Parties: Glittery Soiree

I love parties. 

Actually, that's a false statement.  I love planning parties.  When the day of the event actually takes place, I think I'm most excited about seeing the pieces and planning come together, rather than for the actual event itself. 

One of my more recent parties that I assembled, was a bridal shower/bachelorette weekend for my best friend of almost 19 years, Brooke.  Brooke loves glitter.  She loves pink.  She loves girly, sparkly, princess-y, you get the idea.  So I figured, what better than to throw her a glittery soiree for her special day?  Hearts, glitter, and lots of pink

I made this invitation using fun fonts and glittery cardstock.  Then used a heart-punch and some twine to create the heart banner.  The frame was also a DIY project- just found some old frames and used modge podge with glitter to make it extra sparkly.  Then a second coat of watered down modge podge sealed it so that if you actually touch the frame, it's smooth and not bumpy.

 

Décor:

Pink roses in glittered vases was the theme here.  Again, I found a variety of vases on sale while planning and just sprayed them gold with spray-paint and then glitter paint.  Then saved some baby food jars and sprayed them with glitter, too!

I found these sweet heart doilies after valentines day, as well as the glittered heart cut outs and rocks and just know I needed them for this girly party!

Throughout the house I had pearlescent balloons and quotes about glitter in glitter frames.  "She who leaves a trail of glitter will never be forgotten" along with "Go insane! Go insane! throw some glitter make it rain" are the two that were featured here.

 

Another fun way to tie glitter into your event, is use it in the glass votives on the bottom prior to putting a candle in!

 

Any girls party needs a glittery champagne bottle :)

I also found sweet glitter Martha Stewart labels for wine bottles that said "Cheers" and used these on the wine bottles that we served during the shower

 

I made the glitter tulle pom banner by a tuitorial I found on Etsy.  It was super easy (a little messy).

More glitter quotes.

"A smile is a woman's best accessory, sequins are appropriate no matter what the occasion, and some days just require a glass of Champagne"

Pop.Fizz. Clink.

(sorry for the light reflection)

The punch bowl.  I found those cute glitter heart skewers on sale around valentines day and couldn't resist having them as drink stirrers.

Glitter tulle banner

 

This is a horrible picture, but the only picture I could find showing the no-sew pillowcases I made.  I wanted to bring some glitter to the seating area, too, so I wrapped the current pillows with sparkly and sequined fabric (about 1 yard will cover one pillow). 

Food:

Probably my favorite part of parties. 

By probably, I mean definitely.

For this event, I wanted it to be a finger-foods sort of ordeal.  Lots of mini sandwiches, appetizers, desserts, you get the picture. 

 

I covered the table with lace doily hearts and glitter hearts in lieu of a traditional table runner.  I added scatter pink heart rocks and glitter hearts to jazz it up just a little bit.  I tried to keep 90% of the serve-wear white just to balance out all the pinks.

 

Every princess needs a previous picture of her and her dad :)

Caprese skewers, cowboy caviar, veggie tray, and pinwheels

mini pimento cheese sandwiches, mini chicken salad sandwiches, and chicken fingers with honey mustard

The whole spread, well almost- there were ham and cheese biscuits in the oven

Desserts: yum.  I made those cupcake toppers by using my heart punch (that I used for the invitations) and punching glitter cardstock and using a dab of hot glue to adhere it to a toothpick.

 

I bought the pink M&Ms and placed them out as well, just to be festive.

 

Pink cocktails and ribbon cakestands.

 

 

All in all, I think everyone enjoyed themselves for this girly event!

Everyone decked in glitter :)

Here's to hoping for a friendship that lasts another 19 years :)

 

xoxo,

Virginia

Life Changes: new jobs, new foods, and a newfound obsession with PureBarre

Hi blogger world!

It's been way too long.  I needed a blogging hiatus for awhile.  This past year has been so fun, and so new, and I needed to take some time to just enjoy the moments, rather than think about "oh that was a delicious meal, let's blog about it!".

The break has been lovely, to say the least.  Exactly what I needed.  However, I miss sharing the parties, the recipes, and all the kitchen mishaps with my internet world....so here's to hoping I can get back into it!

Life changes? You bet!

I accepted a job in my actual career field that I love.  I could not have been more blessed in finding this opportunity.  I look forward to my work days, even though they are usually only twice a week.  I also took a side part-time job in education- which is something I have always wanted to do and hope, some day, to make it more permanent.  Unfortunately for the level that I want to educate, I have to go back and obtain my doctorate degree at some point.  So until then, adjunct faculty will be the perfect blend of educating and practicing the art of medicine.

The furchildren are still the loves of our life, and we couldn't be more "dog people" if we tried to be.

We have celebrated countless weddings, friends having children, friends moving, and family celebrations over the past year that I couldn't even begin to dive into.  Every day we have become more and more aware of all the blessings that surround us. 

I still love to cook.  We still eat clean 85% of the time.  I love finding recipes that are the perfect blend of comfort food, but healthy.  This has been a major lifestyle change for me since last summer, and I don't look back.  I still have my Achilles' heel, mainly tootsie rolls lately, but I have grown to accept and value that if you make healthy choices the vast majority of the time regarding food, you not only feel better, but when you do enjoy that delicious burger and French fries on an off day- you really enjoy it. 

I finally found my fitness inspiration.  Those who know me, know that prior to going back to school for my masters degree, I was obsessed with working out.  I lived for my two-hour gym session, at least 5 days a week.  I loved to run.  I loved everything about it.  Unfortunately, the combination of school, life, and then work left me void of what I called "time" for exercise.  I traded my gym sessions to tackle those extra loads of laundry, to go to the grocery store, to scrub the bathroom... Sure, some people call those excuses.  My friends that are workout crazy call them excuses, but I don't see them as such.  Those are obligations of mine, responsibilities of mine, that is a part of my life.  I take pride in having a clean, organized home. I take pride in planning, shopping for, and preparing healthy meals 5-6 days a week.  Those "excuses" are important to me, and to my sanity.  I never agreed with the "stop making excuses and just go workout" mantra that so many fitness experts have. 
....No offense, but I have about a dozen 20-30 min dvd workouts and do I do them? Heck no.  Every once in awhile I will, but let's be honest- just because it is short and a good workout, doesn't mean I am going to do it.  So, after months of trying to readjust my mental view of priorities and I signed up for a purebarre class.  In this class, the instructor said one thing that resonated to me more than any fitness pep-talk, book, video, class, anything ever did.  She said "This is your 55-minutes.  This is your time to focus on you.  Stop thinking about your to-do lists, and just be here and now."  And I realized, to myself: she's right. 

So now, I try to go 4-5 days a week to take those classes.  I have managed to snag 4-5 hours a week that I can take for myself.  At first, I thought to myself "how on earth am I going to find more hours in the day?" Then I realized.... There are 168 hours in a week.  As humans, probably 56 of those are spent sleeping, so that's 112 left.  Now, I work a bunch of part-time jobs that end up to more than full-time hours, but let's just say (for the sake of things) that I work 40 hours a week.  That's still 72 hours.  72 hours.  I can find 4-5 of those and take an hour to myself, to do something for myself, something that not only is for me, but more importantly something that is good for me.  And you know what?  I'm better because of it. 

I'm a better wife- I feel better about myself, and as such I am a happier spouse.  I am a better cook- I think more thoroughly about what I put into my body, therefore I make healthy choices more frequently.  I am a better PA, because now I not only can have discussions with my patients about making time to exercise, but I can say "look- I do it too."  Spiritually, I am stronger because I am taking care of this external body that houses my heart and soul.  I am happier, I am stronger, I am more myself than I have been in a long time.

People always have reservations about new fitness endeavors.  Mine were always:

1.  No time

2. Too expensive

3. Inconsistency

 

 

Ironically enough, once I made time I realized that I feel as though I have more time now.  Which obviously is not true, but when you feel better, you are happier.  And, when you are happier, you are more apt to carpe diem every day- rather than every once in awhile. 

 

 

The reason that PureBarre works for me (and it may not work for everyone), happens to be the antithesis of the things that always kept me from joining a workout class program.

In fact, the very reasons I did not want to try the classes, are the very reasons that keep me coming back...

1. Classes are scheduled

- This always caused me anxiety. What if my schedule doesn't fit with when classes are available?  You know what?  You can move your schedule around.  You can do your grocery shopping an hour later than you normally do and stop on your way home from a class.  Having to schedule my workouts in based on availability of classes has made me less OCD and more flexible.  It is a great thing.  It also keeps me going because I have to go at a certain time.  I can't "just go later". 

 

2. It's expensive

- Probably the main reason I didn't want to join was the price.  Sure the $99 initial 30-days sounds great (actually, to me that sounded expensive), but when I've been only paying $20 a month for a gym membership, $99 sounds painful.  It sounds even more painful when after that month I can get a second month for $175, and after that it's $195 a month, or $499 for 3 months.  OUCH.  Then I realized, I've been paying $20 a month for a gym membership for the past two years and I have made myself go a grand total of (drumroll please....) three times.  I have paid $480 for three workouts.  I went 16 times out of those 30 days to purebarre.  It was worth every penny.

- The main reason I keep going to purebarre- is because it is an investment.  The more classes I take, the less per class cost it is for that month.  Sure it's a flat fee for a month, but if you break it down to cost per class I attend, it makes me feel better.  So I go.  I go because I financially invested a lot in my physical health, rather than just blowing off the $20 for the gym I never go to.

 

3. Consistency

- I hate repetition, but I like schedules and organizations.  I never get bored in PB.  The format stays the same: warm up, arms, legs, seat, abs... same order, different routine.  Different teachers, different music, different exercises.  I get variety, but with consistency.  I know the first few minutes of abs won't be terrible (but won't be easy, either), but then the dreaded "let's kick it up a notch" comes out of the instructor's mouth and I know I'm about to be in ab muscle pain for the next 7 minutes.  You become comfortable with the order, so you don't feel out of place.  And each class you challenge yourself to do "your best 10", "sink a little lower", or "leg a little straighter".  Every little victory, no matter how small, shows their mantra: You are stronger than you think.

so for now, I'll continue to lift.tone.burn

 

So that's been my life the past several months.  A lot of personal growth, changes, and re-organizing this puzzle of life so that I can get more in.  I'm not saying that everyone should start eating clean 80% of the time, or that everyone should sign up immediately for PureBarre.  I'm saying this:

 

You are worth it. 

There is only, and will only ever be, one you.

 

So find a healthier recipe that you want to try! Or just substitute skim milk for 2% this week, or low fat shredded cheese for full-fat on that favorite recipe of yours.  "Oven fry" that chicken with panko breadcrumbs and Olive Oil Cooking Spray, instead of dipping it into the oil.  Make one healthy change every day, and just see where it takes you.

Find a form of exercise that works for you.  Find those 4-5 hours a week where you can turn your mind off and only focus on the then and now.  Focus on you.  You are irreplaceable.

 

Xoxo,

Virginia

 

 





Good Eats: Bell Pepper "Nachos"

My goal with this whole "eating healthy-ish" transition in the beginning was simple: make healthier choices.  I never will be a "clean eater", I have no interest in eating half an avocado for lunch, and I really like a cheeseburger every now and then.  When I decided to start eating better, I started small: one decision a day.  I started with breakfast because that's the easiest meal to change since you're home most of the time.  Healthy breakfasts turned to lunches, and now to dinners. 

What I've realized over these months of transition from little Debbie cake queen to froyo with honey is this: healthy food does NOT have to taste bad.  No rice cakes, no cardboard-tasting stuff.... and honestly, some of my all-time favorite foods taste better when they are made with healthier options.

The following recipe is a prime example of healthy changes from not-so-healthy favorites.



Bell Pepper NACHOS

Who doesn't like nachos?  They're a great combination of salty, creamy, cheesy, goodness.  But let's be honest- they're the exact opposite of good for you.  So when I came across this recipe I decided to give it a try... and you know what? I like these BETTER than my normal nachos...and I didn't miss the chips at all.

 

 

Ingredients:

1 tsp EVOO

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 c. chopped onion

1.5 c. cooked, shredded chicken (I used 2 chicken breasts)

1 tsp chili powder

1 c. salsa

salt & pepper, to taste

2 lbs mini bell peppers, cut in half lengthwise, seeds & ribs removed, and flattened as much as possible

1 c shredded mixed cheese (make sure there's Monterey jack in there!)

1/4 c. sliced black olives

2 plum tomatoes, diced

 

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Heat oil in skillet over medium. Add garlic and onions, cook 2 minutes.  Add chicken and chili powder.  Cook until chicken is warm and all is covered with the chili powder.  Remove from heat and add the salsa.  Add salt & pepper.

3. Prepare peppers: slice ends off each pepper and cut lengthwise.  Remove seeds & ribs, and make them as flat as possible.  Place on a large, ungreased baking sheet.

4. Spoon (or just use your hands---it's easier) chicken mixture onto each pepper.  Top with shredded cheese and olives,

5. Bake 10 minutes, until the cheese is melted.  Remove from oven and top with the diced tomatoes. 

 

 

 

I loved this recipe.  J did too.  In fact, he wanted me to go back in cook more before we were even done with the first baking sheet (hence why I upped it to 2 lbs mini bell peppers as opposed to 1). 

 

I will definitely be making this again! To keep the timing less, it would be far easier to cook the chicken mixture the night before, and then just prep and bake when you get home after work!!!

 

The combination of the sweet mini peppers and baking them so they still have enough crunch to hold all the toppings is glorious.

 



 

 

 

Happy eating,

 

Virginia

Good Eats: Chicken Stew with Butternut Squash & Quinoa

I love hearty stews during the fall.  There is something about all the flavors coming together in a nice, warm bowl that makes my heart happy.  When I saw this recipe I decided I needed to give it a try... and it was delicious! 

The combination of hearty chicken, the slightly sweet taste of the butternut squash, and the saltiness of the kalamata olives blended perfectly to create a taste-bud roller coaster.  I definitely will be making this again.



Ingredients:

2 lb butternut squash, peeled and seeded. Chopped into 1/2 inch pieces

3.5 cubs low sodium fat-free chicken broth

1.5 lbs chicken breasts (or thighs)

1 Tbsp EVOO

1 medium onion, chopped

1/2 tsp salt

4 cloves garlic, minced

1.5 tsp oregano

14 oz petite diced tomatoes, undrained

2/3 c uncooked quinoa

3/4 cup pitted, sliced kalamata olives

1/4 c. minced fresh flat-leaf parsley

cornstarch, to desired-thickness is reached.

 

 

Preparation:

1. Steam squash until barely tender (I did this in the microwave by putting 1/4 cup water in the bottom of a microwave-safe dish).  Remove 1/2 of the pieces and set aside.  Continue steaming the remaining 1/2 of the pieces for an additional 5-6 minutes, until mashable.  Mash the second set of squash (I used an immersion blender attachment).  Keep the original set of pieces solid.

 

2. Bring broth to a simmer over medium-high heat.  Add chicken and cook 15 minutes.

 

3.  Remove chicken to plate and allow to cool.  Pour broth into bowl.

 

4. Add EVOO into the saucepan on medium.  Add onion and cook 10-minutes until the onions begin to brown slightly.

 

5.  Add salt, garlic, and oregano.  Stir and cook 2-3 minutes.  Add tomatoes, squash pieces, and mashed squash.  Stir to combine. Stir in the reserved broth and quinoa.  Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook until the quinoa is done, for 15 minutes.  (At this point, you can add cornstarch by the tablespoon-ful until the desired thickness is reached.  I used around 2.5 tablespoons).

 

6. Shred chicken and add to the stew with olives and the cracked pepper.  Simmer uncovered for 5-10 minutes.

 

7.  Add parsley right before serving.  



Happy fall, y'all,

 

xoxo

Virginia

DIY: Invitations

three posts in one day...that's a lot of updates :) But, even though I put my computer away an hour ago, I'm too excited to share some of my latest creations.  :) AND as soon as I find the camera cord so I can upload pictures of one of these parties, I'll definitely be doing a post on that as well!!!

As I mentioned previously.... I LOVE PAPER PRODUCTS.  Especially invitations.  I enjoy making them, more than I could ever put into words.  Right now, it is merely a hobby for me, but recently I've been having more friends ask me to create things for them and I'm starting to realize that I enjoy this form of crafting (and craft therapy) more than I should.  There is just something about listening to someone explain what type of "look" they are going for and tweaking the document until it is exactly what they had envisioned.  Sometimes...it's hard to get into their heads and understand what they are looking for.  This is why pinterest has been a life-saver.  It is so easy to look at other invitations or items and say "I like this  about invitation A, but I prefer _____ from invitation B".  Then, you spend a day mixing the two together and you have a pdf of a combination of both.


NOTE: All of my invitations are hand-crafted by myself, so while I try my hardest to make them as identical as possible, there will be minor variations in each one.  While I find this quality endearing, which is why I wanted to make my own wedding invitations, if you are a "I want them to be EXACTLY the same" kind of person...you can stop reading this post now.

"I Do" BBQ & Wedding Shower

A southern-style BBQ, "falling in love" theme for a couples shower hosted in the fall months.

My husband, mother, and I recently hosted a wedding shower for my oldest friend, Brooke, and her hubby to be, Chadwick.  They are getting married next April and since her bridal shower was going to be mostly family, I decided to throw her a couples wedding shower.  The theme was "Falling in Love" and titled an "I Do" BBQ.  Fall color palate of oranges, burlap, and chocolate brown.  Sunflowers, berries, and other fall foliage.  A dessert bar with a lot of "acorn" inspired treats which were super fun to make :).  It was a lovely time...but my most favorite thing out of everything made for the day was probably the invitations.

 

I created this PDF one afternoon and thought it was missing something but at the time couldn't figure out what it was.  Then I decided to add the tag to the jar with bakers twine with their registry information on it and the subtitle of "Fall in Love".

 

I loved being able to be playful with fall colors and fun fonts for this since it was an informal affair.

 

For the envelopes, I wanted to use kraft brown envelopes but I felt they were too plain.  I added a mason jar stamp and then a heart stamp, and then (not pictured here) hand-wrote the wedding date inside each jar.

 

The party itself matched the invitations-colors, textures, and all.  Oh yes, and of course mason jars were the centerpieces and drinking glasses :)

 

 

Wedding Invitations

From our Lowcountry wedding- soft shades of peaches and pinks coupled with the natural textiles of burlap and twine made up the feel for our wedding.

 

As I posted previously here about our wedding details, I first realized I enjoyed making invitations when we were preparing for our pending nuptials.  In case you didn't catch the post, here is a picture of our wedding invitations I came up with.

 

kraft brown pocketfolds, shimmer pink backing and shimmery ivory cardstock for the invitation and card sets.

 

 

I also decided to continue on the theme and make wedding programs as well, but wanted each to be bright and cheerful and unique so I created and assembled these:

 

 

 

I loved the different papers, ribbons, and backings.  I thought this was my way of getting lots of color into the wedding without it taking away from the otherwise peach/tan/brown color scheme!

 

 

Glitter Bachelorette Party Invitations

Where girly-girl lovebird meets sass-a-frass.  The combination of subtlety and flowing lettering with intense sparkle gives these invitations the feel I am going for.

 

Since my best friend is getting married next Spring, I took the opportunity to go ahead and create some invitations for her bachelorette weekend.  I got the design inspiration from a collective force of pinterest samples.  The theme.... glitter ... but I wanted it to be sweet/sappy as well... so here goes nothing :

 





textured glitter backing, shimmery white cardstock for invitation, and glitter cardstock hearts strung together on a strip of hemp.  I can't WAIT for this party.

 

 

I think invitations, especially weddings and showers, should be unique.  I think they are a perfect opportunity to showcase what your event will be about, while simultaneously showing your personality.  This is why I love creating them: it gives me the opportunity to set the stage for an upcoming event. 

 

Currently, I'm in the process of creating an invitation set with pocketfolds for my friend, Brooke's, wedding.  I can't wait to assemble a sample together and show you guys!!!

 

 

xoxo,

 

Virginia

 



Our Wedding

March 9, 2013- wedding details

 

I love weddings.  I can honestly say that I loved every minute of planning our wedding except for the last month when I had to hand over the reins to other people and just "trust" that things would come together.  I'm not very good with that, especially after 15 months of intricately planning every last detail.

 

 

This post will be long, I apologize in advance.

 

One of the first things I did for our wedding was come up with the theme.  We wanted a "Charleston" wedding.  I wanted the lowcountry tide and marsh in the photos, I dreamt of wrap-around porches, sweet tea in mason jars, southern food, twine.... cowboy boots.  This part was easy... it was all the things that J and I loved all combined into one.

 

 

The problem was that the wedding was actually planned around one single thing: a tie.  J happened to find "the perfect" plaid tie on a whim 1 week after we were engaged....he said he wanted to wear it to the wedding.  So I said, sure, I'll plan the wedding around the tie.

 

Floral Arrangements

Now, I'm very much a DIY-er.  I genuinely enjoy crafting, I love making things, and I love the one-of-a-kind vibe you get from carefully planned and created décor.  So I bought a lot of mason jars, too many rolls of twine, lots of hot glue sticks, and got to work. 

 

I knew I wanted spring flowers- but not perfectly crafted bouquets.  I wanted it to look more like someone swept a bunch of similar colored flowers up and placed them in jars.  And I wanted the simplicity of baby's breath.

 

My precious father-in-law was sweet enough to surprise me and cut down a tree into wood slices (literally) when I saw a picture of jars on wood slabs and said "I would love that for the wedding".  I got a text two days later as a picture message of wood in the back of a truck....my heart melted.

 

ivory linens. chiavari chairs, mason jars

lace...twins..different jars.. you get the vibe

 

my bouquet... which has two brooches on it. One belonging to each of my grandmothers who were unable to be with us that day since Heaven is awfully far away...but I wanted them to walk with me down the aisle.

FYI: quilted mason jars make EXCELLENT candle holders with the way light reflects through the glass.

more centerpieces

The groomsmen and groom had palmetto rose boutonnieres...just to be true to Charleston :)  I also love that since they are made from palmetto leaves, I get to keep J's forever :) 

baby's breath in the sunlight

cocktail table.  This is where I let myself use colored linens.

 

 

 

 

Bridesmaids Dresses

 

I knew I wanted mis-matched dresses from the very beginning.  Not because this was a "trend", but more because I genuinely like the look. I also wanted a variety of textures and fabrics and colors, as well as prints.  Sounds like a big mess, right?  J thought so...so did everyone else when I told them I did not want traditional bridesmaids dresses.  They cringed when I said "prints" and when I responded to the "well they'll all be the same fabric, right" with a firm "definitely not" I think some of them had an aneurysm.  But it was what I wanted, and I was determined to make it work!

 

I wanted shades of peaches and pinks.  Soft colors, delicate details, and a variety of styles.  I wanted each girl to find something they loved and could wear again (you've heard that before, right?).  I also wanted to have jewelry made custom for each girl that was different, yet cohesive.  And when I stumbled across a store on Etsy that provided just that, I thought my heart would flutter right out of my chest in joy!

 

 

Brooke, my MOH

All the dresses (minus brooke's).  Chiffon peach with rhinestone detailing, three-quarter length sleeved lace dresses with scalloped hemlines, and a darling vintage print dress completed the look.

 

Ready for this? I found them at Dillards.  Not joking.  Totally serious.  WHICH WAS GREAT because they could go to their local dillards and buy them/try them on... oh yeah, my girls spanned 4 different states, 7 different cities.

 

 



 



 

Paper products and Chalkboards

 

I love paper.  I love invitations--they're the first thing your guests see when they get invited to your wedding.  It's your time to set the stage for the upcoming event.  Unfortunately, invitations get expensive , and also it's really difficult to find one that is "just right."  SO.... I made ours.

 

I had a vision in mind-- I wanted kraft brown folds, and shimmery ivory papers, and more mason jars, and pinks/peaches (just like the bridal party dresses)...here is what I came up with and created.

 

Each tie was a bit different, with our monogram of "F" on there.

 

all tied up!

pocketfolds = my favorite.  Everything gets so organized and stays that way through mailing!

 

The whole set together! 

 

 

As for the chalkboards- I lucked out and got a lot of cute frames at Homegoods and then a GIANT frame at a yard sale.. then I taped and used chalkboard paint to create them and chalk pens.  I love chalkboards.

 

 

 

Programs- when I created these- I wanted splashes of color...I also wanted 150 different programs. So no two programs are exactly identical :)

 

Stole this from pinterest... not ashamed

with our guestbook

Our guestbook alternative: the thumbprint tree.  Which was extra special because one of my best friends painted it for me!



 

 

I had this created from a fabulous etsy shop of us and our furchildren :)

We went with cupcakes-- minis, regular, and jumbo.... we had all intentions of cutting into the giant one...but we ended up cutting into a mini for the cake cutting :)





 



The Venue

This was the first thing we decided on.  We got married at Creek club at I'On and I wouldn't change that at all.  It had a large porch with extra seating, and a gorgeous wood-paneled interior with exposed beams, and views of the marsh that were out of this world.  We got married outside under a beautiful oak tree.  When people ask me "what was it about this venue that made you choose it?" I can't really explain it without sharing some of our favorite pictures.

 

entire bridal party

sunset over the marsh

giant tree

dances on the dock at sunset

all smiles :)

views of the Charleston marsh

dad's tie: Etsy :)

Creek club at I'On

hanging lanterns

 

 

There are so many details that go into a wedding that I couldn't possibly share them all, but these are definitely some of my favorite from ours. 

If you are looking to get married in the Charleston area and would like more information on any of the vendors that we used, please feel free to contact me! I wouldn't have changed a thing!

 

So there you have it.  My Charleston-inspired DIY wedding.  Lots of long nights with my hot glue gun and paper products went into this wedding, but I loved taking the time to make all the details!

 

 

 

My favorite gift:

Everyone has a favorite gift from their wedding, right?  Most people just don't say "YOUR gift was my favorite"... well, I have to brag a little on my sweet cousin, Katie here for a minute. 

She captured some of our wedding on video and put the film to the lyrics to our first dance song... and she did an absolutely phenomenal job.  this is, by far , my most favorite part of the wedding.  I didn't want a videographer at the wedding (no offense to you all who want every minute of your day captured), but having a highlight video like this I would definitely recommend people do. It's my favorite memory of the day... and I know I will cherish it forever.

Don't believe me? Watch this < 5 minute video and I promise you'll want one for yourself

 

 

Credits:

Photographer: Peter Finger Photography

Cupcakes: Cupcake, Mt Pleasant

Florist: Pretty Petals of Charleston

Wedding gown: Gown Boutique of Charleston

Venue:Creek Club at I'On

Cake topper: Life is but a dream shop, Etsy

 

 

Happy wedding planning,

xoxo

Virginia