Bridal Shower (round 3)

With so many things going on that day, I could hardly post just once about it! We were so busy finalizing wedding plans that the shower was the last thing on my mind that day, so surprising me was easier than it should have been! (read part one here).

My girls put soooo much work into making the day so gorgeous that it needed it's own post (read part two here).

The best part of the day was spending time with so many of our loved ones! It was so nice to get to chat with everyone.

The generosity and joy that everyone was sharing with me was completely heartwarming and I'm fairly certain there was never a person who was more loved than I felt that day.

I cannot express how grateful I am to all the people who made the day so special!

Bridal Shower (round 2)

The day was absolutely amazing! All my favorite people were there and everything was just perfect.

75 days... but who's counting? (Alyssa is!)

  My mom and my bridesmaids could not have made the day more "me" if they tried.

my maids aka my favorite girls in the whole world

Every flat (and not so flat) surface of my mom's house was decked out in pink and gold. Glitter and bows. Money and feathers. It was "Lucky in Love" theme that was carried through every single detail.

pink and gold and gorgeous

Beleenie (bellini) Bar Set Up

Beleenie (bellini) Bar set up - they even got pink champagne!

If you have ever done any craft projects, you will understand the painstakingly meticulous attention my girls paid to all aspects of the shower.

sugar high!
chocolate peanut butter cupcakes, sugar cookies, cake, chocolate covered oreos, cake pops, diamond donuts

Lisa's beautiful (and delicious) cake

 It was completely overwhelming and I had a hard time processing all the gorgeous decorations. I felt like I couldn't take it all in. I tried to hug and talk to everyone who was there but I feel like it was such a whirlwind of a day that started off as a surprise and completely threw me off for the rest of the time.

even got Dan in on it and he photoshopped my face into a Jubilee poster which my dad printed on a vinyl transfer
beautiful flowers arrangements were all put together by my Aunt, who is also doing the wedding flowers

money and poker chips

Lucky in Love

Miss to Mrs

Read about part 1 and part 3 of the shower festivities!

Wedding Practice

Google always comes in handy when trying to be crafty and clever at the same time. I simply googled "rehearsal dinner invitation wording" and this popped up in one of the first results. So cute, whimsical and fun for the pre-wedding day!

I was having trouble narrowing my ideas for the wedding decor, (which is evident on my pinterest) especially since we changed directions so completely from our original outdoor-rustic plan. Just when I was feeling down that my love of chalkboards, plaid, and beat up old wood were going to be sidelined, I remembered the Rehearsal Dinner.

The team over at One Fab Day really struck my Inspiration nerve with their beautifully perfect Christmas Wedding set up.  I almost died when my eyes fell upon this gorgeous set up of plaid and wild flowers.

via

This is exactly what I've been dreaming about... Only in honor of my lovely groom, I will be incorporating more red roses into the mix and adjusting the decor to suit.

 

via

via

When Wedding plans and Bridal Showers collide!

Today was a whirlwind of a day to say the very least!

This morning we had an appointment at the William Penn Inn to finalize all our reception plans and choices. It was nerve wracking and exciting all at the same time since it made me feel like things were really starting to finally come together. It was a big morning full of a lot of decisions.

one - two - three

We were 100% sure about the flavor, which we are SUPER DUPER excited about! Then there was the little glitch where I spaced out prior to our meeting and completely forgot to chose a cake design... and Lord knows I was going in 100 million directions. When the coordinator asked me, I basically played eenie meenie... and gave him the 3 cakes above.

We have a silver cake stand like the middle picture and I love the whippy (not a word? what!?) icing. I also am semi-obsessed with having the top tier elevated on its own little pedestal.

I actually bought a cake stand similar to this little guy at Homegoods on a whim and it seems to work with the silver base stand. Hopefully it all looks as good in real life as it does in my head.

We picked out the rest of the food with relative ease since we had gone through the package and highlighted our favorite things and the dessert buffet choices were pretty simple too since anything with strawberries were out (my uncle is super allergic so we just removed the risk completely) and we had tried a bunch of really great ones at our tasting and the billion brunches we've been to there since we chose it for our wedding.

The beer selection, of course, was not as easy... you know, because in our family, Bud and Heineken just WILL NOT do. So after a few more adjustments, we were happy with that too.


We left starving because our brunch plans were quashed since I we took so long in the meeting, and we had to get home to get ready to go to my Poppop's 80th birthday party. Who has a party at 1pm on a Sunday.... no one in my family... like ever... THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN MY FIRST CLUE!

After stopping at Wawa for some coffee and breakfast to go, we ran home, got changed and headed to my parents house. There were a TON of cars parked up and down my street and I thought, "wow, there are a lot of people here for Poppop" but then again, we have a giant family so I didn't really question it... even when I noticed the exact same car as Jay's mother drives parked across the street, I thought "hmm... I haven't seen another one that color"

The last thing that was a dead giveaway was the pink glitter ribbon tied around a pot on my parents' front walk. I laughed and even said to Jay as I pointed at it, "I guess Elisabeth is here." It wasn't until I got to the porch as saw the Vegas style big pink "Welcome to Eileen's Fabulous Shower" that  I realized those sneaky bastards had pulled one over on me.

As I walked inside I looked straight at my very-pregnant-best-friend and told her "you're supposed to be at work!" before I hugged her.

Read part 2 of the shower saga!

Currently

 See what Emily's up to over at Jones' Design Co. I'm following her today. Happy Friday, Loves!!

Loving: the inundation of pumpkin spice and apple-everything. You need to go visit Annie's Eats, and make her pumpkin muffins, stat! They are seriously the best fall food ever. She also posted a recipe today Pumpkin Spice Latte cupcakes on her facebook page, which I almost instantly shared and then was encouraged by our very good friend to bake both and see which is better... he also promised to come judge... if my finance lets him in the door.

Challenge accepted... We'll see how it goes! I personally can't get enough of muffins, and would choose them over cupcakes (which I also love, so really, it's a win-win) How bout you? Are you a muffin lover or a cupcake fiend?

Reading: Bridesmaid Lotto it's pretty hysterical and should definitely be the next wedding related romantic comedy... of course, beings that my own wedding is baring down on me, I might be biased.

Waiting for: the leaves to change... they've just started in my neck of the woods and if you follow me on instagram, you've seen a little highlight

Excited about: finishing our bathroom renovations! A few more things to do and we'll be ready to move on to the next one!

Trying to: get our house in order so I can decorate for fall/halloween (every time a holiday passes that I don't get to decorate, I die a little... at least that's what I tell the love of my life as the renovations drag on and on and on)

Working on: a giant gold-glittered "80" for my Poppop's birthday this weekend

Enjoying: the crisp fall mornings and sleeping with the windows open!

Using: Philosophy Homemade Pumpkin Pie body wash. YUM! This stuff smells so good you won't want to get out of the shower!

Wearing: this adorable new shirt dress I just scored at Express for 40% off! Plus, I had a coupon, so it was basically free. For the record: does anyone else have a problem with way-to-short mini dresses? I can't wear them and confidently take the stairs, or bend over... or walk... or sit. Not without leggings! It's just so scandalous!! #tallpeopleproblems

Planning: the final details of our wedding, only 77 days to go!

Needing: Round Guys Brewing Co. Buzzard Brothers Pumpkin Porter

Learning: to delegate and be more decisive.

Listening to: Christmas music channel on Pandora (you should not be surprised by this)

Doing: pinteresting my little heart out with fall recipes and decorating ideas!

Dreaming of: specifically? a little boy falling off an elephant, in black and white. Weird! Daydreaming about finishing the updates we're making on the house and my big walk down the aisle... getting nervous and excited at the same time!