Chalkboard Love

CHALKBOARD!

I love the look of chalkboard art. So how could I not make add it into my special day?

Down by Stuart's parents house is a a darling little antique store called Vintage Junky. The couple that own Vintage Junky are a hoot! First, the wife paints vintage furniture like no other. The husband does chalkboard art. So I commissioned him to do a piece for us. He has many examples on the walls but I wanted to do something different. I wanted to incorporate the five stars because of our location
 (Five Star Retreat) and the arrows because our dog (Arrow) won't be able to be there on our big day.

CJ's custom chalk art website is here: CustomChalk

Here were the end results:

Some of my Favorite Purchases!

Here are a few of my favorite purchases for the wedding!

1. Cake cutting and serving utensils. Aren't they lovely? I saw them on Pinterest and found them at Distinctive Decor.

2. Wooden Monogram. I got this made from tHrEeJuMpiNgMoNkEys off Etsy. I will be painting it yellow and display it at the reception!

*Be sure to know what size you are getting. I ended up ordering what I thought would be a small one to put on top of a wreath... it ended up being bigger than my whole upper body! Whoops! 

3. Luna Bazaar candle holders in vintage blue. All I can say is "amazing." Not only are these beautiful and vintage looking (the raised pattern is lovely), I got them off Craigslist! Cheap. Cheap. Cheap. 

Bridal Shower!

All I can say is wow! 

My girls went all out. Big thank you to two of my bridesmaids Niketa and Nicole for making my bridal shower one of the greatest day I have ever had. Everything from the decorations, food, games, and homemade Sangria was perfect! 

Here are a few pictures:

Pin The Bow Tie On Stuart

*This was like pin the tail on the donkey but a bow tie on Stuart. Too much fun!

We also played a garter game. Sort of like hot potato.. standing in a circle each girl had to put the garter on her leg (past her knee) and get it off as soon as possible. If the music stopped and you still had the garter you were out. 

Here is some lovely decor:

We had sweet tea and Lemonade in mason jars. Colored straws and yummy cupcakes! 

We also had homemade Sangria!

Each girl got her own little tumbler with their name painted on it. 

Guests also got hair clips as favors. The clips had burlap flowers on them.

Engagement Photos

Oh man. Anyone who knows me knows that photos are my favorite of all time ever. 

May I just say that Nyk+Cali, Wedding Photography was the best wedding decision we have made.

These two crazy funny laid back super in love photographers are AHHHmazing. Not to mention they have some intense curly hair and they know how to have a good time!

First, I wanted to make sure we had a cool local location to work with. I chose Southall Eden in Franklin, TN. This place is a the cutest little barn/hipster wedding venue that we could not afford. So, I rented it for two hours for our engagement photos.

One cool thing about getting married is you get to go to new places and meet new people!

Nyk+Cali met up with us (and Arrow) at 5:45 and we had a blast! I do friends photos for fun (not a legit business) but it was weird being on the "other side of the camera." Even Stuart mentioned that I looked nervous at first. That all went away when Cali kept making Santa Claus laughs to make me laugh!

Poor Arrow was so distracted and not very photogenic, but he did have fun running around. Here is a preview of our photos. I will post more when we get them! Enjoy.

Cake Topper

Wedding cake- YUM!

I wanted a unique topper. Stuart brought me down to earth after begging for a $190.00 topper-- see it here: Unique Cake Topper

Is that not cool?

We are having a small ceremonial cake and doing cupcakes in a jar; thus, I went beautiful but simple.
Enter Baumbirdy.

Our finished product (Needless to say, I am in love):

Things Remembered & Facebook

When you get engaged Facebook starts putting advertisements on the side of your Facebook page (all wedding related). Well, I am glad I looked the other day!

Things Remembered had a post that said they were having a special. If you brought in your phone and showed you were engaged on Facebook they would engrave a key chain saying "Future Mrs. __________" for FREE!

I love FREE. So, I went to the local Things Remembered booth in our mall and got this lovely star key chain.

**Little secret-- this offer came up again about 2 months after I got this star key chain. I went again to a different Things Remembered and asked them for a key chain that said "Mrs. ___________" and they obliged.  After I get married my star key chain will become a Christmas Tree ornament and my new key chain will proudly hang next to my house keys!

Say Yes To The Dress

Well... it was time. Wedding Dress Shopping.

My main idea was to go to David's Bridal and try on different silhouettes to see what looked good with my figure. I had NO intention of buying my wedding dress at David's Bridal. I wanted to be different, get a unique dress, something no one else really had.

I saw two dresses I liked (only one of them Stuart would like!) I tried on both and was torn.

Luckily my mother,  my grandmother, Stuart's mother,  and my bridesmaid Niketa accompanied me!

One dress was simple and elegant and the other was flirty and fun. I knew what Stuart would say about both dresses. I knew he would like Dress #1 more than #2. The only person I wanted to show the dress to and get approval from could not help me because he can't see the dress! DARN!

I asked my dress consultant (Dori) if many people bought Dress #1 and she assured me most people did not even try it on because they did not like the look of it (sorry no hints allowed)!

Throughout the next couple of days my mind kept drifting to one and then the other but I finally decided. I loved dress #1 and with the help of my lovely bridesmaids and MOH I chose.

I can't show you my dress but I can show you my dress consultant Dori and I after I rang the bell at David's bridal for getting a dress!

*Special thanks to Niketa for coming with me to both dress appointments!

Ringing the bell with Dori (David's Bridal Brentwood, TN)

Paying for my wedding dress!