My Favorite Things: wedding

Showing posts with label wedding. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 31, 2017

Juliet's Wedding Weekend! // May 2017

Whew! How was your weekend?! KC and I were lucky in that we got Monday off as a holiday. Thank you to all who served and serve our country, and those who gave their life for our freedom. As with every Memorial Day (and Veteran's Day), I'll share one of my favorite organizations that helps veterans: Companions for Heroes. Shelter pets + veterans = a great cause in my book. Check out their website!

Moving right along, last week/weekend was super busy for us, but for an exciting reason: one of my very best friends got married! :)

Thursday: The Bachelorette Party!

Thursday I left work a little early with my friend Jessica and we drove into KCMO for a bachelorette evening. We started the night at Escape KC - another break out room in town. We did the 221b (Sherlock) themed room, and it was pretty fun, but very different from the other three rooms I've done. We broke out with 10 minutes to spare like pros. At one point they wouldn't give us a clue because we were doing "too well'. - rude.

After that we went to dinner at Oliver, which I had never been to. It was lovely and the food was great! I got the yummiest cocktail (The Namedropper - gin and grapefruit) and then I got the Hanger Steak with roasted veggies. Both were AMAZING! We had a great time chatting and eating.

Then we ubered out to Westport to get some drinks. We went to several places, Ca Va (a champagne bar), Off Key (a Karaoke bar) and Westport Saloon (a hipstery country bar...?) had some great drinks and laughs. The night got pretty wild, which is not my thing... but we were all there for Juliet.

We ended the night at a hotel on the plaza. It was a great if not rough night for everyone! A big thanks to Jessie, the groom's sister for all of the planning! :)

Friday: The Rehearsal Dinner!

Around 3 on Friday we met at Bon Bon! near the venue for drinks and then walked over for the rehearsal. I tried some sort of tropical coconut/pineapple drink and it was completely amazing. We did the rehearsal at the wedding venue. It was good to know what was expected, and was pretty much like a typical wedding rehearsal.

Then we went to The Eldridge for the dinner. We had the chicken, which was lovely, and enjoyed a nice meal with friends. :)

Saturday: The Wedding!

Stole this from Facebook, so it's not super high quality....! Photo credit to Lauren Elaine Pearson

The makeup/hair/etc. began at noon on Saturday, and we had a great time hanging out ahead of photos and the wedding. Juliet brought back pretty robes for each of us from Taiwan. :)

OMG IS SHE NOT THE PRETTIEST BRIDE EVER?!?!?! GORGEOUS!!

Also from Lauren Elaine Pearson, stolen from FB.

We took lots of photos (that I can't wait to see!) and then it was time for the wedding!

The ceremony was lovely and so unique to the two of them. I loved seeing and hearing all of the little touches that they specifically chose for the occasion! The officiant was a Wiccan friend of the family, and so the ceremony was really filled with so many interesting traditions. It was perfect for the two of them and their unique relationship and interests.

The reception was great as well. So much dancing and fun!

Friends and family contributed hugely to the decor, music, toasts, etc. It was really cool to see how everyone came together.

The space was lovely, and the whole night was so happy. The night ended with dancing and a sparkler send off.

I asked Lauren Elaine Pearson to take a quick photo of us, she went above and beyond! I love this!! Next time we do a shoot, I want to do one with her! :)

On Sunday and Monday we just vegged because it was a long (but fun!) weekend! :) We watched Big Little Lies, played games, and read a lot. :)

Looking for a great KC/NE KS photographer? Get in touch with Lauren at lauren[DOT]elaine[DOT]pearson[AT]gmail[DOT]com. She's amazing and will make you feel so so comfortable!

What did you guys do this weekend?

Have you ever been in a best friend's wedding?

XO,

Alexandra

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Jess's Engagement Party // MOH // February 2014

My baby sister is getting married. I get to be the Matron of Honor (makes me sound like a school marm or headmaster at a girls' school doesn't it?) which is awesome!

So I have been trying to make her life easier, as much as possible.

First on my list of duties was planning & throwing the engagement party. In general this event seems like the time to introduce bride & groom's families to one-another as well as bridal party members who haven't met yet. In this case most of Kalor's family wasn't able to make the drive in from Nebraska, but we still had some good mingling! We (KC, my parents, myself and anyone who contributed!) tried to put the focus on having fun and making Jess & Kalor feel special, stress free. I think it actually went really well! Here are some of the games, details and touches that we added to make the night special!

I'm just going to add that I am new to this... so I was kind of nervous... but with some research I think it went really really well! Not claiming to be an expert, please share your expertise in the comments!

The Decor:

Jess & Kalor decided on purple (plum) and silver for their wedding colors so we just went with variations of that for the party colors as well. I also tried to use white and little bits of teal, which worked out pretty well!

I brought in my white cupcake stands from Target (shower gifts I received several years ago!) to display the beautiful hydrangea frosted cupcakes that my friend Brittany at B. Michelle Bake Shop made for the event. I added my thrift store upcycle owl to the mix because I thought he looked cute there!

I also brought in one of my hanging clip boards that a dear friend made us for our wedding for people to post cards & marriage advice on. It was cute, and it was fun for Jess & Kalor to read the advice after the party! I had to laugh because KC & I said basically the same thing! Of course mine was two separate LONG cards full, and his was one succinct one... but it made me smile! In case you are curious, we each said to make time for travel, dates and special events to give yourselves some 'getaway' time, however small, and to communicate about little irritations before they blow up into fights. If you talk about something that is bothering you up front it can be diffused so much more easily. This ladies & gents is why we've still never had a fight. :)

My pride & joy of the event was this DIY Ombre Pom Pom Garland! (I hope to share my tutorial soon), but it was so fun and easy, and worked out really well for this party! (I've even been asked to make some for a Fiesta themed event at school!)

I used the extra coffee filters to make 'flowers' and taped them to pencils (aka, stems) and placed them in an antique vase that I got at Goodwill for just $2!

Jess & Kalor are super fun, so they chose to get some purple and silver balloons to add to the mix, which tied it all together nicely!

The Games:

The first game we played was The Ring Game. I bought two bags of cheap-o 'metal?' rings from the Hobby Lobby wedding section for $2.99 each and KC hid them around their duplex for the guests to find. The one who found the most got a prize! -The kids pooled their rings and took first!

The second game was called The Shoe Game. Jess & Kalor sat back to back in chairs each holding one of their own, and one of each other's shoes. We asked them a series of questions like 'Who is taller?' 'Who sings in the shower?' and 'Who is more likely to sunburn?' and they answered by holding up the shoe of the person who the question was best answered by. Example: for the question 'Who is taller?' they both held up Kalor's shoe, because he is taller than her. And so on. It was pretty funny. :)

The third game was a Couple's Quiz for the guests. We asked 15 questions about Jess, Kalor & their relationship that the audience had to answer. It was a great way for all of us to learn about the two of them. The person with the most right answers won a prize! - Way to go mom!

The fourth game was a Couple's Quiz, where they had to answer questions previous to the beginning of the game, and then had to guess what the other person's answer was. This one was also pretty funny. My favorite was when we asked 'What did the other person say was his or her celebrity crush?' and Kalor answered that he thought Jess's was Justin Timberlake and she says 'No! It's Dr. House!' (Hugh Laurie)... hysterical. She's just like our momma. :)

The Food:

My dad graciously agreed to make his legendary BBQ for the event, down to the sauce. Legit. My grandmother made homemade rolls and salads. Kalor's family pitched in with sodas. It was delicious!

Of course, I already mentioned that we had gorgeous cupcakes from B. Michelle Bake Shop, we chose half vanilla, half chocolate to try to please everyone. We got so many compliments on these gorgeous treats! :)

Paper straws in the themed colors added a fun touch!

Favors:

I wanted to do favors, because I think they usually get cut from wedding and party budgets because they are 'unnecessary' but I think they are super fun. Since I knew there would be about 30 people I wanted to choose something cheap enough for me to buy, but still theme appropriate and cute. I liked the idea of ring pops and rock candy, but I couldn't see the adults eating them. So I found a pin on Pinterest that encouraged me to do 'He 'Popped' the Question' pop corn bags for the car ride home. KC so amazingly bagged up all of our popcorn in those cone shaped treat baggies (you know the ones you fill with jelly beans to look like carrots at Easter?) and we stuck them in a basket with a sign. We had some leftover, but who doesn't enjoy leftover popcorn? ;)

Printouts:

This seems kind of silly, but labeling everything consistently makes a big difference in presentation. I used PicMonkey to make some images to label the advice board, favors & to write out the questions for the games. Of course I did this in a rush.. the day of... RUNNING through Office Depot.. but you know. :) Had I been really on it, I would have labeled the Strawberry Lemonade the same way! :) haha

All in all the party went well! We had a lot of fun laughing and playing games. I was glad to spend time with my family... and dad's BBQ hit the spot!

What have been your favorite showers, wedding parties & shower games?

Seriously suggestions appreciated!! :)

Thank You for Reading!

Alexandra

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

For All of the Brave Brides

Planning a wedding is hard.

Even if you love planning it, being involved, and can't wait to marry your groom.... it's hard.

You have to make a lot of decisions. It's not just deciding what you like; it's also deciding what you truly value and how you want to express that in your wedding. Often times having to convince others that these things truly matter along the way. It's hard.

Sometimes you have to barter, fight, give speeches, or upset others in the process of carrying out those decisions. It can often leave you feeling overwhelmed, misunderstood, and rather bridezilla-like. It's hard.

Take heart, knowing and sticking up for what you value is not being selfish, it is being intentional, careful, and often times extremely conscientious to those you love and the world around you. Be brave.

Do your best to communicate with those around you why you value what you do...be brave.

Tell them that you want to get married in a small town with no hotel accommodations because your grandparents did, and that's important to you. Or that you don't want to get married in a church because you have a diverse group of people attending your wedding and you want everyone to feel accommodated, which is why you want that untraditional outdoor venue.

Explain that the stone in your engagement ring is an emerald because it's your birthstone, or the color of your fiance's eyes, or less detrimental to the environment when it's being mined.

When asked why on earth you planned your wedding for a certain season, explain the significance. We got married in the winter because it's my favorite season, it's when Kyle and I met, and it allowed relatives to stay in town for Christmas and come to our wedding, which they might have missed otherwise.

Whatever your choices, they are important to you and your fiance for a reason, and that's nothing to apologize for. Just make your intentions known and communicate as best you can. Because in the end, you are the ones that your wedding should reflect.

via (broken) // via // via // via // via // via // via // via // via

So this one is for all of you:

To the snow brides, the ones making their own cakes, the purple-gown-wearing, the eco favor deliverer, the destination I-do-er and the sentimental ones.

To the barefoot brides, the lady with the amethyst on her finger, the food allergy accommodate-r and the one in her great-grandmother's wedding gown.

To the younger than average bride, the older than average bride, the Canadian diamond covet-er, the cupcake lover and the one wishing for rain.

For the ones with the visible tattoos, the perfectionists, the crown wearers, the I-don't-have-something-blue-and-I-don't-care-ers, the ones training their dogs to be ring bearers, and the civil ceremony celebrators.

To the nervous ones, the ladies who's man of their dreams didn't line up with everyone's expectations, the flip-flop wearers, the environmentalist, the bad dancers and the kids at heart....

You are brave. You are worth it. What you value is important. Be kind and make it known. Your day should reflect who you are, and you are the only one who knows the whole story. Beginning, middle, and end.

Take heart and be brave.

I guess I have been thinking a lot about weddings recently.

Kyle and I have almost been married for two years now (!) and I often find myself looking back at bits and pieces of our wedding and planning process both good and bad. I find myself reflecting on the decisions we made (or wanted to make) and why we did (or wanted to). What I always come back to is that we wanted our marriage to be more beautiful than our wedding... and it definitely is! :)