Glitter and Ribbon

I had the privilege to be a bridesmaid in my friend Britnee's wedding in July. It was at the Humphrey's Estate, down in beautiful Temecula California wine country. Her wedding was full of DIY projects and every little detail really added to the wedding!

 

While working full time as a special education teacher, Britnee crafted away for months leading up to the wedding. Boy, did all her hard work and creative ideas come together!

 

Here are some gorgeous pictures of the wedding courtesy of her amazing photographer: Leah Marie Photography 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What a beautiful wedding it was. I had such an amazing time being a part of this special day!

 

Britnee enjoyed all the crafting and DIY-ing so much that she started her own Etsy shop! It is called glitterandribbon. Be sure to check it out if you are looking to add some specials touches to your wedding or next event!

 

Here are some of the DIY projects she did for the wedding:

 

Fork & spoon glitter seating chart

 

Personalized matches

 

"Love, laughter & happily ever after" koozies

 

Stained wood and burlap table numbers

 

Wine cork bar sign

 

Lace burlap 'Gifts' banner

 

Dessert bar burlap banner

 

Penny jar to make a wish for the married couple

 

Chevron print envelope liners

 

Wedding dinner menu

 

Wedding programs

 

Glitter wooden table numbers

 

Great job Britnee!

 

I know that I will definitely be using her to help me with some special projects for my wedding!

 

For more pictures of Britnee and Joel's gorgeous wedding, be sure to check out Leah Marie's blog and Facebook!

 

 

XO,

Brittney

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Will you be my....?

After setting our date for May 3rd, 2014, I knew I needed to take care of one of the most important wedding details... asking my bridal party!

I was beyond excited to ask these girls to share this special day with Matt and I, but I knew I had to come up with a crafty and unique way to ask them.

Of course my go-to for ideas was to browse through Pinterest. What a great tool! I couldn't imagine the wedding world without it.

I found some great ideas:

         

 

I also took into account that four of the girls I was going to ask had just asked me to be in their wedding! They had really cute ideas:

• Message in a bottle
• Mini champagne bottle
• Hidden poster message
• Small cardboard box with a pullout message

After multiple Michael's trips and constant brainstorming, I came up with my idea and put it all together!

 

I started out with a white board, camera and my wonderful mother to take some pictures of me. I printed the pictures out in wallet size and attached them to a strand of ribbon.

 

I decided to add the cork on the bottom with the date to add a little detail that tied into our wedding theme. The top was tied with a big purple bow and the pictures were laid inside a little black box. 

 

As these were sent to the girls, they pulled on the bow and the chain of pictures displayed the message! I was so excited for everyone to receive these boxes. It felt like forever for my out of town girls to get them!! 

 

It was great to get this project completed and mark it off my checklist. More importantly, I am so elated to have these girls by my side on the big day!

 

More festivities to come!

 

XO,

Brittney

 

Lets Get Weird! : Ashleigh's Bachelorette Party

I can't believe I waited this long to post about the amazing bachelorette weekend we threw for one of my best friends a few weeks ago in Sacramento!

Ashleigh asked me to be her maid of honor in February and from that day on the wheels were turning on where we were going for the bachelorette party. She has eight bridesmaids in total, so it was decided to just have the bridal party in attendance. Coordinating nine girls' schedules was going to be hard enough!

I had to factor in budgets, work schedules, their locations, etc. I thought about many different places, but Sacramento seemed to be the best fit! It was an easy drive for everyone, there was plenty to do, and it still felt like we were getting out of town!

As a planner, my goal was to keep everyone as informed as possible. I'm sure the girls started getting tired of my emails, but I didn't want to spring any extra costs on anyone. I think that is really important for the maid or matron of honor to consider in this process. While we all want to plan the picturesque Las Vegas trip, for most, its just not realistic.

So I literally planned for months, thinking about all the things we could do, reading endless Yelp reviews, finding the best bang for our buck and wanting to make sure that Ashleigh and the girls had a great time!

We managed to keep the destination of the bachelorette party a secret from Ashleigh! My friend Jen and I were driving down with her, letting her know that we were picking up one of the girl's who lives in Sacramento. As soon are we arrive downtown at the Grand Sheraton Hotel, Rachel runs to the car and we all yell, "we're here!" We walk up to our amazing suite and a weekend full of celebration begins!

An afternoon of wine tasting at Downtown & Vine!

Dinner at Zocolo with a mariachi band!

We all wore shirts that said 'Let's get weird' on the front!

On the back they said bridesmaid (or for Ashleigh: bride)

One night we all wore black, while the bride to be stood out in white!

Ashleigh gave us our bridesmaids gifts this weekend! She had sweatshirts made with years we've known her on the back and hangover care kits for the weekend! 

One of the bridesmaids, Amy also made hangover kits for us, as we didn't know Ashleigh was making them too! Needless to say, we were stocked up on amenities to get us through the weekend!

Take a look at some of the great places we visited!

Hotel 

Sheraton Grand Sacramento

 Food

Capital Garage

Paesanos

Zocolo

Lucca

Bars 

Downtown & Vine

The Pour House

 District 30

Dive Bar

Faces

What a FUN weekend it was! We all had a great time getting together to celebrate the wonderful bride to be!

XO,
Brittney

Wedding hair

One of my biggest dilemmas thus far in the wedding planning process is: hair up or down!!??

I have been asking both past and future brides how their hair was or is going to be. Unfortunately, I've been given a collective answer of about 50/50. Well thanks ladies, that's helpful!

It's a tough decision. If you think about it, you will be looking at your pictures the rest of your life! I do realize that as a cosmetologist I may have a little more concern on what my hair will look like.

Thanks to Pinterest, I have been slowly but surely collecting ideas! Here are some of my favorite looks:

   

         Hopefully these have sparked some ideas!

Here are some helpful tips I have concluded when deciding on your hairstyle for that special day!

• Pictures, pictures, pictures. Visual references are the best way to convey what style and look you are going for to your stylist.

• Be you, but be an open you. A little contradictory I know, but when it comes down to it, you are going to pick the style you are most comfortable with. But, maybe instead of your everyday look, go for the one that you have always liked or wanted to have.

• Don't be afraid to accessorize. There are so many accessories out there to add a little sparkle or unique touch to your hairstyle. A vintage brooch, jeweled barrettes, bird-cage veils, feathers, bows and fabric flowers.

• Keep up on regular cuts. Regular cuts will ensure healthy ends and your stylist can tailor your cut to be just right for your hairstyle that day. Avoid any drastic color change or cut right before the big day to play it safe.

• Clean and product free. Have clean dry hair for the trial and wedding day. Avoid using a lot of conditioner, especially a leave-in. Stray away from silkening products that will weigh your hair down or make it hard to work with.

• Account for change. You always need to keep in mind what the weather may be like that day. Wind, rain and humidity can drastically change a look.  So be flexible and trust your stylist to give you the best look.

I wish you the best of luck on choosing your hairstyle. God only knows I need it!

XO,
Brittney

Engagement Party or No Engagement Party?

Matt and I had a small engagement barbeque party at his parents house a little while ago. The idea was to have good food and get together with close friends and family. While it was no surprise that Matt and I were engaged, I thought it would be fun to get together with everyone!

Left to Right: My Fiancé Matt and I, My Mother Stacey and Brother Garrett, My great friends Ashleigh and Jen.

Having this party definitely brought up some interesting thoughts on engagement parties. When people were finding out that we were engaged, one of the first questions asked, was whether or not we were going to have an engagement party. I have also heard the opposite asking, why bother?

In most of the wedding check lists and timelines that I have looked at, I recalled seeing something about having an engagement party and celebrating your engagement! While you don't have to follow all the checklists verbatim, it comes down to whether or not you and your fiancé want to have one.

 

Here are some pro's and con's to having an engagement party:

 

PROS

• A great way to get together with friends and families and be together as an engaged couple!
• Integrate friends and family that will all be a part of this wedding time together.
• You've been dreaming about planning your wedding all your life, do everything you can to make this time special.
• Why not? Who wouldn't want to hang out and eat great food.
• It will create great memories for this special time.

 

CONS

• It may be a burden to the host/hostess.
• Another financial cost, that may not be reasonable to include in the wedding budget.
• Additional work and/or stress.
• It may not fit in the dynamic with the people around you.
• You may can be make excessive or over the top.  

This is a great opportunity to start creating memories and making plans in the wedding process! It will help make it all real and kick start this whirlwind adventure. So do what you feel is right, in the end you will make the best decision for you and your new fiancé!

 

Now I'll leave you to stew in some amazing looking engagement party set ups!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Image by Robert and Kathleen Photographers

 



XO,
Brittney