joyeuse photography

happy monday, dears! over the weekend, m and i pretended to be models for a bohemian-styled photoshoot with joyeuse photography. (isn't m handsome? and the light!) it was so much fun to work with tahni - photographer, stylist (she handmade the boutonniere and headpiece!), world traveler, visionary - the girl is a powerhouse. and, ahem, her own wedding was none other than Green Wedding Shoes most popular wedding of the year! we were so glad to help her business, and i think it helped us feel more comfortable in front of a camera (less than 3 months until our big day!).

if you are a creative, vintage, or bohemian bride-to-be and would like to work with someone who shares your unique vision, i cannot recommend tahni more! head over to her website to check out more of her work (and to enter her anthropologie giveaway!).

sweet bridesmaid gifts

one of my favorite parts of the wedding celebration is the bridal party. all of your best girlfriends in one place at one time, dressed fabulously, dancing the night away. and since most of my bridesmaids are far (as in far side of the world! hello, readers in italy and africa!), i am especially excited for my wedding weekend. just the opportunity to share a meal, toast our friendships, and share in the blessing of the wedding ceremony together - i can hardly wait.

each of my friends is a beautiful, trusted lifelong friend. i plan to honor each of them in her own unique way with a small gift. though i can't reveal what i decided to get each of my maids, i thought i'd share some ideas for you brides!

this fashion print is just so sweet. and this etsy artist will custom draw portraits for you in the image of your dear friends!

floral clutch, packable perfume, floral hairpin, eyelashes, lip glaze, hair bow, rings, cloth bag

i love these sweet clutches that you can fill with fun little accessories. bonus: you can be certain no maid is found without a stylish bag with all her essentials - lip gloss, blotting papers, tissues, mints, etc!


this print is simple but beautiful. i love it!

do any of you brides have any other ideas? i'd love to hear them!

adorable engagement

Lex & Loren - Engagement/Save the date! from Brinton Films on Vimeo.

this may be the cutest engagement video i've ever seen. i love their spunk!

pretty books + sweet friends

(sparkles and pretending)

i'm getting married on the 11th of june. i have the most amazing friends and sisters (and, therefore, bridesmaids). so, on the 11th of every month, i receive a sweet surprise in the mail: a small gift and a very thoughtful note from one of the women i most love in the world. if you are one of those women, take note: i love you! whichever one of you came up with this grand scheme to make me feel like the luckiest bride: you've done it. i am the luckiest bride.

they know me too well. so far, there has been somewhat of a trend: books. and not just any books but the newly covered, gorgeously gorgeous penguin classics. just look at them. i love them. i can't wait to read pride & prejudice recovered. or the odyssey (or at least parts of it...) recovered. or a christmas carol recovered. they are going to look so pretty on my bookshelf (once i get a bookshelf that is).

of course, what means more to me than the gifts are the notes. handwritten notes are the best, y'all. and, typed notes are a close second - especially if your bridesmaid is in Africa or Italy currently. whenever i get them, they totally make my day. even if it's just a simple hello.

if you're feeling writerly today, i implore you: do it. write a note. they're the best.

poms and stamps

last weekend, i invited some girls over for brunch, mimosas, and crafting! now that the wedding is just five months away (!), it seemed high time to put some action into all those diy plans i'd made. the craft party was a wonderful success, and i couldn't have asked to share it with more lovely friends!

i spent the friday before the party preparing. my sister (and fabulous MOH) and i headed out to get all the essentials: ingredients for brunch, champagne, orange juice, fabric, a movie, and chocolate (ok, the chocolate and the movie were for us).

we set out all the crafting supplies:
1. tissue paper (i had bought the paper in bulk from this paper mart)
2. pipe cleaners, scissors, tape, pencils
3. cards (in one of our wedding colors! a total score from the Michael's sale bins)
4. thank you stamp (i splurged! thank you, ampersandity!) and ink pads
5. fabric (in various prints and textures, all in our wedding colors, from JoAnn's)

and then we turned on some music and went to work in the kitchen. we made this delicious egg strata (though we used 8 eggs, tore all the bread into bite size chunks and sauteed all the veggies beforehand). we made it the night before, so the next day all i had to do was pop it in the oven (along with some cinnamon rolls!). and finally collapsed on the couch to watch this movie (which was actually pretty good!). i LOVE time with my sister. we had a blast.


(that picture wasn't taken while we were making egg strata... though we have been known to strut around the kitchen in the dead of winter in our bathing suits. i love our matching freckles!)

the crafting party turned out beautifully! i had made poms earlier in the year for a party (pre-engagement), so i did a quick tutorial on pom-making since we'll be using a lot of them at the wedding. all the girls quickly became pom-making pros and set to work. my good friend natalie, known for her wordsmith skills, added stamping to her skill set and stamped ALL of my thank you notes. and maureen began to craft our fabric wedding banner.

the egg strata was a big hit, the mimosas were delicious, and the conversation was sweet. i'm so excited to see all of the diy decor coming together. i've had this vision growing in my mind since september, and it's going to be all the more beautiful knowing so many friends contributed to the finished product! i feel very loved.














thank you so much to all my beautiful friends who helped! i'm so sorry i didn't get photos of all of you but your presence was much appreciated. i wish i could post all of the finished products, but some things will have to be left until the wedding.

taking a moment

hello dears, i'm so sorry i've been quite m.i.a. and inconsistent lately. the past week or so has, quite frankly, been full of wedding planning and decision-making, and my energy has been exhausted by it. i am beyond excited to marry m, and i feel incredibly blessed by the generosity of our families in the wedding planning process. there are so many fun, good things to look forward to (not least of all, actually being married !!!).

sometimes, though, i must admit that wedding planning can rear its ugly head and cause me to become a stressed, unfocused crazy person. if you've witnessed this, i do apologize. i think a lot of the anxiety that i allow to creep in comes from my tendency to lean on perfectionism as my defining state. and, big news - i'm just not perfect. my wedding will not be perfect. and my wedding planning will not be perfect.

i won't be able to make my perfected, shiny original vision for the wedding come to life in every single way (for instance, i originally envisioned everyone sitting at one long barn table together... but hello! we are expecting 250 people. one table? not happening.)

also, m and i disagree. this has been perhaps one of the most surprising things about planning a wedding for me (i'm not sure why, as m and i tend to have different tastes and make decisions in different ways). it's not always easy.

so this week, full of decision making and to-do's, has been messy. and yet, it has been wonderful.

it's been wonderful because i finally allowed my perfectionism to die. and i received the best gifts - grace and love. my parents graciously told me i would never be perfect but i was still beautiful and very capable of making good decisions. m affirmed that it was ok we disagree, that it did not mean we were less excited to marry each other, and that the wedding is about so much more than our decor and desserts. it's about celebrating God's provision in our lives and for bringing glory to His goodness by committing our lives to each other.

i've been thinking about that a lot this week - how profound it is that when i'm wrinkly, gray, and weathered by life's difficulties, i will still be committed to the promise i made when i was 23. i will still be committed to m, in his mess and in mine. at the end of the day, no matter what happens at my job or how miserable my day is, i'll be coming home to m, my best friend. the wedding will be amazing. i'm so excited. but marriage will be life-changing. my life for his. laying down my desires (even my perfectionism), in order to love m. i've hardly a clue what that means in real life besides what i've experienced through Christ's love for me, but i am anticipating a life of adventure and fierce, fierce love.

ps - i love the above picture, taken at our surprise engagement party. such joy.

home for the holidays

merry christmas, all! my sister and i are heading out today for chicago to see my family. i really can hardly wait - my nana and gampy are already at the house, my youngest sister is home from college, my mom has White Christmas ready to be watched, and my dad has promised fresh homemade cinnamon rolls (he makes the best ones!). they have lots of snow on the ground and i can't wait to go sledding (never too old, right?)!

i'm looking forward to watching modern family (we're obsessed) curled up in my parents' bed with my sisters and some quiet time of reflection and prayer in our reading room (my favorite room in the house). my aunts are also throwing me my first bridal shower while i'm home!

i always get pretty emotional during christmas. thinking about the love of God embodied in a child. being overwhelmed by how much i love and cherish my family. and, this year, missing m. it seems unnatural to part with my best friend for my favorite time of year, but i know we have every christmas from this time forward together. thank God for that.



i'll be posting randomly over the next week or so, so please say hi if you're also on the blogosphere! wishing you all a merry, merry christmas!

featured on united with love

i'm so excited to announce that some of our engagement pictures were featured on United With Love, a blog about weddings in the DC area! i've been shy to post these pictures but since they are already exposed to the greater web world, i thought i'd share them with you.

the post where our pictures appear is one in which our talented, amazing engagement photographer, eric kelley, and his wife, lora elaine (my makeup and hair stylist) share some tips about what to wear for engagement sessions! i'm incredibly flattered that they chose our photos to showcase their work. m and i have been so blessed to call eric and lora friends, and i just about fell over when they offered to take some photos of us around town. both of them are insanely talented and have gorgeous websites. i loved working with them because they are both laid back and made the shoot comfortable and fun, but above all, they are incredibly committed to their craft - which comes through in the photos.



ah, isn't m handsome in his suspenders? he was a great sport for the shoot. i can't wait to marry him!

i highly recommend eric and lora for your engagement or wedding photos! but book early - these two are in high demand! and check out United With Love. the post has some great advice for looking good on camera.