wedding wednesday: pack and go

Times are a-changin'!

Tonight - no new ideas, no color schemes, no latest wedding fashion. I've got cardboard boxes on the brain. What do cardboard boxes bring? Change. Lots and lots of change. So I'm going to go back to wrapping up dishes and attempting to wrap my mind around those said changes.

10 days and we're excited!!

P.S. Back to faithful blogging soon. Promise.

wedding wednesday: fly by

I think someone told me that the weeks leading up to a wedding begin to fly by. I wish this had been a take-my-face-into-their-hands kind of statement in order to convey this with more permanence. I mean, could someone please tell where the last month has gone? Because I must have been in a shower food induced coma for it. We've covered most of the to-do list. At this point, whatever gets done - gets done. Whatever doesn't - doesn't matter. Because we'll still get to spend the weekend surrounded by the people we love. And we'll still be married at the end of it.


Speaking of the people we love, we have felt overwhelmingly blessed and undeserving by the love, support and generosity that we've experienced during this engagement time. I mean...totally overwhelming. I've loved that this time has given us a reason to be around family and friends that we don't see as often. After August 6th, I'll have to find another excuse.

There is something about being with people who know you so well. It's filling. Or fulfilling. Or a better word that I can't put my finger on at the moment.

Reunited with my fellow bestie bride-to-be!

Here's to the home stretch!

pie for four

On Tuesday night, Caitlyn and Eric Guiffreda invited us over for dinner. We had such a great time. The night flew by and was full of great conversation, laughter, Caitlyn's awesome chicken parm, and this pie with this crust [thanks to Martha].

It's good. It's pretty. It's easy. I'll be making it again, and possibly even serving it with a little homemade vanilla.

The pie bakes for a total of 50-55 minutes. I baked it for 30 without the braided crust and added it for the remaining 20-25 minutes.

I also used blackberries and blueberries which were a little tart. So I added a little more sugar than called for. Nothing wrong with that!

wedding wednesday: what if

I thought you might be a little tired of lace, mercury glass, and lots of ruffliness. And, though it's everything I love an more, I want to offer some well-rounded inspiration for y'all. 

I've always been a person who knows what they like. So, don't worry Mom, this post has nothing to do with me wishing I we had planned something totally different. Because our plan is everything I've ever wanted. It's simply, "What if..." Just for fun. Promise!

What if I wasn't set on getting married in my home church?

I'd find the nearest and prettiest library and nestle some chairs between tall, dark-stained shelves that are filled with lots of good-smelling books: 

What if I wasn't obsessed with all things vintage?

I'd go for a somewhat-modern wedding cake like this one:

What if I wanted a destination wedding?

I'd want a small wedding in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico with my husband in the foreground and Castillo de San Cristobal - a Spanish fort built right by the water in 1783. Who knew something used for such practical reasons could be so beautiful? I spent one of my favorite evenings here with a mission team. Actually, the photo I used for my blog header was taken while standing next to one of the walls. I'm going to stop attempting to explaining it, because it's beauty can't be put into words!

What if I didn't love muted colors?

I just love this:

What if I wanted to show off my legs?

Maybe I'll just go ahead and order this for our vowel renewal. Kidding. Totally kidding. 

What if I braved the outdoors?

I would attempt to 100% recreate this beauty:

Do you like any of this? If you're getting married, can I plan it for you? I can't be done with wedding world after this wedding season is over. I can't be done with wedding world EVER.

P.S. Thanks for playing along with what turned out to look like me interviewing myself.

kinfolks

[This is my pre-apology for poorly sized photos. Better too big than too small, I say.]

My grandmother is one of nine Fallin brothers and sisters. This makes my mom the youngest of twenty-three cousins. Not just extended family. Cousins. First cousins. And, since all these cousins came to be, every bride in the family gets a coveted Kinfolk Shower. It also serves as an all-female family reunion.

It's loud. It's fun. There's great food. It's very Fallin.

[That's banana pudding in a jar]


I sat there opening gifts in the midst of more conversations than there were people in the room. You see, we have a unique talent of being in multiple conversations at one time. It's genetic.

For an afternoon, I had the privilege of being surrounded by familiar faces [and not just because I look like a lot of them], cousins I didn't even know I had, the newest additions to the family, and the one's with the most years to share.

There were a couple of especially memorable moments that afternoon. One includes a very loud alarm, two fire trucks, and an emergency response vehicle. They finally decided that the one zillion degree weather set off the heat sensor. But a couple of the husbands speculated that it was due to a house full of Fallins and, subsequently, a lot of hot air.

The other happened mid-gift opening. One of my mom's cousins thought I would appreciate having something of her mother's, my great aunt, who passed away two winters ago. Appreciate would never come close to how much I treasure that beautiful, cut-glass dish. All of a sudden, I wasn't laughing at pairs of sisters picking on one another. I was headed straight to the ugly cry.

See? Ugly. It's OK to agree.

After that, it seems that salad plates and skillets and flatware weren't quite as important. Don't get me wrong - we're so grateful for everything. I was just more interested in soaking up time with these exemplary families and preparing to carry on the God-fearing, people-loving, loud-talking, good-food-cooking traditions.

wedding wednesday: break time

I've got to stop running after-work wedding errands in my heels. The feet are tired. The brain is tired too. I feel like it's one of those fast-pace news tickers you see in Times Square. Except instead of current world events, mine is full of words like "tablecloths" and "wedding jewelry" and "thank you notes." 

I'm headed to Ruston again this weekend sans fiancé. Which is always a bummer, but he's staying here to stay true to his hard-working-and-providing-self. Ok. Enough bragging. 

We're taking the night off tomorrow from planning for a little together time. That got me thinking about movies. And since everything I think about falls under the heading of "wedding," I was thinking about my favorite wedding movies. Maybe I can talk him into one of these from my all-time favorite list. 

8. The Proposal

7. Sweet Home Alabama

6. 27 Dresses

5. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

4. The Wedding Planner

3. Runaway Bride

2. Steel Magnolias [When I was little, I remember watching this on a Saturday afternoon and making my dad rewind it a million times so that I could watch the ceremony over and over again. The love affair started young.]

P.S. Sorry about those annoying words on the video.

1. Father of the Bride

Take a break [even if your wedding is officially one month away like OURS] and watch a wedding movie. Trust me, there is no greater type. 

Mom and Dad - y'all take a break too, OK?

the fourth of july

Here's a little patriotic domestication. Yes, those are oreos covered in candy coating and sprinkles. Shout out to my mom for teaching her daughters her pro bow-making abilities. And to my dad for making endless grapevine wreaths. All I added was a strip of burlap and some bells to make opening the door sound a little more lovely. And it just happened to be a safe-guard against robbers while I've been home alone. Not that I planned it that way or anything.

Happy fourth!