Five Friday Fragments-Wedding Post 8

I loved the creativity and personal touches my daughter tucked into her special day. I thought I'd share a few of those here today, along with some bits and pieces that don't fit into their own post, but that I want to remember.

1.  The Welcome Bags. 

These definitely fall under the heading of favorite things. I know a welcome bag is optional, but out-of- town guests are so appreciative of the gesture. And the late night snacks. We provided one bag per couple or, if two singles were sharing a room, one per guest, so about 80 bags total. I gave the hotel a list for the front desk, and they handed out the bags at check in. They did an excellent job managing distribution.  

We purchased brown kraft paper bags in bulk to hold all the goodies. The bride designed a personalized stamp with the words, 'Welcome Y'all' along with their name and wedding date, for the outside of each bag, and it was adorable. A team comprised of the bride, her maid-of- honor sister, and her cousin bridesmaid did the filling. 

2.  What's inside?

We ordered crinkle filler in shades of gold and white to go inside the bag, then added the goodies, which included two personalized water bottles-

The bride's favorite snack (popcorn) and the groom's favorite snack (peanut butter crackers), both with stickers made by the bride, because everything needs a sticker made by the bride-

There were also mints, Advil, and a tri-fold brochure, that was both lovely and helpful and again, custom designed by the bride-

She uploaded her design to Stationery HQ, and they did the printing on shiny card stock. Included in the brochure were the wedding day timeline, a map with directions to the church, hotel, and reception venue-

...the when and where details of our day-after breakfast, their Instagram wedding hashtag, their discount code for anyone using Uber, a list of favorite places to eat in Greenville, and also things to see and do while in town for anyone new to the city.

3.  The guestbook.

Does anyone have just a regular old fashioned guest book anymore? That's what we had at our wedding, because that's what everyone had at their wedding way back when. Ours was packed in a box soon after, and has essentially remained there, in the basement, since 1984.

Nowadays couples are all about finding ways to mark the day as their own, so Daughter1 went with something a little different for their guest book

We purchased a really pretty copy of The Newlywed Cookbook, and they had their guests sign on any recipe they liked. I think it will be so much fun to flip to a page someday in the future and read a message from one of their wedding guests.

It's a book they'll use and hopefully when they do they'll remember all the love that surrounded them on their special day.

4.  The Seating Chart.

Figuring out where everyone will sit at your reception is a bit like working a puzzle.

An extremely complicated puzzle that doesn't necessarily go together on your first try.

I know there are all sorts of of online tools you can use for this task now, but we went old-school and used Post-its. Hubs didn't really understand why we'd opt for Post-its as opposed to modern day technology, but all the girls in my house have a serious love for the post-it note. Daughter2 started talking about this almost as soon as her sister was officially engaged.

My daughter and I are both pretty visual and I needed to see the whole big picture in order to try to please everyone. I think we all know you can't please everyone, but we try and I think for the most part were very successful. We color coded our guests-pink for the bride and groom's friends and their wedding party, blue for the groom's parents family and friends, and yellow for our friends. You could easily move names around and the color coding was really helpful. I give the Post-it system five stars.

5. The Sendoff.

A slightly lame photo, but I don't have any of their actual sendoff.

It was sparkly.

I loved it. We were a little bit worried we wouldn't be able to follow through on our plans for a sparkler send off, because it had been raining off and on all evening. Thankfully there was a break in the weather just as the bride and groom were ready to make their exit.

We ordered the sparklers online (weddingsparklersdirect.com), and if you're thinking of doing the same, know that many venues require you have at least a 24 inch sparkler. Also, we over-ordered because we hadn't factored in those few guests who left prior to the send-off.

Our wedding planner and her assistant were so great in 'herding' the guests outside, lining everyone up along the sidewalk, handing out the sparklers and, most importantly, getting every single one lit, just as the bride and groom walked through on their way to happily ever after.

A magical ending to a fairy tale night.

Linking today with both Five on Friday hosted by The Good Life, and Friday Fragments hosted by Half Past Kissin' Time. Why not hop over and add your own fragments, or list of five, or list of five fragments?  Enjoy your weekend everyone! 

One Month

I thought I'd take a short break from talking about the wedding (sort of ) and instead share a throw back Thursday kind of post.

The newlyweds celebrated one whole entire month of wedded bliss this week, and even though the groom is working crazy hours and has an upside down schedule this month, they did find a way to mark the day and make it special. Daughter1 wrote about it on her blog here. 

Remember when you marked your anniversary in months instead of years?

I thought it would be fun to pull out a picture of the hubs and I from our one month anniversary, because like my daughter and son-in-law, we too spent the day away from home, walking around some 'gardens'.

The Biltmore Estate, Asheville NC.

While the area is all grown up in the year 2015, this picture was taken back in 1984, when Asheville was not the popular tourist destination it is now. There most definitely wasn't a charming hotel on the Biltmore property back then, so we stayed at The Grove Park Inn. The hotel had been recently refurbished from a seasonal resort to a beautiful year round property, and to this recently married girl, spending the night there felt like a total and complete splurge.

And I suppose for us, at the time, it was. As young 20-somethings we didn't hop on planes, spend weekends road tripping all over kingdom come, or travel in any way, shape, or form, the way 'kids' do now. Driving a couple of hours over the mountain, from our apartment in Knoxville to a whole 'nother state to spend the weekend, felt very grown up.

Do you know what else 20-somethings didn't do in 1984?

They didn't crowd two faces into one photo frame and call it a selfie. While I have a few photos from the weekend, I don't have a single one of us together.

My picture taking skills were especially awesome back then, and that tiny speck behind all those gorgeous blooms would be my husband.

In July of 1984 I was still getting used to that word.

My girls will see this and say they'd love to have my outfit now. It's a two piece matching top and short set that looks like a romper. It's true what goes around comes around in the world of fashion. And even though you can barely make me out in these pictures, I notice my purse made it into every single shot. 

Raise your hand if you owned a Pappagallo bag once upon a time. The kind with the interchangeable fabric covers that buttoned onto wooden handles. I think they were also called Bermuda Bags and they were really popular in the late 70's/early 80's.   

Hubs and I have been married now for 367 months. I can't predict all the ways this world might change, I only know that it will. I pray when my daughter and son-in-law reach month 367, they'll look back at month one and smile. That they see all the many ways their hopes and plans and dreams came true.  

Even the ones they didn't know to dream. 

The Wednesday Hodgepink

We've had about 30 inches of snow fall in the past ten days, it's currently 13 degrees, and 'breezy'. I have to get out in it today, but first-the Hodgepodge. If you've played along this week, add your link at the end of my post, then go leave a comment for the blogger who linked before you. Here we go-

1.  Do you wear your heart on your sleeve, or keep your emotions tucked in tight?

I don't keep them tucked in tight, but I don't let them fly at the drop of a hat either. I blush and cry easily, so in some situations they're probably more on my sleeve than I would like. 

2.  How did you meet your closest friend?

We were born into the same family. My sisters are my besties. 

3. Pink lemonade, grilled salmon, cotton candy, pink grapefruit, a strawberry milkshake, or raspberry sorbet...of the pink foods listed, which one is your favorite? Least favorite? Which one have you most recently consumed?

I know I should say grilled salmon is my favorite, but if I'm being truthful it's probably cotton candy. No I'm not six. On the plus side, grilled salmon is the one I've most recently consumed, and it is a favorite. I haven't had cotton candy in a long, long time.  

I don't dislike any on the list, but if we're ranking I guess raspberry sorbet is probably my least favorite. 

4. When were you last 'tickled pink' over something? Explain.

I love hearing my Daughter2 talk about her school day. When I think about her ten year old self asking for an overhead projector for her birthday, the hours and hours she spent 'teaching school' in our basement, writing detailed lesson plans and pretend math tests, and then I see her now? In a real live honest to goodness classroom? Absolutely tickles me pink!  

5. Are you a fan of television talk shows? Daytime, nighttime, or both? What's your favorite?

I don't watch any talk shows, daytime or nighttime. Every once in a great while I'll catch an episode of Ellen, but for the most part I don't have the TV on at all during the day, and I'm sound asleep before the nighttime shows air. Cue the mamaw voice here, but...when I was younger I watched a few talk shows. These days I find I don't have patience for that sort of programming. 

6.  When was the last time you wanted to ask a question, but felt too foolish to do so?

Last Friday. We spent hours with our financial planners, and there were several times I wanted to say, 'Wait, huh?'

Is huh? a question? 

I don't know, but my head was spinning and that was the best I could do. Financial advisers love their acronyms, as in 'you want the ABC to balance out the XYZ', and my brain just doesn't work that way. Thankfully hubs gets it, and can explain it to me later. 

7.  My favorite ____________________right now is ____________________.

My favorite thing I shouldn't be eating right now is conversation hearts. 
Keepin' it real folks. 

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

Conveniently the sunrise played along with the color theme I've got going on in the Hodgepodge today...

Hubs teases me over the number of pictures I take of the sunrise from our front porch, but come on!

How can I not?

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 207

Still snowy here. Just thought you should know. Great day to think about the Hodgepodge though. Answer on your own blog, then slide back here tomorrow (Wednesday) and add your link to the party.  See you there!

1. Do you wear your heart on your sleeve, or keep your emotions tucked in tight?

2. How did you meet your closest friend?

3.  Pink lemonade, grilled salmon, cotton candy, pink grapefruit, a strawberry milkshake, or raspberry sorbet...of the pink foods listed, which one is your favorite? Least favorite? Which one have you most recently consumed?

4. When were you last 'tickled pink' over something? Explain.

5. Are you a fan of television talk shows? Daytime, nighttime, or both? What's your favorite?

6. When was the last time you wanted to ask a question, but felt too foolish to do so?

7. My favorite __________________right now is _________________.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

Rock n' Romance-Wedding Post 7

Let's talk music. It's a snow day round here, so why not? One thing has nothing to do with the other, but I'm housebound and still need to wrap up some of the reception details, so let's.

And by details I mean the band. THE BAND!!

When it comes to music and wedding receptions there are essentially two options. You can hire a D.J. or you can hire a band. Some venues require clients to use their D.J. services, but since ours was 'a la carte' we had choices, and we knew we wanted a band.

Hubs and the bride know and love their music. My hubs is one of those people who can tell you a song title, singer, and year of release, almost before the first full note is played. Daughter1 is the same, and since their musical tastes are happily similar, finding the band was a job I left in their capable hands.

I'm not gonna lie...deciding on which band to hire was a teensy bit stressful. There are a couple of reasons for this stress, one being hubs and his girl both had very specific ideas about how the band would sound, what songs they would play, and most especially, what songs they would NOT play.

In addition to their precise requirements, if you haven't actually seen the bands you're considering in person, then you're making a judgement call based on short YouTube clips, websites, and reviews. It was a little overwhelming and we knew we needed help. We worked with a company called East Coast Entertainment, and they were absolutely wonderful to deal with from start to finish. If you need a band for an event of any kind, I highly recommend checking them out.

East Coast has an online questionnaire outlining the specifics of your event (date, time, place), how much you want to spend, what sort of music you like, etc., and then they send you links to bands that meet your criteria. The best part about East Coast though, is they assign you an agent, and our agent Marty really helped us narrow down the choices. He took the time to listen, get to know us a bit, understand our personal tastes, and in the end helped us secure our band, The Business. 

Hubs said from the get-go our band must have horns, and The Business included both sax and trumpet (which hubs may or may not have had a turn at sometime during the night!). They're based out of Asheville, NC so came and went the same day.

They're an incredibly talented group of musicians, and their vocalist Jim Arendell has a wonderful soulful sound to his voice which I absolutely loved. Really which everyone loved, as there wasn't a single song the entire evening where people weren't dancing. They brought such a fantastic energy to our event, and I'd hire them again in a heartbeat.

So I guess you can tell we were happy with the band-ha! The bride and groom delighted the whole crowd with their sweet first dance as husband and wife, True by George Strait. Country artists somehow put into words so much of what the heart longs to say.

After dinner hubs had his moment too, and he enjoyed every minute of his dance with the new Mrs. M. Deciding on their song was another hard decision. While they both love country music, they also love beach music, southern rock, the Motown sound, and more. I think Daughter1 always imagined they'd dance to beach music, but in the end hubs wanted lyrics that captured his heart.

They danced to My Little Girl, a song made famous by Tim McGraw, but which our band played and sang. Not a country band, but their soulful sound was absolute perfection here.

At some point in the song selection process my daughter asked me if hubs had thought much about their song before now? Um, only since the day he first laid eyes on you in the delivery room of a Midwestern hospital.

She thought I was exaggerating, but I wasn't.

Honestly I think when that newborn baby daughter is placed into her father's waiting arms for the very first time, that father flashes forward to dancing at her wedding. In those first minutes of her life, his mind positively rebels at the very thought of ever handing over his beloved girl to anyone ever. Ever ever. Never. He prays for time to please go slow.

But time it has its way with us, and in a blink that day is here. He sees the smile on her face and the light in her eyes. He is carried along on the wave of pure, unadulterated joy spilling out of her heart and he does not rebel. The happiest day of her life is the happiest day of his life, and he loosens his grip on the golden thread that binds her heart to his.

He knows you can't stop time.
He's surprised to discover he wouldn't want to.

Nuts and Bolts- Wedding Post Number 6

I'm trying to wrap up all my many thoughts and feelings about 'the wedding', but there's just so much to say, and some of it is hard to put into words. I know I want to write about the reception, and I most definitely want to write about all the many people whose presence made the weekend extra, extra special, but I think that will be two separate posts.

Possibly three.
Maybe I'll go for an even ten. Stay tuned.

For now I'm going to talk about some of the reception details, the nuts and bolts so to speak, as opposed to all the thoughts and feelings. I know some people don't care about details, but I think you know I'm not one of them, so here we go...

Our reception was held in The Certus Loft, which is part of The Peace Center in downtown Greenville.  We absolutely could not have asked for a more perfect venue. The Loft sits along the banks of the Reedy River, conveniently just across the street from the hotel where our many out of town guests were staying.

The Loft is spacious with plenty of natural lighting, gorgeous wood floors, exposed brick, and vintage architectural detailing. In other words, exactly what we were hoping to find when we first began the hunt for a venue.

Essentially it's a blank canvas...you book the space, but hire your own catering, music, and decor. You are required to use their bar services, but they offer several packages of varying price, and they worked with us to determine the best fit for our event.

Daughter1 had a very clear vision of how she wanted her reception to look and feel. We wanted a venue that would allow for personalizing the space, menu, and set up to make that vision a reality.

I'd describe our theme as 'rustic elegance', and the bride and I were completely simpatico in regards to style, color, and design. She chose a muted natural palette...shades of green, lots of gold and ivory, some wood tones, and just a hint of blush sprinkled throughout.

We wanted a soft elegant feel to the space, so opted for a combination of long and round tables, candles in pretty mercury glass, Edison lighting strung across the dining room beams, and lots and lots of greenery mixed with flowers in shades of white.

The Loft features two long rooms that are basically in the shape of a backwards L. We set the long arm of the L for dinner, and the 'leg' of the L was what I'll call the party room.

We had passed hors d'oeurves and cocktails in the party room the first hour, the band and dance floor at an angle on one side of the far end, a four-sided bar set in a diamond shape in the room's center, and lounge furniture and wedding cake at the end closest to the entry, furthest from the band. I don't have great pictures of the party room, so will likely post more once we get the photographer's work.

Our floral designer was so very talented. We used Modfete, and I cannot say enough good things about Katelyn. I'd describe her style as vintage with a modern twist, which matched the bride's style to a tee. In fact my daughter had seen a piece created by Modfete on a website, which is how we found her.

The bride wanted to incorporate something similar in our space, so besides all the wedding flowers and decor, the table settings and other beautiful miscellany design, Katelyn created three hanging pieces, one for over the head table, and two for the party room to hang over the lounge furniture.

photo credit: Modfete

We rented the lounge furniture from A Darling Day  who was so nice to deal with, pleasant and accommodating on the phone, promptly returned emails, delivery and pick up in a timely fashion, and they made payment easy. Hubs kept scratching his head saying, 'We're renting furniture???', but he was a trooper, and more or less managed to go with the flow.

Daughters getting married are a lot for dads to come to grips with.

Our favorite restaurant in Greenville is Larkins on the River, so one of the first, easiest, and best decisions we made was to have them do the catering. Their event coordinator Jessica was so great to work with, and their food was positively scrumptious. The chef worked with my daughter to customize some of the appetizers, and our guests could not say enough about how wonderful everything tasted.

Appetizers included chicken and waffles with a cranberry syrup, shrimp and grit cakes with a red pepper coulis, grilled pimento cheese with tomato soup shooters, deviled eggs, and crudities with dip. The chicken and waffles disappeared as fast as they could serve them. Seriously good!

We had a sit down plated dinner which included a salad as the first course, followed by a filet of beef and crab cake duo with mashed potatoes and vegetable. I was a little anxious about how they would manage to serve filet to 180 people (would it all be hot and cooked to everyone's liking???), but no worries, Larkins service and timing were perfection. I thoroughly enjoyed the sit down dinner, enough time to have a real conversation with the guests at our table, and a little breather mid-evening.

We served wedding cake prepared by Buttercream Bakehouse for dessert, and it was scrumptious. There were two strawberry layers with a vanilla bean filling, and two chocolate and vanilla layers, with a peanut butter filling that was uh-mayzing!  A swiss vanilla icing in what's dubbed a smooth spackle design topped it off. There were fresh flowers too, with the sweetest, tiniest, little bride and groom tucked amongst the blooms.

That very bride and groom sat atop the bride's great-great-grandparent's wedding cake many moons ago. The gorgeous wooden cake stand was also very special, made by the groom's mama who has a real talent for creating with wood. It was the perfect display piece for their gorgeous cake.

I love how gently my son-in-law treats my daughter. I really dislike when a groom smashes the cake in his new bride's face. This sweet tender gesture is so much better.

Aren't they the absolute cutest?

And now cue awkward place to stop, but I'm stopping here anyway. I'm going to save the first dance, father-daughter dance, and all about that
baseband for my next post. Enjoy your weekend everyone!

Chillin' in the Hodgepodge

Welcome to this week's edition of the Wednesday Hodgepodge. We're still digging out here, thankful the forecasters were overly enthusiastic in their prediction of 2-3 feet. We still have plenty of snow so they weren't completely wrong, but in this instance wrong feels right. 

Okay, here we go...answer the questions on your own blog, then add your link at the end of my post. Be sure to say hi to the blogger who linked before you, because this is one place where traffic is fun!  Here are my answers-

1. When did someone last suggest you 'chill out'? Or, when did you last tell someone (or want to tell someone) to 'chill out'? Or, when did you last tell yourself to 'chill out'?

I had a doctor's appointment last week that had me a little agitated. Pretty sure I told myself to chill out as I sat waiting. My husband doesn't appreciate me telling him to chill out. I don't know why-ha! 

2. What most recently caused your heart to melt?

A much easier question...my daughter's wedding. 

3. "An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered." G.K. Chesterton

Your thoughts? When did you last experience either an adventure or an inconvenience? How did you see it at first, as an adventure or an inconvenience?  Does it feel the same in hindsight?

The weather has caused some inconvenience around here the past few days.  Hubs and I had an appointment scheduled for Monday afternoon about an hour from home that had to be rescheduled. My Women's Bible Study was cancelled today. We're housebound, and I guess in a way, a snow day feels like an adventure...a very mini adventure.  

When an inconvenience cannot be avoided (like bad weather), then might as well embrace it. I think this is something I get better at with age. When I'm delayed, plans are cancelled or changed, or I'm forced to wait unexpectedly, etc I try to see that 'extra' time or new plan as a gift instead of a nuisance. 

4. A Wendy's Frosty, root beer in a frosty mug, or a frosted chocolate cupcake...of these three, which one is your favorite 'frosty' treat?

A cupcake. I haven't had a Frosty in years, and other than a diet coke once in a blue moon, I'm not a soda drinker. 

5. Would you say your life so far this year has been more like a circus or a symphony? Explain why.

I think of a symphony as all the many parts working together to make something beautiful. A circus on the other hand, is more like several acts happening all at once, each one clamoring for my attention. 

I'm a little more circus than symphony at the moment. 

6. Since it's a 'snow day' here, what's your favorite song containing the word 'white'?

White Dress by Ben Rector. I love this song, and I'm hoping our videographers incorporate it into my daughter's wedding film. She loves it too, so was a title she mentioned when they asked her to submit songs.  They asked for six, so I'm sure they won't use all of them, but I do hope this one is in there. 

7. If you had to leave the city you currently live in, what would you find hardest to leave behind?

The natural beauty, most especially autumn in my own backyard. 

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

Is anyone planning to participate in the April A-Z Blog Challenge this year? If you're not familiar with the challenge, here's the 411-you blog every day (except Sundays) during the month of April. Conveniently that works out to 26 posts, and since there are 26 letters in the alphabet, you blog from A-Z. April 1st the letter A, April 2nd the letter B, and so on. 

You can have a theme or just write randomly unrelated posts, whatever you like. Personally I like and need a theme, although I haven't a clue yet what mine will be for this year's challenge. In years past I've written about our European travels, motherhood, a mishmash bag of photographs, my trip to Asia, and last year 'married with children'. You'll find all of these on my sidebar by clicking on the month of April. 

I enjoy the discipline of writing every day, and also getting creative with my chosen topic. Plus, I feel like my writing gets a little sluggish this time of year, and the challenge gives it a much needed kick in the pants. If you're new to the challenge I will tell you that it helps me tremendously to get a head start on the posts. I like to work about three or four days ahead of each letter, and set them to auto post. That way, when life get's busy (and it always does!) I don't stress out about missing a letter or falling behind. 

Yes, missing a letter would stress me out.  

Sign ups are open now, so if you want to participate click here to join the party. Let me know if you're playing along, so I can follow you through the alphabet.