Making a change...

Ok...so I've been thinking about this for quite some time.

Official wedding recaps are upon us, and you have all been loyally following me here on this blog. However, in the past few months, Blogger has been giving me a ton of problems. One of these problems includes transferring my Weddingbee posts over. You see, I compose my Weddingbee posts in WordPress...and for some reason Blogger is giving me a heck of a headache when it comes to copying them over...the photos will not load for me. After failing about 20 times at copying my first recap over, I realized that I would have to upload each and every photo again through Blogger to post it here. For those of you who have already gone through the process of wedding recaps, you know how long it takes to compose one post...uploading photos alone takes a LONG time! I just can't do it for two different blogs...there isn't enough time in the day!

So, this is what is going to happen: I will be posting all of my wedding recaps on my NEW blog -

She likes ruffles, he likes truffles

Please please please head over there now and subscribe if you haven't already. I would hate for those of you who have been so amazing and supportive during my wedding planning to not be able to see the final results! And, guess what? My first recap post is up today - so get excited!

Thanks again to all of you for following me on my wedding planning journey - I am excited to share my day with you!

Lovely Tonight: My Last Night as a Miss

After the rehearsal dinner, our out of town guests headed back to the hotel. Conveniently, my suite was connected to my parents' suite...so we opened the two rooms up for everyone to mingle!

We opened up a few bottles of wine, and the guys enjoyed some of the beer that was left over from the beach party that afternoon. We chatted, watched some sort of sports game that was on TV, and just enjoyed everyone's company.

Little by little, our guests trickled out of the suites and back to their rooms to retire for the night. However, sleep was the last thing on my mind. In the week before the wedding, I had been so busy and was trying not to focus too hard on projects. But, by doing so I completely forgot to finish creating Mr. Buttons' wedding day gift! D'oh!!!! Thank goodness that BM A and L were still willing to hang out with me. After a quick change to PJ's, they helped me to cut paper and arrange the photos from my "beach boudoir" session into an album. I also wrapped up my "gag gift" portion of his present: a screen printed shirt that I had made for him. Here...I'll show you - Mr. Buttons proudly wore it the day after our wedding, and everyone was taking photos/laughing at it:

In retrospect, I suppose I didn't really have to have the presents prepared for Mr. Buttons because he never opened them during the time he was getting ready on the day of the wedding! I had them delivered to the beach house where the guys were, but apparently he never saw the gift. Thankfully, someone delivered them to the venue, so I WAS able to give him the presents...but not until after the reception was over!

Anyway, after the presents were wrapped and ready to go, BM A and L retired to their room...and I was alone.

Could I sleep? No, not really. I sat up for an hour or two, going over the timeline of events for the next day. I triple checked our guest list and escort cards and I went over the vows one last time before retiring to my bed. At that point, I attempted to quiet all of the little nagging voices I was hearing in my head in order to get some beauty sleep. However, I was like a kid trying to get to sleep before Christmas...I was just so excited for the next day!

Were you able to sleep the night before your wedding?

Need to catch up?

• The bachelorette party commenced
  
• We had a night out on the town
  
• Relaxation, excitement, and slight panic
  
• Something went awry with our rehearsal dinner
  
• We had a sunset wedding shower
  
• The wedding party rehearsed
  
• We had a beach party
  
• Our guests attended the rehearsal dinner

Sorry I've been MIA lately...

Hello everyone! I just wanted to pop in to say 'hello!' I know I've been slightly MIA with my wedding recaps lately, and I promise you that they are coming! However, I do have something pretty for you to look at in the meantime...

Pilster Photography

Our wedding was featured on Elizabeth Anne Designs' blog yesterday. Yes...some of my recaps might be given away with this post. However, I'd love it if you stopped over, took a look, and maybe even left a lovely comment!

Go to the blog post HERE

I hope you are all having a fabulous week!

Lovely Tonight: The Rehearsal Dinner

After a lovely afternoon of sun and fun at our beach party, it was time to get pretty for our rehearsal dinner! I rushed to our hotel to jump in the shower and threw on my dress, and then it was time to head to the hotel lobby to start a caravan for our guests! Remember our rehearsal dinner nightmare? Our OOT bags/info featured directions on how to get to the restaurant. Well, since plans had changed, my mom and dad organized a caravan for our friends and family to get to the NEW rehearsal dinner location. Thankfully, we all arrived in one piece!

Uncle D, Aunt S, and Grandma & Grandpa Buttons

BM K and MOH L had a chat while they waited for dinner to start. MIL Buttons made all of the pretty flower arrangements herself!

Sorority sister J, Sorority sister (my twin) M, my great grand little J, and her boyfriend

Grandma, Aunt J, Cousin J, Aunt S, and Uncle J

BM K and MOH L with their fiances

BM L, BM A, Sorority sister J, and her boyfriend

I had been pretty upset when we first learned about our closed rehearsal dinner restaurant, but our new location was fabulous! It was right on the water, and our guests were able to enjoy a beautiful sunset, along with a few dolphin sightings to boot! The staff at the restaurant were MIRACULOUSLY able to recreate our original menu...I was so amazed! Although it wasn't the enormous Italian feast that we had been expecting at our original location, we were all fed, the food was delicious, and we were all together!

BM L was awesome enough to remember to photograph her appetizer plate...

...and her yummy tiramisu...

We posed for a bunch of photos after dinner was complete; you have to get group shots when your girlfriends are all together for the first time in years!

...with BM L...

...with BM/little sister A and great grand little J...

...posing with our adorable ringbearer...

...all of the ladies together again!

...Justin and I had to take at least one photo together...

A band started playing, and my mom danced with GM J. The other people in the background are random patrons of the restaurant that joined in!

GM J then tried to convince Justin that he had made the wrong choice of who to marry the next day (just kidding...he's married too, for the record), but Justin was having none of it!

Then...it was back to the hotel for an "after party" to complete our evening!

Need to catch up?

• The bachelorette party commenced
  
• We had a night out on the town
  
• Relaxation, excitement, and slight panic
  
• Something went awry with our rehearsal dinner
  
• We had a sunset wedding shower
  
• The wedding party rehearsed
  
• We had a beach party
  

$50 Nordstrom giftcard winner...

I know you have all been waiting (im)patiently for this announcement!

First, thank you to EVERYONE who entered this contest! I had a new record of 208 total entries - holy moly!

Anyway, lets get down to business. The winner is...

THIS LUCKY LADY (yep, you have to click through to her blog to find out)!

Congratulations!

Giveaway time! Nordstrom gift card, anyone?

Oh my goodness, get excited everyone: I have an amazing giveaway for you today, sponsored by the wonderful folks at DesignerApparel.com!

During the wedding planning process, as a bride it is easy to get caught up with putting together YOUR perfect outfit for the day...and your mother's dress can sometimes fall by the wayside. Personally, I found it quite difficult to find dresses for my mom that I even liked at all, and sourcing gowns at different stores was a challenge. However, DesignerApparel.com has a section specifically targeted for Mother of the Brides (and Mother of the Grooms, for that matter)! Just click over to their Mother of the Bride section to browse the options (there are over 2,000!). They feature brands such as Adrianna Papell, Tadashi, and Eileen Fisher.

Coincidentally, my beautiful mother wore a gorgeous dress by Adrianna Papell:

Pilster Photography

DesignerApparel.com's retail partners include Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdales, Bluefly, and Zappos...to name a few. The site also features tools such as free shipping notice, price comparison, and sale notification!


Now...for the part you've been waiting for: the giveaway! The wonderful folks over at DesignerApparel.com are offering a $50 Nordstrom gift card to one of my lucky readers!


Want to know how to enter? The options are as follows (make sure to leave a separate comment for each entry, and MAKE SURE that there is a clear way for me to contact you if you win!):

1. Leave a comment and tell me what you would shop for at Nordstrom if you won the giftcard!
2. Follow me on this blog, and let me know how you are subscribed!
3. Head on over to my NEW blog, She likes ruffles, he likes truffles, and subscribe to my feed! Feel free to say hi as well ;)
4. Follow me on Twitter (if you aren't already), and tweet the following:

I just entered a #giveaway for a $50 Nordstrom gift card on @SheLikesRuffles' blog! http://bit.ly/bglHMb

Then come back and leave me a direct link to your tweet.

You MUST be following me on Twitter for your entry to count!

I'm sorry, but this giveaway is limited to US residents only. The giveaway will be open through Tuesday, October 5th at 11:50PM Eastern time. A winner will then be selected at random!

GOOD LUCK!

Lovely Tonight: The Beach Party

Now that our mid-morning wedding rehearsal was complete, we had plenty of time to spare before our rehearsal dinner that evening!

Since we had the wonderful beach house at our disposal, my family planned a beach party for the afternoon! And my, oh my, was it a beautiful day!

We invited the bridal party, family, and any out of town friends that wanted to spend some time in the sun. My brother and his girlfriend, along with my Aunt S, Aunt J, and Grandma, had arrived at the house when our rehearsal was taking place, and they set up a wonderful spread for lunch! We had assorted sandwiches, chips, and other munchies...as well as a bunch of leftovers from the previous night's sunset wedding shower.

Our guests quickly filled their plates with food and grabbed a cold drink...

After we had our fill, it was time to frolic in the sand and surf!

Even the pups got in on the action: Stewart showed off his swimming skills with Cousin J and sorority sister J...

Meanwhile, my beloved Theodore chased his frisbee. He also decided to explore the rest of the beach when our heads were turned...oops!

After some fun in the sun, we retreated to the house to relax (for what seemed like 2.5 seconds) before moving my bags to the hotel, since I was staying there that evening. My mom read a book to our flower girl, and GM J decided to take a nap...right in the middle of the house. I kid you not - he slept on those cushions for about an hour or so, even with about 10 or more people chatting around him! I wish I could learn that trick...

All in all, the beach party was a great success! When we first realized that our rehearsal would have to take place early in the day, I was a bit skeptical of how the day would work out. However, our time schedule couldn't have been more enjoyable! Both my family and Justin's family were able to get together in a casual environment, and I was able to spend time with both my family and my friends who had flown in from out of town to be with us! Plus, a little extra sun kissed glow before the wedding never hurt anybody...

Next up - our rehearsal dinner!

Did you have/are you planning to have some down time with friends and family on the day of your rehearsal?

Need to catch up?

• The bachelorette party commenced
  
• We had a night out on the town
  
• Relaxation, excitement, and slight panic
  
• Something went awry with our rehearsal dinner
  
• We had a sunset wedding shower
  
• The wedding party rehearsed