Did you know the next line in the famous poem is

Something old, something new
Something borrowed, something blue
And a silver sixpence in her shoe.

I was curious about the origin of this tradition and thanks to a quick & easy google search I learned that blue has been connected to weddings for centuries. “In ancient Rome, brides wore blue to symbolize love, modesty, and fidelity.”

I’m not sure if I’m going to pick shoes or accessories to play out this tradition, but I do know that I will participate ;-)

Here are some of the images I was inspired by:

Will you be wearing something blue? What are you planning on wearing?

Looking forward to hearing your ideas :)

Our little cake will be tiny and adorable, but I still think it needs a little something extra.  Enter the personalized cake stand or cake topper! Maybe even both?   So far I’m having a hard time finding a topper.  I like the one below, it’s just a pink heart on a stick – but I think it’s pretty cute.  And, I’m pretty sure I could DIY it – which is always a plus.

This heart topper is cute too. I could try to sew this, it looks pretty easy.

As for cake stands, this simple white cake stand is pretty and wouldn’t take away from the cake.

We could also go with a personalized cake stand – it really would be a pretty keepsake.

Or just this pretty ruffled stand, I’m loving the yellow!

As for toppers, I like these wooden name toppers a lot.

There’s also this sweet je t’aime topper with mint green hearts.

This quirky wooden topper could be fun – we could get it customized to look like us.

I also like these mini bunting flag toppers.

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 Is getting a cake stand silly?  I don’t think we need one, but they sure are pretty!  The baker has a print-out of the first picture as our inspiration – so I hope our cake looks just like that.  We are just under two months away from the wedding now, time is flying!  We are finalizing all the minor details – and I’d love to check this one off the list.  Which topper do you like best?  Did you have a cake stand and topper?  Oh, and what song did you play during the cake cutting?  I’d love to hear your opinions/advice!

 Credit: Ice Cream Bar, Cupcake Topping Bar, Ice Cream, Toppings,

With the location decided, now it’s time for us to start brainstorming the fun stuff! Here are a few of the things I’d love to do at the dinner and my style inspiration for our wedding-eve.

1.Postcards: I want postcards sitting at the tables for people to leave us notes, advice, drawings, etc. At the end of the night, JB’s mom will collect them and then mail them to us, one each week until we have them all! I’d love to get one of these Pantone postcards each week. Wouldn’t they make the CUTEST little album!

2. Music: It’s always important to JB and I to have the music we love playing at our events, so the rehearsal dinner is no exception. At our venue, they normally have a guitarist, but we’re in a separate room and may not be able to hear his music. If not, here are a few songs we have to play. P.S. The linked playlist is on Spotify, which I LOVE. If you don’t have it yet, you should, you can share songs with friends, listen to basically any music you could ever imagine…it’s just great.

3. My style: I bought my rehearsal dinner outfit at the end of last summer (when all the whites were on sale), but here is my inspiration for my outfit. I’m even thinking that I might wear an antique hat or headpiece, because why-the-heck not. What are you wearing for your rehearsal, are you going formal? Casual? I’m wearing a skirt and top (all in white, of course), so I guess I’m right in the middle.

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 4. The After Party: What do you think about an after rehearsal dinner party? Have you had one, been to one? I’d love an opportunity to see a few people who weren’t at the dinner before the craziness of our big day. Let me know about these later-night, after-dinner get togethers! 

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So, to my first question. What is something that you wished you put on your registry, but didn’t? What are things that you love that you got from the registry? Or, what is something you thought was imperative and now just takes up space in a closet? We have most of the basics on the list, but would love some more input! We have never lived together, so we don’t have much (I have pretty much always lived as a college student, & Dan in barracks). And the second question… all of the websites say to have double the amount of gifts on the registry as you have guests. But that is A LOT of gifts… our wedding is fairly big. Did you always have items on your registry? What happened when it started to run low?

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And the most important question of all, did you have a gift table? A card basket, birdcage or mailbox? How did you incorporate the gift table into your wedding decor?

All photos via stylemepretty.com

Niall is a Marine so we are planning to have a sword ceremony at our wedding.

A sword ceremony gives a symbolic pledge of loyalty to the newly married couple from their Marine family. Immediately after the marriage ceremony is officiated, the Marines position themselves just outside the doorway of where the ceremony took place. On the command, the Marines raise their swords into a high arch and the newly married couple proceeds through the arch. Oh and sometimes they tap the bride’s behind…

Although no longer in active duty, Niall left a promising career in finance as a 26-year old to enter Officer Candidates School and later deploy to Iraq. I didn’t know him then and am truly grateful for that, because I think his deployment would have driven me crazy with worry. I had actually never met anyone my age who was in the military before meeting Niall. So to meet someone who left his career in his mid-twenties to serve his country was astonishing to me, completely selfless and brave, but astonishing.

Isn’t he handsome…

He gets uncomfortable when people thank him for his service, because, as he says, there are plenty of people who gave their life and he got to come home. Nor does he think he has done anything all that special or worth bragging about (I am sure he will be very embarrassed by this post!). But to me, he is one of the most gallant and honorable men I have ever met.

The sword ceremony is just a small tip of the hat to Niall’s life as a Marine and of course to all those men and women who have served our country. I am so proud to be marrying a man like Niall, and I bet Madeline and all of the other soon-to-be wives and husbands of our military feel the same.

So on that note, and because I am tearing up too much to see my computer screen, Happy Birthday, Niall! I am truly honored that I get to spend the rest of my life with you. Teammates…

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I’m loving all the personal details this bride put together to make this day truly unique to them. From the handspun florals, to the vintage baseball details, and of course, those fabulous invitations, it is easy to get a sense of what this couple is all about. I just love weddings screaming with personal style, don’t you?

Since I decided to go with the light pink and mint green color palette for the wedding, I know you are all expecting me to go blush pink and ivory for the shower, but I have a new vision! Since my inspiration for the wedding is soft and romantic, I thought it would be fun to liven things up a bit with lots of bright colors for the shower.

Tea Party Shower Inspiration:

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OR- how much fun would it be too attend this fab bridal shower brunch? {inspired by this stunning bridal shower feature}

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*Which party would you prefer to attend? OR If you are a bride- given the option, would you want to be involved in planning your own shower?

It’s so fun to think about the life this machine had before we found it. I mean, 1920 is a long time ago! This thing was shiny and probably finding its way into an office somewhere, or maybe onto the desk of an aspiring writer. Who knows! That’s what is so fun about it! By the time it came to us (for $100 on Craigslist), it was a little broken down, didn’t work too well, and needed a new typewriter ribbon. Thankfully, my future husband has that crazy ability to fix anything you put in front of him, so he shined it up, got new ribbon, and greased the wheels. It works like a charm now.

We had decided early on that we love vintage typewriters and definitely wanted one at our wedding. We want to use it as a guest book, so guests can type us a message and leave it with a Polaroid photo of themselves.

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But it was Kyle’s bright idea that we use this typewriter for all sorts of other things! We both have bad handwriting, so why not type out all of the addresses for save the dates and invites?

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Kyle even went so far as to type up the entire letter to the person we are asking to be our officiant! We’re having way too much fun with this thing.

There are all sorts of places we can use our typewriter, and we are excited for all of them. We just love that SMACK it makes when the key hits the paper!

 
tags, seating, menu

Do you have plans to use a typewriter in your wedding, or for anything else? Do you too love the nostalgic elegance of a vintage typewriter?

Vintage typewriter font has this awkwardness about it that I adore. Nothing is in a straight line, and you have to “x” out your mistakes. They’re a fun throwback to a time of better spellers and more thoughtful letter writers.

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To spruce up the bags, I really like the idea of creating welcome tags to either tie on to the handles or possibly convert in to a sticker to stick on the the front of the bag. I think both of these are sweet.

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To add another personal touch for those staying at a hotel, I absolutely love these door hangers.

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A welcome booklet or itinerary is a must and I’ll be using the below examples as inspiration. We have a super detailed website but I think it will be nice for guests to have hard copies of important info too.

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The actual assembly of our bags wont happen until late next month but I’ll be sure to share the process and finished products with you when they’re done :)

PS: I couldn’t help but laugh when I saw this…I hope none of our guests are feeling this way!