wedding recap: bridal luncheon

I am finally beginning my wedding recaps! I will try my best to include lots of details below each picture.

Enjoy!

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Friday, March 22

Bridal Luncheon

Aunt Peggy's house

Given by: my aunt, great aunts, and cousin

This was the beautiful table in the breakfast room where we were served delicious sparkling grape juice.

See where I get my love of flowers from? My grandmother made the flower arrangements for the luncheon and oh my, they were gorgeous.

Here's the lovely dining room table. I realized during lunch that I had never eaten at the "big table" before at my aunt's! My cousin and I always get to sit in the breakfast room.

Beautiful head table with my mom, mother-law-law, grandmother and bridesmaids.

L-R: Ruthie, Beverly, Mom, me

L-R: Me, Rebecca (MOH), Kensley, Heather (MIL)

My mother-in-law and my grandmother. They are so cute together!

My bridesmaids Caroline and Kendall got to sit at their own little table for lunch. It was a date of sorts!

L-R: My sister-in-law's mother, my aunt, Tyler's aunt, my MIL's best friend

L-R: Tyler's cousin, my aunt, my cousin, my MIL's niece

L-R: Tyler's Uncle Sheri, my cousin, Tyler's cousin, my sister-in-law.

Now you are thinking who is Uncle Sheri? She's a she! Haha, we know. She's actually my FIL's cousin. Tyler couldn't understand that as a child. He would call her Aunt Sheri but that wasn't right, but he didn't understand the whole cousin thing.... So one day he just blurted out "UNCLE SHERI" and it stuck. She's a hoot and came from Chicago for the weekend!

Thia was the delicious meal: shrimp salad, tomato pie, asparagus, country ham, biscuit. It was so incredibly delicious. Every time I look at the biscuit, my mouth waters.... YUMMMMM!!!

Opening the gift from my lovely hostesses, a Tamara Child's beverage glass!

Thank you Stacey for giving me these fabulous pictures. Y'all the first time my cousin brought Stacey home to meet us, we had to sleep in the bed together at the lake. I'd say we bonded quickly!

Kensley, my college roommate from freshman and sophomore years at Wofford.

My beautiful Matron of Honor, Rebecca! Can you even believe she is pregnant and due in July? She looks smokin'!

My Aunt Peggy who hosted the luncheon. I've always been like her daughter because she didn't have one of her own! Now she has two daugher-in-laws (well, one is almost one!).

Betsy is my cousin-to-be! She is marrying my cousin Stewart in November! SO EXCITED!

Betsy and Stacey might as well be my sisters. I love having girls in my family now!

Mrs. Mary Jo helped out with the luncheon. She is a dear family friend and would almost be like another grandmother to me!

After lunch we headed to the nail salon for the bridesmaids to get their nails done! 

Cheese!

Hope you enjoyed today's photo recap! Up next: rehearsal dinner!

~ Mrs. Law

our favorite wedding gifts.

We got some really amazing wedding gifts. Some of which we registered for, but others were a huge surprise and have been awesome!!! I am so thankful and grateful, and even amazed how generous people are. I have about 4 thank you notes left to send to thank our friends and family for such wonderful things.

I know my taste isn't the same as everyone's, but I hope the images below can be a helpful guide. Some may seem boring, but I bet the recipients will not think so!

Here goes nothing!

10 piece glass bowl set

My cousins gave us these bowls and I quote her, "I'm sorry this gift seems so boring, but I saw you didn't have them on your registry and you will get good use out of them." Stacey, if you are reading this- I LOVE THEM! I use at least one of these every day! They range from large mixing bowls to tiiiiiiiny little bowls that would be about half the size of a lemon. They are great for everything, including cooking Tyler's egg every morning!! 

Wamsutta 400 thread count sheet set

Though we did not receive this as a gift (I got them with a gift card), these are the most amazing sheets ever. I'm not really picky about my sheets, but I figured if I wanted nice sheets and had a ton of store credit and gift cards to Bed Bath & Beyond, NOW was the time to do it. Tyler comments every night how soft they are. AND they are cotton! Double win.

Craftsman weed eater

Why, yes... We did in fact receive a weed eater! The family who gave it to us is in business with us and he thought it would be both funny and practical. We really needed something to help us cut our grass. Our yard isn't big enough to buy a lawnmower, so this was ah-mazing. 

J. Charles monogrammed DOFs

I adore these glasses!! We've already received the small DOF (double old fashion) and the taller ones are ordered. They are so fun and festive to drink my Jamaican rum and diet out of!!! 

Pyrex bowl set

My sweet friend gave us these bowls and wrote the best note from her girls, "Our mommy hates when she can't find tops to her bowls for leftovers." Amen and problem solved! I just ordered these for a couples wedding gift today!!

Monogrammed steak brand & carving board

I didn't even realize we had registered for this until after we  received it! I thought that it was just a monogrammed cutting board.... but it came with a brander too! Instead of a monogram, I went with "LAW"... perfect, right!?

Kegerator

If you think I am making this up, I promise I am not. Two of Tyler's friends from high school bought us a kegerator for our wedding gift. I was so confused when the UPS man dropped this off because I was waiting for my replacement iphone. I KNEW this wasn't my phone because, um, this is much larger than my little box from Verizon. I called Tyler and asked him if he had ordered a new refrigerator (I don't know why I did that because we rent our house?). He was kind of confused so I opened up the box and viola! This was inside. It is making the trip to our friend's house in my hometown because it won't fit in our little house here. Plus, the guys will have more fun drinking beer in Wesley's garage anyway.

So there you have it! If you want to give a unique wedding gift, but something that isn't too flashy, crazy, or weird, here are some ideas!

What were your favorite {unexpected} wedding gifts?!

work attire.... for me!

Did you hear the good news???

I GOT A JOB!

I'll be working in the insurance industry on the commercial side. I am so excited! I think I hit the pavement pretty hard, and on the exact one month anniversary of us being married, I got a phone call saying I was getting an offer in two days. God really does answer your prayers at the most perfect timing. And right after I legally changed my name.

Obviously a new job comes with a new wardrobe... Well, sort of. At my old job I could literally wear anything I wanted. In the summer it was shorts, flip flops, and a top. In the winter, it was jeans and boots. Now, it's straight business attire. I'm totally OK with that, but I looked at my closet and realized I am going to need a bunch of cardigans to put over sleeveless tops and a few more pairs of casual heels.

Of course I turn to polyvore to pull together a couple of outfits that are work appropriate. Now, if only these items would appear in my closet!

{left}

pants // top // wedges // handbag // earrings 

{middle}

dress //  heels // handbag // jewelry

{right} 

blouse // skirt //  shoes // handbag //  earrings // bangle

Any staples in your closet you must have for work? Help a newly employing girl out!

april showers

I cannot explain how happy I am that we were not living in Illinois when they got horrendous rain last week. Our friends were sending us pictures of their flooded yards, driveways, the golf course, and even the main highways. It was insane! We got a little storm here last weekend, but nothing too dramatic -- just chilly!

I didn't leave the house in the rain, but below would be a cute spring/summer outfit cute enough to wear in the rain!

top // shorts // bangle // earrings // umbrella // boots

What is your go-to rain attire?

Linking up with {av} for Friday's Fancies!

runner's knee

Do any of my followers know anything about runner's knee? I have pretty much self-diagnosed myself with this!

After the Cooper River Bridge Run I started feeling a weird pain in my knee. I had jumper's knee in high school, so I started wrapping my knees like I did for basketball for my next few runs. In my last 5k, I really noticed my knee hurt during and after my run.

After doing a little online research and asking a few running friends, I think it is runner's knee. I don't think there is a need to go to the doctor, but I have been taking Advil, icing, and heating.

I also bought some of this KT tape which was all the rage at the Olympics last summer. My cousin Adam told me about this stuff, but I haven't had the guts to go out for a run yet and use it. 

I mean the colors are pretty cool, right? 

I have a 12k which is my longest race yet a WEEK from this Saturday and I am absolutely freaking out because I haven't run in almost a week. I was hoping lots of rest would help. Ehh, not feeling too much relief quite yet.

Have you ever used KT tape? Did it work? 

Do you have runners knee?? What did you do to help!?!?

birthday boy gifts

Boys are soooooo hard to buy for! Can I get an Amen?

I totally stumbled upon one of these on One Kings Lane and thought it would be fun to do a post on birthday gifts for guys! I know Christmas and Valentines have passed, so thinking of guys' gifts during the year might be helpful to some of you.

Tyler's birthday is in June and I've already started thinking about gifts for him. He may be getting something below :-)

Grill / cooler // $25

Vagabond Retriever Bottle Stopper // $40

Vineyard Vines Tie // $75

Vagabond Antler Bottle Opener // $32

Executive Poker Chip and Case Set // $89

Big Bobber Floating Cooler // $34

Framed Map // $50

Concert tickets // $20- $200



What are some other good guy gifts?

one month

I cannot believe today is ONE MONTH that I have been married to my wonderful hubby. I feel like our wedding was yesterday, but I also feel like it was ages ago!

I am so lucky and blessed to have him in my life and cannot imagine life without him. He makes me laugh, smile, and joke around. He is so good to me and I thank God everyday for him.

In honor of our one month anniversary, I will share our photographer's blog post with her favorite wedding shots. I have looked at this post over and over and over! I can't stop. I LOVE them. 

YOU CAN VIEW THEM HERE!!!!

Here are a couple shots we were tagged in on Facebook.

I love you TyTy!!

5 things you should know before you honeymoon.

As I mentioned in our honeymoon recaps HERE, HERE , and HERE, we had an absolute ball. We had the greatest time and truly enjoyed ourselves. There are a few things, though, that I wish someone would have told me, so here I am today letting you know in case you are honeymooning in the future or going on a vacation with your man!

1. Check with your travel agent or tickets to ensure that you know EXACTLY what time your flight leaves!

Remember when I was so extremely calm before our wedding because everything was done? Well, I forgot one minor major detail. I had our passports and plane tickets in a drawer ready to take with us to Charlotte. For some odd reason, I kept telling myself that our flight was at 11. Actually, it was at 9:40 and we flew out of Charlotte. After crying to my mom, valet parking, crying to a ticket agent, pulling the "we're newlyweds" card, cutting everyone in the security line, and two hours of delays, we actually got on the plane. For international flights you are supposed to check in at least one hour ahead of time. We made it to the ticket counter at 8:47, seven minutes late. Thank the good Lord we made it. I was a mess. Also, valet park. It is only a little more expensive than regular parking. When your car is waiting for you at the terminal instead of you hopping on a bus and waiting and walking... I promise you'll thank me later.

too legit.

2. Instead of leaving Sunday after the wedding, leave on Monday. 

Sunday is such a busy travel day anyway and if you are tired (or hungover like us), you won't feel like you wasted an entire day. We went to bed at 7:30 pm on Sunday night after ordering room service. We were wiped out physically and emotionally. Sunday you can also see your friends and family one more time, especially if they live far away like Tyler's family does. We honestly didn't get to say goodbye, but they partied one more time at my parents' house.

3. If you go to an all-inclusive resort, there are extra things you need to bring:

Exhibit A: Large Cups

Most all-inclusive resorts give you little cafeteria cups! They hold barely even a can of beer! We were constantly going back and forth to the bar. The old people at our resort knew to bring a big tumbler or bubba keg shown above. I'd check out my girl Crystal's boutique and get a cute monogrammed tumbler for the trip!

Exhibit B: Umbrellas and Bug Spray

It rained and we got soaked and the bugs ate me alive. Need I say more? Oh and extra sunscreen if you are going to be in the sun alot. We went through 1.5 bottles and STILL got burned. Eeessh.

4. Take lots of small bills for tipping.

We made the huge mistake of only taking big bills with us. Ty's parents had given us some cash and that was honestly the only cash we had, but we couldn't tip the doorman $50!!! And the ATM was always broken. And you can't barter with the Jamaicans when you have a large bill. Lots and lots of $1 and $5!! 

5. Take a copy of your marriage license.

Some places give you a discount on things at the resort! We got a free 25 minutes couples massage for proving that we were just married! I frantically emailed my mom to call and get our minister to email me a copy or picture of it! Ohhhh AND BEFORE the wedding make sure everything is correct. My birthday was wrong so I still haven't even begun to officially change my name.

So, there you have it. Charlotte and Tyler's list of things they wish they had known prior to leaving for Jamaica! But like I said, we still had an awesome time! Hope these help. Feel free to ask me specifics if you need to!

perfect porch

We all know I love our little house. One thing I REALLY love are the porches. We have THREE!!

There the traditional front porch, a screened in back porch, and a screened in porch off the master bedroom. I've had fun collecting things to try to make our porches look nice and homey. 

Now, they all have some ways to go and below you will find some items that help make a perfect porch!

Hampstead Buffet Table

If I could afford this from Pottery Barn, this table would be sitting right on our screened in porch as we speak!

Rope Swing

We are looking for something like this for our upstairs porch.

Greek Key Lounger

Seriously, this is so cute. I'd love to sit in this cute chair while Ty grills burgers!!

Cabana Chair

This would be so fun on a patio!!!

Ikat Placements

Precious placemats to accompany an outdoor table.

Rocking Chairs

No southern porch is complete without rocking chairs!!!! Lowes has them for $99!

Live Topiaries

 No porch is complete without some green!

Table

You always need some extra side tables.

Pawley's Island Hammock

I LOVE a hammock. Pawley's Island hammocks are the BEST. My parents have one at their house and it is a mildew-free one! We forget and leave it in the rain (has been out there 3+ years and it hasn't fallen apart)!

Ferns

Need I say more? We know I love my ferns!

What accessories are necessary for your porch? I'm open to more suggestions!