Welcoming Our Guests

One of the main reasons we chose our venue in the first place was because we anticipated a decent number of guests coming from out of town. The club that hosted our ceremony, reception and rehearsal dinner boasts an on-site hotel with reasonable rates and we loved that guests would be within walking distance of all the main events. We put together goodie bags for all the out-of-towners which included snacks, drinks, sunscreen and information about the weekend. I bought simple brown paper bags at Target for about $0.50 a piece and we tied the handles with navy blue & white polka dotted ribbon, our signature accessory. I found little round tags and used those to label each bag for the front desk staff at the hotel.

My sister designed the insert that we added to each bag, which provided guests with a schedule of events, a map and of course a welcome message. The design mimicked the invitation to my bachelorette weekend and was perfect for the contemporary but cute look that I wanted. The hotel provided a map of the grounds and my sister doctored it with additional info and some cute details to make it feel custom-made. I had them printed and folded at Fed-ex which took all of 5 minutes and was totally worth not having to mess around with double-sided printing at home. The map and schedule of events helped save us from answering questions about where people should go and what time they needed to arrive. Plus once they were dropped off at the hotel, the bags were automatically given to guests in our block of rooms. Such an easy way to (sort of) personally greet each guest.

The final product... love it!

Bridesmaid Gifts

When I first started thinking about the gifts for my bridal party, I knew I wanted something unique and personal. I looked at many options but eventually decided on something handmade. I purchased the Market Bag pattern from Sandi Henderson of Portabellopixie and loved how it turned out. You can purchase the pattern from Sandi's online shop here.

The pattern is easy to follow even if you have only a moderate knowledge of sewing, and the end result looks much more complicated than it actually is to make. The best part is that I was able to choose fabric based on each girl's taste and give them a one-of-a-kind bag. Making five bags was no small feat but by the third one, I felt like a pro! (I can only imagine how many Sandi has made in order to create a pattern.) Here are the five completed bags for my five fabulous girls.


The girls seemed very excited about their personalized bags and it felt great to give them each a gift that I had invested so much into. I'm sure the new Husband will be happy to see the dining room not taken over by a sewing machine, piles of fabric, thread and pattern pieces, but even he was very impressed by the end result. He's even suggested making more bags as Christmas gifts, but after making five in the last five months, I might be on a bag hiatus!

Wedded Bliss

It's official - I am now a wife!

Our wedding was beautiful and wonderful and everything I hoped it would be, with the exception that it went by way too fast (as everyone told me it would). We are joking that our wedding was the last day of summer because we had perfect weather and the next night was downright chilly to the point that I had to wear a real sweater. We spent a fabulously luxurious honeymoon week in Palm Springs with Baby staying nearby with my sister. I can't wait to post pictures of some of the fun details from our big day but for now I'm swamped with laundry and post-wedding chaos in our house.

As a side note, it finally feels like fall here and I'm so excited to get our home dressed for the season. Shockingly, I read on Simple Mom that there are only 11 weeks until Christmas, which is absolutely insane. For now I'm just ready to pull out all the cozy, comfy goodies that make fall wonderful.

Off Duty

Consider me MIA for the next week or so. The wedding is Saturday... as in this Saturday and I have a boatload to do still. Luckily my mom gets here on Wednesday and I have bridesmaids ready and willing to lend a hand. But as for blogging, it's definitely on the back burner until after the fact when I can post fun pictures! Wish me luck!

Weddings and Birthdays and Showers, Oh My!

image from www.blog.pinkcakebox.com

Given the touch economic circumstances, like many families, we are trying to make an effort to curb our spending. This hasn't been a very aggressive effort so far but particularly with the holidays coming up, we want to be more careful about how our one income is utilized. Granted we are hosting a wedding in two weeks and that has not been a careful study in budgeting but we were fortunate to receive help from both sides of the family.

One of the areas that we struggle with is gift-giving. We are lucky to have a large group of generous friends who have showered us with gifts for Baby. Although we asked that guests not bring gifts to her 1st birthday, all but a few came armed with presents. Of course I'm very grateful and appreciate the kindness of our friends, but how then can we attend a birthday and not bring a gift? This summer we've attended 3 weddings, 2 baby showers and multiple birthdays. The fun we've had at all these functions comes with a high price tag but one that we're more than willing to pay. Our response has been to spend less than we would normally so that we're able to give gifts, but I admit that sometimes has me worried that we'll appear tight-fisted.

For our own wedding, we were both concerned about registering for gifts. We've lived together for two years and have the things we need. Would I love some new pots and pans? Definitely. Do I need them right now? Not at all. If we hadn't been living together for so long, I would have felt differently, but we've already replaced a lot of the mismatched things that come from combining two homes. We felt like registering was unnecessary for us because of our living situation. That led to "registering" for a charity. We have asked guests to make donations to the hospital where Baby was born in lieu of traditional presents. That way guests who wanted to give a wedding gift could put the money towards the hospital instead of something that we already have.

How do you handle gift-giving without spending a fortune?

Halloween Costume??

I am loving this costume idea from Martha Stewart for Baby!!

I'm thinking I might use different colored felt to turn it from an owl to maybe a robin. I love the owl, but I can't resist the idea of making it a little more girly. I'm thinking that a red cap and wings with a pink front would be adorable. Not that I have the time to make a costume right now but I figure there's a whole month between the wedding and Halloween so I might be able to squeeze it in.

A Hint of Fall

photo from orelfineartphotography.com

This morning I managed to snag a shower before the Fiance left for work and when I stepped out, a breeze from the open window made me hug my towel tighter. It was the first indication that even in sunny southern California, fall is approaching. While we won't lose our warm weather quite yet, there was a crispness in the air this morning that served as a reminder that summer is on its way out. I secretly hope that it is still somewhat warm on my wedding day (only 20 days away!) but I wouldn't mind a cool evening during the celebration. Our reception is indoors but opens onto a large stone terrace and a little chill in the air could be refreshing after a few rounds on the dance floor.

I also couldn't resist picking up the Martha Stewart Halloween special issue. I look forward to it every year around this time for all the creative ideas and inspiration. Plus something about seeing all the Halloween decorations in the stores makes me anticipate fall and all the fun that it brings. One of my favorite days last year was when we took Baby to the pumpkin patch to pick out some nice pumpkins for carving. I'm loving all the fall decorating that's popping up on blogs and in magazines. It's funny to think that in some parts of the country, it's not still 75 degrees during the day. Fall will be here too before we know it!