Wednesday, March 22, 2023

Wedding Wednesday

Welcome to the first installment of Wedding Wednesday posts! If you missed my post from last week it could likely be included in this series since it was all about how Hunter proposed!

I hope to make these posts a little more structured in the weeks to come, but I have lots of details to fill y’all in on when it comes to how wedding planning has been going thus far. 

I hate to spoil the illusion for you, but since Hunter did ask for my help when it came to choosing the ring I knew an engagement would be coming, but I just didn’t know for sure when. Because of that, we were able to start reaching out to our ceremony and reception venue in advance of the proposal to see what would line up. I’m fully convinced this allowed us to enjoy the weekend Hunter proposed without coming up with a laundry list of things to do on Monday in order to start getting the ball rolling. 

The Date: After getting available dates from the church and our top choice for reception venues and having them line up choosing the date felt surprisingly easy. On top of all of that, the overlapping date was on an Alabama bye week, which is a big deal in the football-obsessed south. All that to say, we will be getting married in Fairhope in October!


Photo by  Goodie & Smith

The Venues: Since the church I grew up attending is in Daphne (about 15 minutes from Fairhope) and not particularly convenient to reception venues I hadn’t necessarily envisioned our ceremony taking place there. Instead, I’ve always loved St. Francis by the Point in Point Clear and for years driving past it have thought of it to be where I’d love to get married. It holds just shy of 200 people which is around the number we’re hoping for and is beautiful with lots of natural light! Our reception will be held at The Fairhope Inn in downtown Fairhope, which is equally as charming. 

The Food & Beverages: This may be misleading since we don’t know exactly what we’ll be eating and drinking, but we do know who will be providing both which is a major win in my mind. Fortunately, The Fairhope Inn has its own staff for this and we even got to experience it in person at a wedding a few weeks ago! I put Hunter in charge of tasting everything at that reception and he took the job seriously and has already narrowed in on a few must-haves. 

Bridesmaid’s Accommodations: I may not have officially asked my bridesmaid’s to be in our wedding just yet, but I do know where they will be staying! Since The Fairhope Inn is a bed and breakfast we were able to rent out all of the suites for us to get ready in the day of and stay in over the course of the weekend. It’s so fun to think about all of these girls from different times of my life being in the same place for a weekend and the fact that they won’t have to worry about where to stay once they arrive is hopefully a convenient relief for them!

The Organist and Minister: Thankfully the wedding coordinator at the church had wonderful suggestions for both of these professionals and they were available on our date! It’ll be a bit before we decide what music we’d like to include but is nice to know that we have a musician to play it booked. I had a wonderful call with the minister who will be marrying us not long after we got engaged and he reminded me a lot of the youth minister Hunter grew up with, which I think will give us both a lot of peace of mind as we are standing at the altar with him. 

Transportation: In my mind, there was no other form of transportation for our wedding party than a pretty white trolley. It’s timeless, feels classic, and is sure to make for cute photos in addition to keeping people where they need to be and when. Admittedly maybe I shouldn’t have prioritized this as early as I did, but I think after the venues this was the next check we wrote! Depending on timing I’d have no issue using it as a getaway vehicle as well although I’m not sure Hunter fully understands how charming I find a trolley to be!

The Planner: After about two weeks of us making plans on our own, I was happy that my parents valued the idea of hiring a wedding planner as much as I did! As the only girl, we need someone to keep us on track (and budget) as we navigate this process, and are thrilled to be working with Events Detailed based in Mobile. My mom and I had the chance to meet with our planner, Anne Morgan, in person a couple of weeks ago and both felt like we could exhale knowing we were in good hands as we got in the car leaving the meeting!

The Dress: I think I shocked my mom nearly as much as I shocked myself with how easy the process of wedding dress shopping went. When Hunter and I came back in town to Fairhope for a friend’s wedding two weeks after getting engaged I ran the idea of going dress shopping that weekend by my mom and we were luckily able to get an apportionment at Over the Moon in Mobile that Friday! We fully suspected that dress shopping on that day would be a good trial run and my mom and grandmother would make their way to Birmingham for us to go dress shopping there at a later date, but Corinna and Elizabeth from Over the Moon were so helpful when it came to what they pulled and I ended up ordering one of the dresses they picked out for me. Nell was able to join for the appointment and I think I tried on a total of 7 or 8 dresses with the one I selected being number 5 or 6. As so many people say, it was not what I expected myself to select (even hitting one part of my list of no’s) and is actually the only dress I have photos of myself in so I don’t have any fun teasers to share with y’all. My mom was ready for us to purchase it on the spot, but I decided to sleep on it and ended up calling the next day for us to purchase it since I think my only real hesitation was that I hadn’t tried in very many dresses. Instead of overthinking it, I decided to keep what felt easy feeling easy and find myself scrolling back to photos of it often and excitedly smiling to get to wear it! We are still trying to decide if we want to order the veil I tried on at Over the Moon or if we want to browse elsewhere, but it feels like a major relief to have that checked off since it won’t be in until August or September and will need a bit of altering!

The Photographers: Photography was something I had begun looking into before getting engaged. I was looking at a local wedding planner’s website and every gallery that I loved at first glance ended up having Keyhole Photo listed as the photographer once I scrolled. It seemed like a no brained to reach out to them after being so drawn to their clear and crisp photography style. While some people prefer film or a more artistic look for wedding photography, my preference has always been toward more clear and colorful images and this husband and wife team does this wonderfully. I was so excited to hear they were available on our date and love knowing that we will have access to every photo they take on our wedding day!

The Florist: Coming from doing my own flower arrangements during my time as a photo stylist I knew flowers were something I would be prioritizing and somewhat picky about. After speaking with Katherine from Jubilee Flowers and seeing lots of her work done at our specific venues I knew we’d be in great hands. It has been so fun to share some of my inspiration photos with her and hear what ideas she has for execution! I always envisioned I’d be a spring bride so now that we’ll be getting married in the fall it makes me especially excited to hear her take on how we can still add pretty colors to bouquets and arrangements to keep things feeling bright while also still being seasonally appropriate!

Whew, that feels like a lot but I know we still have a long way to go! The next week or so will be spent booking a band, choosing who will be making our wedding cake, and officially asking my bridesmaids to join me on our big day as well as working on coming up with a guest list and deciding what direction we want to go with a save the date. I completely understand what people mean when they say wedding planning can be a full-time job, but having Anne Morgan keeping us on track and getting some of these larger decisions squared away will feel like such a relief before we get into the nitty-gritty of design and rentals. 

Next on the list of things I’d like to accomplish:

The Band // The Cake // Asking My Bridesmaids // Bridesmaid’s Dresses // The Guest List // Save the Date

Given that I wrote this on a plane last week, I'm happy to report that we've even accomplished some of the above!

Since I’m not sure how many pictures I’ll have to share in each of these posts, I decided to pull together some of the items I’ve found that would be perfect for brides! Whether you are a bride or are looking for a gift for one or you’re helping a friend shop hopefully you’ll find these helpful! Links to the products can be found directly underneath the image. 


If any of you have advice on the topic of wedding planning or there was a particular aspect of your own or someone else’s wedding that you loved please share it with me below! I’d also love any vendor suggestions you may have when it comes to a save-the-date design or wedding monogram/crest. I’m happy to report that overall it has felt pretty stress-free and hope that that will continue as we make further progress!

Saturday, March 18, 2023

Saturday Shopping vol. 93

 Happy Saturday! So far I've spent the day working on some wedding planning and telling myself I need to organize all of my tax information for my CPA. Exciting, I know! It's a pretty day here so I think Winnie and I will go on a walk while Hunter golfs with some friends and see where the afternoon ends up taking us. I'm sure there will be a decent bit of basketball viewing thrown in despite my March madness bracket feeling shot already. I hope y'all have something fun lined up for the day.

It seems as though all of my Saturday Shopping posts as of late have been geared toward warmer weather. With no concrete travel plans in the next month or two I've been thinking ahead to a busy end of May and June and the outfits I'd love to be wearing to go with those plans. Maybe you have a place to wear these sooner or enjoy planning ahead too! Regardless of what you may be shopping for, links to the items shown can be found just beneath the image! 



Friday, March 17, 2023

Home Find Favorites vol. 2

 Happy Friday! I was in Florida this week for work and was so happy to be in warmer weather given how unseasonably chilly it has been in Birmingham! I always leave these trips with an urge to redecorate after sourcing furniture for clients and seeing all the lacquer paint colors being sprayed in our lacquer studio. Since there's no need for me to redecorate my current space, I've been thinking ahead to ways I'd love to update Hunter's home when the time comes for me to move there. With that in mind, most of the finds I'm sharing are reasonably priced (aside from the scallop leather coffee table which is included solely because of how cute the lines on it are) and from retailers with good return policies should I not love the way the items look in person! Hopefully you'll find some inspiration for your own space when viewing the items linked below. If you missed my last round up of affordable home decor and furniture finds it can be found here!


Wednesday, March 15, 2023

The Proposal

When I asked y’all a few weeks ago for questions for me to answer in a blog post, pretty much every question was asking about the proposal or asking if I’d share details regarding how Hunter proposed. Since so many questions were about that I figured I needed to do a post dedicated to that day, and although it took the back burner to some wedding planning, I’m happy to finally be sharing it with you here!

If you don’t follow along on Instagram, then surprise, we’re engaged! I shared how we met in this blog post. Hopefully, by writing this post somewhat close to when it happened most of the details will be well accounted for, which I know will be really fun to look back on!

Despite having been in Fairhope twice already this year to visit my baby niece, we decided to go back down to celebrate Mardi Gras with friends similar to last year. We arrived in town on Thursday night and my parents were leaving town the following morning for a trip they had planned. I later came to find out that Hunter went and picked up the ring from Mobile on Friday disguising the time as a business meeting, work clothes, and all. On Friday night we went to a parade that my friend, Macy, was riding in and went to the Mardi Gras ball directly following the parade that evening. With a weekend packed full of events we didn’t stay too late but it was there that Hunter’s plan started to take place with Macy and her husband, Drew, and Hunter all talking about some breakfast plans I had no part in making. This was a bit out of the ordinary since usually Macy and I are scheming and filling the boys in later, but we left with specific instructions to be at Macy’s parent’s house for breakfast in the morning before a party we were all going to in Mobile. I tried to argue the plans given that it meant driving in the opposite direction at an even earlier hour than already planned!

  

 
 

My alarm went off sooner than I wanted it to on Saturday morning and Hunter came in eager and surprisingly awake asking if I wanted him to go get us coffee from my favorite coffee shop in Fairhope before we went to breakfast. I wasn’t going to turn that offer down despite having just stocked up on coffee and creamer for the house the day before and that Coffee Loft would’ve been on our way to Macy’s parent’s house. While he was gone I started getting ready since I knew we’d be gone from the house all day and had plans to go to another Mardi Gras party and then to parades in Mobile with some of my friends in town. We were both dressed and ready and on the way to the still somewhat suspicious breakfast plans by 8:30 but I had a better attitude now with my favorite coffee in hand!

When we arrived at Macy’s childhood home she was in her car grabbing something and told us that her parents were running slightly behind making the meal and Hunter suggested we walk to the bay in the meantime. Macy’s parents live on Mobile Bay and the weather could not have been more beautiful so I agreed thinking Macy was going to walk that way with us. She peeled off and I stopped suggesting we wait on her but she insisted we go on without her. 

We were only about halfway to the bay when Hunter turned to me and said “I have a confession.” Apparently, my response was somewhat jokingly to ask, “oh gosh, what did you do?” He then told me that he had lied and was not meeting a coworker in Mobile on Friday and instead had been to visit the jeweler to pick up the ring whose box he was now holding in his hand. From there he got on one knee, asked if I’d marry him, and gave me the ring! He claims I interrupted the extra five minutes he had of his spiel (sure…) to have him put the ring on, oops! We hugged, I spotted Macy taking photos, and we were quickly handed goblets and champagne to celebrate. We were able to get quite a few pictures and I was able to take in the ring before heading into Macy’s parent’s house to continue the celebrations over a delicious breakfast! So as it turns out, the breakfast plans were real!



While eating breakfast Hunter realized he had forgotten his wallet at my parent’s house, so once we left there we dropped by my parent’s house which gave us some time to call our families, both of which were very excited! I was also able to FaceTime my friend Nell who we had planned to meet up with later in the day to let her know and see if she had any ideas of how to surprise our friends in town that were staying with her with the exciting news. We made a few more phone calls on our way to Mobile for the morning barn party and were able to soak in the excitement! 


The party we went to that morning felt especially celebratory given our occasion and it was fun to be able to share the news with some friends we ran into there before meeting up with Nell and some of my friends for the day parade. With Nell being clued in we did our best to act normal until my roommate, Rebecca, spotted my finger and caught on to what had happened! Our other friends were at first confused over her excitement but then joined in. We got some more pictures and then watched the second half of the parade as it went by!


We had some time to kill before our dinner reservations and the night parade and went to a bar for drinks in the meantime. The weather really couldn’t have been better for Mardi Gras as a whole and the added excitement of getting engaged made it that much more fun! At dinner, Hunter surprised us with a bottle of prosecco to toast with and enjoy before we made our way to where we were going to watch the night parade. The night ended with king cake at Nell’s house before we made our way back to Fairhope after the most exciting day! While we would’ve loved to have our families there to celebrate with us right after it made the celebrations continue in the past couple of weeks which has been a sweet way to get to continue the excitement!


I’m going to start working on some sort of wedding series to share with y’all here since many of the other questions asked were in regard to that! We’ve made some good headway that I’ll hopefully share with y’all next week in a series more than likely called Wedding Wednesdays because we know I love a structured time to post things and an alliteration, so stay tuned for that and if there’s anything specific you’d like me to share in those do let me know. Thank you so much for sharing in our excitement!

Saturday, March 11, 2023

Saturday Shopping vol. 92

 I'm finally staying put in Birmingham this weekend and am so thrilled to not have had to pack a bag for the first weekend in a while. I say that, but I am traveling next week for work so I'll be soaking up some down time this weekend! The weather today is beautiful and a bit crisp so I think Winnie and I will be taking advantage of that with a long walk. The only downside of Spring being on the horizon is that I suddenly can't stop sneezing. I've never had allergies before and am hoping I haven't just developed them! The tradeoff for bright colors, green grass, and great weather may be worth it though. You'll see lots of springy shades in today's Saturday Shopping round up! If you see any pieces you're interested in I've linked each item beneath the image to make shopping easy. I hope y'all have some fun weekend plans!


Saturday, March 4, 2023

Saturday Shopping vol. 91

 Today feels like spring! We are in Fairhope for the weekend for a friend's wedding and my mom and I were able to get some wedding planning and dress shopping done yesterday, which felt really productive. I owe y'all a blog post about the engagement and what we've done planning wise so far so stay tuned for those! 

I can't help myself from browsing all the new spring arrivals coming out. I realize that this is the hardest time of year for me to dress for since summer gets so hot in Alabama, and I probably should focus in on transitional pieces. You'll see a few of those in this Saturday Shopping round up along with some pieces I'd easily want to wear through the summer. To shop any of the pieces shown you can click the links beneath the image! 



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