5.31.2012

A Jack & Jill Shower!

Before everyone gets all uppity, I'm not talking about that kind of shower! We attended our Jack & Jill Wedding shower last weekend!

A few weeks ago we received this in our mail!
EEE! Blue envelope!

 It was a sweet little invite made by my future-in-laws! They wanted to celebrate our upcoming marriage, but wanted to do a Jack & Jill Shower! Now, before the wedding, I had no idea about these sort of traditions and customs. And even during wedding planning, Jack & Jill's weren't really on my mind. So this was a happy surprise!

Now last weekend actually kicked off this year's wedding season for Patrick and I (OMG WE are getting married this wedding season! AHHHH!), with the marriage of Patrick's friends from undergrad. So we knew that this was going to be a wedding-y weekend for us.

Saturday, we woke up bright and early to head down to CT with our good friend (groomsman) Andrew, and arrived at Patrick's parents' house to find it was a glorious hot summery day, and the house was beautifully decorated in our wedding colors with a peacock theme!

That little picture is from the night Patrick proposed!
We actually got there quite early because I am a FIEND and insisted on leaving early so that there would be no chance of being even a minute late to our shower. Walking around, I took in the gorgeous decorations, beautiful flowers, and the delicious looking food! As I took pictures (like a good little blogger), emotional feelings of gratitude, excitement and love rushed over me and I felt truly blessed not only to be surrounded by such pure love, but by the feeling that maybe this (magnified of course!) might be a glimpse into what it will feel like on the actual wedding day...
Gorgeous peonies from my FMIL's garden!

Peacock-y Balloons cheerfully greeting everyone in the doorway!

Wedding parasol adorning the mailbox! First thing we saw as we rolled up...

A happy, grateful, giddy couple we were!!!

Paper lanterns, balloons and benches -- oh my!
Being awesome, FMIL kind of began my craft-crazy ways, so it was only fitting that there was some DIY bunting in the decor!
May be hard to tell from the picture --- but it says:
"Micah & Patrick"
When we got there ridonkulously early, Patrick and Andrew decided it was beautiful enough outside to get all manly and play some baseball. So while I was snapping away and trying to keep from stealing food before the rest of the guests arrived, they tossed the ball.
Men, men, men, men --- Manly MAN!

Did I mention how beautiful Patrick's family's gardens are? I think I did. But I'll do it again. GORGEOUS!
We had a blast! We played a cute little shower candy game, that Patrick's mother prepared: There were about 16 different candies were stuck to a board, and Patrick's mom asked wedding/honeymoon/couple related questions about us where the answer was one of the candies --- and there was a prize for the winner! We opened lots of gifties and then BM Joelle and GM Torin read a hilarious transcript of what we said while opening them as a "script" of our wedding night (jokes!)!

It was a beautiful, very happy day surrounded by friends and soon-to-be family. Patrick and I are very grateful, and can't stop saying to each other how much fun we had!
Min bags of Hershey Kisses as favors!

Peacock feather Centerpieces




Yum! Rainbow Fruit-kabob!

Oh, hey little peacock!

Desserts were mini strawberry-shortcakes, mini chocolate PB cakes,
and an ice cream bar!
Remember how I LOVED making the rehearsal dinner ribbon bouquets for my friends? Well, they made a beautiful one for me!




And I wore this, as well as a sassy crown, while Patrick wore
a 'Groom' top hat and tie!
Everything looked beautiful, we laughed and cried and had a wonderful time. I am sorry to gush and repeat myself --- but it was fantastic! Also, having Patrick at my side was one of the best parts. We both shared in the love and joy surrounding us. It's a way of putting the focus on both the Bride and the Groom, which I think is often neglected in today's booming Wedding Industry.
Gorgeous wreath that give my wreath a run for it's money!
To all of our friends and family, thank you so much for showering us in such love and kindness. We are so lucky to have you in our lives!

Can't wait for the wedding!


Best,

Micah

5.24.2012

Favors...Part Deux

And you know there will be a Part Trois...because this was only the test batch.

Guests of Micah & Patrick's Wedding...
YOU SHALL NOT READ THIS POST!
I took the test batch of cookies out of the freezer for our favors...and...BAM! After a few hours of warming up, they tasted delicious! (Unfortunately, they don't look pretty (thus the lack of pictures), so I'll leave that to our actual favor batches when I make them next month).

Meanwhile, I ordered some Washi tape, from the ever-loving Etsy, and some simple white favor boxes (Michael's - of course). For assembly - I plan on Saran-Wrapping the cookies, then wrapping them with ivory tulle (also, from Micheal's --- best. place. ever!) and then sticking them neatly in the Washi-tape-decorated favor boxes and stamping "Thank You!" on them (Found a stamp with Bridesmaid Abbie at PaperSource - a dangerous place filled with pretty cupcake-y things that it is VERY difficult not to spend your entire paycheck on. Not that I did).

This is the Washi Tape I got! So cute! (Although, I recommend getting two
rolls - the rolls are quite small!)
cardmaking
Rubber stamp from Papersource!
I have a feeling that I'm going to have to summon the 'Maids to help me assemble these babies! I can't wait to see how they turn out!

Best,

Micah

P.S. Just curious, any one else out there making their own favors?

5.22.2012

Invitation Suite...Revealed!

Ok. I simply cannot withold our invitations any longer! I am so excited about the way they turned out and quite proud of Patrick and myself for creating them ourselves. We are so close to the RSVP deadline that I figure our guests have at least seen them before, therefore no shame in revealing them:

There's our invite, RSVP card and info card.
That little tag I created to tie
everything together with twine!
I think they tie in very well with Patrick's Save-the-Date design! I've got to find a way to display them in our home...

The whole suite!
The back of the invite, all tied up and ready to be put in our envelopes.
This is how the bundle looks. I like that it came out simple,
and vintage-y in the black and white, with the pop of blue!
Ooh! I used a rose stamp for the back of the RSVP envelopes to give a small sweet flourish to the RSVPs for the guests (and, I'll admit --- to spruce up the plain white envelopes).



Using the address stamp! Best postage purchase ever!
We printed them through the same website as our Save-the-Dates and I think, saved a bundle! Plus --- there is always an quick and easy way to order extras should I mess up the envelopes...not that I did...

All done! Ready to be sent out!
I may have briefly mentioned that this was a labor of love. That being said, we've had loads of lovely compliments on the invites, and they are 100% us. I'm glad/lucky to be in a relationship with someone who's completely creative and willing to let me DIY my little heart out on our wedding. 


Patrick and I proof-read them like it was our job before we printed, and as soon as we received the prints in the mail, we got to work on stamping, tying, postage-stamping, and sealing. Until over 80 invites were ready to head out!

Receiving the RSVPs in the mail these past couple of weeks have been so much fun! It's like a little prezzie in the mail almost every day! {It's one of my favorite parts of wedding planning}

Did anyone else DIY or semi-DIY their invites? What's your story like?

-Micah

5.14.2012

Wedding Outfits

I've obviously gushed a billion times about The Big White Dress, but, I want to take a moment to talk about the other outfits that are playing their own little roles in preparation for our wedding day! See --- I am an incredibly lucky lady; I have a loving fiance, a supportive family and family of in-laws, and wonderful friends! I am honored to know that my bridesmaids are throwing me a shower and bachelorette closer to the wedding, while Patrick and I will be attending our "Jack and Jill" shower in a few weeks! (My aunties are also planning me a special girl's night!) Plus there's rehearsal and rehearsal dinner, and my parents are generously throwing a small cook-out the day after the wedding for us. I have to say I'm feeling unbelievably loved and excited and honored to see the love that is surrounding Patrick and I as we get closer to the Wedding day. Showers, bachelorettes and other wedding celebrations besides the Ceremony and Reception itself can and almost are big planning events themselves. So for our family and friends to be creating these celebrations for us makes me feel so very loved and honored. 

That being said...knowing that these wonderful days are ahead, I have had some fun putting together outfits for them. There are some outfits pulled straight from my closet, and some that I may have sought out and had fun shopping for. So here are my Non-Big-White-Dress Wedding outfits! (Don't judge the awkward photos I took of myself...)

First up: "Jack & Jill" shower dress. (A Jack and Jill Shower is one thrown for both the Bride adn the Groom!) You may recognize this dress from our Engagement pictures!

Next is the Bridal Shower dress. My bridesmaids are the best! They're putting one together a week before the wedding but, I already knew what I wanted to wear. (Even if I wasn't going to have a Shower, I needed this dress). Guys, I was coveting this from ModCloth.com for quite sometime. If you notice, it is a Cupcake Dress. Try not to freak out. I know. I know.

Not sure if I should look for some heels or not? Thoughts?
Third outfit (sorry if this is boring) is the Bachelorette Dress. Confession to make --- I straight up stole this from my lovely little sister and MOH's closet! It's an adorable dress she wore to her winter ball a couple years ago, and I thought it would be cute!
And now, the Rehearsal dress! I knew I wanted to wear white, because I wanted to pair the outfit with the necklace I made in my favorite color. I found a white BCBG dress that was flattering and seemed appropriate for an outdoor/July rehearsal dinner. I plan on pairing it with a white short-sleeved cardigan and cobalt blue sparkly heels that I've been dying to wear for the rehearsal itself...


...And then losing the jacket and throwing on flats for the rehearsal dinner.

Lastly, I mentioned my parents were going to throw a party for the family the next day. It's going to be a small thing for the wedding party and close family to hang out the day after and relax, and we are so excited. What a nice way to wrap up the festivities of the wedding. Well, lucky for me in a trip to H&M I found a cute casual white dress on sale! That would be perfect for a casual cook-out the next day!

Not sure why, I'm doing an awkward dance pose.
So there they are! My To-Do-With-the-Wedding-Outfits! And the shoes! (All of these are pulled from the closet. Yes, I have too many shoes.


Sparkly!
I was inspired to do this post by many of the Blogger Bees on Weddingbee, and I think it's fun and a good way to figure out what to wear and when to wear it. Especially for someone who is needing to save money (About 50% of the outfits I already owned...that's kind of good....hmm)!

What did/are you wearing for the pre-wedding events? Are you, like me, trying to wear as much white as possible? :)

Best,

Micah

5.11.2012

Oh, My Paper Heart!

Confession: When we were sending out our Save-the-Dates, I may or may not have gotten a little overzealous on the ordering front. I ordered 200 prints of our design thinking that I needed one for each guest, and since we'd be having around 150 on the guest list, I though 200 was playing it safe. Welp, we sent out 75 Save-the-Dates. No, not because we had a dramatic decrease in our guest list, we just didn't need to send one to EACH guest individually. There were couples, and large and small families, so 75 was the number that needed to go out to get one to each household. Looking back, this seems pretty obvious to me, but I was nervous! I never had to send out any invites of any sort with paper, let alone anything to a guest list of this size. I just wanted to be cautious. But having over 100 surplus prints, I needed to find a way of recycling them into our wedding day decor!

I thought, you know...we have a serious lack (i.e. only have one) of garlands in our decor. And they are fun, easy to make, and pretty! So, I thought of making a paper chain with the extra STD cards, but not just any paper chain, a paper heart chain! I googled it, and found a bunch of tutorials, but I really liked this one the best. So simple, with great results!

Here's the How To:

First cut about 1 and 1/2 strips from whichever paper material you choose, then fold over the ends to make little lips, like so...


Then, fold the strips in half so that the mini lips at the ends you created face each other.


Next, your going to glue each side to the center to create the heart shape. I used Elmer's glue --- even though it didn't dry the quickest, it seems to hold the strongest (since I need to save all my hot glue for another project - which I'm almost done with! Yes! (Later)).

You glue the little lip things down
to the center fold. Like so.

One side done.
And when you've glued both down, it should look a little like this...
Yay! Save-the-Date, recycled into a cute little heart!
To connect the hearts, I used the extra scraps from the Save-the-dates that had already been cut into strips to make a little link and then glued them to a set of paper hearts. When you are finished, it will look something like this!

So there you have it! I made a chain that's probably five and a half feet long, and still have so many prints left (::embarrassed::), so looks like I'll be making another chain/finding new ways of recycling them. Do you have any over-orders that you've had to recycle somehow? How are you doing them? Any other paper-craft-obsessed brides out there?

Best,

Micah


5.10.2012

Gifting my Groom!


Sorry, it's been a busy few weeks. As we draw closer and closer to the big day (and several of our good friends' big days --- Wedding Season is almost upon us!), we're getting busier and busier! We're getting RSVPs daily, and even got some early wedding gifts! Speaking of gifts...Patrick,


Hey Patrick, I love you so much, but you can't read this one! It's about your wedding present! So skedaddle! And I think he's gone. 

So, I've been thinking about wedding presents for Patrick ever since before we got engaged. I have had several ideas, but --- as I trolled Etsy, something caught my eye. And it arrived today!

Check that sweet packaging!
Patrick and I have a specific love for all things Modern Art! Now, don't get all uppity --- Modern Art can mean several things for several people. For us it means this: clean, fun, colorful and non-traditional. Not "orthodox-y" as Patrick would say. We've taken very much to Mid-Century Modernism, so artists and architects and designers like Piet Mondrian, Walter Gropious, and Charles and Ray Eames really pique our interest when it comes to visual art and how we plan on decorating and building our home.

So, like I said, I was trolling Etsy for present ideas and spotted nothing else but Mondrian-inspired cuff links! I thought this would be a wonderful present for a man who dresses very well (like Patrick).

Fancy!
The two together!

I can't wait to see his reaction to this present (I have plans for a second part to the gift, that will be revealed soon!)! 

Are/Did you get your Soon-to-be-Hubby a wedding gift? What was it? When are you planning on gifting him --- rehearsal dinner, or morning/day of the wedding? 

All the best,

Micah