Green Thumb.

Last night me, mom and Jesse (my sister-in-law) met with Phillis of Rainbow's End Floral in Downtown Kingsport. Matthew had to work late and couldn't make it. He actually said the flowers were all up to me, anyway, so I don't think he cared!

Phillis will be in charge of all of the flowers for the wedding. I have known her for a couple of years now. When I had my shop on Broad Street, I was also the Merchant Chair for Downtown Kingsport, so I kept in touch with most of the Downtown businesses on a daily basis. Phillis was one of the first fellow business owners I talked to :)

Before the meeting, I spent most of the day yesterday looking at all of the flowers I had pinned on Pinterest for our wedding and gathering my thoughts. Since we started planning the wedding, I knew that I wanted our main flower to be lavender. Lavender is not only my favorite color, but it's my favorite flower too. I love how delicate and pretty it looks. Not to mention it smells amazing! Plus I have said that our wedding theme is "lavender and lace," which I think is very fitting. So with that in mind, I wanted the rest of the flowers that we chose to compliment the lavender. I was thinking a soft, rustic but romantic color palette for the bridesmaid bouquets, boutonnieres, centerpieces, etc.

This is exactly what I love. All of the colors that I want, but not too bright or overbearing. Simple. Romantic. Vintage. Rustic. Yes, please!

When we got to the meeting, we sat down with Phillis and I showed her this picture and a ton of others, too so she would get exactly what I was looking for. And of course she understood completely! She is, after all a flower expert. She knew that I still wanted the "rustic" look without going too far, since we are getting married at the Carnegie now, instead of a barn :) So this picture is pretty similar to what my bridesmaids will be carrying, and my centerpieces will have the same look as well.

After deciding "the look" that I was going for, we then discussed what type of centerpiece container we would be using. I am not a fan of plain glass vases. I'm not sure why. That's just never been my taste. So when I spotted these beautiful garden urns that Phillis had, I knew those were what I wanted to use! Not only do they look vintage, but the are unique and not your typical wedding centerpiece. LOVE!

We also decided on having two tall columns with flower arrangements on top displayed during the ceremony, one on each side of the beautiful mantel in the ballroom where Matthew and I will say our vows.

After all of the major decisions were out of the way, we then talked about my bouquet. Since the fad of the "brooch bouquet" started, I have wanted to have one for my wedding so bad! So, for the past 9 months I have been diligently collecting brooches and jewelry pieces.

I have over 70 total. Some of them are Matthew's mom's, some of them are my mom's, some of them were given to me, and the rest I've collected at different antique and thrift stores. When we first got engaged, I was going to take on the project of doing the brooch bouquet myself, but since Phillis is experienced in this department, I decided to let her have at it! I know she will do a much more professional job than I ever could. She is also going to add fabric from my mom's wedding dress around the stems of my brooch bouquet, instead of using ribbon. I can't wait to have that "hand-me-down" touch added :)

This is my favorite brooch of them all. It's purple of course, and it belonged to Matthew's mom. Phillis is also adding another (less feminine) brooch of Matthew's mom's to his boutonniere. I think he will be excited to have something of his mom's with him on our wedding day, too.

I can't wait to see what my bouquet looks like when it's finished! I am so so anxious! This is Miranda Lambert's brooch bouquet that she carried on her wedding day. I love the way it looks with all of the different pieces.

Phillis was such a huge help throughout our meeting. She knew exactly what I was looking for and helped me make decisions based on what I wanted. She also gave me different ideas and opinions about what other brides have done, and about what she thought looked best. My advice on flowers? Make sure your florist knows their flowers!

Phillis and her husband have been in business for 20 years, so I know they are experienced. I couldn't have picked anyone better to help me with this crucial part of the wedding planning process! I can't wait to walk into the Carnegie on September 14th and see all of the beautiful arrangements :)

xoxo
Dream Wedding Bride

Budget Savvy Honeymoon.

Matthew and I have been "researching" a honeymoon spot ever since we got engaged. We got so frustrated at one point that we were almost decided on not having a honeymoon at all. I had looked at the Sandals website a million times thinking that it would be the best deal for our money since they are all-inclusive resorts. I also know several people who have honeymooned and vacationed at a Sandals and they said it was the best trip of their life. So needless to say, I was determined. 

We looked at all of the locations for Sandals, and decided on Jamaica. We picked a room, when we were going to stay, and wrote down exactly how much money we needed to pay for the trip in full (not including plane tickets or passports). Last week when we got paid, we both took money from our paychecks to give to the "honeymoon fund." I was waiting until this Monday to make the deposit to my bank, and then found out it was closed for President's Day. So yesterday, I deposited our cash and decided to book our honeymoon on my lunch break at work lol. When I started looking at the website there was a countdown for the discount they had been offering, which was ending that day. And because I had waited until the last minute to book our room, it was reduced by almost $300. I was so excited! Like I keep saying, God is blessing us in tremendous ways throughout this whole wedding planning process! I am so thankful and humbled. I am also super glad that we were able to pay cash for our honeymoon instead of putting it on a credit card or taking out a loan. I have been pretty budget savvy lately and I absolutely refused to take a honeymoon unless we paid cash. Matthew probably thinks I'm psycho, but he will thank me one day...I hope.

After my calculations, and our 60% off deal from Sandals, we saved a total of $2,211.00. I can't wait to have an awesome honeymoon at an all-inclusive resort! I honestly think that we will be saving money in the long run because food, drinks, tips, and a TON of other things are all included in the cost! Sandals runs discounts like this all the time, so it may be the best choice for you, too. So, my advice (as usual) when it comes to brides everywhere regarding your honeymoon---RESEARCH. I was about to give up, but God led us in a different direction and now we are honeymooning somewhere beautiful and tropical! Jamaica, here we come!

Let's hope the water really does look like that :)

pictures are forever.

Besides work, wedding planning, and a horrible eye infection, I haven't been that busy.

This past Monday night, Matthew and I met with our 3rd vendor (and one of my favorites), our photographer, Anna Hedges. Let me start off by saying she is hilarious! She probably has one of the best personalities of anyone I have ever met. Which makes me super excited for our wedding to be shot by her!

I think I have mentioned before that our original plan was to get Andy and Kayla Stacy (our good photography friends who shot our engagement pictures) to shoot our wedding too. So when we found out that we won the Dream Wedding, I will admit I was a little sad and worried that they might be too. But, it turns out that Anna actually took Andy and Kayla's engagement pictures a couple of years ago! Remember how I keep saying God is working everything out for Matthew and me? Well, there's another perfect example! He is so good to us.

One of the things we have been debating on, is whether or not to do a "first look" on our wedding day. My mother will probably kill me, but during our meeting with Anna, we decided to go for it. First looks are becoming more and more popular now, and I can't wait to have that moment captured. I think doing a first look just between just the two of us will be much more personal and will mean a lot more when we look back on our wedding pictures. I'm still old-fashioned at heart, but that doesn't mean I think Matthew and I will end up divorcing because of this first look we're doing haha.

Still not convinced that it's a good idea?
First looks are beneficial in sooooo many ways! Trust this OCD bride when I tell you that I have done a TON of research on first looks and why they are a great choice. My top 3 reasons for doing a first look:
1. Alone Time. I know we are going be so busy worrying about our guests and everyone else except ourselves on our wedding day. Matthew and I have always been that way. A first look with give US a chance to spend some time together before the craziness starts. Most importantly, it will give us a few moments to soak in the day and realize, "Wow, we're getting married!" And of course tell each other how in love we are and blah blah blah :)

2. More family pictures. A first look will also allow more time for family pictures to be taken. I have been to plenty of weddings where the photographer rushed everyone, and there was no time for family pictures. And then the bride and groom are disappointed with only 1 or 2 good pictures with their relatives. I want to have pictures of me and Matthew with our families on our special day. Doing a first look will get our pictures out of the way, so we can have more time to spend with our families and capture those sweet moments too :)

3. Control. Not only will the first look help us with our time frame for the day, but we will get to have it captured at a location that's not at the Carnegie. There are some great intimate settings in the Johnson City area, so having our first look shot somewhere private (instead of when I walk down the aisle), will look so much more personal and romantic in pictures. And trust me, I want romantic!

Here's an awesome photography blog that might persuade you a little more ;) http://jessbarfield.com/blog/info/why-first-look/

SEE?!?!?! talk about awesome!!!

Anna also talked with us about all of the photography details of our big day. She's capturing everything! And I can't wait! I know we won't be disappointed with her as our photographer. Here's our picture with her we're submitting for the paper. Of course we had to have the buffalo in it :) LOL

And Matthew with the buffalo....

I hope this was a helpful blog post and that all of your traditional brides will consider doing a first look. I don't think you will be disappointed.

 Happy wedding planning xoxo