Wedding Wednesday

It's been a while since I've indulged in a little Wedding Wednesday goodness. You think I'd be bursting at the seams to post about it every week since we're finally putting plans and reservations into motion. But surprisingly enough, I've found myself more reserved about it all. I can't wait to share what's going to be happening on our big day, but at the same time I want to keep a little bit of the magic and mystique for just us. Anywhoo, against my better judgement (only because I have so much to do!), I've spent a little bit of time on Pinterest this morning gathering some sweet inspiration for our October wedding. Maybe some of you will find it useful, too! If nothing else, just something pretty to look at! Enjoy xo

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You probably get an idea of where we're headed with our day. Very DIY, rustic + Southern, and emphasis on the delicious sweets and decor. Let's hope it goes as planned! Mike + I had a coffee date last week and spent the entire time just taking down ideas of what we want to do. Our location is hopefully going to be finalized before long and then we can really start making things happen! I wish y'all could all come over for fun craft nights while we prepare! I know I need to get started soon, but I'm holding off to see if we move into a house in the next two months! It's less than 9 months away... woo hoo!

Have you posted your wedding day on your blog? Send me a link! I'd love to check it out!

Fortune Cookie Questions

We pulled into Chicago last night around 8pm and we brought "gifts" for Susannah + Chris. I had already asked Susannah to be one of my bridesmaids back when I thought I wasn't going to have a Maid of Honor. For me, MOH isn't a title that should be used to gauge how important a friend is or anything like that. I never wanted my bridesmaids to feel like I liked one of them over the other. All six ladies that I'm going to have in my bridal party are stellar, sweet, funny gals that I'm excited to share that day with. Anyway, I had the idea to ask her (+ Mike ask Chris) via fortune cookie because that's kind of "our thing"... Aquariums and fortune cookies. We have every single fortune saved from when we first started dating. Okay so they're in a box, not really doing anything, but we're determined to figure out something cute to use them for! Anywhoo - Mike's stepmom got us some yummy gourmet fortune cookies for Christmas so I swapped out the fortunes very carefully for ones I made at home. We put them in little mini takeout boxes and had them open them at the end. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out!

If you aren't following Susannah's blog, you're missing out. We're pretty much the same person. Now it's time for some lunch. xo

Wedding Wednesday

Let me preface this little DIY with this: It's simple. So simple that I probably shouldn't even call this a tutorial (so I won't). I was first inspired by the second image from a past WW post and I thought "Oh hey, that's cute!" so I did it. Our wedding is going to be very low-key, DIY driven, and Southern. What is more southern than mason jars (aside from Paula Deen)? Exactly. I love a little spray paint, and I've shared painting vases in the past to mimic milk glass. This is perfect for your windowsill, your dinner table, your desk, or your wedding centerpieces. Below I'll show you 4 different stylings of it and let you get to work! Enjoy!

All you need for #1 is a mason jar and spray paint. Guess what you do with them? Yep. Simple.

#2 is a mason jar, spray painted white, wrapped with a rough piece of burlap, and secured by a few rounds of your favorite color yarn. The best part is that you don't need any glue or anything. Use the yarn to secure the burlap and tie it in the back. It'll slip right off so you can slip a new cover on it!

#3 is just the spray painted mason jar with some thick twine or jute wrapped around the top. You can do this around the top, the middle, or the whole thing. It gives it a really fun rustic vibe!

#4 is just some hand-ripped cotton fabric wrapped around and knotted in the front. Seriously... it doesn't get much easier than that!

A few tips I've learned from spray painting glassware:

1. When in doubt, use glossy spray paint. I'm a huge fan of a matte finish, and the matte looks great in colors, but more often than not the white matte spray paint comes out like a chalky primer. It's really really gross to the touch and it doesn't give you a smooth surface. The glassware is typically shiny, so keep it simple with the gloss!

2. Use brown for an earthy tone, baby blue or pink for a baby shower, and maybe black or orange for halloween decor! 

3. When you're doing pastel colors like blue, pink or yellow, do a base coat of white glossy spraypaint first. This will help the colors really pop and be even!

4. If you want to make the decor on the jar more permanent, use a little bit of hot glue to secure the burlap/twine/etc. 

I thought #2 was the perfect look for Autumn so it's now sitting on my desk next to my computer. It's the perfect punch of color for the season and I think having fresh flowers nearby is always inspiring! xo

Wedding Wednesday

For the past year or so I've been in love with the idea of a picnic wedding. Cutesy and different, but with enough rustic charm to satisfy the Southern theme. It's not really a new idea by any means as wedding blogs such as Once Wed, Ruffled, and Style Me Pretty feature picnic weddings on occasion, but there's something about them that is undeniably awesome. Mike and I have narrowed down "the date" to about 2 weekends so we're getting close! We've laid in bed and discussed decor and planning. I want hay bales topped with vintage sheets and he wants chairs or handmade wooden benches. I love the idea of vintage blankets for the picnic but what about the weather? And I doubt our family wants to roll around on the ground! And of course a handful of people may have back problems or something that doesn't allow them to comfortably sit on the ground. Either way we're going to try and find a happy medium... the best of both worlds. A pie-filled picnic wedding! How perfect for us! Here's some inspiration below!

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Have you ever been to a picnic wedding? What are your thoughts?

PS; We'll be sharing Mike's Blueberry + Peach pie recipe this week! It is the most delicious thing in the world!

Autumn Traditions: Baking Pie!

Mike and I don't really have many traditions set into our relationship yet. We have a few here and there but nothing specifically Autumn themed.. well, until now! Last week we experimented with baking pie and we're kind of in love! We baked a big apple pie and 8 baby apple pies (with help from my Babycakes cupcake maker!). We gave the mini pies to Brian, Christina and his dad as a little going away present. (They moved back to Iowa yesterday. Our hearts are broken! But we did get to ask them to be in our wedding party! Hooray!). We've been pairing our apple pie with yummy vanilla bean ice cream for a sweet treat late in the day and I am sold! 

We're already dreaming up fun new recipes to try! We'll be baking more this week so I'll be sure to snap some photos and share a recipe or two as we go!

We've also decided, as of last Thursday, (drumroll please!) that we are going to have pies at our Autumn 2012 wedding in place of cake/cupcakes! Pies! So very perfect! Here are a few drool worthy Pinterest photos for you to oogle!

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Are you hungry yet?! That will about do it for my little mini Wedding Wednesday on a Sunday! We're heading off to my high school best friend's wedding today so I'm excited to see her! Stay tuned for some yummy stuff this week! ;) Happy Sunday! xo

Wedding Wednesday

My "I do." pinboard on Pinterest has been getting a lot of loving recently. We're down to the wire to nail down a date for our Autumn 2012 wedding and I am so excited! 95% of me doesn't want to wait until next year (I mean, we've been engaged for almost 7 months now!), but the remaining 5% knows that it's the only way to be able to DIY and dream up our perfect day. We're hammering down a bunch of details though and we'll be paying attention to October's weather because so far October is looking a lot nicer in terms of Mother Nature than September! I'm ready to be Mrs. Flynn! Here are lots of pretty things I've recently pinned! xo

chiffon + the perfect pink

the perfect mix of southern + sweet

program + fan

these darling engagement announcements (+ she asked him!)

this lovely seating chart

the perfect floral arrangements

oh so simple wedding rings

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Looks like it's time to get out my wedding sketchbook again! I wish all of you could come help me with the DIYs! ;) Wouldn't that be so fun?!