Happy proposal day...

Today marks the three-year anniversary of the day Mr. W proposed to me. The proposal was perfect - he put so much thought and love into every single detail. But most importantly, the most perfect man I could ever imagine was asking me to marry him. I felt like the luckiest lady in the world that day [and every day since] and love hearing proposal stories from others that make them feel that too.

To celebrate our proposal day, I had to share this sweet video from Hellcats. I have been saving it on our DVR for weeks [and may have made our families watch it at Thanksgiving...] because it is just too adorable to delete. Now it can live here forever. :)

Think pink | library themed wedding...

It would be pretty much impossible for me to love this library themed wedding [seen at Style Me Pretty] anymore than I already do. Creative save the dates, beautiful flowers, amazing dessert bar, personalized details, incredible stationary...this wedding has it all.

[October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month - Think Pink!]

Think pink | candy buffets...

I love everything about candy buffets - the colors, the containers, the whole display and, of course, the yummy candy. Here are some great candy buffets with lots of pink candy...

[Setting the Mood]

[Thoughtfully Simple]

[Hostess with the Mostess]

I am particularly fond of the navy and pink one, since it is the same colors we used in our wedding and for our candy buffet.

[October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month - Think Pink!]

Beautiful wedding weekend...

Wow.

That pretty much sums up our friends' amazing wedding this past weekend. Seriously, every last detail was incredible. It was honestly the kind of wedding that Martha would be very proud of.

I'm still waiting on other people who actually remember to take pictures to post them. The wedding was at the Little House on the Prairie, so until I get some real pictures, this one will have to do. It's called "Lone House on a Prairie" - pretty close, huh? :)

There is one absolutely lovely photo up on her photographer's blog. Again, wow.

Back to school beauty...

In honor of everyone heading back to school...check out this beautiful school-inspired wedding. The inspiration came because the bride and groom were classmates in elementary school. They are adorable and the details are incredible!


Check out more from the wedding here and at Martha Stewart Weddings for even more photos.

That was fun...

Thanks for sticking with me through my twelve wedding posts - one for each month I've been married and one for everyday leading up to our anniversary (kind of). Anyways, it was really fun looking back at all the photos and thinking of all the great memories! [Check out memories 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12.]

We will now return to regular programming...


How incredible is this laundry room drying rack? Uh, yeah, really incredible! I love the Ballard Design drying racks, but that wasn't going to happen. But with the help of Centsational Girl's tutorial (and my dad), this one just might!

[I have actually been wanting to post this for about a week, but there was no way I was going to interrupt my nice lovey-dovey wedding memories for something laundry-related. Whew, good things come to those who wait.]

Wedding memory twelve - marrying the man of my dreams...

The title of this one pretty much sums it up.

My husband truly is the man of my dreams - actually, he is way more incredible than I ever could have dreamed. On our wedding day, I felt like the luckiest woman in the world. And that feeling has only gotten stronger everyday since. <3

[Check out memories 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11.]

Wedding memory eleven - the honeymoon...

So I was MIA and totally forgot to ever post my last two wedding memories. I have been very busy with celebrating our anniversary and lots of other fun stuff you will hear about soon. :)


Like most couples, the whole honeymoon was full of incredible, can’t-be-beat, beyond wonderful, completely relaxing, fun, romantic, sweet memories. We went to New York City to see both a Yankees and a Mets game since it was the last year for both of the stadiums. (I know most people don’t watch baseball on their honeymoon, but our baseball fanaticism really shouldn't surprise anyone anymore.) And in between the games we went on a beautiful seven-day Caribbean cruise.

The trip was amazing and I’m 100% sure we should repeat it for one of our anniversaries. After all, we do need to see the new Yankees and Mets stadiums. :)
[Check out memories 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 12.]

Wedding memory ten - sharing the day with loved ones...

I'm posting the next memory early, because tomorrow we are celebrating our anniversary at "America's Toughest Tour!" Yes, I know that sounds entirely unromantic...but, I'm completely obsessed with Toby Keith and Trace Adkins, so really it's perfect! Sooo excited! Anyways, in an effort to not be a slacker on my daily wedding memories...

We have billions of great memories from our families and friends at the wedding. Each person truly helped make the day perfect. I don't even know where to start on sharing the stories, so I'm just going to leave it at this...we love and thank you all more than you'll ever know!

I do have to share this photo of my beautiful grandmother though. I am beyond grateful that she made it to the wedding. I love and miss her so much and can only pray that I am even half as beautiful (inside and out) as she was.


[Check out memories 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11 and 12.]

Wedding memory nine - the ceremony...

One of the best parts of a wedding is always watching the groom's face when he first sees the bride. Well, it's even better [way better] when it's your future husband seeing you walk down the aisle.



Lighting the unity candle to I Can Only Imagine (barbershop style) was another favorite part...except the whole burning our fingers on the hot wax part. Piece of advice...no-drip candles! The whole time we were up there we were whispering to each other something like this:

"Ouch. That was really hot." "No kidding. You look really handsome though." "You look so beautiful. And that was so hot!"

Funny thing was, after the ceremony everyone told us it made them cry how sweet it was when we were talking to each other.
Also during the unity candle, we surprised our moms by taking roses to them. Their faces as we walked over to them was priceless. :)


And, of course, another favorite part was hearing "I do hereby pronounce you husband and wife."
[Check out memories 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11 and 12.]

Wedding memory eight - the amazing party...

Oops - I totally missed posting a memory yesterday, so here it is a day late...We have great memories from the reception. Relaxing, dancing and celebrating with our guests - perfect!

Ever since I was little, I have been excited for being at the front of the wedding march. That probably sounds strange and you might not even know what the "wedding march" is, but it's a pretty big deal in my family. And it was even more fun that I had imagined. And our first dance to Dance with Me was incredible. (Not incredible dancing, just the most incredible feeling.)

My father-daughter dance to Stealing Cinderella was another one of my favorite parts. My dad told at the beginning of the song that he didn't want to cry...so we joked about the line about "riding her first bike." Turns out I am horrible at bike riding and learning to ride my first bike was anything but pleasant. My dad is a very patient man. :) (He's also a great poet! His poem toast at the reception was a big hit!)

Unfortunately I can't find a picture for this last one...but another great part of the reception was the Supaman dance. Nick's little brother (one of our great ring bearers) did the whole dance. By himself. Perfectly. And he was six. Too funny!
[Check out memories 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11 and 12.]

Wedding memory seven - our amazing wedding party...

So, my blog doesn't have enough storage space to even begin to share all of the great memories from our amazing wedding party. Seriously, everyone was incredible and truly helped to make our wedding day perfect.

We are so thankful to have such great family and friends! I especially want to thank my wonderful sister and matron of honor for all that she did...including giving a great toast at the reception (she was so nervous about speaking in front of everyone that she had a back-up plan for if she passed out)! Best sister ever!
[Check out memories 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12.]

Wedding memory six - the details...

My favorite thing about all weddings are the details - especially the ones that make the wedding unique to the couple. I already showed all of the baseball details, but here are some of my other favorites. I loved seeing all of the details come together after the months of planning...


Clockwise: Ring bearer pillows made by my mom with lace from my wedding gown; Scrapbook guestbook with engagement pictures made by a good friend; Invitation and reception cards; Basket of programs; Flowers with our wedding bands. (Designing and making the invitations and programs was one of my very favorite parts of the planning...and definitely the most time consuming! It was a huge compliment when we went to our friends' wedding a few months later and they had designed their programs like ours.)

Candy table...yum! And our personalized champagne glasses at the head table - a gift from my husband the Christmas right after he proposed. :)

Cake table with homemade mints, pink punch and a pink fountain. My husband loves fountains! Oh, and the groom in the cake topper is wearing a gray tux, just like my groom and the groomsmen did.

[Check out memories 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12.]

Wedding memory five - the rehearsal dinner...

And to get all caught up...my next wedding memory was our great rehearsal dinner. We had a fun Mexican theme with food catered from our favorite restaurant. Delicious! But best of all, was that my husband's parents were willing to let us have our sort of ridiculously large guest list (seriously the size of a small wedding). The night was exactly what we wanted - time to relax and hang out with our wedding party, relatives and guests who had traveled a long ways. We also loved the fun toasts from our family (especially the one from my cousin about me boxing him when I was little).


[Check out memories 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12.]

Wedding memory four - baseball touches...

My excuse for not posting yesterday (going to the Royals game) goes along with my next memory - the fun baseball touches throughout the wedding. We are huge baseball fans and wanted to incorporate that into our wedding to make it unique. My husband and I had a lot of fun figuring out ways to do it and everyone really enjoyed them!


[Check out memories 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12.]

Wedding memory three - the whole engagement...

Okay, I am a total slacker about doing the posts everyday...so I will have three today to catch up. Friday night we were busy at a couples' shower for good friends of ours which goes along with my third wedding memory - all of the fun that takes place throughout the whole engagement.
From the night of our engagement, everything about the wedding planning process was GREAT! I loved spending time with our family and friends talking to vendors, shopping for bridesmaid's dresses, making programs and everything else. And our amazing families and friends also planned some great showers to help us celebrate.
There were, of course, a few stressful moments (like when we had already sent out save the dates but still hadn't found a church), but overall the whole process was very fun!!!


[Check out memories 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12.]

Wedding memory two - my mommy-made dress...

Like lots of girls, I grew up dreaming about my wedding gown. And my mom absolutely made all of my wedding gown dreams come true! With her own two hands, lots of time and even more love, she made me my dream dress. She definitely deserves the Most Amazing Mother Ever Award.

This is what the dress looked like in its very first stages:

And this is what my mom beautifully created:

Together my mom and I got to design every single detail of the gown – from choosing the fabric to choosing where each piece of lace would go.

Every single sequin, bead and pearl was hand-sewn onto the lace by my mom - and trust me, there were lots! And then each piece of lace was hand-sewn on – again, lots! (Our wedding was just eight months after we got engaged, so my mom had very busy hands!)

One of my very favorite things about the dress was the message my mom embroidered inside the back panel for my “something blue”. My mom also made my sister’s wedding gown and did the same inside hers. (I’ll try to remember to add a picture of my sister’s beautiful dress sometime so that you can all be even further amazed.)

And to secure her Most Amazing Mother Ever Award (as if she didn't already deserve it!), she also made my veil, slip and garters. And the ring bearer pillows. And mints and table runners for the reception. And she made me the luckiest bride in the world!

Seriously, Most Amazing Mother Ever!!!
[Check out memories 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12.]

Wedding memory one - the little ones...

Some of my favorite wedding memories are from our adorable flowergirl and ring bearers...
Our precious flowergirl is my husband's niece. She was so excited about wearing her "flower dress" in the wedding, but then got super nervous when it came time for the rehearsal. She would only go down the aisle if her mom went with her and even then was nearly in tears. After the rehearsal, she had her mom stay to practice with her. When I got to the rehearsal dinner, she was waiting at the door to tell me - "Paige, I practiced and I'm real good now!" And she was! (I don't know if it was the practicing or the toy we have her when she got down the aisle, but she did a great job!)

This little cutie is my cousin and Godson. And yes, I realize he looks totally frightened of being in this picture. He actually wouldn't take any pictures unless my dad was in them too. He wasn't so sure about all this wedding business yet, but I'm pretty sure ours was the first wedding he had ever been to, yet alone in! His oldest brother, however, had been a ring bearer a couple of times already and was a little upset because he "is the ring bearer in the family." I guess now the family has more than one... :)

Our other ring bearer is my husband's little brother. The original plan at the wedding was for the flowergirl and ring bearers to all sit with their parents during the ceremony, but this little guy was having none of that. He nicely explained to us that if their other brother (the best man) got to stand up by Nick during then wedding, then so did he, because "he's a brother too and that's what brothers do." So, of course, here he is... (I'm sure you noticed, but as it turns out these wedding memories are more like (big) groups of memories. What can I say? It's really hard to narrow all of the amazingness done to just twelve things!)

[Check out memories 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12.]

Best year ever...

Our one-year anniversary is almost here!!! This year has been absolutely amazing and I am loving every minute of married life. In honor of our upcoming anniversary, I am going to post my twelve favorite memories from our wedding over the next twelve days. :)
Enjoy...
[Check out memories 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12.]

Wedding gift...

Yes, this is yet another post about the wedding last weekend - I can't seem to help it. :)

Anyways, I made a framed initial picture as part of their wedding gift. I forgot to take a picture of the actual finished product, so instead here are some "pictures" of what it looked like. This first one just shows the initial which is made from the words to the song Dance with Me:


This second picture is sort of, kind of, what it ended up looking like. The letter was printed on blue paper and then matted with a brown paper that had a really cool blue design in it (none of my fill options in PowerPoint were anywhere near as cool as the real paper - sorry, I don't really have much to work with here). And then I put it in a bronze frame. It was made to match the towels we got the couple and all of the bronze accent items on their registry.


This definitely doesn't even begin to show what it really looked like, but hopefully you get the idea. My husband actually liked it so much he asked me to make one for us too. Works out really well since our last name starts with "W" and our first dance was to Dance with Me. :) (That was totally not intentional either - just a very happy coincidence!)