Anniversary

This weekend my husband and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary, and I just have to brag on my sweetie and the big surprise he gave me. Since we are taking a trip in February, we decided that we would keep our anniversary low key with no gifts and dinner at one of our favorite restaurants.

Well, the hubs cheated....

 ...and I am glad he did! He commissioned a painting from a local artist, who took a picture from our wedding day and turned it into a beautiful work of art! You can imagine my surprise at how he pulled this off without me having a clue!!

We found the perfect place for it, and every time I walk by I remember our very special wedding day and how lucky I am to be married to my best friend.

You can check out the artist's blog here!

A Book Signing and A Guest Post

I am soooo glad today is FRIDAY!! I am in need of a nice relaxing weekend so I can catch up on reading my new book....Design Sponge At Home! I can't wait to get lost in Grace's inspiring pages while I am curled up on my couch with a warm and cozy blanket. The best part?? I actually got to meet Grace earlier this week at a book signing in town!! If you don't follow her blog, you need to! 

Check it out here....

In other exciting news, I was asked by Kate from Party Resources to guest post today on my 5 Must Haves for Fall. It was really tough for me to narrow it down to 5 since you know how much I LOVE fall! To check out my post, hop on over to Party Resources!

Images via Design Sponge and Party Resources

I Heart Fall

Better Homes and Gardens (Images 1&2)

Ritzy Bee

I love everything about fall....the cool weather, mums, pumpkins, berries, gourds, leaves changing colors, apple cider....the list can go on and on! All these images are inspiring me to have a fall party.....

How are you entertaining this fall?

Drink Menu

 I am loving this fun drink menu. The mix of fonts and the funky placement of certain beverages definitely spices it up!

Image via Style Me Pretty

Yummy Fall Round Up

Pumpkin Hazelnut S'mores

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Apple Pie Cookies

Pumpkin and Gingerbread Ice Cream Sandwiches

Candy Corn Marshmellow Pops

These sweet treats have my mouth watering!! Do you have a favorite dessert you whip up for fall??

Details...part 2

I hope you are tired of my wedding already!  I know I threw a lot of details your way yesterday, but like I said I am a very detail-oriented person :)....so here goes part 2....

If you know me, you know I have a HUGE sweet tooth. So not only did I have a Bride's Cake, I also needed a Groom's Cake to satisfy my love for chocolate and a pie bar...just for fun, and because it was Fall! I think the Groom's Cake turned out to be my favorite....our precious dog was carved out of chocolate...can you see her? I also loved that it looked like a tree stump...the platter we used was even an actual tree stump!!

The home where we had our reception has a long circular driveway where chandeliers were hung from trees to light the way. I have so many favorite details from the day, but this one is close to the top of the list. It truly made a statement to the entrance of our wedding reception!

Gifts were collected on the porch in this vintage goat cart for a fun twist.

I had never been to a wedding with a photo booth but had seen it on multiple blogs and just had to have one at ours! It was SO MUCH FUN!!! We had props for guests to get silly with and a chalkboard so that they could write a message to us.

If money were no object, I would have loved to have had vintage china for dinner plates and dessert plates, but I restrained myself and used them just for the bride's cake. My parents collected random china patterns from various antique stores. It was so fun to see all the different designs!

Since every detail was hugely important to me, I wanted to have some fun transportation for the day.  A trolley transported the wedding party from the church to the reception....don't you just love the cute sign I made?? After much searching I found the perfect getaway car...a 1929 Model A Ford. It was perfect!! And for the  grand finale...drum roll please... 

I surprised my husband and our guests with fireworks when we pulled out of the driveway, and I have to say it was pretty awesome!!! So, that is the close to my most favorite day that turned into something truly better than any fairytale I could have imagined!

 

Details....part 1

 I've always paid attention to details, so when it came to planning my wedding I spent countless hours mulling over the tiniest of details. I mean, come on, it was my wedding day.....I wanted it to be perfect!! So, here are a few of my favorite details in no particular order....

The food table became a focal point at our reception. We used lace linens from my grandparents and antiques my parents have collected over the years to make a show stopping display. I wanted to incorporate a menu somehow, so we found gorgeous vintage frames and put the name of the different dishes in each one. And we topped it all off with hanging lanterns to set the perfect glow!

 I loved that our bar wrapped around a gorgeous oak tree in the center of the lawn where all the festivities were taking place. Do you notice the fabulous flower baskets mounted to the tree? The bar wouldn't be complete without our 2 specialty drinks, my favorite and of course the hubs favorite too. Oh and we had to have koozies with our wedding monogram!

I am obsessed with mercury glass so we collected vintage vases and votive candles to decorate the tables.

I love this old church pew so much that I had to incorporate it into the venue. It made the perfect seating area for guests to relax and give their dancing feet a break.

I saw this idea on a wedding blog and just had to put my spin on it. I took old photos and new photos and turned them into Polaroids to keep with my vintage theme.

 

We set up a guest book table on the walkway to the entrance of the home on our reception site. We used a cookbook as our guest book because we both love to cook, especially together. I loved the arbor our florist created over the entrance to the home.

Stayed tuned for part 2 tomorrow......

Images via Studio A Photography