The Biggest Little-Day of Her Life

This weekend I was able to be a part of Dennis and Rachel's Wedding Festivities. They were married at the Braselton Stover House, in Braselton, GA. It was absolutely gorgeous. The perfect setting for a Southern Wedding. The weather was great, the flowers were gorgeous, and everyone could not have been happier for them. One of the coolest parts of the wedding ceremony was the song that Rachel walked down the aisle to. Everyone who knows her knows she was born to sing. Unbeknownst to anyone at the wedding, she sang and recorded her processional song. When the song started playing Dennis could not keep it together any longer. It was amazing, and there wasn't a dry eye out there. Rachel also included all of their family members that are no longer with us in the ceremony by lighting a memorial candle. The photographer took a ton of great pictures, which I will have to include later, but here are a few of my favorites.

The bridal party got their hair done at Karma Salon in Buford. If you are looking for a place for your bridesmaids, or just a new place to get your hair done, this Salon is definitely worth checking out. The girls are amazing, and the salon is so calming. They have it set up so you can get mani/pedi, airbrush tanning, or just a whole new style. They were great to us. We had mimosas and sat around laughing with each other all morning. 

Loved Rachel's hair piece. It wouldn't be Rachel without bling! It went perfectly with her dress!

Had to add the ceremonial veil placement. You aren't truly a bride until this has been added. This was also Rachel's something borrowed. She borrowed it from a family member. 

Like I said, not Rachel without bling! These shoes are bangin!!! The pop of color matched all of the wedding decor, but it also looked amazing under her dress. Most everything else at the wedding was pretty formal, these gave her dress the relaxation it needed.

Beautiful bridesmaids bouquets. All of the flowers for the wedding were done by a cousin. I love the pops of purple from the hydrangea and roses.

The deep purple was amazing in Rachel's bouquet. 

This was Rachel's something old. It was a pin that her uncle gave her grandmother, who has since passed. Hiding it under her dress was the easiest way of having her grandmother with her while she walked down the aisle.

Gorgeous dress! She found it at Formally Yours off of Highway 29 in Lilburn. I also got my dress there so I'm probably biased, but love this shop. Just decided what size you need and don't listen to their suggestions. They suggested Rachel get a size 2, and she had to have a zero taken in. They said I needed 3 extra inches of length added to the bottom of my bridesmaids dress, and there were 4 inches removed when it was hemmed. The other girls all had similar experiences. But, they have a great selection for a great price!

Centerpieces used in the reception area. It is hard to tell in this picture, but there was dark purple pops of fabric on all of the tables, and dark purple ties on the chairs. That, with the light colors of purple in the centerpieces, was an amazing combination.

Candi, Rachel's mother, threw an amazing wedding. They were obviously surrounded by loving family and friends. We should all be so luck as to have relationships like these in our lives.

Pottery Party

As mentioned on a previous post, we took Bethany to a pottery place and painted plates for her. Anna came up with the idea to have everyone paint a different holiday. That way, Bethany could set them up on her counter for each holiday. That way, they should get used quite a bit more than if she is just entertaining. Anna made a pumpkin/harvest plate that she could use all fall, Tori made a 4th of July plate, Emily Ann made a birthday plate that she can set out everytime Bethany, Wynn, or one of their kids (wink) has a birthday, Bethany made a Christmas plate, and I made a Valentine's Day plate. They turned out so cute, and I think she will really love these over the years. We all signed the back of them so she will always remember who they came from.

My sister also did this for my bachelorette party, and I absolutely loved it. Just like at Bethany's, we took several bottles of wine, food, and had a corner to ourselves for the afternoon. The difference between ours, was I picked a couple different colors and all of the girls made different plates in the same color scheme. Most of the plates have our initials on them, and I can't wait to bust them out for football season. My mom had Paige bring home some paint and extra plates so she, my grandma, and aunts can make a couple as well. We are going to try to do that during Thanksgiving this year. I will end up with a set of 12, which is perfect for entertaining.

Bachelorette Bash

My good friend, Bethany, is getting married on November 5th! I couldn't be happier for her...and as soon as I get back from her wedding I will be blogging about the entire thing...so stay tuned. Her sister, Anna, threw her a bachelorette party a couple of weekends ago and the girls had such a ball. Anna did an amazing job of planning meals, decorating, having a schedule for all of our events, it was pretty spectacular. On Friday night, we all had a mexican fiesta, with strawberry margaritas, and then had a big lingerie shower. We called it a night fairly early since our plans started around 9 the next morning. We first went to a pottery place to paint plates, see next blog, and then all got massages together around 1. I'll have to get with Anna about the name of the place again, but it was the best massage I've ever had in my life. Anna brought lunch, mimosas, and a bunch of snacks. We got our own private room and were able to hang out for the afternoon. Such fun! Then we went out to eat at Twist at Phipps. By the way, if you are ever planning a bachelorette dinner, this is the place to go. See pics below. We ended up at East Andrew down in Buckhead and had a blast dancing the night away. I hope Bethany had fun, because I am pretty certain the rest of the girls did. Going to have to keep all of this in mind for all of my friends and little sister in the future.

Anna decorated the mantel all up...she said she found alot on Etsy for bachelorette parties. Definitely have to keep that in mind. She also strung all of Bethany's lingerie from a ribbon across the room, but didn't want Wynn to get a preview of anything before their honeymoon! Anna had all of us ship our lingerie to her, and then Bethany had to guess what came from who.

Cute centerpiece, with the crown Bethany wore around on Saturday night. The front lights up and everyone could see her from across the bar all night! So cute!

Decorated the table in martini glasses, condoms and edible massage oils, lotions, whip cream and chocolate! Their honeymoon should be a blast!

Had to throw in the picture of Anna testing it out...by the way this is kissable not edible!

The adorable cake that Anna found.

Drink menu made by Twist for Bachelorette parties. Such a cute idea.

The bride and I at East Andrew! Bethany wore white, and all of her bridesmaids wore black.

All in all, Anna did an amazing job. I will definitely be calling her when my little sister gets to this point...wink wink Paige!

Mr & Mrs Anderson 5/21/11

We recently attended my cousin's wedding in Kenallville, IN, and I wanted to share some photos from their wedding. They were very creative and figured out ways to make their wedding unique. Check out some photos below.

Of course I started with cake, that's my favorite part of every wedding. Elisabeth and Zach had a family member make their cake for them. Cheers to the maker, I think it looks fabulous. It tasted great too! Chocolate...yum!

The Komets are local farm team for a pro hockey team in the area. Zach is a huge hockey fan, and I think they made a great groom's cake here. Didn't get to taste this one, unfortunately, but looks amazing!

Their centerpieces were simple yet very elegant. It's hard to see in the picture, but they had purple marbles in the bottom of the vase to tie in the purple theme. All of the boxes were full of chocolate and made for cute favors. My cousin Evan ate almost every box at the table, except for mine. I don't even share chocolate with my husband!

Loved the head table! The hung, what looks like, icicle lights under the table and it popped so well in the room!

Going back to the obsession with hockey, the bride and groom entered the room to a Guns N Roses song and sported their hockey jerseys.

Macy decided to collect all of the ribbons on the boxes containing chocolate, that her brother ate, and turn them into jewelry. HA!

Another picture with Macy. Too bad I didn't snag one of Jay. He too was decorated with white and purple bows!

Nothing Cuter than a Flower Girl!!

There is nothing cuter coming down the aisle than a flower girl, whether she is smiling or not! I love my 3 young cousins, and couldn't pick between the three of them. Instead of picking, they all walked down together. I had trouble deciding what I could get these three precious girls that they would really enjoy. Well Macy, the oldest of the three, went through a phase where she kept telling me she was going to get married. She would tell us everytime we talked to her on the phone. So, I decided to do something wedding themed so they could all remember our wedding. Jay and I went to Build-a-Bear dressed our new friends in wedding dresses. The outfit came with the dress, veil, flowers, and even a blue garter. I mean every properly dressed bear must have her something blue!! I think the girls really liked them, and Jay and I had a blast. We were able to create their birth certificates, and even name them. Since we were having an Auburn wedding, we went with Auburn names. Magnolia, Aubie, and Haley. So, if you are looking for something a little bit different to give your flower girls you should try this. Go to a Build-a-Bear on a weeknight, if you go on the weekend you will get a headache and a large portion of birth control. We had an absolute blast, and it's something they can play with forever!

Tirsit and Macy hanging out with their bears at the rehearsal dinner! It was Tirsit's birthday, so all of the girls got crowns!!

The girls hanging out before their big walk!

 We were just dancing at the rehearsal dinner!!

It's All About the Cake!!

When I started planning our wedding, the one thing I couldn't wait to do was try cake. That is my favorite part of every meal. When I finally was able to do this, I was amazed by how different the bakeries could actually be. I just figured that if you are a successful bakery you probably have some pretty good cake. I was so wrong. Most of the cakes I tried were dry and needed more frosting than they gave me to sample. But, there was light at the end of the tunnel. Sugar Kneads in Lawrenceville has the most amazing cake I have ever tasted. It melts in your mouth, and they truly love what they do. I sat down with the man who owns the shop, and he looked like he would fit in better at a heavy metal concert. But, he was so nice, and baking beautiful cakes is truly his passion. I went in with an idea in mind of something I had seen on the Knot. He took my idea and ran with it, and even made the perfect groom's cake for Jay. I'll add their contact info below the photos if you are in need of anything from a birthday cake to a wedding cake, or just a cupcake pick-me-up in the afternoon.

They made each layer extra tall. Each layer consisted of vanilla cake, strawberry filling, chocolate cake, chocolate ganche filling, and another layer of vanilla cake. It tasted like divine chocolate covered strawberries. He actually did a fake layer on the bottom in order to give it the height it needed.

Jay wanted chocolate with chocolate filling in his cake, so that is what he got! Sugar Kneads added the Red Sox logo so Jay could have a taste of his favorite Boston team!

If you are looking for a bakery you can stop in call Sugar Kneads. Their number is 678-639-1134. They are expanding into a new shop on May 31st. Their new address is 150 Highway 78, Suite 700, Loganville, GA. Or you can check out more of their pictures at Sugar Kneads Online 

A War Eagle Wedding

Since we met at Auburn, and my favorite color happens to be orange, it was an easy decision to have a War Eagle wedding. We wanted something that felt southern, classy, but still had a hint of the town we know and love. The reception was filled with orange pintuck table cloths, orange slices in the arrangements, and hints of blue everywhere you looked. We had orange specialty drinks that had a candy orange slice on the rim. That was specifically for my grandma, who is no longer with us, but had no self-control when it came to candy orange slices. It really was beautiful looking, and I can't believe how amazing it looked when it all came together. I have added a couple of pictures from before it was finished, I'm still waiting on photos from the photographer that I can add later. You can still get a feel for the room though.

I love blue hydrangea, so we added those with some pale orange roses to decorate the altar.

Orange slices filled a vase full of seasonal orange and white flowers. These we atop the hightop tables in the cocktail area of the room. 

We had a furniture grouping set up in the cocktail area so it felt more like a relaxed lounge. That way people could hang out but not just stand around the bar.

My favorite accessory has always been a koozie. In fact, I keep one in every purse I own and have several for specific gamedays on the Plains. We thought this would be the perfect thank you for all of our guests. On the other side it says, "Amy & Jay - Chateau Elan - April 9, 2011" They were a big hit. We put them in a metal tub and set them on the bar.

Chandeliers hanging above the head table added a great element to the room. We placed the head table in the center of the room and were surrounded by friends and family instead of facing them. It gave an element of elegance but very southern at the same time.

The ceremony took place in the atrium of Chateau Elan's hotel. It was great because the natural sunlight made it feel like an outdoor wedding without the humidity. There were quite a few people standing around the balcony looking on as we said our vows. It was very cool!!