one year later - part 2

And onto the ceremony! 

This is my mom about to walk down the aisle. She found some fabric she liked and had a girl on Etsy MAKE that skirt for her - pockets and all! Talk about clever!

Here's Tom Sellek or John Stossle my dad! We were giddy all the way down the aisle.

I do. I do. Kiss. Bam. Married!

It's about 90 seconds after these pictures (below) were taken when Brooklyn Boy finally told me where we were going on our honeymoon! Dominican Republic! 

Naturally we broke out into an impromptu dance party immediately following the ceremony.

Now our getaway car. My dad is long time friends with Don, who has a small collection of fabulous cars and gigantic longhorns :) It was a done deal the second Brooklyn Boy heard Rolls Royce and longhorns in the same sentence. So off we went in true Texas style. 

We had our reception at Patrizio's, a long time family favorite restaurant of ours! It was an unconventional option that I'd always had in the back of my mind. We didn't seriously consider it, though, until we decided to swap wedding dates and venues early in the game. Thankfully, Patrizio's was interested and available in hosting our reception which was HUGE, considering they'd never housed a wedding reception! 

For our wedding, I wanted the ceremony to feel reverent and the reception to be a PARTY! We decided to nix some of the traditional wedding things (garter/bouquet toss, cutting the cake, speeches) to keep the momentum of the night moving. 

All of our flower details were done by Junior at Garden Gate, who I just loved. 

We had a variety of small and medium sized cakes provided by Chocolate Angel, a bakery in Plano.  Lots of different flavors, all delicious! 

Walking into our reception was certainly surreal! 

What had upbeat first dances and father/daughter + mother/son dances. 

And we danced the night away!! Some of our dear friends from Brooklyn took care of music for us and legitimately played the night away! 

There was a beautiful patio strung with very Father of the Bride lights. It was a great spot for cooling off or traking a break from the crazy dance party happening inside.

I think we were singing Jay Z's New York at this point . . .  The music that night was out of this world. Brooklyn Boy and I just danced and danced and danced!!

Sweet friends came from all over the place! 

I'm getting so tickled just looking at these pictures.

And before we knew it, it was time to leave!

I think Brooklyn Boy and I would agree - we felt present, thankful and overwhelmed with our precious family and friends that night. They made that whole experience for us! 

While nothing is ever perfect, there isn't one thing I'd change about that whole weekend. To us, it was just the best. 

Thanks for reading the recap! Sorry it was a year late :_

One Year Later - Part 1

Brooklyn Boy and I celebrated our one year anniversary yesterday! Can't believe it's already been a year. What in the world! I never did a proper recap of the wedding, whoops, so why not do it a year later!  Back to May 12, 2012 everyone . . . 

Saturday morning, all the girls in the wedding headed over to my parents house for coffee and pigs-in-a-blanket (a flora family tradition). It was casual and wonderful :)

We lounged around and apparently looked at something VERY interesting on someone's ipad! All the girls wore their bridesmaid / house-party gift - an oversized monogram button down. 

Here's the whole adorable group. Most of us know each other from Auburn, but there are a few sisters and New York gals in there too. Between the group, we cover New York, Birmingham, Nashville, Atlanta, Tulsa, St. Petersburg, Dallas and Autaugaville. 

The girls also picked up their snazzy Target Exhilaration shoes to wear with their bridesmaid dresses :) And we cleaned our wedding rings/bands. Cause thats what you do before you get married. 

Invites by the one and only LeighAnn Tufts. 

One of my grandmothers has always been known to my sister and I as the "Purse Granny." Before Christmas, each year, she would take us to pick out a new handbag. She was building our handbag collection that we'd have forever. And she was right, I still have all the classic little bags that she gifted to me over the years. Well, she felt the same way about my wedding shoes. She got these for me (and got my sisters weddings shoes too!) I just love knowing they are from her. 

Back to the house! Once all the girls had grazed as much as we possibly could, we started getting ready. 

Then we headed over to the church! I grew up in Plano, Texas, but hadn't lived there for almost 10 years (4 years at Auburn and 5 years in New York). So you can imagine how surreal and exciting it was to get married in the church I grew up in. 

Sister and I before I put on my dress. 

We took full advantage of the Bridal suite at church and loaded everyone in! Mom and sister helped me into my dress. 

 I love this picture of Brooklyn Boy and his sister! 

It was just the most bizare and wonderfully overwhelming feeling for all of my worlds plus all of Brooklyn Boy's worlds to converge in the hometown that I grew up in! 

We decided to have a first look before the ceremony. Honestly, I felt like we got TWO big reveal moments - the first look and the walk down the aisle. I gave him monogramed cuff links and he gave me a pair of Tiffany pearl studs. Bling bling. 

Check out that pheasant feather. Brooklyn Boy looked so handsome in his Ralph Lauren!

Oh man, I love these next two pictures. Meet Luke, Elijah and Loretta - our ring bearers and flower girl. We are good friends with both sets of parents from our Church community in Brooklyn. It meant the world to us that they were in the wedding! Lorettas dress was from Zara Kids and those bowties were from a vendor on Etsy! 

And here come the bridesmaids! The girls wore a variety of dresses from Donna Morgan's line at Nordstrom. Geez, bridesmaid dresses and shoes can totally get the best of you if you aren't careful. I don't know why, but it's weirdly stressful! So to make things a little easier, we did affordable dresses off the rack and shoes (like I mentioned) from Target!

Each girl held a bouquet of different flowers. Huge thank you to Junior at Garden Gate in Dallas! 

Wouldn't be a wedding without a picture of 13 Auburn Friends (minus Melanie!).

And the boys! They looked SO sharp. Each wore their own black suit + a monogramed RL button down and bow tie. 

Who doesn't love a simple understated monogram!

These brothers, high school, college and current friends represent Brooklyn, Florida, Charlottesville, Nashville and Dallas!

 And that's all for part one!!! GIANT thank you to my dear friend Jessica Rawlings who captured everything just perfectly :)

Ceremony and Reception coming tomorrow!! 

Life Admin & Sneak Peeks

Happy Thursday! Here's a snapshot of our week:

- street merch is starting to reappear as the weather warms up! i don't normally recommend picking up upholstered stuff, but how bout this chair. 

- some of our dearest friends in Brooklyn had their baby!!! Family is happy and healthy. Baby is puhhhhrrrreshos. Baby Luke Hudson. Darling name, hu? We helped with the baby room - it has a Boy meets Texas meets Brooklyn. Pictures to come.

- i've started an herb garden!!! we've had tons of rain the past few days and the garden is thriving. it's the most welcome sight when i look out our bedroom window every morning.

- our 1 year anniversary is this sunday. WHAT?! you can expect a full wedding recap on the 12th.

- i'm helping a client with her wedding registry and you know who i've got to recommend? Jonathan Adler. He has some great gifty stuff and covers a wide range of price points. You should check it out!

- also, i'm crafting a before & after post for the Jane street apartment redo. Here's a peek at the bedroom before . . . 

thats all for now. enjoy the sunshine!

fridays are for diy projects & giveaways!

Hello Hello!! Sorry for my radio silence this week, I'm just back from a quickie work trip to Miami. Aside from it raining almost the entire shoot day, it was a great trip. And the warm weather made it feel like vacation. What a treat. Brooklyn Boy and I thought about making a weekend of it, but he decided to be all responsible and selfless and instead, stayed in the city to help produce/host an event for one of our favorite non-profits, A House on Beekman. What a pip squeak that Brooklyn Boy.

Anyways. I know you're probably feeling maxed out with all these DIY videos, but I've got 3 left to share with you. Home stretch! You can totally make it!

Today - we're talking about making your own artwork. I would deck my walls with prints and paintings if I had the funds, but one of a kind artwork can get expensive! This is an easy way to spruce up a bare wall or even make/give a personalized gift. 

Here's what you need:

Existing artwork / canvas / print

Sticky Letters (usually used to label mailboxes / boats (yes, I said boats, that's always the picture on the packaging! labeling your giant boat! anyways.))

Paint - Great time to use paint you already have or a new paint sample color

Here's the full How-To featured by the lovely folks at The Nest - 

See, super simple right? 

Here's where you come in - I'm giving away the finished product to a reader. Just post a comment on this post by next Wednesday at 5pm EST. Winner will be announced on Friday! And then bam! diy art at your doorstep!  Ready go!

DIY Vases

I'm back with another DIY collaboration with thenest.com

This project focus's on an easyyyy way to update a centerpiece using supplies you already own. I'm all about working with what you have, rather then purchasing more stuff. Simplicity just feels good sometimes. 

Take a look!