Leigh Anne's Wedding

Quick post today. Most of y'all know that one of my best friends, Leigh Anne, got married recently. We had to dodge the rain all day but Leigh Anne didn't let it dampen her spirits. I managed to snap some pictures with my phone of the set up prior to the down pour. Between Leigh Anne, Kevin and myself, we managed to do most of the decor ourselves and at almost $0! Yes.... Kevin is a miracle woodworker. I told him he's lucky he wasn't my husband because I'd have him building all sorts of furniture for me!

This was at the bottom of the driveway to prevent any cars from parking. All of the signs were cut by Kevin and I stained and painted them.

The entrance to the backyard.

The bar area.

Ceremony site in the backyard.

Hay bales for seating

Honorary Candle for their fathers who could not be there. Kevin built the entire thing. I stained the frames and then the candle went on top.

I know it's hard to see but I etched the names of their fathers as well as a meaningful quote and the wedding date of this vase. The vase was then placed on top of the stand above and burned throughout the event.

Amazing alter that Kevin built! This now sits in the backyard of Kevin & Leigh Anne's house!

All of the centerpieces were slightly different. Again, Kevin cut all of the wood and the Mason Jars were donated.

Favor & Mad Lib for the couple at each place setting.

I printed the Mad Libs & the Thank You tags.

Leigh Anne's mom made the bird seed favors.

Sign at the tables. Kevin pieced the wood together and I painted the sign.

Custom benches Kevin made.

The Photo Booth area and props. I made all of the props for the Photo Booth.

(with the exception of the hats obviously...)

Me & my sister made this humongous wreath for about $15.

More of the bar area.

Gift table for cards and presents.

I bought the box from goodwill for $4.99.

I sanded it down, cleaned it out and stained it.

I used my Silhouette Cameo machine to cut the letters for "CARDS" and looped some thread through.

I sewed a burlap pillow to place on the inside.

Thumbprint Tree table as the Guest Book.

The cake stand. The cake was beautiful and delicious but I didn't get a picture of it because I was upstairs getting ready when it arrived.

Upstairs where us girls were dressing, we had a serious spread of goodies to keep us occupied through hair & makeup, including mimosas.

I wasn't able to get any pictures of the event since I was in the wedding but you can check out the photographers blog here for some much better pictures of the couple and their day.

It was a great day!

Leigh Anne & Kevin Dillistin - Gina McLean Photography

Wordless Wednesday

Helping daddy cut the grass for the first time.

My Big 2 Year Old.

Deuce turned 2 on April 22nd and we were going to have a nice afternoon party at the park.

But then it rained. A lot.

I had been watching the forecast in the days leading up to the party so that I could make a decision about what to do and it was inevitable that there was going to be rain. We thought we would hold out until Saturday to make a decision but once we saw the 90% chance of showers we decided to move it to the house. This meant we would actually have to clean the house. Like deep clean. It was in absolutely no shape to have guests over. There were clothes thrown around in every room. About 20 loads of laundry that needed to be done {no exaggeration there}, dishes that needed to be washed, carpets to steam clean and floors to mop. Not to mention toilets and sinks that needed to be scrubbed. The house was pretty much a pig pin.

With Saturday being Aja's birthday party, we didn't have much time to clean. We got home from Aja's party about 8pm Saturday night and I was quick to make lists for each room in the house of what needed to be done. TJ was responsible for his room and his bathroom, which is also the hall bathroom that everyone would be using. I must say, he did an excellent job cleaning his two areas. Ed and I cleaned like mad men. He fell asleep around 11:30 and I was up past 2 cleaning away. Then I was up again at 7 running to Walmart and grabbing breakfast. We literally cleaned up until the 1st person showed up. The good part is that since we all worked our butts off to clean the house, we have managed to keep it very clean! Well except for TJ's bedroom, but that's another story, lol!

Because of all of the time I spent cleaning that I hadn't planned on, I didn't get to decorate like I wanted. I only had the time to make some cupcake toppers and put the gift bags together. But considering the party was in the house, I thought the set up looked very nice. Thanks to my mom & sister who brought the snacks, I didn't have to worry about that part. I also had my girlfriend from Zumba who works at Maxie B's bakery in Greensboro bring me the cupcakes.

Here are a bunch of pictures of Deuce and his friends from the party!

Erika & Jeremy were lucky that Laura gave Olivia back.

When it was time to sing Happy Birthday, Deuce clammed up just like he did last year. I truly think that he doesn't like all of the attention. All throughout the song he kept saying, "NO!" He wouldn't even eat his cupcake.

But you can bet that once he got down out of this seat and away from everyone, he crushed Elmo.

Everyone else enjoyed the yummy cupcakes too. Weston even decided to eat his just like his 3 dogs eat their food. And he smiled at us in between each bite.

I know this picture is blurry but Hailee loved her some TJ. She stuck to his side the whole day. And affectionately called him "PJ."

Zoe got Deuce a drum set that he is obsessed with. Inside the drum were enough instruments to pass around to all of the kids and they had a major jam session. It was great!

Thank you to everyone that came out to Deuce's 2nd birthday party and braved the weather. We had a house full and all of the food was gone. I cleaned the house again after everyone left and was glad that we made the decision to have it at the house.

The following week I took Deuce for his 2 year well visit.

He is still growing like a weed and continues to be at the top of the growth charts.

And PS.....

Two years ago today was my first Mother's Day.

And it was my Due Date.