My slogan

I saw this on The Pink Clutch - here is my slogan:

Etiquettely correct for all time.

Not so funny

Someone please tell me that this is a late April Fool's Day joke. I will seriously be looking into one of these:

For the Honeymoon

Hey all! Hope you all had wonderful weekends. I was in my hometown visiting Fiance and my parents. I feel like we accomplished a lot as far as the ceremony is concerned. I met with the organist on saturday afternoon. She was very helpful and patient.

On Saturday, Fiance was occupied watching the NFL draft. However, he took time away to make me a yummy dinner. Then I went to the fabric store with my Mom. It was fun. I hit up Target and got this bikini for the honeymoon. It has a matching bottom, but I couldn't find a picture.

Wedding Inspiration

This is a recent wedding by David Schwartz Photography. I loved many things in this wedding, so I am posting them here.

I love this classic hair knot.

Aren't these shoes cool? A little extra bling for the bride . . .

I think this veil is exquisite.

I like the clean and classic look of the programs.

And last but certainly not least, how cute is this preppy guy?

Check it out

For all of you brides out there and anyone helping to plan a wedding, Elizabeth Anne Designs is doing a ton of pink inspiration boards. They are fabulous. I firmly believe that you can never have enough pink :)

This is my favorite one of the series, pink bouquets.

Rehearsal Dinner Invitations

I had a great weekend! I did the seasonal switch and have all my spring clothes out. It kind of took me awhile because I just had to try them all on. As I was packing up my cable-knit turtlenecks, I told Fiance, "next time I wear these we will be married." I'm so excited!

We were talking about the rehearsal dinner this weekend and invitations for the dinner. Since our theme is baseball, my mom actually had the idea of having invitations printed that look like baseball tickets. My future mother-in-law also had a cute idea of somehow using old-fashioned popcorn bags as invitations and having the information printed on the bag or possibly matting an invitation on the bag. Here are a few invitations that I think would be cute:

Here are a few of the baseball tickets:

These are from Party 411 (random website I found through google).

Here is another ticket style invitation:

These are from Fun & Sassy Designs.

I love this glove and ball from mygatsby, but it might be too juvenile for a rehearsal dinner, what do you think?


I also like this one below, from paperstyle.

Happy Friday!

Hey all! Thank you for sweet and thoughtful comments on my last post. I am so happy its friday! Fiance and his parents are in town this weekend. I live in the same town as my future brother-in-law, so Fiance's parents are here for a little visit. I think tonight we might go to a baseball game. The weather here is amazing! I opened up my windows last night and there was such a nice breeze. I love sleeping with the windows open.



Fiance has kindly agreed to help me around my apartment this weekend. So, I am going to pack up all my winter stuff and send it home with him. I can't wait to unload my spring dresses and skirts! Thats one thing I love about spring and summer . . . I get to wear lots of pink and green!



On the wedding front . . . I still feel like I have a lot to do. We are going to make a list this weekend and I am going to try and schedule follow up appointments with vendors. I am still trying to think of more menu ideas for the reception. I am going to spend some time on Paula Deen's and the Southern Living website this morning. Have a great weekend everyone!



PS In honor of this lovely spring weather, I am posting my favorite item from the new Lilly collection - hee hee

April 16, 2008

“We are Hokies, We will Prevail”

A year later I still remember vividly the events that unfolded. I was sitting at my computer at work and I pulled up CNN, as I often do. The headline was “two Virginia Tech students shot in their dorm.” It got worse from there. By the end of the day, 33 people were dead.

In the weeks that followed more stories came out surrounding the shooting. I was moved by the courage and love that was shown by the Virginia Tech community. While this amazed me, I wasn’t surprised. Because those were the kind of people I knew at Virginia Tech. The comradery and loyalty of the community of Virginia Tech was awe-inspiring.

In the days that followed the events of April 16, many called for the resignation of Dr. Steger. This upset me greatly. A tragedy of this proportion could have happened in any public place, be it a grocery store, a movie theater, or another school. The administration of Virginia Tech made the best decisions they could based on the information available to them, at the time.

Many critics questioned the safety of the campus. It upset me to think that people who had never been to Blacksburg or Virginia Tech, might think it was unsafe. In my four years at Virginia Tech, I can say without any hesitation, there was never one night where I felt unsafe.

With an undergraduate student body of 25,000, the campus never felt big to me. In fact, sometimes it felt small. It was my home for four years. The students were all different and they came from many different walks of life, but they accepted me and I accepted them. Why, you might ask, because we were all Hokies.

One memory that comes to mind is being part of a group project for a class. I was a blonde sorority girl who worked at the sports bar downtown. The other members of my group were three “hippies” with dreadlocks who were involved in several campus protests. They didn’t care that I wasn’t “like” them. We were Hokies and we enjoyed talking to each other. That’s why they asked me to be in their group. Even though our lives were different in many ways, we had good conversations and we worked together.

I have never been a part of such a large community who accepted me and everyone else just as we were. They didn’t want me to change. All they wanted was for me to grow into a better version of myself.

There are many different types of people at Virginia Tech. There are hippies, preps, smart people, beautiful people, Asian people, African Americans, Caucasian people. There are sororities and fraternities and GDI’s. There are funny people and happy people. However, the only word I can think of to describe the entire Virginia Tech community is simply good.

On the day of the shooting, I was very sad. I was sad for everyone who was involved and I was sad because that wasn’t my Virginia Tech. I began to think of things that I loved about being a Hokie. Here are a few of them:

As a freshman, studying with my older sister and feeling so “grown-up.”

Older students helping freshman move into their dorms.

Thinking it was neat that my sister, as a freshman, had lived in the same dorm that my Dad once had lived in.

Walking across the drill field in the pouring rain and another student sharing their umbrella with me, then laughing hysterically because we were both drenched.

Eating dinner at 5:00 every day with 20 other girls in Dietrich.

A calculus professor who met with me five days a week because I didn’t understand math.

A senior who stayed at the Math Emporium until 3:00 in the morning because he cared that five freshman passed their test the next day.

Walking across the drill field and seeing the War Memorial Chapel. Then feeling happy as I remembered what some of the pylons were Brotherhood, Honor, Leadership, Sacrifice, Service, Loyalty, Duty and Ut Prosim.

Walking into Lane Stadium with hundreds of people who I had never seen before. Suddenly everyone starts chanting “Lets go Hokies, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, Lets go Hokies.”

Sitting in my chapter room on a Friday afternoon, talking to one of my sorority sisters. When I asked her how her day was, she said it was “cool.” I asked her why and she replied, “I finished designing a prosthetic leg today and someone will be able to use it.”

Cheering for the football players before a big Miami game and feeling the ground vibrate because the screaming was so loud. Then feeling proud that the governor and United States Senators of our state were cheering alongside us.

Walking across campus in my cap and gown with my family and feeling too elated to take it off as we headed to Mike’s Grill for lunch.

A potential employer calling to interview me for a job I wasn’t really qualified for, but he saw Virginia Tech on my resume and was curious about a fellow Hokie.

Nikki Giovanni said it best when she said “we will continue to invent the future.” It took me a while to put these thoughts together. I know this post was somewhat long, but it’s important to me. If you are a praying person, please take a moment to say a prayer for all who were involved. Thanks for reading.

"WE ARE HOKIES, WE WILL PREVAIL"

Lexington Chicken

(Lexington Chicken via Southern Living)

On Saturday night we had dinner with some of our friends. I made Lexington Chicken. This is a recipe that my Daddy found in Southern Living. I still think its funny that he looks through Southern Living. He loves to find new recipes. Then he gives them to my Mom or I "in case we want to try them." I'm on to you Daddy.

I love to have this chicken with some fresh corn on the cob. I usually make a basic green salad and have hot rolls. A key lime pie ending makes for a perfect meal.

This is Edward's Key Lime Pie, you may have to buy two if you are having guests. If you haven't tried it, you should.

Here is the recipe for Lexington Chicken. I also linked to it. I have found that I had to double the recipe for 8 chicken breasts.

Prep: 15 min., Chill: 2 hr., Grill: 40 min. Larry Elder says Lexington, North Carolina, pork barbecue inspired him to create this spicy-hot vinegar marinade for chicken.

Ingredients
2 cups cider vinegar

1/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

1/4 cup vegetable oil

3 tablespoons dried crushed red pepper

4 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons pepper

(2 1/2- to 3-pound) cut-up whole chickens*

Preparation

Stir together first 6 ingredients until blended. Place half each of vinegar mixture and chicken in a large zip-top plastic freezer bag; seal. Repeat procedure with remaining vinegar mixture and chicken, placing in a separate zip-top plastic freezer bag. Chill chicken at least 2 hours or up to 8 hours, turning occasionally. Remove chicken from marinade, discarding marinade.

Grill chicken, covered with grill lid, over medium-high heat (350° to 400°) 35 to 40 minutes or until done, turning occasionally.

*8 skinned and boned chicken breast halves and 8 skinned and boned chicken thighs may be substituted for whole chickens. Chill in marinade at least 1 to 2 hours, turning occasionally. Grill chicken, covered with grill lid, over medium-high heat (350° to 400°) 4 to 5 minutes on each side or until done.

Yield

Makes 8 to 10 servings

Bucket List

I got tagged by Red and White Preppy to create a bucket list! I haven't seen the movie yet. Here are a few things on my list:

I would like to go on a Hot Air Balloon Ride:

I have been to Italy, but we didn't get a Vespa. So I would like to go to Rome or Florence and then ride around on a Vespa with Fiance. I, of course, would pretend to be Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday. Fiance gets to be Gregory Peck - hee hee.

I don't know if this really qualifies as something on a "bucket list," but I have always thought about having my own bakery/cafe. I think it would be fun.

I tag anyone who would like to share!

Charleston Weddings

I got home late last night and I was delighted to find this magazine waiting for me. My kind and thoughtful brother picked it up and mailed it to me. He said he thought I would really like it and I love it. This is a really great wedding magazine with lots of creative ideas. If you can get your hands on one somehow, I would highly recommend it.

When I googled Charleston Weddings, I also came across their blog. I haven't had a chance to look through it yet, but I'm sure there are some ideas on there.

(He sent me the most recent issue, but this is the only cover I could find)

More flowers

Happy Friday friends! I am trying to work on the whole flower thing. I don't really know anything about flowers. I could tell you what colors I like and what I think looks pretty but pretty much the only flowers I can identify are tulips, roses, carnations, and sunflowers. So, choosing flowers does not come easy to me.

For my bridesmaids, I want them to carry very small bouquets of some type of white flower. At my sister's wedding, my Mom carried a small nosegay of white roses and I have always thought it was lovely. We're not really corsage people, so for the mothers, I would like for them to carry what my mom carried at my sister's wedding.

***All photos are from the Martha Stewart Weddings Website***

For the bridesmaids, I like this bouquet without the hints of blue. I also want the bouquet to be much smaller.

As far as my bouquet, I love the bouquet below. I think I might ask the florist to re-create it. The colors would tie in perfectly with everything else. I haven't decided though. For my bouquet I really want A LOT of color. I also want a larger bouquet.

In the pictures below, I like some of the flowers in each bouquet. However, I don't really particulary care for the bouquets themselves, does that make sense? I need the pictures to show my florist what flowers I like.

I got tagged!

I got tagged by Miss Well I Do Declare. This is the first time I have been tagged.

RULES

1) you link back to the person who tagged you.
2) post these rules on your blog.
3) share six unimportant things about yourself.
4) tag six random people at the end of your entry.
5) let the tagged people know by leaving a comment on their blogs

Here are my six unimportant things about myself:

1. I don’t make my bed in the morning. However, before I go to bed at night, I have to make my bed properly or I won’t sleep well. So right before I go to bed, I make my bed.

2. For the last five minutes I am at work, I play Tetris on my computer. I don’t allow myself to play any other time. I only have the link book-marked on my work computer because I don’t want it coming into my home.

3. One of my favorite meals is Swedish Fish and a glass of Chardonnay.

4. I claim to not like plans but I always end up making a plan.

5. I like to have dance parties even if I am the only one dancing.

6. I wear a size 9.5 shoe.

If I tagged you and you have already done this, please feel free to post the same list or better yet, come up with 6 new things! Here are the people I am tagging:

My sister at Virginia Living

Lauren at Southern Newlywed

Some Like it Southern

Topanga Bay

Vineyard Vogue

Kiki at Kikibee

Another bouquet

I sometimes post pictures here to clean up my desktop and too keep them all in one place! I love this bouquet. (Martha Stewart Weddings)

Speaking of Martha, does anyone have trouble navigating that website? I don't feel like its very user friendly and I have a hard time finding different images. It seems like I keep getting the same pictures again and again - if that makes sense. Oh well, I'm sure its a user error.

Blended Names

When we get married, I will be taking Fiance's last name, dropping my middle name, and my maiden name will become my middle name. I did consider (for like 15 minutes) keeping my own name, but I think it makes it easier for our future children if we both have the same last name. Plus Fiance has a cool last name and it sounds good with my name - hee hee.

Anyways, I saw this on Always a Bridesmaid. It's a Name Game at the Wedding Channel. Its kind of funny. I wasn't actually considering blended names, but here are a few of the funnier ones that came up when I did Fiance's and my last name.

Sechmond

Richmeidel

Richmidel

Finally! Someone got married . . .

After months of checking photography blogs, in vain I might add, one of my favorites finally had some weddings posted. All of these pictures are by David Schwartz. I thought this wedding was neat. The cake was hilarious.
I love the bride's hair. This is kind of what I am planning on doing with mine. I want an updo, but I do not want to look like Marge Simpson. I like this one, its very classic and elegant.

I love the wreath of flowers for the flowergirl. I hope Miss Grace will at least keep her's on for the ceremony.

I am not adventurous enough to have a cake like this but I thought it was neat.

Flowers

Its been a busy day for Miss Etiquettely Correct. This whole job thing is really cutting into my internet time :) I saw this bouquet over at Snippet and Ink. It was on their most recent inspiration board. I really love it. My colors are going to be a rose/dusty pink and sage green with hints of chocolate. I don't want an all white bouquet. Instead, I want the bridesmaids to have white flowers and then I want a lot of color in my bouquet.

(Martha Stewart Weddings)

Fiance teases me because I want everything to be pink. Although I gave up on the idea of a pink Kitchenaid. I told him that one day I wanted to live in a pink house. Not like pepto bismal pink, but like the kind of pink you see in Charleston on Rainbow Row.

Introducing a New Blogger

Hey Everyone - check out my sister's blog at Virginia Living. I like to say that she is the original "do it yourselfer." She comes up with all of the creative and original ideas . . . then I copy them! (In typical little sister fashion).

She is the mom of those two adorable children whose pictures were on my blog. Stop by and say hi. I'm sure her posts will be fabulous, just like her!

Wedding Favor

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Fiance and I had a lot of fun just hanging out. I got my giant margarita on friday. We watched a lot of Lost and spent too much time in our sweats. It was fun and those are some of our favorite times together.



I also wanted to tell my readers, I'm sorry if my posts are becoming all about my wedding lately. I kind of just started this blog becuase I have enjoyed reading other people's blogs and I wanted my own. I have found that its also become a good place to post wedding pictures and ideas. All of you "Mrs.'s" give me great feedback. So, on to the wedding :)



As far as favors for my wedding, the only favors I wanted were ones that people could eat. I have been to wedidngs where they had other favors, haven't we all? But honestly, I thought it was cute at the time and then in attempts to de-clutter, I usually threw it away. I contemplated a candy bar, but I feel like everyone is doing this. So instead, I am having a home-made dessert bar. My family is big into baking. My Grandmommy used to make 15 different kinds of cookies at Christmas. My Mom used to bake with us a lot. I still remember pulling the kitchen chair over to the counter to "help." Its funny to watch my nephew do this now.



Those are fun memories for me and its part of who I am. My plan is to have around 5 or 6 different cookies from our families. Then have cellophane bags with our "label" (also known as a monogram) on them for the guests to help themselves. I am going to write little display cards that tell what the cookie is and "whose" it was. For example, "Mom's Everything Cookie." Yes, you've heard of the Everything Bagel? Well my Mom makes the Everything Cookie . . . out of this world



I know you all are thinking, when am I going to do all this? Well, I have thought that through. I won't be working the two weeks before the wedding. So one of those days, I am going to bake and then just freeze the cookies. They will all freeze well. Then the day of the wedding my "wedding coordinator" can take them to the site and set them up. Still getting used to that idea - the wedding coordinator.

Happy Friday!

I hope you all have a great weekend! The future hubster is coming to visit me. He is going to catch me up on Lost. Tomorrow night we are meeting some friends for drinks.

I had both good news and bad news today as far as the wedding goes. Good news - my fabulously talented little sister is almost done with our Save the Dates - they are AMAZING. I was blown away when she sent it to me.

Bad news - my venue requires that I hire a wedding coordinator. I am just annoyed with this, because in my case, most of the "coordinating" is done. Oh well. Fiance is taking me out for mexican food tonight and there is giant margarita with my name on it somewhere . . .

Thanks Mom

Thanks Mom for your sweet card and my little treat. Did it bring back memories of me begging you to buy them for me at the Hallmark store? I remember when I first had "my own money," I think these were one of the first things I bought. I love you - Sis

Question for My Readers

(Photo from Happy Homemaker's Blog)

I really love this idea - having flip-flops available for your guests. I am thinking about this for the wedding. My questions for you all are 1) if you had this or have been to a wedding where they had this, did the guests wear them? 2) if you were at a wedding where they had these - would you use a pair? 3) about how many pairs would one need? and sorry lastly 4) do you think flip-flops are too hard to dance in?

Thanks for your input.

Happy Homemaker - if you see this, I hope you don't mind that I used your picture

Mom - I know we haven't talked about this - so feel free to chime in :)

A tip for the frugal bride

Do you remember that scene in Pretty Woman, when Julia Roberts says “yeah, well its easy to clean up when you got money.” I have often thought that about wedding planning. It would be so easy if there were an unlimited budget. Whenever, you see something you like, you just buy it, regardless of cost. However, I also think this would be boring. I feel that with an unlimited budget, you never really have to be creative or think outside the box. Like most brides, I do have a budget and I am always on the hunt for a bargain. I have been like this most of my life. I rarely buy anything that isn’t on sale. If there is a better deal to be found, come hell or high water, I’m going to find it.

When I began the search for bridesmaid dresses I was appalled by how expensive dresses were. Again, the Pretty Woman quote came to mind. Sure, its easy to find dresses if you don’t mind asking the girls to pay between $300 - $400. I was determined to find a dress that I liked for a reasonable price.

When I jumped into wedding planning, I soon discovered the work of the very talented Anne Ruthmann. While looking through her blog archives, I saw some bridesmaid dresses that I loved. I especially loved the color of the dress. I e-mailed Anne to ask if I could have the bride’s e-mail address because I wanted to find out who made the dresses. A few minutes later I received an e-mail from the bride telling me where the dresses were from. After I found the price of the dresses, I knew there was no way I would ask my girls to pay that. I looked through the pictures some more and quickly saw that a lot of the bridesmaids were about the same size as my girls.

I asked the bride if she thought any of them would consider selling their dresses. The bride e-mailed the girls and they e-mailed me. They offered to sell the dresses for almost a quarter of what they had paid. I ended up not going through with this because a few of my girls were less than thrilled with the dress. I wanted them to love their dresses, so the search went on and I found a great dress.

There are some obvious drawbacks. If you go this route I would recommend looking for people who live in your area, so that you can see the dresses. However, I think it’s an economical way to find bridesmaid’s dresses. After all, how many bridesmaid dresses do you have hanging in your closet? I would guess at least a couple . . .

My China Pattern

I decided to do a post on my china pattern. It is the china pictured above (obviously). It's by Lenox and the style name is "Eternal." I chose this pattern for several reasons. First, its very similar to a pattern that my mom has. Her's is also by Lenox, but they discontinued it. Ever since I was little, I have loved it and always wanted that to be "my china."

Another reason I chose this pattern is because it can be easily matched with other china patterns. My parents have several different sets of china. They have just acquired them throughout the years. Often times if they have a large group of guests, my mom will co-mingle another set with this one. We like things to coordinate :)

Favorite Things in the Wedding World

****UPDATE**** I am having writer's remorse over this post. Fiance seems to have a different view on one of my items. So, being the nerds that we are (we're okay with this by the way) we have decided to write up our positions. I am writing mine and then he is going to respond. We debate things a lot, we're both lawyers. Stay tuned . . . it might be a day or two ****

Here is a top ten list of my favorite things that I have seen & heard about in the Wedding-World:

10. "Greenback Showers" - asking guests to please bring cash, and only cash, to the shower.

9. Inviting everyone you know to your shower even though they won't all be invited to the wedding.

8. Telling people on your wedding website that while "not everyone will be invited to the reception, all will be welcome to join the couple for cake and punch at the church."

7. Inviting people to your wedding via e-mail.

6. "Greenback showers" hosted by the bride's parents.

5. Cash bars at the reception.

4. Including your registry information in your invitation.

3. Asking your guests to "please stick to the registry."

2. Registering for large pieces of furniture because you "already have everything else."

1. Money dances at the wedding. When people pay money to dance with the bride.


Happy April Fool's Day readers :) You didn't really think I liked this stuff, did you?

Wedding Photojournalist Association

I think the Wedding Photojournalist Association had a recent contest, mostly because I don't remember seeing a lot of these pictures. Their website is a great starting place if you are looking for a photographer. Here are a few of my favorite pictures -

I love this picture because its such a classic "kid" face. The father looks like he is trying to coax the little boy into walking dow the aisle.

(Photo by Cooper Carras)

I love this picture because it captures that moment right before the bride walks down the aisle.

(Photo by Kelly Lee Flora)

It looks like this little girl is yelling "hey, get over here!" She is helping out her friend, the bride.

(Photo by Andree Kehn)

I love this one because the mother is obviously trying to remain calm and the little boy thinks the situation is hilarious. Its probably the most fun he's had all day.

(Photo by Melia Sorenson)

Who said grandparents couldn't be hip? I think this picture is precious. Although I am not a fan of glowsticks . . . and definitely not at a wedding.

(Photo by Yischon Liaw)

I had to include this one. I can definitely see myself doing this.

(Photo by John Cosner)