Planning a wedding is hard enough, but when more than half the wedding party lives out of town, it can be very frustrating too. So I took the bull by the horns and contacted all 8 of our bridesmaids and planned a time for us all to go pick out the bridesmaids dresses. The maid of honor, Nikki, came down from Baltimore, three other sorority friends came from Knoxville, 2 more from Hendersonville and 2 from Nashville. We even had the future ring bearer, Hudson, having his bottle and giving his opinion!!
(Bridesmaids in original dress style from Faccio)
(Kendall and nephew - future ring bearer)
Working with Elizabeth and her staff at Faccio Bridal in Cool Springs TN, we chose a dress we thought would be just perfect….it wasn’t. Mainly because Kendall chose a different wedding gown than we originally thought, but that’s when the fun began. We started pulling dresses off the rack and had some laughs and some no ways and then some sighs when we found our perfect dress.
(Final bridesmaid dress, Jim Hjelm from Faccio)
The girls chose a one shoulder black satin trumpet shaped gown by Jim Hjelm. There is a big bow on the shoulder and since it will be a formal candlelight ceremony, they will also wear opera length black satin gloves. It looks fabulous on them all!!
We also have 3 junior bridesmaids and a flower girl….all of which also live out of town….but as it turned out the original junior bridesmaid dress worked great for them and the flower girl chose a dress with a white bodice and black skirt…really cute.
The dresses are gorgeous….but they wouldn’t let me wear one too!! It really was a fun time for all the bridesmaids as well as me. Everyone went from Faccio in Cool Springs to Arzelles in West End to see Kendall in her wedding dress…which she won’t let me send you a picture of yet. Then, we headed lunch. What a morning!!!
(Kendall and crew shopping for bridesmaid dresses - Kendall is tall center)
One thing Kendall (aka Fit Bride) knew from the beginning was that she wanted “black and white scroll” to be the theme of her wedding. At first I thought, “Ok, how impossible is this going to be?”. But once I set my mind to it, everything fell into place from welcome bags from www.Nashvillewraps.com all featuring the scroll pattern…
We first thought we’d use the Save the Date magnets that had 3 pictures and looked like the pictures that guests will get from the photobooth. But then decided to keep a more formal feel and chose this design. We liked the “feel” of it and the layout with one large picture of Kendall and Kiel instead.
In fact, I was suddenly surrounded with inspiration. While at Hobby Lobby I came upon hat boxes in different sizes in black and white swirl. Wasn’t sure what I was going to do with them but it didn’t take long to find out.
Our fabulous cake designer Vicki from Signature Cakes is designing a fabo 4 layer white chocolate truffle and lemon cake with black swirl designs and fondant ribbon. Kendall’s cake will be very similar to the picture below…4 square layers of white butter cream frosting with the black scroll work but with a black fondant bow cascading down the front and starting on the second layer in back and going down, and she’s making a very elegant black “H” for the cake topper. We actually met with Vicki and she sketched out what we wanted BEFORE we ever found pictures that were similar. We took one of the hat boxes with us and that inspired the design on our cake. She’s even ordering scroll templates to try and match it.
The groom wants cupcakes so Jessica at Cuppycakes Bakery is making 6 different flavors of cupcakes and we will display them on…you guessed it….the 5 hat boxes!! Also at Hobby Lobby, I found stick on black and white scroll lettering to put on the black fabric photo album that we are using at the photobooth table www.partybooths.com. Guests will have their pictures taken and paste one set in the album with their best wishes and take the other set home.
I’ve also found some wonderful invitations at www.weddingpaperdivas.com that you can order in the black swirl and as an added little touch I’m adding monogram confetti in each envelope from www.designsinpaper.com . As for the confetti, we haven’t finalized the design yet since we haven’t settled on the invitations. If we go with black invites we’ll use white confetti, white invites we’ll use black confetti. Kendall wants monograms and not their names.
From there things snowballed. I found 12X12 scrapbook paper in a beautiful black background with white swirls that will be used for the programs, rolled up like a scroll and tied with ribbon. The same paper will be cut and folded into a cone shape finished off with ribbon handles for guests to use at the candy bar, www.candyfavorites.com. The candy favorites website actually has a section for weddings or you can click on a color. I chose black and white of course. We’re having white M&Ms, black cherry and coconut white jelly bellys, swizzle sticks, white chocolate mints, black licorice twists, whoppers snowballs.
And from good ole Target, I found some incredible acrylic picture frames with black scroll work that will be placed around with different messages in them. …and finally I found beautiful black and white swirl linen tablecloths for the larger tables at CJs off the Square in Franklin.
You might think the world is green but believe me, after these past few months I think the world is black and white swirl!!! Can’t wait to show you all the finished look all pulled together.
We’ve got a new blogger! This time, a mom - here to offer other Nashville, wedding planning mothers some company. Cindy is Kendall’s mom, aka Fit Bride. She while Kendall goes through fitness bootcamp, mom plans. Just kidding Kendall!
I love Cindy and Kendall and appreciate their approach to wedding planning and their ability to balance style and class with fun and flair. Welcome Cindy!
ENGAGEMENT PARTY!!! The perfect time to celebrate, get to know the in-laws better ( yes, they are your new family members as well as your daughters) and let their friends join in the fun. Whether you give the party, the in-laws host it, or you do it together is a matter of choice. I was very lucky, with both of my daughters and got really great in-laws They both insisted on giving the party together…split the work, split the cost….it was a win, win for all of us.
First up, we picked the date and ordered the invitations….April 26th. I got the invitations at Prim and Paper in Franklin…they were having a sale, printing and all it only came to about $50. We were going to print them ourselves but sometimes there is just not enough hours in the day.
We decided with the large guest list not to have it at our home…we chose the Laurelbrook clubhouse. The weather was perfect so we were able to use the veranda as well as inside.
Next, we picked a theme!….we chose Mexican Fiesta because the groom loves Mexican food.They had some great package deals at LaPaz and great food so it was a no brainer. I ordered a basic sampler and then filled in with taquito casseroles, homemade guacamole, and a black bean salsa pasta salad. Cinco de Mayo was only a week later so we found plenty of decorations at PartyCity and Target….don’t forget lots of lanterns and candles outside!!!
Music was essential. Outside at the entrance guests were greeted with a CD of Mexican party music and inside we had live music by Matty McRee…great to listen to, socialize to and dance to!
Once Kendall found the perfect dress, we were set!! The engagement party is the official kickoff to the wedding, by the time the big day arrives, with this party, all the showers and other get togethers both sides of the families and their friends will know each other pretty well and that makes for a fantastic wedding reception!!
Last week, my mom and I did lots of searching for suits for the guys in the wedding! We decided to go with buying them, since renting can get close to the cost of buying them! Especially since we are going with navy!
The best deals that my mom found were at J.C. Penney’s. I rarely shop there, but I have heard other people say that they’ve found good deals on suits. She found a manager that is working with us, to get us the best, discounted price! And because we’re buying at least 8, he’s giving us a really good deal!
Here’s some pics of myself and my good looking men! Please excuse the fact that I didn’t fix my hair or put on make-up! I knew I was going to be a bridesmaid “stand-in”, but didn’t think about fixing myself up! :o) And Ray was complaining that he didn’t fix his hair either, and you’ll notice his brown flip flops in a few pics- don’t worry, he’s not wearing those!! And the BM’s aren’t going barefoot like I am! :o) They will look much prettier!
Here’s myself with my handsome fiance- who reverted to his old picture taking ways with a goofy face! But hey, remember, these pics are about the clothes!! :o)
I absolutely love the tie that we picked out for him– from Dillard’s. It cost a bit, but the stripes in it match the dress and the groomsmen ties perfectly (see groomsman tie below on my dad!), and we’re going to keep looking for it to go on sale!
Here’s the Father of the Bride joining us…. He’s wearing one of the ties we got for the groomsmen and possibly for him too, from Ross. It is a light teal blue with some faint paisley outlines.
Tie up close on Father of the Bride…..
We had the guys in black shoes, but tried them out with brown as well…..ummmmm….we’ll go with black!!
And the three of us go for a stroll in the sun………..
We’re pretty set on these suits, just need to gather up the groomsmen and his dad’s sizes then off we’ll go to purchase them all! We might change his dad and my dad’s ties, but the groom is set and so are the groomsmen! They also go lovely with my flowers as well, which I forgot to bring to the “photo-shoot” but here’s a pic to remind you!
I can’t wait to see it all put together in the end!!!
Ray and I booked our honeymoon hotel awhile back at Los Altos de Eros in Costa Rica. (see the link for my previous post on that hotel!) While we’d still LOVE to stay there, reality has been setting in that staying there would probably put us into debt starting off our marriage! At $395-$495 a NIGHT…it’s not cheap…..but it seems to be out of this world!! It’s slightly all-inclusive- smoothies, beer, wine, breakfast and lunch are included.
I was especially excited about staying in Tamarindo, Costa Rica because the week we booked the hotel, I had shown all my classes a Travel Channel Samantha Brown video on her trip there! After 10 times of watching her surf, ride dirt bikes, relax in infinity pools and lay in a hammock in Costa Rica, I had to do it to!
By the way…..If I could pick ANY job in the world, it would be HERS! But I think I’d do it a little better- at least in the Spanish speaking countries she visits! Her Spanish is pretty bad! But at least she tries!! I think she’s the coolest chic ever though!! I know her job can be tough and fast paced, but she gets PAID to see the world!!! I soooo want that job!
But back to the point……..We’ve changed our hotel in CR! Actually, we’re now booked for 2 places but will eventually cancel one! Good thing about hotels here- you pay when you leave, so no one has our credit card # right now!! They finalize your reservation when you send them your airfare info.
My mom and dad are SUPER amazing and got us our plane tickets into Liberia, CR for FREE! Yes, that’s right- FREE! Well….nothing’s free I guess! There was about $180 worth of processing fees- so silly! But amazing compared to the fact that we would be paying well over $1200 for 2 tickets there! My dad’s been flying so much lately that he’s earned tons of points- obviously enough for 2 tickets! And my mom was great about finding us a flight that would actually work with our schedule and the airline’s (they only allow so many free passengers per flight!) Too bad we’ll get hit with American Airlines new $15 per checked bag fee!
So you’d think that getting free air would make us think we could splurge a little! Nope! As we’re seeing how much $$$$$ this wedding is going to cost- and the fact that we’ll probably have zero left to put on the honeymoon, we’re seeing we need to cut back!
(oh the memories of Honduras! These things are not my friend, but animal life is abundant in CR!!)
So we found a fabulous little hotel- Hotel Capitan Suiza, which we are quite happy with. Los Altos only had 6 rooms and was very intimate, but the Capitan only has 30, so it’s not a huge commercial hotel either. It’s not all-inclusive, but like I’ve said before- I’ve heard good and not so good things about all-inclusive. Breakfast is included, and the restaurant looks fantastic and isn’t too expensive! We’ve read nothing but good things about the hotel too!
Wish I could put better pics of the hotel on here, but I can’t copy the ones on their page….so go look at them here- Hotel Capitan Suizo Photos. Amazing!! The restaurant all lit up, reminds me of the one in the recent movie - Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Looks like fun!
It’s also right on the beach, which seems to be pretty clean and pretty private. Los Altos is up in the mountains/jungle over looking the ocean (they take you there whenever you want). But there is something about waking up and throwing on a bathing suit and heading straight to the beach, then wandering back every now and then for a dip in the pool, etc. :o)
We’re spending less than half what we would spend a night at Los Altos (around $175 at the Capitan), so that should give us lots of money to play/eat/drink with! We even decided to book the honeymoon suite for the last 2 nights (the last, not the first so we don’t get too spoiled and hate our smaller room!), and it’s even cheaper than the small room at Los Altos!
Trip Advisor was an invaluable resource for us! Yes, I know that on many travel review sites people only post negative experiences. Well at both of these hotels there were almost nothing but RAVING reviews because everyone loved them both so much! Although, you should take the negatives with a grain of salt, it’s still a great resource!
So- if you have LOTS of money after throwing your fabulous wedding- head to Los Altos de Eros. If you are throwing a “Fabu-less” wedding- head to the Capitan! Whatever you do- definitely put Costa Rica on your “must-see” honeymoon list!!
Today’s guest post is by Fit Bride, our newest bride blogger and a reporter with NashvilleEdge.com.
Just finished the first session of week three and we definitely kicked it up a notch. We’re getting more into abs, which I need, endurance, did so many suicide drills I was considering its namesake, and really getting into testing the strength we have been working so hard to build the last two weeks. When you start regularly working out and doing strength training, you can wall into a serious rut if you don’t test yourself a push a little bit farther each time. You probably won’t even notice adding an extra 30 seconds on to your push ups, but you will the next day.
You can never truly progress if you just let yourself get better at the same routine. Know what I mean? It’s one thing to finally feel like you breezed through your workout, but that means you are just building better endurance and it is crucial to keep going and make it harder. I left today with a beet red face, breathing hard, with muscles shaking. That’s exactly how you want to feel. The more you sweat, the more you work.
I used to workout with a girl in college and she never broke a sweat. I looked like I had just gone swimming next to her. But she was never breathing hard either. If you don’t have the discipline to push yourself, that’s what a great trainer is for. I would never have done five, field-length, suicide drills in a row if I didn’t have Paul, the Focus Fitness trainer, right there cheering me along the way.
Knowing that I gave myself, and more importantly my heart, much-needed cardio vascular exercise, made me feel so much better when I got into my car afterwards and heard the radio hosts talking about how Nashville was just named the worst heart-healthy city for women. The first thing people think of when they hear something like that about their city is that obesity must be higher in this area. They never imagine that their average sized frame, could also have poor health just because they are not exercising it enough. Everyone you pass down the street could be a candidate for heart disease. The young 20-something that likes to go out late and sleep in all day, the mother who is too busy taking care of everyone else but herself, or the middle-aged man who thinks lifting weights is the only working out he needs. It could be anyone who has some reason or another for just not being able to get to the gym. I used to be that person. I tend to work all day and cover events at night. I realized that as the day goes on, so do my chances to get to the gym. It had to be first thing in the morning or never. That’s why this camp is perfect. One straight, high-intensity, hour at 6am. In fact, you get more energy for the rest of the day than if you didn’t get up and get your heart going. It goes by fast because you are never doing the same thing for more than a couple minutes. 60 minutes of constant rotation between aerobic and anaerobic drills. Run sprints and once your heart rate is up you switch to squats with kettle bells to catch your breath while still working. In the above photo we were alternating between a kettle bell squat and using the resistance band to tone triceps and back. Working multiple muscles in one motion is key.
It may be difficult at first, but for most of us who work during the day and/or have children, have to get up even earlier to find the time for yourself to exercise. Trust me, after a while you will get used to it and become a better morning person and love the feeling of self-empowerment for getting out of bed and working hard before many of your friends and family are even awake. I have even started recruiting some family and friends to take the challenge, but it could just stem from envy with all the flexing I did around them this weekend…Either way, they and you will thank me for it.
I am super excited to introduce Fit Bride. She’s a fun, chic bride who is planning an amazing Nashville wedding. She is letting us into her bridal fitness program and I feel like I am getting healthier just having her around.
Today’s guest post is by Fit Bride, our newest bride blogger and a reporter with NashvilleEdge.com.
Intro:
Hey fellow brides! Focus Fitness offers a four week, outdoor bootcamp program, three days a week from 6:15am to 7:30am. It is an intense, group exercise outdoors, rain or shine, 100% commitment and attention from the trainers and no cancellations. The exercises are unique to keep you challenged and interested, with your body always guessing what’s next, results are guaranteed to surprise you. Get the body you never thought you could have without the fad diets and boring gym machines. Get down and dirty and in the best shape of your life the old fashion way, hard work. As a bride myself, I know what it feels like to want to become the best version of yourself for your day. Focus Fitness is especially focused on brides. They have intensive programs specialized for brides-to-be to work on your individual needs and desired results. The bootcamps are on constant rotation, so you can keep track of my experience and results and if it is right for you, you can enroll in the camp right after mine or closer to your wedding day. After every session I will blog about my experiences and results and I promise to be completely honest,especially with my weight and measurements…Yikes!
Day One:
I had my first Bootcamp session this morning at 6am and even though it was tough getting up, I’m in love with starting my day early! I know this sounds insane but I honestly thought I was going to be the only person up and running when I left my house at 5:30am. Turns out there were so many people biking and running and walking their dogs AND Starbucks was even open! I had no idea that it opened at 5AM! I know I’m supposed to be quitting, but this addiction will have to go gradually and it doesn’t help that when I have to get up at 5:30am I pass right by one on my way to the camp.
(my trainer)
We rotated between aerobic and anaerobic exercises to keep our heart rate up and our bodies guessing what was coming next. I didn’t do as bad as I thought and it helps that everyone is encouraging you along the way, especially the trainer, Paul. I did realize that, although I can knock out a “pilates 100″ like no body’s business, I am literally terrible at your average military style sit up. You could say that and push ups will be “my everest” for this bootcamp. But I’m not kidding about what I said before that our bodies get lazy on us and only fit with the certain exercises that it is used to. If all I do is pilates, my body will not run a 7 minute mile. I rarely do abs. That is something I am lazy about. I was doing sit ups with a fellow bootcamper who is also a mother and she killed me! She was unbelievable in her sit ups! And she didn’t even cheat! I couldn’t even get off the ground and I’m 23! It’s like Paul says, there is no such thing as getting too old to exercise, there are just unconditioned bodies. I have even heard my 20-something friends say that they are too old to do this workout class or to go running with me. Look at Madonna. She is well into her 50s and could kick any 20-something’s ass, and would from what I’ve heard of her, just to prove that you can grow older AND stronger!
We only get one body to go through this life with and I plan to keep mine not only moving, but running around as long as I can. And as long as you don’t let it get lazy on you, you should never feel like you are too old to exercise.Check out this video from my first day in the Focus Fitness Bootcamp on the homepage! Stay tuned as I keep you updated on my journey to become a “Fit Bride”.
*Daily confession-I did have a large glass of sweet tea for lunch. That is one of my weaknesses I admitted in the beginning, but I promise to quit until this camp is over and then only one every now and then. But the rest of my meals were healthy. Fresh fish and fruit! And still trying to drink water throughout the day. I just don’t have time to pee every five minutes…
