It is highly unlikely that there will be cake smashing at our wedding, but I love this photo anyway :)

Chudleigh Weddings via Snippet & Ink

Since my last update…
— I’ve begun scanning photos for our slideshow (we picked the songs months ago – so excited about them!!)
— I printed our marriage certificate and guest book cards
— We’ve started brainstorming for our first dance song
— I designed a few paper pieces that will go in our welcome bags/boxes, and have begun thinking about what said bags/boxes will look like (and whether, in fact, they will be bags or boxes)
— Our veil is in the works!
— We booked the second night of accommodations for our minimoon
— We took our engagement photos! OF COURSE I will share them with you soon!
— I sourced a few more items at the flea – another large frame, another silver cup, and another floral frog
— While home in May, I chose a wedding day bracelet from my Mom’s stash!

Next up on the list?
— We will have our first pre-marital “conversation” with our pastor (his word, not mine). We are very excited about this!!
— We have an appointment for John’s tux tailoring
— We need to determine our guest list for our rehearsal dinner and confirm our reservation
— I hope to have our invitations in hand (whoo!) and start the addressing process!
— We need to take another look at our prospective reception menu (it’s been a few months!) and update it before our tasting
— Same thing for our floral order – we need to take another look and make any necessary edits before our walk-through with our florist

P.S. I think I’m going to post my remaining planning updates on the 15th, so that the countdown will be a little clearer!

Hello, friends! Today I’m in New York on a work project. I flew into JFK yesterday, rented a car, drove it all around Manhattan picking up various packages (a hair-raising experience for this small town girl!), and then headed upstate. Once out of New Jersey, the drive couldn’t have been more beautiful! Up the side of one mountain then down the other, over and over. And in each valley, a diminutive town, reliably consisting of a church, a tree-lined main street, a few very enticing antique stores, and a restaurant or two. Farther up, the mix weighted more heavily to farmland, healthily dotted with cows. The only word for it was picturesque.

I’m glad I had that restful drive, because I’m in for a whirlwind week, y’all. Tomorrow I’ve got the big work project all day, then Tuesday and Wednesday I’ll be at the National Stationery Show. My week culminates with Marget’s long-awaited bridal shower on Saturday. I’m so excited to surprise her with all we’ve been planning! Here’s a little teaser of a project I was finished up this weekend:

Can’t wait to share!!

Several of you expressed interest in the marriage certificate I mentioned designing in this post. I finally had time to snap a photo of it this weekend, so I thought I would explain!

The first special (i.e. non-government issued!) marriage certificate to catch my eye was this one, by Orleans Paperie:

It just stuck in my head! I loved the quote, the layout, and most importantly the sentiment behind it, and quickly decided we would have one for our wedding. Like the one above, I would call ours a modern version of a Quaker marriage certificate. I am not a Quaker, but here is what I understand the symbolism and meaning of these documents to be in their community:

In the Quaker tradition, couples are married at a normal monthly meeting, not at a special service. There is no minister or leader (because Quakers don’t have clergy); Friends believe they are married by God, and declare their intentions before God and those gathered. They believe that the marriage is merely “witnessed” by those present. After, the couple signs a marriage certificate. At the close of worship, all those present at the meeting are also asked to sign the certificate as witnesses. This Wikipedia entry mentions that the certificate is usually hung prominently in the home of the couple as a reminder of the declarations they made, and of the people with whom they shared that moment of their lives.

John and I definitely believe that the guests at our wedding play an active role as witnesses of our promises, and we loved the idea of them physically signing their support to what they witnessed. I do think it will make a beautiful keepsake after the fact, too.

I created our certificate in Illustrator and had it printed at our local FedEx Office, which cost about $15. The finished size is 13 inches by 16 inches.

I mimicked our wedding invitation as much as possible, including the font choices (Burgues Script and IM Fell English, for those who might be wondering!). The calligraphy file with our names was also made for our invitation, by the supremely talented Moya Minns, so consider this a sneak peek!

In case you can’t read the text, here’s what it says:

On the fifteenth of September in the year two thousand twelve, at a ceremony held in the presence of their family, their dearest friends, and God, at the United States Coast Guard Memorial Chapel in New London, Connecticut Emily Armstrong and Mr. John Alexander Thomas declared their marriage vows.

There are spaces for the bride, groom, and officiant to sign, and then there are 100 lines on which our guests will sign. (We’re expecting a few more than 100 guests, but I figured that some might sign as a couple, some might miss it entirely, and most kids are not likely to sign.)

A last sneak peek: It’s kind of hard to see in this photo, but there’s a very light gray wreath illustration behind the signing lines. This was drawn by our invitation designer, Jess, and will feature prominently in our invite suite and other paper pieces!

What do you think?

I’m not quite done telling you about our South Carolina adventure! After we left Beaufort, our next stop was Bluffton, and the Inn at Palmetto Bluff. Y’all, this place is magical. It’s 20,000+ acres of natural, wild beauty set on the May River marshes and interspersed with small pockets of exquisite luxury. We visited for just about 25 hours, but we packed in absolutely as much as we could! I don’t think I’m going to give you the hour by hour recap, but I did want to tell you about a few highlights. One of our favorites? The treehouse!

Isn’t that cool??

In my opinion, what sets a truly luxury resort or hotel apart from just an expensive one is two things:

1) A luxury resort has not just impeccable, but truly friendly and gracious service. No one is snooty, and no question or request is dumb.
2) They also remember to incorporate whimsy. Sometimes this takes the form of a special, unexpected treat, sometimes it’s a purely decorative detail, and sometimes — sometimes, it’s a tree house.

I love that the Inn didn’t forget its youngest, and young at heart, visitors! John and I had a great time exploring this three-story beauty. It had a ramp, a slide, several ladders, winding stairs, several balconies, and an incredible view at the top. AND it had a mini zip line! (Yes, yes we did try it out.)

The tree house was built into a huge old live oak, and the coolest part is that at no point does the tree house structure actually touch the tree – it’s held up by entirely by secondary supports, helping to ensure that the tree will remain healthy for many years. Like everything at the Palmetto Bluff, the tree house was both beautiful and thoughtful!

P.S. More tree houses