Friday Favorites: Throw pillow obsession!

Happy Friday and welcome to my throw pillow obsession, folks! I LOVE decorative pillows and how you can change the entire look of a room by switching them up and mixing patterns and colors. I have so many bookmarked that I had to share some of them this week for Friday Favorites! I decided to focus on the pillows I've chosen for our future master bedroom because they are the prettiest! I'm obsessed with robins egg blue right now and I think it pairs beautifully with neutral creams and browns. I love that english cottage/french country/rustic/shabby chic/vintage vibe as you can tell from my wedding decor and I plan to incorporate that into the decor of our home as well! If you haven't checked out the awesome pillows on Etsy you are missing out! So many talented people out there and the prices are pretty much the same (or cheaper) as any home decorating store!  

 I love the interesting print on this pillow and of course the colors are to die for, too! And you literally cannot beat the price.... a set of 2 pillow covers for only $18! The Pillow People on Etsy is a shop full of fresh patterns and great colors. I highly recommend!

Ruffles have a special place in my heart... I just love them so much! This cream pillow is so beautiful and the linen ruffles give it such great texture. I also love how she added the buttons! So unique. Find them at Sutton Place Designs on Etsy.

I wonder if my love of burlap will ever fade?? I highly doubt it! This little nest pillow is so cute and the pop of blue color is just perfect! I love that it's hand-stamped too, which makes every pillow unique! Find it at My Adobe Cottage here.

This robins egg blue damask pillow from Pop O Color is so classic and timeless. It pairs beautifully with other colors and patterns and is the perfect staple pillow. I also love the french country vibe it has! So pretty.

More burlap, what a surprise! :) I couldn't decide between these 2 pillows from Secdus so I had to include both of them! This whole shop is full of burlap and vintage inspired pillows and I pretty much love all of them! I especially love the contrast between the rough burlap and the pretty white ruffles and how cute is that little bird and teacup?! I die!

This 'home is where the heart is' pillow is hand embroidered in beautiful Portland, OR and I love it immensely. You can fully customize it and have the heart put anywhere on the map (or even another country!) for no extra charge! I think it's so sweet and definitely a conversation starter. Check out Plumed for a ton of pretty embroidered pillows! She is talented!

Who DOESN'T love cashmere?? And cashmere RUFFLES?! It just doesn't get any better! I love how she finds sweaters at local thrift stores and turns them into these adorable pillows. Upcyling at its finest, folks! You can find this pillow and tons of other pretty colors here.


Please tell me I'm not the only one with a pillow obsession! Where do you find your favorites ones? Aside from Etsy, I love Target and World Market!

I hope you all have a lovely weekend! It's supposed to storm all weekend long here in Southern CA but I plan to make the best of it and get some snuggle time in with my 2 favorite boys! XOXO

Wedding Planning Wednesday - DIY mason jar centerpieces

 This last weekend Mando and I met up with our wedding coordinator at the LA flower market to pick out flowers for our centerpieces. I knew I wanted baby's breath and peonies but I was still looking for a 3rd option. I kind of have a love affair with florals after working in a flower shop so I was happy to browse around all morning. Peonies sadly were not in season yet, but I found some gorgeous spider mums to play around with in the meantime! I also found the perfect 3rd type of flower which are those white pom pom flowers you see in the ivory centerpiece. I'm all about texture so my main goal was to try and get the perfect balance and I really lucked out finding those at the last minute! I'm super excited to do my own flowers for the wedding. It's been a long time since I've worked with flowers at all, but it isn't something you really forget! I spent the rest of the weekend experimenting with different boutineer styles and bouquet wraps which was really fun! The floral arrangements aren't the only DIY project I have going on either.... I'm also making my own centerpieces. I knew I wanted to incorporate my love of mason jars (which goes perfectly with the rustic theme) so I came up with 3 different designs for each table.

1. Burlap & lace mason jars: Burlap and lace has been a continuing theme throughout the wedding so I knew I had to use them for the centerpieces! This is just a quart size mason jar with a wide strip of burlap around it and hot glued in the back. I then wrapped it with a piece of wide ivory lace ribbon and hot glued that as well. Super easy once you have all the strips cut out! The good news is that the strips don't have to be perfectly straight or even because the frayed edges just add to the rustic charm!

Ivory painted centerpieces: I wanted one centerpiece that was different than the others so I chose to do these ivory painted cans to mix it up. This is beyond simple and super inexpensive to make! I just started collecting large cans after we used them at home and then peeled the labels off. You may have to scrub them afterwards to get any glue redisdue off as well. Then, once they were completely dry, I spray painted them in this ivory color. They aren't super fancy, but that's okay... the more rustic looking the better!

Twine wrapped mason jars: Last but not least are these pint sized mason jars! I bought some thick twine at a craft store and wrapped them around the middle adding a dab of hot glue here and there to hold it together. Again, easy and inexpensive to make!

I really love how all of these turned out. They are exactly the look I was going for and I think they'll look amazing on the tables! You can't beat pretty centerpieces on a budget! Now I just have to finish the rest of them, haha!

Next week I'll (hopefully) talk about our invitations and even share a sneek peak! Almost time to mail them out, can you believe it?! Ahh! XOXO

Friday Favorites: Color palette love!

In between planning the wedding and keeping my toddler entertained, most of my time is spent daydreaming about my future home. What style it will be, what furniture I'll choose, and of course the design and colors. I've been obsessively hoarding my favorite color palettes on Pinterest so I thought it'd be fun to share some of them with you this week for Friday Favorites!

I originaly planned to link each picture to its original source, however I just discovered that about 70% of the original links don't work anymore. So I'll link you guys to my Home Inspiration board on Pinterest instead! You can find each of these on there.

I love this cranberry and teal color combination, don't you? I think it's very relaxing and unexpected. I would probably use these colors for a master bathroom.

The yarn palette is more color than I would normally do, but I like how they are still subtle tones. I think this palette would be perfect for a girl's bedroom or nursery!

The bread palette is my absolute favorite. I can't even pick one particular room, because there are so many I would use it for! Bedroom, bathroom, living room, dining room... I love the espresso paired with the cream and that teal and tiffany blue add the perfect pops of color! It feels really rustic and earthy which I love!

I adore bright and sunny kitchens so this yellow and aqua palette would be absolutely perfect! How pretty would it be paired with natural wood and all white dishes? SWOON! I'm also loving that vintage colander in the picture.

Another bright palette! I love this coral and turquoise combination for the master bedroom. I would have never thought to put these colors together on my own, but I've recently seen some gorgeous bedrooms in these shades and they compliment each other really well.

This espresso and robins egg blue palette is another favorite. I just find these colors very calming and peaceful which, again, I think is perfect for the master bathroom!

This palette is another idea for the master bedroom or a guest bedroom. I love that mint color especially paired with the creamy browns. The purple is an unexpected pop of color that totally works. These tones also give off a vintage vibe which I really love.

I can't wear mustard yellow (pale girl, holla!) but that doesn't mean I can't have it in my house, right?! This palette is the perfect combination of rustic and modern with the earthy tones and pop of bright color. I think this palette would work really well for a family room or dining area.

Another rustic inspired palette, hooray! These colors remind me of a cozy cabin in the winter time and it would be perfect for a family room! I love the cranberry color and although I don't normally like green, it really works here and makes me think of pine trees and the woods. So pretty!

What color combinations are you loving right now? Don't you just love all of these beautiful palettes popping up everywhere? I like how easy is it to just choose a photo that inspires you and design an entire room around it! I can't wait to put some of these design ideas in action! Hopefully someday soon! Have a great weekend everybody! XOXO

Wedding Planning Wednesday - Dessert Menu

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I know I have posted about our wedding cake design in the past, but it has changed since then. You will find this happening a lot in wedding planning, especially when it comes to me! New ideas come up all the time and I'm switching things up! When we found out that our wedding planner has a friend who is trying to start his own baking business (He was featured on the Food Network show Cupcake Wars! How fun is that?) we knew we wanted to meet with him to see what flavor combinations and ideas he had. As soon as we met him and his business partner (our wedding planner's brother) we instantly loved them and I knew they would have a fresh perspective for my non-traditional ideas. His presentation was beautiful and we loved all 3 cupcakes he brought for us to taste!

Mando and I weren't sure if an entire dessert table would be in our budget but after talking to Isaac we determined that we could make it work! Instead of doing a gigantic wedding cake, we will be doing a smaller cake for Mando and I to cut into and then individual cupcakes of the same flavor for the guests. This was an easy way to bring the cost down and make more room for the dessert table budget.

I knew I wanted to do a theme for the dessert table, because honey, I'm all about the themes! I almost NEED one when it comes to planning! We thought about our absolute favorite desserts and I came up with the idea of rustic, country fair themed desserts. So, here's what's on the menu... most are being made by Isaac but some things we will be bringing ourselves!

• S'mores cake and cupcakes - these cupcakes are freaking amazing! I totally copied my wedding planner on the flavor, because she had it for her wedding and I fell in love with the idea. It's very different and I think the guests are going to love it.
• Mini cherry and apple pies - I knew if I was going to do a dessert table there would be pie. Because, obviously. Pie is amazing and everything is better in mini form, am I right?!
• Donut holes - A big ol' platter of them. Yum. Enough said.
• Gourmet mini caramel apples - Caramel apples always remind me of my mom because it's one of her favorite desserts. These are kind of dedicated to her and a silly thank you for all the help she's given us while planning the wedding. I think they are going to be so pretty once decorated, I can't wait to see what he comes up with!
• Cotton candy - you can't have a country fair dessert table without cotton candy! I think this will be something all of the kids at the wedding will specially enjoy. And trust me, there will be A LOT of kids there!
• Kettle corn - Mando and I are obsessed with kettle corn and we always get a huge bag when we go to the fair so this was a must on our table! We have a local popcorn shop that we love so we'll be picking it up from there and packaging it into individual bags for the guests!

I'm ridiculously excited about this menu. Like, I can't stop thinking about it. Wedding dress be damned, I will be stuffing my face with a little bit of everything! As for the design, I rented a covered wagon from a local prop house and we'll be using that (without the cover) as the dessert table. Fun stuff! Right now is crunch time, so we are busy working out all the tiny details that go along with planning a wedding. Less than 3 months to go! XOXO

Friday Favorites: Party themes & ideas!

I love me a good party. I'm always thinking of unique ways to celebrate any and every occasion. One of my favorite things to do is read party planning blogs and search for inspiration on Pinterest for all of my imaginary future parties. I have a board dedicated to all of my favorite themes, and I thought it would be fun to share some of my favorites with you for Friday Favorites! I broke this down into three catagories: adult, special occasion, and children's parties. Of course any of them could be adapted to fit whatever occasion you need though!

Adult

Outdoor movie night: I remember the day I saw this party online and my mouth literally dropped. Not only is this party styled to PERFECTION, but the outdoor, picnic style is so up my alley! I love the idea of renting a projector, throwing some quilts on the ground, and having a gourmet popcorn bar for you and some close friends. We were actually going to do something like this for our rehearsal dinner, but went with something else last minute.

Gourmet pizza party: I love parties that have anything to do with cooking or baking or you know, eating. This adult DIY pizza party is such a fun way to get all of your friends together and do something different! Just put butcher paper over your table, make piles of gourmet toppings, and write descriptions right on the paper next to each pile. This is perfect for people who have picky guests too, because everyone gets so make their own mini pizza with the sauce/toppings of their choosing!

Special Occasion

Gender reveal party: In my family, someone is ALWAYS having a baby or getting married. I capital L-O-V-E the idea of a gender reveal party instead of a baby shower. One of my Twitter friends showed me this amazing mustache or bows party theme and I AM doing it for my next baby! Each guest chooses a mustache pin if they think it's a boy, or a bow pin if they think it's a girl and they wear it around the party until the big reveal! Adorbs! You know I'm a sucker for anything with a mustache!

Breakfast party: I have been obsessing over the idea a breakfast party for months and months now. Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day and an entire party dedicated to it? Hello, perfection! This coffee and donut tasting party would be perfect for a bridal shower theme, don't you think? After all, who doesn't like donuts??

Children

Farm party: This theme has been done so many times and in so many different ways, but for some reason it never gets old. I love that it's wholesome and kind of old school! Pony rides, bobbing for apples, tractors, petting zoos... I also love that it works for a boy or a girl easily. How gorgeous is that table, by the way? I die for that cake and the haystacks being used to hold the cake pops? Genius!

Camping party: I'm DYING to do a camping themed party for Cayden but I want to wait until he's older so he can enjoy it more. This particular party uses a ton of vintage which of course I love. There are so many activities that go with this theme too... scavenger hunts, s'mores, 'camping out' in the backyard. It seems like so much fun for little ones! After all, who doesn't love to go camping?!

What party themes are you loving these days? You can see the rest of my favorite ideas on my Pinterest party board here. Immediately after this wedding I have to get started on Cayden's 2nd birthday party and although it won't be huge this year, I'm still really excited! Happy Friday everyone! XOXO

Wedding Planning Wednesday - Help me choose!

Right now, I'm working on all of the decor details for the ceremony site and it's proving to be challenging. With all of the beautiful (and huge!) trees surrounding the place you are limited to how you can decorate. You definitely don't want to over-do it and take the away from all of the natural beauty but you don't want it looking too plain either! So I'm just trying to find that perfect balance between decorated and overdone!

One of the things I just can't decide about is the backdrop. The bottom right picture below is our actual ceremony location and as you can see there is a wooden structure, almost like an arch. This is the focal point of the stage and I really want to draw the eye to that area. The problem is, there are so many possible ways to decorate I just cannot choose which one I like the best! This is where you come in... I would love, love, LOVE if you all gave YOUR opinions and helped me choose which one you like the best!

(1, 2, 3, 4)

1. Pom pom string garland. This would be similar to the one in the picture, but the pom poms would be in all ivory and they would hang in vertical strips from the structure (like the raw cotton balls hanging down in #4). I like that this would look really delicate and whimsical, but I'm not sure if it is ENOUGH, know what I mean?

2. Strands of ribbon. I love this picture, and it reminds me SO much of our location. I think the ribbons look really effortless and beautiful. The only thing I'm worried about is the cost of so much ribbon and finding some that are long enough! I would love to mix it up with different kinds of lace, though! 

3. Fabric pom poms. My sister made tissue paper pom poms for Cayden's birthday last year and I loved them, but the fabric just takes it to a whole new level. I love the texture they provide and you can mix it up with all different kinds of fabric. I would hang these vertically as well, at all different levels. I would probably do various kinds of burlap, cotton, and lace fabrics.  

4. Fabric swag. This is what most people do who get married here. They just drape one long piece of fabric over the structure. I like how this looks, but I'm worried it's too simple and I have no idea how much it would cost for that long of a piece of fabric.

Clearly, I need help! Which option is your favorite? Any new ideas or suggestions I haven't thought of? I'm honestly stuck here and need your help deciding! Any and all responses are appreciated! XOXO

Christmas cards!

Last Thursday we took our annual Christmas pictures and as usual, I've waited until the last minute possible to order our Christmas cards! This year I'm ordering from Tiny Prints and I'm kind of obsessed with their selection. I looked through all six (yes, SIX) pages of their holiday cards and chose a few favorites ones!

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Cute, right?! I love the variety, too. They have everything... elegant black and white cards, Hello Kitty Christmas cards, pet friendly cards, and colorful, modern cards. In the end we decided to go with this one which was the very first one I saw and I love it! It had a spot for all 3 of our photos and I love the colors. They'll go perfect with our peppermint hot cocoa handmade Christmas gifts!

If you haven't ordered your holiday cards yet, make sure to check out their selection of cards here. Right now they have free expedited delivery to arrive by 12/23 or you can pay a little extra to have them rushed to you even faster! Happy holidays everyone! XOXO

Wedding Planning Wednesday - Vintage Love

If there's one re-occuring theme in our wedding, it's the use of vintage. I've always been interested in the items of previous decades and the idea that every antique has a story. I've been vintage shopping for years and I knew when I started planning the wedding that I wanted to incorporate some vintage pieces throughout the day. In the past few weeks I've really started my search and I want to share some of my recent finds with you all!

My amazing wedding coordinator Emily told me about a vintage sale hosted by a local blogger. I was lucky enough to score this adorable vintage wire basket for dirt cheap! I'm thinking of filling it with some pretty flowers and displaying it on the guest book table. Thoughts?

Last weekend we went to the Rose Bowl flea market in Pasadena. I've been to a few local flea markets, but nothing like this one.. it's huge! If you're in the area and love antiques you have to check it out. I scored this amazing vintage tin for $8 and I'm kind of obsessed with it. I did some googling and I believe it was a box used for dressings (aka bandages) during WWII. I think I'm going to leave this one open and stuff it with flowers as well. You can never have too many flowers!

I've been on the hunt for a vintage suitcase for AGES. I saw this idea on Pinterest and I really want to replicate it. This suitcase actually wasn't for sale (it was being used as a display piece), but it was the size and color I was looking for so I asked the vendor and she sold it to me for $15! The inside needs some love and work, but I'm still pretty stoked about it. Can't wait to dress it up!

Another way we're going to incorporate vintage into the wedding is renting some pieces from Found Rentals in Fullerton. This company is like the hidden gem for wedding planning. I heard about them on a wedding blog and then Emily arranged a meeting for us. I got to check out their warehouse and browse through her AMAZING collection of vintage furniture and other accessories and let me tell you, it was heaven! They have so many great pieces and I can't wait to display a few of these beauties on our big day!

I still have a lot of shopping to do and I have a list of local shops and markets I want to hit up in the next few months. I can't believe there are only 5 months left until the big day! It's starting to feel so close! Happy Wednesday everyone! XOXO

Friday Favorites: Peppermint Treats!

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Happy December everyone! Holiday season is upon us, and just like apples are for September and pumpkins are for October/November, December is all about peppermint! I'm normally not a mint lover, but I won't say no to the magical combination of spicy peppermint and sweet chocolate! This time of the year is when I bake the most, so I've been hoarding some of my favorite chocolate/peppermint treats on my Pinterest board to share with you! And don't forget, some of these would make lovely last minute Christmas/hostess gifts!

If the peppermint mocha from Starbucks is your go-to holiday drink, you might want to whip up a batch of these peppermint mocha cupcakes from Bakers Royale immediately. Peppermint extract and Starbucks via instant coffee are the delicious base for this cupcake and it's all topped off with some peppermint infused buttercream. YUM!

If coffee isn't your thing, how about trying these delicious chocolate cupcakes with a sweet peppermint cream cheese icing from Glorious Treats?  She'll also tell you how to do that candy cane stripe effect for the frosting! Fun!

Here's something to make with all of your leftover candy canes... Chocolate peppermint cookies from My Baking Addiction! There are crushed candy canes inside the cookies and then they are dipped in melted chocolate and embellished with even more crushed candy canes for double the peppermint goodness! It's almost like peppermint bark in cookie form!

If you're a chocolate lover like me, you may appreciate these double chocolate peppermint crunch cookies from Sweet Pea's Kitchen. With dark chocolate, espresso powder, and peppermint extract, these cookies are sure to satisfy any Christmas craving!

Christmas isn't Christmas without a hot drink to cozy up with! Martha Stewart doesn't disappoint with her recipe for peppermint hot chocolate. Throw some in a thermos and go look at Christmas lights for a festive night with the family!

For once Miss Paula Deen isn't talking about butter, ya'll! Instead she's bringing us a delicious recipe for peppermint chocolate coffee. I don't know about you, but this is something I would definitely get out of bed for! She mixes a pot of freshly brewed coffee with chocolate and peppermint syrup and tops it off with whipped cream and chocolate shavings. Can you say YUMMY!

I hope you all enjoy at least one of these fabulous concoctions this Christmas! We are busy over here with our 24 days of advent calendar activities (more about that later) and have a weekend packed full of winter fun! Have a great weekend everyone! XOXO

Wedding Planning Wednesday - Flower Girl Inspiration

(1, 2, 3)

As I mentioned before, I have all of the bridal party's looks chosen except the flower girls. I have seen some dresses here and there that I like, but none that I absolutely love. I am very lucky to have a talented sister who not only made her own wedding dress, but made the flower girl dresses for my other sister's wedding a few years back so I was thrilled when she offered to either "dress up" a plain dress or create a new one entirely from scratch for the wedding. I'm leaving it completely up to her and what she thinks would be better, and now my job is coming up with some inspiration photos of the styles I love!

As you can tell from the photos above, I really like the whimsical type dresses and I think it's perfect for our wedding in the woods. I love the tulle tu-tu style skirt and I just think it would be so fun for a little girl to wear! The colors you see above are the colors that our dresses will be in, which is an ivory/champagne combination. The dress in the middle is definitely different from the others, but I had to include it because I just love the ruffles! Which dress is your favorite?

I am so thankful to have such helpful family and friends who are willing to help make my vision come to life! Thanks sister, I love you!! XOXO

Wedding Planning Wednesday - My Favorite Pins!

We're back for another edition of my favorite wedding pins! I actually had an entirely different post planned for today, but I didn't quite finish it on time so I'm saving it for next week! Instead, I'm going to show my favorite Pinterest finds of the week!

 You know by now that I've been planning on doing my own florals for the wedding, but when I saw this fabric flower bouquet on Etsy my jaw dropped. She mixes all different fabrics and textures based on your wedding colors and adds in these amazing vintage brooches. Isn't is just stunning? I may or may not be re-thinking my bouquet right now. I mean, how could I not??

I've been looking for cost and eco-friendly ways to display my floral centerpieces on our tables, and I L-O-V-E the idea of painting coffee cans. I am obsessed with the copper metallic colors, they look so pretty in the sunlight. Perfect for an outdoor wedding in the woods!

I still don't know if a dessert table will be in our budget (crossing my fingers!!!) but if so, I have my heart set on mini pies. How sweet is this little display? I just love pie, it may be my favorite dessert ever!

We've been going back and forth on how we want to display our seating chart, and after Mando rejected about 10 of my ideas we decided on a chalkboard sign. I think this one is really cute and would definitely go with our vintage/rustic theme.

Right now, I have all of the bridal party's outfits chosen except the flower girls. I fell in love with a dress that was WAY too pricey, so my very talented sister may be making them instead. (By the way, we really need to get started on all these sewing projects, Jess!). I love this fluffy champagne dress and it's definitely one of my inspiration photos!

Another sewing project in the works are my table runners that my sister is also making for me. (I know, I owe her big time!)  I'm doing an ivory table cloth and the table runners will be a strip of burlap and a strip of ivory lace like the one above. I also love her flower arrangements, how cute are those vintage glasses?!

I hope everyone has an amazing Thanksgiving tomorrow! We are actually having 2 Thanksgivings, one with Mando's family tomorrow, and my family on Saturday. Double the pie, sweet! I'll be back Friday with some awesome Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals for Mama Matryoshka! You don't want to miss it! XOXO

Friday Favorites: Thanksgiving Love

I love Thanksgiving. I don't know when the whole 'let's skip Thanksgiving and go straight to Christmas' thing started, but I am just not okay with it! What other holiday is it perfectly acceptable to stuff your face with turkey and pie and then lay on the couch watching football for the rest of the day? None I tell you! We need to preserve this sacred holiday. This week, Friday Favorites is dedicated the best holiday of the year in my opinion. So unbutton your pants, grab a fork and let's get started! 

If you're not familiar with Rifle Paper Co, get familar! I love this artist and her illustrations always make me happy. These Thanksgiving cards are so sweet and can double as placecard settings as well!

If your looking for a handmade hostess gift, look no further! How fun are these turkey pops and jar full of turkey toes? Simple, inexpensive, and a great way to tell your hostess you appreciate her slaving over a hot stove all day! And if you're the hostess this year you can always give these to your guests as favors!

I have such fun memories of making pilgrim hats and turkey handprint crafts at school. And I distinctly remember getting to play Queen Victoria in our Christopher Columbus play making all the other girls in the class very jealous! This feather headpiece would be super fun for a young child to make and wear Thanksgiving day and I love the idea of writing what you're thankful for on the 'feathers' of this yarn wrapped turkey. Both are fun projects and can help educate your little one on how Thanksgiving started!

I'm also running a Thanksgiving special over at Mama Matryoshka! I have a ton of Thanksgiving/Fall garlands, banners, and cupcake toppers available and you can get 15% off using code 'DOMESTICATEDDELIGHT1' at checkout! Also, if you order today I can guarantee arrival by Thanksgiving anywhere in the US!

I hope everyone has a safe and fun holiday week filled with lots of food and pie! I personally can't wait to get some shopping done on black Friday! Have a great weekend everyone! XOXO

Wedding Planning Wednesday - My Favorite Pins!

I cannot even begin to explain how valuable Pinterest has been to me for my wedding planning... To have all of your inspiration pictures in one place that can be added to any time? It's every planners dream! I can easily say that over half of my great ideas for my ceremony and reception have come from Pinterest. It's such a great source of inspiration! Today for Wedding Planning Wednesday, I wanted to share my favorite wedding pins. I am so happy that this amazing new site popped up... The timing couldn't be better!

I am obsessed with these favor bags. I love the burlap + lace combination and the clothespins on top! I will definitely be creating something similar to put our skeleton key favors inside. The only thing I would change is to have the little tag say Thank You instead of LOVE. So cute!

Lately I have been trying to figure out what I want our flowers girls to wear and carry. There are so many options these days from traditional basket to big, fluffy flower poms. I saw this picture and I'm now in love with the idea of doing little paper cones. I think it adds the perfect rustic touch!

You guys may remember that I'm doing my own florals for the wedding, so I've been looking for inspiration pictures for the bouquet wraps. I really love this burlap wrap with the lace coming from the top. It's so pretty! I would do a skeleton key instead of that little round pendant though!

Mando and I are trying to find a way to creatively display the seating arrangements. I love the idea of finding an old window frame and writing the names for each table in the squares. It's the perfect vintage touch, don't you think?

Are you sensing a theme here? I'm obsessed with burlap and lace and this ring bearer pillow is beyond perfect. How pretty are those fabric flowers? It's both rustic and elegant! I'm going to see if my amazingly talented sister can help me make something similar!

I've been obsessed with these burlap banners long before I even got engaged and now I can't wait to use them! I love the idea of Mr and Mrs banners to hang on the back of our chairs for the reception. It's little details like these that make me happy!

Have you used Pinterest to plan your events? If you're not on there yet you really need to sign up! And if you need an invite, just leave me a comment with your email address and I'll make sure to get you one!

Tonight we are off to meet with our amazing wedding planner (I just hired her this week!) to go over some of my ideas and to-do lists. It's getting to be crunch time! Oh, and I promise that next Wednesday you will get to finally see our engagement pictures. So excited! Have a great week everyone! XOXO

Friday Favorites: Braids

Is anyone else obsessed with braids right now? Personally, I can't get enough! There are so many different ways to wear braids from fish tail to french and I love it all! My hair is super long right now while I'm growing it out for the wedding so I've been experimenting with a lot of different styles. I am loving the idea of incorporating braids into my wedding do! I found all of these great styles on Pinterest and I can't wait to try them out! My favorite is the bottom left; how gorgeous is she? I adore her make-up too!

We have a BUSY weekend ahead! Our annual chili cook-off on Saturday along with a day of pampering at the spa for this mama, and my hair and make-up trial, engagement pictures + cake testing on Sunday. Next week we are meeting with some wedding coordinators and taste testing with some food vendors and next weekend is The Threadery! And that's not even including all of the gym and music classes Cayden and I are taking together! I'm getting dizzy just thinking about it! I hope you all have a more restful weekend than we do... I can't believe Halloween will be here in a few short weeks! XOXO

Wedding Planning Wednesday - Invitation Inspiration

It has been a busy, busy week in the wedding planning world! Mando and I have a wedding planning timeline and according to that we are actually way behind! A few of the things we are supposed to already have booked are the food, wedding planner, and invites. I've been extremely busy looking up Mexican food caterers because we aren't having much luck with the food truck idea. Now we are thinking of a taco cart and I'm pretty sure I have it narrowed to 3 places, so tasting will happen next week! We also may have found a bakery for our wedding cake so we're hoping to do cake tasting this weekend.

One thing I've been obsessing over this week is the invitations. Although it's a fun part of the planning process, it can also be really overwhelming. So many options! My biggest struggle so far has been narrowing down the 'theme' of our invites. I've been going back and forth between what part of our wedding theme we want to incorporate into them and I've narrowed it down to 4 options: lace, fun/kitschy, trees, or floral! 

(Allie Ruth)

Lace is a huge theme of our wedding. It will pretty much be incorporated into everything from our cake to my dress to the decor. I really love the idea of lace invites but it can be tricky! Do we add lace ribbon or do we print a lace pattern? I really love the two options above and I think they are very elegant. I just don't know if it's TOO formal for our casual outdoor wedding! These are definitely the more standard wedding invitation of the bunch! 

(Andimans)

If there's one thing you guys should know about me by now, it's that I'm not traditional in any way. To me, traditional = boring and I will go out of my way to make sure that the things we chose aren't what you normally see at a wedding. Enter these invitations, completely opposite of the first ones. I absolutely love this kitschy style invitation and I think they'd be really fun with our casual wedding. The mustaches! I die! My only problem will be getting my extremely traditional fiance to agree with me on this one!

(Mink Letterpress) (Blackberry Graphics)

Another theme we are considering is a tree theme. After all, we are getting married at a nature center covered in 200 year old oak trees! This theme is definitely Mando's favorite. I do like it, but I'm not sure if I'm completely in love with the idea. I think the above ones are very beautiful though, and I know we could come up with something that works for us!

(Rifle Paper Co)

I am a little obsessed with these invitations from Rifle Paper Co. This company is 100% NOT in our budget, but I really love the idea of doing a unique floral style invitation. I like the vintage feel and soft colors and I think these go with our theme really well! My only challenge will be finding something equally pretty as the ones above!

No matter what theme we decide to go with, our invitations will be 100% custom. I've already been discussing ideas with my favorite graphic designer and I know she'll be able to come up with something we absolutely love. Now Mando and I need to sit down and really narrow down our options! Which theme do you love best? I'd love to hear!

We have another busy weekend ahead of us! This Sunday we are taking our engagement photos and I cannot be more excited! I can't believe it's finally here! Hopefully I'll have a sneak peak for you all by next Wednesday! XOXO

Wedding Planning Wednesday - Mad Libs

(1, 2, 3)

I've been trying to think of a fun way to keep my guests entertained during the reception and also something to break the ice and get everyone to talk and interact with each other at their tables. I came across the idea of wedding mad libs from a wedding featured on Style Me Pretty and I think it's so fun and clever. I used to love doing mad libs in high school and if you have a fun crowd they can be hilarious!

If you aren't familiar with mad libs, basically you place a list of fill in-the-blank words (nouns, adjectives, verbs) on one side for your guests to fill out. The sillier the words the better! Then you flip the page and fill your words into the blank spaces in the story on the other side. Usually the words are ridiculous and make the story really funny. You could read the best ones aloud on the microphone during the reception and then keep them to look back on for years to come!

You can find these online and purchase them, but I think it would be better to make your own! I plan to make use of the graphic artist in the family (AKA, my sister) to help me put something together. Then I'll place one at each table during the reception and let my guests have fun filling them out together!

What do you think of the idea? Fun or cheesy? I'd love to hear your opinions! XOXO

(source)