bridal luncheon & bridesmaid gifts.

i hosted a bridal luncheon the saturday [june 4th] before our wedding for the bridesmaids, mother-in-law, and my mama to attend.

a new, local catering company called "it's thyme" provided brunch.

we had it at an old pond house owned by fellow friends and church members.

the theme was rustic / vintage.

an assortment of old jars & bottles lined the center of the table,

the rolls were tossed in a wooden box draped with a cloth napkin,

we poured water & orange juice from a glass pitcher.

it was great.

since we're from the south, you know we had to have grits for breakfast!

our mini grits bar consisted of shrimp & gravy, butter, shedded cheddar cheese, and sausage & gravy.

for desert, we enjoyed peach smoothies.

shortly after, i passed out all of my goody bags to the ladies.

each bridesmaid bag consisted of:

pair of pearl earrings

matching pearl bracelet

burlap broach

monogrammed wooden hanger

embroidered flat iron cover

for the maid.of.honor,

she received a [different] necklace with a matching pair of earrings.

for cliff's step-mom, april,

we purchased her a monogrammed necklace off of etsy

along with a monogrammed black burlap jute bag

for my mom,

we also purchased a necklace & [pink] burlap jute bag off of etsy.

her necklace said "mom, for all you do and all you are... thanks"

i'm an overly emotional person and mushy gushy stuff, i just can't handle

this gift was perfect. i didn't have to say a thing. it said it for me!

[a picture of me & all of my ladies, except one]

Lawn & Garden Couples Shower

Location: Todd & Heather's

Hosts: Lisa & Ronn, Heather & Todd, Robin & Jack, Mary Alice & Shannon

Date: May 7, 2011

Time: 7:00p.m.

Menu:

Low Country Boil

Grilled Chicken

Pink Lemonade

Sweet Tea

Lemon Pound Cake

Chocolate Layer Cake



[Cliff popped the first bow!]



Gifts we recieved:

Garden hoses

Extension cords

Gardening tools

Basket

Towels

Towel Hanger

Toilet Paper Hanger

Spray nozzles

Homemade ice cream maker machine

Hose reel

Shovel

Mason jar wine glasses

Kitchen items

Deer antler wine bottle holder

{without looking, I may be forgetting a few things!}

wedding wednesday's: updates

86 Days to go!

Do I freak out now or later?

Just kidding.

I think I'll make it.

I never knew weddings were soo much in depth.

Decisions, decisions, and mooooore decisions.

Whew.

June 10th, can you please hurry?

Thankyoumuch.

----------------------

Upcoming calendar:

3.12.11--1st Dress alteration appointment in Atlanta/ordered veil

3.15.11-- Hair color appointment/Hair trial #1

3.18.11-- 2nd Alteration appointment in Atlanta (Bring home dress) 

3.19.11--First Bridal Shower!

4.8.11-- Bridal Portraits

4.10.11-- CWF Bridal Shower (at my families church)

4.23.11-- Bridal Tea with Cliff's family

5.28.11--Bachelorette Weekend!

6.4.11-- Bridesmaids Luncheon

6.9.11 --Rehearsal & Dinner

6.10.11--The BIG Day!

  

------------------------------------

Still left to do:

Bridesmaids dresses: 4 out of the 7 are ordered!

Groom's tuxes: Cliff says he is handling this part..

Invitations: we purchased several kits. we are actually behind schedule on printing & assembling these. We tried to print them from my Mom's computer a few weeks ago and the printer kept snatching the paper sideways! I'm hoping to work on these this week & figure out an easier solution.

Wedding bands: I purchased my wedding band last week! After days of searching online, I found the band I was looking for at overstock.com! I was impressed. I recieved the band within two days after ordering. It's perfect!

Beauty regimen: I have nasty Crest Whitestrips glued to my teeth as I'm typing this (which would be last night). Yuckk. Does anyone else use these? They make my mouth seriously water like crazy. I realize this is disgusting, but I have to spit constantly.. they're horrible.

I've been trying to tan when I find the time. It used to be convenient before we moved & left the tanning bed at my Grandma's. Now, making the 5 minute drive out there (sad, I know)& wasting 20 minutes of precious time is kicking my bootay.

Hair cut & color: a few weeks ago I got my hair trimmed & my stylist chopped it underneath to make it lighter! Yesterday I went in for a color/hair trial appointment. I did what I said I was planning on doing back in February.

Bridal Portraits: April 8th from 3:30-5:30pm at the Botanical Gardens with our wonderful photographer!

Dress Alterations: I spent this past weekend in Atlanta for my first dress alteration appointment. We drove in on Friday night & had plans with my FMIL for Saturday. Some of you may know, me and my FMIL own a vinyl monogramming business called Embellish Boutique. This past weekend in Atlanta was a wholesale show at the Atlanta AmericaMart. Saturday morning was spent there shopping for new inventory!

At noon, we pulled into LaRaine's & I slipped on my dress!

We were originally quoted $150 for all alterations needed. ALSO due to the fact we live 4 hours away we were told prior to making the appointment, that ALL alterations could be done for us in a single day to eliminate the need to return back to Atlanta for a second time.

Hummphhh. Here comes the bad part.

As I am about to slip on the dress, LaRaine herself comes be-bopping into the dressing room. She looks at me and says, "I know we said $150 for the alteration, but there's no way we can do that. Our seamstress is one of a kind and very, very talented. Therefore, something like this normally costs a few hundred dollars. I am going to have to charge at least $250."

Say whatttt? Are you kidding?

You mean to tell me we drove 4 hours down here and you NOW want to tell us the alterations we were originally quoted at $150 are now being up'd to $250. Nuh,uh. I don't think so.

We asked her to pull our file, where clearly SHE (LaRaine- the owner) had wrote the quote and attached it to our paperwork.

Thankfully, it was there & there was no way in heck she was changing it now.

Next, things are progressing along and the question arises about how long it will take to make all of the alterations.

Note: we were told WHEN WE MADE THE APPOINTMENT that all alterations could and would be done the same day of our appointment.

"There's no way we can do this today." they said.

I'm sorry..did I hear you correctly?

You can't do it today??

And why not?

"We have a bridal show tomorrow and we are preparing for it! There's no way I would have time to do this today."

Ok, well can we possibly pick it up tomorrow?

"I can't have it done by tomorrow either. It'll be a few days before I can even get to it."

Are you serious??

We literally drove 4 hours at $3.50/gallon for you to tell us that you 1) are going to charge $250 rather than $150 and 2) that we are going to have to make a 2nd trip to Atlanta to pick the dress up because the alterations can't be done in a single day.

I was fuming.

But, I figured.. hey, if you want the dress to look and fit as it should.. just let them take their time and do it right.

Okkkk.

So that's where we're at.

We have to make ANOTHER (#4) trip to Atlanta to pick up the dress for the LAST time.

Alteration costs (plus new additions & veil)= $529

Bump in the road? Check!

Bridal Showers: My first bridal shower is this coming up Saturday and I couldn't be more excited! It's being hosted by 10 of our family members and over 150 people have been invited! It's going to be held at Cliff's church's reception hall.

All of the invitees received a blank recipe card along with their invitation. They were asked to fill it out with their favorite recipe & bring it along to the shower.

My Christian Women's Fellowship of my church have offered to throw me a second shower. It's going to be held on April 10th.

On April 23rd, we are traveling to Florida for the day in order to meet with Cliff's family for a Bridal Tea.

Bachelorette & Lingerie: My MOH and BF Brooke are busy planning the Bachelorette weekend agenda and lingerie shower for Memorial Day Weekend!

-------------------

I think that about sums it up!

Any wedding stress reliever tips?

ha.

♥

bridal shower theme idears

163 days to-go.

In saying that, it's time to begin thinking about bridal shower themes.

Here's some interesting ideas that I've came across.

Please share shower themes & ideas that you have attended that were a great hit!

• Stock the bar
• Lingerie shower
• Wine and Cheese Tasting
• Around the clock- Write a different time of the day on every invitation so each guest brings a gift related to that time like a Starbucks gift certificate for in the morning or a cookbook for the evening.
• Bed and Breakfast- Picture a quaint little inn. Decorate with soft colors and lots of flowers. Guests are asked to bring any gift for the bedroom or kitchen. Favors could be fancy chocolates or a sachet pillow.
• All Throughout the House: This may also be called a "room by room shower." Guests are assigned a room of the house and asked to bring an appropriate gift. Examples: kitchen...blender, bathroom...towels, bedroom...sheets, etc. Your centerpiece could be a grapevine birdhouse decorated with flowers, and favors could be mini houses.
• Alphabet Time: Each guest is given a letter of the alphabet, and is asked to bring a gift that starts with the letter. This idea can work well for teachers or anyone who works with letters.
• Garden party- Wonderful gifts include gardening tools, flowerpots, flower seeds, potted plants and a watering can. You could even give the bride a sun hat and a handmade voucher for an hour of weeding so she can get out of weeding the garden.  

Reindeer Poop Recipe

Over Christmas break, a friend of my Mom's gave her this quick & easy recipe, so I had to give it a try. Hence, the name "Reindeer Poop". The family LOVES them. I am now in charge of making them for every occasion. 

A few weekends ago, we hosted a bridal shower for my beautiful cousin, Misty. 

[Misty & Matt. Wedding date: June 5, 2010]

Her wedding colors are hot pink & lime green. So, in order to stay with her theme, this was the final product.

 [yes, I did transfer them from this colorful platter to something a little less colorful!]

Ok, so here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 pack of double stuff Oreos
• 1 package [8 oz.] of cream cheese
• white chocolate chips [or whatever flavored icing/chocolate you'd like]

And here's what you do:

• Put all of the Oreos into a gallon sized zip-lock bag. 
• With some type of beater [the palm of your hand, the end of a spatula, or if you have a meat tenderizer that'll work too], beat the bag until the Oreos are finely crushed.

• Transfer them into a medium-sized bowl.

• Add room-temperature cream cheese to the cookies and mix well. It will become a little gushy. This is good.

• Dip with a spoon and roll into small balls, placing the finished balls on a baking sheet.

•  Melt the chocolate chips. Dip with a spoon and ice the top of the balls.
• Refrigerate afterwards till chocolate/icing has hardened.

It's that simple.