My Mom came to visit last week for another round of dress shopping (spoiler alert: it was also the final round of dress shopping!!!). She brought with her a disc of images my aunt had taken of my grandmother’s silver collection. Bingie (what my cousins and I call our grandmother) has agreed to let me borrow a few pieces for our wedding reception, which I think will add a lovely personal touch to the tables. Here are just a few of the pieces I’m considering using:

(Since we’re not going for a vintage vibe, I wouldn’t use the teapots or the pieces that look like they’re from a tea set.)

Aren’t they pretty? Grandmas are the best :) The coolest part is that as my Mom and I were flipping through the images, she kept pointing out pieces with stories behind them. I love that!

P.S. The rest of my silver collection, so far.

As crazy as it has been to be going, going, going for the last two weeks, I can’t say I would trade my trip to the Cayman Islands! Here are a few iPhone snaps from my four-day stay. We went on a catamaran ride to Stingray City, and the water was so clear, turquoise, and gorgeous! The boat was neat — the bow was mostly made up of nets, which you could sit on and watch the water flash by beneath you. This trip was also the first time I got to use my passport, which was thrilling :)

P.S. I did a little personal wedding scouting while abroad! These chairs are what I’m picturing for our reception, and I’d love to use lounge furniture like the pieces below.

P.P.S. Back next week with Thanksgiving prep posts!

Lately I’ve been thinking about the morning before the wedding. I know this might seem like a really tiny and insignificant detail to think about in the grand scheme of things, but I have this theory that it’s the moments in between the “big” moments that set the tone for your wedding day. And if you don’t “control” those moments, then the entire day can end up not feeling like you want it to. By control, please don’t think I mean micromanaging every last detail and stressing over whether or not everything is perfect. I just mean doing as much prep work in advance, so that on the wedding day itself, things flow smoothly and you don’t need to stress. Of course not everything will go as planned, but I am a firm believer in putting as many blocks into place as possible, and then going with the flow when you can’t do anything else. Make sense?

All this to say, I’ve been thinking about our wedding morning lately. A few things, in particular:

1. The soundtrack for when we’re getting ready. I am already working on this, and I will most definitely share once it’s finalized (which probably won’t be for a few months). It’s a happy mix of favorites from the 50’s and 60’s, combined with some newer (mellow but peppy) favorites like Brooke Fraser, She & Him, Ingrid Michaelson, and Mumford & Sons.

I’m building this playlist with Spotify. Are you all on Spotify? It’s awesome. It’s kind of like iTunes combined with Grooveshark — there’s a massive song library, but you don’t have to buy the songs. You can collect them in playlists, but you can’t download them. Love!

2. What I will wear when we’re getting ready. As much as I love a comfy robe or sweatpants, that is not what I’ll be wearing the morning of our wedding. I’m thinking something more along the lines of this:

As long as I can easily step into it and out of it (so as not to smudge the hair and makeup), why the heck not? I consider it just another opportunity to wear a pretty white dress :)

3. Who will be getting the gals prettified. Goodness, y’all. I am pretty much inept at anything concerning my face and hair, so bringing in professionals is a must, but they seem so dang expensive to me!! Maybe I’m just being a baby, though? If you wouldn’t mind helping a girl out, would you mind commenting and saying what you paid, or maybe what you think is reasonable, for wedding hair and makeup? I would so appreciate it!

P.S. Photo above by Bryan Johnson

One thing we’re splurging on for our wedding is a Sperry tent, and I couldn’t be happier. A normal frame tent would serve the purpose of sheltering us and our guests from the elements equally as well, but wouldn’t be quite as beautiful. Plus, if we got a frame tent, I would want to line it, which would make it almost as expensive as, if not more expensive than, a Sperry. AND, from what I hear, Sperry tents have such a beautiful presence of their own, they require less embellishment in terms of other decor. Sailcloth + pine poles will do that for you, I guess!

How do you know if it’s a Sperry? Look for rounded lines, dramatic peaks, and merrily waving flags — my absolute favorite feature :)

Photo by Lisa Rigby via Style Me Pretty

via Merriment Events

Photo by Carlie Statsky


Photo by Justin & Mary

Photo by Weddings by Two via Snippet & Ink

Photo by Justin & Mary

Photo by Justin & Mary

Aren’t they beautiful??