Here's this weeks Friday Five:
1. Finally grabbed these flats (on major sale!) & this necklace (sold out online) while in NYC.
2. Loving this date night idea.
3. This, this and this are now on my wishlist.
4. perfect spring dress!
5. loved this Bridesmaid Party
Have a great weekend!
xo, ash
I am starting a new feature here today on the blog called High or Low where I will feature similar products at varying price points. I thought it would be nice to add something new to the mix and I always love seeing these type of posts on other blogs. It really makes you question would you spend more or less on that particular item. Maybe you're like me and tend to spend more on shoes and handbags but on costume jewelry or trendy pieces you like to find them for less. Starting simple today with these Loren Hope bow earrings on the high end or Buckle's version for a lot less.
Which ones would you choose?
Happy Thursday!!
xo, ash
So guys this will be my last Wedding Wednesday post and my longest. It's a little bittersweet. BUT after this, now I can finally order prints for parents and our home. No, I haven't done that yet and my wedding was almost six months ago. Don't judge.
The details of our wedding were very important to me and what I spent the most time on. I think details can add a lot of personality to a wedding along with tying all the elements in. Another reason it was important was because I didn't want a cookie cutter wedding since we are not a cookie cutter couple, at least I don't think so. I may have been a little bridezilla in regards to the details but I wanted everything to be PERFECT and I wasn't settling for anything less.
three generations.
a year or so before my wedding when my mother was on vacation she picked up these charms. It's my birthstone, my husband's birthstone and our wedding year. I had my florist add them to my bouquet.
Since Josh & I started dating, we've always pinky swore about numerous things so it was a "must take" picture for me.
There weren't too many smaller details in the ceremony because it was so short. I showed you a few weeks ago the flowers for Josh's mother which was displayed during the ceremony.
Ceremony "Program". My Maid of Honor did the writing for this one and the Menu and she did a great job! The mirror used for this was actually from my grandparents and it's very old which gave it a bit more meaning. The candle and floating orchid was also what we used as cocktail table centerpieces.
This was our signature drink in mason jars with DIY tags. I created the logo in Word and a friend and I cut and assembled all the tags with a backer of silver or purple sparkly paper. I had cocktail napkins made to match as a sort of "theme" for cocktail hour only.
Eat, Drink & Be Married. via Etsy.
I LOVED our stationary display setup. The little cups are actually displayed on cupcake holders I picked up for $15 each at Home Goods.
We had a pretty non-tradtional guestbook of a guitar. My husband plays music so I thought it was a fun touch. It also looks really neat and we plan to hang it up in our house. Our "Menu" was also written on a mirror and I think we got lucky finding it at Home Goods. I love that the shape that of a vintage menu shape. Lastly, I wanted to memorialize family members that passed. I used an empty frame, again from my grandparents, and attached the pictures to ribbon with mini sparkly clothespins. It's hard to see in the picture but the sign on the last picture says "We know you'd be here today, if heaven weren't so far away."
The reception details are by far my favorite. Again we had the seating chart displayed on a mirror we found at Home Goods. Instead of writing though, I had our invitation designer create cards which listed the table numbers and names. I LOVE the way it came out.
Since I paid a pretty penny for flowers and because they were gorgeous I chose to re-use our ceremony arrangements for the entrance to the reception room. For our reception centerpieces, we had three tall arrangements on the long grey farmhouse tables along with long mirrored vases in between. The round tables had three different setups along with two different, alternating linens. The ruffly linen was my favorite! In another effort to re-use, we displayed the bridesmaid bouquets around the fountain and it was the perfect touch to something already so beautiful!
It was very important to me that the flowers were perfect. It was the main color in the room so if they weren't right, it would have thrown things off. Luckily, my florist did an AMAZING job!! Another touch that isn't as showcased are the black chandeliers. We did three evenly spaced and not only were they beautiful but they tied in the black chairs as well as drew your eyes up to the glass ceiling.
We chose to do a sweetheart table and for that table only, I wanted all white flowers and linens. As a personal touch, we brought a picture of our puggle since she couldn't be there with us and she's a very big part of our lives.
We also added a doggy touch to our wedding cake.
What's better than mini ice cream cones?
I keep saying this was important and that was important but really everything was important to me. I truly LOVED planning my wedding.
Paper was another biggie for me. I know it's controversial since it gets thrown away but I think it really sets the tone of your wedding when you send out those invites. I loved our creative & unique design. There was a mini envelope which held a folded invitation. There was lots of sparkle involved as well. To tie in the purple, headings were in purple ink and the return envelope was purple. What you don't see if the envelope line that was ALL sparkle. One day I will post better pictures of the invites. I like these but the candlelight make it difficult to see the detail. We received SOOOO many compliments which made me feel really good about our decision. In addition to invites, our designed also created the setting chart, table numbers, thank you's and other miscellaneous items. I think it helped to have them all tie in together.
Lastly, I will leave you with our sparkler sendoff. My photographer captured some amazing shots and all of our guest had so much fun participating. It was the PERFECT way to end the night!
florist - Weedweavers of Wakefield//event planner - Blissful Events//all photos via Mandy Mayberry//paper - The Paper Perfectionist
Sorry for the late post. I just wanted to make this last one perfect. I hope you guys enjoyed sharing in the most special day of my life as much as I did.
xo, ash
As I mentioned in my Friday post, I went out of town last weekend. I didn't go into detail as it was a surprise for my husband for his birthday. He was so excited and I was just happy to get away to somewhere different for the weekend. I booked a room at The Roger Hotel after some recommendations. I ended up getting a great deal thanks to the price watch feature on hotels.com. The Roger was outstanding!!
I apologize in advance for some not so great photos. All via iPhone.
It had adorable b&w striped awnings out front and the inside was even more gorgeous. It has this vintage yet modern vibe. It also wasn't overly girly or manly, it was just right! The hotel was recently renovated and they really put a lot of work into the details. I LOVED the lobby. The colors, the couches, the lights..all the gold! swoon! No detail was left untouched and the quality was outstanding! And they had a bar right in the lobby!
I loved these vintage looking elevator numbers and how adorable is this door sign?!
Beautiful details continued inside the room. I don't think I've ever loved a room key more than this one and the blue velvet & nail heads...
The bed was sooo comfortable! I could have moved right in but alas we had to come home :(
My father lives in NY so I've been quite a few times and also been to city more than once. I've never stayed in the city though so that was a new experience. I believe where the hotel was located was considered midtown which was the perfect location. Within walking distance of a lot and even a short cab ride to a few places. Prior to going I had two places on my list I wanted to stop at and we were able to!
When we arrived, we walked around 5th Avenue and ended up stopping at Eataly for lunch. If your Italian or love Italian it's a must. Inside Eataly there are quite a few options for eating along with all the pasta and pasta sauce you can imagine. We ate right in the middle, standing up and had the most delicious meat and cheese tray, accompanied by wine of course. Before leaving Eataly to head to the hotel and officially check in, we grabbed some gelato! So yummy!
Once back at the hotel we relaxed for bit before getting ready to head out for dinner. We called multiple places but there was no availability. We ended up at a place called Lil Frankie's. I'm glad we went there because it was true NYC style italian and I felt like a New Yorker. It was a tight space and if you didn't keep on top of the waiter, you wouldn't get a table. It was really yummy! I thought this sign outside the entrance was funny.
After dinner, of course there's dessert. It was the first stop on my list, Serendipity 3. The wait was an hour and a half but we killed time and walked around. We accidentally came across Dylan's Candy Bar so we stopped in. It was adorable in there! They had the biggest gumball machine I've ever seen and I loved the pink dresser!
We headed back to Serendipity 3 and got right in. Let me tell you, worth the wait! It was soooo delicious and the perfect amount too! The place was vintage & cute just like I imagined.
Last stop before calling it a night was having a drink at the hotel bar. It was the perfect ending to the day and of course the coaster didn't hurt ;)
The next day we slept in (a little), checked out and then had breakfast at Sarabeth's. Another authentic NYC place, to me at least. When in NYC, you have a mimosa with breakfast.
After breakfast we headed to Soho. Another place I've never been. I really enjoyed it there. Had a different feel than the big city and the shopping was a plus. We just walked and went in and out of stores. I love going into all the Kate Spade stores, they are always so pretty!
Kate Spade box display.
Live Colorfully neon sign and below was the wall at Converse.
Another new experience was the NYC food trucks. We chose Carl's Philly cheesesteak. They were so yummy and the perfect size for something quick.
Last stop before heading home was Georgetown Cupcake. Oh my goodness, hands down the best cupcakes I've ever had. We bought six and finished the last two last night. So sad. But I think you can have them shipped!
Overall it was a fun weekend. We did a lot but I didn't feel rushed and got to cross a few things off of my list. Can't wait for our next weekend getaway (not sure where yet!).
Happy Tuesday!
xo, ash
