Wedding Wednesday: Reception

After a fun time getting ready and a beautiful ceremony we were so ready for a fun and beautiful reception! It didn't disappoint! Everything looked even better than we hoped for and we had a great time dancing with friends and family.

Our reception site was only a walk up a small hill from our ceremony site, and just as pretty. My 90 year old grandmother sewed all 12 of our linen table runners. She's pretty much the coolest person ever!

Family tree and flip flops for dancing!

The only bite of cake I got all night was what James fed me. I'm pretty sure it was vanilla cake with raspberry filling and almond icing. It was great when we tried it at our tasting. I only hope it was that good at the wedding!

The one thing we've heard consistently from guests is how incredible the food was. I would pay serious money to eat it again. It was that good!

Planning two weddings for the past year was difficult, but mom and dad handled everything so well. I could not be more thankful for everything they did for our wedding. It was the perfect night and we couldn't have done any of it without both of them!

First dances:

James and I danced to "Sea Breeze" by Tyron Wells; the same song he played the night he proposed. I was so uncomfortable dancing while everyone was watching, but he did a great job distracting me and making me laugh

 

My dad, sis, and James' best man, Taylor, did a great job with their speeches. They made us laugh and cry at the same time.

Random fact: the husband is freaky good at handstands. My first friend/bridesmaid Cara is a former gymnast. There was smack talk before the wedding as to who was better. What better time to test this out than at the wedding? 

James won form and Cara won length. It was probably my favorite part of the reception!

Off to our Mexico honeymoon!

 

 That's it for the wedding recaps! Thanks for sticking around as I relive the best day of our lives.
Next up, our wedding video!

Happy Wednesday!!

*All photos were taken by Amy Arrington Photography*

Confessions Part 1

1. I confess... this thing use to still does scare the heck out of me! When I first got it I didn't take it out of the box for 6 months. I was terrified of it! I'm a bit of a perfectionist so even now when I don't think I'm taking "good" pictures I put it in the corner and just stop using it.

2. I confess... I'm the world's most anxious passenger {sorry mom & husband}. I blame this on an ex-boyfriend who thought he was a race car driver and that one time I totaled my car {unfortunately I can't blame that one on the ex-boyfriend too}.

3. I confess... I'm an incredibly clumsy person! I once broke my foot tripping over a couch {don't ask even I'm not sure}. I've also been known to fall up the stairs: in a huge auditorium, with lots of people, while it was silent. Ya, I'm sure no one noticed...

4. I confess... I LOVE my job, but I constantly struggle with feeling inadequate and inferior. I'm my biggest critic and constantly have to remind myself to trust the plan God has for me.

5. I confess... I sleep with a pillow I've had since I was a baby. It does not have a name. James may be jealous; I think we'll survive. 

Now that I'm feeling all exposed and vulnerable, what do you have to confess?

Reunions and Recipes

Happy Monday!

Our weekend started off with lots of downtime, football, and cleaning. This was all well and good until we decided late Saturday morning to road-trip to South Carolina to see Sis and her husband! We haven't seen them since the wedding. While this may not be long time in regular time, in sister time it was forever. Plus, we had lots of celebrate.

They live in this sweet town, so while the boys were golfing on Sunday we baked lots and Sis showed me around. Seriously, sweetest small town ever! Even though I miss her like crazy I'm so happy for everything going on in their lives. They make me so proud!

Like I said, boys golfed; we made treats! 7-Layer Pumpkin Bars and Puppy Chow!

I've been craving a pumpkin treat since Fall started. Growing up we always made 7 layer bars and loved them. When we found this recipe that incorporated 7 layer bars and pumpkin, so we thought we'd give it a shot. So easy and so good!

The crust is just crushed graham crackers and butter. You press it into the pan and pour the pumpkin mixture on top. Then you get to layer all the yummy goodness {coconut, pecans, and chocolate chips}. Finally you add the magic: sweetened condensed milk.

After you bake it you let them cool, cut, and serve with caramel. So yummy!

7-Layer Pumpkin Bars

Adapted slightly from My Sister's Kitchen

1/3 Cup melted butter
1 Cup regular graham cracker crumbs
3 oz softened cream cheese
1 Cup pumpkin puree
3 Tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 Cup chocolate chips
1/2 Cup coarsely chopped pecans
3/4 Cup sweetened shredded coconut
1/2-3/4 Cup sweetened condensed milk (Drizzle till mostly covered)
Caramel topping

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place melted butter and graham cracker crumbs into a bowl; mix to combine. Press into the bottom of an 8x8 pan.
2. In a bowl beat the pumpkin, softened cream cheese, sugar and cinnamon until smooth. Spoon evenly over graham cracker crust. Next layer chocolate chips over pumpkin layer following with pecans, coconut and condensed milk. Bake for 22-25 minutes or until top is golden brown. Remove and let cool. *Before it completely cool, take a plastic knife and run around edges to loosen. It becomes very sticky and difficult to remove from the pan if you do not loosen.*
3. Once cooled, cut bars and arrange onto serving tray. Drizzle with warm caramel and serve.

*These didn't hold up as well as the ones we use to eat, but we just used a fork.*

We also made Puppy Chow aka Muddy Buddies {recipe found here}. Slightly messy, but too easy! We added peanut M&M's and Reese's Pieces just because we could.

The only thing I would do differently next time is double the chocolate peanut butter mixture. You can never have enough peanut butter.

Can we please discuss the incredible lighting in their kitchen!? So much better than our apartment. I was in love. We can also discuss sis' pretty ring; he did good!

Right before we left James and I traveled to the pumpkin patch to pick our carving pumpkin.

Meet Hugh. He's huge and we love him.

My heart is so full after spending a weekend with people we love so much. Best part? 

We get to see them again this weekend when they come home!

5 ON Friday, Vol. 5

Happy Friday!
Apparently I've been doing Five FOR Friday while the rest of you have been doing Five ON Friday! We're all on the same page on; life can go on :)
Spending Friday morning with my favorite link-up ladies Darci, Natasha, April, and Christina. 

{O N E}

The new drawer pulls finally came in and I'm loving how they look! Also loving how the new round mirror adds a nice touch in breaking up all the straight lines {do I sound like I know what I'm talking about? I don't. Heard it somewhere and thought it sounded good}.

{T W O}

New office wall art from HomeGoods. They made me giggle every time I look at them.

{T H R E E}

Meet the new and improved Mosley. He got a makeover. I love him and his sweet hat. Growing up we always picked pumpkins based on their stem: the more character the better. I'm thinking this is more of a "top hat." It makes me love him even more. 

{F O U R}

We added a chandelier to our makeshift dinning room. Technically this was the sunroom, but we thought the table fit better here. There was no light in the room. Now we have a pretty chandelier. Doesn't add any light but who cares about that when it's pretty.
PS: Next DIY project will be staining this table DARK. It involves sanding. James is thrilled; sanding is his favorite {ya...right}.

{F I V E}

We may not live in the same state anymore, but we can still freeze together. Newlywed Problems: husbands won't turn the heat on. She's legitimately cold in a house that's down to 60 degrees. Me? I'm just a baby.

I'm super happy the dawgs have a bye week. Don't think I could handle another emotional game.

Have a happy happy weekend! 

Ceremony and Then Some

We started with getting ready. Next up the ceremony, but first the details. I know all weddings are personal and ours was no different. We tried to add personal touches where ever we could and our family helped in making our wedding feel like us.

The cross will hang in our house one day. We decided against traditional programs and instead my sister painted the program on a big chalk board.

My uncle was our pastor. He did an incredible job making our ceremony Christ centered and personal to us. 

       My dad and I rode in on a horse and carriage. When I first heard the idea I thought it was a little corny, plus I'm allergic to horses! After it was all said and done I'm really glad everyone talked me into doing it. They rang a bell then there was silence and all you could hear was the carriage. It was pretty cool.

Random fact: I'm 95% sure that this picture was taken I while telling my dad "Oh my gosh! I can't believe there are people here! Everyone actually showed up!" I was really excited we had guests!

The doors.

The picture below captured my favorite moment of the day. 

Due to timing and not wanting to rehearse the ceremony we decided not to have a rehearsal the day before the wedding. Since we hadn't practiced how anything we weren't really sure the details of what was suppose to happen. After my dad walked me down the aisle James thought it was time for him to take me from my dad (it wasn't). There was an adorably awkward moment when James shook my hand and just stood there waiting. I'm sure he thought my dad was having second thoughts about giving me away. My our pastor/uncle had to pull him backing telling him it wasn't his turn yet. My uncle joked about how eager James was to marry me and commented on how it reflected his excitement for life. It was an genuine and sweet moment. Although not having a rehearsal made me incredibly nervous it ended up being one of my favorite parts!

The picture on the right is my cousin reading the Bible verse we've chosen to base our marriage off of (James 1:17). Aside from joking before hand that he was going to tell an embarrassing story about me he did a great job!

I think the picture on the right really captures the whole feel of the day: relaxed and fun.

We rode off in the carriage and did a lap around the farm. It was the perfect way to spend our first few minutes as husband and wife!

And just a few more of my favorites:

Happy Wednesday!

A Story About Doors

Hi sweet friends!

I've been waiting for this day for a while. You see, James and I have been headboard-less since we moved into our apartment. In reality this is not a big deal; however, I've been waiting/working on this headboard for over a year.

I'm getting a little bit a head of myself though. I should start at the beginning.

When James and I choose out outdoor wedding venue there was really only one thing missing: 

the big door opening entrance. We immediately started thinking about how to solve this dilemma.

Sis and Micah's wedding venue also happened to be outdoors. So the ideas started forming and we decided if our ceremony sights didn't naturally have doors we would make them ourselves! 

Plus they would make perfect headboards for each of us once we were done with them.

Sis, mom, and I spent a weekend searching for the perfect doors: old with character. We finally found 100+ year old pocket doors that would work perfectly with just a little work.

James and I sanded and sanded and sanded.

Mom and Sis painted and stained till the color was just right.

Dad added door handles and built the frame.

Those doors really were a labor of love.

Having doors was important to me because the song I wanted to walk down the aisle reaches a crecendos around 3 minutes {2:45 to be exact}.
The doors opened right then and I got to see James for the first time.
It was totally worth all the sanding!

Our wedding:

For Sis' wedding they "built" an outdoor church complete with old windows, an alter, and the doors.

Their wedding:

And finally, no longer doors but the perfect headboards!

Our headboard:

Their headboard:

Find out here how we made the doors.