WEDDING COUNTDOWN SIGN | DIY

As many of you know, my best friend is getting married in March of next year and everyone could not be more excited.  With everything that we've been doing so far, each task gets more and more exciting.  Since we've last chatted, I've seen the venue and it is absolutely beautiful.  It's been hard to not post about every little decision that is made/everything we go and look at, but we have to keep somethings a secret for the actual wedding day.

To ease the pain of not being able to share everything, I decided to put my mind to work and make something.  Who doesn't do that, right?  I figured it would be an adorable idea to make a countdown for Ally and her fiance that they would both love, not just Ally.  It's so easy to think that the wedding is all about the bride (and it kind of is, lol) but once in a while it's nice to include the groom and think about him too.  So here's to Ally AND Daryl, I hope you like this one guys.  Here's how I did it.

Bubbles, Bridesmaids, Brunch | Wedding Planning

Ladies and gentlemen the wedding is getting real!  Not like it hasn't been prior, but goodness gracious I can't believe how much closer it's been feeling like it is.  The bride decided that she wanted to have a brunch to celebrate her bridal party and afterwards, go dress shopping.  That's what she did.

Ally's Engagement Party!

I'm a little behind on my posts but it's for a great reason.  I have been so busy with things but as I sit here on Easter after my family has left, I am just so happy to have some time to chill.  Last weekend I went up north to Ally's house for her engagement party.  She had been planning to have a party for a while after her engagement in November, but it was put on hold for a couple of different reasons.

I've been waiting to celebrate with her for so long in a more grandiose way.  We've been celebrating in our own little way every time we see each other but we were both looking forward to the party.  There were a couple of surprises that we both didn't know about, check them out.

    

I started off the day going up to her house in the morning so we could shop a little before the party.  Ally had picked out a shirt and pants that she wanted to wear for the party but she was told that she looked 'matronly' so she wanted something else to wear (LOL).  SO, needless to say we went shopping and we found the adorable top (white, lace tank) from Target and the black cardigan from Marshalls.  The back of the cardigan is adorable!

          

Phase one of the party was just getting everyone there.  Sense the decorations were going to be a surprise for both Ally and her fiance, they were blindfolded and lead to the clubhouse.  Little did Ally know that the decorations were not the ONLY surprises, her cousin was here from California for the party!

                    

 Adorable cake.  Who KNEW people still put photos on cakes?  Maybe I'm behind the times but this is pretty cute.  I hate this photo of us because honestly we were both drinking.  I was trying to make sure that Ally was having a good time and she was busy greeting everyone else.  So all of those things combined didn't make for any good pictures haha.  SO, if as a MOH you're at the engagement party, don't freak out if you don't get any good photos.  Chances are someone else is taking them and you'll see them later.  Plus, there are going to be plenty of opportunities to take photos and celebrate throughout the whole time you're planning for the wedding.

The decor of the place was incredible.  You can see Ally's fiance in the distance taking everything in.  The white branches were beautiful and they were actually what Ally wanted for the wedding originally, so it's kind of cool to have them at the engagement party.  The candles and lights were magical and awesome and everything looked incredible with the lights turned off.

This last photo is kind of showing you how Ally asked everyone to be her maid of honor.  She decorated boxes with memories of each bridesmaid and her.  Inside the box she included and cute little notebook with a message inside asking them to be her bridesmaid.  It was absolutely adorable and made everyone so happy (as you can see in the photo).  

How have you celebrated engagement parties in the past?  This was really fun and I was so happy to share it with my best friend!  Send me a tweet and let me know.  Thanks for reading! -Brit.

How To Be The Best Maid of Honor EVER! #blogmas, 19, 2014!

Hi everyone!  Meet my best friend Ally:

We met when we were in college about 5 years ago now and we have been inseparable since then!  We live almost two hours away from each other but that doesn't stop us from talking multiple times every single day.  We literally are obsessed with each other.  We always joke that WE are in the relationship rather than her and her fiance, ugh.. too much!  I am SO happy for her because she is getting married!  As her sister is married, she is going to be the Matron of Honor and I am going to be the Maid of Honor and I could not be more excited to start planning.

To get the celebrations started (because obviously I just couldn't wait until the New Year) I put together this adorable little 'Bridal Bag.'  I adopted the idea from something that I saw on Pinterest.  Someone made a basket with some of these things, but some of the others were all my idea!  I also decided to go with a bag because I saw this most beautiful one in Target!

Inside of the bag were a couple of things.  I included Kit Kats (her favorite candy) with a little note that said 'For The Cravings,' tissues 'For The Tears (happy ones), a mask 'For Some Relaxation,' Sally Hansen 'To Keep The Nails Strong' and a diamond dazzle stick 'To Keep The Ring On Point.'  The card was super adorable and glittery which you will see in the next couple of photos.

 I also had to include the token Bridal magazines (Brides and Martha Stewart Weddings).  I was grappling over which ones to get but ultimately decided on these because they were the prettiest tbh, lol!  I know Brides is super classic and thats what I hope to be reading when I get married and how can you go wrong with Martha Stewart!?

After some reading of the magazines, we used it as a placemat for under the nails while we painted them.  I can't even explain the laziness, but that is the rationing behind us using the magazine for placemat.  Ally wanted me to paint her nails but we both didn't feel like leaving bed.  -__________-

How adorable is this bag, seriously! I saw it in Target when I was there before I even thought about making this little Bridal bag for her. When I finally came up with the complete idea, I knew I had to hop back to Target and put everything in the bag. As you can also see, I grabbed an adorable gold Sharpie to write all of my cute little messages on each tag/label. PS- How adorable is Ally?  I think it's safe to say that she absolutely loved it and I'm sure she's so excited for my surprises to come.

I had such a fun time making this for my best friend and her engagement.  I am so excited to be on this journey with her as her MOH and I can guarantee that you will see lots more surprises that I give her chronicled right here on the blog.  What have you done as MOH in the past for your bride?  Tweet me your experiences or leave a comment below.  Thank you for reading.  -Brit.