Posts filed under 'wedding'
Dance Fever!
Although my new hubby is NOT a fan of dancing and 3 dances was all I got out of him, it was more than I’d thought I’d get! Everyone else however, danced like crazy! The kids were hilarious! During every official dance and otherwise, kids were galloping and waltzing all over the dance floor! It was a blast!! I got in as much dancing as I could when I wasn’t otherwise distracted with pictures, talking with guests, trying to take it all in, etc! It was during the dancing that my the hubby disappeared quite a bit to avoid having to get out there!
Apparently there was even a lot of dancing going on before Ray and I even made it to the reception…I LOVE these pictures of my little girlies swirling around! My photographer had a great time with them! (and don’t their dresses look cute! Made by the two little twirlers wonderful mom!)
And now the wild boys! (video of the boys is much funnier than these pictures! Ray’s groomsman’s son, my cousin’s and nephews were dancing kings- and they knew it!)
Did you see the beads around the boys necks?? I had tons of stuff laid out on the kid’s tables, spilling out of sand buckets…games, jewelry, toys, lots of stuff to keep them entertained. Most of the beads, ended up on the BOYS – Mardi-gras style! I’m just hoping they didn’t steal them from the girls Mardi-gras style!! Ha!
My bro Craig and my good friend Josh were my DJ’s. Josh has known my family for years, so they did a great job picking out tunes! His wife was also my lovely coordinator! So of course, they picked out a very fitting song.
Their most obvious choice was “Stacey’s Mom.” Oh yes….it was a requirement and yes, my mom does have it goin’ on! The groomsmen dragged her out on the floor and they along with myself and my bridesmaids loudly serenaded her through the whole song! Now, my mom– is NOT a music listener! I don’t know that she’d ever even heard of the song before- except for the time I played it for her on my phone to show her it was her ring tone! They tried to get Ray to help serenade her out on the dance floor, but it didn’t happen!
It seemed like every time I tried to dance with my maids, I got pulled away, but we still had a blast!!
Betcha can’t guess what song we were dancin to here! I thoroughly protested against group dances, but for some reason they’re always requested at weddings! So, I just went with it! As long as the YMCA wasn’t on the playlist!
But….ummm….what exactly is going on here? Can’t say I remember this moment, but it kinda looks like the YMCA?? Or was it “Shout” and everyone is “throwing hands up?” Oh no!
However, I am ok with the dance line! It’s always funny!
My grams requested a special song for us to dance to…although I pretty much hate the song, I’ll do just about anything for her! After all she’s 85 and can still get down, so let her have her fun! She requested “Achy Breaky Heart.” Yes, you read that right. Supposedly in honor of a certain student I used to teach (since Grams is a little too old to actually know any of her songs, but knows her dad’s! Ugh!)
She grabbed me and a couple of my youth girls and created her own “line dance.”
And these pictures pretty much express how crazy things were all night!
Did you notice who was missing from all of these pictures?? He didn’t get back in the action until our last dance! Since he’d told me he wasn’t dancing after our first and the one with his mom, I didn’t pick out a last dance song. No worries, plenty of people to pick that out for me….let’s just say a little Marvin Gaye was going on….and I’m glad that I was married because it would’ve been embarrassing dancing to THAT in front of my guests! Hehe!
Then it was time to take off for our bed and breakfast in our balloon filled car! The guys had to beg my dad for the keys to the rental so that they could do something! I know I’m particular, but I did NOT want to drive off in a car with dirty things written all over it, so that’s why we got a rental! That, and driving away in a Mustang convertible on your wedding night is just pretty darn amazing! Besides, I’ve already ridden with Ray in a car with filthy stuff and condoms hanging everywhere. Last year when my BFF got married they decorated BOTH their cars not knowing which they’d use and we had to drive her husband’s truck!
THE END!
(or at least, the end of what you get to know about!!)
1 comment February 2, 2009
Dinner Reception
As previously mentioned, we held a cake reception and a dinner reception after our wedding! We wanted to be able to have the traditional dinner/dancing reception, but didn’t want to have to limit the guest list due to the higher cost of serving guests dinner! So we decided to do both! Everyone was invited to the cake reception, and family, wedding party, and anyone who helped with the wedding were all invited to the dinner. It was hard to decide who to invite to what, so that was what we came up with!
Our dinner reception was held at Old Natchez Country Club in Franklin, TN. Our coordinator, Debbie was fabulous! She made sure that every detail was put in place and carried through, from setting up our table designs, working with the chef on the perfect menu, shooing the kids away from places they shouldn’t be, to making sure that Ray and I actually ate something!
(I love that you can see my chocolate fountain in this pic!)
We had a buffet dinner, which I never saw, since our plates were brought to us, and which I heard was wonderful but didn’t really even taste it until we ate our goodie bag they sent with us later that night! The best stuff was the Coconut Chicken, with a mango sauce, and Marinated Flank Steak. Oh, that and the cupcakes and the chocolate fountain!
Of course, here is where the cupcakes I have so long raved about (here, here, here, and here!) made their debut! People are STILL talking about these babies!
Here’s my favorite pictures of our decor. I worked my butt off planning all of this, since I’d kept the church decor simple and left the cake reception up to my mom and Sherri! While I didn’t actually put any of this out, I worked hard on buying, ordering, and designing it all! The lovely escort cards (which I was THRILLED with!) were done by my friend Susanna, with sand dollars I bought at one of my favorite beach shops in NC. (So yes, some things really were from the beach!)
During our official dances, we invited other couples, fathers and daughters, and mothers and sons to come join us about halfway through the respective songs. It’s kinda awkward to just sit and stair at one pair of dancers.
Our first dance was to “Unchained Melody” by the Righteous Brothers. My all time favorite song!
Our Father Daughter Dance was “Cinderella” by Stephen Curtis Chapman. It had just come out when I got engaged, and my dad had to listen to it for months in order to make it through the actual dance! He cried when we “practiced” a couple months before!
I loved seeing the other fathers dance with their daughters! Here’s my brother, Rob, dancing with his girls, my brother-in-law Hector and Kaylee, and then my Jr. Bridesmaids dancin with their daddy.
His Mother son dance was to Christina Aguilera’s “Por Siempre Tu” (Her Spanish version of “I Turn to You.”). He was super cute dancing with his mom, as was my brother Craig with our mom, and my sis-in-laws- Carla dancing with Nicholas and Lindsey dancing with Baby Grey!
After a few dances, it was dinner time!
Then a few impromptu speeches!
After all that, and an outdoor picture session (which I’ll feature pictures from later!), it was time for some serious dancing! It was so crazy and fun, it merits its own post! Stay tuned!
(I’m currently playing with layouts, as I didn’t love the sidebar placement on the last and trying to get my pics to show up normal! Sorry if you see a few changes!)
Add comment January 28, 2009
DIY Wedding Coloring Book!
Completely loving this super cute idea! If I’d come across it sooner, I definitely would have done it! So maybe it’s good that I didn’t! Like I really needed another DIY project!! It definitely would have entertained the kiddos, but they were already pretty entertained with all the toys I had at their tables, the endless supply of the desserts, and lets not forget the DANCING!!
I found this recently posted at Blue Sky Designs, and just had to check it out, even though I can’t use it myself! It’s pretty customizeable (is that a word?), giving you options to insert names and dates, as it gives highlights of the wedding day events and people. It’s in word format, so it is pretty easy to edit/delete/add to suit your own style/needs!
Go check it out, and also see Tara’s final product when she recently used it at her wedding, along with cute little ribbon tied bundles of crayons!
Add comment December 19, 2008
Walmart Bridal Clearance!
I’ve been seeing lots of bridal clearance at Walmart lately! Probably making room for their new lines- which are actually kind of nice!! Just wanted to post real quick about this- I’ll put up some pics later of stuff I just got! I got somethings before my wedding over a month ago now- cake server/knife set for one (more on that later! it was left in my car and never used!!), and somethings just yesterday!
Yesterday I got some bachelorette party stuff (somehow I’m the keeper of all bach party stuff among all my friends! even the stuff from my own!) and cute thank you notes- each item for $.50!! I’ll post pics later, but I’m off to run errands now and maybe even to check out another Walmart or two for more goodies!! Definitely need more TY notes! Still working on getting those out!!
There’s also lots of invitations, flower petals, guest book pens, and many other things on clearance. They probably aren’t the best and highest quality, but some will definitely do for the price, if you’re in a pinch or throwing a quick wedding! I even saw a really cute hankercheif with blue rhinestone hearts that I would’ve loved to have had! But I did ask my aunt last minute for an old one of hers!
I also got my ring bearer pillows from their new line! I’ll also post more on those later!! Lots to do!!!
Add comment August 30, 2008
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Add comment August 28, 2008
The dress day!
Ohhhhhh, I wish I could share pics of how beeeeaaaauuuuuttttiiiiifuuuuul my dress has turned out! However, there’s always the chance that the fiance with take a peek at it, so no taking chances here! ) He usually doesn’t read my blog, but he has on occasion!
I purchased my dress from a consignment store, which I promise I will share about at a later date! It was super cheap, and a beautiful dress, but to me, it was just a little ho-hum! I’ve ALWAYS wanted a dress with a little color- even before that became popular recently!! Of course, the color of choice has always been blue!
Yesterday, I took the dress out to the Lasaters, and had Chaundra Lasater help me re-do it! She is amazing! If you haven’t heard me rave about her yet- you will now! ) She’s altering 3 BM dresses and making 3 flower girl dresses and 3 junior bridesmaid dresses.
Oh by the way…..here is my beautiful model Olivia again- showing off her now finished junior bridesmaid dress!
and the back…
Back to my dress….I can’t even tell you how many times I put it on and took it off yesterday! But it was worth the finished product! She took the hem way up, then used some of that material to make straps for the dress (it looked fine without, but I feel less naked!!) And we added a fun blue element, which I will also keep a surprise!!
It was a lot of fun! Well for me at least! Probably not for Chaundra! In between trying the dress on and checking to make sure I liked all she was doing, I got to help bake a cake for the birthday girl/flower girl Gabby, and got to play and color a lot with all 3 of her girls (2 of my jr. BMs and 1 flower girl!) I also had to pretend that I was Paula Abdul quite a few times, and the girls were my kids or servants (when did Paula have kids! haha!)
Birthday girl….
We also took lots of silly pics and made “gymnastic” videos which were really cute and funny! You can see them on my myspace soon! )
Olivia can do more than model! She’s a pretty good gymnast too! Look closely and you’ll see Gabs in the mirror doing her own headstand! (and my arm!!)
Plus, along with all the fun, practically the whole family joined in on helping with my dress. The girls fetched pins, scissors, etc for their mom, and Aaron even ripped apart the hem of the dress after Chaundra chopped it off, so she could reuse the stuff at the bottom that helps hold the hem down! What a great fam!
1 comment June 13, 2008
Designs in Paper!
Donette and Steve of Designs in Paper are currently my fave people! )
I’d met them before at a bridal show, and again last weekend at the party. I’d talked to them about doing my wedding programs since I thought I had invitations covered, but then when that didn’t work out- I needed them for that too! They are AMAZING!!
One of my very first posts was on their confetti….if you read the post…well, you can tell I was a recently engaged, barely started the planning process bride! Oh my lofty expectations of creating my invites myself!! HA!!!! Now I know there are brides that do it, but I have way more important things to do with my time than cut, fold, print, design, etc. If it was all I had to do- no prob! But not when there are a million other details I barely have time for!!
And to think, I thought I couldn’t afford their invites! I can’t afford NOT to use their invites! ) They do so much of the work and do it WELL! )
Everything is custom made, so there is no cookie cutter form or design that you have to stick with!
Since no one really read my blog way back when (hehe!), I’m going to do another post on their confetti, then one on the invites!
Almost anything you can think of they can make it…..except for donkeys! Yes, someone asked them to make donkeys! Haha! But almost anything else! I’m thinking of our names (to keep a theme on our invites and programs). and palm trees or shells (to match the decor!)
Their confetti is only $12.50 per bag of 100 pieces!! Also, it’s free with invitations!! They were even going to throw some in with my programs when I was just thinking about getting those from them!
Here’s some fun examples of their confetti!
These martini glasses are from the SATC party! They were also in green and too cute!!!
And these are some examples of the cute way they make monogram/name confetti!
And the super fun stuff they made for Ashley…
Totally worth looking into, right?? I probably would’ve had them make me confetti, even if I ordered nothing else from them! Now, I’m so glad they’re doing it all!! More to come!
Add comment June 10, 2008
How important is a chair cover?!
Ok, there have been lots of different wedding traditions/standards that I’ve come across lately that I think are just so silly! The price hikes on some things simply because they are for a “wedding” is ridiculous!
This is my latest complaint/pain in my side– Chair covers!!!
This is what the chairs at my reception look like….
Not bad…..except they don’t really match the “look” I’m going for or my colors! This is what my tables are shaping up to look like….
Ignore all the stuff along the edges, around the lantern will be some votive candles and scattered shells and confetti (more on the confetti later!!) Also the shells in the lantern will be arranged better!
I think they purposely make chairs that are least likely to match your decor, so that you have to rent the chair covers! They are $5.50 a CHAIR!! I have to pay $5.50 for every person at my reception to have a seat?? Crazy!! We’re expecting about 120, so that’s an extra $660 at least- not counting tax! AH!! We already have to pay to rent the table lines, and well there’s no way I’m not getting those!!
So, we’re looking into some other options–
- no chair covers
- rent chair covers for the head tables only
- borrow chair covers from my aunt’s friend for all tables (waiting to see how many she has and if we can borrow them AND if our venue will let us use other covers!)
- borrow chair covers from my aunt’s friend for the head tables only
Here’s my question(s!)….other brides PLEASE weigh in!! How important is it to make sure that your chairs match? Did you decided to go for it if your venue needed it? Have you ever even noticed whether or not the chairs at a reception matched the rest of the decor??
Let me know what you think about chair covers!!!!
4 comments June 8, 2008
Strike a pose!!
I can’t think of anything more fun than grabbing your girlfriends and stuffing yourselves into a little photobooth to snap some great shots and make some great memories!! At the party, was a photobooth from Photobooth Nashville, and as you can see, my girls and I had quite a bit of fun with it!!
This is a spectacular idea for a wedding, or any other party/event! They even give you a CD of the pics afterwards (not for everyone- for whoever rents it!), so that you can see all the pics from the night! I’d love to see all the ones from this night!! With all ladies there- I bet there were some even crazier than ours!!
Check out their website above, or see the address/phone number on the pics….I’m pretty sure that at your event, they’ll write a personal message there for you!
Here’s a little taste of the fun we had…..
You get to choose black and white or color…….
We may have crammed too many people in this one!! I didn’t think I was even in the pic! Apparently, I was a bit too much!
Much better with two people…..myself and my MoH!!!
And Kelley and Kara take a shot at just two people as well!!……
Add comment June 7, 2008
Beach cupcakes!
If you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time, you already know how in love I am with these!
If you haven’t seen this before, this is one of the cupcakes from Cakes by Shara, which won a Martha Stewart cupcake contest!!
Anyways, I’ve tasted her cupcakes at a few wedding events and parties (including one DIVINE chocolate cupcake from the SATC party!), but still wanted to set up a tasting to choose the three flavors for my cupcakes at my dinner reception. I already knew for SURE that chocolate would be one guaranteed! )
These are the cuties that she made up for me!
And a close up of the big one so you can see the details of the adorable (and yummy!) shells!
All of the shells and the blue “waves” are made from fondant, and there is icing below the waves too. I’ve never been a huge fan of fondant, but apparently that was because I’d never tasted fondant done right. This…was amazing…and sparkly! Very yummy!!
The big one is chocolate, the white one front/left is strawberry, white one back/left is orange, and the back blue one is vanilla cake with amaretto icing….YUM!!!
I decided on the chocolate, strawberry and amaretto. I was going to do them all medium size and all with the blue, but after seeing how cute the other ones were (and maybe not everyone would like fondant), I decided to do some of the white too!
And we thought since all the little ones at the wedding might be snagging cupcakes left and right, we’d make minis like these she made for the Relish party. They’ll have blue icing with a smaller version of the shell on them.
I’m also getting a cupcake tree similar to this one! But with the center columns in navy!
So we’ll have about 60 mini’s and 60 medium cupcakes!! I can’t wait to see how cute they will look all together!!
If you are at ALL interested in getting cupcakes for your wedding in place of or even along with a cake (I’m having a cake too earlier in the day at a larger cake reception- made by Cake by Dake.)
Here’s some other adorable/beautiful cupcakes that Shara has made- all pics from her blog Cakes by Shara Lunn…
These monkeys are too super cute!!
Beautiful flowers and pearls!
Valentine’s Day!
And my fave, other than the one I’m getting! (hmmm, I wonder why I like it??!) If I’d done pink and aqua….guaranteed I’d want this beauty!!!
And a more close-up pic of the custom cupcake stands she makes!
Visit Cakes by Shara now and check out all her amazing cakes too!!
2 comments June 5, 2008
