Colleen's Bacherlotte Beach Weekend

As I blogged about here, I headed to the beach for my best friend's bachlorette beach weekend. Colleen is my maid of honor and I will be her matron on honor, as she is getting married one month after Brian and I.

I can't tell you how much fun we had at the beach. 12 girls +one house + lots of beach time = FUN! It was a very laid back and relaxed weekend, which is exactly what Colleen asked for. Colleen's future sister-in-law even had hoodies made for us so we could wear them again in November!!!

I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking...

Can't wait for our wedding in November, Sulls!!! Love you much!

First Bridal Shower

My first bridal shower invitation was delivered to me last week! My minister's wife and daughter (long time family friends) and my mom's best friend were so very kind to host this for me. It is going to be in Old Salem , where we are getting married, on August 1. All the invitations were hand made and in our wedding colors! I can't wait to spend the day with a bunch of lovely ladies!

100 Days!

We hit the 100 day mark today and I'm going to try and not let that stress me out! 100 days from today I get to marry my best friend. How awesome is that?!?! In 100 days, we will stand before our family and friends and unite as one. I can't think of anything that means more to me than that. I'm speechless...

But I couldn't leave you without a pretty picture..

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Her

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Today is the day. Today is the day that I have waited for since I laid eyes on her back in February. Today I am going to pick up my wedding dress!!! It couldn't have been more perfect timing b/c Brian's mom happens to be in town. So today at 3:00pm my mom, my FMIL and myself will head to the bridal salon to see her again. And frankly, I can't wait!

Don't worry Brian, neither of these pictures are my dress!

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Happy Fathers Day!

Happy Fathers Day Jim and Gray!

We might be biased but we think we have the best fathers in the world. They are always there for us, no matter what. Jim is the master of tools and wood and can make anything you can dream of.. and it's 10x better than anything you can buy in the store. Gray is the master of fishing, boating, hunting and is always up for taking the boat out on the water. Without you both, we would be lost. Thank you for all you do for us, we are forever grateful. Love you dearly!

On the road again...

It seems like we stay on the road but we love it. Tonight we are headed to...

to help these two (Brian's sis and bro-in-law)...

move into their new ...

while there we will be...and...

in the...

but hopefully doing some...But before we get there, we must make two pit stops...

Trader Joe's for me and Waffle House for Brian. I can't wait. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Stampin'

The thought of writing our return address over and over again on our Thank you cards wasn't something I was looking forward to. I started to search around for a self-inking stamp that I would use instead and spare my hand from many cramps.

I wanted a stamp that was self-inking so I didn't have to worry about carrying around a stamp pad with me. Since our first shower is in Tennessee, I will be writing our Thank you cards in the car on the drive back to NC. I also wanted a stamp that only displayed our first names so we could use it before and after the wedding. Since Brian and I aren't going to live together until we are married, I decided to use my address on it, since we will be moving into my house and selling his house.

I stumbled across Sweet Papery and found a stamp that met all my needs... and the best part was I was able to order it with brown ink, instead of black. It will match perfectly with our Thank you cards .

It came in the mail last night and I love it. It is exactly what I was looking for! My hand is now thanking me.

Happy Birthday Brian!!!

Happy Birthday Brian!!!

Hope your 29th birthday is the best yet and I can't wait to spend many more years celebrating birthdays and everything else with you! Thank you for being my strongest supporter and my best friend. Love you lots.

This kind of love

This is the kind of love that brings tears of joy to my eyes. When I sent this to Brian he said "That is going to be us in 61 years", minus the wheelchair part.
We will be the elderly couple walking hand in hand taking our daily walks, everyday. Going on our dates. I love dates. Too often couples forget to go on dates. We will always make time to have date nights. And with date nights come the love and devotion, through better or worse, sickness and in health... we will stand side by side. I can't wait to marry my best friend.

Inspiration Board #3

This is the lovely inspiration board that our planner, Alyse, designed for us.

We love it! As you can see, this one displays another monogram that we are using throughout the wedding. This monogram was also the inspiration for our invitations, which I will be posting about after we send them out. The first inspiration board can be found here, and the second one here.

The Exit

There are several options to considered when you think about what kind of exit you want to have and your vision for it. Since I was little I have always loved fireworks. I'm the girl who goes to baseball games just for the fireworks afterwards. Because of this, I always thought I would want to use sparklers for our exit. But... our reception site doesn't allow them because there is a gas line by the exit. Lovely. So it was back to the drawing board. I searched high and low for different pictures of various exits.. and here is a small list of the options we considered.


1. Sparklers (before we knew they weren't allowed)

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2. Ribbon Wands

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3. Bubbles

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4. Rose Petals

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After weighing the pros and cons of each, we decided on bubbles! I mean, who doesn't love bubbles? There is no mess to clean up, everyone loves bubbles, they are safe and cheap! Looks like a win-win to me.

Once we made our decision, we began purchasing them from Michael's. They are $7.99 for 50 tubes but Michael's always has 40% off coupons each week. With the discount, we we were able to get them for $4.80 for 50tubes. Not bad, if you ask me. We plan to dress them up by tying colored ribbon to the top of each tube. I hope Critsey is able to capture a few good pictures with the bubbles in use.

Picture Love - Group Shot

I've already showed you our favorite "just the girls" and "just the boys" pictures and now it's time for the group shots. I really like the relaxed, less formal, more modern group poses. These are just a few of my favorites..

image sources: Megan W, Nicole Green, Tying the Knot Blog, Smitten,GG-Images, Cheyenne Schultz

I love how fun the first shot is and the last picture... be still my heart!!! But seriously, I love all of these group shots. Simple and perfect.

Candy Buffet?

I love candy. Seriously, I could eat it for every meal. Don't believe me, just ask Brian. I'm the girl who is looking through her purse for change every time we go eat Mexican so I can get some candy when we leave. It's sad. It really is. But I can't help it. Cake? No thanks. Brownies? Not so much. Candy? Yes, please!!!

So, naturally, I am debating about the idea of having a candy buffet at our wedding. I've listed the pros/cons and so far the pros are winning big time! Although candy buffets are nothing new to the "wedding world", I am trying to remember that it will be a new concept to many of our guest. In my mind, the buffet would be brown and white, to tie into our wedding colors.

Here are just a few I have found that look amazing...

image 1, 5 image 2,3, image 4

Thoughts? Advice? Did you have a candy buffet at your wedding? Was it a wise decision?

Picture Love: Just the Boys

Just a few of the "Just the Boys" group shots that I am currently loving..

image 1, image 2, image 3,4,5

I love the more relaxed, less formal group shots. I think they really allow more personality to shine through.

To see my favorite "Just the Girls", link back here.