Tie-ing the Knot

Note the clever post title.

I ordered a custom screen-printed tie for my handsome groom to wear under his suit on the wedding day. I got it from this great Etsy seller called Cyberoptix Tie Lab and I am so pleased with how it came out and their quick & high-quality service. I went with the antique phonograph graphic because not only is Joel obsessed with them and old record albums but around the time I ordered it we were also in the process of having an old family record player restored for our home. I was so pumped about this tie idea because I loved how the graphic wouldn't even show (it was hidden under the suit jacket) and it was just a little something special for my love. I was also pretty proud that I had this little custom tie surprise idea entirely on me own, then who would have thought I'd search screen printed ties on Etsy and find about a billion sellers? Oh well, can't win 'em all.

One Month Countdown!!

And what a crazy month it will be! Within these next 30 days I will...

-Graduate college

-Move back to Phoenix (for good)

-Celebrate Christmas

-Have a bachelorette party!

-Finish planning a wedding

...and...

-GET MARRIED!!!

Best.30days.ever.

Finally... Our invitation suite!

I've waited and waited to finally be able to share our own invitation suite! I am so pleased with how the designs came out and was ECSTATIC to finally be able to send them them out. We wanted simple & sweet invitations and I think that's exactly what we got. I've always been a fan of pocket folders and think they are the best, most attractive way to secure the various pieces within the envelope. So first things first was picking out those. I also knew I wanted the pocket folders to serve as the cream color and use the grey and soft rosey pink for the invitations, so when put it all together you get the perfect feel for the color scheme of our wedding. And we all know the absolute obsession Joel & I have for all things stripe, right? So what better of a design element than stripes for the invitation? Overall we are SO so happy with the outcome and it was so fun sending them out into the world.

I'm not going to lie I LOVE seeing our names together like this. It was so surreal to actually be working with my own name on an invitation... and to see my handsome husbands right next to it... best feeling ever.

The info/directions card is by far my favorite. I love the typography layout and the cut off alignment. OH, and how the pink stripes remind me of the Sugar Bowl : ) Plus that funky map on the back is just real cute. (Is it ok to praise your own invitations that you made? Sorry if it's not.)

And of course these were beautifully printed by our favorite D&L Press!

San Francisco, here we come!

My second bridal shower was thrown by some favorite church ladies of mine and the theme was SAN FRANCISCO! But when I say that was the theme I mean it was more the atmosphere. These ladies thought of absolutely everything to transport us to San Fran for the night and it just made me all the more excited for our honeymoon there. The first stop was China Town complete with hanging paper lanterns, chinese food take out boxes as well as the delicious chinese food of course. Then we had the famous Pier 39 with all the sea food fixings. Outside on the lit up patio was Ghiradelli Square with a build-your-own brownie sundae bar... DELISH. And finally the drink station was out back by the pool/"Alcatraz". See what I mean, they really did go above and beyond to customize the entire evening. It meant so much to me to have so many of these influential and special women all together in the same place to celebrate Joel & I. I am so grateful for each and every person there and the love & support they have given me (and now Joel) throughout my life, to grow up in such good company is truly a blessing I will never take for granted.

2222222222

My First Bridal Shower!

This weekend I had my first bridal shower hosted by Joels Mom, Aunt, and his two sisters. It was such a fun afternoon and everything was more beautiful than I could have ever imagined. The whole day, even after it was over, I couldn't believe that all of it was for me. I've been to countless showers and weddings but I don't know if it will ever sink in with me that it's actually my turn. The ladies threw a perfect shower with so many gorgeous details incorporating the wedding colors and other fall/rustic details that I loved. I was so happy I got to celebrate with some of the wonderful women I have gotten to know more since knowing Joel, and all of the beautiful gifts they gave us didn't hurt either : ) I am so thankful for all of the love & support in our life and all of the hard work that went in to making this shower such a special time for me.


















Is this not the most beautiful little cake you've ever seen?! I was obsessed. And those little jars were the favors filled with pumpkin and apple butter! Yuuummmm.

THREEEEEE

Love them.

Stuff for our life

Well, the day finally came & went. And let me tell you it was not exactly how I imagined it. Don't get me wrong it was a complete blast and everything I HOPED it'd be... but it's not all fun & games people. By the end of the day after hitting up both Crate & Barrel AND Target, we were exhausted, and honestly ready to not set foot in either store for at least a couple of weeks. Wait, who am I kidding, I'll probably be at Target tomorrow. Anyway, after an afternoon of going back & forth and back & forth on so many different products and styles, we finally came up with two wonderful registries that make us smile at just the thought of getting one or two things on there. We are absolutely ecstatic that these could be the things we are going to begin building our life with, not to mention getting to share with others! I swear most of the stuff on our list was somehow decided on by using phrases like "but what about when we have people over..." or "oh yeah that'll be great for entertaining..." Needless to say we definitely had that in mind while picking it all out.

I knew this process would be fun with Joel, but I had no idea just how fun. I think it's just the fact that it is SO fun to make decisions with him. It's not that we always agree on everything, but somehow we find a way to each present a case and find a happy medium. Each and every time we scanned something I couldn't help but picture us using it in our home and just dream about the life I am going to have with this man. Just can't even wait.

C&B even sent us away with a little gift... how sweet is that?! I can almost see how good all of those beautiful white boxes are going to look stacked up at a shower, yeah I can definitely picture it.

Also, did I mention how obsessed with this face I am?? HUSBAND!

98 days left in case you were wondering, Target even has the countdown on our registry page. So nice of them.

100 days from today!!

Here's 50 reasons why I'm stoked about it. Easy.

1. I get to see him every single day

2. We get to start a life together

3. He's gonna look so good in a suit

4. We get to hang out with all of our family & friends at the same time at the wedding

5. We will finally have a place to PUT all of our great finds

6. I get to refer to him as my husband. Forever.

7. We're going to eat really good dessert at the wedding

8. When I say goodnight to him I know I will see him again in 8 hours

9. We can always have people over to our home

10. I get a new mom & dad!

11. I get two new sisters!

12. I get two brothers (finally!!)

13. I get a niece!

14. I get a nephew!

15. I get a new roommate, that's a boy! Scandalous.

16. We don't have to live separate lives anymore

17. I can make dinner for a husband

18. We can pick TV shows we want to watch together

19. We won't have to "go out" in order to spend time together

20. My last name will be Henderson

21. My full name will be Stephanie Henderson

22. One day we'll have kids and their last name will be Henderson

23. I get to watch J sleep... creepy, sorry. But he's just real cute when he's sleeping

24. We get to decorate an entire space... room by room. Heaven.

25. When weird people come to the door and want to sell something I can tell them "my husband said no"

26. He's like the best human on the planet

27. We become one, so all of the really great characteristics he has, I get. Score.

28. We can drive each others cars (if I ever learn stick)

29. We will run errands together and get to hang out!

30. He can build stuff

31. He's going to always wear a wedding ring

32. My husband will always have a tattoo

33. We will be getting ready to go to San Francisco!!

34. Speaking of which, we can take vacations together

35. I will probably have a real desk to work at

36. I can surprise him with cookies whenever I want

37. He will eat whatever I make just to make me feel good, bless his heart

38. The mail will be addressed to "The Hendersons" or "Joel & Stephanie Henderson"

39. I will always be able to be proud of my husband

40. My husband will always have a heart that I will want more of

41. We can talk to God whenever, together

42. I can tell my husband "this is what will look good" and he'll just be like "ok"

43. We get to open a lot of presents from really sweet people

44. Our wedding is just going to be so beautiful

45. I get to say "we" a lot more

46. We can say yes & no to things together, not separately

47. We can give more advise to dating and engaged couples

48. We can watch the news together (maybe)

49. I will more than likely start to enjoy coffee more

50. I GET TO SPEND MY LIFE WITH MY BEST FRIEND!

What's YOUR favorite reason?

How is this even possible?

There's only 4 months left until we're married. I love that.

5!!!!!!!

I hope we look this good in 5 months when we're getting MARRIED!!

Wedding Colors in Everday Life

Is it pathetic that I squeal of excitement every time I see a combination of our wedding colors in everyday life? Yes, probably. Is Joel sick of me pointing it out everywhere we go? Yes, probably. But I can't heeelllllllp it. It's just that every time I see the colors working well together it only affirms our decision in picking them, and makes me that much more excited for the big day. "Winter" weddings are hard to pick color schemes for, especially in AZ. I feel like most people find themselves resorting to darker colors in the winter because it's cold and for some reason dark = cold, and then all the bright fun colors in the spring/summer because those = ...... hot? I don't know.

We didn't really want either of those color schemes. We wanted subtle, crisp, muted but still with little splashes of color. Grey seemed the be the perfect base color to pick, I think another wedding motto of ours is becoming "when in doubt, go grey". And then all of our other vintage colors are working out rather well (soft rosey pinks, light light blues, creams, etc. etc.) So all of that to say that when I see the color scheme in real life I just get so excited and quietly applaud my fiance & myself for successfully creating our vision from scratch.

So these are just a few snapshots of what I'm talking about... and noooonnne of these were staged. Unless you count my outfit, which just happened to be perfect for the color scheme. Mmmm just looking at these colors makes me want to marry Joel.

The Story Behind our Save the Date Card

Back when we had our engagement pictures taken I had come up with a sneaky plan to get some really candid shots for our save-the-date cards. Because we're doing a dessert only reception we wanted a save-the-date card that sort of alluded to that and set the tone in a fun way. We decided to bring along some Sprinkles Cupcakes to use as props for some possible pictures we could use on the card. Little did Joel know that I had talked with Lexi, our photographer, beforehand to inform her that I'd be surprising Joel with a cupcake smashed in his poor cute little innocent face : ) We even set up a code word and everything, unfortunately we didn't get to USE the code word because it ended up being so easy just to make intense eye contact with Lex behind Joel's back when the time came.

Here is the sequence of events that took place:

It started out innocent just with a couple of cupcakes... Poor Joel just thought he was luckin' out getting his favorite treat :

When I went to pick up the cupcakes the girl at the counter asked if these were for any special occasion. I told her they were props for engagement pictures and she squealed and offered me a cute "I Do" sticker for the box... how cute is that?!

And that my friends is how you get a completely candid, fun, in the moment save the date card. Piece of cake... ha, get it?

Riiiiiight ; )

The Ring... take 2. His ring.

The boy gets to surprise the girl with the ring, right? Not good enough for me. I don't think it's very fair to the boy! No element of surprise or a special gift?! Boooooo. Joel & I talked about what he wanted in a ring and we've been looking into a few different options for a while now. After going back & forth and back & forth over what he really wanted, the one and only thing he could decide on was they he wanted something simple and thick. After looking at a few examples of these "simple & thick rings" I decided to take it upon myself to make it happen for him.

I looked into having both of our purity rings melted down and made into a new ring. I found a place to do it for a reasonable price and jumped on it. I decided to have the inside engraved with "Where you go I'll go" a piece of scripture from Ruth that was written in one of the first engagement cards I received. It only took a few days and it turned out beautifully! A simple, thick, manly ring that carries so much significance and value and you can't beat the fact that it is totally customized. My original plan was to wait to give it to him until closer to the wedding. But of course that man I am marrying happens to be a tad bit impatient when it comes to stuff like this and had already begun asking me "When can we go look a rings?! When are we gonna go get myyyyy ring??" I decided that I probably couldn't put this off long enough and still keep it a surprise, so I jumped the gun and gave it to him early. Sure enough he's just as obsessed with it as I am : )

Both of our rings were made of the same sterling silver material and all I know is we've worn them 365 days a year since middle school and they held up very well, so I was confident in knowing that this would be just as sturdy and durable of a ring for a good amount of time. Plus it seems like almost every married man over the age of 40 has gone through at least 3 rings by that point, so even if this doesn't last a lifetime I figured it'll still be cool for a while.

Oh boy I cannot even wait to put this ring on his finger on January 7th!

Flowers SHMOWERS

I like flowers. But I just like them, I don't love them. In fact at one point early on in Joel & I's relationship I had to break the news to him that I didn't love them and that every time he randomly brought them to me the first reaction that went through my mind was "Awwww *pause* what a waste of money". Don't worry, this won't come as a shock or offend the poor guy, he knows what he's marrying and we crossed that bridge a long time ago : ) Now, I realize I do not enjoy/appreciate flowers enough, I get it. But if it helps you not to hate me as much, you should know that one of my favorite details to photograph at a wedding is the bridal bouquet... does that make you feel better? But really other than that I can't say that I pay too much attention to/care about flowers at a wedding.

So you can imagine how helpful this attitude of mine was when it came time to start thinking about flowers for our wedding. I had to force, FORCE myself to begin googling and researching different flower arrangements and styles. The first forced wedding task yet, other than maybe hand addressing all of the save-the-date cards (see later post). Even when I came upon a few inspiration pictures here and there I was still lost as to how to communicate that to someone without just shoving a paper in their face and saying "Here, make THIS." Which let's face it is no fun at all for the maker. So the challenge was finding the look & style I was in search of and handing it over to a professional to handle from there, leaving plenty of room for their expertise & creativity to lead the way.

Just for fun I decided to share these floral inspiration pictures we're going with... The whole vision for the wedding is soft/subtle/muted/delicate/romantic and until I started looking I didn't even know such florals existed, but hello are these not TO DIE FOR?! I'm obsessed, yes pleeeaaaaase.

I'm sold. If staring at these picture is what "choosing flowers" is all about, count me in.

Lucky 7 baby!

Wanted: White Ceramic Vases

Hey bloggies... I'm enlisting your help for the wedding, ok?!

We're looking to use a lot of these white ceramic/milk glass vases for our centerpieces at the reception. I've dreamed about having an entire shelf of some sort filled with white ceramic in my home one day, so collecting them now for the wedding works even better! This is the beginning of my very small collection and, as you can see, we need a lot more for the reception. Like, a lot more. So here's where you come in!

White ceramic/milk glass of this sort is found in EVERY thrift store, and I mean every single one. I have yet to walk into a thrift store and not see white ceramic/milk glass vases, it is everywhere. The only thing is that I have a hard time paying $3 + for some of this stuff, seeing as it's so old/out of style/cheap. And believe it or not most thrift stores slap a ridiculous price tag of $2.99 or $3.99 on these things. So we're looking to stay more in the $.99-$1.99 price range, unless of course it's got something really great to offer that is worth the extra few pennies. So if you're out & about at some thrift stores, which I suspect most of you are on occasion, maybe keep your eyes peeled for us and scoop some up that you might see? We will TOTALLY reimburse you for your purchases... so please feel free to get crazy. If push comes to shove we're planning on traveling around to all the various thrift stores in search of these beauties but I figured we might as well put the word out for all ya'll living in different areas of the valley to be on the lookout!

Ok sooo... off you go right? Just kidding, but seriously, go look : )