Our Wedding: The Party

When planning our wedding, mine and Jeremy's top priority was for everyone that attended to have an awesome time.  After the ceremony, we wanted a party!  I love looking at these pictures because that's just what we had!  

Our Wedding: The Details

I'll admit, I loved picking out all the details of our wedding.  From the cake to the flowers, although daunting at times, it was exciting to see my vision come to life.  I would say "our" vision... but let's be honest, Jeremy just said "Sure Baby" to every idea I had.

Make no mistake about it, weddings are not cheap.  For all the newly engaged girls out there, it is SO easy to get caught up into wanting the most expensive of everything for your wedding.  In the days of pinterest, facebook, and shows like "My Fair Wedding" and "Say Yes to the Dress" it's easy to think we are entitled to a $100,000 wedding, but let's be honest, most of us don't have those kind of budgets!

Not everything has to come from the most expensive vendor to still give you the dream wedding you hoped for, and I promise, at the end of the night, all that matters is that you're married!  I know, I know... cliche and that statement does not matter when you're stressing deciding between which color or coral should your roses be :)

I'm so lucky to have so many creative friends who helped me bring my vision to life!  I'm also grateful that my mother has amazing taste, I knew I could trust her to put everything together just how I wanted it so I could relax and enjoy the day.

Now... on to the details....

Renee, at NWA Florist, did the bouquets, corsages and boutonnieres..  She was the sweetest woman and wonderful to work with.  She even sent me two different boutonnieres for Jeremy on the wedding day because she wanted me to be able to pick with one I liked the best.  Everything turned out just as I envisioned.

I loved Heelyn's flower ball.  We had bells put into the center so it would "jingle" as she walked down the aisle.  She was pretty enthralled with it as well.

My bouquet was a mixture of ranculus, cabbage roses, carnations, and other flowers to give it a fluffy, vintage feel.  It was wrapped in burlap with the stems showing at the bottom.  

My mom, my sisters and friends did all the table decorations and flower arrangements.  I loved how they turned out.  Very simple, yet girly and vintage.  I collect turquoise vases so those all came handy for table decorations.  We ordered the flowers wholesale and arranged them the day prior to the wedding.  My sister made all the painted mason jars for my bridal shower, and they ended up working perfectly on the patio for the reception.

I had seen pictures of the "Mrs." and "Mr." banners on pinterest and made them by buying the cutouts at Hobby Lobby, spray painting them and then gluing the letters on.   A friend cut out the letters for me using a cricut machine.  

I made this sign using fancy scrapbook paper and our printer at home.

I loved how our drink station turned out, never mind a huge fiasco which I'll mention later!  Dillard's carries those cute chalkboard signs and we still use them anytime we have a large group of people over and need a drink station.  I love getting to re-use wedding decor!

My mom and I found these bows to use on the end of the pews at a Christmas store back in early October before the wedding.  They looked so perfect.  I loved how simple we kept the chapel because it's so beautiful by itself already.  Now, I use a lot of these bows for decoration around the house at Christmas time.

Rick's bakery holds a sweet spot in both mind and Jeremy's hearts.  We've been known to make a trip to Fayetteville just to stop by and pick up a few cookies :)  For Jeremy's groom's cake table we had a desert table.  It was fabulous and I wish I had a picture of it!  It was Razorback themed and consisted of all of Jeremy's favorite deserts, Rick's cookies included.

Our cake was SO good!  Jeremy and I often talk about how good it was and we only got a bite of it!  We are going to order one similar for our 1st anniversary just so we can enjoy it!  Don't worry... we also have our freezer cake that I'm sure will take just wonderful (if you like the taste of freezer burn).  I ordered the cake topper off of Etzy in gold, then decided I wanted silver, so my best friend Tressa spray painted them for me.  She's a genius with a can of spray paint, seriously!

 Our champagne glasses... another Etsy find.  I'm telling you, Etsy and I are BFF's.

Picking out all the details for the wedding was so much fun, but I am so glad that part of the wedding process is over, and Jeremy is glad he has my full attention now :)  

Our Wedding: My Thoughts

It's incredible to think that it's already been over two months since our wedding day.  July 26th, 2013 seems to be so long ago, yet it's a day that will forever fill my dreams with sweet memories.

As a girl, you dream your whole life of your wedding day.  You envision wedding dresses and flowers.  The songs you will dance with your new husband to, and the color scheme of your bridesmaids.  I was not unique in my dreams as my childhood friends and I would often spend countless hours discussing our future weddings when we were only 10 and 12 years old.

When I met Jeremy, those plans moved forward at lightening speed.  We met, were engaged, and married all in just shy of two years.  My mom always told me when I found the One everything would move by in a flash, she was so right.

Leading up to our wedding day, I carefully guarded my heart.  I did not want to become so enthralled with wedding planning that I forget the true reason for the celebration.... I was starting a life with the One God had chosen for me.  I wanted to plan for our marriage, not just our wedding.

Our wedding day was everything I dreamed and so much more.  It was a day filled with so much love.  There are so many sweet memories from our wedding day that Jeremy and I will forever cherish.  It meant the world to us that so many friends and family were able to be there to celebrate our special day with us.

It was once told to us that the greatest testimony we can have as a couple is our marriage.  It's our prayer that God will always be the center, and other's can see Him through us.  We're not perfect.  We just hope to continually seek him during our first, fiftieth and every other year of marriage in between.

More to come....

We're Married!!!

It's been a long time coming but we are finally married!





Our wedding was everything I ever dreamed it would be and more. We are back from a wonderful honeymoon in Italy and now are trying to get adjusted to married life! It's a blast so far :)

Stay tuned....

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Ryan and Courtney's Wedding Weekend in Eureka Springs

I'm very behind in blogging, and haven't yet written about our fun weekend celebrating some dear friends, Ryan and Courtney's wedding!  

They were married on April 6, 2013 at Thorncrown Chapel in Eureka Springs.  If you've never been there before, it's absolutely gorgeous.   

Ryan is one of Jeremy's best friends.   They were roommates for several years in college and after.  Jeremy was the best man, and Ryan will be the best man in our wedding next month!  So fun!

Their wedding was beautiful, and Courtney's daughter Caroline was so precious.   She had a blast dancing at the reception with everyone and even learned how to dance "Gangham Style".  Haha!  

Jeremy gave a great speech at the reception and led everyone in calling the hogs.  His dream!  Haha!  

We love Ryan andCourtney and have so enjoyed going through this season of life together with them!  We look forward to many football games, trips and eventually family vacations with lifelong friends!   

Meet my SIL Megan!

Today I'm linking up with Kelly's Korner "Show us your singles"

Meet my sister in law, Megan!  She is 23 and lives in Northwest Arkansas.   She's a science teacher and cheer leading coach and is amazing at both.  Her students absolutely adore her!  She loves The Lord and is very involved in our church.  

She had the BEST personality and is always the life of the party.  Megan never meets a stranger!  She loves to work out and is very high energy.  She also LOVES any sport, preferably ones in which the Razorbacks play!  

She needs to meet someone who loves The Lord and wants to do all these activities with her.  She needs a guy who isn't afraid to step up and be a leader, yet adores her.   

Also, someone who won't mind sitting with my hubby at cheer competitions (I'm a coach too!)

I'm dying for her to meet someone so we can double date :)

Leave me a comment if you or someone you know would be great for her!  

Save The Dates

Creating Save the Date cards was one aspect of wedding planning that I LOVED doing!  They were so fun to create!  Not to mention, Anthony Byrnes Photography left us with some amazing picture options to use :)

Here they are:

 (Front)

(Back)

I just love the way they turned out and we've gotten so many compliments on them!  I used shutterfly to create them... Shutterfly has AMAZING deals on their products!  I was able to create around 150 save the dates for hundreds of dollars less than other companies!  They came printed on thick, high quality card stock and looked very professional.  If you're looking to save money, yet still have very nice quality work, I would definitely recommend shutterfly!  

Choosing Bridesmaid Dresses

Choosing bridesmaid dresses has been one of the most difficult, stressful aspects of wedding planning!  I'm only having a small army of girls in my wedding (haha) and I wanted everyone to look and feel their best.  Due to my wedding colors, I knew David's Bridal (the typical bridesmaid dress kind of store) would be limited in selection for me.  In fact, they didn't have anything in the color I was wanting!  I searched on the internet for a while, however, it's always nicer when you can see the dresses in person.  On a whim, I decided to look a Low's in Brinkley to see if they carried bridesmaid dresses and they do!

So my mom, my sisters, and I drove down to Low's on a Saturday in March that everyone had free.  I was totally impressed at the selection of Bridesmaid dresses they had, and the rainbow of colors to choose from. The 1st dress they tried on was the one I loved!  Score!  My mom even found a dress that she loved to wear to the wedding as well.

So far, Low's has been wonderful to work with, and I can't wait to see the dresses when they come in!

How I Asked My Bridesmaids

Last summer, shortly after we became engaged, I was in Kansas City with Jeremy.  I stumbled across the cutest little stationary shop in The Plaza and came across these precious cards....

I knew I had to get them for the girls who have been so special in my life and who I cannot imagine getting married without them by my side :)  

So I wrote inside each about how much each girl meant in my life and how much I wanted them to be a part of my special day, and then mailed them away!

The girls all loved them and I thought it put a special touch on such an important part of our wedding day.

How did Jeremy ask his groomsmen?  Well... probably a text message.... you know guys ;)

Our Engagement Pictures Experience

Having engagement pictures taken is something I dreamed of for so many years while watching all my friends get to experience such a fun time with their fiances.  Of course when Jeremy and I first became engaged, some of my first thoughts went to choosing a photographer (that's a later post) and planning our engagement pictures.

I knew I wanted our photos to feature us (duh!) and fall in Northwest Arkansas.  Seriously, Fayetteville is the prettiest during fall.  I also wanted our pictures to included unique locations, and have a variety of scenes (urban, outdoors, indoors, etc.).  I also warned my photog that I would be "high-maintnance" ;).

Many nights after dinner Jeremy and I would drive around Fayetteville scoping out the "perfect" locations.  With that being said, it was good to have ideas in mind and we used several of them.... but most of our favorite pictures came from walking off of the beaten path and just "going with the flow".  Even sneaking into a local coffee shop to "borrow" their electricity for our Christmas lights picture!

I had read on another photographer's blog to not stress about wedding details the day of our pictures and just spend the morning enjoying each other and flirting before our pictures.  Well.... that wasn't really realistic for us.  Jeremy attended his sister, Megan's cheerleading competition, and I got to enjoy spending hours getting ready.  (Which I will admit was SO fun... what girl doesn't love getting all dolled up).  This just meant we were able to flirt all day long in front of the camera :)

Picking our outfits.... This part was a blast.  I picked my outfits first.  I chose a variety of outfits and color schemes that I knew I would feel fantastic in :)   Then Jeremy and I went shopping for his!  I enjoyed helping him choose his outfits as much as I did shopping for mine!  We made sure not to be too "matchy" but still in the same color scheme and concept.  I think we did well :)

The day of our pictures I had a blast.  Throughout the entire wedding planning process, Jeremy has been focused on making sure I enjoy every moment and get to have my "dream wedding".  I mean seriously.... I'm a lucky girl.  He was no different for our engagement pictures.  He made sure I felt beautiful and adored, and that I enjoyed every minute.    I'll always cherish that day.

The Wedding Post

Yall... our engagement pictures were featured on The Wedding Post of Arkansas!  I just love it when our pictures pop up on my facebook news feed.  This is such a fun season in life and I'm so thankful I have a sweet fiance who doesn't mind "all things wedding".

Go check our the full post HERE.  

New Year, New Post

Yep... I've pretty much sucked in the blogging world these past couple of months.  The holidays left us even busier than we normally are, and to be perfectly honest, I just enjoyed the moment without worrying about blogging.  However, I really do enjoy blogging and want to blog this year to be able to look back at all the fun moments of our 13 month engagement, so let me catch up on the fun moments of the past couple of months....

Competition Cheer season has ended.  My freshman squad won 1st place at their first competition and then had a horrible showing at their last one.  The varsity squad won state for the second year in a row!

The holidays were spent in Cabot at my parents house and in Paris at Jeremy's parents homes.  I'll admit it was a bit weird having to spent time away from my family for the holidays, but Jeremy's family welcomed me with open arms :)  Did I mention I'm going to have 3 new sisters-in-laws?  Lots of girls are always around and it's a blast!

 Christmas also sent lots of snow to Central Arkansas and we were cooped up at my parents' home for most of it.  We started playing rumikub with my parents and I found out Jeremy is a HORRIBLE loser!  Hahaha.
Also, my dad tends to make up his own rules in his favor :)

We introduced the game to our friends Brittany and Andrew and they've become addicted as well.  I see lots of game nights in our future.  What's neat is I remember as a little girl my parents would always invite the Payne's over (the family of my best friend Ashley) and they would always play rumikub while we played and had pizza.   The tradition lives on!

The great tree debate is still up between Jeremy and I.  He has always grown up with a real tree, while I've grown up with a fake tree.  We'll see who wins and which type we get next year ;)   I loved decorating my small tree with a rustic theme this year.  

Jeremy's mom graduated from Arkansas Tech this past December.  We are SO proud of her!!  We attended her graduation in Russellville and had a lot of fun celebrating.  This May BOTH of my sisters will also graduate from Tech!

In December, Jeremy and I took a little trip to The Lodge at Mt. Magazine.  It's always gorgeous.  It doesn't even feel like you're in Arkansas when you're there.  

Heelyn keeps getting bigger and bigger and it just a true joy to be around.  She is seriously the funniest, smartest little girl I know.  She just says and does things that make us laugh so much.  I hate being away from her, but it's always a treat when I get to see her.  She loves Jeremy too....

Of course there have been Razorback basketball games to attend, although I haven't gone to many yet this year.  Jeremy always tries to go to as many as he can, and I tend to "pick and choose" which ones I go to.  There are only so many sporting events this girl can take in one week!

Well, there's the abridged version of our lives these past few months!  Here's to hoping I can become a "better blogger".