Friday, March 30, 2012

Bridal Party Gifts Part 2

Okay everyone, back to the recaps! Today I am really excited to share with you guys the gifts that we got for our two flower girls and our ring bearer.

I am going to start with our ring bearer. This one was really hard for us to figure out because we couldn't get him anything really big because they had to be able to take it back in the car with them to North Carolina. So, we had to really think about this one. So after a lot of consideration, we decided on a book for J.P. We bought him a book called "Good Night Construction Site". We also got him a coloring book and some crayons to have at the reception.

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He loved his book and his coloring book and crayons. I think it was great for him because it kept him occupied at the reception, for a little bit anyway, and he loves books. And what little boy doesn't love big trucks and tractors?

Now for the flower girl gifts. This one was a little bit easier, but at the same time required a lot of thought. I didn't want to just buy them a bunch of stuff that they wouldn't use again. So I decided to make them something that they would get great use out of, which was a tutu tote bag with their first initial on it.



I found a great tutorial on how to make these so I dove in and they turned out better than I was expecting. If you are interested in the tutorial you can go HERE. I may even post my own at some point on how I did it and what I found was the easiest way to do these. 

I also bought each of them a pair of silver glitter shoes to wear with their dress. They loved these. We are already teaching them to love shoes, look out world!

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I found these shoes at Target a few days before the wedding. I was really hoping that they would have a dark pink pair, or a really cute brown shoe, but they didn't so these were what we went with and they looked adorable with their dresses.

I also had my Mom make each of them a pair of the crocheted mary jane slippers. The lady on Etsy that we bought the pattern from had the same pattern in the youth size, so they looked exactly the same as the ones that my Mom made for the other girls. And I made them each a pair of the flip flops that I had made for my bridal party. Sorry I don't have pictures of some of these things. This is one area where our photographers screwed up pretty badly :(

They each also got their own hanger for their dresses. They looked really cute with their dresses on them. 




We also got them coloring books and crayons to keep them occupied during the reception. I highly recommend this for anyone who is planning on having kids at their reception. It was something fun for them to do and keep them busy for a little while. 

Well, that is all I have for today guys! Sorry again for the delay in the recaps. I will try to be better about them next week. I hope that everyone has a great weekend.

What did you get for your ring bearers and flower girls?

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Friends & Meeting a Pro

Hey guys! Okay, I know, I was supposed to have some more recaps up this week. Problem is, I haven't had time to sit down and write them. Sorry!!! I am going to try and get a few done tonight and get one up tomorrow and hopefully one for Friday.

I have two pretty great excuses for not getting these recaps up the past couple of days though. The first excuse and probably the best one is that one of my best friends was here from out of town on Saturday. So we spent all day Saturday hanging out and doing fun stuff before she had to leave. I will try to do a post on that later. 

My second excuse is that Sunday we spent the afternoon standing in line to meet one of our fave football players, Demaryius Thomas. For those of you who don't speak football or do and just don't know who he is, he was the Wide Receiver that caught the game winning pass from Tim Tebow in the Broncos playoff game against the Steelers this past season. He was doing a meet and greet at a new Xfinity store in the town where I live and the store just happens to be next door to our apartment complex. So yeah, we stood in line for a while to meet this guy. It was worth it! I will leave you with some pics of us meeting him...

Miles the Mascot

Almost to the front of the line

Demaryius "Bay Bay" Thomas

Signing a picture for me

Signing a picture for Bret
This is his fave player so he was excited

Shaking hands

The Hubby getting his football signed

My signed pic

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Friday, March 23, 2012

Bridal Party Gifts Part 1

Like I mentioned before, we completely forgot to give out the gifts that we had put together for our wedding party the night of the rehearsal. Oops again! We did end up giving them out the next morning though.

When I started thinking about what I wanted to give my girls, I really wanted it to be things that they would eventually use again. I put a lot of thought into their gifts and a lot of time. And so did my Mom! My Mom is freaking amazing and really stepped up and helped me with something that was totally unique and something that all of my girls absolutely loved! My Mom crocheted each girl in my wedding party a pair of Mary Jane slippers.





The girls absolutely loved them!! They loved them so much that almost all of them decided to wear these during the ceremony and the reception instead of the shoes that they had bought. They are pretty damn comfy if I do say so myself! And I just have to say that my Mom is a bad ass! I love her and I am so thankful that she was willing to do these for me. Love you Mom!

Along with the slippers, I also decided that I wanted to give each one of my girls a tote bag so that they had something to carry all of their stuff in through out the day to the different places we went. I really had my heart set on making these myself, but I just didn't have the time or the sewing skills(I am still learning.) So, I improvised. I bought a bag that I liked and I added some embellishments if you will!





Everyone seemed to love the bags that I made for them and I have even seen a few of my girls using them since the wedding! And that is exactly what I intended to happen with these so I am glad that they are getting great use out of them. 

I also wanted to give my girls each a pair of comfy shoes to wear for the reception. Little did I know, they were going to be wearing their slippers the whole night or I wouldn't have done these, but I figure they will eventually wear them at some point. Laura over at Saying I Do made the cutest flip flops for her girls and after I saw them, I had to make them. I added my own little touch to them so they were a little bit different. I think I was the only one who ended up wearing mine that night (only because my other shoes were soaked, more on that in another post), but again, I am sure they will wear them at some point.

White for me and brown for my girls
I added a cluster of pearls into the middle
of the fabric flower

I had two other gifts for my girls that I put in their bags. I have already told you guys about both of these, but  let me refresh your memory. I bought each girl a necklace and I let them pick between these two;

Image Courtesy of MoonRiverPearls.com

Image Courtesy of MoonRiverPearls.com

Along with their necklaces, I also made a wire name hanger for each of my girls. This is something that I had seen on Etsy and really wanted, but wasn't willing to pay the money for. So, I found a tutorial and made them myself. HERE is my tutorial on how I made these if you are interested in making these yourself.


These were great in theory, but due to the dress that I decided on for my girls for the wedding, they couldn't really hang them on it. I don't know why I didn't think of it before, but oh well. They at least will have them to hang something else on, right?

So that my readers is what I gave my bridal party. I am so glad they they loved their gifts and that they are still getting use out of them. It makes me very happy that all the hard work and time that we put into this stuff isn't going to waste. 

What was your favorite item that I gave my girls? What are you doing for your girls? 

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

A Rehearsal & A Dinner

Our rehearsal for the wedding took place on the Friday afternoon before the wedding. Me and three of my bridesmaid arrived at the church with just a few minutes to spare after taking the afternoon to set up a few things at our reception venue. When we arrived, one of my other bridesmaids, Victoria, had just arrived so the four of us rushed inside so that I could change.

After changing we headed into the church. Almost everyone was there, but we were still waiting on a few people, so while we were waiting, I took the time to catch up with a few people, especially my Mom since this was the first time that I had seen her in a while.

Once everyone arrived, we were ready to get started. Of course, I forgot to have someone take pictures of this whole rehearsal process, but I am pretty sure that it would have just bored everyone so no harm no foul right? I will tell you this though, I felt a little lost throughout the rehearsal. I had only ever been to one other Catholic wedding so I was just trying to take everything in and remember what I was supposed to do and where I was supposed to be standing. It was a little overwhelming, but I managed to get through.

Once rehearsal was over, we headed to the clubhouse across the street from Aran's parents house, where we were having dinner. Aran's Mom and Sister had been cooking for two days for everyone and I was really excited because the food all looked so yummy. And it definitely was. I had a hard time eating that night though and I think it was because of all of the excitement and nerves. But we all definitely had fun talking and catching up. Here are some pictures from that night. And just a warning some of them are kind of blurry. Oops!

Everybody waiting for the food

The other side of the room waiting for the food 


Veronica, Lou and Victoria

The soon to be family-in-law

Our ring bearer and our flower girls playing together

This is why I love my friends!


Mr. Cool

Best Man Bret and Groomsmen James

Veronica and Lou

Sis-in-law and my Mom


My little sister, my sis- in-law and my big bro!
Nice face Cassie!


Flower arrangement that Aran's Mom had made up for
the rehearsal. 

Overall, it was a great night filled with lots of family and friends and lots of food. The dinner didn't go very late because we were all really tired at this point so we all decided to head back to our hotels and houses so that we could get some sleep. Ending the night early was a good call, but it definitely made Aran and I forget to give out our gifts to our guys and girls! Oops! So we ended up giving everyone their gifts the next day. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of this because things were way too crazy. Damn! I am just not doing well on the picture front. Sorry again!

Well thanks again for stopping by everyone! Friday I will be back with a post about the gifts that we put together for our Bridesmaids and our Groomsmen. I hope everyone is having a great week!

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Monday, March 19, 2012

Sad Day

Some of you may not care about this post, but I had to get this off my chest. It is a sad day in my household because Peyton Manning is going to be signing with the Broncos. Again, you may not care but I do. I am a huge Broncos fan and a huge fan and supporter of Tim Tebow. And now it is pretty much guaranteed that Tim Tebow is going to be traded.

Found Via Google Image Search

Is this stupid to be upset about? Maybe to some of you it is, but to me it isn't. Tim Tebow is one of the first players that has had me excited about sports in a long time. Partially because I think he is gorgeous and nice to look at, but mainly because of the way that he presents himself on and off the field. In this crazy world of sports where you have athletes that are constantly getting arrested for drugs, alcohol, violence and a whole slur of other things, Tim Tebow is a breath of fresh air. Not to mention a role model.

Found Via Google Image Search

And the work that he does through his foundation is amazing. From building a hospital in the Philippines to helping support Orphans, to bringing fans to games that are suffering from an illness or a disease, all of it is amazing. About a month or so ago he invited a little girl by the name of Presli Collins to be his date at Cartoon Networks Hall of Gamer Awards. Presli has NF1. I had no idea what it was until I heard about Tim taking this little girl to this event. But because he did, I looked it up and I now know about something that I may have never even heard about. (In case you would like to know what NF1 is, HERE is a link talking about what it is.) It is things like this that make him the amazing person that he his. He brings awareness to things that you may not have otherwise known about and changes peoples lives for the better during the process.

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Tim with Presli Collins

And without getting into to much religion talk, he is an amazing christian. I admire that about him. I think it is great to see someone put themselves out there with their religious beliefs and not care about the criticism that most people are dishing out. Or at least pretend like you don't care. I really hope one day that I can be as forward about my religion as he is.

Again, most of you probably don't care, but this has really brought my day down and so I needed to get it off of my chest. I really hope that they can figure out a way to keep him in Denver. I am and will always be a Broncos fan and I will support them, but it is hard to see one of your favorite players go, especially like this. I know that he will do great things wherever he goes and I know that I will support him wherever he goes. I have no doubt that Tebow will handle this with nothing but a positive attitude, because that is the type of guy that he is and I hope that he always will be.

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