Bridal Show in Nashville

Mom and I went to the bridal show at the convention center needless to say it was overwhelming. We did get a ton of good ideas and it also made me wish my budget was unlimited! :) I took some pictures but not as many as I wanted to because of course my camera died half way through the day! This first cake was the one I fell in love with until I saw the ones with diamonds...

Then these came along..I have a million pictures of these cakes but I tried to pick out the best ones. I love the idea of having diamond anything on my cake!

I really love this one. I want my cake to be very simple but with a personal touch of some diamond something I can find. So happy I found this idea because I love it and I never would have thought about it if I wouldn't have seen it there!

I love the rustic outdoors look of the next few pictures. Some other really good ideas!

I love love love this! and note the diamond strands of beads all in the trees....

Simple.

Very easy to find some inexpensive items to go along with this idea..

I thought this would be an awesome idea to use if we could nail them into some trees. Use bright flowers. I think it could really add to the decorations at the reception!

I love twigs! I found some twigs with lights on them at TJ Maxx for cheap! I think that would be a great addition to a center piece!

Love the wild flowers.

This wedding show was amazing. It was well worth the $10 and 2  hour wait to get out of the parking garage! There is another one in a couple of weeks so expect some more pictures and ideas :)

Dresses Galore

Wedding dress shopping turned out to be way more difficult then I had expected. We went everywhere in the Nashville/Franklin/Columbia area. My two favorite places arr Arzelle's and Petals and Lace. Arzelle's ended up having THE DRESS. Little did the poor 18 year old girl helping us know that the dress was no longer being produced. Thanks to the wonderful owner of Petals and Lace we found that out before paying. After she stayed on the phone with the company half the day all we could conclude is that THE DRESS that I could not stop thinking about was not possible! Just my luck.....here is a picture of that dress...

Amazing right?

I added a diamond belt  to this dress and it was amazing. Everything I wanted in my wedding dress...one shoulder, flowers, and a diamond belt. Then my perfect wedding dress came crashing down..oh yea and it was UNDER my budget!!!! Petals and Lace proposed that I order a "base dress" (which looks exactly like this one minus the flowers) and then design my perfect wedding dress. After letting that soak in I put it in the hands of Karen the owner and my dress is now in the process of being made. I mean in the end who wouldn't want a couture wedding dress?? Here are a few pic. I sent Karen to use to make  my dress...

Now we wait......   :)

DIY mason jar projects

I have recently found an interest in mason jar decorations. I attended a wedding this past summer and the mason jar decorations really set the mood of the reception. After doing a lot of research I have found a million ways to use mason jars as decorations...elegant..rustic..vintage..really whatever style your going for can be achieved with the very inexpensive mason jar!
                                                                           Outdoor, rustic, earthy style wedding:

This idea is amazing! I plan on using this in my upcoming wedding on the seats lining the isle.

I know these are not mason jars BUT imagine how much cheaper it would be to make these hanging lanterns using mason jars instead of buying the over priced lanterns. By combining the idea above and the one below I think it would be simple to create a very inexpensive hanging lantern.

Embellished belts

We have all seen the typical colored sash on wedding dresses but if you want to optimize the WOW factor of your dress....go for the bling! There are many different belts to choose from. You can buy a dress where the belt is already attached or you can buy the belt seperately and add it to your already wonderful wedding dress. This sparkley new trend made it to number 6 on theknot.com top 10 runway fashion.

Here is another amazing embellished belt..found at etsy.com

finally got some BLING!!!

My wonderful fiance' proposed on December 22nd. We already had tickets to Garth Brooks (check off my bucket list) so him asking me to marry him only made the night even better. He had dinner reservations at Merchant's downtown Nashville...then we were off to the best concert ever!!!!                                 
Beautiful roses he brought in right before he popped the big question!

Luckily he knows me very well and didn't ask me in a public place. I would have turned 50 shades of red and felt very uncomfortable! It took place in our kitchen and yes he did get down on one knee! It was perfect.

Couldn't be more happy that Garth was able to share this wonderful night with us!

Now it's time to plan a wedding.....................................

Anabelle's First Birthday

Anabelle's first birthday party was a working progress that started about 5 months before her party. Needless to say it consumed my life. Luckily I have quite a bit of free time at work so I was able to do a lot of research and DIY most of the decorations....
Here is a view of the sweets bar..I made the banner which took a while due to the fact that it had to be made during naptime..the pictures start with 0 (in the hospital) and go to 11 months. It was a big hit! The cupcake toppers cost $2.00 to make (compared to $12-$14 on most websites). Very easy and fun! I cannot take credit for the cake even though I wish I could.

Food table: please ignore the towel I failed to remove before taking the picture. We had vases (which I bought at a thrift store for $1.00 for both) filled with skittles and huge gumballs. All the children who attended filled their goody bags with the candy. Note: Its almost been a month since the party and I am still eating skittles!! Center piece all from Hobby Lobby..grand total spent on that was $6.00!  

Close up of the totally amazing white cake with cream cheese icing...YUMMMMM!!!

CAKE TIME! The top of her cake came off and Anabelle dug into it like a pro! The high chair banner said "I am one!" which I loved! It looked great for the pictures!

The Birthday Princess in her to DIE for birthday dress!