Jekyll Island Wedding

Hi Everyone! If you can believe it, the hubs and I were out of town to go to another wedding this past weekend! We have been wedding crazy in our household the last 5 months, but this was the last wedding we are attending in 2011...whew! It has been a crazy wedding season, and we have seen so much great inspiration and C and B's wedding was no different! They are the most adorable, and attractive couple we know..and I have no problem saying that because I also know they are two of the kindest people in the world and they are perfect for one another, so happy for them! You will love their venue and all of their cute DIY touches, but don't let that stuff make you too jealous, because they will be in Greece for 3 weeks for their honeymoon! Okay..now you can be jealous...

They were married at The Jekyll Island Club on Jekyll Island, GA. The grounds and all of the buildings were absolutely stunning. The humidity, not so much. Boy, was it hot and humid for the end of September! None the less, it was a beautiful setting and the perfect place to have a wedding. Their wedding was held at The Crane Cottage, there was a beautiful outdoor courtyard, that had an old Italian Villa feel to it, and their ceremony was held outdoors in front of the cottage. Here are some pictures of the venue.

Here are some of their DIY Projects:

Fans

Don't these fans look familiar, you can read about ours here. Fans are a must for a Georgia wedding for any season other than winter. You never know how the weather will treat you down in Georgia. Their fans pulled double duty as being a program and a fan to help keep us cool. They were placed in all of the chairs at the ceremony, and they were a blessing, helped us stay a little cooler as we waited for the sun to go down.


Guest Book

The great thing about Guest Book's is that there are so many different ways to have them now. You don't have to have a simple book where people just sign their names anymore. I LOVED their guestbook. It was almost like a yearbook of their love. It was full of their personal photos and engagement photos and there was plenty of space for everybody to sign their names and leave a personal message for the couple. What a great keepsake. This is definitely something they can leave out on their coffee table and actually get some use out of.

Cupcake Cake

This was the first cupcake cake I have seen, and it really was as cute as all of the pictures that are out there on the Internet. They had a cute little cake as the top tier, so they still had a cake to cut, and the cupcakes were so yummy and easy. There was no one left having to be responsible for cutting and serving the cake.

Recipe in a Bottle

Recipe in a Bottle were their favors and they were so stinkin' adorable, and what a great idea! They used little spice jars and put a label with their names and wedding date on them. They used a family recipe of the grooms, Pecan Pie, and a family recipe of the brides, Brunswick Stew, and rolled them up and tied them with some raffia. I can't wait to try out the recipes, I see a college football Saturday with this Brunswick Stew all over it! Yum!

Slide Show

I don't really have any pictures of this, but they had a slide show that played throughout the reception. It had pictures of their life's from childhood until now. It was a beautiful slide show and it really captured both of their personalities.

Check out my handsome hubs....

All in all, it was a beautiful event and it was so great to see all the love between C and B and all the love and respect that everyone in that room had for them too. We had a great time, and we are so happy for them! Check out the happy couple!

Thanks for reading!

Burlap and Organic Theme Wedding

This past weekend the hubs and I went on an adventure down to good ole South Georgia for one of his childhood friends wedding. It was a five hour journey but totally worth it. Every detail of this wedding was full of inspiration and it was all so thought out. It was so adorable, and I can not put into words how in awe I was of the brides craftiness and creativity. The poor hubs got dragged from area to area by me owing and awing and making sure I got all the shots that I wanted to share with y'all!

When we walked up we were greeted with this lovely welcome table. I LOVE the welcome pennant banner, and the window frame picture holders. Below are images of their adorable welcome table...

welcome banner

Programs

The next area I was drawn to was the Guest Book table. I loved that they used chalkboards throughout their wedding and added the cute rosettes to the boards. And check out the adorable pen wrapped in twine and the flower...amazing!

Here is the cover of their guest book, I absolutely loved it, the book was bound by twine and I love that it resembled their initials carved in a tree.

This is where they held their ceremony. The walkway was dressed up with hanging lanterns.

 And the gazebo was dressed in burlap, ferns, and a hanging lantern.

I have never seen a photo booth like this one before. I love the arch made out of trees. So unique and really went with their entire theme.

This was their favor table. They had plastic cups with their initial and dates, and they also gave away cookies with their initial on it, as well as peanut brittle. There was also a box of individual bubbles that were used for the bride and grooms farewell.

One of my favorite designs of their event was the charger plates! Each table had a runner made of burlap and the centerpieces varied by lanterns and flowers. The "H" Plates were great and I love that they had 2 coordinating colors! This is a great DIY project, and really added a special touch to the tables. I am not sure where the bride got her products, but you could simply get charger plates from walmart or the dollar store and use a template of your initial to trace it onto the plate and color it in. Perfecto! 

 Another adorable pennant banner on burlap. Another great DIY project!

I am huge fan of mason jars! They are so affordable and they are so versatile. We used mason jars as vases for our reception (read about it here), but they also work great as a candle holder here. I am currently working on making mason jar lanterns, I can't wait to share!

Love lanterns and chalkboards. They had the menu displayed with a reoccurring theme for their chalkboards with the rosettes and added a little something extra with these beautiful silver lanterns! Again, I am not sure what the products were that she used, but you could buy a simple chalkboard and stain the frame to give it that rugged look and hot glue on the rosettes for that desired look.

And the happy couple after their vows...notice the super cute boutonnieres with cotton sprigs in them...

I hope their burlap and organic theme wedding has inspired you as much as it has me! Now for a wedding this weekend in Jekyll Island, I am sure there will be loads of wedding inspiration there! 'Tis the season! Thanks for reading! :)

Final Challenge Day - 10 Secrets

1. I love cleaning and organizing my house, but I HATE doing laundry and putting away clothes.

2. I am horribly impatient when it comes to gifts. I use to sneak and wear my Christmas present clothes to school and then put them back before my mom got home.

3. I hate ketchup. It just looks so gross.

4. Sometimes I like driving in silence and just letting my mind wander.

5. I brush it off went my people hurt my feelings, when I shouldn't.

6. I am addicted to The Real Housewives. All of them. It is so trashy, I know.

7. I secretly want another puppy, but can't commit.

8. I really enjoying chilling at the house on a Friday night after a long week of work.

9. When I have kids, I secretly want them to be boys.

10. I may have a small shopping addiction, but I think it is under control. I just like to go and walk around and look at the stuff I "want" to buy, and maybe pick up one thing on sale ;)..."hey, it was on sale!" would be my famous last words.  

Pinterest Tutorial

Hi Everyone, I wanted to share with you some information on how to work this awesomely amazing site, known as Pinterest. This site is AMAZING, did I say that already? Okay, well it is a site that helps you store all of the amazing ideas, recipes, designs, clothes that you see on the Internet while also providing you access to see what other people are saving.

In order to get set up with account you have to request an invite.

Once you request an invite, you will get an email sent to you, to help you get set up. and to get your pin set up on your toolbar.

This button allows you to add things that you see online to your boards. For example, if you were reading The Inspired Collection's post Beach Shrimp and you really wanted to save that recipe to make, you would select Pin It while you were on that page and an image of the beach shrimp along with the link would be saved to one of your boards, probably a board labeled Favorite Recipes or Things I want to make.

What is a board? A board is like a category that you set up and you can group "like minded" things together. Check out my boards, here. For example, I have a board labeled Party Ideas. So if we are going to be throwing a party one weekend, I will probably come check out this board and see if I can find any inspiration on any of the projects I have pinned to it. Here is an image of some of my boards...

You do not have to just save things off the Internet that you find. There is also a search that allows you to see what everybody else has been pinning and it is broken down into categories. You can search through the Boards you follow, Discussions (pins that have had multiple comments left on them), Everything, or Gifts.

While searching through all the other pins out there you have the option to re pin it to one of your boards, comment on it, or like it.  

To add a new board, follow these steps

Under the Add drop down on your Pinterest toolbar select Add a Board. This screen will generate:

Create a name for your board and select a category. Select if you just want to be able to pin or if you would like multiple people to be able to, then select Create. Your new board is ready for you to start adding some pins, so pin away!



Now, that I have told you a little bit about setting up your own boards and pinning. Did you know that you could follow other peoples boards too? That's right, you can follow a person or just one of their boards and you can find out who out of your friends from Facebook or Twitter are pinning away, by selecting Find Friends. You can also invite friends that may not know about Pinterest yet and all of it's awesomeness by selecting Invite Friends.

You can use the People drop down to find and invite friends, see the people who you follow and to see the followers who are following you. Tastemakers are pinner's who have a large following, people who you may not be following yet, but are very popular in the "pinning" world.  Tastemakers is also broken down into categories, so you can see who is leading with followers for recipes, or crafts, etc.

I hope that this little tutorial will help you either get setup on pinterest or understand it a little bit more! It is such an amazing site and it is so great to see everyone creativity and share with people all over the world. Get set up and follow me and pin away! You can go directly to my pinterest by clicking this image on my side bar.



Thanks for reading!! :)

Challenge Day 9 - Loves

1. The Hubs and Zoe

camera phone picture, sorry!

2. Family and Friends - Obviously!

3. Fall - I love fall, the leaves changing colors, the dreaded heat finally leaving, breaking out boots, pumpkin spice everything, and football! Whats not to love.

4. Chrismas - I love decorating the house for Christmas. I always do a theme and try to match everything, I am OCD like that. I love buying gifts for the people you care about and watching them open it. It is so much fun! We love having holiday parties, we are already gearing up for this years Tacky Sweater Christmas Party! Get your sweaters ready folks!

5. Cook Outs, or hosting get together's at the house. The hubs and I LOVE entertaining. I love having people over and grilling out or hanging out on our back patio when the weather is nice. I literally get annoyed when people come over and they want to stay in when the weather is amazing outside. Nevertheless, I still love having them over to try out my new recipes on, and hang out in the home I've worked so hard to create.

6. Shoes. I may have more shoes then anyone you know. Last time we moved I got rid of 19 pairs and my closet was still FULL of shoes. We have been in our new home for over a year now and I think I have replaced all 19 of those shoes I got rid of when we moved. I just bought 3 pairs of boots a couple weeks ago! So bad....

7. Candles - I am obsessed with candles. If you come over at 8 am I will still probably have all my candles lit. I just love the ambiance you get from a candle, there is nothing else like it.

8. Vacations - to anywhere. I love to travel and visit new places. I love experiencing new places with people I love and it is always nice to get away and have a nice break from reality.

9. Breakfast for Dinner - The hubs and I love breakfast, its our favorite meal! He loves it when I surprise him with breakfast for dinner.

Challenge Day 8 - Fears

Fears, in no particular order

1. Bugs - especially gross ones, like spiders and cockroaches.

2. Losing my memory, developing Alzheimer's or dementia. My grandma has been diagnosed with dementia, and it is the most horrible disease I could imagine.

3. Someone breaking in or something while I'm home alone. I think I've watched one too many scary movies or read too many scary books. I am so paranoid when I'm home alone at night. I always keep all the doors and windows locked and every little noise still freaks me out..it's pretty annoying

4. Losing someone close to me

5. Tornado's. This seems to be getting more and more real. Last week a tornado touched down and tore up some homes about  a mile and a half from us! SCARY...

6. I have a reoccurring nightmare that my teeth are falling out. It is a scary little dream, and when I looked it up it said that it was a fear of getting old.

7. Cancer

8. Car Wrecks. I have only been in 2 fender benders, but I have had a close friend in a fatal car crash and seeing images of bad car crashes is just one of the scariest things in the world.