Happy Easter 2018!

This Easter was a very fun, special, and relaxed occasion indeed!

Even though the weather here in Nashville has still been chilly, Ben and I have been trying hard to make it feel like spring inside of our little home! We've already had a few different flower centerpieces this season: tulips...

Ben took this picture!

...and chrysanthemums!

In preparation for the holiday weekend, I pulled out an old holiday recipe card and baked some Spritz cookies!

We visited Ben's family and got to spend a relaxing weekend together. It was full of leisure activities: playing the guitar, going to the library and even hitting a few golf balls off a mountain for fun...

We stayed up late watching a movie and eating dinner in front of the TV. On Easter itself, we woke up slowly to the sound of the sunrise church service happening outside (Ben's family graciously hosts the service on Easter morning)!

We had festive coffee, got ready for the day...

...and went to brunch downtown. We got to walk by the river and hang out with Ben's sister during the afternoon.

In the evening, we grabbed a quick bite to eat (as well as a sweet treat) and headed home!

It was so nice to get to be fully present and spend time with people I love: a lovely recharge for the busy weeks and months ahead.

Bridal Showers!

There is so much to catch you up on, but I want to start by telling you about two exciting, upcoming events: my bridal showers!

The reason I’m having two showers is because I have a lot of family up in the Midwest that wouldn’t be able to make it all the way down to Tennessee, and lots of Tennessee family that wouldn’t be able to make it up to the Midwest! I’m so excited to have my mother and godmother hosting my Wisconsin bridal shower, and my future mother-in-law and her friends hosting my Tennessee bridal shower!

I knew I wanted both showers to be a little bit on the schnazzy side; it's certainly not everyday a party gets hosted in your honor, so why not?! I know that the Wisconsin shower has a floral theme inspired by my godmother's gorgeous chintz china collection! I've just received my invitation to the Tennessee shower and found out that it is a "Bridal Tea," which sounds very fancy indeed!

Ben took this photo, by the way!

I always thought I’d want to be super hands-on in planning my bridal shower, but I’m actually really enjoying the thought and feeling of having things taken care of as a bit of a surprise!

I’ve been busying myself with figuring out the logistics of helping friends and family figure out accommodations and travel ideas. Because Ben and I have been engaged for almost 18 months already, it’s been a pretty solitary process so far (I've been doing my best so far to not to drive absolutely everyone crazy with my incessant wedding planning!). It’s really really fun to get to reach out to many of the ladies invited to the shower and get them involved in the process a bit!

I couldn’t be more excited! I feel honored to be loved and supported by so many people!

Bridal Shoe Update!

What a girly blogpost title! I don’t mind stereotyping myself every once in a while.

So you know how I wrote that long, detailed blogpost about how I was getting my shoes custom made? That plan fell through about two days after I wrote that post! It was by no fault of the custom shoe company I was working with; it just didn’t work out because the specific shoe that I was looking at was discontinued from the supplier and was no longer available in the size I needed.

I ordered two samples in the mail, to see if I could fit into two of the sizes they did have in stock, but unfortunately they didn’t seem to fit well enough.

The sample shoes I was hoping to customize... note my overflowing, ugly-dancer toes, and how the crystal trim would have criss-crossed so beautifully in the front! *sigh*

Here’s what I was planning: a 1.25” wedge with light blue satin, crystal trim, and silver glitter all over the wedge! It would have been so glamorous and gorgeous, but unfortunately it was not meant to be. And besides, when you’re having something custom-made you want to make sure you can get EXACTLY what you’re looking for, and that just didn’t end up being the case.

No matter though. I searched incessantly for another similar shoe and found that I actually was feeling more drawn to a simple silver color. The shiny fabric really does make the shoe quite glamorous, and it’s very comfortable to wear! I was definitely glad to be able to re-check this item off my to do list!

Slowly but surely things are coming together! I’ll be sure to keep you updated.

Crafting Our Vow Folios!

I’m so excited to share my most recent DIY wedding project. Our invitations and custom monogram have been in the works ALL this time, but a shorter-term project was crafting our vow folios!

I liked the idea of having several loose cards to help brainstorm and facilitate multiple vow drafts, so I looked up some crafting tutorials online. I found this collaboration tutorial between Shasta Bell Calligraphy and Esther Clark Co., and fell in love with the look and texture of these beautiful invitation folios!

Check out their gorgeous tutorial here! 

I got to work gathering supplies. I headed over to the craft store and found some white duck canvas, Elmer’s craft glue, and photo-matting board from the framing section of Jo-Ann’s. It felt a bit sturdier than the chipboard they had on hand.

Upon arriving home, I unpacked the plant-dyed silk ribbon that I got from The Poetry of Silk for my bridal bouquet. I thought this would be a nice touch for such a special wedding day prop!

Look at that beautiful ribbon! Click to view "The Poetry of Silk" website!

I got to measuring, cutting to size, and gluing and got the whole project finished in under two hours!

I’m so happy with how they turned out. They are very sturdy feeling and I love that the canvas has a nice texture to it. I feel very proud of my meticulous handiwork!

As I said earlier, the inspiration and instructions that I used for these folios is from a collaboration between Shasta Bell Calligraphy and Esther Clark Co.. Let me know if you make your own! Happy crafting!