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

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

And...they're off!

So, like I had said before, we mailed off our wedding invitations on Friday! Wee! Of course, there are silly, unnecessary gleeful pictures...

Yup.

We are so excited (as you see) and can't wait to see the guests' response cards. There was a little over a count of 80 invites sent out, they were made by hand and I can't wait to show you them in their crafty, lovey-dovey glory. But I will wait, so that they might remain a surprise to our guests ;-)

Bye-Bye!

I'll show you the full suite of our invitations as soon as we start getting some back! Yay!

Best,

Micah

Another Sneak Peak

Look what we finally finished!!!

Got to wait a wee bit before the big reveal! We are sending them off tomorrow. To be honest, this labor-of-love has to have been one of the hardest DIYs we've taken on. I've been a little over zealous with the checking and re-checking of each address, each stamp placement, etc. to the point where, I'm kind of excited to see them shipped off. I'm so thrilled with the way they came out. Patrick did such a beautiful job with the design and I think it really goes well with our Save-the-Dates. They're personal, us, and match our wedding aesthetic.

I can't wait to show you the final design! Until then...this will have to do :-)

Best,

Micah

100th post---Fewer than 100 Days left!

93 Days to be exact...
Guys, it doesn't really seem real.

I was talking stressing out to Patrick about some task I felt had to be done already and he said "Relax, we're fine. Everything's done." While this is only semi-true, it did lead me to the revelation that really, we are very prepared and have been mostly on top of the ball. There are a few things that I am slightly nervy about, but on the whole, we are looking good!

But I do find that my wedding-fever is waxing as the days until our wedding are waning. (See what I did there). At this point, although it is getting quite close, it still feels as if it is a dream day that will never come. My flippant Bride Brain keeps going from project to project (unfortunately not fully completing them. Ex: Completed 1 of 2 pomanders for the flower girls, Ex: Completed 4 of 14 table numbers (we're not sure how many tables yet). But all that craziness is currently being funneled into one thing...

The Wedding Invitations!

(insert thunder clash here)

Well, they aren't all that bad! Actually, I really LOVE the design that Patrick did. It's perfect. It marries his love of modern with my love of classic (which can be tricky sometimes). Of course, I must withhold revealing them until a little after I send them. I know some guests may read this blog, and I'd like it to be a surprise. So, that design coupled with a few crafty flourishes provided by myself completes our invite. This makes it even more special to us, but at the same time, a little more lengthy in the time it takes to prepare them to send off. Ah well, it's worth it!

I am appreciative that I have this giant wedding project to subdue the craziness of my Bride's Brain. It is helping me focus, keeping me calm and feeling productive. And have I mentioned I LOVE how they came out. I love how they came out. Wee!

So, what's left to do for you Below-100-Days-to-go-Brides? Are you freaking out or is it smooth sailing for you? What's stressing you out? What's keeping you calm?

Best,

Micah