Bridesmaids Luncheon

I can't believe I'm finally a Mrs. and back from an amazing honeymoon which I am still uploading all of our photos from and can't wait to share them with you soon! The days leading up to our wedding were fairly stress free and felt very much surreal. We got married on Saturday, June 13th, drove back to Charlotte the following morning, and left for Saint Lucia early Monday morning. To be honest, I was a bit worried that all of the wedding festivities, along with our big day, would be a big blur to me but luckily that wasn't the case! Of course there are some aspects that I don't remember distinctively but one of the things I prayed for regularly leading up to the wedding was to have a peace of mind and heart and the ability to savor every sweet and intimate moment that passed me by. God was very gracious and answered my prayer and I'm so appreciative of that.   

The afternoon before the big day, Will's Mom Mary Lou, Grandmother and close family friend Michelle hosted a bridesmaids luncheon for me and my favorite ladies. It was held at a lovely French Brasserie in Raleigh's North Hills shopping center at a place called Coquette. I was so anxious for the luncheon because it was a time that I got to personally thank everyone for their love and support throughout the whole wedding planning process. It was also the perfect time for me to hand out gifts I got for everyone to show my appreciation for them and all they have done for Will and I. I was especially excited to give my bridesmaids something I made them. You might remember this post I posted on Instagram about a month ago secretly showing something I was making for my bridal party while at Beads in Charlotte. The final product? Gold earrings for them to wear at the wedding. You can kind of see what they looked like in the picture below!

The luncheon as a whole couldn't have gone better and it was everything I could have ever wanted and more. Everything from the food, to the lovely toasts made, all the way down to inside jokes shared and photos taken, I had a wonderful afternoon.

Stay tuned next Monday and read the first part of our St. Lucia honeymoon!

5 on Friday

ONE
I love photography and my sweet pup Miller. Put those two things together and you've got my attention. So it's almost obvious that when I saw that Nikon has made a camera for dogs I almost died. I don't think Miller will ever have one of these but it does make me wonder what his photos would turn out like! What do you think of this camera?

TWO
Will and I have been taking dancing lessons at Queen City Ballroom and I'm actually kind of sad that it's coming to an end! Over the course of 7 lessons, and with 3 left, we've learned so much. My favorite things we've learned have been the tango and swing dancing. And honestly our lessons have turned into a fun activity that we both enjoy. Often it feels like date night when we go. It's an hour out of the week that we can look forward to and get to focus on each other while letting loose and having fun! Our instructor Rachel has also been amazing to work with and has turned into a such a sweet friend. We highly recommend her if you live in the Charlotte area and want to freshen up your dance moves!

THREE
It's Memorial Day Weekend and there are tons of great sales going on right now. I'll defiantly be checking out the ones at ASOS, Banana Republic, Gap, Loft and Baublebar.

FIVE
On Tuesday I wrote a blog post recapping my bachelorette party at the beach. I had the best time with my best friends and am so thankful for all that they did for me to make that weekend one to remember forever. One of the things that I did to thank them was gift them with a candle from Rewined Candles based out of Charleston, SC. Along with the candle, my MOH Emily put together the most adorable little sand buckets filled with everyday beach essentials such as sunscreen, face oil wipes, snacks and the cutest mason jars I ever did see. I was super spoiled by my girls and it was only fair that my girls be spoiled with me <3

Hope everyone has a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!! Can't wait to catch up with you all next week.

5 on Friday

Oh Friday...I couldn't be happier that you're here! And what a week it's been! A hectic one, but a good one nonetheless. One of the big reasons why I'm excited it's Friday is because my favorite link-up started back up last week! In other news, I'm also looking forward to the weekend so that I can spend as much time outdoors as I possibly can. The weather lately has been perfect and I feel it would be silly to let it slip away without enjoying it first. I hope y'all enjoy whatever you have planned (or don't have planned) for the next few days and before I leave here are my 5 on Friday.

ONE
Vogue's 73 Questions with Reese Witherspoon is a must watch. It's short, sweet and who doesn't love Reese and her bubbly personality? Oh, can you guess what she said her rapper stage name would be? Watch the video to find out her answer along with her responses to all the other questions!
TWO
Gilmore Girls. Need I say more? In honor of Netflix bringing us ALL seven seasons, Fashionista.com presents us with 11 of the best fashion moments from the show and let me just say that after reading this article, it made me THAT much more excited to spend my free time watching every single episode back to back.

THREE
Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day and it's always been that way. When I lived at home with my parents, we would have BFD (Breakfast for Dinner) some nights and I always looked forward too having breakfast twice in one day. Fun fact; I almost always requested french toast. So when I came across an article on 43 breakfast spots in the Charlotte area recommended by Charlotte Magazine, I knew I was in trouble. My mouth water's just thinking about all of these yummy places I'll be trying in the coming weeks...

FOUR
If you're anything like me, you don't tend to wear makeup every single day. I try to give my face a few days a week to just breath and I should probably do it more often. When I do wear makeup though, I tend to get frustrated when applying concealer. It either feels to thick when I put it on, is not the right color or just doesn't seem to hide those bags under my eyes or the redness around my nose as much as I would like. Tell me I'm not the only one who has felt this way before! After reading this article though, I was able to learn some pretty helpful tips and tricks and hope with the purchase of a few new products my hate for concealer will vanish away.

via Once Wed

FIVE
Will and I booked our honeymoon a few days ago and the anticipation of going is killing us! For starters, we did what seemed like weeks of research and narrowed down our options to Jamaica, Antigua, St. Lucia, and Turks and Caicos. We both wanted to stay somewhere that was all-inclusive, wasn't too touristy, had more then one restaurant on the property, and was a place that allowed us to relax and be adventurous at the same time. Oh, and time flying was also a huge factor we looked into.

It was pretty easy for us to take Jamaica and Turks and Caicos off the list, although we want to go there one of these days. Pretty much from the beginning we knew it would come down to either Antigua or St. Lucia and after talking to some of our family and friends, we finally decided on....St. Lucia! More specifically at the Cap Maison Hotel Resort & Spa!

It's hard to look at these photos without getting giddy with excitement. I can imagine the days we will relax by the pool, sip on tropical drinks, take tons of photos and explore the area. Time will not be a factor and relaxing and enjoying one on one time with each other will be pretty much the only things on our agenda. If you've ever been to St. Lucia I would love for you to leave a comment or email me with recommendations on things to do and places to check out!

via Cap Maison Photo Gallery