Happy Housewarming

A few weeks ago (um...a month ago!) our families threw us a housewarming party. We had lots of fun sharing our home with friends and neighbors. It's an awful excuse, but moving into our home and renovating kept us busy for a while so it was great seeing people we hadn't seen in a while. 

I'm obsessed with the invitation from AmySimpleDesgins! Seriously though burlap background and aqua? They know me so well :)

I'd say I didn't mean to match the party color scheme, but let's be honest they're my favorite colors for a reason.

Remember how I was lusting after this wreath? Well, I have the greatest sister ever and she made me one! I most definitely did a happy dance/jumped up and down when she gave it to me.

 Hi, my name is Taylor Rae and I have an obsession with aqua and coral. 

Drink Station. FYI Costco margaritas are the jam!

Sis does it again and made the banner. It's so perfect that I refuse to take it down.

Fresh flowers from my MIL's backyard. One day we will have hydrangeas in our yard and I will be so happy.

My hope for our home isn't that it's a perfectly decorate place that has to be spotless at all times. Rather, I want our home to be a place that is lived in and one our friends feel comfortable in. I love it being full of people! I want our home to be shared, open, and welcoming. 

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*

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!

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!

Take Me Back

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

Charleston was beautiful and being there for just a weekend makes me want to go back for more! I was going to post about the wedding and all the beautiful happenings; however, I did an awful job taking pictures. I'll tell you I was busy being a good bridesmaid and I wanted to be present in the moments. In reality I was just lazy. Either way, the wedding was beautiful and I was so happy to be apart of it!

I did manage to get a few pictures of Charleston. Have I told you how much I love this city?

The fountain is pink for the month of October. I was a ZTA; I love this a lot!

Once upon a time mom, dad, and I were suppose to do the Cooper River Bridge Run (a 10K run over the bridge behind us.) Mom ended up dropping out a week before due to being sick, but came to Charleston to cheer us on shop. It was just going to be me and dad until I dropped out the night before the race due to... Let's be honest, I didn't have a good excuse I was just lame. Dad has yet to let me live this down and that was like 5 years ago! It was only fitting we get a picture with the bridge.

This place always feels like coming home. 

A little gem for y'all to enjoy. Sums us up so well!

Here's to a good week!

Wedding Wednesday: Getting Ready

 I was hoping to have just one post about our wedding; however, that's just not gonna happen. 

There is just too much I love and would feel bad about leaving out.

With that said, let's begin with the venue.

 I really wanted to get married on a farm, but being from Atlanta I didn't think it would be an option. Trees and concrete don't really scream "rustic farm wedding." After lots of looking and a few lots of tears we randomly came across Neverland Farms. By this point I was so fed up with wedding venues that I told my mom and sister to go see it and if it looked good "just book it!"

Famous last words. James and I ended up with a wedding venue without even seeing a picture! As you can see though, mom and sis did real good. It was everything we wanted but didn't think we could have.

The dress.
I dreaded wedding dress shopping. In fact I put it off as long as possible. However, the whole experience ended up being a piece of cake and I'd even go as far as to call it fun! The first dress I tried on just happened to be the one! It was everything I never wanted but ended up loving.
Plus, it had pockets and, let's be honest, life is better with pockets!

MOB: I love her. She's beautiful!

Amy and Brandon had to remind me over and over again to smile! 

Apparently I'm very serious :)

Meet my lovely bridesmaids. They kept me calm and sane!
See the little one in front? That's my sweet cousin Hannah Grace!
The one behind her? That's Cara. She's my first friend.
You should know Sis by now.
The one laughing in the back? That's Jessie. Best sister-in-law ever!
And the one in the very back? That's Jess. I didn't have to worry about my dress because she worried for me and kept it from getting dirty!
The two  on the right are Kierstyn and Becca. They both make my life a lot more fun!

Love this picture! So sweet. 

My sister/maid of honor made all the bridesmaids earrings and necklaces. I thought it was a good way to tie the coral and turquoise together.

The lace around my flowers is from my mom's wedding dress and the broach is my grandmother's.

James and I exchanged gifts and letters. He got me a beautiful bracelet and I got him a watch.

I know I'm biased, but I think they are a good looking group guys!

James and I didn't have a first look, but I did do one with my dad.
It was such a sweet moment. He told me I was beautiful. My heart soared.

That's all for now!

*All the photographs were taken by Amy Arrington Photography*