Wedding Shower #2

The lovely ladies in my mom's Sunday school class hosted our second shower at the church. It was a wonderful shower with great food, decorations, games, and fun. They did an excellent job.

These are the wonderful hostesses....plus my mom.

My parent's Sunday school class probably isn't like most Sunday school classes.....maybe it is, but I just feel like they are such a tight knit group. I've grown up with most of the member's children since we were itty bitty, or I watched them group up in the church when I was grown and they were itty bitty. They are a very special group of people to me and my parents. They do a lot together. They go on vacations together, dinner parties, holiday parties, etc. Not only that, but they go through a lot of life changing events together....births, deaths, illnesses/diseases, children's graduations and weddings......the good and the bad. One thing they have done a thousand times and could probably do with their eyes closed is host a bridal shower. I'm so grateful they offered to host a shower for us.

The Invitation:

The Food:

If there's one thing these ladies are known for, I'd say it'd have to be their ability to cook. The food was delicious and homemade. Each guest was asked to bring their favorite recipe to share. I am very excited about trying them out for Aaron. I need all the help I can get in the cooking department.

The Games:

 

We played two games. One game required the ladies to search through their purses and mark off everything they had in their purse that was listed on the sheet. One of the items was a picture of the bride. I just knew no one would get that one, but to my surprise, one of my mom's friends had my senior volleyball picture still in her wallet. You never know when something like that might come in handy. The other game asked for an estimated price of various household goods. Whoever got closest in price after totaling them all up won a gift. I think the winner was .67 off. Pretty darn close.

 

We got some really great gifts at this shower. We are totally set with all of our kitchen appliances and gadgets and we got all of our bedding for both bedrooms. Thankfully, Aaron's mom took a load of gifts back with her when she left. Aaron also took a load last time he came so we have that all taken care of.

 

There were a few really cool sentimental gifts that weren't on our registry that we got and loved so much.

 

 This one made me cry. My aunt bought me a huge jar of Queen of Suds laundry detergent. If you haven't read my blog post about this, then you wouldn't understand why it would make me cry. To make a long story short, one of my sweet clients makes this soap to raise money for medical bills because her husband is battling colon cancer. It meant the world to me that my aunt contacted her after reading my blog post and bought a big jar of it to help donate to a great cause. Such a thoughtful, meaningful gift.

 I loved these Mr. & Mrs. hangers that Morgan made herself. She did an awesome job.

Aaron's mom's friend got me a card that had a sixpence in it. For those of you that don't know the old ritual it goes like this, "something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, and a sixpence to put in your shoe." I thought that was such a neat and sweet idea. I will be wearing it in my shoe on the wedding day and I will save it to pass on to future generations. The sixpence is supposed to represent good luck and fortune for the bride and groom.

 

At our first shower, we got an awesome leather journal with our new last name and wedding year engraved in it. Our friend who gave it to us has a tradition in her family that they bring out the journal at family gatherings and holidays and everyone writes or draws in it and they pull it out and read through it at each new gathering. I think that is such a great idea and will be something neat that we can do to remember all the fun times. It will also be something cool that maybe our children or grandchildren will treasure someday.

 

I just love sentimental things....they make my heart happy.

 

Aaron's mom, me, and my mom

 

The wedding is officially 30 days away.....that's less than one month! We've made a lot of progress lately in the planning department.

 

- We mailed out rehearsal dinner invitations today

- Aaron tried on his ring and it fit and he loves it. Whew, thank goodness

- Aaron's bachelor party is this weekend

- I got my bridal portraits back and the printed images are in the mail

- We found out last week that my sister from another mother (Mariana, our foreign exchange student during my jr. year of high school) will be attending the wedding all the way from Bolivia. You have no idea how happy that makes our family. We cannot wait to see her and meet her husband. Seriously, the best news ever!

- The RSVP's are continually coming daily in the mail and it's so fun to look at them and read all the song suggestions. So far, we have received 19 regrets and 208 yes'. Keep the yes' coming!

 

Up next on the to-do list:

-Finish up the DJ song request list

- Organize and discuss the order of ceremony

- Design and print wedding programs

- Finish buying wedding party gifts

- Get marriage license

-GET MARRIED!!!

 

It's bittersweet because my last day of work is Saturday. I'm so sad to be leaving all my friends and clients, but glad that I will have a month off to finish everything up. I'll be leaving to go visit Aaron for an entire week and I can't wait.  We are going to work a lot on the house and I'll be taking my last load of junk. Ah, it's all becoming so surreal.

 

If you followed me for this entire post then I'm impressed. I'm sure you're so sick of hearing about our wedding. I promise it's almost over (even though I will be doing recaps afterwards for a while)....I just want to make sure this special time in our lives is documented for us to look back on :)

 

Thanks for reading! Much love.

We can't wait to see you in June :)

Saw It, Pinned It, Did It- #20

Linking up with Katie & Stephanie for SPD!

 

I made this week's project for a friend from work who will be an aunt to a sweet little girl soon. Since the baby shower has passed, I can share the project now.

 

Here is my Pinspiration:

 

 

 

source: www.etsy.com

 

And here is my version:

 

 

 

"Oh, Spit and Spit Happens"

 

Can't wait to see what you've linked up. Happy Thursday!

Saw It, Pinned It, Did It- #19

I really think you should join me in linking up with Katie & Stephanie for SPD. I would love to see your project!

 

I must admit, I didn't find this project on Pinterest. Although, I believe it is absolutely Pinterest worthy and I might just pin my own picture...is that allowed? Oh well, I'm doing it anyway and I'm not ashamed to admit it. I really can't take credit for this cute idea. I actually copied it from a girl who made it for my sister-in-law's bachelorette party. I knew the moment I saw it that I was going to steal the idea for the next bachelorette I knew. Now that my friend is a married woman, I assume it's okay to post this picture of the gift I got her even though she will probably kill me.

 

 

Step 1: Find an already cute tissue box, or decorate an ugly tissue box with cute paper. Mine was already cute so I didn't have to do any extra work.

 

Step 2: Buy a few different pairs of cute undies, bras, or nighties and tie them together in a strand with tulle.

 

Step 3: Stuff the strand into the tissue box.

 

Step 4: Tuck tissue paper into the top of the box.

 

Step 5: Make a card and decorate the outside as you please....VOILA, you're done. Easy as 1, 2, 3.

 

 Getting ready to open her gift. Yes, she opened gifts in a mini van because the restaurant was closing and they kicked us out. And yes, we stayed in the mini van until 2am having "girl talk"...a successful bachelorette party if you ask me!

The end result.

 

My sis-in-law opening up her tissue box. That's when I learned about this genius idea.

 

 

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

I'm linking up with Jamie today for What I'm Loving Wednesday!

 

#1. I'm loving how beautiful life really is. This past weekend two life changing events happened to two of my childhood friends. It makes me happy to experience this fun season of life with them.

Congrats to the new Mrs. Lunn! She was such a gorgeous bride and the wedding was absolutely beautiful. I really enjoyed getting to explore Franklin, TN. Such a beautiful, fun place.

At the rehearsal dinner.

 

Remember last week how I asked for prayers for my friend that was on hospital bed rest because her little girl was trying to make an early appearance? Well, she had her sweet baby girl not only on Mother's Day, but also on her husband's birthday. How special of a gift is that? She is healthy and breathing on her own and she weighed 4lbs 10 oz and 18 in. Thank you, Lord!

When baby Emery was still in her belly at my bridal shower.

Precious Emery Ryan! Can't wait to meet her this week :) I love babies so much!

 

#2. I'm loving checking the mail everyday. We sent out our wedding invitations about a week ago and everyday since, there's been a stack of RSVP's waiting for me in the mail. It is so fun to look at them and see who all is coming to the wedding. On our RSVP's we included a line where people can write their favorite love song or song they love and that has been really fun to read too. I'm so excited to say that we've received 52 responses so far and not one of them has said they can't come.....WEEEEEEE! Makes my heart happy.

 

 

#3. This weekend we went shopping in downtown Franklin, TN. For the record, that is the cutest little area I've ever seen. I loved it and all the darling shops. I brought home a few souvenirs. One of them being an Oklahoma kitchen towel that I've been wanting forever. I showed my mom the towel and she just laughed. I thought it was kind of a weird reaction. Then, last night she gave me a gift that was supposed to be for a shower, but it wasn't ready yet. This is what it was:

The same Oklahoma towel made into an apron with our wedding date and my new name on the pockets. I am obsessed. Now I will really be reppin' Oklahoma as I cook.

 

#4. I'm loving the new jewelry that I bought this weekend as a souvenir. I love everything monogrammed right now.

 Q monogram earrings. What are the odds they would have a Q. I had to snatch them up.

My new last name initial. Can't wait to wear it once we're married.

 

#5. I'm loving that I will be in Vegas in 10 days...WOOP WOOP!

 

#6. I'm loving that Aaron will be here this weekend for pre-marital counseling with our minister. We are also making a road trip to Ft. Smith to see my host family and do prom hair and make-up for their not so little daughter. Can't believe she is a senior....scary!

 

Have a great Wednesday! Half way through the week :)

 

 

Saw It, Pinned It, Did It- #18

Hooray for the SPD linkup coming back! I wasn't quite sure what to blog about without the link-up. I have a huge list of projects lined up to share and I'm really excited about it.

 

Go check out Katie & Stephanie's blogs for all the fun Pinterest projects.

 

 

 

Today I'm going to share with you what I made for my bridal shower hostess gifts. I came up with the idea in my head, based off of a few projects I've seen floating around Pinterest.

 

Here are the individual ideas I found on Pinterest:

Dollar Tree Chalkboards

source:http://carolinebucky.wix.com/bucky-beaverwedding

Painted Wooden Spoons

source: http://3deseosymedio.com/blog/mi-ultima-obsesion-utensilios-pintados/

Polka Dot Wine Glasses

source: http://www.savvysugar.com/Cute-DIY-Tumblers-26123676

 

And I combined all three, plus a cake stand and dish towel to create this:

You can tell from the picture above that I painted the chalkboards Mint Green and I wrote each hostesses name on them in chalk.

 

This is what the wine glasses looked like:

Mint and Gold to match the wedding colors

 

And here are the wooden spoons:

 It's hard to tell in the picture, but I used various shades of green/blue going from dark to light to make it appear ombre.

 I was so excited when I found these dish towels at TJMaxx because they matched the spoons perfectly. Unfortunately, I couldn't find enough towels or wooden spoons so the hostesses' gifts at our second shower were a little different.

This is how I assembled them before I put them on the cake stand and wrapped them up in clear plastic.

 

These are the different cake stands I made:

I get the plates from Target, TJMaxx, Ross, etc. I find the candlesticks at antique stores and flea markets. I just paint them and glue them to the plates. Super easy and super cheap.

 

As you can probably imagine, it took a lot of TLC to create 15 hostess gifts. I spent a lot of time on my days off working on these, but it was so fun. I love giving homemade gifts because I love receiving homemade gifts.

 

Thanks for stopping by. Can't wait to see all the projects linked up!

 

Happy Thursday!

"It's Mint to Be" Wedding Shower

First and foremost, let me just say that Aaron and I are extremely blessed with some amazing friends and family who have showered us with so much love since we've been engaged. We truly feel so lucky and we want to make sure our friends and family know how much we appreciate them and all they've done for us.

 

The hostesses for our first shower were made up of a group of very special lifelong friends.

Thanks for such a wonderful shower. Two of the hostesses weren't able to make it to the shower so they're not pictured above, but they were greatly missed.

 

The invitations:

 

The decorations:

 The cutest little mantel I ever did see. I love the "It's mint to be" banner.

 Baby picture collages.

 The fun door hanger. Can't wait to put it up at our house.

 The guest book table where guests wrote words of advice.

 The beautiful food table. YUM!

 Tea, punch, and lemonade.

So pretty!

 

The guests of highest honor:

 Me and my momma. She is the world's greatest and we've had so much fun wedding planning together.

 Me and my Maid of Honor. Don't know what I'd do without her.

 My aunt, me-ma, and cousin. Thanks so much for traveling a long way to come to our shower.

 Friends since the high school volleyball days. I owe these girls for letting the young, uncool freshman hang out with them ;)

 Two of my bridesmaids. We all grew up living on the same street for many many years. Please say a prayer for my friend Megan (far left) whose baby is trying to make way too early of an appearance into this world. She's not due until July, but she went into the hospital today because the baby was trying to come early. Please say a prayer that Emery decides to stay for a while and grow big and strong.....and pray for Megan that she remains calm and strong while on hospital bed rest. Love you Meg!

The prettiest sisters I know. Katie (on the left) is also a bridesmaid and I've known her since my sophomore year of high school when we were in cosmetology school together.

 Rachel and her precious baby. My mom used to babysit Rachel back when we were almost the size of her daughter. She is one of my oldest friends. Now we take a mother-daughter shopping trip every summer together. So many fun memories together.

 

 My brother's beautiful in-laws. My sister-in-law pictured on my left is also a bridesmaid. These ladies were my saving grace and helped me assemble and put together all the wedding invitations.

My mom played church league softball with these precious ladies back when I was just a pup and then they became my softball coach. Sweet friends.

 

My elementary school friends and their sweet girlfriends/wives. Beth (to my right) is also a bridesmaid.

 

 Opening gifts.

We got so many gifts off of our registry. We are totally set with everything we need to start our lives together. A big thanks to all our friends and family for the wonderful gifts. We can't wait to use them.

 

Hostess gifts:

These are the gifts I made for the hostesses. It's a chalkboard, cake stand, decorated wine glass, wooden spoon, and a dish towel. Stay tuned on Thursday for a Saw It, Pinned It, Did It post on these.