Nashville Wedding Recaps: Cocktail Hour & Intros

Hello friends! I'm back with the 7th installment of our wedding recaps. Thanks to Gray Photography, Mr. SE and I have more pictures than we know what to do with! Our last recap left off with the "post ceremony gap" that we created to make time for those lovely pictures, as well as shuttling our guests around downtown Nashville.

This first set of pictures are from our cocktail hour. War Memorial was a perfect venue for our reception, since there was a separate hour for the cocktail hour and reception. I loved the columns and how it felt very "DC". A lot of our paper goodies were made by Amanda of Customized Stationary- referred by my lovely friend Tami. Amanda worked with our invitation, designed by Jessica, and created items that complimented our aesthetic.

Our guest book was out in the courtyard, and instructed guests to write well wishes for Ryan and I. The concept of our wish tree was a combination of several ideas: the wish tree was something that I'd seen a lot on wedding blogs, and the prompts were from Martha Stewart Weddings. Sometimes it's hard to think what to write, so I wrote sayings such as "Once Upon A Time..." and let our guests fill in the rest. You can see my planning post about it here.

The seating chart was a total labor of love, and I'm hopelessly obsessed with it. Right now it's residing in our bonus room, as a reminder of all our friends and family that were there to support us on this special day. We worked again with Amanda of Customized Stationary to create this ginormous poster that mimicked the layout of the room. More on our table names when I do our details post!

We had a surprise planned for my dad during the cocktail hour. He loves steel drum music, so I contacted Deep Grooves Steel Drum Band from Vanderbilt and had a two person steel drum band playing during the hour. It was a perfect touch for our cocktail hour, as we wanted the wedding to be formal but fun. I love how the guys wore tropical shirts- it was the perfect music for mingling!

Here's a shot of our cocktail hour setup. We had cafe tables scattered around the courtyard, with linens in either teal, royal, or navy satin. I loved the dynamic palette of jewel tones against the ecru courtyard marble. The simple arrangements by Brocade Designs really made the tables. When the sun went down, Hillary lit the candles to create a gorgeous glowing atmosphere for guests who needed a breath of fresh air.

At the top of the hour, it was time for our reception introductions. We both agreed that entrances set the tone for receptions, so we wanted ours to be lively and fun. As a nod to his baseball days, Mr. SE worked with Josh Rose of Cosmo Creations to have different intros for each group that was being introduced.

My parents with our flower girl

Mr. SE's mother and father

 Ushers. Mr. SE had them enter to "Yeah" by Usher, funny.

 And They Stay There!!

 Nicole knows how to work a room

 Down on the Chattahoochee

All smiles for my Matron of Honor and Groomsman Lance

 Sister in law (new mom!) Shannon and Groomsman Adam break it down

  Maid of Honor Dani and Best Man (Mr. SE's brother) get the party started

 Making our first entrance as Mr. and Mrs.

 Hoping those dance lessons paid off! First dance to Michael Buble's "Everything"

 *a dream*

 At the end of our first dance, Mr. SE gave me a big hug and kept holding me very tight. This trippy house music started playing, and the lights dimmed. Once I had a chance to wrap my head around what was happening the lights turned back up and my girl Miley (Party In The USA) started blasting. Mr. SE spun me around and I saw all of our wedding guests, friends and family, surrounding us on the dance floor! What a master of surprise-- he'd managed to inform everyone of this plan without me catching on!

Oh my goodness- who's that getting their dance on?!? It's Mrs. Smith and Little Miss Southern!

Since Ryan and I love to dance, this was such a fun way to start our reception. Everyone had a blast and it really got the party started! Next post-- reception time!

 Other Recaps

Rehearsal Dinner

Girls Getting Ready

Boys Getting Ready

First Look

Ceremony
Post Ceremony

Control

Sometimes it's hard to sit back and have faith that he has a plan for us. He knows it all before it even happens.

Image from Pinterest

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PB Copy Cat

The elusive $130 floor pillow

There's nothing I love more than a bargain- and my home is no exception! While flipping through the most recent Pottery Barn catalog, a fabulous floor pillow caught my eye. Mr. SE and I frequently eat our meals at the coffee table while watching a show together. Don't judge- you know you do it too! While I lurrrve my gorgeous new PB rug (birthday present), it's not the comfiest to sit on. A floor pillow was necessary!

Although the pillow was gorgeous, $99 for the insert and around $30 for the cover seemed quite excessive. With their 4th of July Sale (50% off home decor fabrics), and armed w/my weekly coupons we picked up our supplies. Imagine my surprise when Joann had a project guide for floor pillows hanging in pillow aisle! Supplies: 1.5 yards of this gorgeous fabric below, cording, and a box pillow insert (22"x22"x4").

 Waverly Parterre

Here's our pillow in action! The total cost was about $25- and I think it's a fantastic value for the look and function of the pillow. Since this was a trial, I'll be making another so both Mr. SE and myself can sit on one. This fabric is super fun and really brightens up our space.

What else did we do this weekend? Recovered our barstool seats, and made new throw pillows! These little changes really brightened up our space and I couldn't be happier. Breaking out my sewing machine was a blast, and I'm looking forward to creating more things soon!

*Please excuse my Blackberry pictures*

Maid of Money

Friends, we're right in the heart of wedding season. Flights are booked, dresses are tailored, and gifts are bought. If you're like us, and the majority of your weddings are out of town, wedding season can cause quite a blow to your finances. I stumbled on this great graphic from Mint.com and thought I would share.

Do you think this is accurate?

**The picture was either really big or really small, so you might have to click the link to read the fine print**

Provided by Mint.com

Open Shelving in the Kitchen

With my dream of a gorgeous, vintage midcentury modern buffet becoming less of a reality, I've decided to make use of what I already have.

 Want

Midcentury Modern Buffet

Have

Ikea GORM shelving unit 

(the size of mine is a little different, since it was purchased in 2005)

Inspired by gorgeous images of open shelving, I realized this wouldn't be too difficult to accomplish. We already have a kitchen full of cabinets for regular supplies, so I thought this would be a pretty way to display some baking ingredients and fun red accents. I picked up some simple glass jars at Walmart, and headed home to organize and sort. Ps- organizing and sorting are two of my favorite activities.

Following the advice advice of John & Sherry from YoungHouseLove, I removed all the contents from the shelf so I could start from the beginning. Using the jars for pasta, flour, sugar, and oats yielded the calm aesthetic that I was looking for. My Kitchenaid mixer, Le Creuset dutch over, and teapot provided the red accents that I wanted. For interest, I added in some cookbooks that we had on hand, along with a Westie shaped cookie jar for added fun!

Like all of my bookshelf projects, I thought of the bookshelf tips that Nate Berkus explained on his show. I've listed them below in case you're interested in making your shelves a prettier sight!

1.  Heavy items should go on the bottom.  This isn’t limited to literal weight, but also to visual weight.  Boxes, baskets and large collections, such as our encyclopedias, should stay toward the bottom.

2.  Add height to the top.  This makes a bookshelf feel more built-in, even if it’s not.  If you have a stand alone shelf, adding baskets to the top to fill the space between the shelf and ceiling will help the shelf appear built-in.

3.  Use books to create pedestals.  Don’t let decorative objects take up cupboard space, put them on display.  Stack larger books and top the stack with a decorative object, adding height and drawing attention to that object.

4.  Stand back and look for balance.  If you have one side that seems more filled or visually heavy, shift items around to make the shelf feel more balanced.

5.  Negative space is usually what makes the beauty.  Don’t feel like you have to fill every space with books.  Adding the decorative objects with space on all sides will create a reprieve for the eyes.  Your shelf will also look less like a library or bookstore and more like a display with books mixed in.  If you have tons of books, don’t feel that you have to have every book you own on the same shelf.  Add a small stack to a coffee table, nightstand, or another bookshelf elsewhere in the house.  Create book pedestals there to display more decorative items, too.

Here's an "in process" Blackberry picture (don't judge the quality!). I need to take another one now that everything is spread out and organized...

What's your position on open shelving? Love it or leave it?






*Open shelving images from google search*

Anniversary Trip

Mr. SE took advantage of the Southwest flight again and booked another trip! With our first anniversary around the corner, we got tickets to Panama City.  The sale fare was $40 each way, so how could we resist?!? We'll be flying into PC, then renting a convertible and driving to Destin. Now that the flights are booked, we're in the process of narrowing down our condo opportunities. Know anyone looking to rent their place?

Southwest Birthday

It feels like Mr. SE and I have been quote the jet-setters as of late: DC one weekend, Pittsburgh the next! It's an understatement that I'm thrilled to spend this weekend her in Nashville doing nothing but relaxing! But on the topic of travel- Southwest is having a spectacular sale and we were lucky enough to take advantage. In honor of their 40th birthday, the airline is offering $40 $80 or $120 fares to their different destinations (based on miles).

So where did we book a trip for such a fabulous fare? Buffalo! You're probably surprised, considering all the warm weather locations that are listed as SWA destinations-- but we've talked about taking this trip for awhile. My mom's side of the family is from western NY and he's never been up to the falls. Our trip is planned for early October, and the weather is sure to be gorgeous! Here's what we have planned:

 Welch's Grape fields in Westfield, NY

 Historic homes in the nearby town of Fredonia

 The Green Arches. Upon driving through, you've passed Brocton.

 

This is where the town is located, for any geography geeks.

 Niagra Falls!

 Made of the Mist- where Jim & Pam so famously tied the knot!

Did anybody else take advantage of this sale? If not- do you have any other late summer/fall getaways planned?

Fabric Crush

 

Fabric on our new pillows

With July 4th around the corner, I have a major crush on all things red white and blue! My mom just made some gorgeous pillows for our living room in a wonderful shade of red and tan. With a new table on the way (more on that later), I'm excited to start accessorizing our kitchen as well. 

My mother in law gave me a sewing machine for a Christmas gift, and I'm excited to finally unpack it and start creating! Both my mom and mother in law are super talented seamstresses and I only hope that I can somehow provide that skill to our family. For now, I'll keep with straight lines and simple projects. Maybe I can take on a shift dress by the time we have a little one. Side note- hopefully it's a girl, or a boy that's cool with wearing little girl shift dresses.

Right now we have plain linen curtains, and I'm thinking about sewing new ones along with cushions for the wood chairs. Here's some fabrics I'd love to incorporate into the eat-in dining area:

I recently picked up some cute dish towels in this Waverly fabric and I'm obsessed with them. The fabric isn't something that could be used year round on chair cushions/curtains, but I wanted to share anyways!

*All fabric images are from Joann.com