A Two-State Affair

Because I'm from Texas and Mason is from Washington, we've decided to split our wedding celebration into two main events:

The wedding and reception will be in Texas at The Barn, a rustic, old barn with plenty of grass and trees and farm animals to pet (no, I'm not joking). (Pictured above on the left) Even though I've yet to see the venue in person, I already know I'm going to love it. (Don't worry, I had family members check it out and take plenty of pictures before putting down the deposit.) Overall, I feel like it's the perfect place for the fun, laid back, down-home wedding that Mason and I both want.

Two weeks later, after we've had our fill of honeymoon bliss, we'll head to Washington for a post-wedding party at the Stensgar Pavilion, part of the Coeur d'Alene Resort & Casino. (Pictured above on the right) The pavilion is set out on the golf course, a short shuttle ride from the casino, and it's full of windows. I can only imagine how pretty and green it'll all be in the summer - and having the casino hotel nearby makes it easy for out-of-town guests to stay a while.

We felt that by having a celebration in both of our home states, we'd make it as easy as possible for all of our family and friends to celebrate with us - which is our most important goal.

My next project is to create a wedding website full of hotel, airport, transportation and event information for both celebrations. More details on that to come...

Stringing Me Along

Lately, I've seen homemade garlands popping up everywhere. Birthday garlands, Valentine's Day garlands, new baby garlands, and most importantly - wedding garlands.

I'm flying to Texas next weekend to sink my teeth into the planning process, and I'm excited to try out a few garlands of my own on my mom's sewing machine.

I definitely want to try one like this:

And possibly one like this:

I love the color and texture they add to a room, and the possibilities for where to use them are practically endless. I've seen them lining aisles and decorating food tables (as seen below), as well as hung from trees and ceilings. I'm thinking I may even want to make a special M&C one to hang above the entrance to the reception.


One of the best things about these garlands is that they're easy to use again and again. I plan to save the ones I use for the wedding and pull them out during other festive occasions throughout the years.

What do you think of these garlands? Have you ever made one? Have you seen one used in a super cute way? Give me the details!

A Word With You

I like the idea of incorporating favorite quotes or passages into weddings, whether they're printed on the napkins or read aloud by a member of the family during the ceremony. I particularly like the idea of engraving special words on the inside of the wedding bands. For this reason, I've been collecting marriage quotes that I particularly like. Below are a few:

"My whole heart for my whole life." - French saying

"Whatever souls are made of, his and mine are the same." - Emily Bronte

"May Heaven give you many, many merry days." - William Shakespeare

"There is no more lovely, friendly and charming relationship, communion or company than a good marriage." - Martin Luther King

"Love me and the world is mine." - David Reed

"Eat drink and be married." - Wedding saying

(I also saw a couple who had their wedding date engraved on the inside of their bands, a sweet idea that makes anniversaries really easy to remember.)

I'm not sure what I plan to do with all of these just yet, but when I do, you'll be the first to know. (If you know of anyone who has used quotes like these in cute ways, I'd love to hear about it!)

It Just Got Real

I could look at pictures of real weddings FOREVER these days. Even though I have a solid idea of the kind of wedding I'd like to have, I still love seeing what other people do, the dresses and suits they wear, the little details that make their days special.

Below are some of my favorite real weddings, taken from 100 Layer Cake and Once Wed:

Holly and Billy
Lisa and Geoff
Natalie and Jared
Dusty and Ashley

If you're in the mood for a little love and some beautiful photos, I hope you'll check them out! Also, if you've seen any great weddings across the web, I'd love to see them. Leave a link in the comments section!

*Photo courtesy of Once Wed

Inspiration Collage

When it comes to planning a wedding, it's all about inspiration - picking a theme and planning around that theme. Whether it's a set of colors or an idea or place, deciding on the theme is the funnest part to me. I already have some general ideas for how I'd like things to be - colors and fabrics and venues and the overall feeling guests will have when they come.

So, in an effort to keep all of my ideas in one spot, inspire creativity and ensure that my ideas work in a cohesive way, I created the wedding inspiration collage you see above. Some brides keep inspiration boards where they tack up any and all ideas that they want to remember, but since I do love myself some Picasa, I decided to make my inspiration board digital.

Let me know your thoughts! How do you keep things creative? When you see great ideas around the web, how do you save them for later?

FABric Flowers

After skimming wedding sites and blogs and photos from real weddings, I've come to a conclusion about the flowers for my wedding: I want them to be fabric.

I've had my eye on some fabric flower tutorials from around the web, and this seems like the perfect opportunity to put them to use. I'm thinking bridesmaid bouquets, groomsmen boutonnieres, reception flowers - all fabric!

My plan is to hit up the local craft store this weekend and try out a few patterns, like this one and this one, both from Dolci Odille and spotted on Once Wed.

The way I see it, it's an opportunity to be crafty, eco-friendly and budget-conscience all at the same time.

What are your thoughts on fabric flowers? Have you seen this in a wedding before? Know of any good (and easy) tutorials? If so, I'm all ears!

*Photo courtesy of Dolci Odille

Wedding Blogs

I love blogs and I love blogging, and honestly, I turn to blogs more often than I turn to magazines these days. For this reason, it shouldn't surprise you that I already (only 5 days in!) have a growing list of my favorite wedding blogs:

My DIY Wedding Day
100 Layer Cake
One Lovely Day
Creature Comforts (Actually not a wedding blog, but oh so inspiring)
Once Wed

When it comes to wedding blogs, I like the ones that offer unique inspiration - the kind of ideas you wouldn't think of yourself. I also LOVE looking at photos from real weddings and, because I'm a DIY girl at heart, a blog won't make my favorites unless it has plenty of do-it-yourself ideas.

Know of any great wedding blogs that I should add to my list? If so, please send them my way!

May I be a Bee?

Because I like to blog, and because I'm already having a BLAST planning my wedding, it's not hard to figure out that I'm going to want to blog about planning my wedding, and actually, I've already found the perfect place to do just that.

I want to be a Bee over at Weddingbee, a blog written by brides for brides. (Really, how perfect can you get?) I've been a fan of Weddingbee for a while, and now that I have a ring on my finger and a date set (July 17th!!), I can officially apply. The only catch is that I first have to post 15 wedding-ish entries on my personal blog before they'll consider me.

I tell you not because I'm not excited (I can't wait to let you all in on my wedding-planning-madness), but because some of you may not want to read about wedding planning for 15 straight entries. If you fall into this category, I want to apologize sincerely and ask you to please, please, please stick with me through this! Then I promise to go back to my general life musings (which may or may not be interesting at all).

Wish me luck - that I may BE a WeddingBEE!

Will You?

I have some very, very exciting news to share with all of you today - very exciting news that has to do with a certain brown eyed Northwestern boy, a very sparkly ring finger and a thoroughly happy Valentine's weekend.

If you haven't figured it out by now, I'll let you in on it:

There we were, flying from Los Angeles to Reno right over the tops of the Sierra Nevada mountains when Mason "happened to remember" that he had brought along a box of chocolates for me since he forgot to give me one during our Friday night Valentine's gift exchange (and because he knows that I am a girl who MUST have her chocolates.)

He asked if I'd like a chocolate right then. I said no thank you. He persisted and said that he would actually like a chocolate right then. I obliged and opened the lid to find that instead of a chocolate sitting in the middle spot, there was a ring box - the kind of ring box you see on movies - the kind of ring box that makes your stomach jump right into your chest - which is exactly what mine did.

Fast forward through my (extremly happy) tears and his speech and my yes and the flight attendant's announcement and everyone's clapping and congratulations and I am officially engaged!

I still can't believe it. I still spend most of the day staring at my left hand. And I seriously cannot wait to become Mrs. Adams.

Pictures below from what Mason called our "engagementmoon."

Vacation Starts Now

Today has gone by so fast. A whirlwhind of catching up and hurrying and holding back lots of excited energy.

The bag I ordered a couple of weeks ago came today, just in time for my trip to Tahoe this weekend. Mason and I take off at 9 am for four days of snow, sun, casinos, and hot tubs. I'm so ready. I've been looking forward to this trip for months.

Last night I went to the writing group for the first time, and I'm happy to report that it was great. Six women. All great writers. Stories about turning points, growth, happiness and sadness. All in all, I was pleased as punch, and I'm definitely looking forward to getting to know each of them even better in the coming weeks!

Also, in case I don't get a chance to blog again before Sunday, I hope you all have a happy Valentine's Day filled with so much chocolate you don't know what to do with it all!

For Love and Donuts

You know it's a good day when it starts off with Krispy Kreme Valentine's Day donuts. (The wonderful people who run the building I work in must surely love me.)

I've been looking forward to donut day all week. I even brought my own glass of milk. That is how much I love donuts, my friends.

Rain and Writing

It's raining again, and this makes me sad. I always get like this in February/March when my toes have had enough cold and all I want is the summer. I bought the cutest red and white striped tank top this weekend, and every day it calls to me from my closet. I want to put it on SO BAD, but I would freeze, and I am tired of freezing.

On a side note, I'm happy to report that I have the opportunity to become part of a writing group that meets once a week. A Guided Autobiography is the theme. I haven't fully dedicated myself to it yet, but I'm considering. This week's topic is branching points - turning points in our lives that have significantly affected the flow of our journey. Committing to write (and share my writing - gasp!) once a week seems like such a daunting task, but I'm starting to think the pros outweigh the cons.

Caught Up

Last night we got caught up on Big Love. The episode from this past Sunday was epic, and when it was over, I was bursting with things to discuss.

"I have so much to say about the episode!" I said, to which he promptly faced me, crossed his legs indian style and responded, "Ok, where do you want to start?!"

It's in moments like this that I know we're perfect for each other.

Pictures, please.

I love pictures. And I love cameras. And I've been drooling over the new Fuji Instax Mini Camera for a while now. So, imagine my delight when Creature Comforts announced its Fuji Instax Mini Camera or SLR Camera Bag Giveaway.

Totally crossing my fingers...