Shoes Have Arrived

The shoes I ordered for Samantha's wedding have arrived!

I ordered the shoes from David's Bridal and within a week they were on my doorstep. Michelle and I will both be wearing these adorable white heels with a bow detail and the bride, Samantha, will be wearing the same shoes in Malibu.

Bridey Night October Edition

Saturday night was the third edition of Bridey Night. (Read all about the beginning of Bridey here and the second Bridey get together here.)

Holly was unable to make it to this event. She has a pretty busy October schedule so she'll be joining us again in November for some more wedding planning and bridal talk.

This time around, the event was hosted by Samantha, and we had two new editions to Club Bride. One of my high school best friends, Courtney recently got engaged and I'm super excited to have her join us for our monthly get togethers! She and her fiance, Doug, will be tying the knot at Appellation California next September. Since Courtney and Samantha are both getting married at the same location I'm sure they'll have tons to talk about when it comes to seating arrangements and decoration ideas. The second addition to the group is Megan. Megan is engaged to Tony (a hilarious and sweet guy that Samantha and I work with). Bridey night was the first time that I've ever met Megan and I'm really glad that she decided to join us. I would have been really nervous to meet up with a bunch of girls I've never met before and hang out for an evening, but Megan is so sweet and fun that I'm sure she can fit right in with any group. I had a great time getting to know her and talking wedding with all the girls that night.

Though we did make sure to get a tradition Bridey Bling picture of all out our rings, we didn't take many photos since we were all too busy filling each other in on our wedding plans and concerns. (There was a little discussion about 'plus ones' that got us all thinking.) I'm definitely looking forward to the November edition of Bridey night! These ladies are such a great group of girls to hang out and plan with!

*Left to right: Courtney, Me, Samantha, and Megan*

*Top to bottom: Megan, Samantha, Me, and Courtney*



Deja Blues

As I've mentioned before, my friend Samantha is having a winery wedding. In addition to wine tasting and weddings, the venue hosts concerts during the summer. During the last Bridey night, we checked their schedule to see when the next event was taking place. It turned out that there were only two more summer concerts left and Samantha and I were determined to make it to one. So on Friday, Samantha, her maid of honor Michelle, and I headed to Sam and Matt's wedding venue, Appellation California, for a fun night of champagne and blues.

We arrived at about 6pm, found a table in the back, and ordered some champagne. After getting settled, and just as Deja Blues began their set, I saw a familiar face....my beautiful friend Kim! *No I'm not drunk, that's how I always great this awesome lady!*

Kim and I used to work together, but then she got a grown up job and moved away. We keep in touch through Facebook and texts and get together when we can. I absolutely love her and I was so excited to see her big smile!

As the sun went down we really got a chance to see how beautiful the venue is at night. Samantha is still undecided about where the ceremony will take place but one option is underneath the large oak tree covered in lights. Other options include on the stage where the band played or in front of the vineyards on the other side of the yard. Though all spots would be great, my vote is for the tree.

We met some fun characters throughout the night, including a firey red head whose name I believe was Lorlina.....or something along those lines. :P She was a seriously fun older lady that we befriended after seeing her glittery top shining on the dance floor.

She invited us over to her group to introduce us to her friends and even stopped by our table for a little photo shoot.

Early on in the evening, I saw this cute little older man with a fun hat dancing with his wife. They were the only two on the dance floor for a while and I thought that it was the cutest thing. I told the ladies that before the night was over, this man and I were going to dance. A little while later when the band took a breather, I headed to the restroom, and on my journey I passed by the man (whose name we learned is Joseph) and his wife. I told the two that I loved watching them dance and asked Joseph's wife if she didn't mind me cutting in for a song or two. She laughed and said that I could come dance with him anytime, that she would enjoy the break!

On my way back to my table I waved hi to the couple and Joseph called after me, "Don't forget!" Soon after, the band started up again and we saw Joseph stand and begin to walk through the crowd. Samantha yelled, "Oh my god, he's looking for you!" I stood up to meet him and Joseph grabbed my hand and led me to the dance floor. That Joseph sure could dance. He took me for a spin....

....well a couple of spins! :P I had such a fun time out there dancing!

I have to send a huge thank you to Samantha for capturing those pictures because they're priceless! Here she is enjoying a little bubbly with her bestie Michelle.

Needless to say, the girls and I had a fantastic time. I can't wait for Samantha's wedding!



Bridey Part 2

Bridey time is back! That's right! The brides have reunited for another session of Bridey time. (Not familiar with the term "Bridey"? Check out this post to get in the know.)

Holly, Samantha, and I got together on Saturday for a wedding catch up and planning sesh. We gathered together our wedding binders, a small array of snacks, and some Disaronno. We mixed up some Disaronno and cranberry juice (which funny enough tastes just like a cherry coke) and got to work. We had each worked a long day and were excited for a cocktail and wedding talk.

Deciding to make it tradition to take pictures of our rings each time we get together, we each grabbed a glass and lined up for a photo. From top to bottom: Holly, Samantha, me.

After opening our binders and sorting through our wedding papers and fliers, we laughed when we saw that each of us had the newest Oriental Trading Wedding catalog. It called for a photo.

One great thing about our Bridey dates (other than the fun of getting together with some great girls), is that we all have different styles when it comes to our weddings. It's nice to look through wedding ideas and talk about our weddings because we all have something different to bring to the table. It's also really fun to find ideas to forward to the other brides to be.

Holly and Ryan:

April 7

Holly and Ryan are having a purple and green, fantasy/renaissance style wedding.  Their ceremony will be on the beach with a small group of very close friends and family. Later the two with have their reception at another location closer to home. To go along with the reaissance theme  the bridesmaids will be wearing free flowing dresses and the cake will be complete with a fairytale castle topper. Holly is planning to have soft curls and will be wearing a veil and a circlet. It should be a beautiful wedding and ceremony!

Samantha and Matthew:

June 10

Sam and Matt are having a bright summer wedding at a winery. There ceremony will take place under a large shady tree between the vineyards and tasting room. In addition to having some wine touches (like corks in centerpiece vases with votive candles, and wine bottle table numbers) there will be fun pops of color (in the shade of malibu blue) and black and white polka dots. Samantha will be wearing malibu blue heels with a cute bow at the toe while her maid of honor, Michelle, and I will be wearing the same shoe in white. I'm excited to be a part of their wedding and I can't wait to see it all come together.

Teeny and Zac (Us!)

 May 4

I'm sure that if you've been keeping up with the blog you know that Zac and I are getting married at a venue by the lake. Our wedding will have a vintage vibe with ceramic birds, birdcages, lanterns, plenty of candles, and diy projects (including a candy and dessert buffet). Our guests will be entertained by games on the lawn during cocktail hour and photo guestbook complete with props.

As you can see, our themes and plans are all very different. I just love hearing about what the other girls are going to do for their weddings and the plans they have to make their days special. We plan to have a bunch more Bridey days before we each walk down the aisle. I love having time to hang out with these ladies!



From Bride to Bridesmaid

This week has gone by so fast and I realize that I have become a bit of a blogging slacker. I have been a busy girl this week and unfortunately I haven't been able to keep the blog updated with all the happenings lately. In addition to entering my third week of training for my new position at work, Zac has been working hard to cross items off of our Project Wonderland list, Jim is learning some new tricks (our little man can now high five/paw), and we have made a little change to the inside of our house as well. I'm looking forward to posting an update on our backyard project as well as our little indoor redo. Zac and I are pretty happy with the way that everything is turning out and we're eager to share.

In the meantime I have other exciting news to share...

You might remember my friends and coworkers Matt and Samantha from this post.

Matt and Samantha got engaged back in April and Samantha and I have been bouncing wedding planning ideas off of each other ever since. It's so great having another budget bride to talk to and figure things out with.

It doesn't hurt that Sam is a real sweetheart. (No I'm not talking about Jersey Shore's 'Sammi Sweetheart'. Sam is truly sweet minus all the reality tv, sassy, drama, fighting nonesense.) I really like hanging out with Sam and we have a great time together.

Recently, I was completely delighted when Sam asked me to be in her wedding!!! The invitation was such an honor and I happily said yes. Hearing that Samantha only intended to have two bridesmaids (her maid of honor Michelle and me) made the invitation even more special. I'm excited to be one of the two ladies standing by Samantha's side next summer as she says 'I do' and gets married to Matt.  

On Sunday, I met up with the bride to be and her MOH Michelle at David's Bridal to pick out our bridesmaid dresses. Sam had done her research, looked through the David's Bridal website and already had an idea of what dress would be the perfect one for us to wear. We picked out a few other dresses to try on just for the sake of comparison, but in the end Samantha's internet choice turned out to the be perfect dress in person. Here we are with the final choice:

Aren't the dresses cute and fun?! Samantha's wedding dress also has pick ups in the skirt so our bridesmaids dresses will coordinate well with her gown. The colors above are not what Michelle and I will be wearing come next summer. Samantha's wedding will be a beautiful mix of blue, black, and white with a mix of polka dots. Our dresses will be in a David's Bridal 's shade of blue called 'Malibu'.

After we picked out the perfect bridesmaid dresses to wear at Sam's wedding, Samantha presented Michelle and I with a little gift from Victoria's Secret as a 'thank you' for being a bridesmaid. (See what I mean about being a sweetheart.) Just check out the cute "Sexy Little Bride" tank that Samantha picked up for me! So adorable! I can't wait to wear it as my wedding day gets closer (just another nine months to go). Thank you so much Sam!

I look forward to getting together with Samantha and Michelle a bunch over this next year as we celebrate and help plan to make a perfect wedding day for Samantha and Matt. I'm excited to be a part of their big day. Congratulations again you two!