Tag Archives: wedding details

Lila Kate The Flower Girl

Posted in Lila, Liz's Life by

Two weekends ago Luke’s sister Emily tied the knot with Kenny in Bloomington, Indiana. They are a great match and we were all so happy to see them become husband & wife.

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One of the highlights of the weekend for us was getting to see Lila be a flower girl. Lila was equally excited. A princess dress? Flower crown? Cake? All her family? Sign Lila up!

Lila tends to be a little shy. I hate using that term because I don’t want to label her as one thing or another. I typically say “she needs a little warm up time” or “she’s feeling a bit bashful.” Needless to say, we were anticipating that she may have trouble getting down the aisle once she saw all the people watching her in the church. Two years old is a bit young to really “get” the whole flower girl thing too.

Emily sent Lila some flower petals to practice with in our house and for the weeks leading up to it she “walked the aisle” in our living room. We also tried to prep her as much as possible – “there will be a lot of people there that will want to say hi to you, so if you feel uncomfortable, you can just smile at them.”

I got her the perfect little tulle, silk and lace dress off Easy, and even made her a flower crown from fresh flowers we got at the farmer’s market the day of the wedding. She looked perfect!

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Finally her moment came. She was at the back of the church with Luke while I was in the front coaxing her down.

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Wouldn’t you know it? Our girl nailed it! She walked the whole way down the aisle, gently tossing her leaves and even looked around and smiled at all the people around her. I was so proud!

What got cut off in the video is that as soon as she got to the end, she was very adamant that ALL of her leaves be out of her basket, so she stood at the end and urgently threw them all out on the floor. Then seeing the big pile of leaves, decided “this looks fun!” and proceeded to roll around in them saying “I want to play in the leaves!”

It was pretty adorable. I swooped her up and we watched Emily make her grand entrance.

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As she walked by, Lila said “she has a cape on, mama!” I told her “It’s called a train, honey.” This confused Lila to no end “What train? I don’t see a train? Where’s the train??”

Our girl had lost her ability to be still or quiet at the point, so I took her into the hall until the service was over and we could get on with the real business of this wedding (according to Lila) …. the cake!

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Congrats Emily & Kenny!! We had so much fun at your wedding and are honored you had Lila part of your special day. XO.

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Thanks to my MIL Felicia and various other wedding guests for snapping of these photos. 

The Makings of a Memorable Wedding

Posted in Party Ideas, Wedding Planning by

Weddings that are planned and personalized down to the last detail are all the rage these days. As I’ve written before, it’s really hard to live up to those expectations when you’re on a budget and don’t have endless time to DIY everything.

Now that my wedding is over, I’ve realized that it’s not making every little detail personalized that makes a wedding memorable, it’s about the one or two things that really stand out in people’s memory. Think about it. When you recap your experiences at someone’s wedding, do you say “they had 10 things that were hand-painted with their monogram!”

Probably not. You likely WOULD say though, “They did XYZ that I’ve never seen done at a wedding before. It was so cool.”

For Luke and I, the special things we wanted to stand our from our wedding were our swing dance, the personal notes we wrote to each of our guests and Batman-themed table names. Everything else was just icing on the cake.

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I think it worked too, because we’ve gotten a lot of comments from people saying they remembered our “details” and were impressed with the level of thoughtfulness our wedding had.  Honestly though, we really didn’t focus on the little things like favors, monogrammed matches or centerpieces at all! It was just those few personal touches we paid attention to.

What aspects of your wedding did you focus on? What ended up being the things your guest remembered most?

Guest Post: MOMZILLA

Posted in Liz's Life by

I love my mom — but I’m a bit scared of my MOMZILLA.

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Before I get into all the details, I should probably preface this by disclosing my guest blogger status — I would hate to tarnish Liz’s mom’s good name. You can call me Guth, since that is what most of my colleagues like to shout-out when barking orders in my direction — just kidding, friends!

All right, back to the good stuff. I am newly engaged (three weeks tomorrow) and thrilled say I get to marry my LOVE. Although we had talked about spending our lives together almost every day for the past year, my fiancé managed to totally surprise me with his proposal. You can read all about it on our Knot Web page. It was quite the perfect night…but it also was the night I witnessed the birth of something unlike anything I had ever seen — the MOMZILLA.

Yes, we’ve all heard about the BRIDEZILLA, but MOMZILLAS are a rare breed. According to the Urban Dictionary, they are “highly controlling of the many elements to a wedding. Everything must be perfect for her child’s day.” I know her intensions are pure and true, but man, she jumped on the crazy train way earlier in this process than I would have expected!

You see, my fiancé had invited our families to celebrate with us the night of our surprise engagement and my mom arrived with a binder for my future mother-in-law, one for me and talked of the one she had rolling at home — the night of the engagement! The very next day, I came to learn she had already been through the third draft of her guest list…third. Now, I understand that I am the oldest daughter and I am all for being organized and prepared…but third?

Immediately following the engagement, I was inundated with at least ten phone calls a day. “We must lock-in a venue…I’ve already talked with Father Jerry…how many people do you think his family will want to invite…you guys are going to need to work on cutting down that list, ASAP!”

Luckily, we were able to come to a quick decision on the date and venue, but I am a bit frightened of what is in store for me over the next year. I post this entry in hopes that readers out there will have tips on how to tame this rare creature we call the MOMZILLA and how to tactfully deal with issues without causing WWIII. This bride-to-be needs some advice from the experts…or a tranquilizer gun.

It’s All About the Details

Posted in Wedding Planning by

Working in PR and planning events for my client means I have to pay extra special attention to the details. Forgetting one tiny thing could mean the difference between a successful event and a disaster, because trust me, a client notices everything- even the small stuff.

If you look at any bridal magazine, blog or website, you’ll see that modern brides as well are going the extra mile to put the finishing – and personalized – touches on their wedding. Everything is monogramed with the couple’s initials, vintage centerpieces adorn the tables and homemade favors like wine and jelly are all the rage.

Obviously, I want my wedding to incorporate little details that make our guests say “wow,” but it can be hard when you have a budget. Getting married in Chicago is already a stretch financially, so there’s no way we’re springing for those expensive “vintage” centerpieces! I could probably stalk around to antique stores looking for less-expensive options, but who has the time (or inclination) to spend their weekends doing that?

I’ve found a solution for thrifty, time-challenged brides like me, just visit Etsy.com! If you don’t know what Etsy is, it’s an online community of hand and homemade items for sale. You can find everything from jewelry, paper goods, decorations to accessories. They have a whole section dedicated to wedding items, most of which are totally making me swoon!

Here are some of my favorites:

flower

Whimsical. Fun. Festive. These party poms could be a great (and economical) way to decorate for a bridal shower, reception or rehearsal dinner. Five poms are just $25.

birds

How adorable are these love bird cake toppers? You can get them customized in your colors and monogramed for $45.

necklaceI am IN LOVE with this lace-inspired necklace. You can even get the end stone in your color of choice. All for $40!

pinwheel

Talk about making a unique statement- these pinwheel bouquets would be so cute at a casual, outdoor fete. At 5 for $50, this bride must have saved oodles on flowers.

You can check out all the amazing wedding handmade items for sale at http://www.etsy.com/category/weddings. Happy surfing!