fav pattern!) She even included cute dog toys for my two fur babies!  Such a sweet gesture!

Later that evening was the Tim McGraw concert.  We had amazing seats and VIP tickets!
It was so much fun, but we didn't get home till super late, and me +no sleep = a mess.  
I had to work that next day which was very rough on 3/4 hours of sleep. 

Dive Into Summer

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.  
 
I don't know about you, but I am ready for summer!
There is just something about those long summer nights that leave me breathless.  And of course the fact that I am getting married this summer!
So obviously I have to get prepared for all the festivities and pool parties going on this summer.  I love Modcloth and I usually shop for dresses and accessories, but this time of year you bet you can find me shopping those swim suits!  They are all very unique and one of a kind.  You won't find these anywhere else! You are sure to find a swimsuit to dive into!  There are so many different styles and patterns.  Plus if you buy now, for being one of my readers, you get 25% off all swimwear!


Also, ModCloth is launching its second Make the Cut Contest of the year! Not familiar with Make the Cut? Well, it's a fashion design contest, and in this edition, they're giving contestants a template on which to create a print pattern for a scarf. The talented winner will have their design produced by and sold on ModCloth, plus they'll receive a $500 prize! But first, the top 10 submissions will be hosted on the Be the Buyer page, where the community will vote for their faves. Design submissions will be accepted now until Friday, 5/30, and the voting begins on Monday, 6/9. Official contest rules can be found here. Good luck!
 
 

Our Wedding Website

I wanted to give a little glimspe of our wedding website, without giving it all away.

We chose theknot.com's free wedding website and they had plenty of templates to choose from.  We are very pleased with how many options they had!

We of course included our engagement photos on each page of our site.

We have a little story of how we got engaged, when it happened, and of course the story behind it all.

We included our ceremony location, where the cocktail hour will be, and the reception location so guests can get an idea before the day of. (Also so they won't be AS confused and watlking like chickens with their heads chopped off)

 I, of course, had to have a little story behind each of my bridesmaids, and had my fiance write about his groomsman (and surprisingly that wasn't too hard to get all that info outta him! Score!)

 And of course our guestbook (My favorite part!) 

What website did you use for your Wedding Website?

Did a lot of guests sign your guestbook?

Did you have any bad experiences?

I'd love to hear about it! 

& Also if you haven't already joined Wedding Bloggers Connect, you can read all about it here.