I mentioned before that there were some difficulties in planning our Louisville wedding from Memphis.  However, the biggest obstacle with this we never saw coming.  Matt and I were so excited about all of our family and friends being in town and in one place that we both stayed out a little too late the night before the wedding :).  What were we supposed to do - go to bed early so we would be fresh-faced for the wedding?  We only see most of these people a few times a year, so it was so special for us.

Regardless, the morning of the wedding was perfect in my mind.  I woke up at 7:00am ready, got Starbucks and was off to Z Salon for hair and makeup.  We had a wonderful time at the salon and I just remember feeling so calm and happy.  I told everyone to get to the church by 12:30pm even though we weren’t doing many pictures ahead of time.  It was not an option for the wedding to start late, so I would have rather everyone gotten there early.  The girls were in one room drinking mimosas, laughing and telling stories.  The boys on the other hand were… well…

And then… it was time…

*photos by 502 Photography

I knew I would be giving gifts during our rehearsal dinner, but I did not I would be receiving gifts, too!

While we were waiting for our food to arrive, my soon-to-be father-in-law gave a touching toast. He even choked up a bit when he acknowledged that his “baby boy” was getting married.

He then turned it over to my soon-to-be mother-in-law, who surprised me with a sweet little speech. She explained that when she moved from the east coast to the west coast, Nick’s sister gave her a Tiffany’s heart necklace and said that they would always be close in heart. Mother-in-law later gifted the same heart necklace to her daughter and daughters-in-law. And now it was time to welcome a new woman into the family! I’m privileged to join a family with such strong and devoted women. And what a sweet tradition!

(Side note: When Nick was shopping for a necklace to give to me on our first Christmas together, his sister told him he was not allowed to get the heart necklace. You know what that means … she suspected we may end up together even way back then!)

Next it was our turn. Nick and I presented gifts to everyone playing a part in our big day.

I already told you about the ruby red earrings (I chose The Peach Tree) and the clutches I got for my girls. They loved both! I also slipped chapstick and tic-tacs into each clutch because I didn’t think they should be empty.

In addition to the awesome frames that Nick assembled for the guys, he also had mugs engraved with their initials. After the boys unwrapped them, we collected them back to bring to the reception the following night. Also, our dads got mugs that said “Father of the Bride” and “Father of the Groom” with the date. And we couldn’t leave the bride and groom without sweet drinking vessels. Ours said “Mr.” and “Mrs.,” of course.

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So it must be Save the Date week at EAD, I believe I am the third blogger this week to present hers!

I toyed with the idea of magnets, CDs and finally settled on postcards b/c honestly, it was easy.  I’ve been working like crazy lately and traveling nearly every weekend to visit my fiance in Texas (I am in DC), so I’ve had very little time to brainstorm.  But last weekend, I went to my faithful google reader and searched “save the date” ideas in the months worth of entries I had starred.  I came across a STD that I adored - totally urban, artistic, minimalistic and chic - precisely the vibe I was going for (and I am now hitting myself in the head as I can’t find my inspiration and I totally owe credit to it, so when I find it again, I will post it).   So I took my original inspiration but altered it and added personal elements and our fabulous photo from our engagement session with Missy in photoshop to suit our needs, and voila, this is what I came up with.   There was just no time to re-invent the wheel this late in the game.

Front:

Back:

I then ordered 100 postcards for ONLY $28 at www.printsmadeasy.com.  Unbelievable value.  I should get them by Friday so hopefully they turn out great!

One of the most important things to remember in wedding planning is the list of gifts to be purchased for your bridal party, parents, readers, shower hosts and hostesses, etc.  Traditional gifts such as cuff-links and money clips will always be appropriate tokens of appreciation.  I, however, am a firm believer in giving people something they will love, not something generic in the name of tradition.  Here is our list of wedding gifts, some traditional, some unique, and some down-right random.

Standing up for me was my made-of-honor and my three brothers.  I also had four other ladies who walked down the aisle as bridesmaids (although they didn’t stand in front of church).  My goal was to get them something classy that they would be able to use right away as well as something sentimental.

I ended up gifting each of them with a different color leather Coach change purse.  They came in yellow, pink and gold.  Purchased here.

The other gift I got for the ladies was an even bigger hit. I got them all copies of the 5 Year Diary. I have always loved writing in a journal and the layout of this one is beyond cool. Check it out here.

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I know I don’t usually post contests over here, but this one is too good not to pass on - run over to Snippet & Ink today where Kathryn is hosting a giveaway of a NYC engagement shoot featuring the fabulous A Bryan Photo.

Good luck!

The weeks leading up to your wedding are impossibly busy.  I was pretty organized throughout the process but between designing our programs, creating menu cards and printing escort cards, free time was hard to come by the last few weeks.  Oh and don’t forget about making sure all gifts were purchased and cards written.  And that there was a detailed timeline of the day.  Or, if you’re us, a detailed timeline of the 5-day event starting Wednesday.   Regardless, doing these projects myself made our wedding a labor of love and I enjoyed pouring myself into every last detail.

I always knew I wanted a Blurb guestbook.  My main goal was to create something that Matt and I would want to keep, not just a pretty book with the signatures of our loved ones.  So I pulled out that box that most of us gals have - you know, the box filled with ticket stubs, receipts and cards that you aren’t sure what you’ll do with but one day -  yep, that’s the one.  I uploaded all of our personal memories into Blurb and voila - our guestbook!

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With all the ideas I have for our reception, I am left pretty blank on inspiration for the church. There are FAR fewer photos of churches in all the inspirational blogs and so it hasn’t really been on the top of my list to think about. So what exactly do people do?

Off the top of my head, the only things I can think about are altar decorations, pew decorations, and maybe something on the doors.

Let’s talk pews. Honestly, there are some seriously HIDEOUS pew decorations out there. Sorry to say, but just search “pew decorations” on etsy and…wow. It made searching such a drag.

Anyway, I was still able to find a couple pictures. You all know my love of ribbons!!

{ image via Modern Day Design }

{ image via snippet & ink }

Our church has a little hole in the top of every other pew…seems like you might be able to stick something in there like a hook or something to secure whatever you want to hang from it.

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ack!  So I’m sorry for being MIA lately…I have good reasons…some of which I’ll share with you all very soon!  But I just COULD NOT WAIT to show you some of our Love Shoot pics!!  Khara is pretty much awesome and a half…and well…we’re kinda cute too :)

LOVE this black and white one…

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Although I love fashion and adore shopping, wedding dress shopping was a different story. It took me a while to actually want to go dress shopping, but when I went, it was easy and fun. My mom and I met in Nashville (halfway between Memphis and Louisville) and I had made three appointments. The first was at The Bride Room and although I didn’t ultimately get my dress there, the experience could not have been better. I recommend it to anyone in the area.

While at The Bride Room, I fell in love with Monique Lhullier’s Monet dress, but it was out of my budget. Although I didn’t get that dress, I then had my heart set on a lace dress, which made the rest of the search much easier. I now knew what I wanted when I went into stores and could be much more efficient. I ultimately settled on this dress from Mikaella Bridal:

I have long hair (a few inches below my shoulders) and would have loved to leave it down, but since I knew it was going to be so hot out, that wasn’t an option. I was also open to the idea of wearing a flower in my hair. I found this bride’s photo on Our Blog of Love, which I loved and took with me to my hair trial…

I decided to let the ladies in our wedding choose the black dress of their choice. This was a personal choice and something I decided not to be picky about. I love the look of matching bridesmaid dresses, but it just wasn’t necessary for me. As for the guys, Matt and I liked the idea of everyone wearing black suit tuxes and our fathers wearing traditional tuxedos.

You’ll see the finished product later this week!

How are you outfitting your bridal party?

After the church and reception venue were booked and the date was set, it was time to think about our Save the Dates.  Matt and I were talking one night and decided that we wanted to create a map chronicling the paths we each took to find each other and where we are now.  We both went off to college, moved across the country after graduation, and met as two midwestern kids in NYC before getting engaged and moving to Memphis. And now we were planning a wedding in Louisville. Whew.  It wears me out to just write it.  I mentioned our idea on Pretty Bride and soon Laura Hooper came to the rescue.

Our save the dates were a hit!  Now, it was on to invitations. Early on in the process I decided that I wanted us to create the invitations ourselves. Please note that I am not a graphic designer or a craft-maker extraordinaire. However, this seemed like something we could do and a great way to save some money that I could use on something else.

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