Wedding Inspiration: Colors and Flowers

Mom and I had a lunch meeting with a florist on Thursday and I'm over the moon about working with her!  Finding a florist was the most challenging vendor that we researched.  I think you have to find one that just "gets it" when you discuss what you're wanting for your wedding.  I found her through the bridal expo back in April and didn't have a chance to meet with her until this week.  I brought a long a few photos to show her for floral inspiration:

This is a palette I found online.  The center color is the one I have picked for my bridesmaid dresses.  I'm using the lighter pink, the yellow, and the gray for accent colors.

 Our moms have been collecting old fashioned glass milk bottles that we can use for vases on the tables.  I love the look of peonies and scabiosa pods.

 Another inspiration picture, I love hydrangea so I have asked her to incorporate them in my arrangements.

Love these bouquets!

This is my favorite bouquet!  The florist will use this as the main inspiration for my wedding flowers.  I love the twine and the mix of flowers - roses, peonies, hydrangea, oh my!

**All of these photos were found on internet and I don't have the information to give credit for them.  If they belong to you please contact me and I will be happy to credit you! Thanks!**

The Seven Deadly Sins (beauty edition)

 I saw this going around on several blogs a few weeks ago and I wanted to participate.  I thought it was so much more creative than some of the ones I've answered in the past. 

1.  GREED: What is your most expensive beauty item?

Ole Henrikson Three Little Miracles

What is your most inexpensive? 

Covergirl lash blast

2.       WRATH: What beauty products do you have a love/hate relationship with?

L'Oreal Lineur Intense is a great liquid liner and I love the look of it on my eyes but it takes longer to apply and a much steadier hand than my cream or pencil liners.

3.       GLUTTONY: What are your most delicious beauty products?

 Avalon Organics Vitamin C Cleansing Gel - smells like orange juice!

Essie Watermelon is a great color for toes.

4.       SLOTH: What beauty product do you neglect, due to laziness?

Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick in Pink Quartz is the best highlighter for my skintone but most days I can not be bothered with it.  I wear it for special occasions and nights out but definitely not for day to day wear.

5.       PRIDE: What beauty product gives you the most self confidence?

  Coco Mademoiselle is my favorite perfume.  It's too strong to wear to the clinic every day and it's a little too heavy for summer so I'm only wearing it in the evenings for now.  The scent is so long lasting and I get a ton of compliments on it!

6.       LUST: What attributes do you find most attractive in the opposite sex?

Brown Eyes and a beautiful smile - lucky for me R has both!  In the photo below he is a proud uncle showing off his sweet nephew.

      7. ENVY: What items would you most like to receive as a gift?

 I have the Daisy roller ball for my purse and I enjoy the fragrance so much I'd like to have a full bottle.  It's perfect for working at the clinic because it's a light scent.

 I love Tocca fragrances, the candles are so scented that you only need to light them for 20 minutes for long a lasting scent for a whole room.

 Tocca hand cream in Cleopatra - this is the lotion I keep in my handbag.  It's a great formula and the scent is clean and very adult.

This isn't a beauty product but I've been eyeing this silver elephant ring holder for a while.  It would be the perfect addition to our bathroom!

Our weekend and a few purchases

I've had an awful cold since last Sunday that caused us to leave our Memorial Holiday beach weekend early.  I missed a couple days of work because I felt so terrible and I was worried that I had strep throat.  R took care of me all week making sure I had tissues, medicine and homemade chicken noodle soup - best fiance ever!  I started feeling better on Friday morning and we canceled our weekend plans so we could relax for a few days.  Friday was very low key, we watched Horrible Bosses from netflix and turned in early.  Saturday R was adamant that I was going to get out and enjoy the gorgeous weather so we did a little shopping.

 My Target purchases - Maybelline Dark Circle Eraser brightener (as recommended by Veronika), Essie Peach Daiquiri, Suave Dry Shampoo (I'm giving this a try as it is a little cheaper than the Tresemme version), and a new Soho Cosmetic "weekender" bag.  My usual travel bag that I've had for years had a zipper malfunction on our trip last weekend and I'm tired of fixing it every time I need to zip up my case.  This bag is thin and has three compartments so I can carry my mini toiletries and my makeup when I travel...plus it's pretty.

 New summer jewelry!  I actually purchased these last week but I'm including them because they are so pretty and I wore each of these items this weekend.  The coral earrings are from Target, the bracelet is from the Banana Republic Outlet, and the gold earrings are from Bevello which I purchased to go with a dress than I'm wearing in my upcoming engagement photos.

 I stopped by Express this weekend for the 40% off sale.  Normally I only purchase my work slacks there but I really wanted a pair of white shorts and they were on sale for $30.  The red embellished tank was on sale for $24.

 These are a few purchases that I made over the past 2 weeks.  The Michael Kors turquoise sandals were a Marshall's purchase on clearance.  I wanted a straw hat for the beach and I found this one on sale at the J Crew outlet.  The brown wedges and the black peeptoes were purchased on Saturday for buy one get one 50% off at Rack Room Shoes.  I rarely ever go there but I could not find a pair of neutral wedges that were comfortable so I feel like I lucked up when I tried these on. 

 Saturday afternoon we split a pizza and enjoyed some local music on the patio of Mellow Mushroom.  We had so much fun we stayed for the whole show!

Today we caught a matinee of Dark Shadows.  I've never made it any secret that I'm obsessed with Tim Burton and this one didn't disappoint.  We laughed several times during this movie, Johnny Depp plays this type of character so well.

We went by Fresh Market on the way home from the theater and R bought some items to grill for dinner.  We enjoyed our hammock and played Bocce ball while our pork chops were marinating.  He grilled squash and zucchini and we had Ranier cherries for dessert.  I also wanted to show off the flowers he bought this week to cheer me up.  This has probably been the first weekend in several weeks that we have actually stayed in town the entire time and enjoyed some quality time together. 

Zac Brown Concert

A few weeks ago we went to the Zac Brown concert in Raleigh to celebrate a friend's birthday / graduation.  The concert was fantastic - they sound great live.  I will say there are a few surprises in their show like the guitarist from the Black Crows coming out for a jam session and shooting t shirts and other goodies into the crowd via air gun. 

I wanted to how a better picture of my ring and my new nail color Essie Tart Deco.

 ...and my new boots the Ariat Western R Toe.  These babies will be featured in my engagement photos this month.

 The birthday girl / recent college grad and myself at tailgating before the show.  We are showing off our Emily Minor koozies.  Any country fans out there show some support for Emily Minor, she is the perfect mixture of Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert!

 More tailgating - we had giant subs, chips, and strawberry pound cake.

Getting ready for the show.  We had lawn seats with a perfect view of the stage.  Unfortunately the band was over an hour late getting on stage so the sun had already set and I couldn't get a good picture of the band without their fancy light show disrupting my image.  That was the only downside to the evening, all the waiting before the show.  Sitting around and "people watching" was our main entertainment for the better part of two hours.

Co-Hosting a Lingerie Shower

Two weeks ago I helped host a bridal shower with a lingerie theme for a friend of mine in my home.  I wanted to share a few pictures I am particularly fond of.  We had a great time playing shower games and drinking chocolate martinis and champagne cocktails.

 I can't take credit for this delicious spread.  Best Friend created most of these dishes including the little tiered wedding cakes out of fudge and red velvet cake balls.

 Best Friend modeling a champagne cocktail in her vintage crystal coupes.

 Gifts for the bride.

 Best Friend and I before playing shower games.  We made bridal taboo our b*tch.

 The bride and her sister giving out the answers to a lingerie shower game.

 Opening gifts....

 some were more scandelous than others.

The whole group modeling our shower favors.

Another Wedding Errand Weekend

So this weekend was absolutely packed with errand after errand.  R surprised me with tickets to see Wicked at the DPAC and we saw an opportunity to meet with a few wedding vendors since we were in the area.

First off - I enjoyed Wicked so much!  I can't believe I hadn't seen it before!  The cast was fantastic and I was really surprised at how great our seats were.

The rest of our Saturday was devoted to our wedding.  We stopped by the hotel that we have blocked for our guests so we could check out the rooms.  I wasn't sure why they asked us to do it but I'm glad to know my family and friends will be staying in such phenomenal suites.  I also researched some salons hoping to book one for the morning  of the wedding but I haven't settled on it yet.  We also met with a florist who is definitely a top contender but I have to meet with one other before I make my decision.  Saturday we had lunch at my top location, Lucky 32 in Cary NC, for my bridal luncheon and decided to book them - the food was delicious and they have a great variety of dishes.  R had the pulled pork on challah and I had a hot ham and havarti sandwich.

This afternoon we had a meeting with a caterer and decided to book him immediately.  He was friendly and professional and the tasting was delicious.  I also was able to meet with the staff that would be working my reception. I'm thrilled with Austin at Cook Shack Catering and I can't wait for everyone to have the meal that I tasted today!

And the last wedding update, my future mother in law has chosen the location for our rehearsal dinner.  I'm excited, I've been to an event at Fearrington before and the location was beautiful and the food was to die for. 

I don't think I have anymore updates right now.  I have to choose a florist and a hair salon and I'll be finished with all the vendor decisions.  We are taking our engagement photos next month and I've been scrambling to get my outfits together - all I have left to do is accessorize them and help R choose his outfits.  I'll post OOTD style when I have everything selected.

Southern Bridal Expo

So this was one of the most eventful weekends so far in my wedding adventures.  On Saturday I met with my MOH and went shopping for my bridesmaids dress.  I think I found it:

 After Six 6609

 The color is Pantone Honeysuckle

And for the guys we are thinking of doing bowties in the paisley print shown from Jos A Bank.

We went out for Sushi and had too many drinks afterwards.  My best friend and her husband are natural entertainers and I enjoyed my evening.  The next morning I met with a potential photographer and absolutely LOVED her.  Stephanie B. Kingston, owner of Kingston Photography is going to be my wedding photographer!!!!  We decided at the meeting that I should do Bridal Portraits in the fall since I didn't get to be a fall bride.  Sunday was also the Southern Bridal Expo in Raleigh and my MOH and fiancee attended with me.  I had the BEST time!  I met so many vendors. 

R and I at the "Classy Transportation" booth.

 Best Friend and I having too much fun with the props for the Shutterbooth.  Doesn't her afro look so natural!

Our next trip to the Triangle is in a few weeks and we have a few more vendor meetings set up so I'll be sure to report back as we move forward with planning.  A good friend of mine gave me a planning book from Barnes and Noble, the Gartner Wedding Planner and I highly suggest it.

 And my shoes came in !!!!  I haven't tried these on with my dress yet but I purchased the Lulu Townsend Valissa sling-back in fuschia and ivory.  I'm not sure which ones I'll want to wear.  But they look adorable and the heel is low enough for dancing.

Hmmm...I wonder how everyone else feels about the new blogger layout.   I don't hate it but I'm certainly not as familiar with it.