7.12.14 {The Ceremony}

We had a beautiful ceremony location, and the decorations looked fabulous together.
Our ceremony took place at 5:30 PM on Saturday July 12, 2014. 
I had a few moments privately with my dad and he spoke the sweetest words I have ever heard.  I can remember telling him not to make me cry because I didn't have time to have Jewel fix my makeup before he walked me down the aisle.
I love the photos captured of our guests waiting for the ceremony to begin.

The handsome gents awaiting there walk down the aisle..

The best man escorting my beautiful mama

My gorgeous maids

We had the cutest flower girl and ring bearer. 
You can read about how I asked them to be in our wedding here.

 My man just as I began walking down the aisle.
(gahhh.. can you say dear in headlights? That is exactly what the officiant said.. too funny)

Trying to hold back tears

  
We chose to do a sand ceremony because I wanted to reuse the shadow box containing the sand we poured in on the day of our wedding in our home for decoration while also being a reminder of the best day of my life.

 It was such a beautiful ceremony and I couldn't have asked for anything more amazing.

Coordinator: Candice Sanders
Hair & Makeup: Airbrushed Brides
Florist: Jenny B Floral Design
Photographer: Memories by Michael
DJ: Jason Jass - Visions Entertainment
Videographer: Dan - Plug Video
Officiant: Don Johnson

If you missed the first few recaps you can catch up below:

{ Getting Ready }

{ Pre-Ceremony }

{ The Dress and Details } 

Facebook, Say Whaaaa?

After many months of debating whether or not to make a Facebook Page for my blog, I finally did it.  & I'd like to thank Helene.. because well... I read her post about why you need to make a page, and that pushed me to actually do something about it.  So thanks girl!

So please, be a doll and go like my page here.
Do it.. You KNOW you want to.

It's still a work in progress but hey.. ya gotta start somewhere, am I right?

 

Weekend Recap

Good morning and happy Monday!  Hope your weekend was fantastic!  I am co-hosting with Dateless in Dallas for our Weekend Recap!

On Friday the hubs and I went over to our friends house To drink, BBQ, and spa it up.  Lets just say I drank more in one night than I have in a long time.  I dominated at beer pong, which never happens.  So that was awesome because I don't even remember the last time I played.

Which is where Saturday comes in.  I felt like death all morning.  
Yeah-  don't mix beer and vodka and beer and vodka -- you're head will feel like its going to explode.  I should know better.. but hey.. it happens.  That evening we went out to dinner with hubby's boss, and because I chose not to drink I was able to drive one of his cars which was a sick Porsche Cayenne.  So of course I felt like a rock star.  I dropped the boys off at a bar and went home to sleep for about 2 hours until I got a phone call to pick them up from the usual Denny's. And you know what?  I didn't mind at all, because I knew I'd wake up on Sunday without feeling like my head was going to explode.  Boom!

Sunday we woke up and were able to get so much done around the house.. That is in between football   We took out our huge plant in the yard and replaced it with something smaller and more colorful.  I set up my fall decor and cleaned up around the living room.  Okay so they used to not have any Jimmy Johns in so cal, and the hubby found one a few months ago so of course that's where we went to lunch.   Then came back home to take some more things outta boxes.  Man is that a work in progress. We weren't in the mood to eat dinner so we opted for Golden Spoon.  They have a pumpkin pie flavor that was ridiculously good. So I guess you could say I had pumpkin pie for dinner.  Yep.. that happened.

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Leave a comment, grab my link above, and write about your weekend!

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I decided I wanted to participate in the #Blogtober14 Challenge with Taylor & Helene!  Why not, right?
Today's prompt is.. 10 Things I Wish I Told Myself When I Started Blogging

 

I started blogging in May of 2012, exactly a year after graduating college.  I knew I wanted an outlet to showcase my design skills.  So it originally started as a way to show my art, design, and design tips.  It quickly turned to a lifestyle, recipe, fashion, design blog.  I still have DIY projects and such, but now it's an outlet to show my life and the little happenings in between.  I have learned alot in the past few years about blogging, and I still have a whole lot to learn.  It's always a learning process, and I love it.

1.  Leave comments on other blogs, and show interest in their blogs weekly. (This is how you gain followers)

2. It's not always easy, read other blogs constantly to help inspire your ideas.
3. It helps get your blog out there if you sponsor, are sponsored, or collaborate linkups with other bloggers.

4. It takes alot of patience.

5. It matters how your blog looks.  I am a designer and I still paid for someone to spruce it up.. Sometimes you just need a second opinion on things.  Think about it. Your blog is the first impression when someone clicks over to your page. Make them want to stay a while by making it look appealing.  I had Jana Tolman design mine.  She was inexpensive and rad to work with. (She also showcases the work she does, and you'll get exposure that way too!)

6. Scheduling posts every so often really makes it less stressful.


7. Adding photos helps a ton!  I noticed more viewers on my posts with photos versus without.

8.  Be you.  Don't copy other bloggers, learn from them!  Let them inspire you, but stay true to yourself. After all, there is only one of you!

9. Blogging isn't easy.  It takes time (a lot of it) and effort.

10. Have fun, and enjoy it.  You only live once.  Also-- don't be afraid to ask other bloggers to collaborate with you.  The worst they'll say is no.
 

Introducing...

Introducing one of my dearest sponsors today! Her name is Rebecca.  Take it away!
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Hi! I'm Rebecca and I blog at Renovating Rebecca. I am a newlywed, dog mom, photography enthusiast, and interior designer. My post topics include decorating, travel, photography, and our wedding (my personal favorite). We got married in May, and I poured my heart and soul into designing and planning our wedding. Even though our wedding is over I like to include mementos from the day in our home. Today I'm going to tell you about how I preserved our wedding invitation.

photo by White Rabbit Studios





I designed my wedding invitations myself (you can see the rest of the paper products I designed for the wedding here), and of course I spent a lot of time and effort working on them. After the wedding was over, I didn't want our invitations just getting thrown in a drawer, never to be seen again. I did some research about preserving wedding invitations, and found a company called Marye Kelley, based in Houston. They make custom glass decoupage trays out of invitations. I found some shops on Etsy that do the same thing, but I liked the options from Marye Kelley better.
Here's what it looks like: 

 I ordered a 8x10 tray and it cost $134. I know that's a bit  expensive, but I think it's worth it to have my invitation preserved in glass. 
Now it will last forever!

I keep the glass tray on top of a bookcase, along with my custom wedding dress portrait that I ordered through Laura

Harris Weddings on Etsy.

This isn't a sponsored post. I just love how my invitation turned out and wanted to let more people know about this company!

Weekend Recap

Happy Monday friends! Hope you all had a fantastic weekend! I know I sure did.  I am co-hosting with Dateless in Dallas and also linking up for Manic Monday with More Pieces of Me and On the Daily Express.  

Thursday was my bests birthday AND I got to meet her sweet baby boy for the first time!

 

The hubby was out of town for work this weekend so I had the house to myself.  I decided to keep it easy on Friday and clean up/ do laundry around the house.. I know exciting right?

Saturday I went to lunch with a girlfriend and hit the mall right after.  We shared a pitcher of white peach Sangria and it was soooo good.  We went to the mall and did some shopping.
I went home to prepare for the evening.  

I went out to a country bar with some girlfriends, it was a very much needed girls night indeed.

Sunday I literally did nothing all day.  Which was fantastic.  I watched tv, movies, and cuddled with my fur babies all day.  I had in & out for lunch and then steak kabobs for dinner.  Soooo freaking delicious.