anthropologie.

i have to confess something.  

yesterday was my first actual trip into anthropologie.

i know, i know.  you are asking:  how can this be true?  especially since i go to hill center frequently and i shop their site almost as frequently.

the answer is, i knew how much the place costs and i had to be in a truly frugal mindset not to go in and just splurge.  but yesterday i had that mindset.  and i got lucky.

i got a really cute shirt that isn't available on the website.  boo.  but - it was only 29.95.  a steal in anthro-land.

while there, though, i saw a few things not in my frugal budget that i like.

pretty flower headband. i don't know if i'd be brave enough to wear it though. it's pretty big.

see it here.

then there's this hairclip instead.  it's smaller - so if i chicken out of the headband...

see it here.

i love aprons. and this one is just too cute.

see it here.

also not in my budget of the day: the dress i would love to wear to our rehearsal.  i've been fixated on the idea of a cute white dress for our rehearsal and day-before-the-wedding festivities.  

see what i found at white house black market.

so fun, flirty, cute.  too bad it's $158.  i just couldn't do it.

see it here.

at the end of the day, all i came home with is that shirt from anthropologie.  after 4 hours of shopping.  

oh - and we decided on the tuxes.  patience is a virtue.

more on the showers...

i wanted to show you a super-fun little project i've been working on.

my family in west tennessee are hosting a shower for me in a few weeks, and my mom volunteered to do the invitations.  which actually turned into me doing the invitations.  i don't mind though really because i had some fun with it.

let me show you!!

first i decided that the paper by the piece waste not papers from swoozie's would be the way to go.  i could get exactly the number i needed along with matching envelopes, in a variety of colors.  they have several sizes, but i thought the long flat cards would be the most fun with the design i wanted to do.  and of course the matching open-end envelopes.

long flat card - $.30

open-end envelope - $.68

my local nashville swoozie's was out of the strawberry color i wanted (bright pink), but the way i see it, blossom (light pink) is still pink.  so that's what we got.

to design the invite, i got really tech-y:  i resized the paper in word.  ooohhh, ahhhh.  :)  

i downloaded a black chandelier graphic from a google image search - easy enough - and put it at the top.  then, i just entered the necessary info.  what, who (me!), when, the other who (hosts), were, what to bring along.

i printed them on my handy hp psc4440 - and voila!  see my picture?

then to prove how truly tech-y i'm becoming, i used iphoto to enhance the color and blur out the parts you should not see.  {like where my nana lives.  she might not like that.}

i'm loving the diy progress i'm making.  what do you think of my handy-work?

the man shower.

earlier this month mr. smith and i were lucky enough to have a friend willing to host a shower for us. excuse me, for him.

yes, a shower for my FH. it was surprise for him (the only way i knew we could get him to a wedding shower). several of his friends were able to come in from out of town to surprise him.

we had a UK blue theme (of course), a football field cake, lots of beer, a mr. smith trivia game, a cornhole tournament, a rousing round of rock band, and gifts consisting of a flip camera, tools, a lawn mower, and more.

it was so fun and so great for him because so often the groom is completely overlooked. the bride is only 1/2 the marriage after all. {ok, maybe 60%. :) }

take a look at the pictures and see all the fun we had.

where am i?
the future mr. and mrs. smith
now we can chop some limbs.
our wonderful host.
cornhole anyone?
i played lead singer.
we are rock band-its. :)

and a video with mr. smiths' new flip video camera. love that thing.

and believe it or not, i didn't drink. i'm just a bad dancer.

cake servers.

kate spade darling point 2pc dessert set

i'm crazy about our cake servers for the wedding. i found them during our registry creation at macy's and have been in luuuvvvv ever since.

please note the "mr. and mrs." engraving. absolute perfection.

pretty little flower girls.

mr. smith and i have lots of family, and with lots of family comes lots of cute little kiddos. narrowing down our flower girl and ring bearer choices was less than easy. we each chose one of each so we could have someone from both sides of our families/lives.


mr. smith's flower girl is his cousin's daugher, cadynce. my flower girl is my cousin's daugher, kylee. both beautiful, sweet little girls that we are lucky to have as part of our special day.

{more on our boys later.}


i found this picture in a bridal magazine before we got engaged of a little girl holding a boy's hand in the most angelic little dress i've ever seen. so i circled it, tore out the page, and inserted it into my inspiration binder.



clearly the sash will be tiffany blue, but otherwise, this dress is perfection.

my aunt is a fabulous seamstress, and she is going to make the girl's dresses for 2 reasons:
1. i can't find my dream dress in real life.
2. she's going to make them for under $50 including fabric and labor.


compare that $50 with the cost of this similar flower girl dress from j. crew that touts a $168 price tag. we ordered this pattern, measured the sweethearts, and now we're ready to go.

Avery

how's that for diy?? :)

wedding day clutch.

i just found something lovely.  on etsy, natch.

i have been following my weddingchannel.com checklist and realized it's time to accessory shop.  you've seen a bit of my shoe search, and because i'm a petite girl, i don't really need alot in the undergarment area.  so my other accessories are really just jewelry and a clutch.

which i think i found.

just lovely.

its made of all vintage fabrics - so eco-friendly!  love that.

the inside is lined with blue fabric.  of course i love.

and the entire outside is lace.  or at least lace-like.  regardless, it looks lovely.

if that's not enough, it's called bridal betty eco clutch.  uber cute.

only part i'm not so big on is the stitched shameless branding just above the snap.  but i think i can overlook that.

{another cool thing i just realized:  the seller is in sydney, so that "free shipping worldwide" option is looking better and better!}

i guess the question now is, what will i put in this?  lip gloss, yes... but what else will i need when i have an awesome planner, 8 super-fab maids, and the love of my life?  tell me please.  {especially you, mrs. K!}

15 minutes of fame.

check me out. i'm today's guest blogger on my most favorite blog: ashley's bride guide.

nashville bride's quest for the cake. <--click there.

our rehearsal dinner.

i was recently inspired by a post on wedding sparks, aka wedding bee's miss apple cider. she wrote about her rehearsal dinner. now, let me first say this: miss apple cider and i are planning two very different events. but her post inspired me to tell you the tales of our rehearsal dinner.

we went through a long, very long list of potential locations, including but not limited to monell's, maggiano's, loveless cafe, whitt's barbeque, palmas verdes, and ellendale's.

but mr. smith never smiled so much than he did at the thought of celebrating our wedding eve at where?  

dave & buster's.

so i acquiesced.

not without some protest though.  first of all, the food there isn't phenomenal, and it's too expensive for what you get.  the atmosphere is not formal, so we needed to adjust our thoughts accordingly.  and we can't afford to pay for drinks or games.  this last one i struggled with.  

you see, we have a huge wedding party:  6 bridesmaids, 2 honorary bridesmaids, 6 groomsmen, 3 ushers, 2 flower girls, 2 ring bearers.  and we have a huge family, i'm talking 15 living grandparents huge.  so for just wedding party, parents, and grandparents, we have a 70+ person rehearsal dinner.

so we had to come to grips with the fact that we're taking people to this super fun place - a grown-up chuck e. cheese with a bar - and we can't pay for the fun.  or the liquid fun.  but we made the choice and so far, we've found that we have such fabulous friends and family that no one would have ever expected us to foot the bill for those things.  

so now that we have that settled, my only issue is figuring out what in the world centerpieces and table linens will match the orange and blue walls in the room we have rented.  

ideas, please?

so picture previews of how i think our rehearsal dinner will be...

i think it's going to be fun fun fun. {till her daddy takes the t-bird away...}

yes, this is us.  :)

sources: 1, 2, 3, 4

hometown tourist.

because i had the day off on monday for memorial day, mr. smith and i decided to play hometown tourist.  i've lived in nashville for almost 6 years now, but i've never gone to downtown franklin to walk the streets, shop, eat, etc.  it's so charming, and i've driven past it a number of times, but never enjoyed.

so on monday we did.

we visited the shops.  what's in store.  bink's.  avec moi.  some others i don't remember the names of.

we played food critic at mcCreary's irish pub.  not really.  we just drank beer (in the middle of the day on a monday, love that) while we ate yummy food.  fish & chips for me, corn beef & swiss for mr. smith.  both were fantastic.  

the happy smiths (-to-be).

mr. smith showing off his smithwick's irish ale.

the oldest ale in ireland, to be exact.

and when i said i drank beer, i clearly meant woodchuck.

i just can't hang.

then we went to the curious gourmet cupcake cafe for cupcake fabulosity.  check out this dulce le leche cupcake made only for 2.  (i caution you:  never eat this alone.)  note the picture includes mr. smith's glass of milk.  such a cutie.

edible art.

mr. smith's milk with our cupcake.

after we devoured the art.

it was wonderful, by the way.

update on the to-do list.

about a month ago, i had a mini reality check about the closeness of our wedding, and i told you about it here. i think you deserve an update!

here is the list as of 4/26. updated status is in blue.

my invitations. i need to work on those asap. work has started. i am still not happy with them, but we're making progress and i'm happy about that.
then here are a few more:
we need to find an officiant. found him. love him. a friend's father-in-law. need an officiant who can do a religious ceremony but is the coolest guy ever? mark borders is your guy.
we need to pick out mr. smith's mother-son dance song. done. she loves coldplay, and we love her. so "the scientist" by coldplay is the one.
we need to find a musician for the ceremony - we have singers, no musician. almost there. contacted rob, the nashville wedding guitarist. he's booked, but recommended a few professors from my alma mater, belmong. will be done end of week. fab!
15000 craft projects. slowly but surely. finished cake embellishments and escort card boards. still working on a few others, but again, i'm happy with the progress.
we need to pick out our wedding bands. (very important.) going on june 13. although mr. smith likes one we found online for himself, so we shall see.
we need to find a new cake baker because ours had to cancel. (its true.) found one, remember? love her. cakes by rebecca.
we still haven't picked out tuxes for mr. smith and the groomsmen. that one is entirely on him though. thanks for your comments - we appreciate it! i think mr. smith has almost decided, but we are going saturday with wedding party members mr & mrs K to try on and make sure.
we need to do a venue walk-through with the caterer. last week. it was great. love chef penelope!
the list goes on. and on. and on. but it's getting shorter!! pretty soon i'll be down to the final days and i'll wonder why i ever stressed.

i have to say this in closing: your thoughts, opinions, feedback, messages, LOVE THEM!! your advice is invaluable to keeping my to-do list from bottlenecking on one decision.

keep it coming!

wedding hair.

how does a girl even decide this? holy crap, hair is such a huge thing! (silly, yes. petty, probably. but it's still major.) it basically decides how your entire face and body will look the day of your wedding. it's one thing to have a bad hair day, but good heavens - not on your wedding day!!

i basically have 2 ideas for how the hair could go. mr. smith likes it up, and i luckily agree with him. i don't want hair sticking to me if it's hot. yuck.

style idea one: a loose, romantic up-do. something still a little flowy, but with definite up-ness.

i like these because they have definite glamour to the look. something that you definitely couldn't have done yourself. notice i have one of jen garner at the oscars - she's stunning every time, but i swear she was a goddess that day. i want to feel like a goddess - only for one day.






then we have style idea 2: a fancy ponytail, really.

i like this because it's a little more playful. i'm definitely a ponytail girl, but mine never look this glam. i think i like the lower ones as opposed to the first option shown, but i think she's just a pretty girl so i wanted to include it. :)





tell me friends, family, and fellow brides, what do you think? do we like the romanticism of the up-dos or the playfulness of the glam ponytails?

sorry i have no photo sources - except for that crazy over-writing of eva longoria. all celebrity photos via google image search, all others via weddingchannel.com.

oh no. it happened to me.

everyone told me this day would come.  for the longest time i kept telling myself and everyone else "no, i'm getting ahead. i'm planning. i'm not procrastinating. i'm level-headed. i will not lose it."

and then i did.  today i began questioning every single decision i've made since we got engage (and before).  it all started with our invitations.  i don't like them.  i have made an attempt at frugality with these invitations and frankly, they're just pissing me off.  they're not as cute as i want them to be.  yes, they are pocket fold and yes, they have enough enclosure cards for everything we need and yes, they were such a great price i could NOT pass them up.  but they also have this weird gold foil on the pages that i have found increasingly cheesy since i bought them.

that was just the beginning.  i then began questioning everything.  and when i say everything, i mean everything.  all except mr. smith, our bridesmaid dresses, and well, that's it.

i am freaking out.

• what if i didn't pick the right dress?
  
• what about our flowers?  should they be different?  prettier?
  
• are our colors good?  i like tiffany & co, but what if something else is better?
  
• did i pick the right photographer?  is someone else better?
  
• we don't even know what songs we are going to do for the ceremony, but what if those are wrong?
• are the projects i've done going to look good, or will they look homemade?
• is my wedding going to be everything i ever hoped for????

so that day came.  the day when every decision i have made - mostly on my own - was suddenly wrong.  

i tried explaining all this to mr. smith.  and to be honest, at first, he laughed at me.  he didn't think i could be serious.  he just said "of course you made the right choices!" and went on.  but shortly after that, i began frantically explaining just how serious i was.  i gave him the laundry list of everything i thought could be wrong about our wedding.  (the list was much longer than above.)

and when i got to photographer, he realized just how close i was to losing my mind.

see, our photographer was the first thing i picked.  paul wharton is the god of wedding photography in my mind.  he is classic, timeless.  his personality is enviable - how can a man make friends so quickly?  he makes women look stunning, men look dashing.  he's unbelievably fast - family pictures are no longer hours long, try 15 minutes.  the man knows photography, and he knows spending time with your friends and family is more important than posing with them.  i could go on for days.  and mr. smith knows it, so when i said i was questioning paul, he knew it was time for a sit-down.

he did just that.  looked me in the eye and said every decision i had made was perfect.  he knew it or he would have spoken up along the way - but he knew he could entrust those things to me and that i would do a better job with it than anyone else.

he told me that no one remembers flowers at weddings.  (and when i said "but i do!" - he reminded me that i'm not normal in that respect, to which i had to agree.)  he told me that the most important part is that we are getting married and everyone is going to have a good time - a huge party - a fun, great food, good drinks, beautiful bride party.

exactly what i needed.  i needed him to tell me those things so i could realign myself and my priorities.  

i'm marrying mr. smith.  my high school sweetheart.  the daddy to my beautiful puppies and kitty.  my personal chef.  the man who makes me laugh.  the only one who even comes close to understanding my frequent moments of crazy.  i'm one lucky girl.

{but he did tell me we can get different invitations...}

diy fresh flower pomanders.

remember this lilly pulitzer pom poms post that i posted twice? once on purpose on monday the 18th, and once by accident on sunday because sneaky little blogger didn't follow my "post this at this time" command.

well, i found a follow up. you like the pom(ander)s? but you like fresh flowers?

weddingchannel.com to the rescue!

they posted these diy instructions for fresh flower pomanders. love it! these will no doubt be a little pricier than the tissue paper alternative, but if fresh flowers are your thing, you can still save some $$$ with these great step-by-step instructions!

________


Thank you Nancy Liu Chin for these beautiful pomanders! We're so happy to feature the San Francisco flower designer's sent over great tutorial for classic kissing balls. You might want to practice this one a few times first -- while the instructions are simple, it can be a tricky to get the flowers arranged exactly right at first. A little help is also a good thing, since the best time to make the pomanders is the night before they'll be used.

Materials:
Sturdy, flat and round mass flowers like mini carnations (left and right) or pom pom mums (center)
Styrofoam ball or an Oasis Floral Foam ball (styrafoam is lighter and better for children to carry, while an Oasis ball will better hydrate the flowers)
Any extra floral pieces for the ball, like spray roses or green buds (optional)
Assorted ribbon
Water mister
Large freezer zip bag or clear plastic bag without holes
Floral shears

Step 1: Clip the flower stems. If you're using mums, remove the stems entirely. Leave about two inches of stem for carnations.

Step 2: If you're using an Oasis ball, soak it in a bucket of water. (You'll know it's done when it sinks to the bottom of the bucket.) Then, let it stand until it stops dripping.

Step 3: Use straight pins to secure ribbon onto the ball in a loop. This ribbon is what you'll later use to hang the pomander.

Step 4: Begin securing the flowers onto the ball. For mums, you'll need to use a pin poked through the center of the flower. For carnations, simply stick the end of the stem into the ball. Start at one end, and place the flowers as close together as you can. Work your way around the ball in quadrants -- don't skip around. If you'd like to add in anything extra, like spray roses or small green buds (pictured in the ball at left), work them in during this time.

Step 5: Mist the ball with water. Blog air into a bag, and then place the pomander inside. Secure it tightly closed, and store in the refrigerator until your event.

To see more of Nancy's work and ideas, check out her business and read her blogs, Nancy's Brown Bag and Pink Blossom List.

sister, sister.

i needed the world to see how much fun i have with my little sister.

she's awesome.

yummy beautiful.

i found this in my google reader today.  posted by style me pretty via their little black book blog.

i'm totally happy with my cake choice, but this cake just screams "eat me, i'm too pretty not to gobble up."  love it!!

new pink book blog.

i'm a nashville pink bride. check out my newest post here.

and watch the site on thursday for my posts!

bouquet of pretty.

i found this beautiful picture via sasha souza's sparkliatti blog.

{by the way, that's the coolest made-up word ever.}

i'm absolutely crazy about this bouquet. it's similar the plan for my bridesmaids: ivory flowers with touches of the palest pink, wrapped in tiffany blue ribbon.

a detail i'm super excited about, though, is that each of my girls will have a bouquet primarily of pale pink roses. then each bridesmaid will have a different "special flower" to make her bouquet unique. my bouquet will then be made of all their special flowers, so i will have a little piece of each of them in my hands throughout the big day.

color palette.

i felt compelled to do a color palette.  one that would say once and for all that this is what my wedding will look like.

but i got impatient and i couldn't find the right color so i kind of gave up on getting the right shade for Tiffany blue.  but if you don't know what it looks like, look here.  it's iconic.  and will change. your. life.

or just look at this picture.

so anyway, if i could have gotten the colors right, this would be my palette.  they aren't right, but i'm going to pretend they are and explain the method behind my madness.

created at colourlovers.com

1.  espresso.  i love the deep, dark, almost black color of coffee.  chocolate is pretty, but i'm not a chocolate girl.  i love the richness in this color.

2.  tiffany blue.  if there is a girl who wouldn't melt for tiffany's, please point her in my direction, and i'll set her head straight.  tiffany blue is iconic and can make any day a little brighter.

3.  ivory.  the color of my flowers.  i didn't want anything bright to compete with the tiffany blue.  i've seen it paired with lots of floral colors, but i didn't want to lose the blue for the color, and i wanted to enjoy the beauty of the flower instead of thinking about the color.  so ivory is the way to go.

4.  ice pink.  i don't know if this is a real color, but i wanted the palest pink roses and just a few cymbidium orchids to create a little contrast in the flowers.  ivory is beautiful, but just a hint of pink satisfies my girly love of pink without competing with the other strong colors in the color palette or distracting from the pretty flower.

honestly, i could have done a better job with this technically, but i think i got the point across.  sorry for my impatience.  i just couldn't sit still long enough to play with it.  colourlovers.com is a cool site though if you're ever in need...

my friends.

i have great friends.  they have been a huge support through so many parts of my life, and with all the changes (some good, some not-so-good) currently happening in their lives, i want to pay tribute.  

my super fab sister graduated from belmont on saturday in just 3 years.  i couldn't be more proud.  she leaves tomorrow for a san diego vacay to celebrate.

my bridesmaid BK is going to key west this weekend with her husband of nearly 2 years - so exciting!!

my friend EG from work celebrated the birth of her 2 nephews in april, but they came too soon.  neither of the babies made it - so they have celebrated life and mourned loss in too short a time.

my lovely wedding singers and friends were engaged to one another in april.  they are so perfect for one another and i'm so happy they are now in the planning stages for their own wedding.

my high school BFF mrs. long just got another teaching job at an even better school, where she will be able to coach tennis (her passion).  such a celebration!

my FSIL and her husband are celebrating his completion of his first year of medical school.  they have been through alot in their lives, but i am so happy for what they get to celebrate!!!

my other FSIL is 14 - and she's going to europe next month for an exchange program.  she is going to learn and experience so much.  love that kidd-o.  (that's what i call her.  i think she likes it...)

another bridesmaid of mine will be back in the states in about 3 months now - she's from germany and i am super-dee-duper excited for her to be here.  

and - hopefully - we all get to celebrate our patriotism with an extra day of weekend on monday!

i think i'm missing some of the changes and celebrations, but i really wanted the chance to pay tribute to what i was able to this morning.  it's going to be a great day!!!

the hermitage hotel.

nashville's historic hermitage hotel.
yes, it has a pretty face and a 5-diamond rating. but it also has some history for me.

my parents stayed there when they got married 26 years ago. (on monday - happy anniversary!)

my parents are a special couple: married 26 years after 5 months of dating. have 2 daughters (quite lovely ones, i think) that love and respect them. they've made us who we are and i'm so thankful for it.

we're doing traditional vows so we can say the same things my parents said on their wedding day. they are involved in every step of the plans. my dad is giving me away, and my mom tells me he got teary-eyed when she played the song i'd picked out for our first dance. (sorry for embarassing you dad!)

so when we thought about where to spend our wedding night, there really wasn't any question. other places may be better priced, but nothing can take the place of that "special" factor.

i made the reservation today, and i'm so happy to share a few pictures! all from the hermitage hotel website.

the front of the hotel.

a guest room.

not just any bathroom - the hermitage hotel was voted 2008 best restroom in the u.s.!

tuxedo choices. what to do?

mr. smith has been in charge of exactly 3 things for the wedding.

1. make the music list. - he'll be great at this one - he's had a prelim list since before we got engaged.

2. decide on the rehearsal dinner venue. - now, i did all the research. but he made the choice: dave & buster's. a pretty good choice, i'd say.

3. pick out his (and his groomsmen's) tux. - this has been our biggest problem.

if you remember, our wedding colors are espresso and tiffany blue.

our bridesmaid dresses are espresso. they will have tiffany blue ribbon to wrap their bouquets, but no blue in their dresses.

we initially thought we'd go with a khaki suit for the groomsmen, but mr. smith and i both agree we would like something a little more formal.

because the bridesmaids are in espresso, black tuxes with the tiffany blue vest and tie were out. clearly. can't have them mismatched. so we thought we might do as some friends have done and try for black tux, brown vest and tie. mr. smith was not pleased with that. he likes it, but he hasn't been happy with the thought for our wedding, so we moved on.

moved on to brown tuxedos. i like them. i think they are different and snazzy. (yes, i did use the word snazzy.) mr. smith likes them too. {yay!} so the question then is: vest and tie? what color?

my head said tiffany blue of course.

so then we went to street tuxedo, a local chain of tux shops that has a wider selection than mw tux - and they are local. i'm very into supporting local when possible, and on top of that - their prices seemed to be better. sold.

here's what we learned on our first trip to the green hills shop.

1. mr. smith doesn't know what he wants.

2. mr smith doesn't want to decide on something he will regret.

3. that trip was not a decision-making trip. it was merely a preview. should have done that one months go...

so, brown tuxes: a trend? something we'll look back on and wish we didn't? or something different that suits us just right? which is it? everyone has given us a different answer, and my guess is you all will too.

and now for your entertainment, a poll. please look at each of the pictures below and tell us what you think. mr. smith might actually make this final decision with your kind assistance.

option 1: brown on brown.

from here.

option 2: brown tux, tiffany blue vest & tie.

from here.

option 3: black tux, brown vest and tie.

from here and here.

please vote. comment and vote. we need your loving, thoughtful opinions so we can decide and move on to other tasks... you all know there are more things to be dealt with!!