It’s the year I will throw more dinner parties.
It’s the year I will grow closer to God.
It’s the year I will get outside more.
It’s the year I will save more and give away more.
It’s the year I will marry my best friend, the love of my life.

It’s going to be a good year :)

Photo by Erich McVey via Style Me Pretty

How’s this for a bright and cheery post?

Yahoo! I’m on the hunt for some colorful paper goods for an upcoming soiree, and stumbled across the Mara Mi line at my local Target last week. So cute! Have any of you seen it? I picked up the pin dot green cocktail napkins pictured above, plus napkins with a fabulous aqua dot pattern that I couldn’t find on the website. My new finds inspired this post and sent me on the hunt for other cuties. The napkins shown above came from Target, Kate’s Paperie, Shop Sweet Lulu, The Paper Cottage, Lifeguard Press, and Caspari.

We have officially crossed the halfway mark, my friends. Tomorrow is February 25, which means it’s been 8 months since we got engaged, and 6+ months until our wedding date! Whoa!

One more for my mini desserts collection… this one from Southern Weddings, photo by Jodi Miller!

Since my last update…
— I found a clutch (many thanks to a dear friend who’s letting me borrow hers!)
— We’ve gone through several rounds of invitation options with our amazing designer (more about her soon!)
— We finalized our room blocks for guests (tip: make sure you do this WAYYY earlier than we did!)
— We booked our band!! (Finally!)
— We booked a string trio for our ceremony.
— We placed a preliminary rental order for things like tables and chairs.
— We placed our order for lounge furniture (yay!).
— I took home a flea market find for our menu.

Next up on the list?
— Since we didn’t accomplish it last month, I’d like to get the ball rolling on groom and groomsmen attire.
— We have several able-handed friends that will be visiting us this month, so I’m excited to put them to work on some DIY projects! :)
— We’re all so ready to put the bridesmaid dress situation to rest. I sincerely hope we have those suckers ordered by the next time I update you.

Let’s see… when I asked on my last update what you wanted to hear about next, y’all said tent (check!), videographer (check!), first DIY project (I’m going to keep that one under wraps), and florist (haven’t covered that one yet — will do so soon!). Anything else you’re curious about?

Though my love for mini food is well documented (namely, here and here), I don’t think we’ve spent enough time discussing mini desserts. They’re slightly more common than mini food, but these little beauties have a charm all their own. A few of my favorites:

Mini cookies – especially delicious served warm at the end of the night with shots of cold milk. (Photos: Bryan Johnson from Martha Stewart Weddings and Martha Stewart Weddings)

Mini pecan pies – perfect for eating on the go. (Photos: Gladys Gem via Style Me Pretty and Braedon Flynn via Southern Weddings)

Mini milkshakes, complete with striped straws! (Photo by Julie Lim via Southern Weddings)

We talked about donuts at weddings once already, but I still love them. (Photos: Chris Court and Martha Stewart Weddings)

Two creative options: mini ice cream scoops in waffle bowls and cream puffs. (Photos: Martha Stewart Weddings and Julie Lim via Southern Weddings)

We will be having some mini desserts at our wedding, but I’m not going to tell you too many specifics because I want them to be a surprise for our guests! I will tell you that we’re definitely going to be serving mini fruit tarts. They’re John’s favorite, and one of his only requests! (Photos: Jessica Lorren via SW and Martha Stewart Weddings)

(Photos: Stephen Pappas via SMP and Cannelle et Vanille)

Is your mouth watering yet? :)