Bachelorette Weekend in STL

This past weekend my sweet girls treated me to the most fabulous celebratory weekend in St. Louis, jam packed with all sorts of my favorite things!

We started with dinner at the Roommate's precious little house - homemade roasted tomato soup and white cheddar cheese, homemade bread, and rosemary chicken-apple-walnut-blue cheese salad. I miss living with her...

Up next was frilly-gift time followed by an hour or so of watching Gigi & Finley (Roommate's roommate's dog), chase each other around the living room. I loved having all of my favorite girls in one place - such a treat.

Saturday morning, we all met up at the London Tea Room for breakfast. If you're ever in St. Louis, you simply MUST go to the tea room - it's indescribably lovely. I had a pot of the Duke & Duchess blend with a cranberry-orange scone covered in clotted cream and fresh strawberry jam. Pretty much the best breakfast ever.

The plan was to then grab coffee (yes, we like caffeine that much) on our way to our mani-pedi appointment. Our plans were blindsided (literally) by a couple of (again, literal) party crashers. A Ford Taurus came out of nowhere and t-boned Roommate's car in the middle of a rather busy intersection. Thankfully, Little Sister keeps calm in crisis situations and had it pretty much handled by the time I'd even processed what had happened. No one was hurt and we were able to get it sorted out fairly quickly.

Dealing with a car accident was not at all how we wanted to spend our morning, but we had some nice downtime waiting on the cops and the tow truck, then enjoyed a stroll through the SLU campus. All in all, it really didn't put that much of a damper on the day.

We finally arrived at the salon and enjoyed a very girlie hour of manicures & pedicures - note to self: wear a "Bride-to-Be" sash EVERYWHERE. People are SUPER nice to you ALL THE TIME!

Afterwards, we had lunch at one of my favorite spots - Companion - then headed back to the hotel for a quick change before our tour of the Botanical Gardens.

Since it was so late in the afternoon, the Gardens were relatively quiet (except for the no fewer than three weddings setting up as we walked around). Plus, the weather was delightful - making our tour even more enjoyable.

After our tour, we spent time driving around the city and made a stop at Kaldi's Coffee for a caffiene boost before dinner. Y'all...they have a Baked Maple Pumpkin Latte...BAKED. It actually has BAKED PUMPKIN in it. AND maple. If you aren't hearing me...baked pumpkin. It was phenomenal.

We had dinner on the Hill at Zia's - fabulous as always - then spent a few hours at Bailey's Chocolate Bar. Also excellent. I had a Chai martini - chai ice cream, rumchata, and vanilla vodka...OMG.

All of that on top of the fact that I got to spend an entire day with my girls - I couldn't imagine a better weekend.

The next morning, we enjoyed crepes, coffee, and mimosas at City Coffee House & Creperie and found out who'd won our Bachelorette Bingo Instagram competition (spoiler, Vicky won).

To fill you in, we all had a sheet with 25 squares on it - each describing a different thing we had to find throughout the weekend. The objects were open to "creative interpretation," and some of the photos we snapped were my favorites from the trip. More details at the end of the post.

Unfortunately we all had flights to catch or lesson plans to write or puppies to pick up, so the weekend had to end. I hated hugging everyone goodbye - but I'm sure January will be here before I know it and they'll all be back!

Ladies - thank you SO much for an amazing weekend. I'm so very blessed to have such a sweet set of friends. I cannot fully express how much each of you means to me. Can't wait to see you in January!

Til then!

Bachelorette Bingo

This is a collection of my favorites from the weekend, laid out on the board in their respective squares. There were two we struggled to get: Momma & Me (as she was having WAY too much fun with her buddy Rhonda), and Me talking about Paul (which Brittany DID get, but it's in video form, so not included). The full collection is available below (and also on Instagram under the tag #alanasgettingmarried). Enjoy!

A Giant Shoe made out of Shoes

Lauren

St. Louis Arch

Emma

What the What?

Heather

Alana’s Ring

Brittany

Fairy Lights

Gigi being Cute

Underground

Someone Laughing til they Cry

"A rose by any other name…"

Alana Caught by Surprise

Vicky

Favorite Meal

Pretty in Pink

Coffee

Alana with at least THREE of her Bridesmaids (no posing)

Kaitlin

Ten Little Piggies

True Love

Askin' My Girls

In yesterday's post I mentioned the custom invites I made for each of my girls. If you don't mind, I'd love to show you what I did.

Since most of my girls live in another state (and I couldn't be there to ask them in person), I wanted to make sure I did it in a special way. I was inspired by a set I saw on Pinterest by Rinse.Repeat and decided I would borrow her idea and put my own spin on it.

I found some unfinished wood boxes at a local craft store that came in various sizes (perfect for all the different ladies in my group), so I grabbed a full set - choosing large boxes for my maids, medium boxes for my junior maids and flower girl, and smaller ones for my house party ladies.

Since my wedding colors are browns and greens, I decided to stain the boxes a dark oak color. I also grabbed some chocolate, green, and cream colored paint for the inside and several pieces of chocolate felt to line the bottoms.

A couple tips if you're hoping to re-create these:

1. Wear gloves when you stain. You're gonna get it EVERYWHERE.
2. Watch the hinges. You can either painstakingly remove each one before you stain (to avoid staining the metal) then replace once the box is dry, or you can just stain everything and painstakingly clean each metal piece off with a Q-tip dipped in acetone. Both options are time consuming and tedious, pick your poison. 

Once the boxes were finished, I lined them with burlap (another wedding element) and filled each with an assorted set of goodies.

For the Bridesmaids' boxes, I started with a monogrammed handkerchief for each girl. Then, I added color swatches, some photos of dresses I like, a package of shortbread cookies and tea, and a set of cards with wedding details.

I then tied the burlap with a piece of twine and a crocheted flower, slipped a handwritten note telling them how much they meant to me (and asking them to be a part of my day) under the bow, and tied the whole box with a lace ribbon. I loved the way they turned out!

The Junior Maids and Flower Girl got a few of the same items in their boxes (a handkerchief and the detail cards), but I wanted to add some "fun" elements to theirs, so I also included some bright nail polish, lip gloss, and a headband.

The House Party ladies got boxes with handkerchiefs, tea, a detail card, and a note.

I then boxed them up and shipped them to five different states. I was able to deliver a few in person (all of Paul's cousins and one of mine live here), and watching them open them was so much fun! I'll remember those moments forever.

I also made a box for our ring bearer, but you'll have to wait for that post. Coming soon, I promise!

Til then, y'all. 

Wedding Wednesdays: Who's Who (Ladies' Edition)

Welcome to another edition of Wedding Wednesday!

We've done When & Where.

We've done Colors & Theme.

Today we're gonna talk Bridal Party! Well, my side at least. We're still workin on the boys.

I don't know about you, but I've had a running list of bridesmaids since I was little. Sure it's changed over the years as friends have come and gone, but I've always known who my girls would be were I to need to have an impromptu wedding at any given time.

So, when it came time to put together my list, it took less time to choose my girls than it did to ask them (since I made custom invites for each one...I'll cover that in another post). I ended up with five bridesmaids, three house party ladies, four junior maids, and a flowergirl. That's a total of THIRTEEN girls, and, while I'd never imagined I'd have a bridal party that large, I wouldn't change it for anything.

(By the way, wondering what a "house party" is? In short, it’s an old Southern tradition that honors special guests on the Bride’s side. While members of the house party don’t participate in the ceremony, they are still considered a part of the bridal party and they sit with the Bride’s family in the front rows. While the term isn't widely used outside of the South, the practice is. Ever been to a wedding where certain guests were given special jobs like being the guest book attendant or slicing the cake? THOSE are house party type jobs. Now you're caught up!)

I adore the group of ladies that has agreed to love on me through this time. They're such a sweet, smart, amazing group - I couldn't ask for better friends.

Here's the line-up:

Bridesmaids

Kaitlin Bell: Maid of Honor and best friend.

Confidant, partner in crime, and the other half of the most ridiculously awesome friendship I could have imagined. 

Most likely to stop any tears with a joke and a hug.

Vicky Henderson: College buddy.

Secret keeper, midnight advice giver, and the big sister I never had. 

Most likely to calm panic mode with tequila shots.

Heather Sparkman: College roommate.

Counselor, prayer warrior, and the logical counterpart to my dreamer tendencies. 

Most likely to remind me what marriage is really about when I get too caught up in the details.

Brittany Hale: Sister-in-law.

Helper, problem solver, and the sweetest little sister I could have hoped for. 

Most likely to keep everyone calm and on task.

Emma Ellis: Paul’s cousin.

Dreamer, encourager, and one of the happiest people you’ll meet. 

Most likely to entertain us with stories of adorable high-school Paul.

(Please enjoy the vintage photo of Paul...Emma, forgive me?)

House Party

Holly Moore: High school & College friend. 

She's one of my oldest friends (13 years!) and we keep ending up in the same city. To be honest, I'm perfectly fine if that just keeps happening. 

Lauren Esler: Grad School & Work friend.

I made her be my friend during the MBA program when I was desparate for female companionship. Then, we ended up sitting next to each other at Saatchi. She may have left me for the big city, but I still love her to bits. 

Allison Liles: Cousin

Growing up across the street from someone makes you a little fond of them. Momma has always called her her "first daughter," which I'm pretty sure makes her my big sister. True or not, I'll keep her. 

Junior Maids

Adriana Pate: Cousin

Allie Ellis: Paul's cousin

Becca Ellis: Paul's cousin

Addi Beth Johnson: Cousin

Flower Girl

Mollie Ellis: Paul's cousin

Can't wait to share my day with these ladies! We're gonna have so much fun!

Til next time, friends.